Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”
We have gained access by faith into Jesus’ grace.
Grace can be defined in many ways. One conservative pastor, David Reagan, says that it is God’s sufficiency or God’s fullness in the life of the believer. He likes to describe it as “God’s enoughness.” ( http://www.learnthebible.org/taxonomy/term/1422
Now, I liked that description. Generally we hear Grace defined as God’s unmerited favor. David Reagan defined God’s enoughness as God being enough for us no matter what situation we face. (http://www.learnthebible.org/what-is-grace.html)
What I don’t like is the rest of what David Reagan says.
I just read a little bit of his blog, enough to find out who he is. He doesn’t like women! Oh, I’m sure he loves women – for their purpose and role. But you can see what he thinks about women with the Question and Answer page. http://www.learnthebible.org/taxonomy/term/1422
- Can women be authors of books that men might read?
- Can women wear pants
- Can women vote
- Can women say Amen in church
God’s enoughness! God’s enoughness for who? Do men and women require a different kind of God’s enoughness? Is it for women? If that is the case, there is a lot to be desired.
Apparently God’s sufficiency or God’s fullness in the life of the believer doesn’t have to be very much for women, judged by Pastor Reagan.
Let’s reread Romans 5:1 his way: “Therefore, since we men have been justified through faith, we men have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we men have gained access by faith into this grace in which we men now stand.”
I read that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood didn’t like some new Bible that is coming out because it was not gender specific enough. Good gracious! What we find is that the whole Bible is gender specific for men, according to men like David Reagan.
Can you imagine a man ever having a Question and Answer page with questions like those above? How insulting! We are not some alien creature. We gave birth to you!
bWe Baptist Women for Equality's Blog 
I found a Website http://www.lamblion.com/ and a blog http://www.lamblion.us/ for David Reagan (McKinney, TX), but I couldn’t find the “Question and Answer” page you mention with those questions related to women. And there didn’t appear to be any links in your essay. Where do I/we find those Q&A’s?
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http://www.learnthebible.org/taxonomy/term/1422
For all of you who want to read more. Here it is. Thanks for keeping me on my toes!
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Though you got the grace definition from David Reagan, it appears that the Q&A’s are from a totally different church that just happened to use David Reagan’s grace essay. The LTB page belongs to:
Antioch Baptist Church
Learn the Bible Web is sponsored by Antioch Baptist Church of Knoxville. We are a conservative King James Bible believing Independent Baptist Church located in Knoxville Tennessee (TN). Scroll through the sections below to find out more about us.
That’s enough to tell you that these guys are flakes. Now, David Reagan may be masculinist and infatuated with prophecy, but I don’t think he’s a KJV onlyist or whatever else these other guys are.
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http://www.learnthebible.org/what-is-grace.html
This is where I got the what is grace definition. It is on the LTB page. Looks to me like it is David Reagan of Learn the Bible, of Antioch Baptist Church.
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It appears this church also is headed by a David (F.) Reagan. Hence my confusion in thinking you were referrring to the D/FW Metroplex David Reagan. My bad.
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Or I should say “was” headed by David F. Reagan. He died in 2007: http://www.learnthebible.org/antioch-baptist-church-history.html
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(reposted with just 1 link)
I found a Website http://www.lamblion.com/ for David Reagan (McKinney, TX), but I couldn’t find the “Question and Answer” page you mention with those questions related to women. And there didn’t appear to be any links in your essay. Where do I/we find those Q&A’s?
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(reposted with just 1 link)
(cont’d) As well as a blog for him http://www.lamblion.us/ for David Reagan (McKinney, TX). But in neither place could I find the “Question and Answer” page you mention with those questions related to women. And there didn’t appear to be any links in your essay. Where do I/we find those Q&A’s?
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I learn so much from all of the posters here. But, along with the knowledge, I believe that frustration over this issue (over a period of years) has caused me some physical problems as well. My doctor asked me if I had been anxious, worried and upset over anything (as my blood pressure was staying around 200/120. I am not saying that the issue of equality in the church has been the cause, but, I do know that it has contributed to it. The inequality between the sexes really struck a nerve with me a few years ago (until then I really had not even given it much thought). I think alot of conscience-raising took place in my middle to late 30’s. As I actually took a step back from child rearing (as the kids were older) and being a house wife to do some self inspection and church inspection. Needless to say, I was not totally happy with what I saw. I can understand why people begin (or have a hard time) not becoming bitter as they get older. I speak out against sex bias continually and it doesn’t seem to even cause people to think harder about the topic, much less change anything (as most often the response that you get is anger). I guess it must be the fact that the, “the more things change, the more things stay the same in the church.” It seems to me sometimes, that egalitarians are drowning in a sea of patriarchal/hard comp teachings and our fellow brothers and sisters (that are on the fence) either get angry or remain silent and watch us struggle. A poster on equality central one time, told me that you cannot convert a die-hard patriarch, and I have found this to be true. The more you discuss the topic, the more you see the spark of anger grow in thier eyes…….they must defend thier precious male privledge teachings no matter what the cost.
I was wondering if any of you have suffered any physical problems as a result of having to promote female equality on such a continual basis?
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Can’t say that I have. But I can say that I no longer recognize PMS (patriarchy/male supremacism) as remotely Christian. It is repackaged Mormonism or Islam with Jesus tacked on (or as I put it elsewhere, it’s like slathering cream cheese frosting on concrete and calling it spice cake). Works religion is works religion, and it is never Christian.
So instead of trying to fix a house overrun with termites, we have reached the point where the house must be torched and rebuilt.
I’m considering making up a spoof site (like the atheists’ Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster) to sarcastically promote MFS (matriarchy/female supremacism), just to illustrate the absurdity of flesh-based religion and remind everyone that it is EQ, not “mild patriarchy” (comp) which is the true middle point. In another blog, the author actually believes that comp is the true middle between patriarchy and egal!
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People have told me that I am reading things into what other people say. I have found that it is virtually impossible for me to sit quietly and let teachers/preachers spoon feed me things that are not true. Most often I confront teachers/preachers about little off hand comments that are made from the pulpit. An evangelist made a comment to this effect one time. If I were a judge and a woman came to me accusing a man of rape, I would ask her *what* she was wearing. If she had been wearing a short skirt I would make the ruling *case closed*. This is the kind of crap that I hear off and on. Needless to say, I tuned him out and did not hear anything else he said.
“So instead of trying to fix a house overrun with termites, we have reached the point where the house must be torched and rebuilt.”
You know Paula, it is horrible to have to make such a statment, but what else can be done? There is so much false teaching (not just male superemacy) that when you confront it, they try to destroy you. These termites destroy the spirit and the mind and believe they are doing God’s work while they are biting on you.
A spoof site for MFS sounds great! I haven’t seen one of those. There is a site for quiverfull men………it’s good.
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My solution/cure/Rx:
Stop attending comp/patri churches. Stop listening to or reading comp/patri preachers & teachers.
“Just DON’T it.”
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Thanks Eric. But, I don’t think there is such a thing as a egalitarian church where i live. But, I agree that I can do better about avoiding comp sites. I google egal and get majority comp material. They are termites and we are infested.
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Start one! 🙂
In your home and/or with your like-minded friends.
Call it “The House of Jezebel” 🙂
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Eric, we must be related somehow… I’m thinking of calling the study NT I’m working on The Jezebel Version. 😛
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That’s too obvious. Call it The Junia Version or The Priscilla Version. That way you’ll call attention to the issue at hand – which is that the NT has women LEADERS and TEACHERS.
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Know what? I think I’ll call it The Gift.
Not only for Jesus being the Gift but also for His faith being about gifts instead of the flesh.
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Ohhh, I really like that title, Paula!
The Gift.
It’s beautiful… and loaded with promise and hope.
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Tanx Sonnet. 🙂 I just hope somebody hasn’t already taken that name.
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I know David Reagan having hosted his conferences several times at Mega’s across the land. David is not shy about taking the donations of widowed women to support his ministry so I guess they are good for something. (wink)
In fact, Patriarchs have NO trouble taking money from single or widowed women for their income. Kind of hypocritical, isn’t it, considering what they believe about women.
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Let me say one more thing about all this…if women would stop giving money, buying their books, tickets to their seminars, etc , they would have very little income. Women actually make most of the giving decisions. Even comp women influence the parachurch giving decisions of the home.
Dobson would be broke in a day if women stopped giving to him.
Most big time ministries know this as they do all kinds of research on giving trends. Women actually support the entities that want to deny them full inheritance in Christ. Amazing, huh?
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It really is, though I’m sure we could find a more accurate but less flattering word for it than “amazing”. 😉 It’s just like Islam; many “Christian” women are flocking to it. It defies all reason and probably is a foretaste of the intense deception about to descend on the whole world, prophetically speaking.
I still say that if women have inherited anything from Eve, it’s not a Jezebel spirit that wants to control, but a willingness to be abused in some way. And we all know who’s behind that.
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