Profound and Sometimes Preposterous Ponderings of Pete

1 Timothy 2: 12  I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. Due to the interpretation of that verse, over the past 30+ years, there has been a rise in debate amongst Christian churches, of whether or not women should be allowed to be pastors, leaders over men, and teachers of men in the church.  For the most part, the giftings, talents, and competency of women who do lead/preach/teach are not questioned, even by those who staunchly oppose it. It will be my attempt to show readers that there is strong evidence that the traditional interpretation of the passage is in error. When engaging in Bible study, the standard process amongst scholars, is to look at who was writing and who was the audience, the context of the passage, how it relates to the rest of the Bible (this would include other writings of the author, if any, and if New Testament, how it relates to the Old Testament), and finally how it was applied and h...

Sorry, I am not talking about marriage.  I am talking about grieving.  Why? Some of my dearest friends are approaching the first anniversary of the death of their father, friend, husband, son.  Myself included.  Eric Van Rhee was bigger than life in many ways.  He was a great father, a wonderful husband, and an irreplaceable friend.  He died February 18, 2016.  The hole he left in his family and his church was huge.  The hole he left in my family's life was huge as well. I have not spoken much about it for 2 reasons. 1. I did not want to diminish the grief of his family and closest friends and 2. we were not the only ones who were grieving him. That being said, I feel deeply moved to speak on this. Those who have lost someone very close to them know this. That first anniversary is extremely difficult.  It feels like it is happening all over again. The barely scabbed wound is ripped open and your heart starts bleeding again.  Why I am ...

So Donald Trump will be sworn in tomorrow. I did not vote for him.  Many of my friends did. I did not vote for Hillary Clinton either. My family might have. I did vote.  So my candidate did not win.  What now? Doomsday wailing? Should I riot?  Should I threaten the lives of celebrities and their families for considering performing at the inaugural? If I did any of these things, I could not consider myself a citizen of the United States of America. True Americans do not rebel against a duly elected president. True Americans do not riot and cause harm to innocent people in their neighborhoods because their candidate lost. True Americans don't threaten or harm those who supported the winning candidate. True Americans do not look for any excuse whether valid or not to slander the winner and his family. True Americans do not ignore the constitution or obey it when it does not or does fit their social and political agendas. True Americans do not hide behind lo...

Awaken church don't let our children perish, sacrificed at alters where deviance will flourish. Our Lord has cursed those who sway the pure, Who take the innocent where hate will endure. Don't still your voice in compromise, Don't let false peace become their demise. Always let unfettered love prevail, and strongholds of lies we must assail. Not so that we can always be right, nor self righteous judgement be our fight. But so that God's kingdom will on earth become, Our refuge, our haven, our only true home. So after the war, and the smoke has cleared, our lives will disproved what the world has feared. The wounded young will walk as healed, and God's full plan will be revealed. Awaken church and save our wards, not with anger nor with swords. But with all the love that He showed, on the cross where His blood flowed.

Lately, I have read from a few Christian writers as well as multi-media posts and blogs, condemning homosexuality.  Is it a sin?  I believe that the Bible is specific that it is. Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. I will come back to that in a minute.  The thing that bugs me is why homosexuality is singled out by Christians.  I have heard it said that there is an appli...

1 Cor 12:24 But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. I have so many times hesitated to ask for prayer because my needs seemed so much less than those who seemed to be "truly" suffering.  How can I complain about my pain when there are brothers and sisters in my local church who are confined to a wheel chair, or a walker, or etc?  Or how can I cry about my bills when there are people who are struggling to feed themselves or their children? Are you seeing my predicament? Well I have been in almost all of those places.  Not fun.   It never, I will say it again, it N E V E R feels good to experience the suffering.  There are many scriptures about suffering, some of which you have read or heard quoted to you.  In the ...

Common Christian laments: "They are trying to take Christ out of Christmas!" "With all that commercialization it is no longer a holy day." and still my favorite, "Jesus is the reason for the season!" Guess what? He is not the reason.  His word even says so.  Let's go see: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Not convinced?  OK.  Let's look again. Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths an...