girl talk

Radical Womanhood

Finally, I hold in my hands a copy of Carolyn McCulley's new book, Radical Womanhood. It will be widely available in only a few days, so pre-order your copy now! Here's a little more of why you should get this book from a post I wrote back in April:

 

 

Radical Womanhood

April 11, 2008

Today I pre-ordered my copy of a new book by our dear friend Carolyn McCulley entitled Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World. So what that it’s not due out until October 1, 2008. I’m just that excited about it. And you should be too.

Here’s how Carolyn describes the book:

The theme of the book is to explore what’s happened in the last 200 years in terms of feminist thinking and to sort through the good, the bad, and the ugly to understand our culture’s current thinking and how that compares/contrasts with what the Bible teaches. We’ll look at issues related to men, marriage, children, domesticity, sexuality, and the church. My goal is not to create an us/them self-righteous dialogue about feminism for two reasons: 1) Scripture teaches us that our real enemy is not flesh and blood; and 2) intellectual honesty demands that we acknowledge feminists initially addressed serious problems for women. We have derived some (limited) benefits from the three waves of feminism (1848 to today), but we need to be wise about how our culture thinks about key issues. Good observation does not make for correct interpretation. The interpretation has actually created many more problems for women. So that’s why in today’s world it’s truly radical for a woman to live in a counter-cultural way, glorifying God.

On second thought, maybe I don’t want to wait the six months plus the couple of days it will take my Amazon.com order to ship. Maybe, come October 1st, I’ll camp outside my local bookstore with other Carolyn McCulley fans to get the very first copy that hits the shelves.

In the meantime, we can all listen to Carolyn’s recent messages on Radical Womanhood shared with the women of CrossWay Community Church in Charlotte, NC a few weeks ago. They won’t last you until October but they’ll be great weekend listening.

Today I pre-ordered my copy of a new book by our dear friend Carolyn McCulley entitled Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World. So what that it’s not due out until October 1, 2008. I’m just that excited about it. And you should be too.

Here’s how Carolyn describes the book:

The theme of the book is to explore what’s happened in the last 200 years in terms of feminist thinking and to sort through the good, the bad, and the ugly to understand our culture’s current thinking and how that compares/contrasts with what the Bible teaches. We’ll look at issues related to men, marriage, children, domesticity, sexuality, and the church. My goal is not to create an us/them self-righteous dialogue about feminism for two reasons: 1) Scripture teaches us that our real enemy is not flesh and blood; and 2) intellectual honesty demands that we acknowledge feminists initially addressed serious problems for women. We have derived some (limited) benefits from the three waves of feminism (1848 to today), but we need to be wise about how our culture thinks about key issues. Good observation does not make for correct interpretation. The interpretation has actually created many more problems for women. So that’s why in today’s world it’s truly radical for a woman to live in a counter-cultural way, glorifying God.

On second thought, maybe I don’t want to wait the six months plus the couple of days it will take my Amazon.com order to ship. Maybe, come October 1st, I’ll camp outside my local bookstore with other Carolyn McCulley fans to get the very first copy that hits the shelves.

In the meantime, we can all listen to Carolyn’s recent messages on Radical Womanhood shared with the women of CrossWay Community Church in Charlotte, NC a few weeks ago. They won’t last you until October but they’ll be great weekend listening.

Like Corner Pillars

My toddler Tori is a happy and fearless sixteen month old. She has a grin as wide as her face and a reckless determination to get her way. I wonder what she’ll be like at sixteen years old. The very thought is an inducement to prayer!

This morning Steve read me a prayer from Psalm 144:12 that I plan to make my own for Tori (and Jack, of course): “May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for a structure of a palace.”

What a beautiful prayer to shape our hopes and dreams for our daughters—that they may be like “corner pillars cut for a structure of a palace.” It’s a striking image of a woman’s role as fleshed out in Proverbs 31 and Titus 2. This verse pictures young women “both occupying a secure position in the building and at the same time giving stability to the building in which they are themselves secure—the position of the wife and mother in a well-ordered society” (The New Bible Commentary). Or, more simply, as “the supports and the ornaments of domestic life” (John Pye Smith).

My prayer for Tori is first and foremost that God would save her sinful soul. But I also pray that, whether single or married, He would help me fashion her as a “support and ornament of domestic life.” That by the age of sixteen she would be a holy, humble, happy, home-loving girl.

Not only is this my prayer, but it will also be the focus of my training. And that’s the subject of our posts this week (at your request). How do we train our daughters to be competent homemakers, to give stability to the family in which they themselves are stable?

More thoughts to come….

"Radical Womanhood"

Today I pre-ordered my copy of a new book by our dear friend Carolyn McCulley entitled Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World. So what that it’s not due out until October 1, 2008. I’m just that excited about it. And you should be too.

Here’s how Carolyn describes the book:

The theme of the book is to explore what’s happened in the last 200 years in terms of feminist thinking and to sort through the good, the bad, and the ugly to understand our culture’s current thinking and how that compares/contrasts with what the Bible teaches. We’ll look at issues related to men, marriage, children, domesticity, sexuality, and the church. My goal is not to create an us/them self-righteous dialogue about feminism for two reasons: 1) Scripture teaches us that our real enemy is not flesh and blood; and 2) intellectual honesty demands that we acknowledge feminists initially addressed serious problems for women. We have derived some (limited) benefits from the three waves of feminism (1848 to today), but we need to be wise about how our culture thinks about key issues. Good observation does not make for correct interpretation. The interpretation has actually created many more problems for women. So that’s why in today’s world it’s truly radical for a woman to live in a counter-cultural way, glorifying God.

On second thought, maybe I don’t want to wait the six months plus the couple of days it will take my Amazon.com order to ship. Maybe, come October 1st, I’ll camp outside my local bookstore with other Carolyn McCulley fans to get the very first copy that hits the shelves.

In the meantime, we can all listen to Carolyn’s recent messages on Radical Womanhood shared with the women of CrossWay Community Church in Charlotte, NC a few weeks ago. They won’t last you until October but they’ll be great weekend listening.

More from the FamilyRoom

Girl's night at thefamilyroom not only featured an outstanding message by my mom, but it was an entire evening devoted to encouraging us to honor God through biblical femininity (and helping us laugh a little in the process!). Over the next two days, we're excited to share with you video footage of several program elements from our time together. We suggest you begin by listening to Mom's message to set the stage.

Today, we offer a video file of two powerful testimonies by Shannon Harris and Carol Bladen--women I love and respect. They each share how God transformed their lives and gave them a biblical perspective on what it means to be a woman.

Oh, and the lady introducing them with a pink curler in her hair is none other than our beloved Clara Boisvert, who brought her trademark humor to her role as emcee!

Enjoy!

What does it mean to be a woman?

It was "girls only" night at the Covenant Life Church familyroom last Friday. What a blast!

My mom shared a message on the topic of femininity, and she opened by asking this all-important question:

"What does it mean to be a woman?"

She noted that, "There are many conflicting voices in our culture— Each demanding we agree with their definition of womanhood, subscribe to their brand of femininity."

But we must, in the words of Jeremiah 6:16: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”

In her message, Mom spent time looking at the ancient paths--found only in Scripture--to discover what it means to be a woman and what it looks like in the daily life of the teenager, single woman, and married woman.

Wanna know what she said? Listen here.

Special Announcement

Last week, while we were busy interviewing Mary Mohler our friends at the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood launched a brand new website. It’s pleasant and inviting and easier to navigate, but it still retains the same great old vision: "to help believers and local churches benefit from glorious biblical truths about God’s design of men and women."

The new website is chock full of great content—so much so that it was difficult to tear myself away to write this post:

You can listen to audio messages like “The Joy of Homemaking” by Jodi Ware

There are books to download, such as Carolyn McCulley’s handbook for single women Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?

Back issues of the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood are now online. We’d recommend you start with Volume 11, No. 2—with articles by women for women.

And finally don’t miss today’s blog post: Confessions of a Recovering Feminist.

Well, I’m headed back to cbmw.org to browse some more. I hope you’ll join me.

A Wifely Appeal

If you haven’t yet perused John Piper’s article on “submission” that we highlighted in yesterday’s post, may I request you stop now and go read it? It’s too good to pass up!

One point Dr. Piper makes in his article is that “there will be times in a Christian marriage when the most submissive wife, with good reason, will hesitate at a husband’s decision. It may look unwise to her.” He goes on to encourage wives to express their misgivings in a manner that endorses her husband’s leadership and affirms him in his role as head.

How do we share a concern with our husband in a God-honoring way? John Ensor explains in his new book, Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart:

“[A husband] will be far more apt to give [consideration to his wife’s appeal] when it is heard as an appeal or a suggestion rather than a directive. Think of it as the difference between casting a flashlight down the path versus pointing it in his face. Direct light causes us to close our eyes. Indirect light, pointed away from them, cause us to strain to see.”

Let’s purpose as wives to wisely use our flashlights! If we think our husband has made an unwise decision, we aren’t to simply keep our mouths shut and hope things will turn out alright. Rather, we should put our trust in God and lovingly and humbly appeal—in a manner that makes it easy for our husbands to see.

Piper on Submission

Today we want to refer you to an oustanding article by John Piper entitled "The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission." Here's an excerpt that will surely make you want to read more:

"A Christian woman does not put her hope in her husband, or in getting a husband. She does not put her hope in her looks. She puts her hope in the promises of God...She looks away from the troubles and miseries and obstacles of life that seem to make the future bleak, and she focuses her attention on the sovereign power and love of God who rules in heaven and does on earth whatever he pleases. She knows her Bible, and she knows her theology of the sovereignty of God, and she knows his promise that he will be with her and help her strengthen her no matter what. This is the deep, unshakeable root of Christian womanhood."

What did I tell you? This article is worth reading, studying, and sharing with friends. Or, if you prefer, you can listen, or even watch Dr. Piper deliver this sermon.

Love and Good Deeds

Yesterday, I had lunch at Red Robin with my dear friend, Marie. We hadn’t been together since she and her family moved about 45 minutes north to Frederick, Maryland where her husband assumed the role of Senior Pastor for the newly planted Sovereign Grace Church of Frederick. She and I had lots of catching up to do!

However, it was only moments after our initial exchange of “How are you? How’s the family? What did you do for Thanksgiving?” when Marie announced with pencil and paper in hand: “I have one question before we begin. How can I be praying for you?"

After brief reflection, I conveyed three areas for which I would appreciate her prayers. She wrote each one down, thanked me for sharing and then assured me she would pray.

I know she will. And I am deeply grateful.

I’m also provoked by her example. Hebrews 10:24 challenges us to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Marie did that for me yesterday. Though I’m sure she didn’t realize it, her love expressed in her good deed to pray for me spurs me on to love others more fervently and to be more diligent to do good deeds for them. Thank you, Marie! 

JBMW

Have I got a super great resource for you today!

I may be a little biased, but the fall edition of the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (published by CBMW published by and posted online with permission by Sovereign Grace Ministries) just came out featuring several of my favorite people. Yep, among the many contributing female authors, you will find Mom and Nicole along with our great friend Carolyn McCulley. Mom and Nicole have two articles taken from Girl Talk on homemaking ("Homemaking Internship" and "Future Homemakers") and Carolyn has an excellent piece entitled, "When You Don't Have a Better Half: Encouraging Biblical Roles as a Single Woman." Enjoy your read!