Originally, God made men and women to be equal. So the people who "always say 'man and woman'  were  created equal" are right. It is also correct that because of sin and imperfection, that is no longer the case. After sin, women were given two curses (according to  Genesis 3:16 ): Pain with childbirth Superiority of husband From that time onward, women have always had a slightly lower status because Eve proved that we can't be left alone (and whether we wish to believe that or not, it is true).  However, we are all still equal in  worth . God does not change His behavior based on the gender He is working with. Though we see that the majority of the Bible is focused on men due to culture, there were definitely women worth mentioning-- Rahab, Ruth, Esther, Phoebe, Chloe, Miriam, Zipporah, Lydia, the female followers of Jesus, etc. And I'm quite sure that God used women in other scenarios, too, who simply were not mentioned, just as there are some males who pl...

Dancing has a bit of a history. It is most often related to the worship of false gods, spiritualism (which is VERY different from spirituality), and, more commonly,  sex  (and yes, I said it).  I do not believe that God had or has any issues with dancing, as there are several verses in HIS BOOK which point out that activity (Ecclesiastes 3:4; Psalm 30:11; Lamentations 5:15). By looking at these verses, and many more,  dancing is a form of expressing great joy . King David danced when the Ark of God was come back to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:14-16) Miriam danced when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea unharmed (Exodus 15:20) Jepthath's daughter danced when her father returned from war (Judges 11:34) the father of the prodigal son held a party with "music and dancing" (Luke 15:25) Joy. Inexpressible joy. Overflowing joy.  However, we also have dance in the Bible in relation to idol worship-- which God has commanded against in Exodus 20:2-6-- and sensua...

One who holds the elements of true love (based on 1 Corinthians 13 and 1 John 4) is: Patient Kind Non-envious  Humble Couth (not obnoxious or obsessed) Unselfish/Servile Even-tempered Pure-minded Righteous-loving Honest Unfearing Perfect (in God alone) Eternal God--  all good and perfect relationships of any sort include God Lust, my friend, is the opposite of these characteristics:  Impatience Meanness Envy/Competition Arrogance Obsession Selfishness Bad Temper Lewd Mind Love of Wrong-doing Deceit Fear Imperfection/Self-consciousness Temporary No Divine Strength

Sunday: Esther 3 Monday: Esther 4 Tuesday: Esther 5 Wednesday: Esther 6 Thursday: Esther 7 Friday: Esther 8 Sabbath: Esther 9-10

Sunday: Daniel 2 Monday: Daniel 3 Tuesday: Daniel 4 Wednesday: Daniel 5 Thursday: Daniel 6 Friday: Esther 1 Sabbath: Esther 2

The previous focus in this series was the visual learner. This post give tips for the auditory learner, again in the three components of the Christian lifestyle (academics, spirituality, leadership): School Life: To do well in school, you can ask your teachers if you can bring in a portable recorder or use an mp3/iPod to record you classes. If you have a hard time taking notes “live” (in class during the lecture), you can make time to listen to the recording at home and take notes then. Spiritual Life: For personal devotions, you can listen to the Bible being read (Zondervan sells an audio Bible, and Bible.is is online) while reading along; you could put the audio Bible on your laptop, iPod/mp3/mp4 player to carry it around with you throughout the day too. Leadership Life: If you are the leader of a group, you can lead your team out in a discussion on what should be done and record the discussion for further insight. Then you could compile the plans into a fact sheet with a colorf...

Sunday: Genesis 45 Monday: 2Kings 5:1-19 Tuesday: Ruth 1 Wednesday: Ruth 2 Thursday: Ruth 3 Friday: Ruth 4 Sabbath: Daniel 1