-
In Defense of Words
Words get a bad rap these days. Especially words spoken by Christians. (You know, of course, that we’ve become the villains of our times.) We’ve earned a measure of our poor reputation through hypocrisy and lazy faith. That’s a sad state of affairs each of us must address in our mirrors and in our reflections …[ read more ]
-
The Distinctive Communication Style of Pharisees
Pharisees have a distinctive style of communication. We see it play out repeatedly in their interactions with Jesus. It’s important in our efforts to fight our inner Pharisee to be aware of how Pharisees behave. In my first post in this series , I mentioned three things you notice right away about Pharisees. This time, it’s important to listen to what they …[ read more ]
-
Five Ways to Be an Older Woman Younger Women Can Hear
They’re not listening. This is the complaint I hear from my contemporaries about the next generations. Women of a certain age worry about the generations coming up behind us. We know we have a biblically-ordained responsibility to reach and teach younger women, but we flounder in this task. Largely because we view it as a …[ read more ]
-
Controlling the Narrative – How Christians Are Getting It All Wrong
We’re doing it wrong. Really wrong. But, it’s not hard to do it right. This post won’t take long. These are the days of public relations, round-the-clock communication, social media, and spin. Anyone with an agenda or message knows how important it is to “control the narrative” or “get ahead of the story” when engaging others. Politicians, entertainers, business giants, and even the church …[ read more ]
-
The First Thing You Notice about Pharisees
I have lately taken up the study of Pharisee watching. It started when a twenty-something gushed over advice I’d provided and referred to me as “wise” (old). It was further inspired when another staffer asked how old someone born in 1978 would be and the reply was forty. Forty? Really. Forty? I left high school …[ read more ]