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“The scripture generally uses the masculine pronoun to refer to God, while at the same time acknowledging that male and female do not apply to him, as he is spirit. Attributes generally associated with the feminine are ascribed to him, such as nurturing, sheltering, mothering, birthing, and nursing, to describe the indescribable and incomprehensible God. And attributes generally associated with masculine are ascribed to him, such as kingship, fatherhood, husband, bridegroom, and so on….”

From the archives…

I continue to be astounded at the damage done by “Biblical Manhood and Womanhood”.

It’s like Piper and Grudem created this ugly troll out of wholecloth and then it took a life of its own.

And the most hateful, sexist, cowardly, loud-mouthed, rude, reviling and abusive men have infiltrated every denomination.

The damage is severe, everyone.

Most of the time I feel that the job is way, way, way to big.

The damage is too great, the consequences are horrendous, the pain is real, and it is often a matter of life and death.

But then I remember that the battle isn’t mine. That it IS too big for me. And I am far too tired.

The Spirit of God reminds me that the Kingdom of God is built one person at a time.

That I can do. I can listen. I can sit with you in the darkness. And above all, I can point you to Jesus. As many times as it takes.

While all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.

The ship is heading to the rocks, the house is falling down, the established church is for the most part pretending that there isn’t a problem and the ugly ones are getting more and more powerful.

I’m outside the camp. But the Scripture reminds me that is where Jesus is. Meet me at his feet.

For more information, go to my website

www.sampowellministries.com

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-by7yf-118be64

When mankind fell, enmity and disharmony entered creation. We are restless and at war – with each other, with our spouses, with creation, with the ground, and with God Himself.
But Christ has promised rest – He will take that enmity upon himself and bring us rest.

There is something sneaky about grief. It creeps up behind you while you are weeding the garden or watching the hummingbirds and it bashes you over the head.
Or it sneaks into your pores and hides in the nooks and crannies of the soul only to come out of hiding when you aren’t occupied with anything else.
The song over the speakers in the grocery store. The coffee shop that you used to go to. The street you used to walk down. The hymns you used to sing…

It is so painful and so brutally honest that MostPeople hide from it, bury it, will offer their souls to just make it stop…

But wisdom walks with grief. Wisdom weeps and cries out. Wisdom takes grief out of hiding and turns it this way and that…not to find a solution, but just to grieve.

Grief is the B-side of love. Only those who love much grieve much.
Wisdom sits with grief, not trying to learn, not trying to manage, not trying to overcome – just sits with it…
When we sit with grief, it has a way of pointing us somewhere else. It reminds us that we were not made for this world and this is not how it is supposed to be.
And we are powerless to do anything about it. And so we cry out to a Saviour who hears us, who has conquered death, who walks with us through the dark valleys…
Everything else seems to fade away.
We still eat. We still vote. We still have our opinions about viruses and vaccines. We still have our experiences and personalities.
But suddenly they don’t seem all that important anymore.

Grief is the B-side of love. And when one sits with grief, everything except love is stripped away.
But only if you sit with it without trying to learn anything from it.
Growth comes from the rain of grief coupled with patience.
Take time to grieve.
Every plant has its own pace. Let the rain do its work.

Excellent stuff here. He nails it exactly.