Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Would you believe I spent most of my life thinking of this day only in terms of retail sales and ski resort blackout dates? I knew who MLK was (sort of) and what he did (a little) and I knew his actions were significant for black men and women. But I’m not black, so I paid little attention.
If we believe God sovereign only when our candidate is in power, we do not believe God is sovereign at all.
Since reading The Tech Wise Family by Andy Crouch a few years ago, I’ve worked hard to create boundaries with my phone, laptop and TV. Though we aren’t anywhere near as strict as the Crouch family, we do endeavor to have tech boundaries in place. The quarantine of 2020, however, really did a number on our family culture. I don’t regret the increase in family TV time (we probably watched five seasons of Forged in Fire and the Great British Baking Show, each, plus other favorites) but going into the new year and a new school semester for the girls we need to get back to our boundaries.
I’m writing this at the turn of the new year, when many of us begin thinking about a Bible reading plan for the next twelve months. I personally use the last week of December to plan my study focus for the next year along with my annual goals. However, there is no bad time to choose a reading plan! You don’t need a new year to adapt your study, and you can quit a reading plan that isn’t serving you anytime. Read that again!
This Christmas, I get to hold my three month old son in my arms. I get to gather my two older daughters together, rumpled in their ballerina pajamas, on Christmas morning. I get to hear their hearts beat as I hug them and see the life dance in their eyes.
Not every mother gets to experience that this Christmas.
![Modesty & the Real Weaker “Brother” [The Women’s Issues Series]](https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/wp-content/uploads/jeremy-bishop-h9NU6laTNzM-unsplash-1080x675.jpg)
Don’t cause a brother to stumble.
We’ve heard this phrase applied to modesty, but do we really know the context of Romans 14? Who is the weaker brother – the man, or the woman? The answer varies based on who we’re talking about, but that’s not something you learned if you grew up in purity culture. In PC, the weaker brother is always the man.
The tears came hot, pouring from the corners of my eyes in the dark, forming two spots on the pillow behind my ears. Josh was asleep, Van was snoring the soft purr of a baby in his bassinet. But I couldn’t sleep.
I closed my eyes and saw them again.
The baby born still and cold.
The child hungry and thin, his eyes looking widely at the camera as if it could feed him.
![Synthesizing Christianity and Feminism [The Women’s Issues Series]](https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/wp-content/uploads/lindsey-lamont-hUWINRMPvsc-unsplash-1080x675.jpg)
Jesus was a feminist… or was He? Within the church we see a sharp divide between Christians who call themselves feminist and those who go so far as to take the label “anti-feminist” – and everything in between. Feminism has morphed and changed with each of its four waves, with the mission developing as time goes on. The feminism of 2020 is not the same as the feminism of Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
All Saints Day was first instituted in 735 AD by Pope Gregory IV, who moved the date from its previous observance in May to its new date of November 1st. This day was meant to celebrate the martyrs, and most likely emerged in the first few centuries after the Diocletian persecution of the church (which came before Constantine legalized Christianity in the 300s). The “saints” were (and are) believers in Christ and/or martyrs for the faith.
![Gender Roles in a Christian Marriage [The Women’s Issues Series]](https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/wp-content/uploads/samantha-gades-N1CZNuM_Fd8-unsplash-1080x675.jpg)
What does Genesis 3:16 mean – her desire is “for” her husband? What does 1 Timothy 2 intend, saying women must remain silent? How does this play out in marriage? This is the subject of this week’s episode of Verity podcast!