Cheryl Bridges Johns holds the Robert E. Fisher Chair of Spiritual Renewal at Pentecostal Theological Seminary. Her book, “Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause: An Unexpected Spiritual Journey” (Brazos Press), will be released on March 17. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

The ancient Greeks believed the female body was particularly tainted and inferior. Women were seen as less rational than men and driven by instincts, and as such, they were closer to animals than to men. A woman’s uterus (Gk.: Hysterika) was a troublesome creature that roamed throughout her body, driving her mad with urges to have sex. Quipped Hippocrates, “What is woman? Disease.” We can thank him for the term “hysteria,” which later became a catchall phrase for “women’s disease.”

The ancient church father Tertullian, in his treatise “On the Apparel of Women,” broke into a tirade against women: “And do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? You are the devil’s gateway. … You destroyed so easily God’s image: Man.”

It was Tertullian I was thinking of as I read Rachel Jones’ recent article, “PMS: The Monthly Fight with the Flesh,” on The Gospel Coalition website. Jones, who suffers with premenstrual syndrome, commonly referred to as PMS, believes her struggle offers a window into the spiritual reality of the war of the flesh against the Spirit. Jones invokes the Apostle Paul’s words from his letter to the Galatians, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

Online reaction to Jones’ argument was swift. Many women expressed feeling shamed by the post, which seemed to equate PMS symptoms, which she called “a fight with the flesh,” with sin.

Many of the theologians in the ancient church, including Paul, were influenced by Hellenistic (Greek) philosophy, which promoted the idea that spirit was superior to the body. In the course of time, Paul’s usage of the flesh became synonymous with the body. In order to fight the flesh, Christians have denigrated the body and waged all war against it.

Jones is not ignorant of how Paul uses the phrase “the flesh.” His purpose, she wrote, is to refer to “the whole person as under the impulses of sin.” But in advising Christian women about how to deal with PMS, Jones jumps to the role of the body as the battleground on which the war against sin is fought and stays there.

A better reading of Paul’s use of the word “flesh” would be to include the dimensions of the mind, the affections and the will. To fight this fight is to have the mind of Christ, to love as God loves, and to live in obedience to God’s will.

But even if Jones were to restrict herself to emotions, she too readily identifies negative emotions as sinful. They are not. This is the real danger of Jones’ argument. In a conservative Christian world where pleasantness and niceness define a Christian woman, negative emotions are already too often considered shameful. Jones not only supports this view, she perpetuates images of women as ruled by their hormones, which in turn serves the ideology that women are designed by God to submit to the leadership of men.

Source: Religion News Service

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This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International with the Whyte House Family Devotional Reading of Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening podcast. This is Episode #49.

Charles Spurgeon was a prominent English Particular Baptist preacher. He was very influential among the Christians of various denominations during his age and even today, and is commonly called the “Prince of Preachers”. After some time of alternately searching for God and running from God, he had a powerful encounter which led him to give his life to Christ. Spurgeon was only 16 when he preached his first sermon and he began publishing books shortly afterward. At the time of his death, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions. Spurgeon said, “encouraging thoughts are like honey to the heart”, and wrote this devotional in hopes that its uplifting messages for each day of the year would bring comfort and refreshment to our walk with God. He was inspired by Isaiah 50:4 which reads, “He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned” and Psalm 63:5-6 which says, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.”

Isaiah 63:7 reads: “I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.”

And canst thou not do this? Are there no mercies which thou hast experienced? What, though thou art gloomy now, canst thou forget that blessed hour when Jesus met thee, and said, “Come unto me”? Canst thou not remember that rapturous moment when he snapped thy fetters, dashed thy chains to the earth, and said, “I came to break thy bonds and set thee free”? Or if the love of thine espousals be forgotten, there must surely be some precious milestone along the road of life not quite grown over with moss, on which thou canst read a happy memorial of his mercy towards thee? What, didst thou never have a sickness like that which thou art suffering now, and did he not restore thee? Wert thou never poor before, and did he not supply thy wants? Wast thou never in straits before, and did he not deliver thee? Arise, go to the river of thine experience, and pull up a few bulrushes, and plait them into an ark, wherein thine infant—faith—may float safely on the stream. Forget not what thy God has done for thee; turn over the book of thy remembrance, and consider the days of old. Canst thou not remember the hill Mizar? Did the Lord never meet with thee at Hermon? Hast thou never climbed the Delectable Mountains? Hast thou never been helped in time of need? Nay, I know thou hast. Go back, then, a little way to the choice mercies of yesterday, and though all may be dark now, light up the lamps of the past, they shall glitter through the darkness, and thou shalt trust in the Lord till the day break and the shadows flee away. “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been ever of old.”

PRAY.

Thank you for listening to the Morning and Evening podcast. If you do not know the Lord as your Savior, here is how you can be saved from Hell and walk with the Lord morning and evening until you go to that wonderful place called Heaven when you die:

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

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This is Daniel Whyte III president of Gospel Light Society International with The Scripture & the Sense Podcast #435, where I read the Word of God and give the sense of it based on an authoritative commentary source such as the Bible Knowledge Commentary or Matthew Henry Commentary. This podcast is based upon Nehemiah 8:8 where it says Ezra and the Levites “read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” The aim of this podcast is that through the simple reading of the Word of God and the giving of the sense of it, the church would be revived and the world would be awakened.

Today we are reading Amos 3:11.

11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

________

That was Amos 3:11. Now here is the sense of it.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary reads:

In three progressive declarations Amos unfolded the catastrophe that would come on Israel because of her unparalleled oppression. An enemy, the sovereign Lord said, would invade and overrun the land, pulling down and plundering the nation’s defenses. The fortresses of the looters would themselves be looted.

____________

Thank you for listening to the Scripture & The Sense Podcast. Remember to read the Word of God each and every day and pray without ceasing to God for wisdom to understand it and apply it to your life. Most importantly, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Please stay tuned for a complete presentation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ so that you can get your soul saved from Hell to that wonderful place called Heaven when you die. May God bless you and keep you is my prayer.

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Cheryl Bridges Johns holds the Robert E. Fisher Chair of Spiritual Renewal at Pentecostal Theological Seminary. Her book, “Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause: An Unexpected Spiritual Journey” (Brazos Press), will be released on March 17. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

The ancient Greeks believed the female body was particularly tainted and inferior. Women were seen as less rational than men and driven by instincts, and as such, they were closer to animals than to men. A woman’s uterus (Gk.: Hysterika) was a troublesome creature that roamed throughout her body, driving her mad with urges to have sex. Quipped Hippocrates, “What is woman? Disease.” We can thank him for the term “hysteria,” which later became a catchall phrase for “women’s disease.”

The ancient church father Tertullian, in his treatise “On the Apparel of Women,” broke into a tirade against women: “And do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? You are the devil’s gateway. … You destroyed so easily God’s image: Man.”

It was Tertullian I was thinking of as I read Rachel Jones’ recent article, “PMS: The Monthly Fight with the Flesh,” on The Gospel Coalition website. Jones, who suffers with premenstrual syndrome, commonly referred to as PMS, believes her struggle offers a window into the spiritual reality of the war of the flesh against the Spirit. Jones invokes the Apostle Paul’s words from his letter to the Galatians, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

Online reaction to Jones’ argument was swift. Many women expressed feeling shamed by the post, which seemed to equate PMS symptoms, which she called “a fight with the flesh,” with sin.

Many of the theologians in the ancient church, including Paul, were influenced by Hellenistic (Greek) philosophy, which promoted the idea that spirit was superior to the body. In the course of time, Paul’s usage of the flesh became synonymous with the body. In order to fight the flesh, Christians have denigrated the body and waged all war against it.

Jones is not ignorant of how Paul uses the phrase “the flesh.” His purpose, she wrote, is to refer to “the whole person as under the impulses of sin.” But in advising Christian women about how to deal with PMS, Jones jumps to the role of the body as the battleground on which the war against sin is fought and stays there.

A better reading of Paul’s use of the word “flesh” would be to include the dimensions of the mind, the affections and the will. To fight this fight is to have the mind of Christ, to love as God loves, and to live in obedience to God’s will.

But even if Jones were to restrict herself to emotions, she too readily identifies negative emotions as sinful. They are not. This is the real danger of Jones’ argument. In a conservative Christian world where pleasantness and niceness define a Christian woman, negative emotions are already too often considered shameful. Jones not only supports this view, she perpetuates images of women as ruled by their hormones, which in turn serves the ideology that women are designed by God to submit to the leadership of men.

Source: Religion News Service

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Back when he was the mayor of Burlington, Vt., Bernie Sanders wrote to a Russian official in the late 1980s about creating a sister city relationship. Communist officials in the Soviet Union couldn’t have been happier, viewing it as a chance to exploit that relationship and others like it for propaganda purposes. 

The New York Times reports it examined letters, telegrams, and internal Soviet government documents that revealed in greater detail the extent of Sanders’ effort to establish ties between his city and a country many Americans then still considered a dangerous enemy.

Sanders’ desire for friendship fell in line with a goal of Kremlin officials to “reveal American imperialism as the main source of the danger of war.”

The documents also show how the Soviets wanted to use the sister-city exchanges as a way to sway American public opinion about their country. 

“One of the most useful channels, in practice, for actively carrying out information-propaganda efforts has proved to be sister-city contact,” a Soviet Foreign Ministry document said.

All the documents are part of a government archive in Yaroslavl, Russia, which later became the sister city of Burlington. The files are open to the public, though archivists there said that, until now, no one had asked to see them, according to The Times. 

The newspaper reported there is nothing in the documents to suggest that Sanders was the only American official targeted to be used in propaganda, but he is described in the papers as a socialist. 

In 1987, when Sanders announced that Burlington was seeking a Soviet sister city, several dozen other American cities already had a similar relationship or had applied for one. By 1989, there were 36 recorded affiliations, according to Sister Cities International. 

“Mayor Sanders was proud to join dozens of American cities in seeking to end the Cold War through a Sister Cities program that was encouraged by President Reagan himself,” a Sanders campaign spokesman, Mike Casca, said in a statement to The Times. 

“The exchange between Burlington and Yaroslavl, which continues to this day, confirmed Sanders’ long-held view: by meeting face to face, we can break down the barriers and stereotypes that exist between people and their governments,” he continued. 

The Times article published on Friday goes into detail about Sanders’ trip to the Soviet Union in 1988, which according to the paper, has been told before. The bottom line is that, in 1988, Sanders chose to spend his honeymoon in communist Moscow. Historian Lee Edwards wrote for the Heritage Foundation that Sanders visited Lenin’s tomb among other sites.

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The Vatican has reported its first case of coronavirus today – days after Pope Francis tested negative for the virus.

The discovery brings the epidemic to the city-state surrounded by Italy, which has confirmed more than 3,800 cases and 148 deaths due to the virus.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the new case was diagnosed on Thursday and that services in Vatican clinics had been suspended in order to deep clean the areas.

Bruni gave no details on whether the person who tested positive was a Vatican employee living in Italy or was among the few clergy and guards who live inside its walls.

Pope Francis himself tested negative for the virus after suffering from a cold last week. Today his official Twitter account said he wishes to ‘express my closeness to those who are ill with the coronavirus’.

The Vatican has also put another official into protective quarantine and shut the doors of its Apostolic Library to guard against the spread of the virus.

Most Vatican employees who use its health services live in Italy, on the other side of the border with the 108-acre city state.

The Vatican said it is working with Italian authorities to keep the coronavirus from spreading, with a suspension of Pope Francis’ weekly audiences likely.

It remains unclear how the Vatican will alter Francis’ schedule and other events leading up to Easter Sunday on April 12.

Francis would normally preside over the Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday, celebrate an Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica and deliver a traditional Urbi et Orbi message in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.

Source: Daily Mail

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