The Faith Church Affirming Gender Seminar is Approaching!

1

We are making final preparations here at Faith Church in Quarryville to host the first AffirmingGender event of the year. Our flyer with the event information has been well-publicized locally and we are coordinating with the FC Social-Outreach Committee to make it a great time. The conference will begin Friday night at 7:30pm with music from the talented Pastor Brett …

Ancient Equality

1

  Another Biblical Scenic Overlook from enGendered. Can you guess who they are before the end?   They were angry. These sisters were women with a mission, and no one—certainly no man, they were part of the problem—was going to stop them. When they reached the guards, men whose job it was to kill on sight anyone who approached improperly, …

Defining a New Humanity, Whether Intersexed Folks Want it Or Not

1

After the recent decision of New York State to create a third category of birth certificate, which I wrote a about in the post, “3 Questions to Ask About Intersex Birth Certificates,” World Magazine asked me  a reasonable question: If “a birth certificate is an historical record of the facts as they existed at the time of birth” and hermaphroditism …

When to Answer “Yes” to a Transgendered Person

3

When a friend or loved one finally discloses to us the struggle that they have had with their gender, whether it be simply feelings of gender dysphoria or a revelation that they have had hormone treatments or are now considering surgery, it is an important moment. What should be our response if we want to help our friend?   Of …

Did the Old Testament Law Force a Girl to Marry Her Rapist?

5

Sally, a young woman, shifted nervously as she confessed to my wife, Mary K., who was discipling her, her scary question about the Bible. It was about Deuteronomy, chapter 22. Vv28-29 seem to describe a shotgun wedding: 28 “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 …

Ahh, Priscilla

0

People of a certain persuasion often refer to Acts 18 to argue that we should make no distinctions between women and men in the church or, at least, that women should authoritatively teach in the church. Consider the verses with me: 1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native …

What is wrong with the term, “Same-Sex Marriage”?

1

Words Matter. We need to understand what happens when we elect to refer to two men entering into an intimate legal union as “Same-sex Marriage.” Of course, people need to be able to understand each other. So common terminology is good, right? And doesn’t this seem like a value-neutral term? Like “heterosexual marriage?” You are not passing any judgements in …

What is God’s Gender?

1

A reader writes: “You don’t really tackle the gender of God, why God reveals himself with masculine pronouns.” This is a helpful question.  It is also a very necessary one. Because the answer to the question confers something desperately needed by about half of the image-bearers of God. Many women grow up with a sneaking suspicion at the back of …

Where to Affirm Gender (Public Speaking engagements so far planned in 2017)

0

As far as engagements open to the public, we are beginning the year Affirming Gender locally. My own Faith Church will be hosting a seminar later this month. So if you are somewhere near southern Lancaster County, come join the fun!

Date: February 24-25 (Friday night-Saturday morning)

Place: Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church –611 Robert Fulton Highway, Quarryville. (It’s not actually a highway…in fact, it is really just Church Street, but it makes us feel bigger to call it a highway).

Here’s a link to a flyer with more information. We want to do this as a gift to our community so it will only be $5/person to cover food. Pastor Brett Rush will be doing music for it and each of the three sessions will include a Q&A time.

**In a few weeks, all subscribers to AffirmingGender.com will be receiving by email a free pass to this Quarryville event. We’d like to honor your expression of interest in the important matters of gender that you showed in joining the site. Thanks! With the free pass we want to especially welcome your participation in the seminar. **

 

But if you are in the real south, rather than just the southern end, look for a Gender conference at Peace Church in Cary, North Carolina (outside of Rawleigh) on the last day of September. This is another event open to the public. Rosaria Butterfield and I will be taking the stage to affirm gender together. We will keep you updated with more information.

 

See? There really are some places left to gather together to learn how to celebrate the gift!