A Woman of Chayil: Far Above Rubies by Jane Carole Anderson

[TLFisher]

By no means do I feel abuse of women is comprehensive in society.
I've known brothers whose approach towards marriage life having tendencies towards abuse and others who aren't.
Does one as a brother feel that his spouse's feeling and opinion bear no weight? That's a brother who tends to lord over his wife.
Does a brother listen and value his spouse's feelings and opinion? That's a brother likely to have an Ephesians 5 view towards his own marriage. From personal experience I was raised in a home I never heard my father raise his voice at my mother. My father never called her names. He never expressed any temper at my mother. Though there were many opportunities he could have. My father never did.
General I have felt in the local churches sisters have been devalued. Sure, it's encouraged for sisters to speak and exercise their spirit in prophesying meetings. However if a sister or sisters feel there's too much emphasis on the ministry and not enough on the family, you can expect a condescending word from elders and responsible brothers. One I've heard from RK in many a message.
There's a big disconnect with brothers and sisters. Brothers are ministry oriented. Jockeying for position who's going to be first among the disciples. Sisters are Christ oriented. Just like Mary, they're lovers of Jesus.

[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by Terry

There's a big disconnect with brothers and sisters. Brothers are ministry oriented. Jockeying for position who's going to be first among the disciples. Sisters are Christ oriented. Just like Mary, they're lovers of Jesus.

In general, perhaps. But I know of women who are jockeying for positions in the church as well, in denominations. And don't forget the scheming mothers or wives behind the scenes, the ones pushing their sons or husbands to achieve greatness.

[Nell]

The Message of this Book

Through time spent at His feet and many experiences over the years, God has fine-tuned for me a biblical truth that is foundational for the message of this book: God requires us to do our part in having and maintaining right relationships with Him and with others in the body of Christ. Offenses among believers must always be biblically addressed with the goal of reconciliation. When they are not, the parties involved are left with broken relationships with each other. Our heavenly Father is not pleased when there are such problems in His family. He considers failure to address such relational offenses to be sin. His Word requires that all believers involved in any relational conflict, whether they be victim or perpetrator, take biblical steps to remove the offense. Failure to do so leaves the unaddressed offense like a spiritual cancer in the body of Christ. It silently grows and gradually spreads. It interferes with the normal function of the body and brings death. Prayers go unanswered because ongoing sin among God’s people always hinders God’s answers to their prayers (Isa. 59).

A Woman of Chayil [khah’-yil] takes an in-depth look at a huge, long-term relational sin in the body of Christ. This sin has gone basically unidentified, unrecognized, and unaddressed. This spiritual cancer began at the time of the Fall and has been growing and metastasizing among human beings for several millennia. In the Body of Christ, it is found in the improper relationship that exists between Christian women and Christian men. Since the early beginnings of the church, the devil has been able to use Christian men who hold errant beliefs to carry out his hatred of women, hatred which began at the time of the Fall, by stifling, subduing, and abusing them under the mantle of male authority. Christian women also have been used to silently enable abusive men and, thereby, perpetuate their own mistreatment. Thus, both genders are responsible for the cancerous state of affairs that has hindered and blocked much needed answers to the prayers of the body of Christ. Both genders are responsible for grieving the Holy Spirit and frustrating the work of the Holy Spirit on the earth.

I believe that when both men and women begin to acknowledge and correct the part they each play in the perpetuation of this great offense, healing will begin. The church and the earth will begin to experience a fresh outpouring of spiritual life. There will be a spiritual revival the likes of which have never been seen. Such a revival is certainly needed in the times in which we live.

I am not a feminist. I am a free woman in Christ. I have written this book from my perspective as a Christian woman who spent many years in enabling silence, having been subdued and suppressed by numerous Christian men. I have since learned to a large degree to overcome my sin of enabling my fellow believers. Enabling comes naturally to many women and thus remains unidentified as a sin. It is fitting that I do my part to help other women recognize this sin and learn how, by walking with Christ, to end their silence and stop enabling the Christian men who sin against them. In this way they will begin to do what God requires of them towards the removal of a deadly spiritual cancer from the body of Christ.

A Controversial Topic

In many Christian circles, women cannot speak about the subject of this book without facing criticism, opposition, and even shaming from those who have historically played a major role in silencing them. For Christian women to break silence and question the validity of their traditionally-defined place in the family of God is, in itself, an act outside the boundaries which have been established for them over many centuries. This sad situation is made even sadder by the fact that many God-fearing Christian women don’t even venture to think about the topic, much less pose questions about it, lest they be found guilty by God of questioning what the Bible appears to spell out plainly. I was such a woman until God set me on an unexpected and unsought-after path that, to my great surprise and joy, led me into the discovery of the wonderful freedom I had in Christ, freedom that I had no idea was mine.

I pray God will bless this writing and use it to convict both men and women of improper gender roles they play which further the purpose of God’s enemy. I pray they will find the way to full freedom in Christ in their relationships with one another. I also pray that all who read this book will be challenged to rethink and re-examine its crucial topic—and be changed for the better!

A Woman of Chayil: Far Above Rubies by Jane Carole Anderson

Nell

[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by Nell

"The Basis—A Short but Important Word

Pr 31:10 "A worthy woman who can find?"

So then, who can find her?

[Nell]

Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah

Pr 31:10 "A worthy woman who can find?"

So then, who can find her?

Z, this is generally believed to be a rhetorical question. Right?

Nell

[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by Nell

Z, this is generally believed to be a rhetorical question. Right?

Nell

I consider it the focus of the chapter.

[Nell]

Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah

I consider it the focus of the chapter.

With all due respect, ZNPaaneah, the focus of my post #11 is not Proverbs 31:10. You should read what Jane has titled "The Message of this Book" again, since Jane has articulated her message quite well.

In any regard, I would like to challenge you to rethink and re-examine this topic, along with Jane. To do otherwise could widen the chasm between Christian Women and Christian Men. Listen to what Jane is trying to say. You might even read the entire book in order to lessen your presuppositions.

Hopefully we can all be changed for the better.

Nell--

[aron]

Originally Posted by Nell

. .. Our heavenly Father is not pleased when there are such problems in His family. He considers failure to address such relational offenses to be sin. His Word requires that all believers involved in any relational conflict, whether they be victim or perpetrator, take biblical steps to remove the offense.. . .

A Woman of Chayil [khah’-yil] takes an in-depth look at a huge, long-term relational sin in the body of Christ. This sin has gone basically unidentified, unrecognized, and unaddressed. .....

A Woman of Chayil: Far Above Rubies by Jane Carole Anderson

Nell

Great topic. That there's currently a disjointed approach can be seen in women such as Ruth Lee and Peace Wang, among many others, who are held to be "lionesses of the early recovery", but none of them could exist for a minute in the current regime.

It's as if they were commodities, to be used up and discarded when no longer helpful to the Cause. And the fact that we typically can't even raise such issues, shows how fractured the Cause really is.

[Nell]

Originally Posted by aron

Great topic. That there's currently a disjointed approach can be seen in women such as Ruth Lee and Peace Wang, among many others, who are held to be "lionesses of the early recovery", but none of them could exist for a minute in the current regime.

It's as if they were commodities, to be used up and discarded when no longer helpful to the Cause. And the fact that we typically can't even raise such issues, shows how fractured the Cause really is.

Aron, I think the following from Jesse Penn-Lewis is a God's-eye explanation for what you observed. God cursed the serpent and put enmity between the woman and the Serpent. The cursed Serpent would meet his end through the seed of the woman he had deceived. The Serpent began to, in your words, to hopefully use up and discard the woman whose seed would one day crush his head.

"Henceforth it is also war by Satan upon the womanhood of the world, in malignant revenge for the verdict of the garden. War by the trampling down of women in all lands where the deceiver reigns. War upon women in Christian lands, by the continuance of his Eden method of misinterpreting the Word of God; insinuating into men's minds throughout all succeeding ages, that God pronounced a "curse" upon the woman, when in truth she was pardoned and blessed; and instigating men of the fallen race to carry out the supposed curse, which was in truth a curse upon the deceiver, and not the deceived one (Gen. 3: 14).

"I will put enmity between thee and the woman," said God, as well as between "thy seed and her seed," and this vindictive enmity of the hierarchy of evil to woman, and to believers, has not lessened in its intensity from that day. "

Jesse Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints

To me, the disaster of world history, up to today, can be viewed in this context, and it makes perfect sense. That is, to the serpent the message is "the woman you deceived will one day END you." The serpent is fighting with every breath to carry out its evil revenge against the woman whose seed will crush his head.

The result is the relational sin between Christian Women and Christian Men who are both used by the Serpent in an effort to save his sorry skin from his certain end.

Nell