This week, we're tackling why church matters and why it should matter to us. Do we actually need to be involved with a local group of believers? What difference does it make in our lives?
We discuss that Jesus died for the church and therefore we must care for it. This Christian faith is meant to be communal, not individual, and that means doing life with other believers.
Most of us would shun the idea of a true "prosperity gospel." We would be horrified at being promised riches and fame for becoming a believer. But how often do we settle for a lesser form of a false gospel when we believe that Christ came to make us happy and make our lives easy?
This week we are tackling what we really signed up for as believers. We discuss how life is a battle- and how we both find that motivating. We talk what it means to live for eternity and how it's really the most hopeful way to live life.
We promised you an episode on identity and here it is! What happens when we don't know or believe what God says about Himself or us? We're left spending our lives seeking the approval of others or developing our sense of self-worth.
We need to find our worth in Christ. That allows us to focus on the work He has given us to do. It also allows us to treat other people on the basis of how God treats us instead of how other people treat us.
(Yes, there is something wonky with Lisa's sound. We're working on it. Sorry!)
About International Women's Day
We talk about women's issues a lot on this podcast. But we realized that we've never broken down why we think it's important to have these discussions. Why does what we believe about being a woman matter?
Biblical Womanhood: What Is A Woman?
Contrary Women: Genesis 3:16
It's Lisa this week with a solo episode. She discusses her tendency on Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies. (Find yours here!) She's a questioner. She likes to ask questions and if there's a good reason, she'll be on board with almost anything.
This episode breaks down the intersection of why we should read our Bibles and how we are transformed to be more like Jesus. She's going to walk you through something she's been learning in her personal Bible study; the main verse is 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Here's the song from her childhood that she promised you as well.
For this podcast episode we are defining leadership as "a conscious stewardship of influence." (This is not a discussion about women in leadership positions in church.) We all know men and women who are have led others in discipleship and how they have lived without having a position or a platform or a title. How do we cultivate this in our own lives?
Leadership looks like coming in and serving the people around you. How do we use our influence in our marriages, with our children, with our social media, and in our friendships?
We could have titled this episode a lot of things: What We Believe about the Genders or Why Women Work or What's Up with Spiritual Headship? You get the point, but we haven't answered the question, have we?
Since we answer this question in about two minutes, let us relieve the suspense. We're neither complementarian nor egalitarian and we spend this whole episode telling you why.
We cover our largest complaint with complementarianism (that would end our journey even if we agreed with the rest of it) and then outline what we believe about how the genders are alike, why women are commissioned to work too, and where the genders are different.
This week, we are tackling a list of listener questions!
-What is our best advice for first-time parents?
-How have porn addictions among pastors influenced how they teach passages of the Bible directed at women?
-Can I wear jeans if I get more attention in them?
-How do I handle reassembling my faith (and feeling father away from God) when I'm learning things that I have been taught in the past are wrong?
-How do we handle friendships with people drifting from Biblical standards? with unbelievers? with the emotionally needy?
-How do we find time to read?
-What are our favorite books on motherhood?
-Is there a difference between crushing on someone and liking them?
-What are our best resources for discovering the historical/cultural context of Bible passages?
-How do you embrace your personality and how God made you without embracing sin?
-How do you handle a long-distance relationship when he's ready to commit?
-How do I stay upbeat and positive when my spouse is struggling with depression?
-How can I be content when I'm single?
-What do we believe about speaking in tongues?
-Why do we homeschool?
-When did we know we would marry our husbands?
This week, we tackle the idea of interpreting Bible passages well. We want to be faithful to the Scripture and what they actually mean and that requires intentional study. We share five questions to ask before you decide that your interpretation of a Bible passage is correct. We also include some helpful thoughts on Bible study.
In this week's episode, we're discussing feminism. But before we jump into that, we both share our favorite "girl power" song. The genres do not match the geographical location of each woman, you've been warned.
Next we jump into the history of feminism, the definition of feminism, and what feminism is now. Then we move on to the big topic: why do Christian women join up with feminism?
Articles we discussed:
In this solo episode, Phylicia is tackling how to adjust from working full-time to staying at home. She experienced a mix of emotions when she left her job and found she needed to adjust her mentality, attitude, and spirit.
Take everything you learned from your career into motherhood.
It's a question we get a lot. How can I find godly friends? We have developed a Christ-centered friendship over the past three years and we each have these relationships with a few other women as well.
We start with a short list of the benefits of these friendships: encouragement, a sounding board, accountability, and a witness.
Then we dig into some practicals. What can you do to start finding and cultivating these friendships?
-stop avoiding awkwardness
-be the one to reach out/host
-go deeper
-make the time and effort
This week, we take a few minutes at the beginning of the episode to clarify a point from last week and then discuss how to graciously disagree. Because sometimes we disagree and we need a plan for handling that.
Is it a gospel issue?
Are we in a situation where it matters if it's a gospel issue?
Can we filter with discernment?
Then we share a few practical ways we both handle disagreements, online and in real life.
For 2018, we're introducing a few changes! There's new podcast art and a new tagline: inviting women to Biblically challenge the status quo. We're going to dive into some deep subjects where we might have answers or we might be asking questions, but all with the hopes of helping us all better live out our faith.
To kick this off, we're diving into the subject of Eve's curse. Was Eve cursed? We say no. First we discuss what was cursed and how Jesus' sacrifice on the cross took all of the curse for sin from people. We're disturbing some theological truths to claim otherwise. Then we tackle explaining why the added pain in birth wasn't even punishment using the narrative of women and babies in the Bible, the character of God, and the actual conversation in Genesis 3.
We also discuss how having a Biblical perspective on childbirth is necessary for a pro-life stance. It's really hard to convince women that God has blessed them with a child when you're also saying that God is simultaneously cursing them.
Next week, we'll wrap up this topic with some more conversation on curses (you know you're excited) and why women are also commissioned to work.
Welcome to 2018!
For the last episode in 2017, we are jumping back in for a full-length episode on body image. We tackle what the Bible says the body is, lies we believe about our bodies, and how we each work on overcoming body image issues.
The body is:
-the temple of the Holy Spirit
-made in the image of God
Lies about the body:
-the body is an ornament
-the body is for our glory
-the body is for attracting men
-the body defines worth
-the body can make me happy
Merry Christmas!
In this short Q+A session, we discuss how long a woman should wait for a man to decide he's ready to move on to a commitment. Short answer? Get counsel from a godly person in both lives.
This week we are talking Christmas! In this short episode, we both share how our families celebrate Christmas in a way the children can join too.
Here's the carnitas recipe and the advent activities.
This week, we are tackling the subject of modesty! The first thing we discuss is why we both hate the word "modesty" and the words we prefer instead.
Then we move right on to four reasons modesty matters:
-how we dress should reflect that we are set apart
-we are dressing the temple of God
-dressing well is a form of self-respect
-how we dress reflects our heart toward God
And we also chat about three things modesty is not:
-it's not a safeguard for men's purity
-it's not a list of rules
-it's not a measuring stick for other women
Then to round out the episode we discuss how we are preparing to approach this volatile issue with our kids since Lisa has all boys and Phylicia only has girls.
We also give a special shoutout to one of our favorite marriage/sex bloggers Sheila Gregoire!
In our second solo episode, Lisa is tackling how motherhood is just an extension of our call to discipleship. She gave this talk to a MOPS group earlier in November and we're excited to share it with you!
Sometimes motherhood isn't fulfilling. When we don't feel the warm fuzzies, we don't have to freak out. We just have to stick to the assignment. What assignment? Making disciples of the children God has given us. And who better to teach us about discipleship than Jesus?
Since we are both writers we frequently get asked how to get started as a writer. First thing? Start writing! Then decide if/how you want to share that writing with others.
Then we move on to some work tips: a work ethic is invaluable to learning to write well. Write consistently, be in it for the long haul, read a lot, and write down all your ideas.
You too, can be a writer!
For our second episode in our "How Do We" series, we're discussing Bible study. How should we approach the Bible? What does Bible study look like with small children? What are some of our favorite resources?
Lisa gives you three questions to consider when coming to the Bible and shares some encouragement if you've ever fallen asleep while reading the Bible.
Phylicia breaks down her process for stepping through a passage of Scripture and how she uses outside tools for historical and literary context.
I asked Phylicia what to name the episode and well, that's what happened. But literally, we are talking about how we talk about sex and why it matters.
What does the Bible really say about birth? In this first solo episode, Phylicia tackles Genesis 3 and how Christians should approach birth and babies.
New Age ideology dominates the birth conversation largely because the church has been silent besides to terrify women with whispers of "their curse." But man was cursed too, right?
There is a promised Redeemer that comes through childbirth and that knowledge affects how we view birth today.
-God designed our bodies to work this way. It is largely complicated by the fall but still on the framework of God's beautiful design.
-We live in a world unaccustomed to discomfort or suffering. But God never leaves us even when things are hard.
A Biblical attitude toward birth matters.
In this week's listener Q+A, we tackle how we both handle meal planning. (Just for context, Lisa has a family of 6, Phylicia has a family of almost 4.) Our meal planning strategies have changed some over the years but it still saves the evening witching hour.
Here are some ideas for menu planning:
-make a list of easy to cook, easy to modify meals and cycle through those
-repeat the same breakfast and lunches
-keep a pinterest board of new recipes and try one a week
-start food prep earlier in the day
-pick a time to prep food for the week
-pack your lunches if you're regularly gone at mealtime
There's not one right way to meal plan. Just find something that works!
This week you get your first "How Do We" episode! We both take a turn discussing how we handle surprises in life. Not fun surprises like birthday parties but surprises that are more like interruptions or unwelcome circumstances.
Lisa's advice:
-Remember God is sovereign
-Pray
-Share with trusted friends
-Make a game plan
Phylicia's take:
-Look to Jesus as model
-Remember reactions affect others
-Pray and apply Scriptures