EQUIP Book Club Feed

What do you want for Christmas? I mean, beyond the stuff, what do you really want? If I had to boil it down, truth, beauty and goodness, is the real stuff I want and long to give at Christmas time. While those concepts are undergoing a radical reframe in our day, I reckon they’re still the most compelling reason to give Christianity a second look this Christmas. The storyline of the Bible, the truth that God loves you, the beautiful person of Jesus Christ and the changed lives of his followers ring out with a truth, beauty and goodness that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Here then is a Christmas gift I can’t wait to give my husband this Christmas morning.

This Christmas season is shaping up to be a weird one isn’t it? No carols, or maybe a few, so long as you’re outdoors and mask clad. Some families will gather as normal, a close handful coming together again, but others will forego the 40-odd person gathering with every cousin and their dog, missing this tradition for the first time in a long time.

Sometimes I catch myself pausing to watch my kids when they’re asleep. If you have kids, do you do that? Even though just a little while earlier I was desperate for them to go to sleep, in the peace and quiet I love watching them rest. I ponder what they will be like when they’re older. What will they do with their time? What will bring them joy or contentment? What does God have in store for them?

I wonder if, like me, you read the title of this devotional from The One Year Bible and felt immediately suspicious! This book was gifted to me by a trusted Christian friend, but I must admit I was a little concerned that the author would be trying to twist every Bible passage to say something about parenting. I have come across themed devotionals before that try to turn the whole emphasis of the Bible to fit a particular lens. But I'm pleased to say that this hasn't been the case at all!

Have you ever bought a new car and then suddenly you start seeing that model of car everywhere? Just when lockdown started my husband had to drive up to Sydney to pick up our new-for-us car. We classified it as ‘essential shopping’ as otherwise I wasn’t sure how we were going to get around when our new bubba arrived! As soon as we got it, like magic, I started seeing that model everywhere we went.

This book had me at ‘hello’ - Mama Bear Apologetics! What a title! And what an appealing premise: how can we be like a mumma bear and defend our little ones by encouraging them to challenge cultural lies, to do apologetics - aka defend the faith with reasons and evidence (p37). For a mum, dad, aunt, Sunday School teacher - who doesn’t want to be able to do that!

As promised, in this third and final post, we’ll examine where feminism has left women today in terms of its original goals. Has feminism built strong scaffolding for women that promotes and protects their human rights? Has it dismantled structures that actually did protect women and helped them to flourish? As you survey the landscape in James’ book, it’s clear that the big problem is always sin. And the only solution to that will always be Christ.

In post one we looked at how Jesus treats women. If we had to give him a score card he would be off the charts. Five stars simply wouldn’t be enough for someone who can bring total forgiveness, complete healing and such satisfying teaching to women’s lives. Someone like that would need a new rating system, dare I say, they deserve to be worshipped. In this post I want to focus on the second part of Sharon James’ claim that Jesus’ followers also sought to bring good news to the lives of women. And this will lead us to the beginning of the feminist movement.