Prata Potpourri: Women, discernment, Piper, more
By Elizabeth Prata
I am conferenced out. I had the wonderful privilege of attending the National G3 conference a few times and I enjoyed it. But as I age, I am finding that being in a cavernous building filled with thousands of people overwhelms me more quickly than it used to. My energy drains away faster than two shakes of a lamb’s tail.
As an older women a few years away from retirement, it seems lately that all I want to do is come home from work and sit down. Sunday go to church. Repeat. LOL. However I am also grateful for the opportunity through the wonderful invention of the internet, to be able to consume material from present day solid ministries and past ones that have been uploaded, such as at Monergism, Grace Gems, and the like.
Being careful but savvy about what to consume on social media allows a woman to develop her discernment. As long as we are in the word, studying, reading, singing, and in church worshiping, we can extend our learning by testing it with material we find online. This includes buying books and listening to music, whether through Spotify, Pandora, Youtube, or Apple.
In that vein, below are a few links offering a wealth of information about women for women.
Always wise, always measured, and with a right-heart attitude, Amy broaches the subject that many women unfortunately stumble on, hearing God’s voice: Ladies, No One Is Whispering to You by Amy Spreeman at Berean Research
Grace Sutton muses on the different states of being as an adult- singleness and marriage. Desiring one over the other isn’t necessarily making an idol nor would it be sinful. God set apart some for singleness and many for marriage. Here’s Grace working through the issue: Let Me Be Single essay at For the Church
When the blog Pyromaniacs was going, some years ago Phil Johnson wrote about women and discernment. LOL, Don’t blame the messenger: The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Discernment Divas by Phil Johnson, essay
Aussie Daniel Schricker writes and speaks about cults because he grew up in one. Here, he identifies the markers and makings of a cult, and applies the scholarly information to a well-known woman on seemingly every social media there is, The Transformed Wife, Lori Alexander. The Cult of Lori Alexander, essay by Daniel Schricker, Ph.D
With all the brouhaha of gender studies in the recent past, documentary satirist Matt Walsh published a film asking ‘gender experts’ the simple question… What is a Woman? full documentary by Matt Walsh
Should women serve in the office of pastor? 4-minute Youtube by Josh Buice. Well, should they?
Why Asking Women to Preach Is Spiritual Abuse, G3 again dealing with the same issue which seems to be gaining traction and pushback from many segments of the faith.
Great conference content coming up for women I wrote about this yesterday, we can review the sermons and talks afterward on social media, blessedly. Good stuff here!
In 2013, Sunny Shell of Abandoned to Christ ministry wrote the following essay. It was scriptural and humble. She said that consuming Piper’s material “requires more discernment than I currently possess.” She said she loved him and considered him a brother, but she couldn’t follow him any longer, not while there were so many other good ministries out there. Sunny received a LOT of push back, even though there was not an accusatory bone in the whole essay. She took it down and it stayed down for a number of years. A few years ago she put it back up.
As for me, I do not follow Piper either. His continuationism and his multi-step justification stances gave me pause some years ago as to following him or consuming his material. Never mind his lack of discernment in inviting or sharing platforms with Mark Driscoll, Beth Moore, Rick Warren etc. an issue that Sunny pointed out in 2013. Recently, Piper spoke at Pastors’ Workshop and his recorded remarks are causing consternation among the more solid theologians. Here, Ekkie points out the conundrum in a short tweet. Below, find Sunny’s humble but accurate article. Though at this time I consider Piper a brother, I do warn that he has had many confusing stances in the past and of late. Too many bones… Why I no longer follow John Piper or Desiring God ministry
