Showing posts with label Adam and Eve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adam and Eve. Show all posts

Friday, July 29, 2016

Has the Biblical Garden of Eden Been Discovered Here? CBN News


Has the Biblical Garden of Eden Been Discovered Here?
CBN News 07-28-2016
The wetlands of southeast Iran, believed by many to be the location of the ancient Garden of Eden, is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. 
The vast Ahwar marshes are fed by the Tigris and Euphrates river and are home to one of the world's most diverse ecosystems. UNESCO describes the region as dating back to the "4th and 3rd millennium BCE," and truly "unique."
But it was not always this way. 
When dictator Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq with an iron fist, he almost completely drained the marshes to punish the Arab inhabitants for rebelling against his reign. What was once one of the most fertile places in the world became a desert. 
The marsh inhabitants re-flooded the wetlands after Hussein was overthrown. 
Although in recent years, the marshes have been used for drugs and arms smuggling and keeping hostages for ransom, many consider it a reflection of paradise on earth. 
Many believe the vast wetland could be the location of the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, the paradise where God once walked and visited his prized creation, Adam and Eve. 
"The Bible describes the area around the Garden in Genesis 2, even using recognizable place names such as Ethiopia. It mentions a spring in the Garden which parts into four major rivers, including the Euphrates," says Dr. John Morris from the Institute for Creation Research. "This has led many, including Bible scholars, to conclude that the Garden of Eden was somewhere in the middle eastern area known today as the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley."
But Morris is skeptical that the ancient Garden of Eden rests in the Ahwar marshes of today. He believes another piece of biblical history destroyed the chance for the discovery of modern-day Eden -- the Flood. 
"As described in Genesis 6-9, the Flood would have totally restructured the surface of the globe," Morris said. "It would have done what major floods do--erode the land surface in one area and redeposit those sediments elsewhere."
He said the earth looks vastly different from what it was a few millennia ago.
"No present topography or underground surface could possibly bear any resemblance to the pre-flood world," he explained.
Therefore, although many believe the marshes of Iraq can be appreciated for their biodiversity, there is little evidence this is actually the home of the Garden of Eden. 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

What We've Gotten Wrong About Women in Ministry



Woman with mouth taped
God made women to fit, so why do so many see them as a misfit for ministry? (istockphoto.com/airportrait )
Recently I sat watching as my young son's frustration grew. When I went over to see what the problem was, Noah was trying to put a puzzle together and battling a particular piece he could not get to fit. It seemed to belong, but he couldn’t find its place. He was about to disregard the piece as a misfit, so I gently told him, “Try again, Noah, only this time turn it around.”
Within seconds, it clicked into place. What had seemed useless became useful. The piece had always had a place; it just needed turning around.  
As a woman in ministry, I have often felt the role of women can present the same dilemmas this puzzle piece presented my son. The church around the world has had a jarring response to this issue. Some have viewed the "women piece" as a misfit, while others keep turning this topic around in discussion and thought, trying to find where it fits.  
God didn’t create Eve as a random piece. He made her to fit Adam both naturally and spiritually; they were a perfect fit. They were called to rule and tend the garden together. Eve was called to be Adam’s helpmate, his partner:
“Male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Gen. 1:27-28).
God knew it required them both to make this picture complete. He wanted Adam’s strengths to fit with Eve’s and for them to be used across the whole garden. He didn’t ask Adam to divide the garden into sections, so as to contain Eve’s influence as a woman. He didn’t separate all the female animals for Eve to feed and nurture so her authority would be gender-specific. God created a power team and entrusted them both to outwork that empowerment together.
So why is it still so awkward in some places to allow both men and women to function together in this way? Why do we divide what God united so beautifully?
For years I have led in my local church alongside incredibly gifted men. I have not seen them as my competition nor my enemy. I have seen them as I believe God wants me to see them: as gifted leaders I am called to lead alongside. My husband and I have found our fit in our home, and we don’t feel we have to change that in God’s home, where we also pastor, teach, train, preach and lead the house together. The house we are building has the voice of a mom and a dad. I don’t just speak on Mother's Day or at women’s events. I speak to our house, to the men and the women, to the young and the old.
Though it has not always been this way.
My personal journey as a woman in ministry has been to experience the diverse and sometimes dysfunctional ways this "piece" has been handled. I grew up with a huge passion for God’s house and from the age of 14 was dedicated to playing my part to the full. The only problem was that at that time, the church I was a part of saw women in ministry as a misfitting piece. I remember being told I could speak to women about women’s issues but not to the church. I was required to wear a head covering if I was going to speak to the wider body, and while I submitted to my leadership at the time, I was left feeling like a burden when all I wanted to be was a blessing.
My desire as a woman was to help, not hinder, and therefore I had to persevere to keep trying to play my part even when I was told my part was not that necessary. Over time, the church I belonged to changed, and as it adapted, my "piece" became more accepted.  
Today I have the privilege to speak and teach across the globe, and as a woman I can see the church embracing more this piece of the picture—yet we still have work to do. We have to ask, Why are we trying to make fit what God has already perfectly made to fit? My prayer is that the church across the globe will harness the power of women and let it add color, depth, insight and beauty to every aspect of God’s house. 
I pray that where the issue of women in leadership has become overcomplicated, we will be willing to "turn the piece around" like my son did, see it differently, and discover the wonderful fit God created each of us to be. God did not make any misfits; there is place for us all. My simple prayer is that every piece will take its place so we can get this picture finished, complete in all its beauty, just as our Creator intended. 
Charlotte Gambill is an international speaker and author best known for her practical and passionate application of God’s Word. She is the author of Turnaround God and will be touring with Natalie Grant on the Dare to Be Tour in 2014. Her messages of life and purpose are rallying a generation to embrace the broken and become ambassadors of hope. Charlotte and her husband, Steve, lead Life Church in England. They have two children, Hope Cherish and Noah Brave. 

Saturday, October 19, 2013

A Special Word to the Women of God - Francis Frangipane

Francis Frangipane -
A Special Word to the Women of God
Intro From Julie A. Smith:

Women fulfill many roles, whether personal or professional: mother, wife, best friend, and ministry/business leader to name some. AND there is one role they are especially good at as Francis Frangipane shares here – being intercessors that birth revival. Women naturally birth and can also do the same spiritually, by birthing revival movements on the earth.

Francis Frangipane shares a great word of how women have birthed movements on the earth through prayer...BUT that doesn't excuse men of their prayer role as Francis explains. Both men and women – be encouraged in your roles of intercession and the importance of it in this day. I've talked with people who've told me that they are being called like no other time to fasting and prayer in this hour.

Blessings,

Julie A. Smith, Managing Editor
The Elijah List


HR
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Francis Frangipane:
A Special Word to the Women of God

Before I begin this message, let me provide a short disclaimer: although I do encourage women to move freely within the order provided by God in their local churches, my goal is to exalt and celebrate a primary grace that God has placed specifically within women, which the Lord Himself has used in past times to release revival.

The Genesis Distinctions

When the Lord created humankind, He placed unique graces in man and separate but equally unique graces in woman. He told Adam to name the species of life on earth "and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name" (Genesis 2:19). 

This "naming" was much more than calling the dog "Spot." Adam was created with an organizational, administrative capacity that enabled him to identify and define the world around him. By naming the living things, Adam not only brought them into his consciousness, but he introduced order and structure to the human experience. 

Adam did not create the world, of course, but by defining the things God brought to him, he helped establish reality.

Within the genetics of this original man, there also existed the powerful, but dormant, qualities of the woman.

While Adam slept the Spirit took from the man a rib. Fashioning it into a woman, the Lord created for Adam a companion. Not only was she suitable for him, but she powerfully expanded man's creative capacities. Indeed, the woman brought many new graces into Adam's world that did not formerly exist – the foremost of which was the power to conceive and give birth.

It is important to remember: God created male and female in His image, according to His likeness (Genesis 1:26). Of course, in certain ways, both Adam and Eve as individuals possessed reflections of the divine nature. 

They each could think, speak, dream and create.

However, it was in the union of Adam and Eve, in their mutual respect of one another's strengths and graces, that mankind would possess a more perfect expression of the fuller nature of God.

As Adam beheld this first female, he said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Genesis 2:23). 

The term woman was a delineation used by Adam, identifying her as a unique variation in the species of man. My wife says, "Think of her as the upgrade." In some ways, she is right, for the nature of the woman was twice refined. Adam was created of earth; the woman emerged not from the earth but from the man. She is both more complex and emotionally sophisticated.

Soon Adam began to understand the greatest power of his counterpart: her ability to conceive and bring life into the world. Recognizing this quality, Adam named her Eve, which meant "life." Eve would play an integral part in the unfolding of life's new beginnings. "She was the mother of all the living" (Genesis 3:20).

The Power of a Woman's Prayer

The Lord gave Adam a primary ability to name and establish reality; He gave to woman the unique capacity to conceive and then birth reality. The primary strength of each gender is that man establishes, woman births.

Remember, these qualities are not merely "human": they are reflections of the divine. Man's ability to bring order to one's world, to take what was random and give it definition and structure, is a divine facility. 

Woman's ability to conceive and incubate life, and then deliver life through birth, is also an aspect of the divine nature.
Note also that Adam named the woman Eve (or "Life") before they had children. God gave the woman an ability not just to have babies but to release life in a variety of its expressions. In fact, one translation says that Eve means to "enliven."

Alone, Adam had been downcast; it was not good that Adam was alone. Eve enlivened Adam in ways no other creature on earth could. 

Adam could build a house; Eve made it a home. When Adam named Eve "Life," he was not only speaking prophetically of the first mother, but he was speaking out of his own experience: Eve brought life into the structure of Adam's world.

We are speaking in generalities here, but when we observe the spiritual realm, we see this same divine encoding replicated in the ministries of men and women. 

Jesus laid the foundation of the Church with twelve men whom He called to be apostles. This didn't mean there would never be women in leadership, but that one of the better skills given man from God was the ability to bring order and structure. 

By the same token, prior to Christ's birth we find Anna, a prophetess, engaged in much prayer and fasting.

ElijahList Prophetic Resources

In my opinion, it is quite possible that this woman was not alone in her intercession, but the leader of a prophetic prayer ministry that lived in anticipation of her times. 

Women excel in intercession, in spiritual sensitivity and the release of new beginnings. Note: this does not excuse men from prayer! 

Actually, some of the Bible's best examples of intercessors are men! We are speaking in generalities in reference to the spiritual tendencies of both genders. Neither distinction is more important than the other. 

Both are absolutely vital for the unfolding of God's will upon the earth.

Today we are fighting the advance of satan in many arenas. Whether the topic is wars and terrorist attacks or the ever-increasing expansion of iniquity in our world, we need revival

To possess a national awakening, the "birthing" power God has placed in women must be released.

All the efforts of man to establish laws and govern righteously will not truly transform our culture. We need something greater; we need the presence of God poured out.

I believe the Holy Spirit is raising up a prayer army of women who are rising in power on behalf of their families and nations.

My Mother's Prayers

I personally know the power of a woman's prayer: my mother's. In the late sixties, I was a very lost young man living in sin and rebellion. 

Judging from my appearance, I looked hopeless. Yet in spite of my outward condition, my dear Catholic mother stood before God for me.

Resist as I did, divine power, uniquely escorted to Earth through her prayers, began to hunt me down. Her cries were relentless and unceasing; often she would pray through the night for me. 

She was pregnant with prayer for her son. In 1970 God finally answered, and during the Jesus Movement revival, I came to Christ.

Years later I asked the Lord about the Jesus Movement revival. As you may know, it has been part of my assignment to help engender citywide unity and establish prayer, things that precede revival. 

Yet, to my knowledge, no citywide unity or organized prayer fueled the Jesus Movement. So I asked the Lord how revival could occur without a prayer movement at its source. The Lord quickly corrected me, saying that there was a great prayer movement: He had heard the prayers of a million praying mothers, each crying to Him for their children.

From all denominations, in a "unity of desperation," God heard the cries of believing mothers. His heart was touched, and as a result, multitudes of sinful kids found repentance and salvation in Jesus Christ. 

This is the army God desires to release again today, but now with more vision, more power from the Holy Spirit, and with the support of men as well!

Women of God, the fact is, Heaven needs you! You have been created by the Almighty to birth breakthroughs on planet Earth! 

God has uniquely designed you with a latent ability to release life through your intercession. Together with you, we men can build and establish, and we are learning to pray, but you have a special grace to release new spiritual beginnings

Whether your prayer focus is for your husband or church leadership, whether you are interceding for your children, city or nation, you possess in your spirit the seed-realities that, through prayer, can release God's life into the world.

Yes indeed, a battle rages; there still exists "enmity between [the serpent] and the woman" (Genesis 3:15).

Satan especially hates you because it was your seed that bruised the serpent's head. It is amazing to me that God chose to bring His Son into the world, not through the heavens nor even through a woman impregnated by man, but through a woman made pregnant by God! God Himself came to earth through the woman's power to give birth!
Today the Lord is giving women a new grace, a new confidence against the powers of Hell. Out of their oneness with Christ, these godly women will prayer-birth powerful ministries on earth, both male and female. They will release new beginnings to the Body of Christ.

I also want to commend and personally thank the many women's ministries and prayer groups that have stood with me, interceding for my life, my family and my ministry. 

Many, many times I have suddenly experienced divine protection or unexpected spiritual breakthroughs. 

When I questioned the Lord, He's said, I'm answering the prayers of [such-and-such] ministry.To each of you, I say a special thank you. In a unique way, you have been a mother to me. May the Lord multiply His grace toward you and give you the desires of your hearts!

Finally, Revelation 12:1 speaks of a "woman clothed with the sun." This word is not only talking about Israel or the Church. It also reveals how the Most High sees spiritual women: They are honored and crowned with distinction – pure and clothed with the glory of God. With confidence, they tread upon the powers of night. 

Dear army of praying women, it is your inherent destiny to birth that which shall rule the nations.

Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, This Day We Fight!

Francis Frangipane
Ministries of Francis Frangipane

Francis Frangipane is the founder of River of Life Ministries in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and has traveled throughout the world ministering to thousands of pastors and intercessors from many backgrounds. Francis' heartfelt prayer is to see established in every city Christlike pastors and intercessors, united before God, revealing the love of Christ to their communities. 

Since 1985, he has written fourteen books, plus a number of study booklets. Over the past decades, Francis has served on a number of other ministry boards. However, in recent years he has gradually resigned from these various boards. 

As of June 2009, he has also retired from his position as senior pastor of River of Life Ministries. In this more simplified life, Frangipane is devoting himself to prayer and the ministry of God's Word.

For more: Elijahlist.com