The Glory of a Woman

In September of 2010, we were in the small town of Mountain View, Arkansas. We were traveling with a minister friend of ours, Jamie Coulter. While we were there, I decided I needed a trim. My hair had not had a professional touch it since 2004, but I had clipped it myself a lot over the years.

There was a hair salon within walking distance from where we were staying called Linda’s Curl Up & Dye. (Yes, seriously! See pic above.) I sat down and flipped through the style magazine, found something that I liked, and waited for her to finish with her scheduled client.

When it was my turn in the chair, she complimented me on my choice of style, cut a lot off the back of my head, and charged me $20 for about 10 minutes of work.

She talked while she cut, remarking that I shouldn’t be wearing my hair the way I had been because I looked like a Baptist preachers’ wife. I almost burst out laughing. I was (am) a minister’s wife, but I had not told her anything about myself. So, that was my experience in Arkansas.

When we returned to South Carolina, and found ourselves out ‘on the street’, we were taken in by a church member whose close relative had her own salon. Tina Dixon was a terrific singer. She could raise the roof with ‘How Great Thou Art’. Yet, two people that she saw twice a week for over two months that really needed some grooming, she totally ignored. But, she did manage to show off her new purse, shoes and clothes every week.

Her purse was a very pretty purple. I didn’t begrudge her the purse, nor anything else she talked about ‘getting on sale’. But, what I saw was that most of the women of the church had an underlying competition going on as to who got the most new things for the least money each week. There was no Jesus in that. God had presented her with someone hungry, naked and sick, as is talked about in Matthew 25. We also need a haircut, but no help in that area was provided, either.

In the spring of 2011, when we came into Haywood County, in North Carolina, we were a part of a church in which one of the members, Katrinka Webb, owned her own salon. (Which she uses for the glory of God!) We had been there about a month when my birthday came along. She wrote me out a $25 gift certificate from her shop, Shear Glory, and gave it to my husband for him to give to be as a birthday gift.

In the meantime, she gave me a free haircut, the same style as I had had in Arkansas, but finished it to perfection. She was not concerned about time or money; she simply wanted friendship and fellowship.

We left the area before I had a chance to redeem the certificate, but I’ve carried it with me for two years now. Two weeks ago, while passing through Haywood County, I met a homeless man that had just come from Tyler, Texas, because the Lord had told him to go to there. He is an ordained minister, and is ministering to the homeless at the food kitchen called The Open Door.

He was in bad need of a haircut, so I gave him the certificate, then sent Katrinka a message on Facebook telling her what I had done. She said she would honor it. Her shop is less than a mile from The Open Door.

I have told of these three experiences, all dealing with the glory of a woman to point out that, sometimes God puts needy people directly in our path. What we do with that opportunity is going to dictate whether we receive a blessing or a curse. Me? I want a blessing. And, to receive a blessing, a person must BE a blessing.

　

Jesus Didn't Speak 'Shakespeare'

The English language has helped in spreading God’s word all over the world. That is a good thing. However, there are some people that think that the written word as we know it is the way it's always been. It is sad, but true. Three years ago, we had an old, country preacher tell us that if the King James Version of the bible was good enough for Paul, it was good enough for him. We waited for a punch line. It never came. The man was serious.

Unfortunately, there is an element of society that has neglected to expand their minds to learn the meanings of the English words they speak, much less the Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek languages, and the cultures described in scripture, are all about.

Jesus said (Matt. 11:29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. Did that mean to just learn about the 'spiritual' Jesus~the part that saves us~and not about the 'earthly' part~the part that tells us who Jesus was as a person? For example, how did the cultures, both Jewish and pagan, influence the actions of the people in Jesus’ time, and afterward?

Moreover, how did the introduction of Christianity, and its expansion throughout the last 2000 years, change cultures in the process? And, how many cultures have tried to alter Christianity during that time?

I am a firm believer in the adage “With knowledge comes responsibility.” I see a generation of Christians before me that have failed to ‘learn of’ Jesus.

We do not have to know about Jesus’ life, His culture, or cultures since, to receive Him, and have a relationship with Him. However, if I have pledged my life to someone that has given His life for me, I would want to know as much about Him as possible.  Am I the only one?

Jesus spoke an Aramaic dialect. Hebrew and Phoenician are derived from the Aramaic. There are disputes in some denominational circles as to whether the Greek should be ‘trusted’ to speak the New Testament truth.

With the scriptures now translated into so many languages, as well as ’versions’, it should make those less educated interested in where it all came from. ‘Alas!’ (A nice Shakespearean word!) It does not.

We have met some pastors that have never heard of a Geneva Bible, which came out some 50+ years before the 1611 King James. Still others do not know who Martin Luther is, other than ‘King’, the civil rights leader and minister gunned down in the ‘60’s. In addition, others have never heard of John Calvin, yet are a part of a denomination founded on his interpretations of scripture. Scary, isn’t it?

I have realized in my studies over the past few years  that the English, regardless of the ‘version’, leaves a lot to be desired for the real, meaningful definitions behind the words first written in Aramaic or Hebrew, and even the Greek. Not only have I gained a deeper understanding of the scriptures in general, but also studying the cultures that were prominent throughout ‘Bible-times’ makes me understand my Savior all the more.

He was God’s word in the flesh. What does that mean? It means that whatever God spoke, Jesus did. He was God's words in action!  What is it that John said? Chapter 21, verse 25: And there are also many other things which Jesus did, if everyone was written, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. His actions spoke one word loud and clear, regardless of language, or version of the bible: LOVE!

Jesus did not say 'ye', ‘thee’, ‘thou’, and ‘thy’. Nor did the verbs He used end in ‘eth’. Jesus did not speak 'Shakespeare.' 

His language is love.