Kelly,
You listen to your heart as to what you know that God wants you to do. Don't let man or men tell you "you can't do that". If God doesn't want you to do something He will tell you and give comformation. God qualifies the called not matter if be man or woman. What would have happened if WOMEN like Marilyn Hickey, Paula White, Joyce Meyers...etc. hadn't listened to the call that God had put on their lifes because man said they couldn't? Pray that God will give you comformation.
Kathy

[But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man]

There is a difference between a woman being in the ministry and a woman being the lead over a church. We see in Romans 16 where Paul mentions a number of women that are in the service of the Lord. One in particular Paul refers to as a diakonos in the original Greek. This is the same word that is used in Rom 15:8 telling us that "Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God".

In a number of places Paul refers to certain women as being equals in the service of the Lord. (Rom 16:3)
In Rom 16 : 7 Paul refers to a woman as being "kinsmen", "fellow prisoner" and "apostle".

We know from these verses and others that women are to be esteemed as equals to men. Yet we also see that God has established a certain order in His church. Although we do not see anywhere of a woman being designated as a Bishop of a church, {A Bishop ( episkopos, male gender always )  is a superintendent, that is, Christian officer in general charge of a (or the) church (literally or figuratively): - bishop, overseer.} we do see women being in a position of having a ministry (teaching).

In fact we see in the following verse where a woman is not to "usurp authority over the man", that is to not be in a dominate position over a man.

1Ti 2:12  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 1Ti 2:13  For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

Where in Rom. 16:7 does Paul call woman kinsmen", "fellow prisoner" and "apostle. Since you used 1 Ti 2:12 I ask you to look at the word man. It doesn't not say men it says man which means individual. So if it say man and that is what it means we can assume God is talking about the over her which would her male figure in her life. So I am not sure what your stand is on this. It almost sounds like you are against women over churches by your very statement, but by the verses you gave it, to me, only supports women.
Learning in Christ's Love,
Kathy

Amen Kelly,
Why do people have a problem with women at the pulpit over a church? Women speak in tongues, give interpretation, pray over people for healing...etc, but when it comes to a women being in charge of a church people freak.
Kathy

Thank you all for your prayers. Tonight was our last night of the play. Wow what impact this had on those who came to the play. Believers and non-believers alike found ourselves standing in front of the gates of Heaven and asking if our name is written in the Book of Life. And the one thing everyone in the church had to face is that one day they are either going to Heaven or to hell.
Kathy 

Hi everyone,
We are putting on a play at our church. Please pray for this that the lost will come in and that many will be saved during the 3 nights that this play will be going on. It is a drama called Heaven's Glory and Hell's Horror. It is about chosing God or not chosing God and where you will end up based on your decision. This is, I think, the 3 time we have done this play and it always has a big impact on people. Pray that the Holy Spirit will be able to draw people in.
Kathy

This a comment and a request. Since the last couple of years have gone so bad. Which I think most of it is lined up with the Bible and suppose to be happening. I think before we begin pointing fingers and slamming people, look at the Bible and see these things are to come to pass. The world religon, one ruler, etc. Things that are happening have to happen. Anyway, back to the point. I was wondering if we could start a thread of Rep.  and Dem. canidates, so we can compare them  and what they believe in. Some people may not have the time or the energy to do this and when it comes to time to vote they may go and vote for someone who isn't right. While I am a Rep., I am looking into others who line up with the Bible. Clinton may have had some good ideas but he did not line with the Bible and I don't care how often he went to church. He was not a Godly man according to his actios.

Kathy

Amen! God gave instructs on the order of the home and the men are suppose to be the head with God over them. It is the man who will answer to God about his household and not just the household but at church, too. The order is God, husband, wife and children. I was just talking to a friend of mine though about the problems she and I are going through being married to non-believer. I feel like the men need to step and do their part at church, too. When a prayer breakfast is called, that means not just over the food. I have had a feeling that our Church needs to do a study on the book The Power of a Praying Wife. The funny things is a was talking to somone else about the same thing and was trying to get her to start it. Well, she is now doing other things and guess who still has that feeling down inside of her. Pointing at self. The friend I was talking to tonight told me it was my calling. Pointing at self again, guess who is saying no, no, no. LOL, there are other people more qualified then me. This is going to take some prayer. 

OK, enough of the soap box thing.
Kathy

Hey everyone,
I know it has been a while I have been on here. I have a lot of things going on here. But first the whole lot of praising. My grandson has been born and is at home. We found out after he was born that he had a callasped lung and had an infection. I called my church and they in turned called the prayer chain. Within a matter hours his lung was healed and taken off of the oxygen a day early. His infection was gone the next day. They said he would have to spend 7 days in the hospital. I however rebuked that in the name of Jesus and he went home on day 2. Praise God, Praise God, praise God. Now for the braggin, he sure is a cute baby.
Kathy

OK I got a email from AFA and they were talking about the NEA wants to teach kids to accept and respect homosexuals and I just could not help but send the note that the AFA had written, but was able to added my 2 cents worth. This is what I wrote in addition to what the AFA had.
Kathy

First we have the prayers taken out of schools and school events. Then we have the TAKS, TAAS tests(whatever they are being called now a days.) Which does not serve a purpose in my opinion. I think if you want to see how well a teacher is teaching then you need to test the teachers on what they are or will be teaching, not the students. I think you will find a lot of teachers not ready to teach. I am wondering if you realize that there are teachers teaching subjects that they have a clue what they are teaching. How do I know? The classes that both my daughters were in, more then half of the students failed that class. Did they get rid of that teacher? Yes, on one, but at the end of the school year. Did they rid of the other teacher? I don't know, but they should have. I have a lot of respect for most teachers and I have grown to love few of my children. Now, you want all children to learn to accept and respect homosexuals. As a Christian, I do not approve and I wish I could afford to take my child out of the public schools and I wish there was a way for my tax dollars to be removed from supporting public schools. Everyone talks about how offended they are of Christians. I believe that Christians have stood back long enough and it is time for us to be heard. Am I a preacher, on TV, politican, or someone famous who happens to be a Christian. No, I am just you average taxpaying Christian, who has decided enough is enough. Go back to the basics and teach what needs to be taught and allow the parents to teach their child(ren) what they believe is right and wrong. Go back to teaching our kids how to read, write and to do math. Go back to teaching our kids what they need to know about making a living and being productive in life. I will teach my child(ren)that they need to respect and love all people no matter the color, race, sexual preference or anything else that makes them different from me. Do I agree with how they live? No, but neither does God and his word says to love the person, but to hate the sin. If I am suppose to be Christ like then I have love everyone and that is how I will raise my child(ren). I believe that if you are going to teach the children to accept and respect homosexuals then you must teach them to accept and respect Christians. If you decide to teach about this or that then there will other groups demanding to have their views or lifestyle taught. I ask you where will it end and how will you teach what should really needs to be taught.

In Christ's Love

PRAYER

Lord, help me to be a good wife.  I fully realize that I don’t have what it takes to be one without Your help.  Take my selfishness, impatience, and irritability and turn them into kindness, long-suffering, and the willingness to bear all things. Take my old emotional habits, mindsets, automatic reactions, rude assumptions, and self-protective stance, and make me patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.  Take the hardness of my heart and break down the walls with Your battering ram of revelation.  Give me a new heart and work in my Your love, peace, and joy (Galatians 5:22, 23).  I am not able to rise above who I am at this moment.  Only you can transform me.
   Show me where there is sin in my heart, especially with regard to my husband.  I confess the times I’ve been unloving, critical, angry, resentful, disrespectful, or unforgiving toward him.  Help me to put aside any hurt, anger, or disappointment I feel and forgive him the way You do-totally and completely, no looking back.  Make me a tool of reconciliation, peace, and healing in this marriage.  Enable us to communicate well and rescue us from the threshold of separation where the realities of divorce begin. 
   Make me my husband’s helpmate, companion, champion, friend, and support.  Help me create a peaceful, restful, safe place for him to come home to.  Teach me how to take care of myself and stay attractive to him.   Grow me into a creative and confident woman who is rich in mind, soul, and spirit.  Make me the kind of woman he can be proud to say is his wife.
   I lay all my expectations at Your cross. I release my husband from the burden of fulfilling me in areas where I should be looking to You.  Help me to accept him the way he is and not try to change him.  I realize that in some ways he may never change, but at the same time, I release him to change in ways I never thought me could.  I leave any changing that needs to be done in Your hands, fully accepting that neither of us is perfect and never will be.  Only You, Lord, are perfect and I look to you to perfect us.
   Teach me how to pray for my husband and make my prayers a true language of love.  Where love had died, create new love between us.  Show me what unconditional love really is and how to communicate it in a way he can clearly perceive.  Bring unity between us so that we can be in agreement about everything (Amos 3:3).  May the God of patience and comfort grant us to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus (Romans 15:5).  Make us a team, not pursuing separate, competitive, or independent lives, but working together, over looking each other’s faults and weaknesses for the greater good of the marriage.  Help us to pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another (Romans 14:9). May we be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
   I pray that our commitment to You and to one another will grow stronger and more passionate everyday.  Enable him to be the head of the home as You make him to be, and show me how to support and respect him as he rises to that place of leadership.  Help me to understand his dreams and see things from his perspective. Reveal to me what he wants and needs and show me potential problems before they arise.  Breathe Your life into this marriage.
   Make me a new person, Lord. Give me a fresh perspective, a positive outlook, and a renewed relationship with the man You’ve given me.  Help me see him with new eyes, new appreciation, new love, new compassion, and new acceptance. Give my husband a new wife, and let it be me.
   
   

Excerpts and prayer from “ THE POWER OF A PRAYING WIFE’  by Stormie Omartian

CREATING A HOME

   Even if you are the only one working and your husband stays home to keep house and tend the kids, you will still be expected to see that the heart of your home is a peaceful sanctuary-a source of contentment, acceptance, rejuvenation, nurturing, rest and love for your family.  On top of this you will also be expected to be sexually appealing, a good cook, a great mother, and physically, emotionally, and spiritually fit.  It’s overwhelming to most women, but the good news is that you don’t have to do it all on your own.  You can seek God’s help. 
   Ask the Lord to show you how to make your home a safe haven that builds up your family-a place where creativity flows and communication is on going.  Ask God to help you keep the house clean, the laundry done, the kitchen in order, the pantry and refrigerator full, and the beds made.  These are basic things a man may not compliment his wife on every day (or ever), but he will notice if they are not done.
   Part of making a house a home is allowing your husband to be the head so you can be the heart.  If your husband is to be the head of the home, you must allow him that headship.  If you are to be the heart of the home, you still must take the steps necessary to do so, even if you are a major contributor to the financial support.

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT

   It’s interesting that God requires the husband to love his wife, but the wife is required to have respect for her husband.  “Let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:33) We not only bring defeat into our marriages and our husbands when we don’t have respect for them, but it shuts the door to a new life in us as well.
   Unless a wife wants to loose her position as queen of her husband’s heart, and hurt her family and friends besides, she mustn’t humiliate her husband no matter how much she thinks he deserves it.  The price is too high. “Lord, I confess I do not esteem my husband the way Your Word says to.  There is a wall in my heart that I know was erected as a protection against being hurt.  But I am ready to let it come down so that my heart can heal.  I confess the times I have shown lack of respect for him.  I confess my disrespectful attitude and words as sin against You.  Show me how to dismantle this barrier over my emotions that keeps me from having the unconditional love You want me to have.  Tear down the wall of hardness around my heart and show me how to respect my husband the way You want me to.  Give me Your heart for him, Lord, and help me to see him the way You see him.”

Sister,
I was looking at your thread and it has been a while since I posted to you. I just wanted to tell you that if you can get your hands on a copy of the book The Power of a Praying Wife, you will find this to be an excellent guide. The first you have to do before praying for your husband is to pray for yourself. You have to ask God to forgive you for anything that you have against your husband. Well, here I will post excerpts from the book and some prayers that are in the book. We are getting ready to have a study on this in our church. We are going to start it out praying for our husbands and then use the tools to pray for the men in our church. God help our city if we can get the women praying like they should be and the men on fire like they should be. The women should be the prayer warriors for the church and the men should be the leaders. And as I pointed out to one man(since he brought it up), the women in our church have the men beat in being involved in things. Prayer, working, going to retreats and attending special events. He agreed with me and said it was a shame. The Pastor's wife has agreed and she has the same feelings as I and another lady in the church. Praying women and men that are on fire for God.  This is what the other lady in my church has come up with for the first lesson. By the way, any man that is saved and has been filled with the Holy Ghost is a spiritually leader of me in church. This is my opinion and something God seems to be dealing with me about. OK OK enough with this and get on with the excepts. Here they come:

The Power of a Praying Wife

Chapter 1

The hard part about being a praying wife, other than the sacrifice of time, is maintaining a pure heart.  It must be clean before God in order for you to see good results.  That’s why praying for a husband must begin with praying for his wife.  If you have resentment, anger, unforgiveness, or an ungodly attitude, even if there’s good reason for it, you’ll have a difficult time seeing answers to your prayers.  It’s impossible to truly give yourself in prayer for your husband without first examining your own heart.  You can’t go to God and expect answers to prayer if you harbor unforgiveness, bitterness, or resentment. You can not pray a wife’s favorite three-word prayer without knowing in the deepest recesses of your soul that you must first pray God’s favorite three-word prayer: “Change me, Lord.”
   This whole requirement is especially hard when you feel your husband has sinned against you with unkindness, lack of respect, indifference, irresponsibility, infidelity, abandonment, cruelty, or abuse.  But God considers the sins of unforgiveness, anger, hatred, self-pity, lovelessness, and revenge to be just as bad as any others.
   Prayer is the ultimate love language. Talking to God about your husband is an act of love. Prayer gives rise to love; love begets more prayer, which in turn gives rise to more love.


I DON’T EVEN LIKE HIM-HOW CAN I PRAY FOR HIM

   The first thing to do is to be completely honest with God. “Lord, nothing in me wants to pray for this man.  I confess my anger, hurt, unforgiveness, disappointment, resentment, and hardness of heart toward him.  Forgive me and create in me a clean heart and right spirit before you.  Give me a new, positive, joyful, loving, forgiving attitude toward him.  Where he has erred, reveal it to him and convict his heart about it.  Lead him through the paths of repentance and deliverance.  Help me not to hold myself apart from him emotionally, mentally, or physically because of unforgiveness. Where either of us needs to ask forgiveness of the other, help us to do so.  If there is something I’m not seeing that is adding to this problem, reveal it to me and help me to understand it.  Remove any wedge of confusion that has created misunderstanding or miscommunication.  Where there is behavior that needs to change in either of us, I pray You would enable that change to happen.  As much as I want to hang on to my anger toward him because I feel it is justified, I want to do what You want.  I release all those feelings to You.  Give me a renewed sense of love for him and words to heal this situation.”


SHUT UP AND PRAY

   There is a time to speak and a time not to speak, and happy is the man whose wife can discern between the two.  Anyone who has been married for any length of time realizes that there are thing better left unsaid.  A wife has the ability to hurt her husband more deeply than anyone else can, and he can do the same to her.
   Our goal must not be to get our husbands to do what we want, but rather release them to God so He can get them to do what He wants.
   The Bible says, “Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5:2)
   Communicate your thoughts, but once he has heard them, don’t continue to press him until it becomes a point of contention and strife.

BELIEVER OR NOT

   The Bible says a wife can win over her husband without saying anything, because what he observes in his wife speaks more loudly than what she tells him.  “They, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives.” (1 Peter 3:1, 2)

Dear Sister,
I, too am unequally yoked in my marriage. Although I was going to church, I was not following God's will for my life. I married my husband after I had moved in with him. My parents began to take my children to church when my youngest was 3. I have gone through everything from telling God I would not serve him until my husband was saved to loving God with all my heart and serving him daily. I struggled with the thoughts of my husband(and kids) not being in Heaven with me, but I have conitued to put my trust in him. I have had someone speak over me that my husband would be saved and I know that God can save him, but I also know that my husband's will plays a big part on what happens in his life. Just keep the prayers going and your faith will increase. I will pray for your husband and your faith in God to do what seems to be the impossible.
Kathy

We have a Monday night prayer meeting at our church that I attend. It seems like my husband doesn't protest to this as much as he did when I went to the Saturday night prayer. Funny how you can go to church on Sunday and feel beat down by Monday night. But Monday nights are different then the other prayer nights as we unite in prayer first. We started this to come into an agreement on different issues and then we go our own ways and sing praises to God and pray. If someone feels led to go over to someone and prayer they are free to do so. We once poured a small vial of anointing oil on a person who was going through battles. I can't remember exactly what it was that night but it was broken. He now tells us it took him a week to wash it out. Later he and his son moved into a house and before they moved in we went over to bless his house.

So what am I doing? I go to church Sunday both services and Weds night and go to prayer meeting on Monday.
Kathy

I think that the reasons for studying the events leading up to the rapture is so when someone asks us about the things that are happening today in the Middle East we can explain to them and lead them to God. Jesus' Second Coming is actually what all of these events are leading up to and not the rapture. We are not to know the day or the hour in which the rapture will happen.
Kathy