And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. -- Acts 18: 2-3 (ESV)
After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. -- Acts 18: 18 (ESV)
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. -- Acts 18: 26 (ESV)
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. -- Romans 16: 3-4 (ESV)
The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. -- 1Corinthians 16: 19 (ESV)
Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. -- 2Timothy 4: 19 (ESV)
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I have never had six key verses before but you will soon see why. I have written recently about the march of Christo-feminism through the church today. Not satisfied with the roles God has ordained for women, some continue to try and mangle the Bible for their own selfish ends. Beloved, the Bible cannot be clearer on a subject than it is on this. It specifically says that women are not to exercise authority over men when it comes to teaching and preaching. Not only that but this does not have to be pondered or mused over as it appears in a section dealing with church organization and within a pastoral letter! Paul is writing to his prote'ge' Timothy as he was to embark on his pastoral journey. Not only that but God even provided us with His reasoning for His decision -- because Eve was deceived and she was the transgressor. Christo-feminists have even tried to muddy the waters in the Garden of Eden but this verse destroys any arguments about Adam being deceived along with Eve.
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. -- 1Timothy 2: 12-14 (ESV)
So the cause of Christo-feminism is simply to have women be lead pastors and preachers and rule with authority over men. But what to do with these pesky instructions that are so clear? They scour the Bible to come up with clever observations and strange interpretations to simply avoid having to abide by the simple words that have already instructed on this matter. One such source is a hero in this arena for the cause of Christo-feminism and that is Priscilla. She appears six times in Scripture, all of which I listed as key verses today. The last three listed are portions of greetings with letters and have no interpretive value other than to say that this married couple risked their necks for Paul and he considered them fellow workers. No one is saying women cannot be fellow workers in the kingdom. The first verse is the initial meeting, where Paul ends up staying with them for they shared the same profession as tentmakers. The second verse is simply saying that Priscilla and Aquila accompanied Paul on a trip to Syria, where apparently he got a haircut. Which leaves us with Acts 18:26 and with this one verse, many continue to try and ignore the clear directive Scriptures of what God said. This verse is in reference to Apollos who was boldly speaking in the synagogue but he was a little off. So Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. That's it beloved; nothing else is said. Yet the forces arrayed against the Word of God would have you believe that this is an example of a woman showing authority over a man in teaching and therefore we must ignore the clear instructive verses in favor of our suppositions involving this one verse. Except Acts 18:26 is not a woman having authority over man in teaching and has nothing to do with church structure. It is a married couple providing wisdom and counsel for a friend -- a task not excluded for women. I have even heard some pretend that Priscilla was the lead in ministry and Aquila was somehow in the background cheering her on like any good husband would do. How do they conclude this? Because four of the six times they are mentioned, Priscilla's name is mentioned first. I kid you not. This type of tea leaf reading is what they use to dismiss out of hand the clear instructive verses on the subject that they simply disagree with. I say this is a backdrop to review the above linked article from the Queen of Calamari, Jennifer Leclaire. It seems Jennifer had tried to dismiss John Piper's correct comments recently on the subject of women teaching men and now she is upset at some of the blowback of people daring to question the woman who changed "suddenlies" into "immediatelies." Let us reason together once more beloved:
"A few weeks ago, I wrote an article called "John Piper Gets it All Wrong About Women in Ministry. I knew this articlewould stir a hornet's nest, but I never imagined in a million years Jesus would condemn me to hell for writing it." -- Jennifer Leclaire
If it makes you feel better Jennifer you were a false teacher way before the Piper brush up. Do you remember when you falsified all of your fake prophetic words? When you claimed you saw a sneaky squid spirit sitting on your friends head that was now stalking you? Maybe when you set up a fake school out of an airport hotel room to pretend to teach the gifts of the Holy Spirit? I mean, take your pick seriously. The fact that you get this matter wrong when you show no care for the Word to begin with does not surprise me. The larger point here though is the strawman argument Leclaire is making. It is a familiar argument to me because it is the same one Dr. Michael Brown made when defending Bill Johnson to me on his radio show. The argument made here and in the title of this mess of an article, is that accusing someone of false teaching or prophesy is the same as accusing them of going to hell. The problem is that judgment is not ours to make. That judgement comes from the Lord. The Bible is abundantly clear however that we are to mark those who are false, rebuke them, call them by name and make sure they do not get anywhere near the sheep! The trick Leclaire is engaging in here, which I can only assume she learned from Dr. Brown is to change the subject to a strawman argument that no one is making. It is not my place to say that Jennifer Leclaire or anyone else is going to hell. It is my job to point out that she lies for a living, fleeces the flock of God for shameful gain, and is false as the definitions provided in the Word of God bear out.
"In the article, one of my lines was: "Look at Aimee Semple McPherson. What about Kathryn Kuhlman? How about Marilyn Hickey and Joyce Meyer? All of these women have been a blessing to the body of Christ, and they have all faced persecution from people who don't agree that they should speak and teach. Jesus certainly didn't prevent women from entering ministry so I am unsure as to why there is so much resistance in some camps within the modern church." I got a wicked nasty comment on the article from a Richard Tuttle. He didn't share his credentials or why he thinks God granted him the authority to condemn me to hell in the name of Jesus, but he said plenty more. "Miss LeClair's argument regarding women teaching in the Church and/or exercising authority over a man in the Church is unbiblical at best, and heretical at worst," Tuttle says. First of all, spell my name right, especially if you are going to argue accuracy and make an accusation of heresy. Can't you see the enemy is using you to throw a fiery dart with such a serious allegation? Are you really going to call me and the many, many others who believe the same as I do false teachers? Are you not aware that you are claiming I am going to hell? Can't you disagree without sending me to the devil's chambers?" -- Jennifer Leclaire
We reviewed this previous article and pointed out that Meyer, Kuhlman and the like were not blessings to the body of Christ but a scourge upon them. Then Jennifer tries the ole two-step. Remember this is a conversation about women in positions of authority teaching or preaching to men. Within that construct she pivots to the more reasonable argument about entering ministry, something no one is arguing. As for Mr. Tuttle, let me say I have not seen the comment in question. Nonetheless, Jennifer continues to build her strawman that Tuttle's correct charge of being false is akin to condemning her to hell. As for the notion of the involvement of the enemy it would be in what is false, not in pointing it out. The enemy divides the body of Christ through false teachings and prophesies like let's say if you taught that God was waiting to release the "angels of abundant harvest."
Let us also dispel the mystique around the word heresy. The definition means simply teaching what is not accepted within a belief system. You know, like your teaching on activating the angels on assignment or the aforementioned sneaky squid. The Bible determines those teachings are heretical. They are false and we know that Romans teaches us that it then divides the body. You can choose to do with this information what you will. You can continue to make money off the sheep of the Lord by lying on behalf of God or you could repent as Mr. Tuttle recommended at one point. Either way, the issue is about your false teaching not some faux offense about being consigned to hell.
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