Felicity Dale
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3 Easy Ways to Reach Your Family for Jesus
Which is more effective in the long term? A highly skilled evangelist (think Billy Graham or a gifted pastor) or an army of ordinary people sharing the good news of Jesus everywhere they go? Much as I appreciate and value evangelists, I believe equipping people to do the work of an evangelist (which, according to Ephesians 4:11-12, …
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How I Reversed the Curse of Osteoporosis
Just over a year ago, I had my annual medical. After a routine bone-density scan, the diagnosis came back: osteoporosis. The doctor offered me an array of pharmaceutical options. I am no stranger to osteoporosis. Both my mother and my mother-in-law have suffered collapsed vertebrae—a very painful condition. In my 90-year-old mother’s case, she had to …
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How a Move of Women Leading in the Church Begins
A fascinating video on YouTube called “Piercing the Veil” by Lance Wallnau expresses this concept: Certain kingdom truths are veiled—the enemy keeps them hidden from God’s people, who have a veil over their minds and spirits. If someone tries to break through, they hit a barrier. Finally a few pierce the veil, but at great …
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Who Leads Your Church?
The key skill to making disciples and planting churches is an ability to recognize God’s voice. Do we know when he is speaking to us? Can we distinguish his voice from our own thoughts? Many of us have learned how to do this on an individual basis, but how many churches put into practice the fact …
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4 Ways to Hear From God for Yourself
There is one key skill that each of us needs to develop if we want to multiply disciples. I was spending time with the Lord one morning, watching two squirrels play a game of tag in the oak tree outside my window, when, out of the blue, a thought came to mind. “You are to …
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A Christian Response to Same-Sex Attraction
Sadly, we Christians are renowned for our negative attitudes. According to David Kinnamen in his book, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity … and Why It Matters, we are thought of by “outsiders”—that is, those who are not involved in church—as first, antigay (91 percent); second, judgmental (87 percent); and third, hypocritical (85 …
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How God Is Breaking in to Impossible Places
God is doing incredible things all around the world. There are probably more Christians in China now than members of the Communist Party. In Asia, the T4T training has resulted in more than 1.7 million baptisms over the past 10 years. In India, a Hindu nation, one house church network with which I am familiar, …
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If Jesus Embraced Women in Ministry, Why Can’t We?
One of the ways in which Jesus defied convention was in his treatment of women. Think, for example, of his willingness to have a conversation, alone, with a Samaritan woman of very dubious reputation (John 4). Jesus always treated women with dignity and respect. Whereas I can think of several examples where he publicly rebuked …
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A Christian Woman’s View of the Word ‘Feminist’
I love Sarah Bessey’s book, Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women. In it, she says, “Jesus loves us on our own terms. He treats us as equals to the men around him; he listens, he does not belittle; he honors us; he challenges us; he teaches us; he includes us—calls us beloved…. …
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Is the Church Throwing Water on Your Fire?
Here’s what I was taught in my early days as a Christian. As a woman: I am always to be under a man’s covering or authority. If I’m unmarried or my husband is not around, I have to find a man to whom I will submit. I cannot teach a man under any circumstances—unless they …
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Does God Really Command Males to Rule Over Females?
The other day, the excellent editor I’m working with on the book I’m compiling, The Black Swan Effect: A Response to Gender Hierarchy in the Church, asked me a question on the manuscript. I’d written, “God nowhere in Scripture commands men to rule over women.” Her comment was, “This is a big statement. …
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Does 1 Timothy 2:12 Really Say Women Can’t Teach in Church?
There’s a little word in the Greek in 1 Timothy 2:12 that makes all the difference. That word is oude. It appears there are two prohibitions for women in 1 Timothy 2:12. The first is teaching; the second, assuming or usurping authority. But they are separated by this little word oude. Again, I’m indebted to Philip Payne’s …
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How to Walk in the Spirit in Tough Times
The part of ourselves that controls our reactions to life has a huge impact on us. According to 1 Thess. 5:23, we have a spirit, a soul and a body. Our body is physical and receives stimuli through our senses. Our soul is generally thought to consist of our mind, will and emotions. Our spirit …
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Why Jesus Didn’t Have Female Disciples
Oh, but he did! Jesus chose 12 men to be with him. What is often forgotten is that a group of women accompanied him too. Luke’s gospel describes these women: :Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took …
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4 Ways to Love God More
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, and if I can’t get back to sleep, I get up to pray. It’s become a habit that I have learned to appreciate. We have a long hallway in our house, and I love to walk up and down that hallway seeking the Lord. Yesterday …