IF:Gathering | Should Women's Ministry be About Changing the World?

What would be the purpose of a women's conference like what what should a women's conference try to accomplish?

And I think that we all need to think about that. What is it if gathering began with three words?

disciple a generation and Discipleship is what we are still about. We believe it is the way that Jesus said the world would change

As I travel and meet so many of you from all different types of places coming from all different types of backgrounds

I find us though in the same types of conversations Basically, you are wanting to live a big faith in God But we get stuck in the everyday challenges and the messes that are right in front of us if God is real then what?

The reason that we gather is because we actually want to live out what we say we believe

There's a pressure as women To do everything to be a mom to take care of the home to be a perfect wife to be a perfect Manager at work to cook to clean to be a perfect daughter a perfect sister a perfect friend

We don't want to just say yes God is real we want to as a generation come together and live out what he's called us to do

If gathering is about this dream that we could make the very most of the time that we have to build the kingdom of God Number one thing that a woman's conference should be accomplishing is very simply

Titus to Titus to Literally tells women what to teach other women It tells us to teach other women to be kind pure sensible workers at home

To love our children to love our husbands to not be addicted to much wine It should build us up in those things and that doesn't mean we can only teach

Titus to and no other scripture I'm not saying that but we should be built up very specifically and what the Bible tells me I believe that it's possible for us to come together

I believe it's possible for us to to make changes that could change the world I have naively believed that from the beginning and yet it's not naive because I've seen it happen.

I've seen it happen through you I've seen communities change. I've seen neighborhoods change I've seen college campuses change because of you and your places and and this is what

I still believe can change the world And friends, I just want to come here and encourage you that the job that God has called you to do

It's gonna be hard. It's gonna require you to go outside of your comfort zone. It's gonna have its own set of pain

It's gonna require faith But the desire to be with your dad and do the job that he's called you to do is going to fill you with the

Confidence and guess what? You don't even just have to have self -confidence you'll be filled with the Spirit of God to do what you never thought you were capable of doing a woman should be a mature

Christian a woman needs just as much Theology as a man a woman grows in Christ Just like a man through knowledge of the

Word of God through prayer through the grace of God and that's very important to understand There's a God that has a plan for you in the midst of this chaos

This is what if gathering is all about Changing the world through discipleship thousands and thousands and thousands of you gathering together with one purpose

To come before God and to ask the question, how do you want us to live? Guys, this is the story of if gathering women from all different backgrounds women from all different countries women from all different Races and and ages and guys we need this more than ever

We want you to bring your people together in your places wherever you feel safe However that that looks for you this

March We want you to bring your people together on mission praying and asking God how do we lead out of this?

Do not miss this join us live gather your people Tell everybody, you know, and let's go and imagine a world that is unified again and on mission for the glory of God Should leave a women's conference

Encouraged in going back home In doing what the Lord has called her to do

We should be encouraged encouraged to go back home and be better wives and moms and you know

And be sensible and kind and so I think a lot of these conferences not a they

Come home being falsely taught. That's just how it is being falsely taught By a lot of women that are in roles that God has not called them to like pastor

There's several women pastors on that list that we will talk about And I think that they leave women coming home wanting to be rock star

Christian women like the women on stage If God is real then we want more than anything to live like it

We want to be a part of this epic story even if it is in the smallest of ways Every one of our souls aches to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

We just have to remember that we already are Something about the power of women in every city

In countries around the world all standing up and saying you know what? I I want

God like this I want to matter Take all the women in the world and I think every child under 15 it makes up for 75 % of the population

Women can do a lot of work. The thing is that really bothers me I'm so tired of women getting together men get together have a conference on the

Trinity or Justification women get together and the only thing they teach them is if the world gives you lemons learn how to turn it into lemonade

Women don't need that they need theology women in their churches in their neighborhoods in their homes are already having an impact

We just want to resource them. We want to give them what they need to Come around tables and to eat together and dream together and hope together and to lift each other's heads and to remember

The story that we're a part of Why should

Christians speak out against this movement? I think out of love for God and love for neighbor, you know What sums up all of the commandments is love the

Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself Which implies we already love ourselves, you know, it's not a command to love yourself

You do love yourself by by nature but I think because we love God like you said we have fear of God and we don't fear man and we

We are to pursue that of course Some of us do have fear of man, but we are to constantly be putting that fear to death and and dying to self

And so I think because we love God in his word and fidelity to it. We speak out as a primary Motivation and then the second one is because we love our neighbor and we love people

We don't want them to see you know, we don't want to see them get caught up or swept away by any of these potentially false teachers or teachings that are being shared from either the if stage or from the teachers who are platformed at if and then those people get introduced to them and You know kind of drawn away into some sort of crazy movement like be the bridge, you know

And now our burden that's saddled with all kinds of anxieties and weights and burdens that they were not meant to bear

That is not Christ's Burden for them which is easy and light and you know He's done the work and I just think if you if you really love people you don't want to see them

Go down that road. And so, you know, I think that it's it's obviously tough because There are people who have a real soft spot in their heart for this event and for Jenny Allen And I think she's a super likable person.

So I don't fault them for that And I think it's I've heard that the event is very well done. It's beautiful it's just like every details thought of the gift bags the

Table decor everything is just so thoughtful and women are suckers for that I'm sorry, like women like love that stuff and they eat it up and I'm not against beautiful table settings

But at the expense of being exposed to false doctrines and false teachers It's not worth it to me.

So so yeah, I think love of God and love of neighbor Welcome to the thirdly equipped podcast where we compare the teachings from popular women's ministry books

Conferences Bible studies, etc to scripture our focus is 2nd Timothy 3 16 to 17 that all

Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking correcting and training in righteousness

So the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work

I'm your host Melba toast. May this episode bless you and bring glory to God It's welcome to another episode of thoroughly equipped if you are new well welcome

I want to say thank you to all the subscribers of thoroughly equipped. Thank you for watching these videos sharing liking commenting on the videos

It is a blessing to my heart to see that you guys are Watching them and getting something out of them or even if you disagree you're commenting and we're having discussions

I've had a couple with a couple of discussions through YouTube with people and it's I'm I'm I get all excited to have discussions and go deeper, especially when we want to Especially when

I'm discussing things with people who are really looking for the truth and Is like myself wanting to stand firm on God's Word so um

Let's talk About Jenny Allen's if gathering very very very popular ministry that I am sure if you attend a seeker sensitive or a

Calvary Chapel Non -denominational or even just a simple common

Baptist Church you have probably heard of Jenny Allen's if gathering a

Discipleship ministry which launched its first conference back in 2014

Now this conference is done in a more modern format as held online and reaches those across the world in individual homes college dorms church buildings, etc.

So It's not the typical conference that you'd see like Beth Moore has her conferences where she goes around the

United States or even around the world and gives a conference this one is pretty much a conference held one time during beginning or Yeah, the beginning of spring either the end of February the beginning of March held in Dallas, Texas Streamed online to which people can purchase the rights to watch the stream and then host what they call and if Local, like I said either the churches or the college dorms or anything like that Okay So this is how it's grown through the use of technology and it's a brilliant idea in getting women together under one parachurch

Ministry because you get them into the conference They get excited.

They do they go all out for those women who are attending it the actual in -person conference in Dallas, Texas And then

I'm sure churches Individual churches will go all out Themselves to host a local and then advertise on Facebook to their to women in their community

So This has just been a fantastic way to reach women and I give them kudos for that in using technology and a very smart way grassroots almost

Put the resources in to individual woman's hands so they themselves Can access

Resources to disciple other women so Right off the bat, that's

I think one of the good things about if gathering but also because of that it is

Problematic and we're going to look into all the things that I find problematic with this ministry in the next coming

Series and I hope to have it all complete because next year

March 1st, they are expanding the ministry from Specific for women to Broaden it it looks like to become more egalitarian with what is coming in March 1st of 2025 with gather 25, which is taking that same technology and that same

Idea with the locals by granting it to churches all over the world to which they are

Advertising it as a gathering of the global church.

Okay for a full 25 hours from the evening time of That Friday to all the way to the end of Saturday for a full 25 hours

Okay so The one of the the things about this ministry because of its exponential growth

They host some of the most popular Evangelical female speakers such as Beth Moore Christine Kane Bianca Othoff and Voskamp Lysa Turkers Jackie Hill Perry and etc and etc, right?

So this is one of the one of the things why we need to talk about the if gathering now

I'm a side note here I'm gonna ask All of you who are new and who are coming on here who are if gathering followers who are

Jenny Gap? Jenny Allen followers who are gung -ho about the if gathering and if you come across this video to just Bear with me, right?

Don't shut me off. I know you're probably gonna come to this going. She's a heresy hunter she's

You know just wanting to put down God's work of this ministry and things like that And I get it.

I understand that for probably a lot of you it was in in my life a lot of you are

Not Or whoever a lot of you have felt that this ministry has blessed you

Or benefited you in some way and ministries like this to other women teachers and speakers

We tend to you know Be all gung -ho for those female teachers that we like and feel have blessed us in some way

And like I said, I felt this way too. I came out of the purpose -driven seeker sensitive evangelical sphere but I came out of it because I saw my failures and I began to also see that what was being taught within this what became a heavy burden for me and Then after feeling the heavy burden and Diving deeper into scripture.

I then began to see why it was a burden or why what I was being taught Especially the purpose -driven

Gospel Became a burden for me. It was because one it's kind of a false gospel that adds to Christ and his work and Three I began to see the way that they

Mishandled scripture and the way because of that how it brought into it became a different God a different Christ and Because of that I therefore

Had a different purpose for living and I hope throughout this series to kind of draw that out for those of you who are

Have been involved in the if Gathering or even have gone

Deeper and gone into the if ministry and use their resources I'm going to show you and expose to you how the main teachings within and coming out of this ministry are more of a burden than a joy and Place more on our works

Importance on what we do for God than what Christ has done for ourselves or for us and so that's what

I want to free you women up to Just Know the gospel and the freeness that comes from the gospel and To just because of that love

God more and live your life in faith To him and trust in his word and so long introduction

All that to say that that's that's my heart for these next couple of episodes

To show you the concerns I have for this ministry and conference and then the call you to look at the scriptures to see if what is being taught will actually produce woman after Christ's own heart or women after the if gatherings heart

So let's start with that. Let's start with the heart or goal of the if gathering

The ministry's goal is to Quote put tools and resources in the hands of women within the church to empower women to reclaim discipleship as God's means to change the world in eight years through technology our events and our tools

We have reached more than 1 million women in 179 countries and we have a grand desire to see an entire generation

Discipled and unleashed to then go and make more disciples of Jesus We believe with God it's possible in quote.

That's from the if gathering calm our story So right off the bat man going with some questions here and these questions that I'm going to ask and then hopefully answered

Answer it will be one does Discipleship need to be reclaimed as God's means to change the world to what does biblical discipleship empower women to do and Three, what is the tool that women need to be empowered in discipleship?

So let's address these one at a time so that then we can ultimately come to understand and discern if the if ministry will

Disciple women as Christ has called Discipleship to be for his women

All right. First question was does discipleship need to be reclaimed as God's means to change the world?

Jenny believes by the statement that discipleship needs to be reclaimed men to reclaim something means to Recover or retrieve something that was previously lost given or paid so in this case miss

Allen is making the claim that discipleship needs to be recovered and more specifically that it needs to be reclaimed as God's means to change the world that somehow

Discipleship now is no longer about changing the world But was what

Christ intended discipleship to be is this true is? Discipleship God's means by which he changes the world

Well, we need to have a right understanding of what discipleship is before we ask if Jenny Allen is correct about it being the means

To you know change the world So let's look to God's very words to learn about what discipleship is

Matthew 28 18 to 20 is what Christians call the Great Commission passage This is the passage that calls all

Christians to discipleship when I read this look at what Jesus instructs the

Apostles to do and let's see if changing the world is an end goal and Jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations Baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold

I am with you always to the end of the age Now, let's make a note of some of the things that Jesus tells us here one that all authority in heaven and on earth

Are given to him. He has all Authority on this earth. He is an authority over all governments and all peoples

Because he has all authority he now instructs his Apostles because that's who he's speaking to to go and make disciples to make

Followers learners those that want to learn and obey all that Christ commands

He taught the Apostles and the Apostles teach us to this day by the written

Word of God But let's go deeper. What does discipleship look like?

What are we to learn? What is the goal of discipleship and is it to change the world?

What does discipleship start with? Well, it starts with the gospel the good news that the Apostles proclaimed to the nearby nations that God Sent his son to die for our sins and was raised on the third day

Revealing that he has the power over sin death and the devil to set free those who all their lives

Were held in slavery by the fear of death Hebrews 2 14 to 15

And with him being the one with all power and all authority We are called to repent of our sin and trust in the finished work of Christ Justified by his blood so that we may be saved from the wrath to come

Romans 5 9 discipleship starts with the good news and Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away Behold, the new has come all this is from God who through Christ Reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation

That is in Christ. God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of Reconciliation Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us

We implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God 2nd

Corinthians 5 17 to 20 This is our message and by this good news

We are made new to follow our master our Lord Jesus Christ Discipleship starts with the gospel and the proclamation of the reconciliation between God and his people and from there

It's about training those who have been reconciled to observe and obey all that Christ has commanded

We see this all over the epistles the prayers of Paul and Peter are centered on The formation of Christ in his people so that they may be filled with all the fullness of God So is the goal of discipleship to change the world?

No now the effects of large groups of people being

Discipled will change the world. We we cannot disregard that But that is not the purpose of discipleship.

The purpose of discipleship is to teach his people to Observe all that Christ commanded the

Apostles We can find out more on the purpose of discipleship in Ephesians 4 11 to 16

He gave the Apostles the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and teachers to equip the

Saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ Until we attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the

Son of God To mature manhood to the measure the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by human cunning by craftiness and deceitful schemes rather Speaking the truth and love we are to grow up in every way unto him who is the head unto

Christ From whom the whole body Joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly

Makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love All of ministry is done with the heart of making disciples and Christ has given his people

Apostles prophets evangelists shepherds and teachers to train the disciples up to serve and Disciple others so that we attain to the knowledge of the

Son of God which this knowledge is Deep theology to bring people up to the maturity and in Hebrews we see that maturity comes from discernment and discerning good theology versus bad theology and To grow to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ So we are no longer carried to and fro by every wind of doctrine

But instead by truth spoken to us in love we grow up in every way unto him who is the head

We are to grow up into Christ for us women discipleship is about training

God's women to be like Christ and That is the purpose of women's ministry.

It's not to equip you with tools to train you up to change the world In fact Christ came to give life to his sheep to lay down his life

So we might have life abundant John 10 10 in this abundant life Yes, we will love our neighbor and in that love will do many many good works in the world

But our goal is not to change it but to proclaim the one who saves it from the wrath of God We make disciples because individuals need to be saved this world the people in it need to be saved and set free from sin

We make disciples because those who have been saved also need to be trained to observe and obey

Christ and all that he commands When we abide in Christ's Word and obey his commands, we love our neighbor and our

Savior and bring glory to God The goal of discipleship is not to change the world.

It's not even about making you a better Version of yourself nor to accomplish a calling by God to do something great for him it is about putting on a

Whole new man the man Jesus Christ denying ourselves and becoming like him

It is to call another individual to obey Christ as Lord for this to happen

We must be proclaiming the gospel knowing nothing but Christ and him crucified

Hearing about him seeing him in the works of ourselves and others and growing into the mature statue of him

What's discipleship the means by which God changed the world and some people might say yes,

I'm sir Jenny Allen would But I believe there are things that are missing

From this statement or twisted in this statement Sort of the misunderstandings see the gospel is the means by which

God saves his people and Discipleship is a means by which he sanctifies his people people who are more like Christ love and serve others and by Obvious deduction then we could say that the more sanctified

People there are the more the world will change Yes, absolutely

And yet you cannot find anywhere in Scripture that God calls his people to work on Changing the world because from the very beginning from the moment sin entered this world it wasn't changed that God said we needed but Salvation from death

Genesis 2 17 and the wrath of God that is to come against all those who do evil

Romans 2 6 to 11 It is the salvation and sanctification of his people that all

Christian ministry should be about To minister is to provide a service and for the

Christian Our service is always done with the heart to edify and grow the church

Now on to the next question What does biblical discipleship empower women to do?

so now that we know what discipleship is and what it is for we can look a bit of what women's ministry is and what discipleship according to Scripture should empower women to do

Evangelism is the spreading of the gospel to bring people into the kingdom of God the message

That is the power of God unto salvation Discipleship is bringing people to obey

Jesus commands through the edification of God's Word this is the job of the church and the ministers within it a

Ministry that should come out of the church is a ministry for women by older women now there are broad commands that Christ instructs the whole of the church body in and There are more narrow commands that he gives to his women in Titus 2

We have a more narrow or a specific set of commands on what the older women are to train the younger women up into Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior not slanders or slaves too much wine they are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children to be self -controlled pure Working at home kind and submissive to their own husbands that the

Word of God may not be reviled Titus 2 3 to 5 Women's ministry is women serving and training other women to obey

Christ's commands within their roles as wife mother daughter

Sister and friend These are the good works and acts of love that Christ by the

Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul instructs women to disciple the younger women into So the ministry of the older women in the church is to take the good doctrine taught by the faithful elders and pastors in the church and use those good doctrines to empower women to thrive in their homes as modest kind Self -controlled wives and mothers who work hard at providing for the family and submitting to their husbands

This is where womanhood and femininity shines

Now it saddens me how the popular church culture today thinks so very little of the family

I mean, oh, yes, you you can Receive many many teachings on Parenting on marriage on what marriage is and even on women roles in submission and husband's roles as heads of the family

You get Teachings on how to get your children to behave or how to even train your kids become world changers

But it is very very lost on these type of churches for the most part that the family should be the clearest display of the relationship between Christ and his bride the church

That is theology. That is deep theology and that is often missing from most of these teachings in the seeker sensitive churches should

God grant one marriage and Children discipleship starts with family.

This is not to say that one cannot disciple others should God Not grant them a husband and children, but it is the common means by which

God instituted Discipleship, he calls all his people to train up their children that his words be on our heart teaching them diligently to our children

Talking of them when we sit down in our house when we walk by the way and when we lie down and when we rise

Deuteronomy 6 6 7 we are to bring up children in the discipline and instruction of the

Lord Ephesians 6 4 this is discipleship and that as a whole is vastly

Different than the popular teaching that we hear about discipleship outside of the home It's an honor to disciple our children and God has called women to have one of the most

Important influences on our children as well as our husbands In fact,

God states that our submission to our husbands has a great effect on them almost even a form of submissive discipleship

In a way a meek and quiet spirit that is willing to submit to our husband can

Disciple our husbands and win them without a word verse Peter 3 1 to 6.

That is how powerful a meek and quiet spirit is to To a man and the same type of qualities and a woman can also be a light an example to our children as our godly

Submissive conduct is a display of how the church submits to Christ our Lord and Savior Ephesians 5 31 to 32

It's a failure within popular evangelical Christianity today to equip women to be world changers and leaders

Who ignore what God's Word says on discipleship within the home as God's first and foremost calling to women

What's even worse is that the training in discipleship that comes from the typical? Women's ministry is filled with just vapid theology and I wonder if this is a result of thinking that world changing

Doesn't necessarily involve theology. We don't actually need theology to go out there and change the world but to change the world

What we need is more Sociology psychology These are the things we need because these are the teachings that the world is steeped in and understands and therefore we can become more relevant incorporating decent to our

Ministry work see that's just not true Theology and doctrine are at the center of what it means to love and serve our neighbor

We see this especially applied to women in the Titus 2 verse that teaching what is good

God's Word will encourage women to love our neighbor And again, like I said, that is what true biblical women's ministry will look like older women taking the good doctrine in theology of Scripture And encouraging the younger to trust and believe in it

Applying it to their roles as wife mother daughter sister and friend So much of the

American evangelical women's ministry of today wants to pull you away from what God has instructed

In Titus 2 that a lot of it. There's no mention of it whatsoever They give lip service to women who want to be homemakers or homeschool and say yes, that's that's your calling but that's not

Necessarily a calling for every woman. So of course, we're all called to live on mission stay at home mom homeschooling 10 kids

It's a global Grammy award -winning singer, you know massive media media ministry Whatever we call dance dance dance and that's a fit

I think that's a big failure to in understanding the beauty of Biblical womanhood and the beauty of the godly wife displayed in Proverbs 31 and her role there we like to kind of Remove the wife

From Proverbs 31. I've often heard her described as a wife of noble character.

And again, I think that's beautiful But there's also this sense that she is a woman of valor

And I think if we only assign her value to a role like she's a wife of noble character Then we're missing the reality that she's also a woman of valor and her worth is found in the valor the woman of valor that God established her to be and make it more about this is the godly woman so that you can say well this is every woman can be

Godly in this way at certain time periods. I think that does a disservice to the beauty that is described in being a wife there because you want to remove that idea and It cheapens the role and the ministry work that a wife does in her home and a mother does and Yes, I can reach all sorts of spheres even spheres within the neighborhood and and be works like she does and selling

Clothing and Belts Sashes and things like that So she goes out

Into the world to sell what her hands have created and she is resourceful and entrepreneurial in that way

But it's all focused on the home it and for her closest neighbor her

Full -time ministry work for her husband and her children and those that reside in the home

Got to keep going back to the first couple verses of that proverb it is about a wife and That is the foundation

Where they're asked answering the question who can find a godly wife and that was that is

The the teachings That are coming forth from Solomon's mother in explaining the importance of Finding a good woman marrying that good woman and that woman

Doing all those good works in her home and the beauty and being compared even to rubies and fine jewels

That's how precious she is more precious than those when you brought in it, you just kind of cheapen it a little and make women think oh if I just You know,

I'm still proverbs 31 woman by going outside in the world and becoming a big girl boss

I could still be that proverbs 31 woman by you know becoming like someone like Jenny Allen or someone like Beth Moore who have produced mass

Ministries and the if ministry is a perfect example of this

So what about women's conferences though now, I think women's conferences have their purpose

I think they're a very useful tool to promote ideas. And this is where the tool can go wrong

Depending on the ideas and teachings being conveyed. It can be a very successful tool at spreading false teaching

The excitement the feelings brought through music and lightning lighting the large crowds all of this can entice us

Away from truth. So as Christians we should have a different use for conferences

Not the spreading of the world's ideas, but the spread and exaltation of God's Word What should be the purpose of any

Christian woman's conference? To glorify God in whatever endeavor.

We are called to do them all to the glory of God first Corinthians 10 31 Merely eight verses before this

Very popular verse Paul informs the Corinthian church that all things are lawful

But not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all builds up Let what no let no one seek his own good

But the good of his neighbor first Corinthians 10 23 to 24 now in the context

Paul is talking about meat sacrifice to idols He's trying to teach the Corinthians that while we have

Liberty to eat what we want with a clear conscience. Should we be confronted with certain pagan idolatry?

Practices we are to build Up our neighbor to seek his good and in seeking out his good

We would confront his idolatry to pierce his conscience. I know this seems

You know kind of off -topic But I'm getting there because it is in this context that Paul then states that we are to do all things

For God's glory and how does God receive glory in this way? Paul continues give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the

Church of God just as I try to please Everyone and everything I do not seeking my own advantage

But that of many that they may be saved first Corinthians 10 32 to 33

God is most glorified when we do not seek our own advantage, but the advantage of others

Especially any effort on our behalf to bring them to salvation a

Christian's women's conference should be about the salvation and edification of women for their spiritual growth for the glory of God So what is the tool then?

It's our third question the tool that women need to be empowered in The tool that women need to use to be empowered in discipleship

The ultimate purpose of both a woman's conference and women's ministry is to glorify God and the way we glorify

God is to not revile God's Word We honor God's Word by first believing that it is not only authoritative in our lives

But also sufficient to train us for every good work Now many ministries and conferences may claim they believe this but really they are not

There's such a thing as glorifying man under the name of God by denying the sufficiency of scripture to train us and This is where discernment is needed when looking into a conference or a ministry

How do we discern this? How do we discern if the ministry in question truly honors God's Word?

There is one question to answer that will help us discern Is scripture the tool or are there others?

Because there are two main philosophies regarding how ministry and conferences minister to their disciples and that is that scripture is all we need to present to help equip the people attending for Christian living and discipleship or the scripture and worldly knowledge and or extra -biblical revelation

Best way to equip the people for Christian living and discipleship

Understanding that there are these two foundational presuppositions regarding ministry that we can now Go back and answer the question.

I posed in the beginning. What tools do women need to be empowered in discipleship? These tools that if gathering wish to impart to us will reveal which kind of foundation they are built upon This is what we're going to find out in the next several episodes

Christ tells us in Matthew 7 24 to 27 this everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and The rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall because it had been

Founded on the rock and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man

Who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and It fell and great was the fall of it

The words of Christ are given to us in Scripture. They are more sure than any personal experience or even scientific philosophical psychological and sociological

Observation, which is also an experience scripture is what Peter instructs us to pay attention to in 2nd

Peter 1 19 In fact, Jesus makes this claim about what we are to build upon right after he informs his listeners that not everyone who?

Even calls him Lord Will enter the kingdom of heaven only those who do the will of the

Father Matthew 7 21 Where do we find the Father's will in?

unregenerate man's observation and philosophy No Scripture reveals the will of the

Father is Scripture sufficient to train us on how to be a disciple make other disciples

Our modern society wants to believe that we are just more educated than and even more advanced than our predecessors

Somehow because we live in this Technologically advanced age. We are just wiser and we now know better.

We have advanced in philosophy So we think became more aware of Sociological issues and know more about the human soul psychology than we did a hundred years ago

And because of this we should be integrating these things, you know Psychological sociological and psychological tools into our ministries to better equip women in making disciples

Why is scripture just not enough? Why do we have to integrate these sciences into our discipleship programs?

Does mankind know better or does God know best and give all we need for life godliness and good works in his word

We are just so ashamed of Scripture today in our modern era.

This is especially true in women's ministry in our shame of God's Word To make it more palatable for unbelievers.

We feel that God needs man's help to bring them to Christ This is the core of liberal

Christianity and that's where you're gonna start to see some blending in between purpose -driven secret sensitive churches and more liberal social justice churches they have the same underlying belief about The insufficiency of scripture they can talk scripture up in certain, you know purpose -driven churches

But it is more viewed as a life guide instead of solid theological truths

That are the foundation for the way we live and what we believe So because of this they'll mix in you know the under the guise of all truth is

God's truth Which there is a truth to that the problem is is what man has determined as truth actually true

Anyway, so but understanding that that's the core of Christian liberal

Christianity in women's ministry liberal liberalism progressive

Christianity can seep through and liberalism can thrive with the popular and Extremely misguided idea that our faith is built by our emotions now

This is slowly creeping in we've had this sort of identity teaching that has really creeped into The church and now we're starting to see especially with Jenny Allen this emotional

Focused teaching and so some of you know, I've been working on a project called untangle your emotions for a long time

I've been studying emotions the focus on our emotions and I think this is a dangerous dangerous slippery slope though I've already

Come to realize that I think Jenny Allen is more social gospel driven than actually

Biblically gospel driven, but I hope to expose that for you guys in the coming episodes

Anyway, but my point in saying that is this focus on emotions becomes

Kind of a branch that comes out of liberal theology J. Gresham Machen stated this in his book liberalism and Christianity That liberalism is totally different from Christianity for the foundation is different Christianity is founded upon the

Bible it bases upon the Bible both its thinking and its life Liberalism on the other hand is founded upon the shifting emotions of sinful men and this is where they can incorporate psychological teachings sociological teachings of men

Just more men's wisdom to mix with it because it satisfies the emotions in making

Christianity relevant and that's a slipper slippery slope is eventually you fall down that slope and Eventually man's wisdom is gonna trump

Biblical teachings. It's gonna trump scripture and you're gonna use man's wisdom and man's teachings to read scripture and therefore will have

Use it to twist scripture instead of drawing up for scripture you will impose these manly men's

Wisdom and worldview wisdom I put in quotes there And worldview and teachings that Actually end up twisting scripture, which is what you have seen

It is the main way that for women in women's ministry to justify their preaching and teaching over men is

Believing that we are more advanced and There is this, you know

Man's knowledge and our more current scientific findings or historical findings or any of that is

Trump's what is actually said in scripture and they use that to justify women pastors and things like that and that's where you see that kind of foundation and that is why

Tone tangent here, but that is why women pastors is the

First visible sign we see of a church -going liberal, right? Okay So this is what is called the syncretism when you're blending these two together man's wisdom with Scriptural teachings to blend it and make it more relevant and syncretism

Becomes the tool used by liberal theologians for this very purpose, you know to to satisfy the

Emotions and to draw in the unbeliever or to encourage the modern believer It has become the weapon of choice that the devil has used to undermine the authority clarity perspicuity and sufficiency of scripture it's

Basically the same question by which Satan tempted Eve in the garden by asking did God really say?

disguised by questions such as is Scripture really enough to equip you for the good work of discipleship

Do you think you would equip your disciples better if you integrated useful analytical tools such as positive psychology?

critical race theory Intersectionality, etc, and etc in the conference messages and discipleship tools

Your audience needs to know how to engage the world. How else will you change the world?

Christianity needs to be relevant and that is what we're going to see with The main problem

I have with the if gathering and Jenny Allen's if ministry as a whole and I hope to Parcel that out for you guys in the next coming series.

So many of our churches today Forget who has all authority and who brings salvation one is born again through the work of the

Spirit John 3 3 Calling on the name of the Lord through hearing the proclamation of the gospel

Romans 10 14 and when we are brought into the family of God We then are equipped and trained by his word 2nd

Timothy 3 16 to 17 by good and deep Theology we don't just learn about theology though.

We abide in it John 8 31 We trust and act on that trust

We can say we believe in the inerrant Word of God claim it as our authority But we undermine that authority if we do not go to it as sufficient to train us to be like Christ But maybe that's the issue.

We are not taught from these parachurch women's ministry to be like Christ but to be worldchangers instead

They forget or do not believe that Christ was and is the ultimate world changer one who brings reconciliation between God and his people

This is our mission to proclaim this Reconciliation no other reconciliation.

No gender reconciliation. No racial reconciliation But the reconciliation between a holy

God and a most unholy godless people our mission in discipleship is

To be after the same heart as Paul to know nothing But Christ and him crucified first Corinthians 2 2

Now that we've discerned the foundation of the if ministry and found that their goal and Tools for discipleship are different from Christ's goals and tools.

That means this ministry will have a different outcome because of this

It will fail to disciple Christ's women by changing the focus.

Oh It will accomplish what Jenny Allen wants it to it will change the world.

We have seen it at work she says clearly that she has seen how women who have taken and used her resources and attended her conferences how their neighborhoods have been changed because of the women and who have you know,

Taked on the teachings that spring forth from the conference and this ministry right but We need to go a little deeper and think a little bit about this with discernment

Is changing an individual or even a neighborhood going to save that individual or neighborhood?

Is that the way God works? Does he change an individual to save an individual?

No, he redeems the individual first and by faith in that redemption.

They are not simply changed They are sanctified and made holy

Discipleship centered on changing the world and discipleship centered on sanctification are not the same thing this is why the if ministry will not sanctify or mature a

Christian woman because that is not the focus if the goal is to change the world the

Presentations and teachings given to disciple women will spring forth from that goal teachings that will be more centered on world changing and callings and purpose centered in this purpose -driven social justice and Gospel underpinning within it in the next coming episodes.

I want to show you how they miss Disciple women. I want to show you how they twist and mishandle scripture to teach a purpose -driven social gospel

And the tools they incorporate to make disciples more after themselves instead of disciples after Christ Disciples who are more encouraged and told that they will do extraordinary things for God in living out big faith rather than Disciples who are encouraged and trained to love their husbands and children to be self -controlled pure Working at home kind and submissive to their own husbands so that the

Word of God may not be reviled Titus 2 3 to 5 So as we dive into the if ministry, we will discern what is given and being taught which of the two ministry philosophies does

Jenny Allen and the if ministry adopt to make disciples and do they Believe scripture is sufficient to train us up or do they incorporate other worldly ideas and tools to disciple women in part one of this

Discernment series we will look at the if gathering conference the extremely large main door

Introduction to this parachurch ministry. We will be diving into the popular speakers their ministries and what they teach at this conference

We will assess if Jenny Allen promotes female leaders who not only submit to the authority of scripture

But believe it is sufficient and efficacious enough to disciple God's woman We will look at who and what they present at this conference

Do they preach themselves or Christ? How do they handle scripture? Do they focus more on urging us to good works for the benefit of society or urge us to pursuing?

Knowing loving and being like Christ in part two of this series We will look at problematic teachers and teachings at the if lead

Conferences their conference held for female leaders of local churches and in the final part of this series

We will dive into some of the if equip studies on one in we can praise

God The gospel is preached by those who may even have a selfish ambition in preaching it and like Paul We can praise

God for saving people even through other simple people Philippians 1 5 to 18

But it is another thing for one to add or to change the gospel

Along with misusing or adding to the Word of God That is another thing all together and one

Paul never let side as we see in Galatians 2 11 to 13 so ladies

The next couple of episodes are going to be enlightening and deep They may rock your world if you are new to discerning the

F ministry or new to discerning women's ministry in in general it may Make you feel like right now.

You might be feeling this You feel an inclination to rebuke me and want to comment in the post.

Feel free to do that. That's fine I just ask you to stick through the minute of the series Continue to watch it and look at the way

I handle scripture and presented to you versus the way they handle scripture Be willing to think about whether women should be or let me rephrase that be willing to look at women's role within the church and What it says for a woman to rebel against clear teaching

Regarding teaching and exercising authority over men in the local church be willing to Look and think about well, it's scripture sufficient enough or do we really need extra biblical revelation or extra?

man's teachings added to Scripture to help disciple us Wrestle and grapple with these things as I present them to you and if you want to email me, of course,

I Read emails as often as I can. I am very slow in getting back to because Because I have other obligations

As much as I would love to just be able to sit for several days and respond to emails, but um

You can still email me and eventually I will get to it but either way either reaction whatever your reaction is

I Pray throughout this series that you are getting into God's Word all of it to work it out

Ask these questions Let God guide you Let his word instruct you into what is true.

I pray that as you do that you are Reassessing what women's ministry should look like And more specifically what a woman's conference then should look like I pray that if you are an older woman

You are actively looking for younger women to disciple if you're older woman Strong in the word that you feel and are sure now more than in the confidence you have in God's Word that you are able to prop up a younger woman to grow them into the same confidence and To rely on scripture as The tool to equip them for biblical womanhood and everything

They would ever need to know about our God our Savior the gospel and our good works

If you are younger you are I pray that you are actively looking for an older woman who is grounded and firm in God's Word to Help train you and disciple you into all those things

I pray that our ultimate desire is to know nothing but Christ and him crucified for our sins

Until next episode I pray you are in his Word Ladies thanks for listening or watching this episode of Thoroughly Equipped if this episode blessed you

Would you give it a rating or a thumbs up? And if you think Thoroughly Equipped is a much -needed ministry consider subscribing

It helps spread the word if you are interested to know more about Thoroughly Equipped Check out the blog or just find some other great

Christian resources. You can go to my website at TTEW .org

you can connect with me on Facebook and Instagram links in the description below or email me at melbetoast at TTEW .org

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I pray the God of all grace grant you more and more knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ as the

Holy Spirit Thoroughly equips you through his written word for every good work.