4,000

Got out to the M'town Thursday Farmers Market this afternoon. Had a good conversation with Juliet, a woman from the Philippines now living in Marshalltown. She has a ministry to orphans and the poor back in the Philippines. We met several months ago when I was out with a cross in front of Wal-Mart. She told me she was an ordained minister, so we had a lot of discussion on the prohibition in the scriptures about a woman elder, pastor or bishop (1 Tim 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 2: 9-15; Romans 16:1-5; etc).

My understanding is that; outside of the gathering together of the church, women should witness, even preach the gospel, and minister in word & deed the gospel, the love & mercy of the Lord Jesus. But when the church gathers, a woman must not preach or teach, or be in authority over the church. I am constrained by the clear revelation of the scriptures, and this is very clear. Sure, many churches in the USA ignore this teaching, but I love the Lord and his word, and I will not violate it or encourage others to do so. Juliet is Pentecostal, and I expressed my concern for her sake because of the excess of focus on "spiritual gifts", things attributed to the Holy Spirit that range from questionable to outright profane and bizarre! Well, we had a good Bible discussion: I listened to her, and she listened to me, all respectfully snd with Christian charity, and I am glad she stopped by.

So, whats this got to do with "4,000"?
Nothing.
It's just that some time earlier today, we passed the 4,000 visitor mark on this website. Maybe that's not a lot of traffic on a regular website, but we don't exist to sell stuff or elevate ourselves; we exist only to glorify God, and to edify the body of Christ. We (apparently) are getting visitors from China, France, Australia, Russia, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, and the UK. Wow - that's cool! Are these real people, or just software program "robots" surfing internet sites looking to place advertising? Well, if YOU visit us, I hope we can encourage, bless, challenge, and exhort you to really KNOW the Lord - to be born again into the family of God; or for our brethren in Christ, to enjoy his fellowship and to reach out to the lost with the hope of the gospel.

Do us a favor, and leave a comment if you can. Got a question? Let's hear it. Got a testimony to share? Lets hear that, too.
We love you in Jesus Christ.
Paul