When I first realized how clear the Bible is concerning women in ministry, I was awe struck. I thought, “How in the world could we have missed this?” I started to understand how simple it is to miss.
Before I established a relationship with Jesus Christ, and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior, I thought that I was a good person. I was nice to people for all intents and purposes. I managed to stay away from drugs and alcohol, and I never got into any trouble with the police.
Joe Beam and Lee Wilson presented a study of Heaven at Pepperdine and Lipscomb Universities in 2006. The study was based off their book, The Real Heaven: It’s Not What You Think that was released in 2006 (They expanded the book in 2010 and released it under the title, “The True Heaven”). Due to requests, their power points are now available for free download and use in sermons and Bible classes here.
God created the world to be a wonderful place, and things started out that way. But man had free will, and soon rebelled against God. This rebellion (sin) separated men and women from God. Even with that, God still desired a close relationship with all men and women. But, he could not be near sin.
A reason some Christians say that the Scriptures are “subject to interpretation” or “it’s a matter of how you interpret the Bible,” or “you believe your way and I’ll believe my way” is sometimes because they do not know God’s heart or His intentions regarding what He said.