Alabaster Box

The Door

"Whenever God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another, Even Though Sometimes It's Hell in the Hallway"

Artist Ruth Thompson

Angel series includes: Ascension, Invictus, Vox Fini, Raphael and Uriel.


Invictus:
Invictus is the Latin term for 'unbeaten.' Ruth thought it appropriate to depict one of only three Archangels named in the Bible with his most well-known attribute, the unsheathed sword. Michael is the hero of the first war against Lucifer, defeating him in single combat and hurling him from heaven. Michael's name, 'who is as God,' is shown in angelic script on the hilt of his sword.

Sariel-The Watcher:
Sariel was one of the 7 Great Archangels and a former Watcher. The Watchers were angels whose task was to guide and oversee the advancement of humans into divine beings.

Ascension:
Ascension shows Azriel - The Angel of Death and Change. He is also known as Sariel, his name being God's Command. He is also responsible for the fate of those angels who break the Laws of Heaven.

Raphael:
Raphael is the main purveyor of God's Law and often communicates directly with humans in doing so. The spear is called Sanrus and is the most powerful of angelic weaponry. Raphael's script reads as "God Has Healed" and indicates the paternal bond between God and Man.

Vox Fini:
The Archangel Gabriel is known as the Angel of the Annunciation, Resurrection and Revelation. As the ruler of the Cherubim, he is closest of all the angels in dealing with Man. Ruth depicts him with the horn that signals the End of the World. 'Vox Fini' is Latin for 'the final voice.'

Uriel:
Uriel is The Judge among The Host. He is the enforcer of God’s Law to all the other angels, and is also the Angel of Fire. Uriel, also known as Duma, is one of the two Archangels assigned to the Everwatch over Hell, keeping vigilance at the Gates Of Damnation. His script reads “The Fire Of God.”

Check out her webpage at www.tarnishedimages.com

She has just published a book called :The Book of Angels" published by Barnes and Noble

Worship Warrior

This worship warrior fights in a different manner than the world. The weapons she uses have divine power to demolish stongholds. (2 Cor 10:3-4) She conquers with the high praises of God in her mouth and a two-edged sword - the word of God - in her hand. (Ps 149:6) Her victory crown is eternal life and the gold on her mantle represents kingdom glory descending upon her. By Artist: Donna Smallenberg

The Relationship

THE RELATIONSHIP


I, like many Christians have always referred to my relationship with God as a "walk" or a "path". Recently, I read an outstanding book by David Gregory called "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger". If you have read it, you know what I mean, if you haven't read it, go read it now. I'm serious, if you can, stop reading this, go get a copy, and read it. It's 100 pages long and I read it in one and a half hours. Short of the Bible, it's probably the most inspired book ever written. In the book an unrealized seeker named Nick who lives in Cincinnati (woo-hoo) receives an invitation to dinner with Jesus of Nazareth. Thinking it to be a prank from his buddies, he goes, and what he discovers will change his life forever. In one of their conversations Nick is told that there is no "path" to God. This greatly disturbs Nick, who was just starting to feel hope. He was then told that a "path" or "journey" signifies distance, time, or accomplishments; and this just isn't how God works. If we want God to be with us we need only accept His free gift. This bewildered me, because I have often wondered how I "stacked up" in Gods eyes when compared to other Christians and what kind of progress had I made in my spiritual journey since I had embraced my Savior. You know what I see as the truth? No matter how many personal barriers I cross, how many what I believe to be "great" things I do for Him; He is not impressed. Do you know why I say this? Because any hurdle I clear or any mountain I pass through I did so with His strength! In another part of the book Jesus takes a business card and asks Nick for two names. The first was to be the best person he could think of and Nick said "Mother Theresa", which Jesus wrote on the top of the card. The second was to be the most evil person he could think of and Nick picked "Hitler", whom Jesus then wrote at the bottom of the card. Jesus then took the card, put it in front of Nick, and asked him to put a mark on the card where he thought he fell between the two. Not wanting to appear proud or seem self-degrading, Nick put his mark just above half way between the two. Jesus then took the card and told Nick that yes Hitler was terribly evil and was a good example of who would be at the bottom of the list and yes Mother Theresa was a good servant to her Lord, but if you were to put this to scale of Gods level of worthiness to be "good enough" to get into Heaven you would have to go to Chicago's Sears Tower and lay the card against the base of it. The ground would be Hitler, the top of the card Mother Theresa, and the top of the Sears Tower would be "good enough" to God. You see, despite all of our works, we're still at the bottom together and the only way we'll ever "measure up" is by accepting Gods gift of His only Son, sacrificed for our sins so that God might be with us personally for eternity.
So…. Once I finally came to from my "Biblical Seizures" I started to try and put this all together, and this is how I see it. Once we have accepted our free gift, there is no "path" to God. There is no "checklist" to accomplish. It's just Him and me beginning our eternal life together. Will He change me? Gosh, I should say so, because who I was, was a mess. He'll do it for you too, if you put Him first in your life. I'm doing a new thing for me; I'm aligning myself to His Will, instead of asking Him to bless mine. Next, you might sometimes wonder if there are other Christians who are further along on their journey. I don't think anybody is further along than anybody else because we all have our own relationship with God. Saying any two peoples journey through faith is alike would be like trying to find two grains of sand in the ocean that are exactly alike. How long will it take God to shape me into who I need to be? But Jesus took only took about eighteen months to take twelve ordinary men and make them Apostles. You know what are some things God wants all of us to do? He wants us to go to Him and offer up all the "baggage" we've been carrying around; the "self-reliance" we think we have, the discontent that poisons our hopes, the weariness of trying to declare "our" glory, the worry that eats at our very being, the hopelessness that we feel because we won't turn to Him, the guilt, the arrogance, our fear of death, our grief, the fear of failure, our loneliness, shame, disappointment, our envy, and our doubt. He wants us to offer it up and quit carrying that crap around! Next, He wants us to open the door when He knocks and when we do, be ready to clean, because to tell you the truth, if I was God and I was going to be dwelling with someone for eternity, I wouldn't want to smell their dirty laundry either. So, what's my final advice? Drop the pride, embrace the hope, let "Abba" wrap you in His arms, cry when you feel it (regardless of where you are), and do what you were created to do. Reflect the GLORY OF GOD…Our Creator, Our Savior, Our Strength. Do I hear an amen?
(Grant Davis 8-13-06)

QUOTE OF THE DAY"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." --Winston Churchill

THINK ABOUT THIS:I often hear people refer to Adam and Eve's original sin as "a fall from grace". Weren't Adam and Eve in constant harmony with God up to that point ? What did they need of Grace if they were without SIn ? Shouldn't this event be called "The fall into Grace"?

GOD IS ANNOYING BECAUSEHe won't let me remain comfortable with my own sin. (Luke 5:8)

Have a God day and remember, when God is in you, He's so big He can't help but show through. God Bless. --Grant

-- Grant Davis Be HIS miracle"Omnis Cedo Domus"

Monday Night Worship

Monday Night Worship

On monday night's we worship together. We learn Davidic and jewish dances, and we do free worship. Everyone is welcome! We meet at North Park community church (right beside my house) at 7:30. God moves in mighty ways. Last monday breanna, leanna and I took pictures. There were so many to choose from, but here are a few. remember that the light's are very low. Do you see the Orb's?? Wow, God is amazing and He has chosen YOU!!!

Women's Retreat

Sisters on the Journey

Christian Women’s Retreat
at Son Center in Lewistown, OH www.soncenter.org
Sept 16 & 17, 2006


...to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness... Isaiah 61:3

Come take a journey -
Set aside some time to come and be a part of what God is stirring in the hearts of His women. God has impressed on us the need for women to come together and exhort each other as the body of Christ. We believe God is wanting us to wake up our spirits, shake our souls, and create a new and more intimate walk with Him. As we travel through our lives we lose precious pieces of ourselves; and we often build up defenses or strongholds that keep us from our destiny and sometimes we become somewhat hopeless. God wants to restore, God wants to give you new life, He wants to awaken the call of the Bride.
It does not matter where you are on your walk with the Lord, He desires to reveal to you new ways to love and praise Him. We ask that you come with an open heart, an open mind, and an expectation of what the Bridegroom has for you on His divine journey.
Sisters on the Journey Retreat is our vision that as women in Christ unite, regions, families and lives will be transformed. God has brought together five women Jean, Jodi, Kitt Horn, Melissa & Janet Wilcox to create what God has put on their hearts for the women in this region. As we gather weekly in prayer at the Son Center God just keeps revealing the need for His bride to come together, we hope you can come along for this journey!

Schedule of Events
* Saturday Sept 16, 2006 *
9:00 am Registration
10:00 am Worship - Deb Wells
11:00 am Power from on High - Jean Horn
12:00 pm Lunch by Cloud Nine Caf?
1:15 pm Journey Gathering with Kitt Horn
1:45 pm Beauty for Ashes - Wendy Burden
3:00 pm Quiet Time/ Worship Dance - Jodi
3:45 pm Journey into Freedom with Diane VanWeelden
5:30 pm Dinner by Cloud Nine Caf?
7 pm Journey into Holy of Holies - Janet Wilcox & teams /worship with Deb Wells
Campfire Serenade with Kim Gray

* Sunday Sept. 17, 2006 *
7:30am Journey to Prayer with Kitt Horn
8:30 am Open Breakfast
9:30 am In Remembrance of Me - Jean Horn
11:00 Departure to your destiny

* prayer room open continuously*

Registration Information

Fees:
$35.00 in advance by Sept 13th
$40.00 at the door

Registration includes:
All Events, Bunk Room facilities, 3 meals of Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast .provided by
Cloud Nine Caf?

For More information contact:
Melissa Wilcox - (419)568-2225 or Jodi Horn at hornofdavid@earthlink.net

Registration Deadline:
We will accept advance registration by phone or mail until Wednesday, Sept 13th. After Sept 13th, all registration will be at the door ", etc.

What To Bring for Your Journey:
Twin bed sheets or sleeping bag; Pillow, Bath towel for showers, Personal Toiletries, Snacks for campfire goodies, Bible
Optional - Exercise Mat or Beach Towel for Stretching class on Sunday morning

Registration Form
Sisters on the Journey Retreat 2006 September 16 & 17

Name:______________________

Address:________________________________________

City/St./Zip__________________

Phone:_______________________

Email:_______________________

Indicate any special needs or limitations such as not being able to climb stairs, etc. So we can better accommodate you________________________________________

Detach and mail this completed form with your check made out to:

Wilcox Chiropractic
529 N. Westminster St. Suite B
Waynesfield, Ohio 45896

Dream

We must dream, because we are made in the image of Him who sees things that are not and wills them to be.

God is awesome

God is so awesome, I had some major breakthrough this week, starting Sunday, which was the 6th, which if I haven't told you, this is 2006, and something BIG has happened on the 6th of EVERY month!!God is so into numbers, it is freaky. And I am no where near understanding, it is just neat to see it happen :) OK well, I was needing some breakthough and I was feeling numb. Well when you are numb, it is hard to help yourself, but God is so good, and He decided to do it for me. Wow, it hurt, BUT I have worked through it this week, and I feel soooo much better. So much lighter then I have in many months. God is sooo good, and I am sooo excited to see what He is going to do next. So I just thought I would share my excitement with you all. I love you.

Romans12:1

It is a continual challenge to live in submission. Someone saidthat the problemwith a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the alter. Yet it is in submissionto Christ that wefind out who we truly are, and that brings freedom unbounded.

one year

We met one year ago!

Ten Lies the Church Tells Women

Lee Grady is editor of Charisma, an internationally distributed Christian magazine with more than 250,000 subscribers. An ordained minister and conference speaker, he challenges the church to break free from tradition in order to be effective in ministry.

He often addresses churches and leadership conferences on the issue of gender prejudice, and he calls Christians to dismantle the religious barriers that keep women out of ministry. He is the author of three books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, which has been translated into several languages since it was published in 2000.

Lee is a true champion for women fulfilling their God ordained role in the church! The following article, taken from Lee's book Ten Lies the Church Tells Women is an "in your face" book that will challenge your perceptions of women and their role in God's creation at almost every level. I realize that this article may stretch some of you, but I encourage you to open your heart and allow the Spirit of the Lord to show you what His heart is on these issues.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ten Lies the Church Tells Women

FOR CENTURIES, A PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM OF CONTROL HAS KEPT WOMEN IN SPIRITUAL CAPTIVITY THROUGH DISTORTION OF THE SCRIPTURES. IT'S TIME TO DEBUNK THE MYTHS.

By J. Lee Grady

We live in the 21st century, but if we're honest we have to admit that in some ways the church is still in the Dark Ages--especially when we look at the way we treat women.

Even though the Scriptures never portray women as secondary to men, our male-dominated religious system still promotes a warped view of female inferiority. Women are tired of this, and as a man, so am I--because such demeaning attitudes don't reflect God's heart.

Jesus challenged gender prejudice at its core when He directed so much of His ministry toward women. In a Middle Eastern culture that considered women mere property, He healed women, discipled them and commissioned them to minister. Yet today we spend much of our energy denying them opportunities--and using the Bible to defend our prohibitions.

I've identified 10 erroneous views about women that for too long have been circulated in the church, preached from pulpits and written in the study notes of popular Bible translations. I believe we must debunk these lies if we want to see the church fully released to fulfill the Great Commission.


LIE #1 - GOD'S ULTIMATE PLAN FOR WOMEN IS THAT THEY SERVE THEIR HUSBANDS.
How sad that so many Christian men view women from a selfish perspective. This view is often promoted by misreading the account of Eve's creation in Genesis 2:18-25, in which Adam is provided a "helpmate." The Hebrew word used here often is translated "companion," denoting intimacy and partnership. But through the centuries it has been used to imply that Eve was some type of domestic appendage.

We men have assumed that God gave Eve to fulfill Adam's sexual needs as well as to serve as his cook, laundress and maid. But the Genesis account does not say this.

After Eve's creation, God did not tell her: "You are Adam's helper; I command you to serve him well." She was not created for servitude; she was fashioned to be a co-laborer with Adam so that they might rule together over creation as God commissioned them to do (see Gen. 1:28).


LIE #2 - WOMEN CAN'T BE FULFILLED OR SPIRITUALLY EFFECTIVE WITHOUT A HUSBAND.
From the time she was released from a German death camp in 1944 until her death in 1983, Corrie Ten Boom taught the world about a Savior who could forgive the cruelest Nazi. Yet she never married. Did the fact that she did not have a husband make her less "complete"? Some Christians would say yes.

We have spent so much energy defending the concept of the biblical family that we are guilty of idolizing it. We've preached that a woman's primary responsibility is to find a godly husband, have lots of babies and stay home to raise them for Christ.

But marital status is not a qualifier for ministry. The Bible does not even state whether certain key followers of Jesus, such as the 12 disciples, were married or not.

The highest calling of all believers--married or unmarried--is to develop a relationship with Jesus. Any other earthly relationship is secondary, and Christ Himself warned us never to allow people we love to become idols that distract us from Him.


LIE #3 - WOMEN SHOULDN'T WORK OUTSIDE THE HOME.
Many evangelical churches have preached that women who work outside the home are breaking a scriptural commandment, but this conclusion can be reached only by distorting the biblical record. The woman described in Proverbs 31 is often used to bolster a traditional view of the June Cleaver-style matron who spends her day baking casseroles while her husband is at the office. But a careful reading reveals that the Proverbs 31 woman, in her ancient Middle Eastern context, functioned as a real estate agent and ran a textile business.

Titus 2:5 instructs women to "take care of their homes" (New Living Translation). But most scholars would agree that this passage simply exhorts married women not to forsake their children.

It is true that, because of ambition or materialism, some Christian women neglect their children even though the Holy Spirit has urged them to put their career objectives on hold. But rather than placing a legalistic burden on women by telling them that having a career is ungodly, we should tell both men and women to submit their career plans to the Holy Spirit's direction.


LIE #4 - WOMEN MUST OBEDIENTLY SUBMIT TO THEIR HUSBANDS IN ALL SITUATIONS.
A distraught Christian woman who was regularly beaten by her husband finally gained the courage to seek counsel from her pastor. After she told him about her husband's fits of rage, the pastor responded, "If your husband kills you, it will be to the glory of God."

The pastor reached this irresponsible conclusion because of a distorted view of "male headship." We often portray marriage as a hierarchy, with husbands on the throne and wives at the footstool, and we use Scripture to justify this view: "Wives...submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord" (Eph. 5:22).

We assume this verse means women have no say in family matters or that their opinion is second-rate. In extreme cases, women have been told to submit to abuse in order to honor male headship. But this is not a Christian view.

Paul also told the Ephesians, "submit to one another" (5:21, emphasis added). I have heard teachings by male clergy on the subject of male headship, but I've never heard a pastor encourage men to submit to their wives! Yet in a loving marriage, a man and woman will defer to one another as they make decisions.

In my 16 years of marriage, my wife and I have had plenty of disagreements. But when we reach an impasse, I don't announce, "I am the head of this house, so what I say goes." Rather, Deborah and I either agree to pray about the matter, or we choose to defer to one another.

The point is never who is in charge. I view my wife as an equal. I am not "over her." We function as one.


LIE #5 - A MAN NEEDS TO "COVER" A WOMAN IN HER MINISTRY ACTIVITIES.
This idea came from a distorted interpretation of the apostle Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11:3, "the head of woman is man" (NKJV). People have used these words to bolster the idea that women are subservient to men or that they cannot approach God without a male authority figure in their lives.

Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 11 about head coverings is a difficult passage, and Bible scholars don't agree on its meaning. However, most teach that Paul is addressing specific cultural concerns in first-century Corinth and that he is calling for propriety and order in a society where immorality and paganism had blurred gender distinctions.

Paul was not placing men in a position of generic rulership over women. Because there is "no male or female in Christ" (see Gal. 3:28), women can pray, worship, study the Bible or minister without a man present. How silly to think that a man, because of his gender, could add credibility to prayer or Spirit-empowered ministry! To believe this would be to trust in the flesh.


LIE #6 - A WOMAN SHOULD VIEW HER HUSBAND AS THE "PRIEST OF THE HOME."
Search your concordance. Scripture never describes men as "priests of the home." This man-made concept was popularized in evangelical churches in the last century. We have one priest, Jesus Christ, whose blood atoned for our sins. It is a mockery of the gospel to suggest that any human being needs an additional priest apart from the Son of God.

The Bible says all believers are priests (see 1 Pet. 2:9, Rev. 1:6); there is no gender restriction. Husbands function as priests when they pray for their families or when they minister the Word of God to them, and wives also function in this role.

My experience in marriage has been that God speaks both to me and to my wife. He doesn't say to me, "Since you are the head of this house, I'll tell you my plans for your family, and you can tell the others what I said." Often God has revealed His plans to my wife before I heard anything!

Christian men need to stop being defensive and recognize that God has called us to function in unity with our wives. We need to listen to their counsel, consider their opinions, and pray together for the mind of the Lord rather than putting our foot down and shouting, "I am the leader of this family, and what I say goes!"


LIE #7 - WOMEN ARE NOT EQUIPPED TO ASSUME LEADERSHIP ROLES.
The most common mistake we make in biblical interpretation occurs when we take one isolated verse and build a doctrine around it--even if the verse seems to contradict other passages. This is often what we do with 1 Tim. 2:12, "I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man" (NASB).

Most theologians believe that this passage was addressing an isolated situation in Ephesus. They came to this conclusion after studying the myriad of references in the Bible to women in spiritual authority. The Old Testament records that Deborah was a judge over Israel--and God blessed her leadership in battle (see Judg. 4-5). Other women who held authority over men include Miriam, Huldah and Noadiah.

Jesus issued His first gospel commission to women (see Matt. 28:1-10), and both men and women were empowered to preach on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Priscilla, Chloe and Phoebe were leaders in the early church, and one woman, Junia, is called an apostle by Paul ( Rom. 16:7).

The promise of the prophet Joel was that "sons and daughters" would prophesy after the Holy Spirit was given to the church (Joel 2:28, emphasis added). Yet we have taken one misunderstood verse from Paul's writings and used it to negate hundreds of other passages that support the full release of women into ministry.


LIE #8 - WOMEN MUST NOT TEACH OR PREACH TO MEN IN A CHURCH SETTING.
Since 1 Timothy 2:12 obviously contradicts the overall biblical endorsement of women in authority, how are we to understand it? What is Paul actually saying in this passage?

In their book I Suffer Not a Woman, Richard and Catherine Clark Kroeger explain that certain cultic worship practices involving female priestesses of Diana had invaded the first-century church. These priestesses promoted blasphemous ideas about sex and spirituality, and they sometimes performed rituals in which they pronounced curses on men and declared female superiority.

What Paul was most likely saying to the Ephesians was this: "I do not allow a woman to teach these cultic heresies, nor do I allow them to usurp authority from men by performing pagan rituals." He was not saying, as some Christians have assumed, "I do not allow godly Christian women to teach the Bible." In his day, Paul would have been thrilled to have had more skilled women who could teach the truth!


LIE #9 - WOMEN ARE MORE EASILY DECEIVED THAN MEN.
This idea has been taught by twisting the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:14, which says, "It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression" (NLT). Some have suggested that because Eve was tricked by the devil, women have a stronger propensity toward deception. Others have gone so far as to insist that women are to blame for all the evil in the world and are therefore under a greater curse than men.

No respectable Bible scholar in the church today would promote such a view. The Bible clearly states that Adam and Eve were both held guilty by God for their disobedience, and they were both punished. In 1 Timothy, Paul cited the creation account not to place extra blame on Eve but to refute a bizarre teaching that was circulating in Asia Minor.

In the first century, Gnostic heretics were mixing Christianity with paganism. One of their teachings stated that Eve actually liberated the world when she disobeyed God and gained secret knowledge from the devil.

Paul was not teaching that women are more prone to deception. He was explaining that what Eve did was not right, and that the Christian view of the creation was that Adam and Eve sinned when they listened to the serpent.

Women are certainly capable of spreading deception because they have a fallen nature as men do, but there is no evidence that they have greater gullibility. That view is rooted in demeaning stereotypes and prejudice.


LIE #10 - WOMEN WHO EXHIBIT STRONG LEADERSHIP QUALITIES HAVE A "SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL."
Once I was listening to Bible teacher Cindy Jacobs speak at a prayer conference in Colorado. When she approached the pulpit, two men who were sitting in front of me turned to each other and began to pray softly.

"Lord, we bind the power of the devil from bewitching this audience," one man said, adding, "We bind the power of Jezebel in the name of Jesus." These men believed that the crowd would automatically come under a spirit of deception when Jacobs taught them--simply because she was a woman.

How absurd! Was Barak "deceived" when he took orders from Deborah? (See Judg. 4:14.) Did baby Jesus come under a harmful influence when Anna prophesied over Him? (See Luke 2:36-38.) Was Apollos spiritually emasculated when he submitted to the teaching of Priscilla? (See Acts 18:26.) Of course not!

To associate godly women with Jezebel, a wicked Old Testament despot, is unfair and offensive, yet men in the church today often pin Jezebel's label on strong, anointed women because they feel threatened by them.

Let's stop the insults. If a woman is using manipulation to usurp authority or if she is spreading heresies, then she certainly deserves the Jezebel label--as do men who do such things. But women who walk in spiritual integrity and preach the Word of God with power deserve our respect!