Join us for a Self-Defense class on March 17^th from 10:00 am to noon.  This class is FREE to all SEBTS ladies (student, spouse, staff).  The class will be taught by Nathan Brown, who is a 2^nd year seminary students and a 5^th degree black belt in traditional karate.  Nathan will discuss crime statistics, practice some basic self-defense techniques and teach how to avoid dangerous situations, vulnerable attack points and how to be aware of your surroundings (i.e. robbery, carjacking, rape prevention). 

Register by calling the Women’s Life Office at (919) 761-2340 or emailing us at womenslife@sebts.edu.  Please register by March 9^th. 

A word from Nathan.

“Everything we do is intended to honor Christ and bring him glory.  We hope that this class not only provides students with practical self-defense and karate lessons, but also can minister to those around us and globally through martial arts mission opportunities.” 

Wondering what SEBTS Women's Life looks like?  Watch the video below to find out.

Women's Life at Southeastern from Southeastern Seminary on Vimeo.

Of all things that God declared “good” when He created the Earth, there is only one that He proclaimed to be “not good:” man’s being alone (Gen. 2:18). From there, God created Eve. Though this passage has many implications for marriage, there are also many implications for community. God created man and woman in His image (Gen. 1:26), and part of the image of Him, is our ability to have relationship with Him and others. So, why is community so important, especially for the Body of Believers? If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend the book Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He offers many important truths to believers and their lives in community, focusing on Christ as the center of all. Bonhoeffer notes, “Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ” (21, emphasis mine). In other words, community is based in Christ and through Him. Christ is what all believers have in common, and He is what holds us together. Have you ever thought about the fact that we belong to one another? Scripture is full of “one-another” passages to help us lead and guide each other so that iron may sharpen iron (Prov. 27:17). 

            We need each other for encouragement. We need each other because sin can be a blinding thing in our lives. We need each other because iron cannot be sharpened without another piece of iron. There are many biblical examples of Scriptural “friendships/accountability relationships” that were God-centered. Moses needed Jethro to come alongside him. He also needed Aaron to speak for him. David needed Jonathan. Even Jesus Christ had community. Have you ever thought about that? Jesus—God the Son who took on flesh—did not do ministry in isolation. He had the disciples. He lived in community with them. One of my favorite pictures of Scripture (perhaps because of the example of Jesus’ humanity) is John 17. On the eve of Jesus’ death, there is a picture of Him praying. Though Jesus prayed to His Father alone, he was within a “stone’s throw” of them (Luke 22:41). In His darkest hour, not only was He concerned about the “cup” that would be soon be His, but He was concerned about the disciples. He did not want them succumb to temptation. Wow—that’s community: a true picture of loving God with whole heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matt. 22:37-39) and His neighbor (i.e. the disciples) as Himself. Though Jesus knew that He was about to die, He prayed for His friends. Jesus is the true picture of how we should love others. 

            I love the Spanish language. It expresses many concepts that sometimes English cannot. To perhaps twist the illustration a little, the word in Spanish for community is simply communidad. The last three letters of that word spell the English word dad. That word pictures what community is. Because of Jesus Christ, we can approach our “Dad,” in Heaven. Do you know what the Spanish word for unity is in Spanish? Unidad. Not only did Jesus pray for His disciples during his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemene. He prayed for us. He prayed for unity. As believers, we are unified under our “Dad.” On the night of His death, Jesus was praying for our comm-unity. Jesus told us that the world would know Christians by our love (John 13:35). How are you loving your community right now? Are you praying for them?

 
Kathy King grew up in Oxford, Mississippi. After college, she served as a Journeyman in Madrid, Spain. Currently, Kathy is a student at Southeastern pursing her M. DIV in Christian Ministries and M.A. in Biblical Counseling. She is a counseling intern for the Women’s Life Office and a member of the Summit Church. Eventually, Kathy would like to do Member Care for missionaries on the field. Her hobbies include running, photography, writing, and being outside.

Reblogged from (in)courage
February 15, 2012

I’ve visited lots of places, but I’ve never lived in Paris or London. I’ve walked through the Louvre and through the British Museum, but I’ve have not made either city my home.

I’ve been to Washington DC, and in fact, besides Los Angeles which is in my back yard, DC might be the city in the U.S. that I’ve visited most frequently. But I have never lived in the city. The Library of Congress: love it. Georgetown Cupcakes: to die for but get there early. Tourist attractions by the armload in all different seasons: in February it was too cold to walk on the Mall and in July it was too humid to walk in the same place. I’ve been to DC. But even so, I’ve never made it my home.

They say that until you live in a city for 2 years or 4 years or more you don’t really KNOW it. You can’t really get to know the people, the good and the bad restaurants, the vibe, or the essence of a place until you’ve walked in, set down your luggage, and unpacked it. Instead of bringing your reading material from home, you get a local library card. Instead of dropping by the take out place for dinner, you buy ingredients to make a meal. Instead of seeing only the museums and cathedrals, you visit the parks, the Tuesday night summer festivals and the concerts-on-the-green. You live like a local.
We can’t really experience a place until we do a couple things: intend to stay and then actually stay.

 
I think communities are like this too.
We’ve been talking this month on (in)courage about what it means to be a part of a community, what it means to be engulfed by sisters and what it looks like to have friends. There has been both pain and joy with friendships, and we’ve all certainly had different experiences in Christian communities like churches and in public communities like schools and neighborhoods. On the surface the idea of community seems easy, like making friends in Kindergarten. But we all know that really feeling a part of a community is something hard-won. Nothing about it is simple.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

And I would argue, “a time to go and a time to stay put.” A time to stay awhile. A time to dig in. A time to set down your suitcase and unpack your favorite chotchkies.

We aren’t always meant to stick through a hard thing. That was the biggest issue for me when we decided to change churches over 18 months ago. “Do I dig in and stay through this difficult thing even though I’m dying inside? Or is God telling us it’s time to leave? We have ‘stayed put’ for 12 years; maybe it’s time to turn the page.”

After much prayer and heartache, we decided that it was time to go.

But sometimes we are supposed to stay. If we want to experience real community, we have to make both an intention to stay put and then actually do it.

Joining a new church or a new community is like moving to a new city: At first everything is foreign, everything is strange and nothing feels like home. But after awhile, after a year or two, things begin to become normal. We know what time the bus passes the corner, we know what day the trash trucks rumble down the street at 5 AM and we know whose face it is that will greet us at our new favorite restaurant.

We often leave at the first sign of discomfort or loneliness. We say, but no one knows me! No one understands me! I feel so alone.

What I’m learning about community is that in order to experience it in the way that I believe we were created to, part of it is simply staying awhile. The only way to really become known, to become “with”, and to become understood is to stay put and moving into the neighborhood.

SARAH MARKLEY

I'm the mother of two little girls, the wife of an amazing husband who'd rather play the guitar than anything else and I love to write. I spend my weekends watching my daughters ride horses and play soccer. I blog daily and my greatest wish is to see women healed and marriages made healthy.

Do you remember being a little girl and looking gazingly up to someone older than you? I do! My daddy was a pastor at his first church, where he served as the senior pastor and the youth pastor. I was in elementary school. I can remember thinking of those youth girls as unbelievably beautiful and effortlessly graceful. Now on the other side of my teenage years, I realize the absurdity of describing some of the most awkward years of a girl’s life as graceful and effortless. But to my little eyes, these girls were fabulous and I idolized them!

Then most likely you woke up one day and realized that you are that person with lots of eyes on you! Maybe those eyes are your children or little girls in your church peering up to you, like I was. Maybe you are a middle-age mom and a younger mom is looking up to you. Maybe you are a widow and single women find refuge in you, as one who points them to Christ. The examples are endless, but each of these roles is crucial.

Chapters of our lives continually change. As women, we wear so many different hats! Each one bears rich opportunities to invest in other women, some who walk with our Lord and some who need to be introduced to our Savior. No age or circumstances can stop your influence from going out. Eyes are already on you, but it would be to your advantage to identify them! 1Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” First, don’t take it to heart if someone looks down on you for any God-given circumstances, and don’t let it discourage you from accomplishing the work God has set out for you through Christ Jesus. Second, set an example. The word for example means to set a pattern that makes an impact and is not the same after that impact. The truth is that you ARE leaving an impact in every place you spend time. The question is what kind of impact is it?

 

So let’s look both ways. Look up to mature women who are following Christ. I’ve found it richly beneficial to spend time with a woman in the next phase of life. Whose example can you watch in marriage, in biblical womanhood, in quiet times, in service to her family, to her local church, and to others? Once you’ve identified who this woman is in your life, spend time in her home. Go wash dishes with her. Ask to accompany her on her next grocery trip. Be eager to learn, not from the world, but from women who pattern their lives after our Lord Jesus. 

Next, who are you investing your life in? I guarantee someone is looking up to you. Do not waste that impact. Identify those gazing eyes and point those eyes to Christ. Intentionally seek after those girls with purpose. Take them to lunch. Invite them into your home and into your life. Be real. Teach practical things. Share your story. Ask question. Listen. Learn. Love.  

I believe both of these practices are worth making priorities in your life. This is life on life discipleship.

Katie Kasey is a 2+2 (International Church Planting M-Div) student at Southeastern. God has given Katie the privilege of serving Him in Ecuador on several occasions, as well as Ukraine and East Asia. Katie serves at North Henderson Baptist Church in Henderson, NC, with her family.  She is excitedly preparing to serve God both at home and overseas. Katie’s greatest joys in life are her two sisters Britney & Meredith and their wonderful husbands- John Marks & Ricky, and her parents Brent & Teresa. She also loves using photography and writing to encourage others and promote God’s glory among all people.

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NIV- You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Philippians 1:27 NIV- Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.

I want to share with you guys something that God taught me this morning.  As some of you might know, I am a soon to be minister’s wife.  I have been praying about my future marriage and I have prayed that God would make me into the wife that He would have me be.

This morning God showed me that since I will be a minister’s wife, it is important for me to live out the Godly messages that my future husband is preaching.  God has called him to teach and to be a vessel for Him to speak through.  How I conduct myself reflects on my fiancé, his ministry, and his credibility.  If a group of people in our church hear him preach one thing, and see me (his wife) doing the complete opposite, people will take notice and disregard his teaching.

Now this post is not just for minister’s wives.  It is for all of you readers who call yourselves Christians.
Just as I represent my future husband, as a Christian, you represent God.  How you act sends a message to the people around you.  This message can be positive or negative.  Christians are often seen by unbelievers as hypocrites because we don’t conduct ourselves in the way that the Bible teaches.  

There is no such thing as a part time Christian!  We can’t only be Christians on Sundays or Christians in name only.  “Christian” is not a title, it is a lifestyle!  People learn about God through the Bible and through believers.  Are you validating or contradicting the Bible in the way that you live your life? 

My friend, I know this post might be a bit harsh, but it is true.  God longs for us to live for Him and to model with our words and our actions His word and His love for all mankind.  As pastor John Phillis states: Christianity written on the heart is Christianity in the most legible, the most positive, the most convincing and the most enduring form.

If you feel as if the way you have been living your everyday life doesn’t match up to how God instructs you to live, you can change.  That’s the great thing about God.  As I mentioned in my previous post, you can start afresh today and begin being the shining example of God that he so desperately longs for you to be.

 Grace McDaniel is a MA student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a native North Carolinian.  She is currently engaged to Dillon who is in the MDiv program at Southeastern.  Together they plan to follow God's call into ministry.  Dillon is currently the children's pastor at a local church and Grace plans to go into women's ministry.  You can check out more of Grace's devotions at: http://godsgurleternally.blogspot.com/