I love a good mystery. It’s fun to watch the clues come and the story unfold until at the end it becomes clear what really happened. In December of last year I wrote an article called Celebrating Christmas where I stated that “Clues from the Word let us know that the birth of Christ actually…
Category: Her History
The Difference a Day Makes, Part Two
I encourage you to read Part One for the background and set-up for what follows next ~ Nancy There’s a lot more chronicled in this palace story than there is time and room to delve into here. As I stated in Part One, it was the difference a day makes – and what transpired in…
The Difference a Day Makes
Esther’s story has so often been told and re-told to the point that I’m tired of hearing the phrase ‘for such a time as this.’ Where’s the encouragement in that?! you say. Bear with me, for I know that phrase presents a necessary challenge to stand up! speak up! do something! at times we may…
Reclaiming The Magdalene
Who was Mary Magdalene? How much of what we think we know about her is myth, innuendo, or fabrication? Can we clear away the false from the true, remove the layers of unsubstantiated church tradition, Hollywood fiction, rock musicals and imaginings of modern novelists to discover the real Mary Magdalene, friend and disciple of Christ…
Women Jesus Honored Part Two
You are invited to read Part One of this article here. The Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15:21-28) There were a few occasions where Jesus healed Gentiles (non-Jews), but usually they occurred when He was approached by Gentiles in Jewish territory. In the story of the Canaanite woman (sometimes called the Syro-Phoenecian woman) Jesus seems to have deliberately travelled into…
Celebrating: Lilias Trotter of Algeria
“It is easy to find out whether our lives are focused and if so where the focus lies. Where do our thoughts settle when consciousness comes back in the morning? Where do they swing back when the pressure is off during the day? Dare to have it out with God, and ask Him to show…
Acknowledging the Eldership of Women
Ishshah’s Story is pleased to feature the following archived Her History post authored by Cheryl McGrath. Away for a short break, Cheryl’s voice and heart stimulates us still through her writings. Enjoy the first of two posts to be featured while she is on a brief sabbatical. When I was both a young woman and…
Celebrating Jackie Hamill: Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory
The contrast between the rugged west coast of Australia’s smallest state, Tasmania, and the urban sprawl of Davao City in The Philippines could not be starker. Tasmania’s west coast is a pristine wilderness of misty mountains, winding rivers and impenetrable forest. It is here, in the isolated seaside village of Strachan, that Jacqueline Hamill was…
Manoah’s Wife
Tucked away in the Old Testament book of Judges there is a woman many of us may not have heard about. As the Bible does not disclose her name, we know her only as Manoah’s wife. Her story is found in Judges 13:1-24. Manoah’s wife lived during a period of Israel’s history when the nation…
The Remarkable Katharine Bushnell
I’d like for you to meet one of my favorite people, Dr. Katharine C. Bushnell. Obviously I never met her in the flesh since my friend Kate was born in 1855, a bit before my time.[1] She was a physician, missionary, crusader, reformer, author and speaker as well as a brilliant and original scholar who…
Celebrating: Anne Askew, The Fair Gospeler
Anne Askew was born into a wealthy English family in Lincolnshire, England, in 1521 during a time when the Bible was becoming increasingly available to the general population. In 1517 Martin Luther had nailed his 95 Theses to a church door in Germany and in 1526 William Tyndale published his English translation of the New…
Women in Leadership in the Early Church Part 3
This is the third article addressing women in ministry. The first two articles use the Bible to document their service and leadership from the time of Jesus through the first century. Part 3 looks at the factors that came together to oppose the equality found in the early church. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE FIRST CENTURY The…
Women in Leadership in the Early Church – Part 2
This is the second of three articles addressing women in ministry. The first two articles use the Bible to document their service and leadership from the time of Jesus through the first century. Part 3 looks at the factors that came together to oppose the equality found in the early church. WOMEN LEADERS IN THE EARLY CHURCH…
Women in Leadership in the Early Church – Part 1
This is the first of three articles addressing women in ministry. The first two articles use the Bible to document their service and leadership from the time of Jesus through the first century. Part 3 looks at the factors that came together to oppose the equality found in the early church. What is an Apostle? It…
A View From The Coal Face
The often told story in John chapter 8 of an adulterous woman brought before Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees is familiar to many of us. In this post I want to focus in on something Jesus said to the woman after those who demanded her stoning had quietly left the scene: “Woman, where are…
Celebrating ‘The Trio’ – Mildred, Eva and Francesca – Of China
“From Etzingol to Turpan, from Spring of Wine to Chuguchak, we … spent long years in following trade-routes, tracing faint caravan tracks, searching out innumerable by-paths and exploring the most hidden oases. … Five times we traversed the whole length of the desert, and in the process we had become part of its life.” Mildred…
Celebrating: Jackie Pullinger of Hong Kong
Now and again, people would say “Isn’t it wonderful that God would choose a woman to go? I would say, “No, it’s not wonderful. Excuse me for being rude about God, but He can pick who He likes.” I mean, it’s no more wonderful for Him to send a woman than a man, or an old…
Celebrating Anna of Jerusalem: The Witness
“…by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” (Deu. 19:15) So said the law given to Moses by Yahweh. But in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ birth, Jewish tradition and culture declared that witnesses must always be male. Women were held in such low esteem that they were not…
The Factitious Guilt of Eve
That which has been is that which shall be and the thing that has been done is that which shall be done and there is no new thing under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 As I began to work on this article explaining why Eve is blamed for the original fall into sin, it occurred to…
Celebrating: Feisty Females of the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages, or Medieval Period, covered one thousand years of human history, from the fifth to the fifteenth century. It was a time of feudalism, superstition and the rise and fall of kingdoms. It was also a time when Christianity was primarily represented by one established Church, ruled by the Pope in Rome, who…
Celebrating Amanda Berry Smith:”The Singing Pilgrim”
Amanda Berry Smith was born into a poor slave family in Maryland, USA, in 1837. Her father and mother were Bible believing Christians and Amanda later referred to the prayers of her maternal grandmother as being instrumental in her salvation. Samuel Berry, Amanda’s father, laboured long hours as a slave by day and worked in…
Celebrating: Blandina of Lyons
It was the year 177 AD in the town of Lyons, France (then called Gaul). The Roman Emperor was Marcus Aurelius. Christianity had arrived in Lyons 25 years earlier through the missionary Pothinus, who became the First Bishop of Lyons. As the church grew, however, so too did persecution. It began with Christians being beaten,…
Celebrating: Ann Hasseltine Judson of Burma
In February 2014 I was privileged to minister in Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Burma). One of our teaching sessions focused on the life of Ann Judson, the first American woman overseas missionary. Born in Bradford, Massachusetts in 1789, Ann Hasseltine was just 17 years old when she committed her life to Christ and dedicated herself to…
Celebrating: Pandita Ramabai of India
A simple wooden cross hidden in scrubby farmland near a railway line now marks the grave of Pandita Ramabai. Yet this petite and remarkable Indian woman, of Hindu descent, was one of the greatest social reformers of her time; a linguist who spoke seven languages; a poet, educator, and author; and a staunch champion…
Acknowledging the Eldership of Women
When I was both a young woman and a young Christian I would often wander with some friends down to Speaker’s Corner at the Domain in Sydney for some Sunday afternoon entertainment. Speaker’s Corner, as the name implies, was a space in the city given over for anyone and everyone with a cause to present…
