The church should model integrity, honoring men and women equally. Earnest repentance and intentional reform would have a ripple effect throughout our culture. The world's reforms will never do the job because they aren't capable of changing the hearts of men.

How can we hang back when we have the answer to the injustices in society? How can we remain insecure and divided among ourselves, elevating men and devaluing women when we know Christ's view of us?

God may ask us to risk hurt in order to model vulnerability and our commitment to a higher call. How tragic if we instead build walls around our hearts, keeping at a distance the very people to whom God desires we minister.

As we reflect on women's roles in our churches and ministries, let's encourage reform. Let's have the courage to bring continuing change within the church.

And if we have spent our lives playing "second fiddle" when the quality of our work should have placed us in a lead position, let's forgive and go on in obedience to the Maestro. If we keep our eyes fixed on Him and our ears attuned to the words He whispers to us, we will become instruments for His glory.

Friends are like buttons on an elevator--they can take you up or bring you down. Surround yourself with people who are like the person you want to become because you become like those with whom you surround yourself.

After elementary school, we moved to Sacramento, California, where I attended junior high school. Then we moved again while I was in high school. I was desperate for friends. I never gave a thought to who those friends were or what they acted like.

There is more than one kind of poverty. Many believers are hungry for the sense of belonging that genuine fellowship provides.

Sometimes God uses the awareness of our own poverty to make others rich. I recently discovered this during a move to a new town. My husband, Leif, and I were new to the area; something biblical writers like to call "aliens." Before we moved, we had asked three different pastors from three different denominations which church they would recommend. They all gave the same answer. We went to that church—committed to discover what God had for us.

We made a conscious decision not to get involved in the church for the first six months. We needed time to get settled—we were busy buying our first home, and Leif was starting a new job as well as going back to school to finish a degree in business management.

This is God’s hour for women. But if you want to be a successful church or ministry leader, please don’t copy these bad role models.

A popular female evangelist arrived at an airport and was escorted to the baggage claim area. After she retrieved her luggage she was taken to the passenger pickup lounge where she met her hosts from a local church, who planned to take her in a comfortable van to a nearby hotel so she could rest before speaking at an evening service.

The members of the welcoming team were not prepared for this woman's icy response to their greeting. When they opened the door to the van, she told them bluntly: "I will not ride in that." Then she stormed back into the airport with her entourage. After making inquiries, one of the church staff was informed by the woman's assistant that Her Highness must be transported in a certain type of vehicle.

Your character and destiny are shaped, in many ways, by those with whom you are surrounded

Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra wrote in his masterpiece, Don Quixote de la Mancha, "Tell me thy company, and I will tell thee what thou art." There is some truth to that statement.

We are known by the company we keep. We often believe that this concept applies only in our interaction with unbelievers; however, this can be applied to our relationship within the body of Christ, also.

Don’t let these time bandits rob you of the relationship God wants you to have.

A man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 7:50 a.m., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the wannabe robber ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The frustrated man stormed out of the restaurant.

In Tennessee, a burglar realized he'd left his Nikes at the home he'd just robbed. So he returned and asked the lady of the house if she'd seen his shoes. She called the cops, and the guy was arrested.