Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book is really scary in how it will make statements and quote scriptures to back up those statements, then when you look up the verses, you realize that it has nothing to do with the book's statement. For example on page 163 she quotes Genesis 3:6 (Eve eats the forbidden fruit) to say that "God created the man to be an initiator and the woman to be a responder." No way---that's not what Genesis 3:6 says! Where does the Bible say that women are to wait around hoping that someone else will do what needs to be done? The Bible does say to "wait on God," but it NEVER said to "wait on people." While we all know that Eve made a mistake, does that mean that every other woman ever born will also make a mistake because she did? Is the atonement of Christ able to wash all sin away except for Eve's because the church needs to keep punishing all women for Eve's one mistake? On page 159, Nancy says that all divorce is sinful because "there is no marriage God cannot heal. There is no person God cannot change." Well, that's only true if the person wants to be changed. Jesus told the Pharisees that God had allowed Moses to grant divorce laws "because of the hardness of their hearts." We all know that you can't force someone else to change, but Nancy says that you have to stay married regardless of what the other person does to you because "every divorce is an attack on the character of God." Wait a second, didn't Jesus clearly state that infidelity is grounds for divorce? That when you've come to the end of your rope and your partner has broken their vows to you, that you can move on with life. Instead Nancy writes on page 159 "the primary purpose of marriage is not to be happy." My friend found out that her husband was cheating on her so she asked the pastor of their church for counseling. The pastor spent the entire counseling session telling her that it was her fault that her husband was having an affair because she hadn't been submissive enough. When the session was finally over, she walked out to the parking lot to find that the entire time the pastor had been berating her, the other woman had been sitting in her husband's car waiting for the "counseling" session to end. The marriage was obviously over. My friend has since moved on with her life. Good thing she didn't read this book where Nancy advises her that its all her fault and that (page 158) "she is blind to her own faults. Her life revolves around her. She is not exercising faith in the supernatural power of God to transform her and her husband and this marriage into something of great beauty. In wanting to bail out of the marriage she is elevating her personal happiness and well being above what God had to say." Nope. That divorce happened because the husband refused to stop having an affair. This book ignores that women really do want to serve God and this is making it harder for us. (By the way, where does Ezra 9-10 fit into this picture?) On page 159 Nancy says that if you and your spouse use birth control its a SIN and you are "unwittingly helping to further satan's efforts." Wow! Where do I even begin with that one? Open your Bible and show me one verse that says birth control is a sin! Can't find one? That's what I thought! Where does Nancy get that idea? Things get even worse when Nancy starts quoting from the very extreme book "Me Obey Him?" It's a book that says that you have no responsibility for your own choices as long as you are obeying your husband (page 67). Why would Nancy use that book as an authority? Don't we all have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ? On page 125 Nancy talks about how its a sin for a woman to seek a career outside the home since it leads to "women gaining enough financial independence to free them to leave their husbands. Women being exposed day after day to coarse language and behavior and sexual innuendos in the workplace and emotional and physical affairs being fanned by married women spending more quality time with men at work than they do with their own husbands." Wait a second. Nancy has cultivated a very successful career outside the home as a radio talk show host, highly sought after public speaker and best selling author. Is that a sin? Of course not. Then why is she telling all the other women that its a sin for them to work outside the home? Why would she emphasize all the temptations that women might be exposed to at work, but not mention that every husband out there is also exposed to those same temptations too? If husbands can be exposed to temptations at work and still remain faithful, then why can't wives? This book just doesn't make sense at all when it tries to tell women disobey Jesus' command to "go ye into all the world." Speaking of which, remember the story of Mary and Martha having Jesus over at their house? What did Jesus say when Martha complained that Mary wasn't helping in the kitchen? Did Jesus tell Mary to get back in the kitchen and prepare dinner for the disciples since women's place is to be barefoot and pregnant? Of course not. In fact, Jesus told Martha to leave Mary alone, because Mary had "chosen the better thing." Jesus actually said it was more important for Mary to be sitting at his feet learning theology with the men in the other room than doing women's work in the kitchen! Keep that in mind next time someone tries to tell women that the only way we can be involved in a Bible study is to make refreshments! This book was published by Moody Publishers which is a major Christian organization. In 1913, Mabel Thomas graduated from Moody Bible Institute (MBI) then went on to pastor a Kansas church. In 1927, she wrote in the MBI alumni newsletter of 1927 that she couldn't have become a female pastor without the training she received at MBI. That was one of many female pastors who graduated from MBI. Today Moody Bible Institute will not allow women to be pastors anymore. Why did they change? Maybe it had something to do with how at the turn of the century there were many female pastors willing to pioneer new churches on the frontier where the congregations couldn't afford to pay salaries. Then years later when most churches could afford to pay a good salary, suddenly church leaders decided those paying jobs should only go to men. Hmmmmmm.....there's so many other issues here that we could discuss. It all boils down to following the footsteps of Christ, not his followers! It just seems more and more that the church itself hasn't changed much in two thousand years since Jesus walked the Earth and had to confront the religious leaders for loading people down with heavy burdens. Life is a lot easier when you only accept Jesus' way of doing things because "His yoke is easy and His burden is light."