Amber

Pro singer. Newly egalitarian. Jesus loves me, this I know. Raised on Dad jokes, can’t stop, won’t stop.

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

Personal testimony time!

Since I stopped practicing complementarianism (patriarchy), two things have happened: I’ve stopped enabling my husband, and I’ve stopped enabling the church.

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

This was the tweet

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

Personal testimony time!

Since I stopped practicing complementarianism (patriarchy), two things have happened: I’ve stopped enabling my husband, and I’ve stopped enabling the church.

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

The president of Christians for Biblical Equality retweeted me today and it made me happy, so I’m sharing how my cutting garden is doing to celebrate. Thanks, @Mimi_CBE !

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

I know, right?

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

how it feels to be a cutie patootie on twitter

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

@BethMooreLPM @nyknicks Wear ANYTHING you want, ma’am, you’ve earned it!!

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

Yep, that’s a huge reason I left the SBC—to protect my children, esp my daughter. They need to see women serving the Lord on an equal footing with men. So happy my new church shows them that!

[Kim W. Chafee @RevKimWChafee]

Wives absolutely leave their abusive husbands because of their love (and need to protect) their children. This is exactly what has occurred, and is occurring within Southern Baptist churches. Women (and the men who love them) are leaving the church in droves, because it is abusive to God's daughters. They are finding churches that more appropriately follow the teachings of Christ and Christianity.

Btw, if you know Beth at all, you know that "hate" is the furthest emotion from her heart.

[Josiah Hawthorne @JosiahHawthorne]

The hymn "Blessed Assurance," the SBC version. (Written by an unknown frustrated SBC moderate in 1998)

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

@garonnevik $20 at a local Presbyterian church gets me a Friday night date with my husband and 3 hours of childcare for my 4 kids, which includes their dinner. Best ministry EVER!

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

@adammichaelwood Yes, hypocritical as heck.

[Kaeley Triller @KaeleyT]

A timely reshare:

"No, Mr. Craig. You know if a woman isn't fit to speak in the church she can't be fit to sing in it either."

Short Stories: 1902 - 1903 by Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Strike at Putney

[Octavio Esqueda @OctavioEsqueda]

💥🔥👇🏽

[Rev. Benjamin Cremer @Brcremer]

God calls women to preach and to lead. Even when the church stands in the way of that call.

[Zach W. Lambert @ZachWLambert]

Since 2000, over 380 Southern Baptist leaders have been convicted of sex crimes involving more than 700 victims all while SBC leaders covered for abusers and silenced survivors.

But women preaching and pastoring is the real problem? What a joke.

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

@dieworkwear @offbeatorbit Saving. I need this done, too. My kids broke an irreplaceable (probably) unique family heirloom.

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

@hikingshawty Those are high quality benches.

[CBE International @CBEInt]

We believe that women and men are equally created in God’s image and given equal authority and stewardship of God’s creation.

[Josiah Hawthorne @JosiahHawthorne]

"I didn't make a good fundamentalist because I never figured out how to love the sinner and hate the sin. There's too many of you! I ain't got time to hate your sin, hate your own sin!

"...You hate your sin, I'll hate my sin, and let's just love each other."

--Mark Lowry

[Beth Moore @BethMooreLPM]

Those in the SBC who think I no longer should have anything to say about the SBC profoundly underestimate the power of love. I’d served southern Baptist women for 40 years by the time I left. And when I left, I left directly on their behalf because it became disturbingly clear to me that the SBC as an entity was more interested in protecting shepherds than the sheep entrusted to their care. When protecting the pulpit from women becomes a far greater priority than protecting women (& children) from an abusive pulpit, something is wrong. Which has been the greater problem: women trying to become your senior pastors or pastors misusing or abusing women?

My biggest concern is that what happened with the CRT witch-hunt will happen now in regard to women. The overreach resulted in numerous pastors, teachers and professors dropping the immensely important biblical teachings against racism rather than risk being accused of CRT. I heard from pastors at that time who preached against racism and already had emails Monday morning from people in their congregation accusing them of CRT. Because the difference wasn’t clarified, they lumped all of it into the one category. The aim became: shut every mouth to shut some mouths.

I pled for SBC seminary presidents and leaders to please clarify to pastors and teachers and, thereby, to congregations & students what qualified as CRT and what indeed was the proper and deeply rooted and needed biblical approach to anti-gospel racism.

Crickets.

I see the same potential here. I have never once fought for SBC women to take over church pulpits. I have esteemed and supported the role of male senior pastors. My own pastors would tell you that. If you think I was in the SBC trying to lead a revolution against men, you are clearly not familiar with my materials. What I believed then and believe now is that God has called both men and women to serve their churches and communities and proclaim the gospel. He has poured out his Holy Spirit on men AND on women, calling them to broadcast the good news.

You have beaten the drum loudly about what women in SBC churches cannot do. So, what CAN they do? Clarity here is essential. What is a woman to do who has been gifted BY GOD to teach the Bible, especially if her church has moved to the community group model and there is no Sunday school to teach?

Here is what I see on the horizon. If you leave these matters involving women so vague that it becomes about pastoral roles/actions rather than the title of pastor, it will shift to the subjective rather than objective. I wish I was naïve enough to think that wasn’t the point to some of these leaders but, sadly, I’m not.

What if that senior pastor doesn’t allow a woman on the prayer team to pray over people at the end of the service because he deems she is acting pastorally? What if the pastor sees that a woman’s Sunday school class of WOMEN is getting, in his estimation, a little too big? Can he just decide she acting pastorally and remove her from the role? Can she counsel people with her God-given wisdom and knowledge or would she be acting pastorally? The examples could go on and on. And, of course, I realize many would not use their positions to disesteem women but surely you and I both know countless others would. God only knows how many unqualified, unloving, mean-spirited men are in pastoral positions but the obsession remains the women.

I have no desire to see SBC women leave the denomination. I loved and flourished in that denomination. I want them to be able to flourish in their spiritual gifts. I want them to be esteemed in their serving inside and outside their homes. I want them to be able to serve Jesus and proclaim his glorious gospel.

I know I’m going to get hit here. That’s fine. But you should know I will fight for them to the death. Because I love them. And, yes, whether they love me or not.

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

@megbasham You’re a woman. This is very confusing. Should you be trying to teach and influence people? Aren’t you worried that you’re being “easily deceived”? Why don’t you let SBC men handle it, you’re not qualified.

[Amber @Amberlitz1]

I’ve been married 2 decades. Sometimes now we look at each other and seriously think, “If I had to do it all over again, would I still choose you?”

The more we get to know people and the world, the more the answer is YES. We are best friends and we treat each other with respect.