Theology Girls Podcast

This week’s episode is about prayer, specifically prayer for the people we love and can’t fix. We start with two mothers from church history. Monica spent years in tears over her son Augustine, who wanted nothing to do with the faith she raised him in. Susanna Wesley raised ten children in a crowded, difficult household and carved out time to pray by pulling her apron over her head. Then we meet Asma, who tells the story of getting up in the middle of the night to tell her teenage son that the life he was living wasn’t God’s plan for him. She explains what it means to “contend” for your family, shares practical places to start, and prays out loud the way she prays over her own home.We also hear from Maria Adkins about praying her husband Josh through an illness that traced back to words spoken over him years earlier. Dr. Karen Murphy talks about praying for healing in her own church, even on days when nothing seems to change, and tells a story about a pastor who prayed with no faith at all and watched a child get well. Pauline shares how praying “the heart of the Father” for her son changed what she asked for. Throughout, these women show that contending doesn’t require perfect faith. It just means showing up to pray for the people you love, one more time.If you liked the episode, please make sure you rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts, and please share this episode with a friend.Learn more about the series and get the discussion guide at www.weirdwomenpodcast.com Support our individual work by following @thetheologygirls and @lifeonpilgrimage on Instagram, as well as www.lifeonpilgrimage.comThank you to our contributor Dr. Karen Jorgenson Murphy. And a special shout out to Maria, Pauline and Asma for sharing their stories in this episode. Important Links:“Faithfully Dissident Daughters” by Chelsea Kim Longhttps://www.chelseakimlong.com

This week we get specific about one gift: prophecy. Neysa Thorell has led a prophetic ministry at her church in Montgomery, Texas for about ten years, and she walks us through what it actually looks like: appointments, small teams, and each person asking God for a word about a stranger they haven’t met yet. She shares a story about a man under a willow tree that’s hard to explain any other way. She also draws a distinction that matters for anyone nervous about this topic: Old Testament prophets spoke for God, while today’s prophetic gifting is a word from God, given in love to one person for another. We look at why Paul set the teaching on prophecy inside the love chapter of 1 Corinthians, and how a word delivered without love misses the point.We also hear from Dr. Craig Keener, who responds to the argument that “when the perfect comes” in 1 Corinthians 13 means prophecy ended with the New Testament, and points us to Philip’s four prophesying daughters in Acts 21. Worship leader Chante Rivers returns to share the habits she’s built over the years to cultivate prophetic singing. We close with what a well-delivered word does for the person on the receiving end: people who walk in beaten down hear that they are seen, heard, and loved.If you liked the episode, please make sure you rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts, and please share this episode with a friend.Support our individual work by following @thetheologygirls and @lifeonpilgrimage on Instagram, as well as www.lifeonpilgrimage.comThank you to our contributor Dr. Craig Keener — you can find links to his work below. And a special shout out to Neysa Thorell and Chante Rivers for sharing their stories in this episode. Important Links:“Faithfully Dissident Daughters” by Chelsea Kim Longhttps://www.chelseakimlong.comContributor Links:https://craigkeener.com

If you grew up hearing that the gifts of the Spirit ended with the book of Acts, this episode asks what happened in between. Dr. Karen Murphy, who teaches at Fuller Seminary and was raised Pentecostal, tells us where to look: the monasteries, convents, and margins where women kept exercising these gifts. We meet Brigid of Kildare, Hildegard of Bingen, who had visions and called popes to account, and Julian of Norwich, who insisted “all shall be well” in the middle of the plague.Karen also traces the roots of modern Pentecostalism to William Seymour and the 1906 Azusa Street revival, and we talk about who is hurt most when we tell people the gifts have ceased.Then we bring the story forward to women living it now. Maria Adkins shares how she found her own overwhelming encounter with the Spirit described in a book about the revivalist Maria Woodworth-Etter, and Pauline describes the quiet, informal prayer ministry she leads. We close with what Scripture warns happens when a generation stops telling the stories of God’s goodness (Psalm 78, Judges 2, Deuteronomy 4), and why the next few episodes are full of stories from women using their gifts today.If you liked the episode, please make sure you rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts, and please share this episode with a friend.Support our individual work by following @thetheologygirls and @lifeonpilgrimage on Instagram, as well as www.lifeonpilgrimage.comThank you to our contributors in this episode, Karen Jorgensen Murphy and Beth Felker Jones — you can find links to their work below. And a special shout out to Maria and Paula for being part of this episode.Important Links:“Faithfully Dissident Daughters” by Chelsea Kim Longhttps://www.chelseakimlong.comTo sign up for emails and snag a copy of our discussion guide, visit at our website:www.weirdwomenpodcast.com

In the first episode of Weird Women, we start in a prayer room in St. Louis and with worship leader Chante Rivers, who tells the story of singing “How Great Is Our God” in the middle of the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. From there we go back to the first recorded worship leader in Scripture: Miriam, the prophetess who led Israel in song at the Red Sea. Dr. Christopher Hays of Fuller Theological Seminary walks us through the female prophets of the Hebrew Bible, including a scholarly case that Miriam’s song may be older than Moses’. Then we widen the lens and look at the whole of scripture. Dr. Beth Felker Jones of Northern Seminary affirms that the gifts of the Spirit never ceased, and Dr. Craig Keener traces the promise of Joel 2 — “your sons and your daughters will prophesy” — through Luke’s Gospel and the day of Pentecost. He also shares an eyewitness account of the 2023 Asbury revival. Over the next six weeks, we’ll be sharing the stories of real women using the gifts Scripture promises for the blessing of the church.If you liked the episode, please make sure you rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts, and please share this episode with a friend.Support our individual work by following @thetheologygirls and @lifeonpilgrimage on Instagram, as well as www.lifeonpilgrimage.comThank you to our contributors in this episode, Dr. Beth Felker Jones, Dr. Christopher Hays, and Dr. Craig Keener — you can find links to their work below. And a special shout out to the Gateway House of Prayer in St. Louis rfor the audio at the beginning and end of the show. Important Links:“Faithfully Dissident Daughters” by Chelsea Kim Longhttps://www.chelseakimlong.comContributor Links:https://fuller.academia.edu/ChristopherHayshttps://craigkeener.comhttps://bethfelkerjones.com

Today we are sharing the recording from Theology Girls Live on October 2nd with Tara Beth Leach. Tara Beth and Katy discuss what it’s like to be a female pastor, what women’s leadership looked like in scripture and where the church has lost their way. They also discuss challenges female leaders face and Tara Beth offers encouragement for women who feel called to lead. *In this episode, Tara Beth mentions Galatians 5 while talking about household codes but she meant to say Ephesians 5Make sure you follow Tara Beth on Instagram at @tarabeth82 and visit her website to learn more about her ministry and books.https://tarabethleach.comListen to the “Hear Women Podcast” by clicking the link below. https://open.spotify.com/show/6vvEXoqxiVmFHxYtOHki6G?si=4c3c3e97ffbc4e18Links Mentioned in Episode:“Junia Was Not Alone” by Scot McNighthttps://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/junia-not-alone/Podcast Tara Beth references about female leaders of organizations: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-maxlife-podcast-with-ben-laws/id1807089251?i=1000735016734Episode Sponsors and Ads:Seminary Now - Use code TG30 for 30% off your subscription https://seminarynow.com/pages/theology-girlsGrab a copy of “Between the Light and Me” by Kathleen Kilcup by clicking the link below.https://amzn.to/3TRMbbYEmail us at [email protected] to inquire about out ad space for your business or ministryMake sure you rate, review and subscribe to the podcast anywhere you listen and follow us on Instagram @thetheologygirls