She is Strong -The Master's House Church

23/07/2026

REPOST

I am a pastor's daughter and a pastor's wife, and let me tell you—I have seen things.

I have seen deacons insist that a pastor's wife take piano lessons because the church pianist died.

I have seen a woman who enjoys more than four weeks of vacation each year and doesn't work summers complain because the pastor was gone for two Sundays.

I have seen church leaders chastise a pastor for the clothes he wore on his day off because they weren't "pastoral" enough.

I have seen church leadership intentionally underpay a pastor because, "We need to keep him humble and reliant on the Lord."

I have seen a funeral become an episode of Jerry Springer as estranged family members screamed at the pastor about how the Christians in his church are hypocrites.

I have seen a church split over the color of paint in the ladies' bathroom.

I have seen a parishioner hand out pre-highlighted copies of Confronting Jezebel, complete with handwritten notes explaining that the pastor was possessed by a spirit of manipulation and control.

I have seen a pastor accused of insulting the entire choir because he didn't promote the Christmas cantata enough—a cantata in which both he and his wife sang.

I have seen a church dismiss its pastor after his wife died because, without her, they didn't feel they were getting their money's worth.

I have seen pastor's kids, exhausted by the microscopic scrutiny of Sundays, channel that pressure into fighting with their siblings and defying their parents, turning Sunday mornings into war zones.

I have seen a pastor and his family minister through a funeral—comforting grieving people, serving the meal, caring for everyone else—while quietly carrying deep grief of their own, feeling they had no room for their own tears.

I have seen a pastor climb into his car after church and simply deflate... folding over until his forehead rested on the steering wheel as he whispered, "I don't know if I can keep doing this."

But I have seen other things too.

I have been hugged by a woman who whispered, "It's okay. Kids have bad days. You're a great mom," after my seven-year-old daughter spent the entire Sunday morning impersonating the Tasmanian Devil.

I have seen a woman who never had children of her own love mine so deeply that they couldn't wait to get to church each week because they knew she would be there.

I have seen couples quietly recognize our family's financial needs and give with remarkable generosity.

I have seen the Holy Spirit give me exactly the right words for an impossibly difficult conversation.

I have seen believers carry one another to the feet of Jesus through faithful, persistent prayer.

I have seen a man enslaved by addiction for decades set free by the grace of God and the blood of Christ.

I have seen people extend astonishing grace when our weaknesses were on full display.

I have seen a man interrupt an evening service because, as the pastor preached the Word, he realized he had been wrong for decades. Without being prompted, he stood before the congregation, confessed his sin, and was met not with condemnation, but with tears, forgiveness, and restoration.

I have seen the face of Christ reflected through my husband as he faithfully proclaimed the Scriptures.

I have seen people healed.

I have seen broken marriages restored.

I have seen prodigals collapse at the foot of the cross.

And because of everything I have seen...

I can't wait to go to church on Sunday.

08/07/2026

29/06/2026

Derek's testimony of healing from depression in his message, "The Helmet of Hope."

I had a problem of recurrent fits of depression which would come over me like a kind of dark, heavy cloud and seem to press me down and shut me in and shut me off from normal communication with other people even with my family. The embarrassing thing was that it seemed to me that when I went around with this cloud hanging over me I projected this pressure onto the people that I was with. And again, I was particularly conscious of my own family. I struggled against this by every means in my power that I knew of. I prayed, I fasted, I made resolutions, I got up early, I stayed up late, I did everything that I knew to do and it got no better. In fact, the more I prayed and fasted the worse it got. Which is discouraging.

I remember one of our daughters who was about 14 or 15 years old at the time saying to me one day, “Daddy, please don’t fast. You’re worse when you fast.” Of course, that isn’t the way to encourage a preacher. But it was true because fasting brought the thing out into the open but it didn’t resolve the problem. I had come to the end of my solutions and one day—and I was actually fasting at the time which I will throw in a little indication that fasting does not go unrewarded—I was reading the Bible and I read in the 61st chapter of Isaiah, the 3rd verse, this phrase.

“The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”

When I read that phrase “the spirit of heaviness” I suddenly realized by revelation of the Holy Spirit that was my problem. I was dealing with a spirit, a personality that studied me, that followed me up, that knew my weaknesses, that knew how and when to attack me. I was not dealing with some mental or psychological conditions merely in myself, I was not dealing merely with some habit pattern but there was a person set against me by Satan himself studying me, plotting my downfall.

Then I saw why the pressure got worse the more I wanted to serve the Lord. Because, the great commission of this spirit was to hinder me in my service for God. When I was somewhat slack and indifferent the pressure was lifted. But the more dedicated and earnest I became, the worse the pressure became. Looking at it that way I saw clear indications that I was dealing with a personality with understanding that could read my mind and my motives and knew just how and when to apply the pressure. I also saw that this was something that ran in my family. I realized that my father had for many, many years from time to time experienced the same type of pressure.

So, at last I had come to realize the identity of my enemy. This was a tremendous advance. I would say that when I recognized what I was dealing with and specifically that it was a person, a spirit person, I was 80 percent of the way to victory by that one realization. I only needed one other scripture to bring me the solution to my problem and that was Joel 2:32 which says:

“It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.”

I saw that that promise in its own way was just as all-inclusive as John 3:16:

“Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

I saw that this was a promise specifically of deliverance. I put the two scriptures together, Isaiah 61:3 and Joel 2:32 and I prayed specifically to God. I want to emphasize the importance of praying specifically. I named the spirit, the spirit of heaviness, and I claimed God’s own promise. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.” I did not understand the deliverance ministry in any sense in which I understand it now but I was driven by personal need to put these two scriptures together. I prayed to God and said, “God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to your word I’m asking you to deliver me from this spirit of heaviness.” And when I prayed that specific, scriptural prayer I was delivered. The pressure was lifted. Praise God for deliverance.

27/06/2026

Too many marriage books tell women to love harder, respect more, and submit deeper to abusive husbands.

As if her improved behavior will transform his cruelty.

As if her softness will make him safe.

As if her silence will bring peace.

As if her obedience will awaken repentance in a man who is using power to control her.

But abuse does not stop because she becomes smaller.

It does not end because she gives more, asks less, speaks softer, absorbs blame, protects his reputation, or carries the weight of keeping the marriage alive.

What often happens is far more dangerous.

The abuse escalates.

Because he learns her boundaries can be preached away. Her instincts can be shamed. Her pain can be spiritualized. Her voice can be silenced in the name of being a godly wife.

That isn't what marriage is.

Leaving is courageous.

Leaving is hard.

Living is harder.

——- REPOST

26/06/2026

Questioning harmful theology isn't rebellion. It's discernment.

Some of us were taught that asking hard questions was a sign of weak faith. That challenging a theological framework meant we were drifting from God. That obedience required certainty.

But throughout Scripture, discernment is not condemned. It is commended.

Discernment asks whether what we've been taught reflects the character of Christ. It examines traditions, interpretations, and systems in the light of truth. It refuses to confuse loyalty to a belief system with faithfulness to God.

Healthy faith is not afraid of questions.

In fact, some of the most important moments of spiritual growth begin when we finally give ourselves permission to ask them.

Questioning harmful theology isn't a rejection of faith.
Sometimes it's the beginning of a more honest one.

Have you ever been told that asking questions was a lack of faith?

26/06/2026

She is scrubbing, cooking, cleaning, and serving while he relaxes on the chair, entitled because some say the Bible says so.

Verses like Ephesians 5:22, “Wives, submit to your husbands,” are often weaponized to enforce male authority and female subordination. John Piper, with Wayne Grudem, summarizes this view: women are equal in essence but given a “different function or role,” with men leading and women focusing on support and domestic work.

But this is a misuse. Scholars like Beth Allison Barr show that Paul’s words were meant to subvert, not sacralize, patriarchal hierarchy. Paul borrowed the form of Greco-Roman household codes, which Aristotle describes in Politics I: “the male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; and the one rules and the other is ruled.” He outlines three parts of household rule, master over slave, father over child, and husband over wife, and adds that a husband “rules over wife and children, both free, but the rule differs, the rule over his children being a royal, over his wife a constitutional rule.” Unlike these codes, Paul addresses all household members as moral agents and calls mutual submission out of reverence for Christ. Husbands are instructed to love sacrificially, wives to submit, creating a framework of care, not domination.

The Greek word kephalē, often translated “head,” can mean “source” or “life-giver,” emphasizing the husband’s role as nourishing and sustaining, not ruling. Weaponizing scripture to justify laziness, entitlement, or oppression parallels the same misuse that historically justified slavery.

Faith is not a weapon. Scripture calls for mutual, life-giving, Christlike love, not male domination while women labor unseen.

26/06/2026

No one is worried about s*x when they're getting chased by a bear!

Here's the thing: our bodies are very sensitive to threats. When we feel as if we are under threat, our bodies go into protect mode, ready to ward off danger. That's how we're made. We're made to survive, and that means that humans have to be very sensitive to any perceived threat!

And when we believe we're under threat, then the s*xual part of ourselves shuts down, because our bodies know, "we've got other priorities right now!"

And when our cortisol (stress hormones) are high, our bodies also know, "This is a really really bad time to get pregnant, because we can't handle it, so no s*x for you."

And s*xually we shut down.

If we feel unsafe, then we're not going to desire s*x. That's how our bodies work.

What if the church has been framing women as having a libido problem, when really we have a safety problem? And women are often operating on hypervigilance, always on, never able to relax? And our bodies interpret that as "better shut down s*xually"?

Here are some examples of why we may not feel safe:

* We've been told that unless we have s*x with our husbands, our husbands will...watch p**n, have an affair, lust, not be able to do their jobs properly because they're feeling inadequate, etc. S*x has been turned into something we do to keep ourselves safe, which reminds us that we're actually not safe!

* We've been pressured and coerced into s*x, so we don't feel safe in the relationship.

* We feel emotionally unsafe because we can't share our fears, desires, or feelings with our spouse without ridicule, or feeling dismissed.

* We carry so much mental load for the family that our stress levels are sky high, trying to manage all the doctor's appointments, homework, food preferences, schedules, etc. with very little help.

* We have no down time, because of the demands of family and work, and we're always "on".

* We have a history of s*xual abuse or s*xual betrayal

And there could be so many more!

But often these all intersect. Imagine a woman who feels really stressed because she's working full-time and carrying the mental load for the family, trying to keep everything together. Her husband is upset that she doesn't want s*x as much, and starts emotionally distancing himself from her while also pressuring and cajoling her for s*x. He also has a history of p**n use, and she's worried he's using again.

If they're having s*x only a few times a month (if that), is the heart of the problem really a libido issue?

We need to understand how our nervous systems work, and how they shut down our s*xuality when we don't feel safe. And so much of evangelical advice and the evangelical way of doing marriage, by placing all the responsibility and mental load on the wife while making s*x seem like an obligation, makes her inherently unsafe.

If you want to better understand this and get out of these toxic patterns, please read The Great S*x Rescue!