Women are busy. Whether their energy is expended at home or at the office, women find themselves overwhelmed with the to-do lists in their life, and they long for time away from it all so they can really hear God's still small voice. But when I pored over the pages of Scripture, says author Sharon Jaynes, I discovered that some of God's most memorable messages were not delivered while men and women were away on a spiritual retreat, but right in the middle of everyday life. He spoke to Gideon while he was threshing wheat and to shepherds while they were watching their flocks by night.

Using biblical wisdom and practical insights from her own life, Sharon invites readers to explore answers to the heart cry, How can I hear the voice of God?

Includes helpful study guide.

Taking a stand over the gender-issue divide

Author and New Testament scholar Michael Bird was formerly in favor of distinct gender roles in ministry, a viewpoint commonly called "complementarianism." But inconsistencies in practice and careful biblical study convinced him to rethink his position.

Originally published as a short ebook, Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts offersan engaging, incisive perspective on biblical gender equality and the egalitarian view--a preference for allowing women to hold teaching and leadership positions in ministry.

While Bird is now egalitarian, he nevertheless strikes a respectful tone toward those in his previous camp, seeking to craft a perspective that both values women and upholds biblical differences between the sexes. Humorous and hard-hitting, Bird will challenge readers on both sides of the gender-issue divide.

Discussions surrounding the roles of men and women--whether in the church, the home or society at large--never seem to end, often generating more heat than light. Such debate is still important, though, because this issue directly affects every member of Christ's body. What we believe the Bible teaches on these matters shapes nearly all we do in the church. In addition, these questions deserve further thought and reflection because neither side has won the day. In an effort to further discussion, Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (general editors), with the aid of Gordon D. Fee (contributing editor), have assembled a distinguished array of twenty-six evangelical scholars firmly committed to the authority of Scripture to explore the whole range of issues--historical, biblical, theological, hermeneutical and practical. While dispelling many of the myths surrounding biblical equality, they offer a sound, reasoned case that affirms the complementarity of the sexes without requiring a hierarchy of roles. Contributors include Ruth A. Tucker, Janette Hassey, Richard S. Hess, Linda L. Belleville, Aída Besançon Spencer, Craig S. Keener, I. Howard Marshall, Peter H. Davids, Walter L. Liefeld, Stanley J. Grenz, Kevin Giles, Roger Nicole, William J. Webb, Sulia Mason, Karen Mason, Joan Burgess Winfrey, Judith K. Balswick, Jack O. Balswick, Cynthia Neal Kimball, Mimi Haddad, Alvera Micklesen, R. K. McGregor Wright and Alice P. Mathews. Here is a fresh, positive defense of biblical equality that is at once scholarly and practical, irenic and yet spirited, up-to-date and cognizant of opposing positions.