Things I Didn't Know as a Complementarian: Women in Ministry part 6 

Time Stamp Guide: 0:00 - Intro 1. 7:12 Persecuted women = women leaders 2. 17:50 Jesus trained women to be rabbis 3. 28:23 If NT women are priests, they can be elders, too 4. 59:35 Women prophets = women elders 5. 1:33:38 Spiritual gifts in women means they can teach and lead ~ 2:08:53 Today’s conclusion and summary

Hey Mike, Sorry for the issue with Logos. I'm the German tech-support person for Logos and here is the solution: The community highlights have been activated by default for some users. You can disable them under the visual filters. A personal note: THANKS for all your great content which is in-depth, funny, helpful and challenging all the time.

I listened to 6 hours of this study yesterday. I most certainly don’t care how long the videos are, I’ve never been pulled this deep into this topic and I’ve found it absolutely enthralling

My beautiful wife has made a church and made herself a pastor it’s Pentecostal denomination. She now justifies sleeping until noon everyday praying and fasting. I’ve gone through scripture with her about being a biblical wife but now she is above that and now she has hardened her heart to me. I have tried to change my thoughts and get her back but all she says is go to her church. I’ve told her I would leave the church I go to and we need to find a God fearing church together but now her pride is to great and she will not turn from it. She talks more to the men that goes to her church than me and this is been going on for over a year and now. The good thing that came out of this is I have started studying scripture truly myself. Please pray for my marriage.

I am a Mary. Having sound theology helps me lay age appropriate foundations for my kids. And I love the discovery of God in it. I’m emphatically not in favor of the priesthood for women. Once had a friend lament my not wanting to be ordained as if my interest and knowledge was wasted. It is not. It’s a treasure.

When I became a Christian I had such a hunger for the knowledge of God and to understand the Bible and I still have. It must have come from God because I never cared about it before. Some women thought it was odd that I wanted to learn stuff that 'the men usually study' but no one told me I shouldn't.

Don’t worry about the length of your videos! We can break them up with the pause button if we need to. We come to you for thorough, Biblical truth. Length of the video is irrelevant. ❤️🙏🏼 Praying for continued wisdom and discernment as you tackle the tough subjects for which Christians need more clarity. ❤️✝️❤️

I absolutely love the spirit and heart in which you disagree with others. In every video you show a loving spirit even to those who do not do the same in return. This is something I struggle with and watching your video's helps remind me how I should act.

Women have been treated badly because of sin. So grateful you created this video.

“In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity.” Richard Baxter

I haven't "Amen-ed" so much in I don't even remember how long listening to your thoughts on coming up with roles around people and their unique gifts, in fact I rarely ever feel compelled to shout out those things, let alone from the rooftops! I feel like this has been an incredibly limiting factor in my search for ministry work as well as therefore in and for the churches and ministries I've been involved with so far. So Preach Preach Preach Preach! I didn't even know how much I needed to hear someone say that. Thank you! Seriously though, Preach it, and Amen!

Mike. I just looked at your notes for the first time. WOW! You are so thorough, so well-organized, so well-researched. You are doing such wonderful justice to the biblical issues you study. Thank you on behalf of the saints, and God BLESS you and your amazing ministry!

Thank you, Mike and all his team of helpers (especially including his wife!) for the work and dedication that goes into this ministry. I pray it will bring good fruit and they'll be rewarded. I've been listening to this series in order when I could. Other times, like now, I listen to whatever episode of it I find out of order. Praying for Mike's recovery and for God to carry him and his sister through their grief.

Mike thank you for doing this study- the most important thing is that we stick to the scripture not read into it our favorite pet beliefs. Your labor in the LORD has been a huge blessing to us all

This is an epic feat - this whole series. I don't pretend to listen to it all because, at this time, it's not all foremost in my mind. But I am enjoying what I do listen to very much and can tell it will be super valuable for many. But also....cannot WAIT til the Hebrews study! (No pressure! ;) )

I was watching and clapping and shouting Amen when you started talking and speaking on the Priesthood!!! Thanks for all your time, research and study on this topic!! You have me "Thinking Biblically"!!!!

This I absolutely what I was looking forward to in this series. Thank you Mike and the whole BibleThinker team!

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your online ministry. You are a breath of fresh air in a weary world. Thanks for your honesty, your wisdom, and your sacrifice of hours of work for the benefit of others. I pray for you. Your ministry gives me hope.

Great video Pastor Mike! I really enjoyed the discussion around the gifts and offices. But my favorite part was the beautiful sermonette in the middle about the priesthood of believers. Just beautiful, thank you for taking the time to dive deep really thrush out these issues.

"Extra Priest-y" ..... I laughed out at that! you made this youth ministry heart smile. thanks Mike

I so appreciate all of your studies, breaking topics and issues down, searching them out thoroughly. I'm really encouraged by and thankful for your boldness in stepping into the ministry God has gifted you with and called you to, even it being something brand new and unusual for the regular CC "set up." 😁Makes me feel less of a weirdo,😊 and it's really encouraging for me in this present season of once again being led to waters not many wanna tread, but I truly very happily do for Christ. (Ps: Please, continue praying for the Church in Ukraine, and for an awakening.) 🙏🙏

Always making incredible, Biblically backed, resources. Thanks for your ministry, Mike!

Thank you so much for this extensive work on the topic! I’ve waited a long time to hear an honest and thorough discussion on this! I’m really enjoying it! Appreciate your ministry so much! Keep up the good work!

Thank you so much for going through all of this content so comprehensively! It's one of the highlights of my week when a new video from this series comes out, I'm so excited for the next one. Thanks Mike, you are a legend!

Things are starting to make sense and become clearer. Thank you for your thorough, biblical approach. May we all have ears to hear God's truth.

Hi Mike, I love your ministry and have enjoyed learning from all your content. Thank you for being faithful to your gifts and teaching so effectively!

thanks for putting this out there Mike, a lot of good stuff.

Mike, I am learning SO MUCH in addition to the topic of women in ministry - through your illustrations, cross references, historical context, etc. Thank you for doing this series!

Thank you so much doing the hard work to present a complete study. I appreciate your humility, candor, and perseverance. Praying for you.

What this week's teaching showed me is that we really need to look at 1 Tim 2:12 and consider that it says in context "woman should not teach as to USURP authority." We cannot ignore the word usurp as many do. It does not say that woman cannot have authority, or that they cannot teach. They simply shouldn't teach false doctrines (just as Paul repeats over and over to Timothy) and they shouldn't try to take authority as by force. Great work Mike! I still fall into the egalitarian side where that a woman could teach and preach and even lead a church as a pastor, as long as it is in proper order of GIVEN authority (not taken) and teaching sound doctrine. She too has to follow the same qualifications as any other elder, other than it being she is the wife of one husband, which of course we could simply say - she is in a faithful monogamous marriage and not sleeping around. The same way we summarize that qualification for any other elder when we don't have on our complementarian goggles.

I find the whole authority arguments very very interesting. I don't try to read too much into the heart of them. Anyways I thought of a useful analogy. The presence of 3 branches of government keeping one another in check via their roles and authority would not lead someone to believe that the roles are interchangeable. A supreme court justice would not be offered the same role of authority or influence as a senate member.

Thank you so much for this thorough and thoughtful series on a very divisive topic for the church. I can only imagine the time you invested in to prepare for these videos. I especially appreciate the clarity, kindness and gentleness in presenting your arguments. It is so rare these days to hear sound arguments based on thorough understanding of scripture and research, instead of just throwing entrenched opinions at each other.

Great job Mike. Your attention to the details blows me away. Thank you for your diligent research

One thing Gods taught me through the bible is that the more I learn on a topic and the more confusing it gets, the more understanding I still need on that topic. Therefore I'm just not seeing all the truth yet, why I cant find any definitive answer. Not knowing the answer means we have more to grow still in our understanding, because there is a bigger picture here God wants to teach us! The truth is in there it will come to light, exactly on Gods timing like a huge puzzle being all put together., piece by piece till we understand his message! Then we get the revelation and its a very exciting time!

Hi Mike, I feel truly blessed with the your videos you share with us. I believe this is a hard topic you are taking on, and I think you are trying you best to give a biblical perspective about it. Even if you don't quit agree with it yourself. I see the videos is helping a lot of people out there, and a see a lot of people getting upset about it. I pray that you have strength to endure the hardships of the path you have taken. My God guide you and give you strength. This is your suffering and cross to bear, and hopefully in the end more people will be closer to God and followers of Jesus. Thanks for teaching us to think biblically.

These have been great videos! I have been learning all i can, lately relearning a lot and unlearning a lot of worldly things… as i do it becomes so apparent that my Grandma was the core to my Biblical teachings growing up (and still) I called her just last night to tell her that, and to give thanks to her and with her to God. Thank you for going into the nitty gritty on your channel, it’s been a huge blessing in filling in gaps on info i thought i knew and bringing to light things i have never heard before 🙏🏽

Thanks so much for sorting out all of this information and presenting it so well (it doesn't seem like 2 hours at all). I really appreciate all of the clarification, representation of viewpoints, and follow-up to questions/pushback. It's a subject that wasn't a big deal to me, but others I know care deeply, so I don't want to base my conclusions on a shallow understanding.

As I watch through this excellent video series, it appears to me that the most fundamental problem with this whole issue gets blurred by the definition of words. (Is this what drove people apart at Babel?) Mike Winger has discussed this a number of times in the series, particularly the definition of pastor not being the same as the biblical elder, overseer or bishop and the definition of priest not being pastor. I can understand the frustration of people who think it is wrong to deny women the position of say, Administrative Pastor, or Worship Pastor, or Outreach Pastor, especially if these positions would not have been considered overseers in the first century church. I think many times in the past we have unfairly denied women opportunities and missed out on their contribution because we have incorrectly applied male exclusivity to positions in the church that don't deserve them. I can't see that anything Mike has presented would exclude women from many of these "pastoral" positions. Simply applying the 'new fangled' "Pastor" title to what in the first century would have been a deacon role, should not exclude women. Are we going to say men can only take out the church garbage because the position has been labelled "Waste Pastor"? I don't think so. Alternatively, I don't think the correct response to these past injustices is to demand that everyone can do everything. To solve the pastoral exclusion problem by saying that women can now perform all pastoral roles is not the right approach either. The solution is to do exactly what Mike has done. Take a step back. Take a deep breath and then calmly and patiently try to discern the will of God in this matter. If we can't agree that we all need to submit to God's will, then you have more serious problems with your walk than this issue. (See Part 1 of this series) Thank you Mike, for taking so much time to shine so much light on such a contentious and relevant topic.

So grateful for this series. Thanks Mike.

Thanks for another helpful video, Mike! What I appreciate most about this series (and all your videos) is that you view the Bible as the ultimate authority. Therefore, you go where the Bible goes, rather than being swayed by popular opinion or even your own preference. Thank you for this biblical, detailed, thoughtful, and respectful series! I’m enjoying it and learning a lot!

I am so thankful you are using your gifts to benefit us, Pastor Mike!

This was a very good teaching, thanks so much Pastor Mike for all your hard work and doing this to bless us, and making it available for free! I love the Royal priesthood stuff in scripture 😃💜, that it’s for everyone in Christ because Jesus is every believers mediator between them and God. I also enjoyed the teaching you did on that in the 1 Peter series! Also wanted to mention in response because I thought this was great and it goes with what you said: my Pastor taught his church members (anyone who was a member and wanted to learn it) a course in systematic theology (and my sister was one of the people) because he wanted to make sure his church had right theology, and also the elders to have right theology, and they did a good job making sure that the elders were men that are able to teach and have the qualities an elder should have. I always found both your teaching and his to always line up 😀👍🏻

Thank you Mike for making these videos. God bless you.

Mike This is a topic I have been studing and contending with, within myself, for a very long time. You have done such an all-encompassing study looking at this topic from every angle. For the first time I feel I can make a clear decision based on the whole scripture concerning this issue. Debated from every corner instead of being tainted by the teachers preference. And it is so freeing! I recognize the time, effort and labour of love you have ploughed into this. I have benefited greatly from your labour, and for this I sincerely thank you.

I’ve really been enjoying this series. I’m slowly working through it all. Thank you for your ministry!

This series has been very helpful and affirming, especially in the sense of getting to the heart of Scripture and the heart of God, and I thoroughly appreciate the work that you are doing here. Additionally to the main topic (focusing on roles of women) the basic structure and organization of the church is interesting to me, and I’d love to see a thorough examination of that, explanation of titles, etc. the term “elder” is used very differently in most churches than to describe the role of what is typically called a head pastor-elders being more like a set of support individuals who advise and encourage the leader. I’m interested in the terminology and Scriptural support for (or openness because of no particular direction given) the way that churches organize. The idea of creating positions specific to unique gifting is along those lines, as well.

So far, my leanings are that women may be in a modern day “pastoral” role in areas such as women’s or Children’s ministry under the head male pastor. Today, the term “pastor” is so broad it’s not like how it used to be. People can be a pastor at a church and only provide prayer and counseling…so idk. I think people take on extreme ideas on both sides.

I have learnt so much and finally I can sense some peace in my heart with that matter! I really thank You, Brother Mike, for that wonderful teaching series 🌹❤️🌹❤️🌹

Thank you this last section was so helpful for me! I'm so glad for your guidance concerning this topic and God's Word in general :) God's Grace be with you

Hi Mike, I have been enjoying this series and am prepared to rethink my teaching a Sunday school class if need be. These issues are really important and confuse a lot of people. We recently lost a whole family because the wife got mad that our church allows women teachers (not in an elder role) and doesn't require headcoverings. She attributed her depression and mental issues to demonic oppression that resulted from visiting a holistic Doctor that someone in our church recommended and blames our church for that. Like if we were spiritual enough we could have helped her avoid any attacks from satan. At least those were some of her excuses for going ballistic on some of the members and pastor. It's really sad.

I don't know if this has been said or not yet, but the way I understand the scriptures regarding the wife submitting to the husband and the husband loving the wife as Christ loves the Church requires a broader commitment from the husband: The wife submits to the husbands authoritative position in the household as a helper but the husband is required to view his relationship to the wife as 'willing to give himself for it', as Jesus gave up His life for us all. In my opinion, this is a 'bigger ask' of the husband: if a Godly husband is performing His role correctly, it doesn't mean that he lords over his wife: it means that he considers her completely from a position of love, and that, love unto death. I believe that the wife should also approach this from a place of love, and that is the secret of the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! They each seek the glory of the other, and desire to glorify one another. It is the consistent and eternal flow of love between them that they are all God yet the Son is not the Father, the Father is not the Son, etc.

I thank you and your support team for this ministry. Praying for you!

Thank you so much for your research and consideration in all of this, Mr. Winger.

the main way I know for a fact that women can teach is looking at the family unit. A woman is meant to raise children where the man works to put food on the table, right? well what is raising a child? Teaching.

"somebody add that to the dictionary for me. Oh wait... They only do that for certain people" 🤣 Very good video, thanks Pastor Mike!

Amen, thank you for being so conscientious about following what the Word says. It isn’t always easy to hear but that is the point where we must decide whether we are going to follow man or GOD.

Hey Mike! Thank you so much for these videos. I listen to these and a lot of other apologetics/theology things (Ruslan, Allen Parr, Voddie Baucham, etc.) During my 12 hr shifts at work. It makes the day go by much faster. And thank you for really studying and seeking scripture for answers to complicated questions like this.

One might include Jesus speaking to the woman at the well as a teaching moment for her, and that she then went on to share with others as a testimony to her newfound faith. That doesn't make her a Rabbi or a teacher herself, but others can learn from her experience.

Notice Anna in Luke chapter 2, she was a Prophetess, and spoke to all about Jesus. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38

💙 What heard you teach here, we discussed tonite. I’m trying to watch these videos everywhere I go. Today on my iPad on my dashboard listening to you as I go to pick up people. Thank you so much I’m learning so much! Be Blessed.

Thank you so much for this series, it's well done and easy to follow.

One thing that annoys me about the whole debate is what seems to be a clamoring for the title of elder in the first place. As if we need to have recognition in order to serve God. I think Jesus is clear in the sermon on the mount what happens when acts are done in order to be honored by others. Also if the greatest is to be the servant of all and if the last will be first and the first will be last, shouldn't it made more sense to be clamoring over the least recognized and humble position?

On the part about prophesy, I think it's important that people like Pharaoh had prophetic dreams. Pharaoh was given a prophesy from God (ultimately interpreted by Joseph), but I don't think anyone would cite Pharaoh as someone worthy of a religious leadership position

Great video! I have one more video to watch in your series of women in ministry. This has been very very helpful to me. I am attending a complimentary church. They do have women Deacons and I was very happy to see that they are sticking to scripture. The women are teaching women, prophesying in the church, reading scripture. And of course helping with the children ministry. God bless you Mike and thank you so much for really taking the Bible serious and going off of what God says and not your opinion.

This is an interesting talk! I listen to you while I work.

Waiting for a kind commenter to create chapters and time codes 🙂

Thank you Mike, I now have a new term: "extra priesty"

Thanks Mike, totally enjoyed this teaching and was enlightened on my matters.

Thank you for making these videos in this series -theyvare very informative.

A number of times I've been given a prophecy for a congregation that I'm visiting for the first time. Each time I have written it down, gone up to the side of the front or sent the friend who invited me, to submit it to the pastor to consider, as led by the Holy Spirit. Looking back upon these events, I'm struck by how safe I felt in operating in my gifts, under the protective covering of the authority structure, which is designed to protect the flock and the person given the prophesy. Haha, also the pastors were able to read it, giving me anonymity, sparing me all the responsibility that public speaking can entail. If some folks in a new congregation come to know you have a type of gift...word of wisdom, knowledge and/ or prophesy...well, too often than not, they flock to you for a "word from God". This is not how the Holy Spirit works...it's akin to treating The Almighty God, like your butler, where you pull the cord and He arrives at your command. It is at this juncture the gifted and the one asking for a sign or a personal word, supernaturally, that both parties often unwittingly stumble into the snare of divination, the counterfeit. It is important for the one being asked to teach those asking the difference. By pointing them immediately to the The Living Word, reading their Bible and making daily personal quiet time/prayer with Jesus, you are able to encourage them about the very real benefits of having a surrendered commitment to following Jesus. "My sheep will hear my voice and they will follow Me." Teaching them to "fish" instead of trying to pull one out of your metaphorical magic hat. Huge problem in the body of Christ today with the forbidden areas of divination, the territory of the occult, passing for unadulterated spiritual gifting. Sadly rampant.

First off, thank you so much for your hard work on this topic. It has been tremendously enjoyable and edifying! Here's my push back: I would call a husband a "type" of priest in the home, not in the sense of mediation between his wife and God, but in that he is responsible for the spiritual direction of the household. Perhaps a better way to say it is to pursue spiritual prosperity for his family - not to "acquire" it, but to lead unto it. I think you could go further, stating that a husband ought to be a type of prophet (directing the family to obey the word of God) and king (protecting and leading with righteousness and justice). The distinctions I want to make are that it's a "type" in the sense that it ultimately points TO Christ, not takes from Him, and that the family is a separate authority structure from the church.

Enjoyed the clarity of conclusions derived from Biblical texts - thanks for sharing.

once again, Can't stress enough how necessary this series has een to many christians out here! Thanks.

Mike, I think this might be my favorite video in this series so far. It felt a little more balanced and you made many great points. The vast effort you’ve put into this, as well as your striving to remain neutral, are very appreciated. As usual, I agree with you that most of these arguments are unconvincing for egalitarianism, especially if standing alone (I don’t base my own egalitarian view on any of these arguments). Still, I think there are some points to be made: 1) You mentioned you don’t consider this debate a “gray area.” You consider it sufficiently clear that one side is the winner. This is surprising to me, as I think the diversity of views among wise people on both sides, and the intense debate all around, is strong evidence that it is NOT as clear as you say. Typically, when I hear people say this issue is straightforward, I assume they’re simply not familiar with the issue and haven’t done their homework. I know that’s not true in your case, so I wonder how you could say/think this. Beyond that, I am genuinely confused as to what evidence you think is so strong on the complementarian side. So, if you see this, could you recommend the best book or resource that argues for complementarianism? I sincerely am trying to find something convincing, but everything I find uses poor, unconvincing arguments. Perhaps I’m just terribly unlucky? I’d also like to see such a source because, as I’ve mentioned before, you spend little time arguing FOR complementarianism and most of your time arguing AGAINST the antithesis. But debunking poor arguments for alternatives doesn’t directly prove one’s initial claim. 2) I was very happy to hear you reject the husband as “priest” of the home, even though this is likely to offend many complementarians. It reminds me of the book “Created to be His Helpmeet” by Michael and Debi Pearl. Debi tells a story in which she asked her husband to pray for something because, in her words, that would be bringing in the “big guns.” It’s so sad that she felt her husband’s prayers were more effective just because he’s a man! Still, you did say something about the husband being the “head of the home”, a phrase (and, I would argue, concept) that does not appear in the Bible. I’m curious to hear you develop this further in future videos, especially since rejecting the “priest” view of husbands somewhat neuters the sense in which the husband is “head.” If not the “priest”, who is in some way responsible for his family before God as a sort of intermediary, in what sense is he “head?” But this can wait for the video on that topic. 3) I appreciated your pushback against John MacArthur. Still, I think you and he are making the same mistake: he is using “women must remain silent” to interpret/qualify statements about women prophesying, while you are using statements about women prophesying to interpret/qualify “women must remain silent.” I’m open to correction if I’m misinterpreting anything here. 4) You said you’re not aware of any complementarians who believe the influence of women should be limited. John Piper, who is about as mainstream complementarian as you can get, says exactly this in chapter 1 of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. For example, on page 51, while he does say women shouldn’t be prohibited from influencing men, the only way he lists in which it is appropriate for a woman to influence a man is through prayer (not directly, in other words). He then says “To the degree that a woman’s influence over man is personal and directive it will generally offend a man’s good, God-given sense of responsibility and leadership, and thus controvert God’s created order.” In his view, if a relationship between a man and woman is very personal (like husband and wife), her influence over him must NOT be “directive.” And he actually claims this is “not necessarily owing to male egotism, but to a natural and good penchant given by God.” It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this. 5) The main thing that troubled me was the following comment: “It doesn’t matter if God doesn’t give you a reason, He’s God, you just obey. If He says only people with bald spots can be elders, we should obey it. If He said only people above 5’10’’ or below 5’5’’ inches can be elders, we should obey it.” This sounds pious, but there are serious problems with this mindset/argument. The first is that it’s irrelevant, as you yourself pointed out just prior to this regarding a different argument. The very debate is over whether God did, in fact, command that women cannot be elders. Serious scholars on both sides accept the authority of the Bible and want to follow what it teaches. Saying “if God commanded (insert here), would you obey it?” doesn’t move the debate forward. The second problem, though, is it suggests God makes arbitrary commands. I don’t think you intended it that way, but I think it does nevertheless. I would hope that, if you conclude women cannot be elders, you believe there is some good reason for it (even if you don’t know or understand what it is). Yet, we should not merely blindly obey, but do our best to understand what God commands and why. This is how we grow in knowledge and character. If we say too quickly “God said it, so I’ll just do it and not worry about it”, we miss this opportunity. Ultimately, if you believe God commands something as strange as “elders must have bald spots,” which is more likely: that God actually commanded such a thing (and the reason is beyond our comprehension), or that you’ve misunderstood something? We can’t be too quick to accept something that appears nonsensical or arbitrary. This approach also increases the danger that we will come to wrong conclusions. Instead of trusting God implicitly, as it may seem, what we’re really doing is trusting our own interpretation. The danger of this is self-evident. “If God commanded you to kill someone, would you do it?” “If God commanded you to fly an airplane into a tower, would you do it?” “If God said black people should be owned by white people”, would you accept this? These are unanswerable questions because they are preloaded with ungodly commands. We know they are wrong because we have a conscience and the ability (and obligation) to think through such matters. If I thought the Bible was saying something arbitrary (like only bald or white people can be elders), I would not blindly accept it. I would double and triple check to make sure I understood correctly, and I would demand a high burden of proof before I would accept it. This is what we must do in the debate over women, and this is the reason I reject complementarianism: it utterly fails to meet the biblical burden of proof we ought to demand of it (which would be more obvious if you spent more time presenting complementarian arguments themselves instead of just trying to debunk the antithesis). This is not to say our own understanding should be the final word. Certainly not! But neither does God intend for us to throw out all thought, all logic, all nudges of conscience. I know you would agree that the goal is to THINK biblically. Part 2 coming, this was too long to fit!

How do you explain the fact that the Holy Spirit is using and blessing thousands of women as Pastors and "elders" in the world especially here in America today? God clearly is using many many women and blessing them and the church through their ministry as a pastor. They clearly have a relationship with God and He is speaking to them and they are serving God with their whole heart and life.

Thank you so much for this series

Always so much to Biblically Think about!! Thank you for your endless hours of study on this topic:)

Looks like your wonderful wife picked your shirt again? Phenomenal teaching today! God has given you the gift of wisdom and teaching. Thank you for edifying the Body.

@Paster Mike, I would love to see you deep dive why we call the Holy Spirit a "he" when according Origen (c. 185-254) wrote that the Holy Spirit was a "she", in fact, calls the Holy Spirit Mother. The Aramaic word "rucha", the ancient Hebrew word "ruach" which means spirit and ancient Hebrew word for the presence of God "Shekinah" are all feminine. I think we loose sight of the fullness of the Divine by not acknowledging that God's 3 aspects includes a male and a female spirit. Sure the ancient Greek word for spirit is gender neutral, but that doesn't change what the Jews of the time of Jesus believed and taught...it is just a shortcoming of ancient Greek. I attended a Messianic Christian church a few times and they refer to the Holy Spirit as "she"...which led me down the road of why they were doing that since I had been taught it was "he". I hope you at least give this some thought. God bless you and your ministry...I have learned so much and continue to.

This series is amazing!

Dear Mike, and Alison, We LOVE you very much! Please have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to you both! ~ Vancouver BC, :D

PLEASE GIVE "THE HEAD COVERING MOVEMENT" A SOLID STUDY FOR WHEN YOU GET TO THE HEAD COVERING PASSAGES!! The founder has a book on the subject of Headcovering for the modern day and I hope dearly that you can reference it!! Also perhaps giving a look at Anabaptist theology since the Amish/Mennonites are pretty much the only denominations that still practice it.

Every single time I listen to a teaching I learn something new about how to study Scripture. Thank you for that, Mike. The more I learn the more I have learned how wrong I have been. Even though I was complementarian wanting to be egalitarian, I've learned how flawed some of my beliefs have been about different verses. I have also learned how much I had leaned on what had been taught vs what I learned from the text. One question that was stirred up in me again about the role of Pastor in the western church. Do you see the role of lead pastor as problematic in that society sees it as a form of priesthood. Do you think the church is set up like it was intended?

This is thorough, and that's a good thing!

I agree with the teaching point. There was a time I was suggested as a candidate to be the children's ministry director. After considering it and praying, the Lord showed me I should stay committed only to teaching. Leading would take away from my teaching ministry. So happy I made this decision.

Argument 2: The former demoniac wasn't being trained to be a rabbi over the course of an afternoon, he was being trained to be an evangelist. He was sent back to his town to teach people about the power of thekingdom of God. This is still ministry training and does not disqualify this argument for women in ministry.

i believe paul teaches us to test all things and be sure it lines up with scripture. I am surprised at the thought of not checking things out just bc the man is an elder...there are many many messed up elders and leaders in the churches. It is sad..but true..it is hard to find a church with a great and consistently biblical teaching ..

Truth be told. Yes and Amen. Shalom🕊🔥

Hi Mike! Thank you for your really comprehensive and well thought Bible teaching! I found your channel lately and have listened through Jesus in OT and epistle of Peter series etc and this really blesses me and has changed me and I have learned so much even I have been a believer in Jesus all of my life. In my country in those congregations I have been during my life there has always been elders that are men and the leading pastor is just one of them, we have also woman pastors but not usually as the leading one. I think it's found really important that "elders" is a group sharing the responsibility and overseeing each other. I don't recognize these identifications here, "complementarian"/"egalitarian" but there is ongoing discussion about the very topic as well, maybe just less polarized. I have this understanding that we go wrong when we see beeing "the head" through flesh. If we think husband should be just ruling over his wife as a dictator or that (man)elders in congregation have a position of an emperor and "women can't correct a man" or can't have anything to teach to men, we are giving up to worldly desires and our flesh. It's pride and desire for power. We ought to see how the first head Jesus is the head. He bears the heaviest responsibility, he wants to see his body to flourish. He gave an example of being the servant of others and washing the disciples feet when they were pondering who is the greatest of them. The Bible instructs to have such men as elders who have this attitude of carrying the greatest burden and responsibility and serving the whole body rather than ruling over others and being above any teaching (especially any coming from women). As a woman one could see this as such a gentle care from the Lord and leaving her full space to do what He calls her to do. If we start to mess up with flesh it just goes so weird.

Hope this comment gets to you, Mike, in the midst of all you have to read through. It doesn't deal with this particular video (though it's been awesome beyond words to the praise of God and thanks to you). It concerns your previous one, "Mary the Apostle" and an insight of mine that may help you. When you referred to Burer and Wallace's research concerning the key prepositional phrase in Rom. 16:7b. It really made so much sense to me and I know just beginner scraps in Greek, if even that. After all, how else would one be able to distinguish between the two possible renditions of the phrase in question unless the cases of the relevant words in the phrase were different. If the phrase should be translated outstanding among- that is, residing in the company of the apostles, that indicates a sense of origin. So, the genitive case would seem to fit there. But if the relationship between they and the apostles is more indirect- outstanding with reference to the opinion of the apostles- then I bet the dative would fit communicating such a connection. Now, I don't have a great deal of experience here. The dative seems to cover a wide number of prepositions. But they many times seem to communicate this more indirect relationship between two words or concepts in a greek sentence. Thanks for listening, Mike. I hope this really helps you. See where it takes you. I also sent your team two emails. The first encourages you and gives my full support to take your time in preparing each part of this series. You mentioned that in one of your posts a couple of weeks ago. Just keep doing what you are doing. I also sent an email for when you investigate 1Cor. 11:2-16. It deals particularly with an insight of mine in vv. 11-12. I hope it helps you. Thanks for taking time for me, Mike. Thank you very much, your close friend in Jesus, David Lavelle.

Mike maybe you said this in a previous video or this one and I just missed it, but I'm confused about prophecy and what it actually means? Thank you so much for such an in depth study of this topic!!

Thank you pastor! I’m a woman feeling led to spread the word of God and some pastors believe women cannot preach.

Thanks for this, Pastor Mike!

Another great video! Mike I wonder if you have considered either turning this into a book or letting someone else edit your videos into a book by you. It would be a helpful resource especially if youtube goes done the tubes or censores everything someday!

Hey Mike! Are you aware that there is a 16 second long, troll video on your women in ministry playlist? Just thought you’d appreciate the heads up

Grateful for this series. learning alot. Greetings from Kenya

I really, really understand you saying, if a person disagrees with you then they need to give details, show how they understand what you are saying, and present their biblical position opposing your positionz with Scripture. It has amazed me how many people, saints even, will reply to my post(s) with "WRONG" then run and hide. They get totally ignored. God Bless

Thank you Mike Winger for your thoughtful and meticulous ministry. It must be an immense amount of work to cover all of these topics. Some of the questions I hope that you might have the time to explore in the future are: - When a woman serve as a companion or "complement" to their husband who is an elder, is it unreasonable for her to, in some capacity, participate in the role as well? - If a man is an elder at his church, would it be inappropriate to include him and his wife together as a couple of elders? (e.g., "These are two of our elders, John and Jane Smith") - Assuming the church leadership considers the wife spiritually mature and qualified, if there happens to be an elder meeting at the church, should the man leave her at home, or does her complementary role include accompanying him as he serves and makes decisions with the other elders?

Being a man is not the only requirement for pastoral ministry. An elder/pastor must also be temperate, not easily angered, hospitible, and have a good reputation with outsiders (unbelievers), etc. Yet, I know pastors/elders who are not hospitable - who are easily angered - etc. If I were to pritoritise these qualifications - I would perhaps put gender lower down the list. I personally believe that we must distinguish between the IDEAL and the REAL - and unfortunatley the world in which we live is not ideal. I believe that God can and will call women into leadership roles when men are either unable or unwilling to respond to God's call..... (e.g. Deborah). In recent centuries, many women have been used by God to plant and establish Christ's church, as missionaries, in foreign lands. Women have often gone where men have been either unable or unwilling to go. I do not believe that this is the ideal - but nevertheless, God used them.

min 9 on Kenneth Bailey. I used to live in Cyprus and Dr Bailey would come every year to take time off to a retreat area (Pafos) and he would present topics of common interest to a small group. I was blessed to be part of his group of hearers and indeed NT Wright is correct in how he represents Dr Bailey's position on women because I heard it myself. Unfortunately, in those days no one recorded his presentations, he would always give us one sheet with the verses and the structure of the passages but the rest was from memory.