I just re-read my previous post, and one thing that surprises me is how quickly I resorted to religious language when describing that First Baptist church's firing of a longtime female Sunday School teacher. In particular, I was struck by my use of terms like "agreements made with the full blessing of God" to describe what most people would normally call "contracts made in good conscience."

What bothered me yesterday wasn't the beliefs of the pastor (or of the congregation) (or, for that matter, the beliefs of the First Baptist denomination as a whole, which are in my experience fairly solid), but the fact that suddenly, a woman who had labored under the impression that her church felt it was perfectly okay for a woman to teach Sunday School classes was told, quite abruptly, that it wasn't God's will.

My question is this: Did God change his mind?

Does God decide to do one thing, then do its exact opposite?

One of the things the Bible tells me about Christ is that "no lie was found in his mouth." Doesn't it then behoove people who want to be like Christ to be sure that no lies are found in their mouths as well?

Why in the world I felt compelled to use seminary-style language to make that point yesterday, I'll never know. :)