It's our pleasure to welcome Elise Herzing to the blog this week to share her thoughts on Kelly Minter's study of 1,2,3 John.

1, 2, and 3rd John are three little books tucked away somewhere at the back of the Bible between the instructional Hebrews and the apocalyptic Revelation. With these two most imposing books in the New Testament serving as the very thick bread in the 1-3 John sandwich, it is very easy for the filling of 1-3 John to be overlooked. But these three little books are rich and full and bursting at the seams with lessons about God's love for us and how we are to love others. Even though they are small, great and flavorful things come in small packages. 

Kelly Minter's "The Living Room Series" is designed to bring women together in a comfortable environment to bring about honest and genuine conversation. It's meant to be hosted in your living room, around a table or in a local coffee shop. Not only is the series packed full of God's truths, there are also some tasty recipes included. What Love Is: The Letters of 1, 2, 3, John is just one of many in her series. 

The Skinny: I began this study with a group of women who were in my house church at the time. We had just finished a study about abiding in God and were looking for a new study to go through together. A poll was sent out between a Kelly Minter study, a Beth Moore study, and a book of the Bible. Kelly Minter won the majority vote and through process of elimination, this study was selected. We met on a monthly basis to work our way through the six sessions of the study. For each week of the study, there was a corresponding video session, which is optional but our group decided to utilize. The video sessions, while wonderful and full of biblical truth, are not necessary to go through the study. Each week focuses on a section of 1, 2 or 3 John and has a series of personal questions throughout the week as well as questions for the group.

What I Loved: I loved how this study focused on biblical truth throughout every week. Each week, Kelly pointed out several theological truths from the passage we were studying in order to create "John's Theological Soup" with ingredients such as "The new command to love is loving like Jesus loved" from 1 John 2:7-8 and "Every believer in Christ is a child of God and is born of God" from 1 John 3:1,9. These truths straight from Scripture reminds us of our identity as Christians as well as who God is and who Jesus is. In addition to these truths, the study has margins set aside for all you note-takers, scriptural cross-references as well as original Greek translations and definitions for commonly repeated and emphasized words and phrases.

I also loved the way Kelly made the study feel like you were having a conversation with another sister in Christ in her living room. It was as if you were holding a cup of tea with lots of blankets around you, talking about the love that God has for you and how He wants to display His love for others through us. And the fact that she included some of her family recipes throughout the study definitely helped make me feel right at home.

What I Didn't Love: Although I loved this study, I did not love how it held your hand through the majority of the sessions. There was not a whole lot of room for you to discover these truths for yourself based purely in Scripture; as Kelly walked through most of the Scripture with her own personal thought process and experiences. While it is helpful to have her perspective on what 1-3 John has to say, it didn't help me with creating and processing through the Scripture in my personal quiet times. There was constantly someone else's voice and perspective in my times with the Word. However, if you have better self-control than I do, this shouldn't pose an issue.

---

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another,
God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 
1 John 4:12

---

My Profound Truth: One of the biggest mind-melts for me in this study was in Session 4, Day 3, focusing on 1 John 4:7-14, particularly verse 12: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." The whole book of 1 John is building up to this idea that God is perfect and powerful; and that he sent his perfect son to die for those he loved (by the way, that's us!!!), but that his love is not complete until we love one another. And this God IS LOVE. This powerful, perfect God who IS LOVE: His love isn't made complete until we love one another as He loved us; which is completely, sacrificial and selflessly. When we love one another, WE can see God!! We see Him in acts of service, in gifts, and in time spent with one another, in the mundane and the tremendous. We see him in sudsy dishes and in walks with friends. We can see God when we love others, and when we are loved in return. Wow. How huge is that?! It was "rock my world" huge and it completely changed my perspective on acts of service and loving others well.

If you are interested in learning more about the GINORMOUS love that God has for you and how we are to share that love with others, pick up this study!! But whether or not you pick up this particular study, I would encourage you to study through 1-3 John regardless. It is chock-full of deep, spiritual truths and is encouraging for the Christian woman in all walks of life. 

---

Elise wants to live in a world where you can eat as much pizza as you want without concerns about your waistline. When she's not guzzling tea, you can find her reveling in God's nature or watching exorbitant amounts of Gilmore Girls. One of her favorite Scriptures is Ephesians 5:8-10: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord." Explore her other favorite Scriptures and get to know her on Instagram at @eliseherzing.

We are so excited to welcome two new team members to the DWITW leadership team! Get to know them below!

Kelly Gwin

Kelly is a Dayton transplant who grew up military, but has come to call this city "home". She's a worship leader, treasurer, and all around multitasker at FCF Dayton, while running a business as a fashion consultant and raising (soon to be) 3 little girls alongside her husband. Laughing, time with other women, and a completed to-do list are some of her favorite things outside of her passion for the work and Word of God, and according to her, the Christmas season starts before Thanksgiving. 

Kelly is no stranger to DWITW. She has joined us twice in leading worship at our gatherings and was the first guest on the DWITW Podcast! You can listen to the episode where she describes her current walk in God's Word here. Kelly will be joining us as our social media coordinator come January. With her bubbly personality and big heart for Jesus we are excited for her to join us! 

Favorite verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17

Samantha Hudgins

Samantha, "Sami," Hudgins is a wife and fur baby mama to Charlie.  Sami will be serving as our new event coordinator. Sami is passionate about all things discipleship and is looking forward to infusing our gatherings with this heartbeat. 

Sami is a Colorado-native, raised on an alpaca ranch in the small town of Elizabeth. She fell in love with Jesus while going to college in Colorado Springs, where she also met her husband, Jack.  They are now adventuring around the world as they embrace their love for travel together. The Air Force brought them to Dayton, and after only living there for 1 short year, Sami has grown a heart for the city.  She finds great joy in welcoming people into their home for great food and fellowship.  Her heart longs for women to join together to seek and find truth in the Word.  She works in the ER at Dayton Children's Hospital and is currently chasing her dream of becoming a physician assistant; Sami hopes to use her professional training to be a servant in her community through health care, and also to spread the Word through international medical missions. Sami has a special love for cozy coffee shops, large bowls of oatmeal for breakfast, mornings, CrossFit, reading, and changing seasons.

Favorite Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2, 1 Peter 2:16, John 6:38

God is the same. He never changes. It says so in Scripture.

As we've been interviewing women on the Dayton Women in the Word Podcast, I've noticed a couple of trends in the topics that we've discussed. Yes, Jesus Christ is the same. Yes, His Word is living and abiding (1 Peter 1:23). But I think it is worth our while, and most healthy, to allow some trends in the way we interact with His Word to fade.

1. "Quiet Time"

Growing up, the term my parents used for our daily time with Christ was called "quiet time." In my mind, that looked like a cup of coffee at 6 AM with no one around but you and God. Don't get me wrong, I would love the gift of real, nil-decibel-level quiet. The problem enters when my life ceases to be quiet and I think I can no longer meet with the Lord. God gave you the life you have now. He wants to meet you where you are at, however noisy. Mom with screaming kids, that includes you! Single gal with hovering roommates, that is you! Quiet can be a heart posture as well as a noise level. It can happen at any time of the day, in any way. Remember, it is about who we are meeting with; not the place, time, or life decibels. Don't let the details of the perceived perfect "quiet time" keep you from Jesus. 

---

"Finding greater pleasure in God will not result from pursuing more experiences of him, 
but from knowing him better"

- Jen Wilkin

---

2. Anesthetizing Scripture

Raise your hand if you have ever given or received a baby shower gift wrapped in a bag with cutesie Noah's Ark graphics. Is this not the story where God, in his rightful judgment, wipes out the earth except for eight people? 

It starts out when we are little. This past year, I served as a pre-school teacher in our church. I never realized my propensity to want to "dumb down" Scripture before being challenged to teach on the transfiguration my first day on the job. I heard myself saying, "Can you say transfiguration?" It was difficult to say the word, but it wasn't difficult to teach the real truth: God revealed himself fully to these men, and his holiness blew them away. As I walked through Revelation with Bible Study Fellowship last year, I was amazed to watch my gal pal's four-year-old daughter soak in and understand concepts about God's glorious judgment in a way I never did until I was an adult.

When we grow up, sometimes we do the same thing to ourselves. When we numb God's Word, we limit God. We don't allow the full impact of His Word on our hearts because we don't trust Him to lead us through that hard stuff. We need to lean in, because we need to understand God in his fullness. When we put a band-aid on Scripture, we think we covering up a boo-boo. In reality, we cover up pure beauty.

He didn't leave us alone to grasp these parts of Scripture. He gave us helpers: the Holy Spirit and one another. Let's ask for help, and examine what makes us so uncomfortable about God's real truth, together. Let's not put band-aids over things that God wants us and the world to see about Him. We will never understand unless we allow ourselves to look in the first place. So yes, open up Leviticus, ask for help, and ask for God to reveal himself: his entire, beautiful, holy self.

3. Shying away from the Old Testament

Once you realize that God's Word is not just about making you feel better, you can also realize that the Bible is actually a book about God. It's a book about God from beginning to end; Genesis to Revelation. We need the God of Judges just like we need God of 1,2,3 John. His character remains the same throughout, so we need not categorize him "pre" and "post" Jesus' appearance on earth. Dive in deep to every book, sisters. You can't understand the power of the veil being torn (Matthew 27:51) unless you understand why the veil was there in the first place (Exodus 26:31-35).*

4. Pristine Bibles

Because God's Word is living, active, and abiding, studying is best as an interactive process. God created you to interact with his Word, to do life with it, to be active with it, to abide with it. No longer do we leave our leather, gilded-edge book of Scripture up on the top of our living room bookshelf. We open it, journal in it, color it, sticker it, spill coffee on it. We paint the words on canvas and display them in our households. We open apps for our kids that let them touch the characters in the Bible and ask questions. We use apps where we can see what other Christ followers are studying simultaneous to our personal study. We listen to the Bible while we wash the dishes and walk our dogs and drive to work. We leave our hard copy out on the kitchen counter. We print out the Word and mark it up with notes, circles, brackets, highlights, and questions. We read it out loud to our kids. Yes, we are reverent about it's words and treat them as holy, but we don't have to treat the vehicle of the words as such. We know they are much safer implanted in our real hearts, in our real every day moments, than in a place far away from our realities. The Bible touches every aspect of our life. 

---

He didn't leave us alone to grasp these parts of Scripture. He gave us helpers.

---

5. Going it alone.

One way to treat Scripture as being alive is to share it with others. God himself is a community of three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We were created in community with Him and He pointed out that it wasn't right for man to be alone. At the very core of our being, we need each other. Studying the Bible is no different. We need each other to be able to do it in the first place. We need each other to understand it. We need each other to ask for help, to teach one another, to speak it, to listen to it. We need moms and dads to pass it to their kids. We need brothers and sisters to text it throughout the day. We need to talk about it over coffee and dinner and carpool and the subway. No longer is our Bible study a private, concealed interaction with God that starts and ends in fifteen minutes of our days. It infiltrates everything, including our relationships. That is why we gather as Dayton Women in the Word: to remind each other that we are never truly going this alone. Welcome to the sisterhood. 

*Looking for a place to start in the Old Testament? Check out our study resources for the books of Joshua and Daniel. For an overview of the whole bible, try the Seamless study by Angie Smith.

---

Jillian Vincent has been a lover of Jesus for twenty years. She's a wife, mother of two and a Dayton enthusiast. Jillian currently is a stay at home mama and spends nap times writing and discipling other women. She would (almost) die for an avocado, a cup of coffee made by her husband, a novel that makes her cry, and a bouquet of sunflowers.  Her favorite verse is Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

“There is a season ( a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven”

— Ecclesiastes 3:1 (AMP)

---

As the years pass and the seasons come and go, there might be a tendency to overlook them and go on about our lives. A deeper look shows us that our lives mirror that same pattern; they also ebb and flow in seasons. For the believer, the Holy Spirit walks with us in and out of those seasons. I don't know what it is about fall that sets my heart ablaze with thoughts and longings for more of what the Lord has for me. Have you ever felt this way? 

Sharing in this time of my life what the Holy Spirit is stirring and moving in me feels very different than anything I have ever shared. I get hung up on the scripture that says, "do not grow weary of doing good..." and "run so that you may obtain the prize." The Holy Spirit's still small voice, though, whispers, "be still." 

Don't get me wrong: I am not just sitting around waiting for a sign. "To surrender," "to let go" and "to become weak" are all action phrases. What? I know, I wanted to panic at this moment too, but alas: I want more of Him. So, just like John said, "He must become greater, I must become less."

There have been three ways in which I have experienced Him drawing me and holding my heart close as I obey. Hear my heart as I share these: your walk with the Lord will be unique and beautiful and I am still a work in progress. These are treasures I am pondering in my heart until the day I see the end result of his refinement in me.

Letting go sometimes means letting go of good things. I want to always hold what He gives me with open hands. This year, in BSF, we are studying the book of John. Already, in the first few chapters, the Lord is gently guiding and setting my heart on course. I quoted from the 3rd chapter earlier and in verse 27 where John says, "A person can receive only what is given them from heaven." Wow, I want this confidence. I don't want to do all-the-things for fear of being left out. I want to do only what the Holy Spirit has given me to do. I want Him more than I want to be and do all the things, He is the true gift from God.  All I Want, a song by Red Rocks Worship, has become the sound track of my letting go; bringing truth and hope to a season that sometimes excites but sometimes is downright painful.

Be still does not mean your life stands still. I have experienced His sweet peace in a more pronounced way in the middle of a busy season. As I began to set things down, to surrender to Him, and listen to his still small voice, I imagined my life would stand still and then I would know the next step. I couldn't have been more wrong. In the middle of the busy, He quieted my soul. It was a gift that overwhelmed my heart was leading me to trust Him for my peace and not my circumstances. The beautiful way He has done this leaves me speechless. I have seen some of His most beautiful work in other women's lives as I have faithfully completed the work He has given me to do. I work in His rest; not from my own strength.

He is at work in the waiting. I wait in the Lord; although, not always patiently. Even still, He shows me kindness and cares for my soul. I believe one of His greatest works in the waiting is the caring of our soul. We see the waiting sometimes as a "dry season" that seems to drag on forever, but the desert has a way of revealing our sin and our true need for our Savior. As He invites me to be still, I realize He is doing a deeper work. It is not that I have faltered, or that I am being benched, it is that He is longing to reshape me and bring me back to life. His love for me is so extravagant that He does not leave me where I am, but instead, invites me into His rest to transform me. He sets me free to be the woman He created me to be. 

I invite you today take time to reflect on your life. A heart check is so appropriate in this season; I call it "The Great Letting Go." Fall gives way to the stillness and darkness of winter, but in that waiting, He works. And soon, growth pushes through and life begins anew.

---

“ Thou has made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.”

— Augustine

---

---

---

---

Daisy Dronen leads IF:Dayton and is a member of the leadership team for Dayton Women In the Word. Gathering women around her table to seek God and creating real community makes her heart beat wildly, because she believes that we know Jesus more intimately when we know each other well.

---

Ever feel like you know some parts of the Bible really well, but other parts are pretty, shall we say...murky? Feel like you have a lot of pieces to the Bible puzzle, but can't quite put it all together? 

In the past year, I've been elbow deep in several different books of the Bible. After emerging from a New Testament Pauline letter, two apocalyptic books located at opposite ends of the Bible, and a gospel, I felt a little dizzy. I know they are connected, but how? 

When I came across the Seamless study by Angie Smith, I knew it would be a smart move for me. After zeroing in on the different books, it was time to look at the bigger picture. I wanted to revisit God's big story, so I could put all of these books and concepts I was learning about into perspective.

The Details: I picked up the Bible study with a gal pal and we met weekly. The study is seven weeks long. As with many studies, we had options on how we followed along. There's the individual Bible study guides (called "member books"), an optional leader kit, video sessions and audio sessions. You can buy all the materials you would like, or only the study guide, which sells for about 20 bucks on Amazon. There is also a student edition for teens and leader kits for youth leaders to go along. We opted to buy just the member book and the individual video sessions to watch at the end of every week. The first session is free on Vimeo, so you can try a sample of the video without buying it. You can watch a little promo video for the study here.

What I loved: The study did exactly what I needed it to do: instilled in me a solid overview of the entire Bible, which is a challenge, to say the least. In a flourish of brilliance, the designers created visual icons for each part of the Bible. Visual learners, this is made for YOU. In the back of the study book, there is a timeline filled with these icons putting the entire story together. By the end of the study, you should be able to write out the timeline with each icon. Essentially, you should be able to tell the entire narrative of the Bible, from start to finish. You can get a peek at the icons (and another review of the Seamless study) here. I love that she focused on going chronologically, so now I know where books go and why (Job comes right after Genesis! What!?! I know, shocker.) In addition to all of this, she picks up the overarching theme that God has a plan all along, and that we, too, are a part of this story.

What I didn't love: I really appreciated the videos at the end of each session, and they were worth my money to buy, but a few things distracted my heart. Each session had a lot of production time and effort put into it, which produced a beautiful result; but I often found myself having to fight to refocus on the words, instead of the candles, barns, and brilliant hair and makeup. There is a solution for this, however, if you struggle like I do with these things. You can just buy the audio mp3 files instead of the video sessions. I accidentally bought the sound only once instead of the video and it really helped me focus.  

All in all, I highly recommend spending seven weeks with Seamless, no matter how little or great your knowledge of the the Bible. It will point you to worship the Author of its every detail and connect the Bible history dots swimming around in your brain to Christ.

---

Jillian Vincent has been a lover of Jesus for twenty years. She's a wife, mother of two and a Dayton enthusiast. Jillian currently is a stay at home mama and spends nap times writing  and discipling other women. She would (almost) die for an avocado, a cup of coffee made by her husband, a novel that makes her cry, and a bouquet of sunflowers.  Her favorite verse is Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

We welcome our friend and sister, Steph Duff, to the DWITW blog today! Enjoy the beautiful story of how God gave her a passion for global orphan care by giving her a passion first for HIM.

India will inundate your senses. Purple becomes the most plush and succulent shade of plum. The clatter of a new language being spoken, urgent and loud, becomes musical in its fevered pitch. Spice reaches new measurements of heat as curry is mixed with rice by hand. You cannot move, glance, or taste in India without an imprint planting itself in your heart.

And that will likely all occur before you sit in the soil next to soft, brown eyes asking to know about your life in America, quietly calling you ‘sister,’ and clicking their tongue between their teeth to answer no.

India took the orphan crisis from two words used to label an injustice in this world to an injustice I would begin to feel viscerally, weep over openly, and ultimately be called into as a voice on behalf of those without one.

Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. –Habakkuk 1:5

Long before India became a seed in my heart, before I felt called to step into full-time ministry, I highlighted those words above in my worn, brown Bible and didn’t really look back on them.

Months later, as snow blanketed my city in hushed whispers of white, my blood began to pulse for a country I knew little about and possessed an accumulation of fears for. I felt, with a certainty I’d never known before, a nudge from the Lord to board a plane, travel to an unknown land, and wait on His next move.

As friends and loved ones graciously supported my trip to India, I was given a card with those familiar words from Habakkuk written down and I felt a calm move over me. As I lugged that beloved Bible across oceans and through time zones, I came back to those highlighted words and began to understand 'the work I would not believe' may very well be a shift within my own wandering heart.

I spent nine days in Hyderabad, India in June of 2015. I went as an act of obedience, nearly unwillingly, and with an ever growing chip on my shoulder. I returned with fading henna on my hand, a journal full of every last detail I could muster from the rooms of my memory, and a deeply-shaking soul desire to return, and as soon as I could.

Because that’s what God does, isn’t it? He calls us into the unknowns, gently nudges us into possible fears; He is ever plucking the corners of a heart’s comfort zone and stretching it – an hour south, around the corner, into entirely different time zones. He whispers, ‘come,’ and if we know what’s good for us, sisters, we take a shaky breath, admit we’re terrified, and follow Him into the dark. And He leads us to a place we couldn’t have dreamed up if we tried.

He writes loves letters to our worn, tattered, yearning, wandering hearts in the form of a 14-year-old boy and spicy, potato curry. Or in motherhood. Maybe behind a camera or traveling to that one land you’ve always wished for. He writes letters, is continually penning love into our stories in ways unimaginable. And then He flips the lid off the box we tried to put our lives in and knocks out the walls, for good measure.

When the Lord invites us into something frightening or unclear, we need to trust our lack of answers won’t alter the ending. India was an answer to prayer I never knew I needed to be praying. It was a bold and clear calling over a heart that was far flightier than I ever wanted to admit.

I spent nine days in Hyderabad, India in June of 2015. I went as an act of obedience, nearly unwillingly, and with an ever growing chip on my shoulder. And I returned with a calling; a burning passion from the center of my heart.

Stories matter. The lives of the children served in India, and around the world, hold Kingdom weight. They will shape the Kingdom. And now I have the privilege of sharing some of those narratives. When the Lord asks us to say yes, sisters, let us be a generation of women that follow fervently after the One who crafted what it is our hearts beat for to begin with.

---

Steph Duff wants to live in a world where every voiceless child is given articulation and Jesus is the name on every lip. When she's not sharing Kingdom-shaking stories with Back2Back Ministries, you can find her drinking copious amounts of caffeine, curling up with her nose in a book, laughing loudly, continuing an on-going attachment to semi-colons, planning her next trip to India, and making snail mail cool, again. Her favorite scripture is "Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told." Habakkuk 1:5 ESV. Learn a little bit about what makes her blood stir and the yearnings of her heart at www.girlslifeinink.blogspot.com.

She built up the campfire, while the others set out some blankets and strung lights. We set a table of marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey bars, alongside mason jars of flowers. We prayed over the details and the benches, inviting the Holy Spirit to come: come fill the women who would enter, sit, sing, eat, and pray. We, as sisters, set up our temple for Him that evening, knowing that God had long before set up his temple within us. 

Temples for the Holy Spirit.

At our Fall Gathering, our DWITW women met in the great outdoors around an intimate fire at beautiful Camp Chautauqua .

Daisy prayed over us, welcoming our triune God and asking Him to come near.

We worshipped God the Holy Spirit, led by our sister, Kelly Gwin.

Natalie reminded us what and who the Holy Spirit is: a equal and important member of the Trinity; a real living person, not just a power; one who serves many vital roles in our lives. He's a witness, life giver, teacher, encourager, sanctifier, intercessor, protector, gift giver. And we can know He's with us because the Bible assures us it is so.* Hallelujah!

Jillian led us in a time of prayer, challenging us to pray directly to the Spirit. Then she announced the launch of the DWITW podcast!

We enjoyed the fire, enjoyed each other, and enjoyed some s'mores. 

It was a beautiful, sacred night.

Didn't make it to this gathering? Never fear! We'd love to have you join us at these upcoming DWITW events:

• Workshop: So you want to start a Bible Study... Have you ever felt the nudge from God to lead others through His Word, but ignored it because it felt overwhelming? Our fellow DWITW sister, Jen Ward, will be offering insight and practical tips on how to successfully lead a group of ladies into studying the Word of God. The details: October 19th, 7-9PM, at Apex Community Church.
• Winter Gathering: Join us Tuesday, December 6th, at 7PM to celebrate God, The Son! We will be meeting at Faith Christian Fellowship, 1178 Grange Hall Road, Beavercreek, OH 45432. 

*For further reading on the topic of the Holy Spirit, check out these titles:

• The Holy Spirit by Christopher RJ Holmes
• The Holy Spirit: Contours of Christian Theology by Sinclair Ferguson
• The Holy Spirit by John Owen
• The Holy Spirit by Kevin DeYoung
• Knowing God by JI Packer
• The Knowledge of the Holy by AW Tozer

The DWITW Team considers it a privilege to partner with women in our community who are passionate about seeking and serving the Lord. Today's post is from Daisy Dronen. Not only is Daisy a member of the DWITW leadership team, she also leads a local community of believing women through IF:Dayton. Read on to find out more about this life-giving ministry!

"We exist to gather, equip & unleash the next generation
of women to live out their purpose."

---

For three years, the women of IF:Dayton have been gathering around the table to love one another and flourish together, creating a setting where we can be honest and wrestle through deep questions and celebrate the joy of community. IF:Dayton was born from a dream of gathering women with the sole purpose of seeking God together. When I first encountered IF:Gathering, I was praying, " Lord, I want to live out your calling on my life. I don't want to have surface relationships with the women in my sphere of influence. I want them to know you more as they forge deep and meaningful relationships with each other." It was the summer of 2014 and IF:Gathering was hosting a worldwide night of prayer. I was awestruck again by the beauty of the Lord's wonders- He knew the idea of gathering women together in prayer was something I lost sleep over. That summer, He gave me a beautiful opportunity to gather the women in my life together to cry out to Him on behalf of our communities, the church, our country, and the world. The Lord used IF:Gathering to draw me out of my comfort zone and step out into the dream that he had birthed in my heart. 

Let me introduce you to IF:Gathering. This worldwide women's ministry started when a passionate group of women stepped into the purpose God had written for their lives. Instead of just creating another large-scale event, they partnered with women in their local cities creating resources for them to minister to their churches and their communities. Their dream is for women in every city to use their gifts to make God’s name great in their communities. The resources they provide are centered around gathering, equipping and unleashing the next generation. They invite us to gather around the table- IF:Table; they challenge us to open our Bibles to study together through If:Equip; and they showcase stories of women unleashed and making a difference in their own spaces. Once a year, there is a worldwide gathering to bring together all the IF:Local groups, like IF:Dayton, as they seek the Lord.

Remember at the beginning of my story, when the Lord gave me the opportunity to gather women to pray? This year will mark our 3rd year gathering together to cry out to Him on behalf of our communities, the church, our country, and the world. I want to extend an invitation to you to come together with us in prayer. Will you consider joining us at IF:Pray Dayton?

What could happen IF we came before God to pray?

IF:Pray Dayton
October 13th at 6:00pm
at Daisy's Home 

---

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

— 2 Chronicles 7:14 English Standard Version (ESV)

---

We would love for you to join us at IF:Pray Dayton or one of our upcoming IF:Tables! 
Find us on Facebook for al the most updated details.
Check out the IF:Gathering app, a resource for a Bible Study. 

---

Daisy Dronen leads IF:Dayton and is a member of the leadership team for Dayton Women In the Word. Gathering women around her table to seek God and creating real community makes her heart beat wildly, because she believes that we know Jesus more intimately when we know each other well. 

The DWITW Team considers it a privilege to partner with women in our community who are passionate about seeking and serving the Lord. Today's post is from our friends, Julie Swain and Hunter Osborne, announcing their Third Thursday Theology study series. All women in the Dayton area are welcome to join them. Read on to find out more!

Why is doctrine important?  Why take the time to systematically study what the entire Bible says about certain topics?  As theologian Wayne Grudem explains, "It is Scripture alone, not any human authority, that must function as the normative authority for the definition of what we should believe." (Bible Doctrine, pg.20)  Reading, meditating, and studying scripture book-by-book is sufficient, but it is even better to compliment such study with the wide lens of what the entirety of Scripture is teaching us.

The term theology broken down is this: 'theo' meaning 'God' and 'ology' meaning 'the study of.' Therefore, the overall meaning of 'theology' is 'the study of God.' When we study the Word, we are studying God. Wayne Grudem explains that systematic theology is any study that answers the question, "What does the whole Bible teach us today?" about any given topic (Bible Doctrine, pg.17). Doctrine is the result of the process of doing systematic theology on a particular topic.

We (Hunter and Julie) are not theologians.  We do not have this all figured out, and by God's grace, we will always be groping and searching the Scriptures for deeper roots into the truth of the Gospel.  But we are sojourners on a journey, and we want to bring you along with us.  We want to bless your spiritual lives with the same partaking of grace that we have received through the mentors who have taught us.  We desire every one of us to approach God's Word with a hunger to learn what He really is imparting to us, not basing our beliefs on what we want the Bible to say or to somehow fit it into our preconceived ideas of who God is.  We want to study God for who He is.  We fulfill the Great Commission in not only evangelism, but teaching as well.  In Matthew 28:19-20, we read the command of Jesus to teach believers to observe all that he commanded: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

We are excited to start a journey on the third Thursdays of the month walking through the doctrinal truths of the Bible that are the foundational bedrock of the Gospel.  We will be using Wayne Grudem's broken-down, condensed book called "Christian Beliefs" to supplement our time in the Word studying the essential truths of the Christian faith.  Other solid reads to supplement this reading are his more extensive writings in "Bible Doctrine", and for those adventurous spirits wanting to go even deeper, his most expansive "Systematic Theology" is also a resource.  The incredible thing about the book we will be reading together is that it covers all the basics in a way that is very understandable yet profound to those new and old to studying doctrine.  Do not let the idea of being overwhelmed by the vastness of this study hold you back!  We understand the fears and the uncertainty of digging deep into God's Word, but we also have experienced the heart transformation that happens when we take the step of faith to do so.  We share below some personal reflections of what the study of doctrine has done for each of us.  We desire to disciple other sisters in Christ towards the same Gospel work that churns up the soil of our hearts, and then waters the seeds of faith within to grow deep roots that will not be easily ripped up.  Deep roots in the truths of the power of Christ's work on our behalf that we could never do for ourselves.  Come one, come all!

We will be meeting in Conference Room 227 at Apex Community Church every third Thursday from 7:00-9:00 pm.  (It is the aqua blue room upstairs with several couches, chairs, and tables.) We will have bottled water and dessert to share with you all.  Feel free to grab a coffee on the way if that sounds yummy!

---

Following is a list of the dates and topics we will cover:

October 20, 2016: Intro: What is Doctrine? 
November 17, 2016: What is the Bible?
December 15, 2016: What is God like?
January 19, 2017: What is the Trinity?
February 16, 2017: What is Creation? What is Prayer?
March 16, 2017: What are Angels, Saints, and Demons? What is Man?
April 20, 2017: What is Sin? Who is Christ?
May 18, 2017: What is the Atonement? What is the Resurrection?June 15, 2017: What is Common Grace? What is Providence?
July 20, 2017: What is Election? What does it mean to become a Christian?
August 17, 2017: What is Justification and Adoption?
September 21, 2017: What is Sanctification and Perseverance?
October 19, 2017: What is Death? What is the Church?
November 16, 2017: What will happen when Christ returns? What is the Final Judgment? What is Heaven?
Date & Location TBA: Closing celebration/meal/sharing

We look forward to coming together to apprehend more and more the work of Christ done on our behalf, to grow both in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ! (2 Peter 3:18)

---

About the Teachers

Hello!  I'm Hunter Osborne.  I am married to Chad Osborne.  We have three beautiful babies, Bella, Talitha and Stone.  God brought me into His salvation in August of 2006, and right away began teaching me doctrine.  I fell in love.  I have found it to be indispensable to my faith. Through doctrine, God has spoken of His love for me.  He began to cement in me the truths of our relationship; I am secure in my salvation and my relationship with my God.  I am grateful that God has given us His Word so that we may come to know Him.   My hope is that you will also come to love learning about God through doctrine, and that you will see it as indispensable to your faith as well.

My name is Julie Swain, and I am a follower of Jesus, wife, stay-at-home mom of three beautiful children, and fellow sister in Christ.  Jesus laid hold of my heart in January of 1999 in my freshman college dorm room. In 2009, when I began studying doctrine with a mentor, I was unsure about so many essential teachings of Scripture.  I often approached the Word and drew my own conclusions of God's character and the Gospel.  I spent much time thinking about myself, my sin, my inability to become what I perceived I needed to be as a faithful follower of Jesus.  Grace was a very foreign concept, not an embraced reality.  Through these years of studying with other women, my eyes were unveiled and my heart was opened to how sweet Jesus really is, how unconditional grace really is, and how good the Good News really is!  Studying His Word and systematic theology has given me a bedrock of Biblical doctrine upon which I can stand.  It is not based on my efforts, it is not a list of do's and don'ts that I must keep.  I now lean into the person and work of Jesus Christ on my behalf in full assurance that I am His and He is mine. 

View fullsize

You've just sat down to your coffee and your Bible. You flip open the pages and realize you don't know where to turn. Maybe this is the first time you've decided to study the Bible systematically. Or maybe you've just come out of some hard-core studying. You've closed up that book with new highlights and notes etched every which way in your Bible, just as God has etched his words every which way upon your heart. You've hugged the ladies goodbye in your study group and you are still smiling at how they challenged you, learned with you, and taught you. But maybe, like me, you find yourself a little comatose amidst the warm fuzzies. What now?

Here are some pointers about what to do next.

1. Wait for the Lord in prayer. It can be tempting to jump into the next study available without asking the Lord to direct you first. Without His guidance and presence, our efforts are meaningless. First, ask God what He has in mind for you in this specific season of your life. Personally, I have two groups of gal pals going on to two different organized Bible studies, one through James and the other through John. James is my FAVORITE book of the Bible. John is my FAVORITE gospel. Yet, when I stopped to ask God if either of these directions were for me, God was clearly saying no. Not these books. Not this season. Why? I've just recently studied both of these books with my church, and we are going to welcome another baby into our home very soon. So I am prayerfully waiting on the Lord to reveal the specifics of what Bible study is going to look like in the months ahead, and leaning into the discomfort of not having a designated plan just yet. You see, I don't have to, because I know the ultimate Planner, and I trust He has a plan for me.

2. Keep Reading. God wants to commune with you, all the time, through His Word. When we aren't in a designated Bible study, sometimes our accountability is lower, so we don't spend time with God in His Word. We may toy with thoughts such as, "If I'm not really studying, then what is the point of reading at all?" Perhaps this mentality fuels some of the cautious urgency some ladies feel to jump from one study to the next or feel like they ALWAYS need a plan. Certainly, Satan wants to attack you in these vulnerable cracks. He wants your mind off God, dwelling on anything but His Word. The truth is we need to read and study, as both uplift us in different ways. For more help understanding the importance of BOTH Bible reading and Bible study, Natalie uncovers this topic here.

So what do you read when you are in between studies? Here are a few suggestions. 

• Read books chronologically surrounding the book that you just finished studying. If you just finished Daniel with our Dayton Women in the Word study, start with Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Lamentations.

• Consider the cross references in your last study. Was there anything you wished you had more time to uncover? Go read through the books from those references.

• Psalms and Proverbs are also lovely choices, as they are full of wisdom, praise, and reflection focused upon the Lord. 

3. Ask some guiding questions. What books or areas of the Bible am I unfamiliar with? Am I lacking understanding about any point of God's story? What is my husband studying? My church? My kids? Would it be beneficial for me to study deeper alongside them at this time? What Bible studies are available in my area?* Do they line up with my season of life? If I can't study in person, what resources are available to me online?** Do I feel God's call to lead a Bible study or go through a study within the context of a discipleship relationship? If so, what might the women I'm leading need to focus on in the Bible right now? The answers to these questions should begin to clarify direction for your studies.

4. Talk to your people. Think about the few close people in your life who can provide Godly counsel on where to spend your time in the Word this season. For me, I check in with my husband, my mentor, and 2-3 close sister-friends. By this point in the process, I share with them where I think God is leading me and why. I invite them to pray with me and keep me accountable to what I commit to study with the Lord. And sometimes, I invite them to study alongside me! 

5. Move forward in faith. The first step is indeed to wait, but don't wait too long. We have every confidence that God has given us all we need to make good decisions, because he has given us "Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3, ESV). Be brave and start your new journey into his Word! God has so much to share with you.

*Bible Study Fellowship classes are available around the world! If you're local to Dayton, there are two women's classes in our area that run during the school year. Visit their website to find out more and consider going to a welcome session!

**There are so many wonderful bible study resources available online. A few of our favorites are She Reads Truth, First 5, Flower Mound Women's Bible Study, and The Bible Project reading plan and videos.

---

Jillian Vincent is a member of the Dayton Women in the Word leadership team. She is a lover of Jesus, a wife and a mom. She loves teaching, reading,  and discipling women.