For a series about Hidden Women, the story of Junia reveals her as the opposite of that. Her life shows she was determined, bold, fearless and well known through her ministry. Paul refers to her as an apostle, and someone he greatly admired. She was tireless in spreading the gospel, likely by planting churches, and caused enough of a ruckus to be thrown into prison for a time. 

What do we mean by hidden women? There were many women mentioned in the New Testament that were deeply involved in the early church. Even those that are named tend to be easily forgotten. Some because they are mentioned in passing, and some because it’s difficult to find teachings about them if you don’t know where to look.

Judas Thaddeus was one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, a pioneer of the gospel who worked quietly to establish the early church. Thaddeus is often neglected by the church because Scripture does not mention him a lot nor is much written about him. Yet this quiet, gentle soul spent most of his ministry in obscurity observing the more outspoken apostles. Thaddeus nonetheless became a bold outspoken witness for the gospel Jesus Christ. 

Paul’s letter to Philemon is his shortest and most personal. It contains no doctrinal statements, no warnings about false teachers, and no mention of apostolic titles. The reason for writing was extraordinary. We look to author Paul Ellis for insight into this quiet voice.

Scripture is not given to us, I believe, as a guidebook for behavior modification. The Bible teaches us about the character of God. The Bible give us glimpses into the lives of ordinary men and women who followed Christ. How He changed them and used them, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring the message of the Gospel through time to us. 

We are currently working on a series of those quieter voices. This one is about Jude, the half-brother of Jesus.

We’ve talked about Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus as part of the group of women following Jesus. Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha were also included. So many of the other women remain unnamed, but we choose to remember that they existed and were essential partners of His earthly ministry. Today we focus on three more whose names we know: Joanna, Susanna, and Salome.

Mary was the young woman chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus. She must have felt the great weight of this, as much as she could understand at the time. She obviously had a great love for and trust in God.

Jesus engaged with women. He listened to them. He SAW them. Women weren’t part of the Twelve, but they were part of His group and ministered with Him. How Jesus loved and valued women is an example for the church today! For the next few weeks, we focus on the women who followed Jesus. Today we take a second look at Mary Magdalene.

For our final episode of “5 Minute Interviews” we introduce you to these grace-full people!

Zach Rasmusson of Zach Rasmusson Ministries in FL; Rick & Judi Manis of Rick Manis Ministries in Winter Garden FL; Claudia Jackson, grace-y lady attending from Sachse TX; Eliza Schultinge, originally from and missionary to Taiwan, from Atlanta GA; and Stephanie Felts, counselor with ChristianCoaching.org

(We apologize in advance for the camera issues with a couple of these interviews! Things can happen when you’re on location…)

https://zachrasmusson.com

https://www.rickmanis.com

https://christiancoaching.org

In Part 2, meet Janet Newberry of John 15 Academy; Kyle Winkler, author & host of the Shut Up, Devilpodcast; Andrew Nelson, author & campus pastor at The Grace Church, Lubbock TX; and bible teacher Larry Eiss at E3 with Larry Eiss. So much brilliance and grace in these people! 

https://www.john15academy.com

https://www.kylewinkler.org

https://thegracechurch.org

https://www.larryeiss.com