East Vs West

No easy feat to get people to understand this. In Genesis, when God speaks about creating them both male and female, He's not talking about two separate people. He means that, the man has both male and female characteristics and the woman also has male and female characteristics. Obviously, there is a dominant one for each one, which determines whether you are a man or a woman. Within a household, it's important to use discernment, in order to figure out which way to go. If you're always too stern with the children, it will shut them down to the point of them no longer wanting to confide in you. May even make it so that, they leave home earlier, once they reach the age of 18 or so. If you use too much grace, as many single parent households headed by women do, you risk not imparting enough discipline in your children.

From an African viewpoint, as the Bible was written between Asia - Europe and Africa, it's very detrimental to male - female relationships. Only a few ones who have adhered to their authentic culture, are able to survive. A lot of men, who have adopted the mentality of the West, are struggling. Samuel L. Jackson and his wife are celebrating 40 years of marriage. They attended HBCUs. He once said that in the beginning of their relationship, whoever was able to bring in the bacon, simply did so. Gender didn't play a role at all. Same thing with my mom and even my pastor, who are in their 40s-60s. Nowadays the whole responsibilities of the finances is coming to fall on the shoulders of the man and it's wreaking havoc. Proverbs 31 clearly states that the woman was also involved in commerce.

Barack Obama and Jay-Z once met up and started joking, stating that their wives are more popular than they are. Neither one of them had a problem with that. That is authentic African culture. I remember when Ben Affleck started dating Jennifer Lopez, my sister's bf at the time, who is Congolese, said: "That ain't gone last." We were baffled and were wondering why not? Lo and behold, a few months later, they broke up. Who did he get as a wife? An actress who now pretty much just functions as a housewife. Same as his best friend Matt Damon. In fact, if you look at all of the White actresses in Hollywood, they all disappear as soon as they start forming a family. This is what Beyoncé is singing about in her song 'Black Parade'. They look at her and wonder: "How does she do it? With these 3 children?!". But that is the African mindset. Because we are drifting away from that, it's working to our detriment.
Interesting... Now, in my home, DH is the main breadwinner, but I control the finances. I think it is about flowing into what we were designed to do, not how we think things should go. The story of Abigail and how David (and Nathan the prophet) treated Bathsheba when David was old come to mind.

Another thought comes to mind: when Jew and gentile come together to form "one new man." Human have trouble with finding a balance; it's either "all or nothing" or compromise. We need the Spirit's guidance in achieving balance without getting caught up in the world and its worries. Unfortunately, it's easy to stay in the extremes for balance takes work to get and maintain.
 
John Fenn is one I ran into when I sought out a house church for fellowship years ago (didn't happen). This series about the ancient Hebrews is decent; I really like the last video because the nature of Father Yah is in His name - the Breath(s) of Life.
 
Zechariah 9:13 [ESV] For I will bend Judah as My bow and fit it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece. I will make you like the sword of a mighty man.

According to this guy, the passage above declares the Jews will correct the Greeks by the Torah (the Instructions, not Law).
 

Western Approach


Hebraic Approach

Life analyzed in precise categories.Everything blurs into everything else.
A split between natural & supernaturalSupernatural affects everything.
Linear logicContextual or "block" logic
"Rugged Individualism"Importance of being part of group
Value comes from place in hierarchiesEquality of persons
Security orientationFreedom orientation
Competition is goodCompetition is evil (cooperation is better)
Man-centered universeGod/tribe/family-centered universe
Worth of person based on money/material possessions/powerWorth derived from family relationships
Biological life sacredSocial life supremely important
Chance + cause & effect limit what can happenGod causes everything in his universe
Man rules nature through understanding and applying laws of scienceGod rules everything, so relationship with God determines how things turn out.
Power over others achieved through business, politics and human organizations.Power over others is structured by social patterns ordained by God.
All that exists is the materialThe universe is filled with powerful spirit beings
Linear time divided into neat segments. Each event is new.Cyclical or spiraling time. Similar events constantly reoccur.
History is recording facts objectively and chronologically.History is an attempt to preserve significant truths in meaningful or memorable ways whether or not details are objective facts.
Oriented to the near futureOriented to lessons of history
Change is good = progressChange is bad = destruction of traditions
Universe evolved by chanceUniverse created by God
Universe dominated and controlled by science and technologyGod gave man stewardship over his earthly creation. Accountability to God.
Material goods = measure of personal achievementMaterial goods = measure of God’s blessing
Faith is blindFaith is knowledge based
Time as points on a straight line ("at this point in time...")Time is determined by content ("In the day that the Lord did...")
It looks like the changes to LHCF made this table possible, but I am afraid to edit the first post because the website it came from is gone.
 
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