A female pastor and evangelical feminist scholar this month completed the first year of an eight-year sentence for attempting to murder the pastor of a sister church in Salem, Va., so she could continue a lesbian affair with his wife.

Judy Brown, former pastor of Salem Covenant Worship Center and one-time professor at Central Bible College, was sentenced on March 26, 2004, to 30 years (with eight to serve) for the attempted murder of fellow Assembly of God minister Ted Smart.

Brown is the author of numerous biblical and theological books and articles, including Women Ministers according to Scripture. She also helped edit and annotate the Spirit-filled Life Bible (Nelson), and contributed a chapter to InterVarsity’s Discovering Biblical Equality entitled "God, Gender and Biblical Metaphor."

Discovering Biblical Equality was released late last year, several months after Brown’s sentencing. InterVarsity Press (IVP) officials say they did not learn about the incident until April of 2005 and will cease publication of the book. IVP plans to re-release the work without the article by Brown.

"This is a tragic situation for Dr. Brown, her victim and the many people associated with them," IVP Publisher Bob Fryling said. "Although God does forgive and even uses the writings of confessed murderers and adulterers like King David, the Bible also has clear moral guidelines for Christians who shepherd others. Because this includes authors of Christian books and because we take this seriously at IVP, we made the decision to stop publication."

Randy Stinson, executive director for The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, commended IVP for its handling of such a delicate matter.

"While we differ with IVP regarding the gender issue, we commend them for their swift and proper response to this tragic situation," Stinson said. "No organization is immune to the impact of sin and this reminds us all as individuals to take heed lest we too fall."

Details that emerged from Brown’s trial in early 2004 revealed a protracted adulterous relationship with Toby Smart.

Brown, who lived next door to Ted Smart, became involved in a lesbian relationship with his wife, Toby, according to reports from the Salem Times-Register. On the morning of Aug. 25, 2003, Brown entered the Smart home, slipped undetected into the basement and tripped the circuit breaker switch, shutting down electricity in the house.

When Ted Smart entered the basement to investigate the brown out, Brown bludgeoned him with a crow bar, striking him three times. Smart, though injured, escaped and called police. Brown was arrested and following a trial in early 2004, was found guilty on felony accounts of breaking and entering with the intent to commit murder, and malicious wounding. Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Fred King summarized the evidence during court proceedings by telling jurors that Brown and Toby Smart established a relationship while Brown was head of now defunct Life Bible College in Christianburg, Va. Brown lived in the basement of the Smart home for nearly a year before she bought a home next door, news reports show.

King argued that Brown planned, then attacked Smart because he was the only obstacle Brown saw to continuing her relationship with Toby Smart.

Following Brown’s attack on Ted Smart, police found two butcher knives, three pairs of latex gloves, a flashlight, two empty McDonald’s bags, a partially empty water bottle, a large plastic garbage bag, and the steel crow bar which Brown wielded in her attack on Smart.

Brown, however, told police she had no recollection of the assault. The sentencing phase of Brown’s trial included testimony by medical experts explaining psycho-physical factors that could have left Brown with no memory of her bludgeoning of Ted Smart, news reports show.

Brown was disciplined by her denomination--the Assembly of God--immediately following the incident. Brown is imprisoned in Pocahontas (Virginia) Correctional Unit and is not scheduled for release until Jan. 21, 2012. Virginia’s penal system precludes the possibility of early parole.

The "Day of Silence"--the annual homosexual-themed day involving thousands of public school and college students nationwide--will have a Christian counterpart this year.

The "Day of Truth" will serve as a counterpart to the "Day of Silence," allowing Christian students to take a stand for their beliefs. It will take place April 14, one day after the Day of Silence.

Day of Truth participants will wear a T-shirt reading, "The Truth Cannot Be Silenced," and also will pass out cards to their classmates expressing their beliefs. The inaugural event is being sponsored by the pro-family legal group Alliance Defense Fund and is being promoted by pro-family groups nationwide.

Its counterpart, the Day of Silence, is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and began in 1996 with students vowing a day of silence as a way to protest what homosexual activists see as discrimination against homosexuals, lesbians and "transsexuals." It has since boomed, and organizers say last year an estimated 100,000 students participated. In some instances, school officials have taken part, creating uncomfortable situations for conservative students.

Joe Infranco, a senior attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, said too many students have heard a "one-sided message" on homosexuality within their schools.

"In one sense [the Day of Truth] is a response to the Day of Silence," Infranco said. "In another sense it's an attempt to break this public school indoctrination in favor of homosexuality."

The Day of Truth is being held the day after the Day of Silence for a reason, Infranco said.

"We wanted to be respectful and permit the other side their day to express their message," he said. "We're not afraid to have the Gospel compete in the marketplace of ideas."

But there also is a legal reason it's being held when it is.

"Any school that permits the Day of Silence will be required to permit the Day of Truth," Infranco said. "For a school to allow the former and not the latter would be viewpoint discrimination, which is impermissible under any circumstances. The courts have unanimously struck down any restrictions based on viewpoint discrimination."

The Alliance Defense Fund has pledged free legal representation to any student who is discriminated against because of their Day of Truth participation, Infranco said.

The Day of Truth was inspired partly by Chase Harper, a San Diego-area high school student who opposed students in his school participating in the Day of Silence. Last year he was suspended after wearing a homemade T-shirt that read on the front, "Be Ashamed" and "Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned," and on the back read, "Homosexuality is Shameful" and "Romans 1:27."

ADF filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Harper, claiming that school officials participated in the Day of Silence and that Harper's religious freedoms were violated. The lawsuit is still pending.

"The school that he attends was getting increasingly active with the Day of Silence," Infranco said. "In fact, they were stretching the events out to nearly a week. They were purposefully setting up the school schedule and events to accommodate the Day of Silence. There was tremendous pressure being exerted on the students to be a part of this and to approve of this."

The card that Day of Truth students will pass out reads: "I am speaking the Truth to break the silence. I believe in equal treatment for all, and not special rights for a few. I believe in loving my neighbor, but part of that love means not condoning detrimental personal and social behavior. I believe that by boldly proclaiming the Truth, hurts will be halted, hearts will be healed, and lives will be saved."

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said the Day of Truth is a good way to counter the Day of Silence.

"The Day of Silence is a misnomer, because what is truly being silenced is the truth," Land said. "The Day of Truth is an excellent opportunity for students to influence their classmates from a Christian perspective."

On the issue of homosexuality, Infranco said, many people feel they "don't have a voice."

"For many people [the Day of Truth] is a point of entry into the debate," he said, "and it's a way that they can respectfully and in a Christ-like manner say, 'We do not approve of this message. We don't approve of the lifestyle. And we think it's important that there be an alternative voice in society.'"

Day of Truth T-shirts and cards can be ordered online at www.telladf.org/truth. The website also has questions and answers about the event, as well as a radio and television advertisement that includes Chase Harper, the high school student who took a stand last year in opposition to his school participating in the Day of Silence.

There is seemingly an endless array of Christian literature on biblical fatherhood and raising boys but a unique new work takes a truly "up close and personal" look at the mother-daughter relationship as it relates to biblical womanhood.

With Girl Talk: Mother-Daughter Conversations on Biblical Womanhood (Crossway Books), mother-daughter team Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Mahaney Whitacre offer insights and suggestions on how mothers and daughters must talk to each other about what it means to become a godly woman.

Carolyn Mahaney is a wife, mother, homemaker, and author of Feminine Appeal, another Crossway title. She is the wife of C.J. Mahaney, a board member of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and president of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Whitacre is also a wife, mother, and homemaker. She contributed to the study guide for Joshua Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye and also assisted her mother with Feminine Appeal.

Two other Mahaney daughters-Kristin Chesemore and Janelle Bradshaw-are also quoted throughout the book along with the husbands of each daughter.

The book is relaxed and conversational in tone and includes 25 chapters and five appendices (including one entitled "How to Lead Your Daughter to Christ") on topics ranging from a mother’s love, example, discipline, and faith, to a daughter’s honor and obedience. In addition to biblical teaching on each topic, the authors weave throughout the book dozens of personal examples and anecdotes showing how mother and daughter are to live out their relationship to the glory of God.

In the opening chapter, Carolyn sets forth one of the book’s cornerstones: the language of biblical womanhood. Here, she defines biblical womanhood as "God’s perfect plan for women as revealed in the Bible." She then unpacks the vital importance of the language of biblical womanhood that guides the "living out" of the mother-daughter relationship.

"Much more than writing a script, it’s (the language of biblical womanhood) a way of life," she writes. "More than something we read or write, it’s something we speak and do.

"We find this language scattered throughout the entire Bible. Tucked in Titus 2:3-5 is a summary of some of the qualities of a godly woman, such as purity, self-control, kindness, love for husband and children, skill in homemaking, and a heart of submission. But we find more traits in passages such as Proverbs 31:10-31, 1 Timothy 5:9-10, and 1 Peter 3:1-6-steadfast faith, good works, strength, and wisdom, united with a gentle and quiet spirit…Together these characteristics comprise the language of biblical womanhood."

In a chapter written by Nicole on the critical nature of female modesty as it relates to the way in which a woman dresses (entitled "Taking God to the Gap"), the author interviews "Jason" and "Jack," two young Christian men, on what they desire in a women. Both men communicate clearly that modesty is an irreducible attribute that must typify a godly women.

Later in the chapter Nicole writes, "…immodest dress is more than simply wearing a short skirt or a low-cut blouse. Immodesty is an expression of pride and self-importance, the opposite of humility. Revealing, seductive clothes are the costume of a woman seeking to draw attention to herself rather than bring glory to God. So modesty, then, is humility expressed in dress. It is the attire of a godly woman…Our wardrobe is a public statement of our heart motivation."

The book also includes a study guide and is available through the CBMW webstore: http://www.cbmw.org/store/.

Is there theological significance in the fact that the incarnate Jesus Christ was a man instead of a woman?

Did God make Jesus a man simply because He was sending His Son to minister amidst a heavy-handed patriarchial culture as egalitarian author Rebecca Groothius argues?

Did males wind up with a lion’s share of the power because of the fall, forcing God to send the Messiah as a male as Mimi Haddad, the leader of Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) has asserted?

Or is Jesus merely God’s ‘feminine side’ as moderate Baptist author and teacher Tony Campolo posits?

Should Bible translations be updated to say that Jesus was made like His brothers "and sisters" in every way, as the recently released gender-neutral Today’s New International Version articulates Heb. 2:17?

The fact that God sent His eternal Son to redeem a fallen world in the person of a man has massive theological significance, a significance none of the contemporary feminist answers arrive at, Randy Stinson, executive director of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) told a group of college students recently.

Speaking at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s fifth annual "Give Me An Answer" Collegiate Conference on Feb. 19, Stinson said Jesus’ masculinity has profound implications for the Christian faith.

Understanding the second person of the Godhead as being intentionally masculine by the wisdom of the Father holds implications for the home, parenting, the church, Bible translation, the gospel, and the character and attributes of God Himself, Stinson said.

"This debate has never been merely about who can preach on Sunday mornings," he said. "This debate covers and impacts several areas…Most importantly, this is about God. It is about worship, about how we address God."

Though many contemporary voices want to do so, Christians may not address God as "mother," because this is completely foreign to the way Scripture conceives of God, Stinson said. There is vital theological significance in the fact that Jesus was a man, Stinson said. He unpacked four reasons why Jesus had to be a man:

(1) Jesus is the eternal Son of the father. John 5:18-30 makes it clear that Christ’s Sonship is not temporary. "This is a huge biblical and theological fact," Stinson said. "The designation of ‘Son’ as it is placed on Jesus is not just a temporary designation for the purposes of His incarnation. This is an eternal reference to His relationship with His eternal Father…He is the Son before He is sent…And he is the Son in eternity future."

(2) Jesus accomplished His work of redemption in specifically male roles. Jesus came as a Prince, a King, and a Great High Priest, all roles Scripture assigns to males. Exodus 12:5 asserts that the Passover lamb must be both spotless and male, therefore Christ-the True Passover Lamb-had to be a male to fulfill the requirement, Stinson said.

(3) Jesus is the second Adam. Though Eve took the fruit and ate it before giving it to Adam in the Fall, God holds the man culpable for the sin. Rom. 5:12 teaches the "in Adam all die." The man is held accountable for the sin of the first family which means he is the spiritual head of the home, Stinson said. As the second Adam who bore the sins of His people and rendered perfect obedience where Adam disobeyed, Jesus had to be a man to parallel the first man, Stinson said.

(4) Jesus comes as the Son--and not the daughter--of God. Jesus is the Son of God in eternity past and future, thus His masculinity is clearly set forth by Scripture. Further, Stinson pointed out that the Bible always refers to Christ using masculine pronouns such as ‘He’ or ‘His’ despite the unwarranted revisions of some modern "gender-neutral" English translations. Another argument often made by contemporary feminists is that asserting Jesus’ manhood means that He is able to redeem men but not women. This is both a logical and unbiblical fallacy, Stinson said.

"This is the whole point of Galatians 3:28," Stinson said. "That is, in Christ all are equal in their inheritance before God. Does Jesus have to experience childbirth to be able to redeem women? Does Jesus need to experience anything that is exclusive to women in order to be able to redeem women?

"No, not any more than Jesus had to experience a broken jaw because I broke my jaw 20 years ago in a car accident. We don’t argue that Jesus had to experience every single possible heartache and ailment and problem that human beings face…There are a lot of things that Jesus didn’t individually experience, and yet, the Bible says He is a man acquainted with all of our sorrows."

God made Jesus a man in His own infinite wisdom and humans have no warrant to quibble with or revise God’s plan, Stinson said.

"There is something theologically consistent here," Stinson said. "It is the humanness of Jesus that is fundamental (in the incarnation) but there is still this theological necessity that He be made a male and that theological necessity doesn’t hurt women. It doesn’t harm His act of redemption. It makes it good for men and women because it is part of God’s design and it says something about God."

California, after all, had a law on the books banning same-sex "marriage." But it did not have a constitutional marriage amendment.

"This state judge in California would not have had the authority to make that ruling had the constitution been clear on this subject," said Kansas pastor Terry Fox. "... This shows that nothing outside of a constitutional amendment is going to be good enough for these liberal judges."

Fox, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, is leading the effort to pass a constitutional marriage amendment in Kansas. Citizens there will vote on the matter April 5, and Fox says the California ruling can only help the Kansas amendment pass. The ruling by Judge Richard A. Kramer overturned a law that had been passed by 61 percent of California voters in 2000. A marriage amendment would have tied his hands, preventing the ruling.

"This ruling by this state judge proves everything that we've been saying is true, and that is this: We need to protect marriage from judges," Fox said. "The judicial system is out of control. It shows that they are no longer interpreting law but now they're trying to make law. We must strengthen our state constitutions as well as our U.S. Constitution."

The ruling likely will result in a petition drive to ban same-sex "marriage" within the California constitution.

It is the second time in recent months that a state has seen its defense of marriage act overturned. Last year judges in Washington struck down that state's "gay marriage" ban in a case now before the Washington Supreme Court. Like California, Washington has no marriage amendment.

Even though 39 states have laws specifically banning same-sex "marriage," only 16 of them ban it within their respective constitutions. A 17th state, Hawaii, has an amendment that gives the legislature the authority to ban same-sex "marriage."

While conservatives still support amending the U.S. Constitution, they see state marriage amendments as a quick fix. Amending the U.S. Constitution can take years. Such is not always the case in amending state constitutions. In Kansas' case, it will take only three months -- assuming it passes. It was introduced in the legislature in January.

The battle to pass state amendments also is seen as a trial run before passing a federal marriage amendment. Fox said he has been told by Kansas' U.S. representatives that the nation's eyes are on the state.

"Washington [D.C.] is watching this vote on April 5 in Kansas, because if you can't pass a state constitutional amendment you can forget about passing a U.S. constitutional amendment and getting the required three-fourths of states [required to ratify it]," Fox said.

While state amendments provide protection against rulings by state judges, they are vulnerable in federal court, where Nebraska's and Oklahoma's amendments are being challenged. Conservatives say an amendment to the U.S. Constitution will provide the only lasting protection.

The national movement to ban "gay marriage" is a reaction to events in Massachusetts, where that state's high court -- not restrained by a marriage amendment -- issued a ruling legalizing same-sex "marriage."

Last year alone, voters in 13 states passed marriage amendments -- by an average of 70.8 percent of the vote. A marriage amendment has never failed at the ballot.

While conservatives are rushing to pass marriage amendments, liberals are watching to see which state -- if any -- follows Massachusetts' lead. The New Jersey appeals court heard a "gay marriage" case in December. Washington's Supreme Court heard its case March 8. The California case and other cases like it are still in the trial court level. In all, eight states are involved in "gay marriage" lawsuits. Two liberal groups -- Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union -- are involved in the majority of the suits.

Fox said the push to pass an amendment in Kansas is going well, although opponents are not giving up. Homosexual groups from outside the state, he said, are in Kansas to help organize opposition.

"Several of my members have said they've received at least three different phone calls from homosexual activists, encouraging them to vote against the amendment," he said.

Supporters of the amendment have launched a website -- www.onevoiceks.org -- and bought print, TV and radio ads. Fox said he is speaking around the state, urging people to get out and vote.

"We've received a lot of money," he said. "We've been shocked by the amount of money that's come in -- not only from evangelicals but the Catholics have raised a lot of money. We've been stunned by the request of yard signs. We've had to print thousands and thousands more yard signs than we intended."