Choices

Challies wrote an interesting piece which we all have thought about and attempted to place on paper or remember that we thought about it about "choices we are given" and have they spoiled us. The answer is yes. Spoilt for Choice (Challies.com) Well how have "choices" crept their way into parenting and how have they affected our parenting and our children? Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Blog Review Opportunity (Between Two Worlds)

If you would like to receive a free book, it will only cost you time and some "thought" but in the end, it will be worth it. Visit this link: Between Two Worlds: Blog Review Opportunity

Quotable Quotes

Words to Parents of College Students Ligon Duncan posts these comments by William Still, late pastor Gilcomston South Church, Aberdeen, Scotland: "Every autumn I have a spate of letters from fond parents, teachers, guardians, and monitors, appealing to me to follow up on such and such a youngster who is away from home at college for the first time, and who has to be hunted, followed, shadowed, intercepted and driven to Christian meetings. I have scarcely ever known this desperate technique to work. I understand the panic of parents and guardians, but it is too late then to try high pressure tactics. Prayer, example and precept, in that order, are the means of bringing up children and young folk in the faith. Nor will high pressure tactics and brainwashing techniques avail when young folk have gone off on their own. Some young folk, alas, will have their fling and sow their wild oats, and come at last to heel, sadly, like the prodigal son. It is where Christians pathetically put their trust in external techniques and artificial stratagems that young folk go astray. Nothing takes the place of the realism of holy living and secret wrestling before God in prayer for our youngsters. We must commit them to God so utterly that we dare not interfere or tamper with their precious souls." ht: Pastor Wingard Machen on the Word of God "The Christian man...finds in the Bible the very Word of God. Let it not be said that dependence on a book is a dead or an artificial thing. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was founded upon the authority of the Bible, yet it set the world aflame. Dependence upon a word of man would be slavish, but dependence upon God's word is life. Dark and gloomy would be the world, if we were left to our own devices, and had no blessed Word of God. The Bible, to the Christian, is not a burdensome law, but the very Magna Charta of Christian liberty. It is no wonder, then, that liberalism is totally different from Christianity, for the foundation is different. Christianity is founded upon the Bible. It bases upon the Bible both its thinking and it's life. Liberalism on the other hand is founded upon the shifting emotions of sinful men." —J.Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism ht: Josh Harris Dr. Paul Tripp and the Book of Jonah Paul Tripp has begun his tenure as the regular evening preacher at Tenth Presbyterian, following such worthies as Rick Phillips and Aaron Messner. He opened on Sunday with an overview sermon on the Book of Jonah, which he presented as a complete biblical worldview in 48 verses. Here were his points: A God of awesome glory is at the center of everything. This world is terribly broken by sin, both corporately and individually. Human beings were created for transcendency -- a purpose higher than ourselves. For all our brokennes, God is a God of unrelenting, transforming grace. ht: Reformation21 Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

How Kids Think Blog

From the new joint effort of a family and God's World magazine comes, How Kids Think Blog. Two Posts: Today we’d like to hear some about ideals. If you could arrange the perfect educational situation for your kids/students, how would you describe that? Are you currently experiencing that situation? If not, what would need to change in order to make a move in that direction? Provide your answer to them here. Interpretations of “biblical worldview” seem to vary greatly among people, Christians included. Teaching biblical worldview can range from a detailed curriculum explaining all of the -ologies, to Christianized versions of public school textbooks (1+2=Jesus), to the belief that being a Christian means you will simply live and act a certain way. Is the concept of “biblical worldview” in the classroom more of a buzzword than a reality? Provide your answer to them here. Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Around the Web

Around the Web Christian Thought Some Thoughts on the Reading of Books The Discerning Ear -- Handel Arias and Scenes Professor Reggie Kidd (RTS) Communion with the Triune God The Shepherd's Scrapebook provides us with an Interview with Dr. Derek Thomas (Pastor and Professor) Humble Orthodoxy blog A Fun Site Why Redirect Your Posts to Feedburner The Gospel in 6 Minutes (Desiring God) - Those boys at Desiring God took a challenge by Blogger Tim Challies personal. Here is what they came up with for attempting to become viral in the Social Media network. Biblical Training - I am told there are "High Quality Audios" Will the Home School Movement Become Yet Another Statistic to the Feminization of the Family? A Christian Conference for Bloggers (ht: Evangelical Outpost) - You going? Countdown to GodBlogCon 2007 Yak Shaving Razor Tip #107 Great Question by Tullian Mohler on "Asking Jesus into Your Heart" Family/Marriage/Parenting A Covenant Body - With A Little Help From My Friends Life in a Shoe shares about plastic bags Family Travel Gear Starbuck's now recognizes it is a family destination Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

A New Blog, How Kids Think

A new site has just begun called, How Kids Think. It is a team effort, a joint project of God's World Publications (publisher of God's World News and World Magazine) and a married couple, who blog (His / Hers) and author. The Project started "Through the strange but sovereign means of God and Internet networking, Nick Eicher, publisher of WORLD Magazine, discovered Megan’s blog several months ago and began a series of email conversations with her about helping God’s World Publications (the umbrella group over WORLD and God’s World News) research how kids think and how GWP might do a better job publishing to them and to those who teach them." (Read More here) HOW KIDS THINK Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Theology of Sleep (Justin Taylor)

Between Two Worlds: Theology of Sleep (Justin Taylor)

Chivalry and Manners...Do they have a Biblical basis?

I am considering writing a post on Chivalry and Manners. Please hold me accountable. I want to look at the Biblical basis for Chivalry and Manners (if there is any) and how losing these can and will affect our culture. Your suggestions would be helpful. From The Family Room comes a post on "Some 'Everyday News' for Parents". Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

This week on TSS ...

Join The Shepherds Scrapbook as they celebrate John Owen's masterpiece and upcoming release of a new edition. See this post Coming Soon Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

John Calvin Rebukes Those Who Belittle the Priority of the Blessed Calling of the Homemaker (Doug Phillips)

John Calvin Rebukes Those Who Belittle the Priority of the Blessed Calling of the Homemaker "All the chastity they [Nuns] pretend is nothing before God, in comparison of that that he hath appointed, that is to say, that albeit it seem but a vile thing, and a matter of none account, for a woman to take pains about housewifery, to make clean her children when they be arrayed, to kill fleas, and other such like, although this be a thing despised, yea and such, that many will not vouchsafe to look upon it, yet are they sacrifices which GOD accepteth & receiveth, as if they were things of great price and honourable. Therefore let women study this lesson day and night that first of all they may play the housewives: and if women were the most negligent in the world, yet is there here matter enough to awaken them, and to correct this idleness. And how? If we take pains, we serve GOD, and not men. Again, when a man seeth his wife employ herself all the day long to do her duty, let him also consider whereunto God hath called him, that he also for his part may do his duty. For a man is not born to idleness, nor a woman. Therefore...let women cast their eyes hither, for there is occasion enough to correct their slothfulness, when they shall see that the question is of serving God. And how? When they fall to kneading (as the proverb is) and apply themselves to good use, & flee not the subjection which God hath set them in: for this is to strive against GOD, when a man doth not follow his vocation, which is our true rule, that is to say, that that we have to do, & what God appointeth every one of us, according to the state, whereunto he is called. Therefore let women have this mark to shoot at, & say, well, although the world have no regard of me, yet must I find myself occupied here, for so God commandeth me. And thus much touching the first, how women have to take occasion to be diligent: and moreover also they have to consider, that when they do their duty and execute their office, God accepteth well of it, although men despise it." Posted by Doug Phillips on September 8, 2007 | Read more here. Joshua Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

What is a Healthy Church? (Mark Dever) Review by Challies.com

Our friend and blogger Mr. Tim Challies writes a review of Pastor Dever's book here. He provides some quotes from the book also which I have placed here: Choice Quotes (ht: Challies.com) "It's impossible to answer the question what is a Christian? without ending up in a conversation about the church; at least in the Bible it is." "When a person becomes a Christian, he doesn't just join a local church because it's a good habit for growing in spiritual maturity. He joins a local church because it's the expression of what Christ has made him--a member of the body of Christ." "If you have no interest in actually committing yourself to an actual group of gospel-believing, Bible-teaching Christians, you might question whether you belong to the body of Christ at all!" "A healthy church is not a church that's perfect and without sin. It has not figured everything out. Rather, it's a church that continually strives to take God's side in the battle against the ungodly desires and deceits of the world, our flesh, and the devil. It's a church that continually seeks to conform itself to God's Word." "Friend, the church finds its life as it listens to the Word of God. It finds its purpose as it lives out and displays the Word of God. The church's job is to listen and then to echo." Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Reformed Expository Commentary Series Giveaway by Tim Challies (Challies.com)

Reformed Expository Commentary Series Giveaway by Tim Challies (Challies.com) To Register for the giveways use this link here or mash on the banner below. There will be three different drawings for first, second and third place. Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Interview with Sally Lloyd-Jones, author of The Jesus Storybook Bible

Interview with Sally Lloyd-Jones, author of The Jesus Storybook Bible (by eucatastrophe) Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Are You In Training? From the ladies at GirlTalk: "Like an astute coach or a gifted teacher, God prepares his saints for the tasks to which he has appointed them before he uses them. Moses, for example, spent forty years in the desert, herding sheep, before God called him to lead his people out of Egypt. What better preparation in patience could there have been for his assignment of leading an equally stubborn flock of people through wilderness for forty years? Similarly, David learned courage from his own experience as a shepherd. Later the one who had learned how to take on wild animals in the defense of his flock would be called upon to take on the biggest wild animal of all, mighty Goliath, in the defense of God's flock. God knows how to prepare his people for the tasks to which they are assigned" (from Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality by Iain M. Duiguid). Kristin wanted to encourage me that my present difficulty is “preparation for a task.” It isn’t simply something to get through. It is a training tool—to conform me to the image of Christ and make me more useful for him." Read the entire article here. Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Ten Great Christian Biographies (ht: Al Mohler)

Worthy reads of those who are a part of the "ancient ways" ( Jeremiah 6:16). Ten Great Christian Biographies Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

John Calvin on The Heaven-Blessed Priority of Homemaking (ht: Doug Phillips)

John Calvin on The Heaven-Blessed Priority of Homemaking “And if men say, ‘what is this? A woman playeth the housewife, she spinneth on her distaff, and this is all that women can do.’ As in deed there are a number of fools that when they speak of women’s distaffs, of seeing to their children, will make a scorn of it, and despise it. But what then? What saith the heavenly Judge? That he is well pleased with it, and accepteth of it, and putteth it in his reckoning. So then let women learn to rejoice when they do their duty, and though the world despise it, let this comfort sweeten all respect they might have that way, and say, ‘God seeth me here, and his Angels, who are sufficient witnesses of my doings, although the world do not allow of them.’”[i] [i] John Calvin, in A Sermon of Master John Caluine, vpon the first Epistle of Paul, toTimothie, published for the benefite and edifying of the Churche of God, “The 19. A Sermon on 1 Timothy 2:13-15” (London: G. Bishop and T. Woodcoke, 1579). Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Around the Web

Advice for a Young Preacher (ht: The J.E. Center) In 1973 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote to a 'young preacher': 'With regard to books that have meant a great deal to me, I think I would have to put at the very top of my list the works of Jonathan Edwards.' Iain Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd Jones: The Fight of Faith 1939-1981 (Edinburgh, 1990), 420. A Labor Day Thought - Be the Human Being at the Office (ht: Jollyblogger) 24 Tips To Becoming An Early Riser (ht: Evangelical Outpost) With the SC State Fair coming up, I thought that this would be something good to know. How to Beat Carnival Games (ht: Evangelical Outpost) Jesus: More Full of Grace Than I of Sin (ht: JT) From Charles Wesley's hymn, Weary of Wandering from My God: O Jesus, full of truth and grace More full of grace than I of sin Yet once again I seek Thy face: Open Thine arms and take me in And freely my backslidings heal And love the faithless sinner still. Cited by Sinclair Ferguson in an excellent three-part sermon series on the Prodigal Son. Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Huckabee and the Washington Post

Huckabee and the Washington Post (ht: Josh Harris) A Conservative That Isn't Angry...How Novel The Washington Post has an article about Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in the Style section. The following are some quotes: On Being Pro-Life: "The pro-life movement has often been castigated for its focus on the child in the womb, and once the child got out of the womb, he was on his own," Huckabee says. "My point is, for us to show true credibility, we must show as much compassion for the child sleeping under the bridge or in the back seat of the car as we do for the one in the womb. "That's what pro-life really means," he continues. "It is really about understanding the value of each individual life as having intrinsic worth. So whether that life is in the womb or is an 89-year-old invalid in long-term care, what we value is the individual and respect the dignity and value of that person." On The Republican Party: "I'm so tired of thinking our goal is to beat Democrats," Huckabee says of his party. "No. Our goal is to lift up America. And if we lift up America, people will elect us. . . . If we don't lift up America and the opportunities, then we shouldn't get elected. This isn't about beating Democrats. This is about having better ideas." On His Critics: "I'd like to think the people of the country are looking for somebody that's not running because he's mad and angry," Huckabee says in an interview here. "My two strongest critics are the extreme right and the extreme left, both of whom say the same things about me. It's not unlike 'The Manchurian Candidate' -- the original, which I think was better. The extreme right and extreme left are so extreme that they join together at the other side of the world. That's really what that movie was about. At some point, extremism almost loses distinction." Read the full article here. Joshua Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

How to Listen to a Sermon

I find George Whitfield an extraordinary man and have enjoyed Dallimore's biography of this man. Whitefield was a great divine of our time. How To Listen to a Sermon Tim Challies of Challies.com(http://www.challies.com); writes, "I thought it would be nice to have a guest blogger for the first time in a long while. Today I'm going to post a wonderful little article excerpted from one of George Whitefield's sermons. In this sermon he exposited Luke 8:18 where Jesus said, "Therefore consider carefully how you listen." These pearls of wisdom will help you listen to sermons in a way that will bring great blessing to your soul. Or as Whitefield said, "Here are some cautions and directions, in order to help you hear sermons with profit and advantage." 1. Come to hear them, not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty. To enter His house merely to have our ears entertained, and not our hearts reformed, must certainly be highly displeasing to the Most High God, as well as unprofitable to ourselves. 2. Give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God. If an earthly king were to issue a royal proclamation, and the life or death of his subjects entirely depended on performing or not performing its conditions, how eager would they be to hear what those conditions were! And shall we not pay the same respect to the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and lend an attentive ear to His ministers, when they are declaring, in His name, how our pardon, peace, and happiness may be secured? 3. Do not entertain even the least prejudice against the minister. That was the reason Jesus Christ Himself could not do many mighty works, nor preach to any great effect among those of His own country; for they were offended at Him. Take heed therefore, and beware of entertaining any dislike against those whom the Holy Ghost has made overseers over you. Consider that the clergy are men of like passions with yourselves. And though we should even hear a person teaching others to do what he has not learned himself, yet that is no reason for rejecting his doctrine. For ministers speak not in their own, but in Christ's name. And we know who commanded the people to do whatever the scribes and Pharisees should say unto them, even though they did not do themselves what they said (see Matt. 23:1-3). 4. Be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or think more highly of him than you ought to think. Preferring one teacher over another has often been of ill consequence to the church of God. It was a fault which the great Apostle of the Gentiles condemned in the Corinthians: 'For whereas one said, I am of Paul; another, I am of Apollos: are you not carnal, says he? For who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but instruments in God's hands by whom you believed?' (1 Cor. 1:12; 2:3-5). Are not all ministers sent forth to be ministering ambassadors to those who shall be heirs of salvation? And are they not all therefore greatly to be esteemed for their work's sake? 5. Make particular application to your own hearts of everything that is delivered. When our Savior was discoursing at the last supper with His beloved disciples and foretold that one of them should betray Him, each of them immediately applied it to his own heart and said, 'Lord, is it I?' (Matt. 26:22). Oh, that persons, in like manner, when preachers are dissuading from any sin or persuading to any duty, instead of crying, 'This was intended for such and such a one!' instead would turn their thoughts inwardly, and say, 'Lord, is it I?' How far more beneficial should we find discourses to be than now they generally are! 6. Pray to the Lord, before, during, and after every sermon, to endue the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put into practice what he shall show from the Book of God to be your duty. No doubt it was this consideration that made St. Paul so earnestly entreat his beloved Ephesians to intercede with God for him: 'Praying always, with all manner of prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and for me also, that I may open my mouth with boldness, to make known the mysteries of the gospel' (Eph. 6:19-20). And if so great an apostle as St. Paul needed the prayers of his people, much more do those ministers who have only the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. If only all who hear me this day would seriously apply their hearts to practice what has now been told them! How ministers would see Satan, like lightning, fall from heaven, and people find the Word preached sharper than a two-edged sword and mighty, through God, to the pulling down of the devil's strongholds!" Joshua Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Desiring God Conference Videos

The faithful and persevering at Desiring God have posted all the videos froms recent conferences online, for free. Desiring God Conference s Grace, mercy and peace be with you!