Posted by: Scott Brown on November 6, 2008
Today we visited the grave of Great Awakening preacher, George Whitefield at Old South Church in Newberryport, Mass. He is buried under the church pulpit. It caused us to contemplate the use of time. Notice the casting of his skull and bible on his casket - a vivid reminder of the brevity of life and the importance of using our minutes for the glory of God. Each night Whitefield asked himself 15 questions to help him judge his actions during the day. He asked,
Have I,
1. Been fervent in private prayer?
2. Used stated hours of prayer?
3. Used spontaneous prayer every hour?
4. After or before every deliberate conversation or action, considered how it might tend to God’s glory?
5. After any pleasure, immediately given thanks?
6. Planned business for the day?
7. Been simple and recollected in everything?
8. Been zealous in undertaking and active in doing what good I could?
9. Been meek, cheerful, affable in everything I said or did?
10.Been proud, vain, unchaste, or enviable of others?
11.Recollected in eating and drinking? Thankful? Temperate in sleep?
12.Taken time for giving thanks according to Law’s rules?
13.Been diligent in studies?
14.Though or spoken unkindly of anyone?
15.Confessed all sins?
December 2, 2009
November 30, 2009
The Model Child
William Smith, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Hunstville, AL
When the first of our five sons was born, we decided that he would be a model child. We would not make the countless mistakes our own parents had made, for to rear a model child we would need to be model parents. Calvin, of course, would not have any weaknesses of personality or behaviour, for we would apply the strict discipline necessary to avoid such things developing. It goes beyond saying that he would be quite handsome, very smart, and flawlessly mannered. One day the model male would marry the model female with the model parents smiling. He would go on to success and money, become an elder in the church, and, naturally, produce model children.
By the time we realized it was not going to work, we were well on our way to producing a neurotic child. As is obvious to you, when Philip and Joel came along, we had long given up on any attempt to produce model children I want us to consider a Model Child. We must ever remember His absolute uniqueness, but at the same time we can find in His childhood a model to instruct us as parents and educators. I speak of the Lord Jesus Christ.
November 27, 2009
Rekindling the Gratitute
By John MacArthur
he Thanksgiving season is a wonderful time to heighten your sensitivity to the blessings bestowed by God. Thanksgiving grabs your attention, shakes the cobwebs loose, and reminds you of all God's most precious gifts. That's one reason Thanksgiving has always held such a special place in my heart. It rekindles in me the kind of God-centered gratitude that our Lord demands and deserves—the kind that should readily be on our lips year round.
To help stimulate that kind of deeper gratitude, my family has adopted a Thanksgiving tradition we've found extremely helpful. Each year after our Thanksgiving meal we gather in our living room and simply recite the blessings of God that have touched our lives. One by one we circle the room, each one of us expressing our gratitude to God for His many physical and spiritual blessings.
Allow me to share with you just five blessings that deeply touch me every year and prompt me to thank God. Perhaps it'll catch and you'll be able to rekindle your gratitude!
Read More >>>
he Thanksgiving season is a wonderful time to heighten your sensitivity to the blessings bestowed by God. Thanksgiving grabs your attention, shakes the cobwebs loose, and reminds you of all God's most precious gifts. That's one reason Thanksgiving has always held such a special place in my heart. It rekindles in me the kind of God-centered gratitude that our Lord demands and deserves—the kind that should readily be on our lips year round.
To help stimulate that kind of deeper gratitude, my family has adopted a Thanksgiving tradition we've found extremely helpful. Each year after our Thanksgiving meal we gather in our living room and simply recite the blessings of God that have touched our lives. One by one we circle the room, each one of us expressing our gratitude to God for His many physical and spiritual blessings.
Allow me to share with you just five blessings that deeply touch me every year and prompt me to thank God. Perhaps it'll catch and you'll be able to rekindle your gratitude!
Read More >>>
November 25, 2009
Faith in the Choice of Occupation
by Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
True faith in him who loved us, and gave himself for us, also seeks direction of the Lord as to the sphere of its action, and waits upon him to be guided by him in the choice of a calling This part of our discourse may be useful to young persons who have not settled upon what they are to do in life. Faith is a great service to us here. Much depends upon the choice of our pursuits. Very grievous mistakes have been made here-as grievous mistakes as if a bird in the air should have undertaken the pursuits of a fish, or a labouring ox should have entered into competition with a race-horse. Some people are trying to do what they were never made for, ambitious beyond their line. This is a grievous evil. There should, therefore, be a seeking unto God for guidance and direction; and faith leads us to such seeking.
Read More >>>
True faith in him who loved us, and gave himself for us, also seeks direction of the Lord as to the sphere of its action, and waits upon him to be guided by him in the choice of a calling This part of our discourse may be useful to young persons who have not settled upon what they are to do in life. Faith is a great service to us here. Much depends upon the choice of our pursuits. Very grievous mistakes have been made here-as grievous mistakes as if a bird in the air should have undertaken the pursuits of a fish, or a labouring ox should have entered into competition with a race-horse. Some people are trying to do what they were never made for, ambitious beyond their line. This is a grievous evil. There should, therefore, be a seeking unto God for guidance and direction; and faith leads us to such seeking.
Read More >>>
November 23, 2009
Directives for Avoiding Dissension in the Home
by Richard Baxter
It is a great duty of husbands and wives to live in quietness and peace, and avoid all occasions of wrath and discord. Because this is a duty of so great importance, I shall first open to you the great NECESSITY of it, and then give you more particular directions to perform it.
(1) Your discord will be your pain, and the vexation of our lives. Like a disease, or wound, or fracture in your own bodies, which will pain you until it is cured; you will hardly keep peace in your minds, when peace is broken so near you in your family. As you would take heed of hurting yourselves, and as you would hasten the cure when you are hurt; so should you take heed of any breach of peace, and quickly seek to heal it when it is broken.
Read More >>>
It is a great duty of husbands and wives to live in quietness and peace, and avoid all occasions of wrath and discord. Because this is a duty of so great importance, I shall first open to you the great NECESSITY of it, and then give you more particular directions to perform it.
(1) Your discord will be your pain, and the vexation of our lives. Like a disease, or wound, or fracture in your own bodies, which will pain you until it is cured; you will hardly keep peace in your minds, when peace is broken so near you in your family. As you would take heed of hurting yourselves, and as you would hasten the cure when you are hurt; so should you take heed of any breach of peace, and quickly seek to heal it when it is broken.
Read More >>>
November 20, 2009
Culture and Religion
Posted by Marion Lovett
We often think that a people’s religion is a part of their culture, but that is wrong thinking. When we think like that, it makes religion a subset, or a particular part of the cultural whole. And while religion and culture are inseparable from each other, religion is not a part of culture, culture is the outward expression of one’s religion.
In fact, man’s service to God, which we call religion, finds expression in cultural activity, and this cultural activity expresses one’s religious faith. The idea that there exists a secular realm separate from the sacred is a false one.
Read More >>>
We often think that a people’s religion is a part of their culture, but that is wrong thinking. When we think like that, it makes religion a subset, or a particular part of the cultural whole. And while religion and culture are inseparable from each other, religion is not a part of culture, culture is the outward expression of one’s religion.
In fact, man’s service to God, which we call religion, finds expression in cultural activity, and this cultural activity expresses one’s religious faith. The idea that there exists a secular realm separate from the sacred is a false one.
Read More >>>
November 13, 2009
Your Child's Greatest Need
John MacArthur
If you've been a parent for any time at all, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that your child came into the world with an insatiable faculty for evil. Even before birth, your baby's little heart was already programmed for sin and selfishness. The inclination toward depravity is such that, given free reign, every baby has the potential to become a monster.
Read More >>>
If you've been a parent for any time at all, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that your child came into the world with an insatiable faculty for evil. Even before birth, your baby's little heart was already programmed for sin and selfishness. The inclination toward depravity is such that, given free reign, every baby has the potential to become a monster.
Read More >>>
November 11, 2009
How Young Men Bless Their Sisters
Posted by: Scott Brown on February 10, 2009
The opportunity that siblings have is a very special one that only lasts a few years. Here is another powerful quote from J.R. Miller explaining one of the most wonderful of these opportunities,
“A young man should be more polite to his own sister that to any other young woman under heaven; and a young woman should ever turn to her brother as the one nearest in all this world to her until a husband stands by her side. Brothers and sisters are each other’s natural keepers. They should shield each other. They should be an inspiration to each other in the direction of all noble thought and better life. They should be each other’s guardian angels in this world of danger and of false and fatal paths.”
The Home Beautiful, By J.R. Miller, Pathway Publishers, Copyright, 1912, 2000 edition, p85
The opportunity that siblings have is a very special one that only lasts a few years. Here is another powerful quote from J.R. Miller explaining one of the most wonderful of these opportunities,
“A young man should be more polite to his own sister that to any other young woman under heaven; and a young woman should ever turn to her brother as the one nearest in all this world to her until a husband stands by her side. Brothers and sisters are each other’s natural keepers. They should shield each other. They should be an inspiration to each other in the direction of all noble thought and better life. They should be each other’s guardian angels in this world of danger and of false and fatal paths.”
The Home Beautiful, By J.R. Miller, Pathway Publishers, Copyright, 1912, 2000 edition, p85
November 9, 2009
Spurgeon on: The Gospel in Our Homes
Posted by: Scott Brown on January 23, 2009
Charles Spurgeon identified the power of the gospel in a family, in a sermon on Acts 16:14 which records the conversion of Lydia – the first conversion in Europe. He relates many of the wonderful stories of women in the Bible, and then he reflects upon the power of a godly home in a community,
“If the gospel does not influence our homes, it is little likely to make headway amongst the community. God has made family piety to be, as it were, a sort of trade-mark on religion in Europe; for the very first convert brings with her all her family. Her household believed, and were baptized with her. You shall notice in Europe, though I do not mean to say that it is not the same anywhere else, that true godliness has always flourished in proportion as family religion has been observed. They hang a bell in a steeple, and they tell us that it is our duty to go every morning and every evening into the steeple-house there to join in prayer; but we reply that our own house is better for many reasons; at any rate, it will not engender superstition for us to pray there. Gather your children together, and offer prayer and supplication to God in your own room.
"But there is no priest." Then there ought to be. Every man should be a priest in his own household; and, in the absence of a godly father, the mother should lead the devotions. Every house should be the house of God, and there should be a church in every house; and when this is the case, it will be the greatest barrier against priestcraft, and the idolatry of holy places. Family prayer and the pulpit are the bulwarks of Protestantism. Depend upon it, when family piety goes down, the life of godliness will become very low. In Europe, at any rate, seeing that the Christian faith began with a converted household, we ought to seek after the conversion of all our families, and to maintain within our houses the good and holy practice of family worship.”
(No. 2222), Intended for Reading on Lord's-day, September 20th, 1891, Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
Charles Spurgeon identified the power of the gospel in a family, in a sermon on Acts 16:14 which records the conversion of Lydia – the first conversion in Europe. He relates many of the wonderful stories of women in the Bible, and then he reflects upon the power of a godly home in a community,
“If the gospel does not influence our homes, it is little likely to make headway amongst the community. God has made family piety to be, as it were, a sort of trade-mark on religion in Europe; for the very first convert brings with her all her family. Her household believed, and were baptized with her. You shall notice in Europe, though I do not mean to say that it is not the same anywhere else, that true godliness has always flourished in proportion as family religion has been observed. They hang a bell in a steeple, and they tell us that it is our duty to go every morning and every evening into the steeple-house there to join in prayer; but we reply that our own house is better for many reasons; at any rate, it will not engender superstition for us to pray there. Gather your children together, and offer prayer and supplication to God in your own room.
"But there is no priest." Then there ought to be. Every man should be a priest in his own household; and, in the absence of a godly father, the mother should lead the devotions. Every house should be the house of God, and there should be a church in every house; and when this is the case, it will be the greatest barrier against priestcraft, and the idolatry of holy places. Family prayer and the pulpit are the bulwarks of Protestantism. Depend upon it, when family piety goes down, the life of godliness will become very low. In Europe, at any rate, seeing that the Christian faith began with a converted household, we ought to seek after the conversion of all our families, and to maintain within our houses the good and holy practice of family worship.”
(No. 2222), Intended for Reading on Lord's-day, September 20th, 1891, Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
November 6, 2009
Destroying Every Form of Bitterness in Us
Rev. Allen M Baker is Pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.
The apostle urges us to 'Put all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, slander away from you, along with all malice' (Ephesians 4:31).
Richard Cameron, the Lion of the Covenant, the powerful Scottish Covenanter preacher of the 17th century, along with so many other preachers, was driven from his pulpit by Charles II of England. Cameron and many like him took their congregations to the fields and forests in Scotland to continue pulpit ministry. In 1670 Charles made such public gatherings and preaching a capital offence, and he sent his army into Scotland to hunt down the Covenanter preachers. Richard knew his days were numbered and while preaching one day to his congregation, Charles' army disrupted the service, arresting Cameron. Before being executed before the eyes of his congregation, Richard Cameron prayed, asking the Lord to 'spare the green and take the ripe.' His head and hands were severed from his body and taken to a prison in Glasgow where Alan Cameron, his father, was being punished for the same crime. When shown the head and hands, and asked if he knew to whom they belonged, Alan Cameron kissed them and said, 'These belong to my dear son. The Lord has done it. The Lord has been good to me and mine. The Lord has given us mercy and grace all our days.'
How could a father respond with such faith, devoid of bitterness and wrath?
Read More >>>
The apostle urges us to 'Put all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, slander away from you, along with all malice' (Ephesians 4:31).
Richard Cameron, the Lion of the Covenant, the powerful Scottish Covenanter preacher of the 17th century, along with so many other preachers, was driven from his pulpit by Charles II of England. Cameron and many like him took their congregations to the fields and forests in Scotland to continue pulpit ministry. In 1670 Charles made such public gatherings and preaching a capital offence, and he sent his army into Scotland to hunt down the Covenanter preachers. Richard knew his days were numbered and while preaching one day to his congregation, Charles' army disrupted the service, arresting Cameron. Before being executed before the eyes of his congregation, Richard Cameron prayed, asking the Lord to 'spare the green and take the ripe.' His head and hands were severed from his body and taken to a prison in Glasgow where Alan Cameron, his father, was being punished for the same crime. When shown the head and hands, and asked if he knew to whom they belonged, Alan Cameron kissed them and said, 'These belong to my dear son. The Lord has done it. The Lord has been good to me and mine. The Lord has given us mercy and grace all our days.'
How could a father respond with such faith, devoid of bitterness and wrath?
Read More >>>
November 4, 2009
Why Young People Are Leaving the Church
Published by American Vision
....it’s not the age of the earth that is driving young people away, it’s the fact that the Bible is not taught in a comprehensive way that has meaning for the here and now.
Read More >>>
....it’s not the age of the earth that is driving young people away, it’s the fact that the Bible is not taught in a comprehensive way that has meaning for the here and now.
Read More >>>
October 30, 2009
Parenting as Cultural Resistance
Parenting as Cultural Resistance
Posted by: Scott Brown on August 6, 2009
Neil Postman, one of the truly insightful secular social commentators of the 20th century, was correct when he said that parenting was “Cultural Resistance.” In one of his books, “The Disappearance of Childhood” he outlines the devastating influences of our culture on childhood. At the end of the book he asks a question, “is the individual powerless to restrict what is happening?” He says,
"The answer to this, in my opinion, is “No.” But, as with all resistance, there is a price to pay. Specifically, resistance entails conceiving of parenting as an act of rebellion against American culture. For example, for parents merely to remain married is itself an act of disobedience and an insult to the spirit of a throwaway culture in which continuity has little value. It is also at least ninety percent un-American to remain in close proximity to one’s extended family so that children can experience, daily, the meaning of kinship and the value of deference and responsibility to elders. Similarly, to insist that one’s children learn the discipline of delayed gratification, or modesty in their sexuality, or self-restraint in manners, language, and style is to place oneself in opposition to almost every social trend. Even further, to ensure that one’s children work hard at becoming literate is extraordinarily time-consuming and even expensive. But most rebellious of all is the attempt to control the media’s access to one’s children. There are, in fact, two ways to do this. The first is to limit the amount of exposure children have to media. The second is to monitor carefully what they are exposed to, and to provide them with a continuously running critique of the themes and values of the media’s content. Both are very difficult to do and require a level of attention that most parents are not prepared to give to child-rearing.
Nonetheless, there are parents who are committed to doing all of these things, who are in effect defying the directives of their culture. Such parents are not only helping their children to have a childhood but are, at the same time, creating a sort of intellectual elite. Certainly in the short run the children who grow up in such homes will, as adults, be much favored by business, the professions, and the media themselves. What can we say of the long run? Only this: Those parents who resist the spirit of the age will contribute to what might be called the Monastery Effect, for they will help to keep alive a humane tradition. It is not conceivable that our culture will forget that it needs children. But it is halfway toward forgetting that children need childhood. Those who insist on remembering shall perform a noble service."
Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood, (1982; repr,. New York: Vintage, 1994), 152-153
Posted by: Scott Brown on August 6, 2009
Neil Postman, one of the truly insightful secular social commentators of the 20th century, was correct when he said that parenting was “Cultural Resistance.” In one of his books, “The Disappearance of Childhood” he outlines the devastating influences of our culture on childhood. At the end of the book he asks a question, “is the individual powerless to restrict what is happening?” He says,
"The answer to this, in my opinion, is “No.” But, as with all resistance, there is a price to pay. Specifically, resistance entails conceiving of parenting as an act of rebellion against American culture. For example, for parents merely to remain married is itself an act of disobedience and an insult to the spirit of a throwaway culture in which continuity has little value. It is also at least ninety percent un-American to remain in close proximity to one’s extended family so that children can experience, daily, the meaning of kinship and the value of deference and responsibility to elders. Similarly, to insist that one’s children learn the discipline of delayed gratification, or modesty in their sexuality, or self-restraint in manners, language, and style is to place oneself in opposition to almost every social trend. Even further, to ensure that one’s children work hard at becoming literate is extraordinarily time-consuming and even expensive. But most rebellious of all is the attempt to control the media’s access to one’s children. There are, in fact, two ways to do this. The first is to limit the amount of exposure children have to media. The second is to monitor carefully what they are exposed to, and to provide them with a continuously running critique of the themes and values of the media’s content. Both are very difficult to do and require a level of attention that most parents are not prepared to give to child-rearing.
Nonetheless, there are parents who are committed to doing all of these things, who are in effect defying the directives of their culture. Such parents are not only helping their children to have a childhood but are, at the same time, creating a sort of intellectual elite. Certainly in the short run the children who grow up in such homes will, as adults, be much favored by business, the professions, and the media themselves. What can we say of the long run? Only this: Those parents who resist the spirit of the age will contribute to what might be called the Monastery Effect, for they will help to keep alive a humane tradition. It is not conceivable that our culture will forget that it needs children. But it is halfway toward forgetting that children need childhood. Those who insist on remembering shall perform a noble service."
Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood, (1982; repr,. New York: Vintage, 1994), 152-153
October 28, 2009
Christianity or Humanism in Education
Posted by The Chalcedon Foundation
Christianity: The sovereignty of the triune God is the starting point, and this God speaks through His infallible Word.
Humanism: The sovereignty of man and the state is the starting point, and it is the word of scientific, elite man which we must heed.
Christianity: We must accept God as God. He is alone Lord.
Humanism: Man is his own god, choosing or determining for himself what constitutes good and evil (Gen. 3:5).
Christianity: God's word and Person is Truth.
Humanism: Truth is pragmatic and existential: it is what we find works and is helpful to us.
Christianity: Education is into God's truth in every realm.
Humanism: Education is the self-realization and self-development of the child.
Christianity: Education is discipline under a body of truth. This body of truth grows with research and study, but truth is objective and God-given. We begin by presupposing God and His word.
Humanism: Education is freedom from restraint and from any idea of truth outside of us. We are the standard, not something outside of man.
Christianity: Godly standards grade us. We must measure up to them. The teacher grades the pupil.
Humanism: The school and the world must measure up to the pupil's needs. The pupil grades the teacher.
Christianity: Man's will, and the child's will, must be broken into God's purpose. Man must be remade, reborn by God's grace.
Humanism: Society must be broken and remade to man's will, and the child's will is sacred.
Christianity: Man's problem is sin. Man must be recreated by God.
Humanism: Man's problem is society. Society must be recreated by man.
Christianity: The family is God's basic institution.
Humanism: The family is obsolete. The individual or the state is basic.
Taken from Rushdoony's The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum.
Christianity: The sovereignty of the triune God is the starting point, and this God speaks through His infallible Word.
Humanism: The sovereignty of man and the state is the starting point, and it is the word of scientific, elite man which we must heed.
Christianity: We must accept God as God. He is alone Lord.
Humanism: Man is his own god, choosing or determining for himself what constitutes good and evil (Gen. 3:5).
Christianity: God's word and Person is Truth.
Humanism: Truth is pragmatic and existential: it is what we find works and is helpful to us.
Christianity: Education is into God's truth in every realm.
Humanism: Education is the self-realization and self-development of the child.
Christianity: Education is discipline under a body of truth. This body of truth grows with research and study, but truth is objective and God-given. We begin by presupposing God and His word.
Humanism: Education is freedom from restraint and from any idea of truth outside of us. We are the standard, not something outside of man.
Christianity: Godly standards grade us. We must measure up to them. The teacher grades the pupil.
Humanism: The school and the world must measure up to the pupil's needs. The pupil grades the teacher.
Christianity: Man's will, and the child's will, must be broken into God's purpose. Man must be remade, reborn by God's grace.
Humanism: Society must be broken and remade to man's will, and the child's will is sacred.
Christianity: Man's problem is sin. Man must be recreated by God.
Humanism: Man's problem is society. Society must be recreated by man.
Christianity: The family is God's basic institution.
Humanism: The family is obsolete. The individual or the state is basic.
Taken from Rushdoony's The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum.
October 23, 2009
Christians and Halloween
John MacArthur
Halloween. It's a time of year when the air gets crisper, the days get shorter, and for many young Americans the excitement grows in anticipation of the darkest, spookiest holiday of the year. Retailers also rejoice as they warm up their cash registers to receive an average of $41.77 per household in decorations, costumes, candy, and greeting cards. Halloween will bring in approximately $3.3 billion this year.
It's a good bet retailers won't entertain high expectations of getting $41.77 per household from the Christian market. Many Christians refuse to participate in Halloween. Some are wary of its pagan origins; others of its dark, ghoulish imagery; still others are concerned for the safety of their children. But other Christians choose to partake of the festivities, whether participating in school activities, neighborhood trick-or-treating, or a Halloween alternative at their church.
The question is, How should Christians respond to Halloween? Is it irresponsible for parents to let their children trick-or-treat? What about Christians who refuse any kind of celebration during the season--are they overreacting?
Read More >>>
Halloween. It's a time of year when the air gets crisper, the days get shorter, and for many young Americans the excitement grows in anticipation of the darkest, spookiest holiday of the year. Retailers also rejoice as they warm up their cash registers to receive an average of $41.77 per household in decorations, costumes, candy, and greeting cards. Halloween will bring in approximately $3.3 billion this year.
It's a good bet retailers won't entertain high expectations of getting $41.77 per household from the Christian market. Many Christians refuse to participate in Halloween. Some are wary of its pagan origins; others of its dark, ghoulish imagery; still others are concerned for the safety of their children. But other Christians choose to partake of the festivities, whether participating in school activities, neighborhood trick-or-treating, or a Halloween alternative at their church.
The question is, How should Christians respond to Halloween? Is it irresponsible for parents to let their children trick-or-treat? What about Christians who refuse any kind of celebration during the season--are they overreacting?
Read More >>>
October 16, 2009
Why Moralism Is Not the Gospel
By R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
In our own context, one of the most seductive false gospels is moralism. This false gospel can take many forms and can emerge from any number of political and cultural impulses. Nevertheless, the basic structure of moralism comes down to this -- the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior.
Sadly, this false gospel is particularly attractive to those who believe themselves to be evangelicals motivated by a biblical impulse. Far too many believers and their churches succumb to the logic of moralism and reduce the Gospel to a message of moral improvement. In other words, we communicate to lost persons the message that what God desires for them and demands of them is to get their lives straight.
Read More >>>
In our own context, one of the most seductive false gospels is moralism. This false gospel can take many forms and can emerge from any number of political and cultural impulses. Nevertheless, the basic structure of moralism comes down to this -- the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior.
Sadly, this false gospel is particularly attractive to those who believe themselves to be evangelicals motivated by a biblical impulse. Far too many believers and their churches succumb to the logic of moralism and reduce the Gospel to a message of moral improvement. In other words, we communicate to lost persons the message that what God desires for them and demands of them is to get their lives straight.
Read More >>>
October 14, 2009
How to Train Your Children to Worship
By Brian Abshire
Being the brand new pastor of the most prestigious church in town, I was trying hard to watch my P’s & Q’s. I had made my mind up BEFORE taking this job that I would adopt a low profile at first and try to change as little as possible. Sure the weekly “special” music was not to my taste, the organist was a bit of a pain, and there were lots of little things that needed attending to (like praying that God would convert half the congregation!). But since I was the new kid on the block (and my congregation was largely composed of people over seventy!), I decided that I would spend most of my time preaching, teaching, and visiting the “saints,” while seeing how things developed in other areas.
However, there were some things that needed immediate attention. Like most broad evangelical churches, toddlers were automatically placed in the nursery. Slightly older children were dismissed immediately before the sermon for “Primary Praise.” For those between the ages of 10-12 there was “Junior Church.” The teens (there were only a handful) were allowed to sit in the balcony together.
But each week, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. A few minutes after the sermon began, one by the one the teens would start leaving the balcony. OK, nature WILL call on occasion, but EVERY WEEK? And why should it affect the ENTIRE youth group (all five of them)? And how come NO ONE ever came back until just before the closing hymn?
Read More >>>
Being the brand new pastor of the most prestigious church in town, I was trying hard to watch my P’s & Q’s. I had made my mind up BEFORE taking this job that I would adopt a low profile at first and try to change as little as possible. Sure the weekly “special” music was not to my taste, the organist was a bit of a pain, and there were lots of little things that needed attending to (like praying that God would convert half the congregation!). But since I was the new kid on the block (and my congregation was largely composed of people over seventy!), I decided that I would spend most of my time preaching, teaching, and visiting the “saints,” while seeing how things developed in other areas.
However, there were some things that needed immediate attention. Like most broad evangelical churches, toddlers were automatically placed in the nursery. Slightly older children were dismissed immediately before the sermon for “Primary Praise.” For those between the ages of 10-12 there was “Junior Church.” The teens (there were only a handful) were allowed to sit in the balcony together.
But each week, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. A few minutes after the sermon began, one by the one the teens would start leaving the balcony. OK, nature WILL call on occasion, but EVERY WEEK? And why should it affect the ENTIRE youth group (all five of them)? And how come NO ONE ever came back until just before the closing hymn?
Read More >>>
October 9, 2009
Let's Talk Modesty
By Stacy McDonald
One of the most controversial topics among Christian women today is the topic of Christian modesty. Why is something that is commanded in Scripture even questioned by God´s people? How could we, as a “Christian” nation, have degenerated so far in such a short period of time? Less than 100 years ago women would have been arrested for wearing what some ladies would unflinchingly wear to a worship service today! To our degradation, modesty and femininity are no longer common, or, in many cases, even desirable.
One of the most controversial topics among Christian women today is the topic of Christian modesty. Why is something that is commanded in Scripture even questioned by God´s people? How could we, as a “Christian” nation, have degenerated so far in such a short period of time? Less than 100 years ago women would have been arrested for wearing what some ladies would unflinchingly wear to a worship service today! To our degradation, modesty and femininity are no longer common, or, in many cases, even desirable.
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October 7, 2009
Basic Training for Raising a Responsible Child
by Carol DeMar
This article is a chapter from Carol DeMar's new book It Takes a Backbone to Raise Terrific Kids.
"Conscientious," "principled," "accountable," "honorable," and "trustworthy" are among the adjectives that describe the word responsible. In our roles as parent and teacher, raising responsible children is of utmost importance. The endless stream of people in responsible positions getting caught in illegal or inappropriate behavior gives testimony to the sad state of affairs: reporters falsifying facts in newspaper and magazine articles; a former government official stealing documents; politicians taking bribes; the list goes on. Sadly, holding a responsible position does not make the one who holds that position responsible.
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This article is a chapter from Carol DeMar's new book It Takes a Backbone to Raise Terrific Kids.
"Conscientious," "principled," "accountable," "honorable," and "trustworthy" are among the adjectives that describe the word responsible. In our roles as parent and teacher, raising responsible children is of utmost importance. The endless stream of people in responsible positions getting caught in illegal or inappropriate behavior gives testimony to the sad state of affairs: reporters falsifying facts in newspaper and magazine articles; a former government official stealing documents; politicians taking bribes; the list goes on. Sadly, holding a responsible position does not make the one who holds that position responsible.
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October 5, 2009
Children and the Movies
Douglas Wilson
It used to be possible to say that a child's formal schooling was—after the influence of the child's parents—the most important formative influence in the life of that child. But I have come to the conviction that in most instances, formal schooling has dropped to third place. Parents still occupy first, if for no other reason than for what influences they allow to follow after them. But in most cases that second place has been taken up by pop culture.
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It used to be possible to say that a child's formal schooling was—after the influence of the child's parents—the most important formative influence in the life of that child. But I have come to the conviction that in most instances, formal schooling has dropped to third place. Parents still occupy first, if for no other reason than for what influences they allow to follow after them. But in most cases that second place has been taken up by pop culture.
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October 3, 2009
Alternative Education and the Future
Rev. Brian M. Abshire, Ph.D.
The Deplorable Condition of State Subsidized Education
We are now living with the fruit of 150 years of State supported education; a situation that should never have existed, should never have been paid for by tax money, and should never have become institutionalized (see Rushdoony’s Messianic Character of American Education). However, most Americans, with no real appreciation of history, simply accept the status quo because they know nothing different; many of us reason, “Well, that’s the way things are!” without questioning whether it is the best, or even desirable way to approach fulfilling our goals. But all one has to do is read the actual writings of the founders of American public education to realize that our present system was DESIGNED to replace Christianity as the basis of our culture. Men believed that “enlightenment” through “education” would cure all social ills-many of which they ascribed to religion. In many respects, American education philosophy was a vain attempt to have the fruit of Christian civilization, while ignoring the root. Rather than transformed hearts, the humanists in the 19th century believed man could be saved by “knowledge;” the ancient heresy of Gnosticism.
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The Deplorable Condition of State Subsidized Education
We are now living with the fruit of 150 years of State supported education; a situation that should never have existed, should never have been paid for by tax money, and should never have become institutionalized (see Rushdoony’s Messianic Character of American Education). However, most Americans, with no real appreciation of history, simply accept the status quo because they know nothing different; many of us reason, “Well, that’s the way things are!” without questioning whether it is the best, or even desirable way to approach fulfilling our goals. But all one has to do is read the actual writings of the founders of American public education to realize that our present system was DESIGNED to replace Christianity as the basis of our culture. Men believed that “enlightenment” through “education” would cure all social ills-many of which they ascribed to religion. In many respects, American education philosophy was a vain attempt to have the fruit of Christian civilization, while ignoring the root. Rather than transformed hearts, the humanists in the 19th century believed man could be saved by “knowledge;” the ancient heresy of Gnosticism.
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September 28, 2009
Pursuing Your Calling
The Bible everywhere assumes that man was created to work. This does not mean, of course, that our lives consists solely of work, but meaningful work, in imitation of our Creator, provides one key purpose and the overall structure of our lives. In important ways, work is even more fundamental than family – not that work is more important than family or that we may neglect our families for the sake of our work – for our work or calling is an essential outworking of the image of God in man, in a way that even the family is not. This may be illustrated by the simple observance that while every man is called to work, not every man is called to have a family, as our Savior taught. Moreover, in the consummated state, when family relations will be significantly altered (Matt. 22:30), the gifts and callings God gives each one of us will continue to operate, albeit on an indescribably higher and more fulfilling level, so that we shall serve God in the new heavens and earth with our individual gifts and in our unique callings, spiritual and material (Rom. 11:29). Work, then, is not part of the curse, is not something from which we should seek escape, and must not be viewed as an impediment to pursuing the more important and fulfilling aspects of our lives. Rightly pursued, work brings happiness and satisfaction to us in ways that few other things can.
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September 20, 2009
Family Worship—A Reformed Heritage
By Rev. Jason L. Kortering
Turning to the New Testament, we learn that the Bereans searched the Scripture daily. They read God's Word each day in their homes, more than likely with their children. With this knowledge, they were in a position to judge whether Paul's preaching was in harmony with the Scriptures.
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