As a follow up to last nights sermon here are some resources on the web on the subject of femininity and motherhood.

CBMW- The COuncil of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood- this organization is leading the way in promoting God’s design for men and women.  Check out the Danvers Statement- a concise statement on these issues.  Their website contains a wealth of other resources on this subject.

Monergism.com- a website with a vast amount of resources on a huge variety of subjects.  Their page on gender issues contains a number of articles, online books, and sermons.

Desiring God Resources- Sermons and articles from John Piper.  On Biblical manhood and womanhood and on Womanhood. 

Girl Talk Blog- by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters.  The articles found in the categories biblical womanhood,  marriage, motherhood, and modesty are particularly insightful.

Solo-Femininity- by Carolyn Mcculley- written by a single woman seeking to think through and work out how to glorify God with her singleness.

Our new study for Grace Groups will begin this next Sunday.

You can access the new study guide through the following link- Building Relationships for the Gospel Study Guide (I believe it is set up to be printed in duplex so that it comes out in the booklet form- I apologize if this is a problem).

We would strongly encourage you to try to incorporate this study into your daily time in the word and prayer.  This will help to spread out the study over the week, enable you to devote more time to it, and encourage you to think about it and apply it more consistently.  Began even now to pray about how God might convict and change you and your family in building relationships for the gospel.

I was pointed to this quote by J.C. Ryle this week on a blog entitled theoldtruth.com.

In order to rightly keep the gospel daily in sight we must be aware of its distortions- those which come from our own hearts and those which are fed by the world around us.

But we do say confidently, that there are many ways in which the faith of Christ may be marred and spoiled, without being positively denied. And here we venture to think is the very reason that so much religion called Christian, is not truly Evangelical. The Gospel in fact is a most curiously and delicately compounded medicine, and a medicine that is very easily spoiled. Here are four ways to spoil the Gospel.

You may spoil the Gospel by substitution. You have only to withdraw from the eyes of the sinner the grand object which the Bible proposes to faith, Jesus Christ; and to substitute another object in His place, the Church, the Ministry, the Confessional, Baptism, or the Lord’s Supper, and the mischief is done. Substitute anything for Christ, and the Gospel is totally spoiled! Do this, either directly or indirectly, and your religion ceases to be Evangelical.

You may spoil the Gospel by addition. You have only to add to Christ, the grand object of faith, some other objects as equally worthy of honour, and the mischief is done. Add any thing to Christ, and the Gospel ceases to be a pure Gospel! Do this, either directly or indirectly, and your religion ceases to be Evangelical.

You may spoil the Gospel by interposition. You have only to push something between Christ and the eye of the soul, to draw away the sinner’s attention from the Saviour, and the mischief is done. Interpose anything between man and Christ, and man will neglect Christ for the thing interposed! Do this, either directly or indirectly, and your religion ceases to be Evangelical.

You may spoil the Gospel by disproportion. You have only to attach an exaggerated importance to the secondary things of Christianity, and a diminished importance to the first things, and the mischief is done. Once alter the proportion of the parts of truth, and truth soon becomes downright error! Do this, either directly or indirectly, and your religion ceases to be Evangelical.

The Family Room blog posted a couple of short articles this week on winning your children. The first is on a defensive posture and the second addresses an offensive approach.  Here are a couple of highlights.

Introductory comments-

As a father of two young boys, this makes me desperately aware that I need God’s grace to win every inch of their hearts for Christ now, while the doors are wide open. I recall closing the doors on my parents and maintaining an independent, private life as a teenager. What followed was over a decade of sin that I deeply regret. Without being driven by fear, I must tirelessly pursue my boys for Christ.My fundamental goal is to make gospel-centered living the most compelling thing in the world to my boys. This implies a long-term approach, with both a defensive and offensive dimension.  (more…)

Over at the Desiring God blog Abraham Piper posted an article today on loving a wayward child.  The interesting thing is that Abraham, as he notes in the article, was himself a wayward child.  You may disagree with some of the details and how they are to be worked out butI think the overall tone and content is quite helpful.

Here are the 12 ways he lists- they are filled in if you read the full length article.  I would strongly encourage you to do so if you are facing this type of situation.

1. Point them to Christ.
2. Pray.
3. Acknowledge that something is wrong.
4. Don’t expect them to be Christ-like.
5. Welcome them home.
6. Plead with them more than you rebuke them.
7. Connect them to believers who have better access to them.
8. Respect their friends.
9. Email them.
10. Take them to lunch.
11. Take an interest in their pursuits.
12. Point them to Christ. (reprise)

Sean Higgins, a friend of mine recently posted the following reflections on how unbelievers think and the influence of post-modernism. 

It made me think of Francis Schaeffer’s idea of the line of dispair.  His idea (loosely paraphrased) was that there is a certain point in reasoning where a person comes to understand that according to their worldview there is no meaning in life.  We must seek to lovingly push people towards this line and into such despair that they will turn to Christ as their only hope. 

Of course this whole idea of having a worldview that matters and has meaning has application to us as believers as well.  We have such a worldview- or maybe more properly- such a God.  The challenge for us is to live and think this on a day to day basis- we are living for a glorious purpose as part of an amazing story- as part of God’s plan to glorify Himself.  When we fall into apathy and laziness we are failing to remember this truth.

If Sean’s article seems difficult to follow at first, stick with it and grab the basic ideas along the way.  Enjoy.

Is anyone amazed anymore?

No. Not really. We’re not amazed by anything. In fact, we’re not only not amazed, we’re apathetic about what ought to amaze us. We are the culture of the unamazed and the apathetic.

And not ironically, so many people’s lives are empty, meaningless, and frustrated. It’s because the only thing they have to live for is themselves. And at the end of the day, living for oneself is not the fabulous life because no one is really that fabulous. It’s not a worthy cause. There is no bigger picture, no greater cause, and nothing amazes because life is no bigger than the mirror. (more…)

As we live in a land of incredible religious toleration thoughts of physical persecution are often far from our minds.

It can be helpful to remember that people die every day for the sake of the gospel.  Think about that for a moment.  People give up their lives, they are brutally tortured, they are murdered because of their love for Jesus Christ.

This has been brought to my attention lately as our family has registered at Voice of the Martyrs and have subsequently been recieving their montly magazine reporting on the persecution of the church throughout the world.  Registering is free and the montly reminder of the persecuted church is of great benefit.

This issue was also brought to my attention on the blogosphere when this story about martyrs in Turkey was referenced.  The article is somewhat graphic but it is also reality.

Here are a couple of things to consider as you reflect on these things:

• How can you pray for and support these persecuted brothers and sisters?  
• Are you one who might be called to give your life to missions in a dark and hostile enviroment? 
• Is Jesus truly more precious to you than life itself? Is He worth dying for?
• Would you die for the spread of the gospel and the honor of Christ’s name?
• Would your faith in God’s sovereign goodness stand strong through something like this?

The context of our memory verse for this week- Philippians 1:21-23-  contains some appropriate words on this subject of persecution, death, and the glory of Christ. 

I encourage you to go read Philippians 1:12-26 and reflect on how supremely valuable the advancement of the gospel, the glory of Christ, fruitful ministry, and being with Christ was to Paul.

Two different posts caught my attention yesterday and helped me to reflect on the wonder of the gospel.  Stop and think about it.  The gospel is truly an amazing message.  Its realities must take over our lives.

The first post is from the blog Pure Church written by Thabiti Anyabwile.  He begins by noting that he are undeserving-

I’m undeserving. Of:
1. The love of God
2. The grace of Christ
3. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit
4. Forgiveness for my wickedness and sin
5. Adoption into the family of God
6. Justification before a just and holy God
7. Union with Christ the blameless and pure
8. Escape from the wrath of God that is coming
9. The grace of preaching the gospel of Christ
10. Having a people, Christ’s people, to care for in the Christian ministry
11. The privilege of looking each day into God’s Word, of either having this as a “job” or the sight and the mental ability to do it
12. Association with Christ by wearing the name “Christian” or participating in baptism and membership in His body, the church
13. Eternal life
14. Seeing Jesus by faith now and by sight when time gives way to eternity
15. The favor of the Lord in the form of my wife
16. The fruit of the womb, three children on loan to us for the glory of God
17. Friends who have loved me enough to teach me, correct me, bear with me, rejoice with me and pray for me

And so much more! So, I am grateful today for all that I have in Christ–more than I can imagine and list on a blog. And I’m thankful, that above all, Christ himself is mine and I am His. Though I’m undeserving. 

The second post is from Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds- there he quotes Luther on how the true beleiver never tires of hearing the gospel-

People don’t earn God’s approval or receive life and salvation because of anything they’ve done. Rather, the only reason they receive life and salvation is because of God’s kindness through Christ. There is no other way.

Many Christians are tired of hearing this teaching over and over. They think that they learned it all long ago. However, they barely understand how important it really is. If it continues to be taught as truth, the Christian church will remain united and pure — free from decay. This truth alone makes and sustains Christianity. You might hear an immature Christian brag about how well he knows that we receive God’s approval through God’s kindness and not because of anything we do to earn it. But if he goes on to say that this is easy to put into practice, then have no doubt he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and he probably never will. We can never learn this truth completely or brag that we understand it fully. Learning this truth is an art. We will always remain students of it, and it will always be our teacher.

The people who truly understand that they receive God’s approval by faith and put this into practice don’t brag that they have fully mastered it. Rather, they think of it as a pleasant taste or aroma that they are always pursuing. These people are astonished that they can’t comprehend it as fully as they would like. They hunger and thirst for it. They yearn for it more and more. They never get tired of hearing about this truth.