Summer Ideas: Teaching Your Kids to Serve

Here we are at the beginning of summer! The kids are out of school... no lunches to make, no early morning car drives, no after school activities, no homework to supervise, no sudden announcements of school projects "due tomorrow". I think I hear a collected sigh of relief. But as you plan your summer vacations, trips to the beach and overnights with friends, take time to think about creating opportunities for your children to serve others this summer. Erin Davis at the True Woman blog writes, "... summer also offers a unique opportunity to do ministry together as a family. A whole lot of free time offers a whole lot of opportunities to reach out to others and minister side by side. If your kids can get a taste of the value of serving like Jesus did, they’ll be learning an important lesson." She offers the following ideas, with a few of my own additions in italics. I'm sure you can add to the list!
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Help with Vacation Bible School
Many churches host VBS during the summer. Instead of just sending your kids off to attend, grab your pre-teens and teens and get involved yourself with serving. If your church doesn’t have a VBS, look for ways to serve in another church, or launch a Backyard Bible Club for a few kids in your neighborhood. [Have your kids help bake cookies to serve at VBS, help prepare room decorations, distribute invitations in your neighborhood, put up signs in your community, pray those who attend will have hearts open to the gospel.]

Plan a local short-term missions trip
You don’t have to be a missionary to take a missions trip. Simply think of a group of people who have a need, and find a way to meet that need while sharing the love of Jesus. You can go for a day, a weekend, or a week. Here are a few missions trips my family have done:

• Clean up a playground in a low-income housing area, and then offer a free hot meal to the residents (hot dogs and chips work great!).

• Find an area of your state that has been impacted by a natural disaster, and get plugged in with a relief organization such as the Red Cross or Samaritan’s Purse. 

• Ask your pastor for a list of widows or shut-ins, and call and offer to do lawn work for free during the hottest days of summer.

• Call that same list of widows and shut-ins and offer to bring them fresh produce from your garden. They likely don’t have the oomph to garden themselves, but would love to share in the bounty of your back yard. 

• Call your local pregnancy care center and offer to come and sort supplies for moms in need. 

• Volunteer together at your local Food Pantry & Clothes Closet. Have your kids organize a neighborhood or church food drive of non-perishables to donate. Follow up your efforts with prayer.  

This list is just the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities are endless!  

Serve lemonade
Encourage your children to set up a lemonade stand to raise funds for people in need. Even young children will enjoy creating and decorating a lemonade stand, making lemonade and treats, and collecting money from “customers.” (I would recommend calling friends and neighbors and encouraging them to stop by). Then, give your child a few options of organizations and let them go with you to deliver their hard-earned money.

Adopt a family
Not every momma gets to stay at home with her kids in the summer. This can be especially true for single moms. That means some kids are left to fend for themselves while their parents work. If you know a family in this situation, offer to take the kids during the day for the summer, and be sure to specify that you don’t expect any payment in return. Will it be a sacrifice? You betcha! But God’s Word urges us to look after each other in practical ways like this. Be intentional about looking for a family that you can help by being generous with your time.
  
Create a Prayer Wall at Home
Find a blank wall to turn into a wall of prayer. Teach your kids the importance of praying for others rather than focusing on their own desires and needs. On one side of the wall, have kids tape prayers for those in need and on the other side, ask the children to write down something for which they are thankful. Teach children to pray as a way of praising God and relying on Him when things seem hopeless. (Idea from eHow)

Summers provide a unique opportunity for families who have the time and flexibility to break free from routine. Using that window to serve others in Jesus’ name is one of the  best uses of your family’s time.

Edwards on Spiritual Pride

 Another challenging quote from Jonathan Edwards. All believers must guard their hearts against spiritual pride and be quick to repent whenever sin is discovered there. As usual, Edwards words it so well...

“Spiritual pride is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christianity.  It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit, to darken the mind and mislead the judgment.  It is the main source of all the mischief the devil introduces, to clog and hinder a work of God.

Spiritual pride tends to speak of other persons’ sins with bitterness or with laughter and levity and an air of contempt.  But pure Christian humility rather tends either to be silent about these problems or to speak of them with grief and pity.  Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, but a humble Christian is most guarded about himself.  He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart.  The proud person is apt to find fault with other believers, that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are and to be quick to note their deficiencies.  But the humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil in his own heart and is so concerned about it, that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts.  He is apt to esteem others better than himself.”

[Jonathan Edwards, Works (Edinburgh, 1979), I:398-400. Style updated.]

The Furnace of Affliction

“In affliction, God makes himself known to his people. In the Word we hear of God, but in affliction we see him. Prosperity is the nurse of atheism….In prosperity we pray and hardly take notice of the answers. But in affliction we can press God for the return of our prayers. God is never worse than his word. Affliction is a furnace to try the faith of God’s people and to see God’s faithfulness in his promises.” – Thomas Case

A Look at Herodium

Shmuel Browns offers an excellent article on Herodium in the April edition of Popular Archaeology, in honor of its excavator, Ehud Netzer, who died last autumn as the result of a fall at the site. Herodium is one of the fortresses built by Herod the Great. (Masada was another such fortress.)  He also built "Lower Herodium" at the foot of the man-made hill. The site is located just outside Bethlehem, on the edge of the Judean wilderness.  It offers spectacular ruins and views from the top.  According to Josephus, Herod built the fortress to commemorate his victory over the Parthians early in his reign. It was destroyed by the Romans in 71 AD.

Professor Netzer had dedicated much of his life to its excavation.  Several years ago he discovered what is likely to be Herod's desecrated tomb on the side of the hill, half way up.  Herodium's proximity to Jerusalem & Bethlehem make it a "must see" should you happen to visit Israel.  The wonder of this article is the opportunity to get a close look at a few of the artifacts and an artist's recreation of what the original area would have looked like. The illustrations are based on the archaeological discoveries made thus far. I love looking at ruins, but I also enjoy being able to imagine what it once looked like in its prime. Enjoy the article! [If you right-click on most of the pictures in the article, and choose "view image," you'll get a large photo to look at.]

Praying for Your Husband, An Example

Thabiti Anyabwile, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, recently shared an example of how his wife prays for him. (See her prayer below.) Several things made an impression upon me as I read through her words to him. First, I noticed how her thoughts were centered upon being a force for good in her husband's life. (Prov.31:10-12)  She wasn't dwelling upon his shortcomings, nor upon how he had failed to meet her needs, nor upon how he happened to measure up to other husbands, both real and imaginary. She set her mind upon praying for God's good in his life.

Then I noticed that her prayer was informed by biblical truth. She didn't pray vague generalities. She didn't pray for her will in his life, but for God's will in his life. She took the time needed to study out a topic in God's Word, then formed her prayers around the truths she had learned. (Ps.19:7-8)

Finally, I was struck by the fact that she took the time to write her prayer out. In written form he can now refer back to it as an encouragement in his future sermon preps. Her dialogue with him is biblical, filled with meaty truths for him to consider. Though his own biblical knowledge is prodigious, I imagine, she didn't assume that even he was able to apply everything he knows to the immediate situation at hand. She didn't write out a list of "don't"s, but a list of "do's". She didn't write out a major thesis, but a few short paragraphs. And she ultimately drew his attention to the larger eternal view of what God is doing through him.

What an excellent example of how we should pray for our husbands ... and one another! This is how we love in a manner that glorifies God! (1Pet.4:11)
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I’m praying for your sermon preparation and hope you have a fruitful time in the Word and prayer.

I was just looking for a verse to encourage you as you prepare to preach, and found it interesting to look at how “preach” is used in the old and new testaments. In the OT, most often preaching is against a city or rebellion of some sort. In the NT, preaching is often mentioned in the context of preaching the good news, preaching throughout the whole world, preaching to the poor, preaching the kingdom of God, preaching repentance, preaching the gospel, preaching in particular places, preaching Christ (and His unsearchable riches), and preaching to particular people.

So…I pray that you would preach in all these ways, against sin and rebellion toward God, and that you would preach the unsearchable riches of Christ in the gospel, which is good news for all who believe in Him, and which has power to save all those throughout the whole world who repent of their sin and trust in Him. I pray that you would do this boldly and fearlessly, as you should and as the Spirit enables.

Loving you!

[Pastor Anyabwile's blog may be found here.]

Sargent's "Mrs. Fiske Warren & Her Daughter"

Living near Boston provides access to many of John Singer Sargent's works. One of my favorites is a society portrait of "Mrs. Fiske Warren and Her Daughter", which can be viewed at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Sargent was born to American parents in Florence. He studied art  primarily in France under the teaching of Emile Carolus-Duran. Following the fervor over his controversial portrait, Madam X (originally painted with one strap off her shoulder; repainted with both straps up & now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY), he relocated to England. Like his parents, Sargent was a world traveler. He spent his adult life traveling back and forth between England/Europe and the US, primarily Boston & NY. Among his friends were notables of the time such as artist Claude Monet, author Henry James and Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner, who commissioned several works from him and purchased his early large scale painting of a Spanish gypsy dancer, El Jaleo, which can be viewed at the Gardner Museum.

Sargent's portraits were in great demand. He preferred other genres, but his portraits proved so popular he was heavily sought after by high society. As a body of work, these paintings are a testament to the "Gilded Age". His style was often a combination of a more traditional treatment of the face & use of color (he was a great admirer of the Spanish painter Velazquez 1599-1660) and the looser style of Sir Thomas Lawrence ("Pinkie") & later Impressionist painters in his representation of the clothing (note his treatment of the chevrons on Mrs. Fiske's gown - click on the photo for a close look). At the height of his career he chose to turn away from portraits and dedicate himself to open air landscapes, watercolors and public art, some of which may be viewed on the ceiling of the rotunda at the Museum of Fine Arts and at the Boston Public Library.

Mrs. Fiske Warren (1868-1961) was born Gretchen Osgood. Raised on Beacon Hill, she was considered "an accomplished actress, singer and poet" from an early age. She studied at Oxford, graduating with  honors (no mean feat for a woman in her time!), and married Frederick Fiske Warren, who commissioned this portrait in 1903. [Their home, The Hutch, at 42 Bolton Road in Harvard, Mass. (near Concord) is on the National Register of Historic Places.]

The sitting for the portrait was done at Fenway Court, the home of Isabella Stewart Gardner (the current Gardner Museum) on the 3rd floor, in the same room where empty frames remind us of the artwork stolen from the Gardner in 1990 (including a Rembrandt and a Vermeer). If you visit the museum today, you will find a photograph of Sargent painting the portrait of Mrs. Warren and her daughter, Rachel. It's rather interesting to see what the subjects actually looked like and then compare them to the painting. Andy Warhol once commented that Sargent "made everybody look glamorous".

If you visit the Boston area you have a splendid opportunity to view both the portrait and the photograph. The Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are within easy walking distance of each another, with ample parking available at the MFA parking garage. You might also wish to view the Warren home in Harvard, Mass. the next time you happen to be in the Concord area. It's a little piece of art history come to life!

Be sure to check your local library for books displaying Sargent's works. Two works featuring his portraits are John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the 1890s and John Singer Sargent: The Later Portraits.  An inexpensive way to introduce your children to his work is to purchase the following sticker book. If you're homeschooling, be sure to tie-in Sargent when you teach the Gilded Age.

The Best Bible Reading Program Ever ... Really!

Now that it's June, you may have long abandoned that Bible reading program you started back in January. Perfect timing to promote the method I prefer! The Cerulean Sanctum offers a good explanation of it.  This approach has been around in various forms for years. I've tried programs that have you read through multiple books at the same time. I've done several different read-through-in-a-year programs. But this Reading Program is the one I've landed upon because it's the one that has given me the most understanding & brought about the greatest change in my Christian walk. It puts Scripture into your mind...and it stays there! You'll discover you actually begin to remember what you've read... in its context. That is the beauty of repetition!
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How To Read the Bible for Life, Not Just a Year

Beyond the artifice behind them, most Bible-reading plans suffer from an imposed superficiality and disjointedness ...  The World's Best Bible-Reading Program, as I see it, moves beyond this piecemeal approach to reading the Scriptures. It has nothing to do with the proud announcement that, "I read through the entire Bible this year!" Instead, it has everything to do with knowing the word of God and putting it into practice. It's not a one-year reading program, but a "rest of your life until they bury you in a pine box" program. The first way of thinking is marketing; the other is transforming.

Here's how the World's Best Bible-Reading Program works:

1.  Find a quiet, undisturbed place to read. Start in the New Testament ... Might as well begin with Matthew.

2.  Read through one entire book in a single sitting. Obviously, the first five books of the NT are going to require some time. But do it. (You're eternal. Live like it!) These books are whole units and are meant to be read as such. We need to experience their coherence. Trust me; the Holy Spirit will bring the entirety of the book to your mind in the future in a way you've never experienced before.

3.  When you've read the book once, don't move on! Read through it again. For the first five books, if you must break them into chunks, go with five or six chapters - whatever maintains the arc of the narrative.

4.  Re-read that one book. Note the way the narrative and themes flow. Commit those stories and themes to memory. Note where they exist in the book.  [Write down your observations.]

5.  Re-read that one book. Pay special attention to the way the Lord is portrayed.  [Write down your observations.]

6.  Re-read that one book. Examine the relational aspects of the book, God to Man, Man to Man, Man to God.  [Write down your observations.]

7.  Re-read that one book. Note the Lord's redeeming and salvific acts within the greater arc of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. [Write down your observations.] This first pass-through of the NT assumes you have a modicum of OT understanding. After reading the OT through, the second pass-through of the NT will clarify things further.

8.  Re-read that one book. This time around, note all the Lord's commands and how we're told to practice them. Consider how they might work practically in your daily activities. [Write down your observations.]

[By this point, you've read the same book seven times. Depending on the length of the book, it may have taken seven days or seven weeks. It doesn't matter. This is about changing your life and relationship with Christ. This is about sixty years of discipleship. It's not about getting through the Bible in a certain length of time.] Now comes the hard (and controversial) part ...

9.  Take everything you've learned in this book and put it into practice. Take a month to do nothing but concertedly meditate on what you've just read by making it real in your own life. It might mean that the only Bible you read this month are the parts of this one book that you still aren't getting and must re-read. Doesn't matter - do it! (If you absolutely have to read something every day that isn't part of this program, consider a few Psalms or a cycle of Proverbs. They're the most suited to broken-up reading patterns since they are collections of wisdom and less unified than a book like Romans.)

10.  After your month, take stock of all that you've learned by reading and practice. Make a mental assessment of the themes of the book and how they apply to your discipleship. If you're confident you've read and practiced this book, move on to the next one.

Once the NT is finished, move on to the OT. (I realize some of the OT books are daunting in length for a single read-through. Make a concerted effort to read them in one sitting. Failing this, some of the OT books are narrative, which allows for breaks in the story. Psalms and Proverbs are easily segmented, as noted above. All prophets must be read in one sitting the first time through. A book as enormous as Isaiah is hard to partition, so consider reading it on a weekend day.)

Repeat these ten steps for the rest of your life.


[Entire post found here.]

Gifted to Serve as Part of a Body

When it comes to using our God-given gifts within the local body, much confusion can arise. Many expect that if God has gifted them to use a spiritual gift within their local assembly, they should not only be quite proficient at it, they should also enjoy every moment using it. "Therefore," the thinking often continues, "if I am not good at doing [insert spiritual gift], it must not be my gift." Or perhaps, "It's hard and uncomfortable for me to do "x", therefore it must not be my gift."  Allowed to go on over time, this kind of thinking leaves many paralyzed, unsure how to serve as a functioning member of their church, waiting to "discover" what it is they are "good" at. A related expectation is to believe that a person who has been exercising a spiritual gift for many years has always been able to do so at the ability level they currently enjoy.

Should we find ourselves in such a dilemma, it's good to remember the following Scriptural truths.

1) A spiritual gift manifests itself by what God does with it. The amazing thing is not so much your "giftedness" as that God chooses to use you in such a way that He may bring about the change, the encouragement, the understanding in the hearts of those to whom you minister or to meet a need in your church that enables others to use their gifts more effectively. It is not you being so proficient at something that you cause the desired result. [1Cor.12:4-7] Don't take God out of the equation. You are not "the star", He is! The truth is that every believer is gifted by God for service as part of their local body, perhaps in multiple ways. That's true whether you're a brand new believer just starting out or an aged saint who has been serving for years. [There's no "retirement" for a saint, just perhaps "reassignment".] That's encouraging! It means you can be used NOW!

2. There is not one specific, unique way to use a spiritual gift. As I've heard some do, I might say I have "the gift of teaching 5th/6th graders" or "the gift of teaching groups of women" or "the gift of biblical counseling". What I actually have is a teaching gift that can be used in multiple ways ... teaching 5th/6th graders or teaching groups of women or bringing Biblical truth to bear on someone's problem. Today I teach groups of women. Tomorrow I may be teaching the Bible to my nursing home roommate. The implication is that I should not expect I have to use my spiritual gift in any one specific way. This understanding is crucial! The leadership of my church may decide to reassign me at any time to an area they see as a vital need at that particular point in time. Or they may believe the women I teach would be better served by a different teacher or in a different context. The Lord may change my health at any moment making it impossible for me to regularly teach a group Bible study. But I could still exercise my gift by teaching through the medium of letter writing or the Internet or telephone conversations or one-on-one studies with women. And if I was physically unable to do any of those things, I could concentrate on a ministry of prayer. [I actually was "reassigned" to that task for several years due to health problems. It was incredibly satisfying and encouraging to be able to draw near the throne of grace and devote so much time to prayer!]  Amy Carmichael, missionary to India in the late 1800's to mid-1900's, was bedridden at the end of her life, reassigned by God to write edifying books and devote herself to prolonged, deep prayer. I've often used books written by her then to encourage women now!

3. Our spiritual gift should not be our primary focus. Humbly and cooperatively serving God alongside other believers in our local body, under the direction of the leadership God has placed over us is the focus. (Eph.4:11-13; Heb.13:17) A local body of believers is meant to function as a unified whole, working together as one, building up one another in order to do the work of ministry. The modern Christian world has too many divas. Your church does not exist to display your spiritual gift. Your spiritual gift was given to you by God in order for you to serve in the manner He has decided is necessary within the particular local assembly He has placed you in, within the timing He has chosen. Don't take God out of the picture and promote your gifts to superstar status. Don't expect your local assembly to accommodate every idea you might have for using your gift. That's not an attitude that brings any glory to God. At that point, you're serving yourself, not God. (Phil.2:1-2, 14-15)

4. There is a learning curve. Phil.2:12-13 tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling ... because it is God who works in us both to do and to will. What a perfect example of "both/and"! Yes, God gives the gift, but you also participate by seeking to use it to the best of your ability. That means your comfort level will change. Your abilities will change. What may be difficult and uncomfortable today, can be accomplished with hardly a second thought once your Bible knowledge has increased, once you've practiced doing it time and time again, once you have matured in your Christian walk. So, yes, even a brand new baby believer is gifted to serve, BUT they are not meant to stop at that level of service. They are to be progressively growing in knowledge and experience. (Heb.5:14) It takes effort and it takes time.

Greek scholar Bill Mounce recently wrote about his first experience preaching as a young believer. I found his reflections most encouraging. It brought to mind my own first experiences teaching. It was terrifying, and admittedly, I wasn't very good at it! But I did it because there was a need and my pastor thought I should apply myself to it. May you also find Mounce's recollection encouraging. Remember everyone had to start somewhere!

"I was terrified. Stand up in front of people! What was God thinking? I still remember that Sunday. I wore this long sleeved gold and white shirt with a gold colored sleeveless sweater. (Does that date this story or what?) I remember preaching, rivers of sweat poured down my back and sides, and being glad that the baggy shirt and sweater combination wouldn’t show how nervous I was. And when I got down I said to myself, “If there is one thing I now know, it is that God has not gifted or called me to speak in public!”

As I stood on the front steps today of Mount Zion Church 38 years later, I know how wrong I was. I love to preach and teach; it is my gifting and calling. But just because you are called and gifted doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot of hard work ahead of you. For me, it was finishing college, a MA and PhD, and then years of teaching in college and seminary, and preaching hundreds and hundreds of sermons.

If you are just starting out, if you think you are called and gifted to pulpit ministry, or a teaching ministry, please understand that the call and gifting are not sufficient. Gifts and calling have to be nurtured, developed, practiced. So be patient. Don’t think you necessarily made a vocational mistake just because you are struggling with term papers, taking finals, or delivering what in your mind was the worse sermon ever preached. These are the fires we get to walk through in order to learn and to grow.

Did you think that being a herald of the king would be easy?"

Ennion Glass on Exhibit

The Israel Museum just opened a special exhibit of mold-blown glass from the Roman Empire, including many pieces of 1st Century AD Ennion glass from a private collection. I understand this is the largest display of Ennion's work ever available for public viewing.  The Getty offers the following information concerning the artisan, Ennion. If you happen to visit Israel before the end of January 2012, be sure to take advantage of seeing this exhibit! [Click on each photo for a close-up look.]

"Ennion worked as a glassmaker about 1 to 50 A.D. His signature is known from over thirty surviving pieces, and many other works are attributed to him on the basis of style. Ennion created the ground-breaking technique of blowing glass vessels into molds. This new process allowed the vessel and its decoration to be created at the same time and permitted the creation of multiple copies of the same vessel. Ennion's clear, precise designs distinguish his work; he also minimized the visibility of the lines caused by the seams in the mold.

The location of Ennion's workshop is debated, in part because his work is found throughout the Roman Empire. Some scholars believe he worked in Sidon in modern Lebanon, while others assert that he worked in northern Italy. The inscriptions he frequently used as decoration may provide a clue. Though his name may have been Semitic in origin, he signed it in Greek, the language of the eastern Mediterranean, not Italy. The city of Sidon, where he may have worked, had all the raw material for glass-making and extensive trade connections." 

Summer Reading Ideas for Children

As summer starts, I'd like to put in a plug for reading. Your children are bound to be busy this summer with a multitude of activities, but don't forget the one activity that will stay with them for a lifetime ... reading. I think one of the most encouraging complements I ever received was when someone told me I had given my children a great gift - the love of learning. I can't say that I had that goal in mind at the time, but if I stop to evaluate how learning was encouraged in our home, reading good books certainly holds a place of honor. 

I know it's a huge debate, but as for me, I pointed my kids towards good books and away from trash books ... and I didn't blink an eye doing it! One of my kids was an avid reader from his early years and the other had difficulty, but plugged away at it until it became easier for her in her late teens/early 20's. Unfortunately, people get the idea that if they have difficulty reading, then they just shouldn't read. Do you know how you become a better reader? ... by reading. You may never achieve the heights of a speed reader, but few of us ever do! Pastor John Piper often laments his painfully slow reading ability, yet he continues reading a few good books year after year, then shares what he learns with other pastors. It's well worth the effort to get your children to read good books. Without realizing it, they are building a body of knowledge and developing a "feel" for good writing. Once I did a creative writing study with a few of my favorite little girls, using well written children's books as examples of how it is done. We all loved it!

British Education Secretary Michael Gove recently recommended that the average 11 year old should read at least 50 books per year. Yes...that surprised me, too! So, in an effort to encourage summer reading, here are some suggestions from the books available in our 5th/6th SS Library (open to all children at FBC, starting at Level 2 readers & going up to Jr/Sr High). If you prefer, you may purchase them by clicking on the link (a small percentage of the sale goes towards my "Book Fund"). So turn off that TV and set up a "family reading" time. Start with 15 minutes a day, then expand it to 1/2 hour. You will discover that after a while, your kids (and you!) will want to read even longer! It's a great investment in giving your kids a love of learning! And if you're a believer, the ability to read discerningly is vital for a lifetime of studying God's Word!

The Phantom Tollbooth
Eagle of the Ninth (Bookworms Library)
The Hobbit
Little House On The Prairie
The Secret Garden
Black Beauty (Puffin Classics)
The Lantern Bearers (Roman Britain Trilogy)
The Magician's Nephew
The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia, Full-Color Collector's Edition)
Charlotte's Web (Trophy Newbery)
Caddie Woodlawn
The Trumpeter of Krakow
Rifles for Watie
Ginger Pye (Young Classic)

The BFG 

Tales from the Odyssey: The One-Eyed Giant - Book #1
Tales from the Odyssey, Part 2

There are also lots of Christian biographies available! I recently added an anthology series for girls and one for boys ("10 Girls Who ...." & "10 Boys Who ..."). If your child has difficulty reading, anthologies where each chapter is a single story might be helpful to get them started. And I have a series of Missionary books written in verse, for younger readers. Or you might choose to read them to your preschoolers. My 4 year old grandson was just telling me all about George Mueller and how God used him to care for orphaned children! For older children, the Janet & Geoff Benge books are terrific!

Ten Boys Who Changed The World (Lightkeepers)
Ten Girls Who Changed The World (Lightkeepers)
Ten Girls Who Made A Difference (Lightkeepers)
Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime (Christian Heroes: Then & Now)
Amy Carmichael: Rescuing the Children (Heroes for Young Readers)
George Mueller: Faith to Feed Ten Thousand (Heroes for Young Readers)

Which is More Demanding: Letter or Spirit?

If comments I overhear are any indication, many have a wrong understanding of the meaning of "the letter of the law" as opposed to "the spirit of the law." It is usually used in the sense that the "letter of the law" is more restrictive (and therefore "unloving"), while the "spirit of the law" is more relaxed, more lenient, less demanding on one's life (and therefore more "loving"). That's not what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, He taught the exact opposite! 

In Mt.5:20, Jesus prefaces everything He is about to say from here to the end of His discourse by stating, "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."  He then proceeds to give several examples, using the formula, "You have heard ... But I say to you ..." In each example He contrasts the false doctrine of the scribes & Pharisees with the correct interpretation of the law. His greater authority burns through His words.  A prophet always prefaced his words with phrases such as, "Thus says the LORD ..." or "The word of the LORD that came to (prophet's name) ..." The scribes and Pharisees quoted renowned rabbinical scholars when they taught, "According to Hillel ..." or "According to Shammai..." Yet Jesus boldly states, "But I say to you ..."  He speaks directly as God!  It is His law, and He knows its true meaning. It must have knocked their socks off!  No wonder the Jewish crowds hung on His every word and the religious leaders hated Him! At the end of this discourse, Matthew writes, "When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;" (Mt.7:28) and then gives us the reason why they were so amazed, "for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." (Mt.7:29)  [The Greek word translated "amazed" is a compound word (which intensifies meaning) defined as "to strike out, force out by a blow, in the sense of knocking one out of his senses or self-possession, to strike with astonishment, terror, admiration"]

In each example Jesus gives, He demonstrates how the scribes & Pharisees had reduced God's commandments to mere outward actions, the "letter of the law."  In contrast, He then teaches that the law goes much, much deeper ... all the way to the heart/mind attitude. The "spirit of the law" is not content with outer action alone, but reaches all the way to the root of one's thinking. The scribes and Pharisees believed themselves righteous because they had not committed an act of adultery, an act of murder. They believed that gave them righteous standing before God. You will remember how the Pharisee prayed in the Temple, "God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get." (Lk.18:9-14)

Jesus attacks their false doctrine and aims right at their unrighteous hearts. God requires a righteousness that goes that deep!  Coveting is as reprehensible under the law as doing of the deed itself.  Hatred is as unrighteous as murder. Lusting after a woman leaves one as culpable before God as physical adultery.  That is the "spirit of the law".  Its requirements are so much greater than the mere "letter of the law".  One might be able to keep the "letter of the law," but no man can keep the "spirit of the law" before a perfectly holy God. (Rom.3:10-12)  Only God the Son, who willingly left the glories of heaven to take the form of a bond-servant, and be made in the likeness of men could "fulfill" the law by living in perfect obedience to every "jot and tittle" of it. (Mt.5:17-19)  The second Adam succeeded where the first Adam could not.  And it's only through the imputation of Christ's righteousness that God the Father can be approached. (Jn.14:6)  Don't ever think that "the spirit of the law" requires less righteousness!  At the end of his examples, Jesus gives the resulting conclusion to everything He had just taught, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt.5:48)

Pray Them In

Rico Tice, co-author of a 10-week outreach study called "Christianity Explored," was interviewed recently and had something important to say about the role of prayer in outreach. I know I often find people I have been witnessing to or encouraging come to my mind throughout the day, but usually at the time I'm least able to actually communicate with them. Before you know it, more time has passed than I had intended! Tice offers the following suggestion...

"Personally, the key for every Christian is the morning quiet time. Are you specifically praying for anyone? If you are not praying for them, you will not follow up with them. If you are praying for them in the morning, you will text or call them in the afternoon for the purpose of the gospel."

[Christianity Explored - Study Guide, based on the Gospel of Mark, is available at FBC for anyone wishing to do an outreach Bible study with someone. Just see me. Or you may purchase it for yourself via this link.]

A Reason for the Hope That Lies Within You

I had pretty much ignored Camping's claim to "secret knowledge" of the Bible, attributing it all to another form of Gnosticism mixed together with a little numerology. Then I became angry at the harm he had caused the name of Christ. I don't find it amusing. The name of Christ is too precious. In his blog, Eric Landry offers the following reminder...
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"We must be very careful about how we respond....

History teaches us that previous generations caught up in eschatological fervor often fell away from Christ when their deeply held beliefs about the end of the world didn’t pan out.  While Camping must answer for his false teaching at the end of the age, Reformational Christians are facing a pastoral problem come Sunday morning: how can we apply the salve of the Gospel to the wounded sheep who will be wandering aimlessly, having discovered that what they thought was true (so true they were willing to upend their lives over it) was not?  If this isn’t true, they might reason, then what other deeply held beliefs and convictions and doctrines and hopes might not be true?

It’s at this point that we need to be ready to provide a reasonable defense of our reasonable faith. Christianity is not founded upon some complex Bible code that needs years of analysis to reveal its secret. Christianity is about a man who claimed to be God, who died in full public view as a criminal, and was inexplicably raised from the dead three days later appearing to a multitude of witnesses. When his followers, who witnessed his resurrection, began speaking of it publicly, they connected the prophecies of the Old Testament to the life and death and resurrection of this man who claimed the power to forgive sins. This is the heart of the Christian faith, the message that deserves to be featured on billboards, sides of buses, and pamphlets all over the world.  It is also the message that needs to be reinvested into the hearts and lives of those who found hope and meaning in Harold Camping’s latest bad idea."

Our Feeble Prayers in the Hands of a Mighty God

As a follow-up to the previous post about prayer, here is an encouraging story from the Sept./Oct. 2010 issue of "Israel My Glory", a free publication from The Friends of Israel. The article, written by Peter Colon, is entitled, "An Old Man Wept."

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1Thess.5:16-18)
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"Due to the prayers of an old German carpenter named Christian Wolfkes, Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, founders of The Voice of the Martyrs, came to faith in 1938. Soon they led Jews and Gentiles to Christ. Then a church was launched, to the joy of the carpenter. Wolfkes died during World War II, and the Wurmbrands were imprisoned for their faith.

When Richard [Wurmbrand] finally was freed, he spoke to a large crowd of Christians, telling them how he came to know the Lord. As he spoke, he noticed an old man weeping.

When he had finished, Pastor Wurmbrand approached the man to find out what was wrong. The man said his name was Pitter and that he was a wheelwright and had led Christian Wolfkes to the Lord long ago. Since then, he thought all he had ever accomplished in life was to lead a plain carpenter to Christ. It moved him to tears to hear how God had multiplied his ministry a hundredfold to bless Israel and see so many come to faith in the Messiah.

Today The Voice of the Martyrs is one of the largest organizations in the world aiding the persecuted church - all because a wheelwright led a carpenter to the Lord who then led Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand to Jesus."

"Pray Without Ceasing"

A prayerless Christian should be an oxymoron. Yet, how often do you come across a sense of passion about prayer among the believers you know?  Periodically you might hear someone talk about prayer, yet they are noticeably absent whenever the church prays corporately, and you never hear mention of specific ways God has encouraged their heart or illumined their understanding of Scriptural truth or given them a deeper understanding of His character as a result of their prayer. The "talk" and the "walk" just don't match up.

When we do manage to pray, how often do our prayers sound more like the list of "wants" a child might pen to Santa Claus at Christmastime? Seldom do we pray from a biblical perspective. We expend more effort wanting God to remove adversity, make us healthy or protect our loved ones than we do beseeching Him to lead us into spiritual maturity or praying for the faithfulness of His saints. Worst of all, we fail to magnify God in our prayers or thank Him for His abundant love and mercies towards us or recognize our part in the advancement of His kingdom program. Sadly most of our prayers center around ourselves and those nearest us, as we focus on surface needs, not deep, spiritual, eternal needs.

Our prayerlessness demonstrates our lack of understanding of the providence of God, His sovereignty and the power of His mighty hand. We don't think "big enough". Our culture provides three huge stumbling blocks to rich, consistent prayer. Modern  life is overly busy and full of distracting, empty amusements demanding our time and attention. Too often we're not discerning enough to prioritize our time in a way that honors God and contributes to our own sanctification, thereby robbing ourselves of the very things we need to lead us into the victorious Christian life. Also, we tend to trust in ourselves more than we trust in God. When we're at the end of our own resources, THEN we'll call on God. Scripture commands us to humble ourselves before God BY MEANS OF casting all our cares on Him. (1Pet.5:6-7) When we're continually casting (Pres. Tense Greek verb) our cares onto God, we humble ourselves before Him. Finally, most of us have lost our facility with language. We don't know how to glorify God with our words. Even if we are aware of God's greatness, lovingkindness and providence in our lives, we don't know how to express it verbally during our prayers. We think vague thoughts, we feel vague emotions.

So what do we do? Here are two simple suggestions. First, become disciplined. Plan your time, rather than letting unimportant things crowd out vital things such as prayer. Second, use tools to direct your thoughts and expand your ability to express yourself ... go to the prayers of those who had great skill at doing so and use them as the "jumping off points" for your own prayers.

Personally, I love using Don Whitney's suggestion to pray through the Psalms. His book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, has a chapter explaining the method. Basically, start reading a Psalm. When the Psalm triggers your thoughts toward adoration, confession, thanksgiving & supplication (the ACTS of prayer), stop reading and pray until your mind starts to stray, at which point you return and read more of the Psalm until your thoughts are triggered once again, at which point you stop to pray again. If the Psalms are short, you might find yourself reading through more than one. If it's a long Psalm, you might take several days to work through it. You will be amazed at how long and rich your prayer time becomes after using this approach for a few weeks! It will change your prayer life ... and it will change you!

A second suggestion is a system based upon the Puritan prayers in The Valley of Vision, an anthology of Puritan prayers. Like the Psalmists, the Puritans had a God-centric view of life and an amazing ability to express themselves, far beyond modern man's skill to do so. While the advantage of using Psalms is that you are also learning Scripture itself as you read through them in your prayer time, the Puritan prayers lead you to become more God-focused in your worldview. That was their great strength. I can see the advantage of using both, and recommend alternating them throughout the year. Joe Thorn offers a free copy of his schedule using the Puritan prayers here.  He sets aside three times during the day to go to the Lord in concentrated prayer.

Become a person of prayer. It will affect your own Christian walk, the lives of those you pray for and the purity, effectiveness & strength of your local assembly. It will also help advance God's program in the world. Don't you think those things worthy of your time?

Book Preview: "Give Them Grace, Dazzling Your Kids With the Love of Jesus"

Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson have a new book coming out this month. Raising our children in a manner that glorifies God can be a challenge, yet it is also a privileged responsibility He has given us. You may know the general biblical concepts, but the actual day-to-day implementation can be difficult to figure out.  I remember thinking, "Yes, I want to bring my children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but how exactly do I do that?" 

Fitzpatrick offers advice concerning different responses to various parenting situations.  Not every situation should be treated the same way.  She even offers an acronym to help us remember the various approaches: Moms Need To Constantly Pray, which of course, is a basic tenet of Christian child rearing!  The letters stand for the various biblical approaches she suggests, depending on the actual need of the situation - Manage, Nurture, Train, Correct and Promise.  I'm assuming she derived her categories from the different ways God deals with His children.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 comes to mind. It lists four different areas where Scripture is "profitable" - for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.  God also makes promises to His people,  encouraging them to "set their minds" on these things, thereby enabling them to have an eternal focus and a longing for the day when His promises come to complete fruition.  Fitzpatrick & Thompson suggest asking yourself the following questions in order to determine which of God's methods may be best suited to a particular situation in child rearing.  I've added some of my own thoughts about  situations in which these approaches might be implemented.

• Does this circumstance simply call for management?
• Mom finds herself unnecessarily  repeating herself too many times to get her 4 year-old to do his daily chores (e.g. dress himself, brush his teeth, make his bed, put dirty pjs in laundry basket in the AM; set the table for supper, pick up toys at end of the day, put on pjs, put dirty clothes in laundry basket, brush teeth in PM)  She decides this is a "management" issue and prints up & laminates "chore cards" or a "chore chart" using pictures he can check off as he accomplishes each one.
• Now that the situation has calmed down, do I have an opportunity to nurture his soul with the gospel?
• e.g. A parent has a serious illness & the child is unsettled & frightened at the thought of losing them.  The daily family Bible time is a perfect opportunity for addressing these issues by teaching who God is, as He has revealed Himself in His Word.
• Is this the time to train him in how to apply what Jesus has already done for him?.
• Do I need to correct her/his attitudes or actions so that they are more in line with the good news?
• e.g. A child is corrected when they speak unlovingly to a sibling, taught the language of repentance, seeks forgiveness & is taught to look for ways to show their love for their sibling.
• Should I remind him of God’s promises, either of blessing for faith or of consequence for unbelief?
• Personalizing God's promises to a level the child can understand; faithfully following through with consequences for their actions 
• Finally, is this just a time for me to pray and ask the Lord to show me how the gospel applies to my own heart?  Do I need clarity to understand why my child is struggling or resisting right now?  Do I need clarity into my heart’s responses so that I am not sucked down into her unbelief, anger, and despair?  What is it that bothers me about his attitude?  Why?

I've pre-ordered a copy for the FBC library, so keep an eye out for it.  If you prefer, you may pre-order your own copy by clicking on the link below. [Thanks to Justin Taylor's blog for the heads-up!]
Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus

One Way

In our post-modern multicultural society, repeating Jesus' warning that there is only one way to the Father, a way provided by the Father Himself, often generates anger and charges of great hubris.  Our world increasingly views such an idea as intolerant, unloving and arrogant.  But consider the source.  If the Creator provides a way for the creature to reach Him, should we not listen?  Should we not consider?  Should we not respond in humility and thankfulness?  What if you were dying from cancer and a drug company offered you, as a free gift, the only drug that could preserve your life?  Would you say, "No thanks. I know a little bit about science, I'll figure out how to save myself." Or might you reply, "No way. My family uses only all-natural remedies. I won't consider anything else."  Or would you insist that you are the captain of your soul and deny your mortal illness?

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." Shouldn't you bow down in grateful reverence at the loving provision of a holy God and say, "Thank you?"  [John 14:5-11]  It's not "intolerant," it's truth ... and it's our only hope.

"for the sake of Christ"

What motivates the Christian life?  Some desire personal recognition, appreciation, perhaps even admiration from others.  Some approach the Christian life as "duty".  Others spend their lives compiling long lists of  "dos" and "don'ts", fostering a critical spirit towards those who don't live up to their man-made requirements.  Some pamper and pet their spiritual gift, becoming the divas of the Christian world ... disconnected loners who come to think of the church as their "stage".  And some just long for a place to belong, make friends, develop a social life and have all their personal needs met.  The best way to help all of these people grow spiritually is to encourage them to turn their eyes off of self and onto their Savior.

In his book Studies on the Sermon on the Mount, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes, "The Christian's life is controlled and dominated by Jesus Christ, by his loyalty to Christ, and by his concern to do everything for Christ's sake ... the whole object of the Christian should be to live for Christ's sake and no longer to live for his own. ... That is something which you find everywhere in the New Testament.  The Christian, being a new man, having received new life from Christ, realizing that he owes everything to Christ and His perfect work, and particularly to His death upon the cross, says to himself, "I am not my own; I have been bought with a price."  He therefore wants to live his whole life to the glory of Him who has thus died for him, and bought him, and risen again.  So he desires to present himself, 'body, soul and spirit', everything to Christ.  This, you will agree is something that was not only taught by our Lord; it is emphasized everywhere in all of the New Testament Epistles.  'For Christ's sake' is the motive, the great controlling motive in the life of the Christian.  Here is something that differentiates us from everybody else and provides a thorough test of our profession of the Christian faith.  If we are truly Christian, our desire must be, however much we may fail in practice, to live for Christ, to glory in His name and to live to glorify Him."