A Review of the ESV Study Bible

From Tim Challies:

...I think the ESV Study Bible is an incredible resource. A long list of endorsers have expressed their excitement for its theological faithfulness, its accessibility, its insight, its scholarship, its practicality and its sheer excellence. I would simply append my name to this list. I agree wholeheartedly with C.J. Mahaney who writes, "I can't imagine a greater gift to the body of Christ than the ESV Study Bible. It is a potent combination indeed: the reliability and readability of the ESV translation, supplemented by the best of modern and faithful scholarship, packaged in an accessible and attractive format. A Christian could make no wiser investment for himself, a pastor could recommend no better resource for his congregation." This is a powerful resource and one that can aid any reader of Scripture. It is one I recommend wholeheartedly.

Pre-Game Coin Toss Makes Jaguars Realize Randomness Of Life

Ha!

HT: Ed

Making Sense of Suffering

While I'm looking at Reinke, he has links to D. A. Carson's messages on "Making Sense of Suffering."

Making Sense of Suffering - Part 1

Making Sense of Suffering - Part 2

Making Sense of Suffering - Part 3

Making Sense of Suffering - Part 4 (Gospel Reflections on Trials and Tribulations)

"Make War!"

 Tony Reinke quotes John Piper:

I hear so many Christians murmuring about their imperfections and their failures and their addictions and their short-comings. And I see so little war! ‘Murmur, murmur, murmur… Why am I this way?’ MAKE WAR!”

He adds (from Ed Welch):

There is a mean streak to authentic self-control. Self-control is not for the timid. When we want to grow in it, not only do we nurture an exuberance for Jesus Christ, we also demand of ourselves a hatred for sin. The only possible attitude toward out-of-control desire is a declaration of all-out war. There is something about war that sharpens the senses. You hear a twig snap or the rustling of leaves and you are in attack mode. Someone coughs and you are ready to pull the trigger. Even after days of little or no sleep, war keeps us vigilant.

This is a fight, my friends (Col. 3.5):

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you...

A Tribute To My Dad On His Birthday

Ephesians 6.4:

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

My dad did that.  In a world full of men who abdicate their responsibilities or think masculinity means dominating others, my dad stands out.  In a world full of churches whose men are pansy and apathetic, my dad is an example.  I have no idea how blessed I am.  Here's the top 10 things I love about my dad:

10. My dad is a man.  He takes a benevolent responsibility for everything in his domain.  He cultivates, protects, and teaches.  

9. My dad works hard and never quits.  As a Naval Academy grad, when he lost his job due to an airline going out of business, he did whatever it took to provide for his family - selling phone books, painting houses.  I'll never forget that.

8. My dad is my friend and my dad.  He knows how to play, and takes time to spend good, fun time with his family.  But he is also serious about obedience, and you'd feel it if you were out of line.  How thankful I am that my dad disciplined me!

7. My dad is full of integrity, and he made darn well sure I was too.  He is committed to his church.  As kids, we were going.  Period.

6. My dad is open.  You can talk to him about anything and he will listen to you.  And he'll change his mind if he thinks you're right.

5. My dad is very generous.  He is always giving of himself, his time, and his money in order to bless others and build the Kingdom.

4. My dad loves me.  I've never, ever doubted it.  He is always there as a wise support.

3. My dad loves my wife and kids with all his heart.

2. My dad loves my mom and is uncompromisingly committed to her.

1. My dad loves Jesus and is submitted to His Word.  That's what makes him who he is.

And here's from my sis:

D. A. Carson on Trends in the Church

Scott Thomas took notes.

If you ever want to feel like you have the intelligence of a NASCAR fan that just finished off a six-pack (I think it's a Red Neck law), then listen to D.A. Carson talk about, well, anything. Don is fluent in something like 7 languages and has written over 45 books. He is the esteemed Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near Chicago. For instance, Carson said in his talk to us, "To be a non-perspectivalist is to be omniscient." Nobody in the room was smart enough to argue with him over that.


Don spoke at a luncheon at Bethlehem Baptist Church (John Piper) on Friday September 26, 2008 just before the Desiring God Conference. I attended this lunch with about 40 other church leaders. Don spoke for an hour about five trends in the American church that are troubling to him.

HT: Tim Challies

Who Said I Have A Big Mouth?

Modern Slavery?

Peter Hitchens reports.

"10 Career Metaphors Guaranteed to Destroy Your Church"

by David Fairchild

An Award I'll Never Win

In the bowels of our church office was found this amazing (read: horrible) little book called, Church Bulletin Bits, #1.  Apparently it is intended to help you fill your empty bulletin space with wise little nuggets like this one:

Pastor of the Year - the one who pleases all the people all the time.

That is so biblical!  Embarrassingly, it appears to have been used...

The Forgotten Discipline

Craig Larsen reminds us:

There are at least nine characteristics that separate sound, biblical preaching from Bible reading, memorization, and meditation:

1. Good preaching rescues us from our self-deceptions and blind spots. Left to ourselves, we tend to ignore the very things in God's Word that we most need to see. Preaching covers texts and topics outside of our control.

2. Preaching brings us before God's Word in the special presence of the Holy Spirit as he indwells the gathered church.

3. Good preaching challenges us to do things we otherwise would not and gives us the will to do them. God has given speakers a remarkable power to spur others to take action.

4. As our church communities listen to good preaching, it brings us into the place of corporate — rather than just individual — obedience.

5. Good preaching causes humility by disciplining us to sit under the teaching, correction, and exhortation of another human. Relying on ourselves alone for food from the Word can lead to a spirit of arrogance and spiritual independence.

6. Good preaching gives a place for a spiritually qualified person to protect believers from dangerous error. The apostles repeatedly warned that untrained and unstable Christians — as well as mature believers — can be easily led astray by false doctrines. Christians are sheep; false teachers are wolves; preachers are guardian shepherds.

7. Preaching and listening are embodied, physical acts. Good preaching is truth incarnated through a person who can translate its meaning from an ancient setting to today. Good preaching is truth we receive sitting shoulder to shoulder.

8. Good preachers do what most Christians are not gifted, trained, or time-endowed to do: interpret a text in context, distill the theological truths, and apply those truths in a particular time and place to particular people in a particular church. This is a challenging task for well-trained preachers who have access to 2,000 years' worth of the church's resources; how much more so for those who are not trained?

9. Listening to preaching has a low threshold of difficulty. While many spiritual disciplines sound like exercises for the spiritually elite, both young and old, educated and uneducated, disciplined and undisciplined can listen to a sermon. It is the equal-opportunity spiritual discipline.

It's often all in how you listen...

New Bible for a New Gospel?

Time Magazine announces the Green Bible.

Now there is a Bible trying to make gardeners of us all. On Oct. 7, HarperCollins is releasing The Green Bible, a Scripture for the Prius age that calls attention to more than 1,000 verses related to nature by printing them in a pleasant shade of forest green, much as red-letter editions of the Bible encrimson the words of Jesus. The new version's message, states an introduction by Evangelical eco-activist J. Matthew Sleeth, is that "creation care"--the Christian catchphrase for nature conservancy--"is at the very core of our Christian walk."

Using recycled paper with soy-based ink, The Green Bible includes supplementary writings by, among others, St. Francis of Assisi, Pope John Paul II, Desmond Tutu and Anglican bishop N.T. Wright. Several of these essays cite the Genesis verse in which God gives humanity "dominion" over the earth, a charge most religious greens read to mean "stewardship." Others assert that eco-neglect violates Jesus' call to care for the least among us: it is the poor who inhabit the floodplains.

I like the environment.  I really do.  But I love the gospel, and that is what the Bible is about.

Mark Driscoll on John Piper

I enjoy both of these very different guys and it's cool  to hear of their interactions.  Be sure to check out the interview at the bottom of the link; there's some good info in there about realistic struggles in marriage.

My Sister...Promoting Porche...In China...With Ballet

I'm proud of her.

Text-Messaging in Church

An intriguing way for folks to interact with the sermon...

What think ye?

Wrong Answer

Prominent emergent-church leader Brian Mclaren was recently asked the question, "What is the good news?" As Michael Krahn reports, this was his answer: 

I think this is where it gets interesting because one of the ways that what we do becomes colonization, when we’re going to represent a religion and trying to make converts to a religion… but the good news isn’t the good news of Christianity, it’s the good news of the Kingdom of God.  And I think that Fatmire [Muslim peace activist also present at conference and sitting next to him on the panel] working for peace, is an agent for peace, and I’d much rather her be working for peace being who she is than… becoming a person in a church worrying about the list over there on that wall.  [on “the list” are things non-essentials like speaking in tongues, etc.)

So, to me there’s something we really have to grapple with about whether the border of a religion is the border of the kingdom of God.  And I think that’s a question we’d be wise to raise.  I liked what you said about there not being despair when you’re among the extremely needy people.   Wouldn’t it be interesting if we found out that God is present wherever there’s suffering because God is there bringing healing and God is really present wherever people are working against injustice because that’s the work of God, wherever people are working for peace. And then the we find that the place that God isn’t is where you have a bunch of affluent people who are self-absorbed… and that wouldn’t surprise me why they would get depressed, because, in some way, it’s not that God isn’t present but they’re snoring through the presence of God.”

In answering, Mclaren did expose certain things that are not the gospel.  But his answer is horribly wrong (It didn't include the person and work of Jesus!).  Here's a better one.  Compare the difference:

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Cor. 15.1-8; emphasis mine)

HT: Tim Challies

Hopeless - But Not Enough

An important lesson from Bob Kauflin in his book Worship Matters.

Stay with it - we have much to learn from his story (pages 22-25).

I spent most of my early years seeking my own glory.  Popularity, music, and academic excellence were my idols of choice...When God saved me at seventeen, my sins were completely forgiven.  But I had deep-rooted sin patterns that weren't going to die easily.

When we moved to North Carolina to help start a church, my cravings for admiration and control were constantly challenged...No one know it at the time, but God was using these situations and others to expose the long-standing sins of idolatry in my heart.  I wanted everyone around me to share my high opinion of myself.  My life was one extended attempt to draw attention to my gifts, my abilities, and my efforts.  But it wasn't working.  I wasn't getting the praise I craved, and that was affecting my soul.  I increasingly struggled with feelings of anxiety, fear, and confusion.  I felt like my life was about to fall apart.

Over the next three months I experienced a variety of symptoms.  Hallowness and tightness in my chest.  Buzzing in my face.  Daily thoughts of death.  ITching on my arms.  Panic attacks.  Sleeplessness.  Shortness of breath.  I woke up each morning to this thought: Your life is completely hopeless.  And things went downhill from there.

I confessed [to pastor/friend], "Gary, I don't know what to do.  I feel hopeless all the time.  Completely hopeless.  I expected Gary to say something like, "You'll be okay, Bob.  God is faithful.  He's working all things for your good."  Instead he looked at me with compassion and stated, "I don't think you're hopeless enough...

"If you were really hopeless, you'd stop trusting in yourself and what you can do and start trusting in what Jesus accomplished for you at the cross."

As I considered Gary's response in the coming weeks, the fog began to lift.  I started seeing a reality that dominated my life - the reality of my sinful cravings.  My problems - emotional, physical, and otherwise - stemmed from battles within my heart of which I'd been largely unaware.  Yes, I wanted God to be exalted through my life, but another agenda was ruling my heart.  I wanted people to approve of me, admire me, applaud me.

To be honest, I wanted people to adore me.  I had an incessant passion to steal God's glory.  I was lover of myself rather than a lover of God.  And it was killing me.  

I was striving to gain the approval of those whose approval was of no eternal significance.  I'd failed to see that the only approval that matters - God's - is impossible to earn but is offered as a gift through the gospel.  And it was the gospel that set me free.

Today the gospel - which I so frequently assumed but so often failed to apply - is the center and foundation of my daily life.

What the Conventions Remind Us About Preaching

Eric Raymond has a good point.

But what do you see at the National Conventions? A speaker, a podium, a crowd seated, an appeal to action, and even propositional statements! What’s more, we have panels of talking heads dissecting everything about the speeches with the tenacity of a hyper-calvinist in a Methodist church.

Wisdom For Women

Carolyn Mahaney's book Feminine Appeal is a classic.  Here's the her teaching series on Titus 2, links included.

A Fresh Look at Titus 2 (Carolyn Mahaney)

Loving My Husband

(Carolyn Mahaney)

Loving My Children

(Carolyn Mahaney)

Being Self-Controlled

(Carolyn Mahaney)

Being Pure

(Carolyn Mahaney)

Being Busy At Home

(Carolyn Mahaney)

Being Kind/Doing Good

(Carolyn Mahaney)

Being Subject to My Husband

(Carolyn Mahaney)

HT: Justin Taylor

Are Large Families Dangerous?

Prince Phillip and Paul Ehrlich think so.  

Ehrlich, a professor at Stanford University argues that "it is immoral and should be illegal" for couples to have "very large numbers of children."  

Albert Mohler responds. 

Pastor Harris on Voting, Abortion, and the Christian

Thoughtful.

I hope that reading this interaction serves you as you think about your role as a citizen of both the United States and the Kingdom of God. Regardless of whom you vote for in the upcoming election, let’s all pray for God to have mercy on our nation and to give us leaders who will lead with wisdom, integrity and a commitment to justice and mercy.

 

Palin, Feminism, & Hypocrisy

Justin Taylor has chronicled how Sarah Palin has been called a hypocrite for having her son, Trig, and, almost unbelievably, (and this by a professor of history and religious and the University of Chicago) for her

...pretense that she is a woman.

The conclusion: It seems that some of the liberal bent find homosexuality to be biologically determined but womanhood to be a matter of choice.  Now I'm really confused.

The Examined Life

Justin Buzzard asks some great questions in examining his own life.  His thoughts are worth considering and participating in yourself - man or woman, and whether you're chasing or leaving the age of 30.  

For me, turning 30 comes down to one word: change. I'm turning 30 and I want to change. I'm thankful that by God's grace I've become the man I am today. And I'm thankful that by God's future grace I'll become the man I desperately want to become, the man God is calling me to become.

Born Alive Truth

Hungry, Day One (Ps. 18.29-30)

The Psalm reads:

29 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

Our calling in life is different from David's.  He was God's chosen King who fight God's enemies and lead God's people theocratically.  He used a real sword and fought real people and ruled a real nation under the explicit rule of God.  Most importantly, David prefigured the REAL KING, David's biological descendant who is also the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

And yet David's Psalm is for us.  It is for you.  And though we better not be using any weapons for the Kingdom of God, there are real battles we fight and enemies to face.  Our own sin is against us (Romans 8.13).  The devil and his minions are against us (1 Peter 5.8).  There are people and circumstances that bring serious challenge (2 Timothy 4.13-18).  What's more, the responsibilities of our life's calling God has given to us can be overwhelming (2 Timothy 2.1-7).

The amazing reality is that through faith in Jesus Christ, with David we can whisper, "With God I can do it.  I can chase the enemy.  I can jump the obstacle."  Listen: God enables that which He calls.  If He calls you to something, He will enable you to do it if you will trust in and rely upon Him.  

Lock and load with these 3 truths:

1. "His ways are perfect."  God has you where you are and who you are.  He's not surprised.  He knows.  It's on purpose - for your joy and His glory.  So you can hope and take courage from Him.

2. "His Word proves true."  God will keep His Word.  Always.  Perfectly.  Completely.  And all of His promises are "Yes" to those who are in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1.20).  Know His promises for you and rely upon them.  Cling to them.  Live by them.  He will keep them.

3. "He is a shield for those who take refuge in Him."  Hide in Him (trust His promises) and He is a shield.  A shield from His wrath - you are saved through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. A shield from your sin - you have been forgiven and are being changed.  (2 Corinthians 5.17).  A shield from the evil of the world - all things are for your good, nothing can separate you from His love, (Romans 8.28 - end) and there is no one to fear (Psalm 118.6).

His ways are perfect, His Word is true, and He is a shield for those who take refuge in Him.  Hide in Him and be courageous and confident in the truth that God enables that which He calls.  Properly understood, our enemy will be routed, our obstacles overcome, and our victory won.

Worship Is Not A Hobby

A. W. Tozer:

If you will not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him one day a week.

Pictures of Noah's Ark

Someone made a working replica of Noah's Ark (1/2 the length; 1/3 the width).

Here are pictures.  It's big.

Thanks to Julia for the heads-up.

The Veritas Forum: Belief in an Age of Skepticism?

Tim Keller addresses the subject and answers questions at The University of California, Berkeley. Worth the listen if you have some time.

Family Advice For Pastors - From Tim Keller

"People will get mad at you if you do it right."

HT: Colin Adams

Introducing the ESV Study Bible

Stupid [Unbelievable] Commercial Claims, #7

Challies alerts to one creepy website...

"I'll do whatever he says to do. I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear."

- Halle Berry

Christians Caring for the Environment

Tim Challies reports:

In the past weeks I have spent some time wrestling with issues related to the environment and creation care. I have been seeking distinctly Christian wisdom on this issue, seeking to learn how we, as Christians, are to understand this world and our role in its care and protection. Last week I turned to Francis Schaeffer’s Pollution and the Death of Man hoping and even expecting that it would answer some of my deepest questions.

His conclusion:

While Pollution and the Death of Man is one of Schaeffer’s lesser-known works, it is one Christians would do well to read and study even today. In this book Schaeffer does what he does best, providing a logical, consistent, biblical response to a matter that really matters.

Clear Contrast

Dr. Al Mohler gives his thoughts on the Saddleback event with Obama and McCain.

The Saddleback Civil Forum revealed once again that government must necessarily deal with many decidedly "unsecular" questions.  These two candidates were not forced into this conversation, they embraced it.  Once there, they had to answer the questions.  Neither candidate is seeking to be the new vicar of Saddleback.  Instead, both are running for the highest political office in the land.  As both candidates were reminded Saturday night, that means there are certain questions you just can't duck.

Beautiful Things That Don't Make Sense

Appreciate the wisdom in this list from Jeana:

1. How having four children quadrupled the love I have for my kids instead of dividing it into four.

2. How focusing on meeting my husband's needs results in my needs getting met.

3. Why having a lot of "me" time tends to make me more self-centered, not less.

4. Why serving other people makes me more content, not less.

5. How spending time with God usually results in me accomplishing more that day, not less.

6. Why exercising gives me more energy, and not exercising makes me more tired.

7. How submitting to God's will brings freedom rather than confinement.

8. Why things that taste good often are not good for me.

9. Why having fewer things makes me enjoy them more--and vice versa.

10. How I can know all of these things are true and too often behave as though they are not.

HT: Josh Harris

Home-Building

Colin Adams has a list of links for sermons on the homefront. 

Including:

CJ Mahaney - A Husband’s Responsibilities and How to Change
John Piper - Fathers Who Give Hope
Voddie Baucham - What He Must be (Marriage by Design)
CJ Mahaney - The Power of Example
Tedd Tripp: Loving Leadership
Danny Jones - The Leader’s Home
‘Sarah Edwards: Jonathan Edwards Home and Haven’
John Piper - Raising Children who are Confident in God
Voddie Baucham - Getting Your House in Order

Art Monk is My Hero, Part 2

Again from Mahaney:

From my view in the cheap seats, too many pro athletes who profess Christ appear theologically ignorant, have little or no involvement in the local church, and have no pastoral oversight in their lives. Monk’s speech appears to be the fruit of good pastoring. If more professional athletes participated in churches where sound doctrine was taught, there might be more examples like Art Monk...

Monk's testimony is worth reading.  For those of you who don't know, there was some smoke as to his belonging in the Hall.  Here is his exemplary response.  Amazing.

… Getting here did not come without controversy, as I'm sure it did with some of the guys sitting behind me. But through it all, I'm here with a greater appreciation for something that not every player is able to achieve and for the people who stood up for me and spoke out on my behalf. …

What I’ve tried to convey to those who were upset about the process was that I was okay with it. But in all due respect, that as great as this honor is, it’s not what really defines who I am or the things that I’ve been able to accomplish in my life. …

And even now as a Hall of Famer, the one thing I want to make very clear is that my identity and my security is found in the Lord. And what defines me and my validation comes in having accepted his son Jesus Christ as my personal savior. And what defines me is the Word of God, and it’s the Word of God that will continue to shape and mold me into the person that I know he’s called me to be.

So I’ve learned a long time ago never to put my faith or trust in man, for man will always fail you. Man will always disappoint you. But the Word of God says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. And He will never fail you.

And that is what I live by and what I stand on. Being included into this fraternity is a pretty humbling experience for me. I always grew up seeing these guys as giants and legends who make significant contributions to the game of football. And it’s pretty hard for me to believe that I’ve now been included as part of them. Growing up I was never voted the most likely to succeed. And there was never anything about me that would have given anyone the impression that I would have played in the NFL, let alone to be standing here.

There’s a scripture that I think about almost every day and I’ve come to personalize it to my life. It says: “Lord, who am I that you are mindful of me?” [Psalm 8:4]. And the Apostle Paul says, “Think of what you were when you were called. Not many were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were born of noble birth” [1 Corinthians 1:26]. And when I look at my life and how I grew up, I certainly had none of those qualities or benefits.

But I understand and I know that I’m here not by, in, and of my own strength—but it’s by the grace and the power of God upon my life, who I know gave me favor along the way, and who provided opportunity and room for me to use my gifts.

So I am very grateful to receive this honor, and I can stand here before you and say, “Hey, look at me, look at what I did.” But if I’m going to boast, I’m going to boast today in the Lord, for it’s because of him that I’m here and I give him thanks and glory and honor for all that he has done for me.

Pray With Your Children

Trevin Wax gives wisdom for parents of young children:

Let me encourage you. Young children soak in everything we say to them. Don’t be frustrated if they’re not reciting the catechism by the age of 4. Don’t be frustrated if they seem to be disinterested when you pray. Don’t be frustrated by their lack of attention span.

Pray anyway.

Our son has learned the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and other Psalms merely through repeating certain prayers each night. No, we have not tested his memory or promised him certain rewards for praying fervently. Mere repetition does it all.

HT: Tim Challies

Forced to Participate in Abortion?

It's one horrible thing to have it legal.

It would be another horrible thing altogether to force participation.

Fake Beauty Gets Ugly

So China faked the "footprint" fireworks...ok.

But here's more: the young lady who sang so beautifully as the Chinese flag was entered the building was dumped for a lip-syncher.  Here's the owner of that pretty voice:

Why the replacement?  Evidently, she wasn't pretty enough.  The explanation:

"The main consideration was the national interest," he said. "The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression. In the matter of her voice, Yang Peiyi was flawless, in the unanimous opinion of all the members of the team."

Another insult to the precious young ladies of China, and a lie concerning the things that are truly impressive. Consider Mark Altrogge's thoughts on that matter. 

A High Theology of Fatherhood

Daddy (during hike on father-son camping trip):

Look at that huge tree that fell over.

Jackson (my 3-year-old son): 

He needs a daddy.

Art Monk is My Hero, Part 1

Art Monk was recently inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.  His son, James Monk Jr., gave the intro speech.  He said in part,

You know, growing up as a son of Art Monk is something that I would never ever change for the world. And as his son, there's always been this question I could never escape, that I could never avoid, that I could never get away from and that was: Do you want to be like Art when you grow up? Now, you think such an easy question would have such an easy answer. Let me tell you a few things that go into answering this question …

So to answer the question, do you want to be like Art Monk when you grow up, my answer is I'd rather be like Dad. Dad, thank you for being the man of God that God has called you to be, and for raising me in the same way. As your best friend, as your admirer, as your biggest fan and as your son, I want to tell the whole world that I love you and I'm truly honored and blessed to induct you into the 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame.

May my son have a similar testimony! (apart from the HOF, of course...)

From: Mahaney's View From the Cheap Seats

Parenting to the Glory of God

Two messages from John Piper.

A nugget:

Ninety-nine percent of the actions you perform that influence your children are unpremeditated actions. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of them every day. Your facial expressions; your posture; your tone of voice; your gestures; your responses to the dog and the weather and the slipping clutch and the dripping faucet and the late spouse and the TV news; and a hundred other spontaneous expressions of who you really are. Ninety-nine percent of the behavior that influences your child is unpremeditated.

Your children will most likely imitate what they see makes you the happiest, not what they hear you tell them to do, or even what they see you do but don't like to do. They will mostly imitate what they see you do that seems to make you happiest.

The implications of these two principles is that we parents should devote most of our energy to becoming a certain kind of person, not to trying to master parenting strategies. It will never work. You will never stop producing 99% of your child-influencing actions spontaneously. You would go insane if you tried to ponder several options before all the hundreds of minute actions that make up your day and your relationships. Your only hope—if you want to influence your children for God—is to be a certain kind of God-besotted person, so that when you react spontaneously what they see is God.

And if children imitate what really makes you the happiest, then the priority of parenting must be to find your deepest satisfaction in God, so that your joy in him spills over in what you say and do.

The Way it [Really] Is

From Tony Reinke

Stupid Commercial Claims, #6

Here's the unique perspective of a missionary doctor working with Muslims:

The Sauna Belt, which this infomerical was trying to sell, is a 12-inch-wide plastic and vinyl belt that you wrap around your stomach. It's battery-powered to create heat. Lots of heat. Allegedly, this will help you lose weight. You will become beautiful, thin, happy and fulfilled. 

We Are Far Too Easily Pleased

One of my favorite C. S. Lewis quotes:

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us,like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at sea. We are far to easily pleased.