Stopping to Think

  "There is no such thing as love or worship that is merely private." Anthony Esolen, Life Under Compulsion, pg 212

The other night I read Don Whitney's book, Family Worship . In this brief, but excellent, little work, Whitney lays out a case for, and a simple method of, leading your family before the throne of grace on a daily basis. The importance of this task, and my own failings in it, are things I have written on here  (and recommended resources here ) before. Some thoughts from and about the book, and the broader topic, are what follows: Family Worship is Biblical, Historic, and Practical In chapters one and two of his book, Whitney lays out the examples we see both from Scripture and from the history of the Christian church when it comes to family worship. He is, by virtue of necessity in a book this size, very selective, but the selections are still instructive. While there is no explicit command in the Bible to have a time set aside in each home to read the Word of God, to pray, or to sing; it seems well within reason that having such a time is one of the best ways to fulfill b...

This is a short video clip, but you need to watch it. I think far too easily, as Christians, we can find ourselves tempted by the rhetoric of someone like a Donald Trump about restricting religious freedom for those who disagree with us; Russell Moore's comments here are a helpful antidote to such a temptation:

Family devotions. Probably two of the scariest words that the average church-going man with children can hear. First there is the feeling of the Holy Spirit's prodding; the, this is a good thing worth pursuing, thought that you know didn't come from your own mind. Then there is the overwhelming realization that you have no clue where to start, the possibility for it to be terribly awkward, and uncertainty as to how your family will take this new-found initiative. These generally combine with the overall busyness of our lives to produce inaction. Which leads to our final product, guilt. Sound familiar? It does to me. I have no heroic story of overcoming my folly. I simply have a wife who finally asked me when we were going to start doing family devotions, and about a week of doing them under our belts. There have been no deep conversations or children getting saved (my daughter is not yet one!). But I do have a few thoughts as to why this is worth it, and some suggestions that ...

Why a Worship Conference? Because the word "worship" is one of the most used and least understood words in all of Christian jargondom. While there are many aspects of Worship that we won't even begin to touch, my hope is that by focusing on a few implications of Romans 12:1 that we will be able to better understand what we mean when we talk about worship, and will thus be in a better position to actually worship God with our lives.  I appeal to you therefore, brothers,   by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  (Romans 12:1, ESV) Life as Worship Conference Hosted by: South Lake Youth Ministries, Inc. Overview Goal: The goal of this conference is the equipping of students, church members, and all people to worship God in all of life. We desire to introduce Christians to an idea of worship that is broader than simply singing in church on Sunday morning...

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to...

Worship, it has been said, is a continuous outpouring of ourselves.  An overflow of my heart, a pursuit and exultation of that which I desire, in essence, a reflection of my affections.  If this is the case, then how often can I honestly say that my worship speaks to a desire for God?  How often am I living in such a way as to exemplify to others the greatness, majesty, and beauty of His character and being?  Is this the story of my life, or am I more often caught up in the "stuff of life," that which the Bible would call worldly desires, or lusts of the flesh?  I have been studying Amos the last couple of months, which has been interesting, and convicting.  In this book, God is speaking through His prophet Amos to the people of Israel.  Israel; the people He has called to be holy, to be set apart, to be different than the world around them.  And this same people whom God had called and who had seen Him work in mighty ways time after time had...

So this will probably be another short one.  But I have been wrestling for a while now with the whole concept of sin.  What is sin?  I can go to the Bible and from there determine what actions and inactions are sinful, but is that really what sin is?  How does fit with the Gospel?  Jesus came to die, not from my wrong actions and/or inactions, but from my sin that condemns me to Hell.  But how can we call actions a heart condition?  We seem to teach something that is contradictory, like there is a disconnect between our doctrine of sin in reference to actions and our doctrine of sin in reference to salvation.  And this has bugged me.  If sin is merely to "miss the mark", to do what I ought not, or to not do what I ought, how can I be saved from it?  I still do things I ought not and fail to do that which I ought.  Even the Apostle Paul wrestled with this problem!   But.  What is the mark that we are missing?  It is t...