Free - Best of the 2006 Entrepreneurial BootCamp Download

Here is another free download:

MoneySavingMom.com is giving away a free download of The Best of the 2006 Entrepreneurial BootCamp from Behemoth.com by using the code they provide. All you have to do, if you have not already, is register for a free account at Behemoth.com and then use the code you can get at MoneysavngMom.com when you check out. This coupon code is only good through this Saturday (2/28/09), so get your free download soon.

We have the complete set from this conference and it is very good.

Jonathan Park Free Download

You can go to the Life in a Shoe blog and they have a coupon so you can download the complete first Jonathan Park album called The Adventure Begins from Behmoth.com. The coupon is good until this Saturday so check out the Life in a Shoe site.



The Life in a Shoe blog also has a drawing for a $50 Behemoth.com gift certificate

Review of: What He Must Be..If He Wants to Marry My Daughter

Well I just finished Voddie Baucham Jr.’s new book: What He Must Be: ...If He Wants to Marry My Daughter.

This is a book every father, or father to be, needs to read. You do not have to have a daughter to read this book as it speaks to the issue of marriage and how as parents we need to be integral in the process of finding a spouse for our children. This is not by arranging marriages but making sure we do more than simply stand by and give empty approval. We need to raise sons worthy of marriage to our daughters and to raise daughters that know what God calls for in a spouse.

As with most reviews there is only so much one can cover and I cannot encourage you to read this book enough. There may be things that are counter cultural, such as seeing dating as detrimental to marriage, but that is not because the conclusion stated are wrong but because we are so influenced by current practices that anything foreign to them seem wrong. Many times choices need to speak out and Voddie is one of those voices.

The chapters in this book are:

1) Multigenerational Vision
2) The Mystery of Marriage
3) A Father’s Role
4) He Must be a Follower of Christ
5) He Must be Prepared to Lead
6) He Must Lead Like Christ(Eph 5)
7) He Must Be Committed to Children
8) He Must Practice the Four P’s
- Protector, Provider, Prophet, Priest
9) Don’t Send a Woman to Do a Man’s Job
10)Can’t Find One…Build One

We are called not simply to bring forth daughters and sons into the world but to be used by God to mold them and then send them off in an appropriate manner. All too often in an effort to not appear to be “old fashioned” or out of touch with the present we send our daughters off to fend for themselves instead of being the father God calls us to be. Voddie sets forth not only sound advice but sound advice grounded in scripture. Scripture needs to be sought after not only for salvation but it is also sufficient for leading us in raising sons worthy of marring our daughters and daughters worthy to marry our sons.

I asked my sons the other day if they were the type of men that would be worthy husbands for their sister. Once the initial sounds of laughter ceased they got the point and that is we are not simply to be vigilant in raising daughters to marry in the Lord and in helping to find them worthy husbands. We are to also raise sons worthy of marrying when the time arises.

Again reading Voddie’s new book is for any father whether you have daughters sons or both. Read this book with a heart to see what God says about marriage and preparing our children for marriage. There may be, depending where you presently stand with regards to dating and courtship and the like, things that are uncomfortable but I would pray you would take from this book that the future of our sons and daughters are to be important to us and that often times this may mean difficult decisions need to be made for their good. If we rely on God and His principles instead of the world’s manner of things our families will be healthy and more God glorifying and they will then produce healthy and God glorifying families.

12 Year Olds Pro-Life Speech

World Net Daily has an article about a girl in Toronto who won a speech contest with a speech that was against abortion. This story has sort of two directions. One is the boldness of the girl to stick with her topic even while being told, as her mother relates, "… if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition."

The other story is that of the judges. The fact that the one of the judges quite and that initially the speech was disqualified before being reinstated as the winner says much. The boldness of this young girl is to be commended, may we all be so bold.

Below is the speech.




The one thing I would add, and this is not to take away from the young girl’s speech, is that the arguments used while good the truth is the main argument against abortion is that God values life and it is not allowed by God to abort the life He creates. I realize that for many this is not a valid argument or a convincing enough argument to use but simply because others do not accept an argument does not make the argument any less correct. We need to make sure as Christians we are not so influenced by the culture that we continually try to couch our arguments in the language of the world and thus avoid the only standard we can truly lean on and that is God’s standard as revealed in His word.

Calvin (of Hobbes fame) on the Economy

Thanks to Justin Taylor for posting this cartoon yesterday:

Just click on the cartoon and you will see it better in a new window

Theonomy in Christian Ethics: 25th Anniversary Multimedia Edition

I just got a copy of Theonomy in Christian Ethics By Greg Bahnsen and if you are interested in understanding theonomy this is a good book to buy. The 25th Anniversary Multimedia Edition comes with a CD that not only has the book itself in PDF format but also has the following books: By this Standard, No other Standard, and House Divided. Also on the CD are other articles and 20 MP3 lectures of Dr. Bahnsen’s. I have not had a chance to start this book yet but am looking forward to it after reading By This Standard.

Documentary – Binding Faith

I just finished watching a documentary that was very good. It was called Binding Faith by Dondra Vaughn Maynor. The following is from the 2009 SAICFF:

“The “Best Biblical Family” Award went to Binding Faith, a documentary that chronicles the persecution that Christian missionary and minister, Dr. Ajai Lall, encountered when he sought to share his faith in northern India. Upon his arrival in Rajpura, Punjab, he is met with violent opposition from local religious extremists. Fearing a pending riot, the police chief forbids Ajai from preaching in the city. Not willing to be deterred, the ruling is challenged. The only way Ajai will be allowed to preach is if he first signs a contract stating if there is any disturbance among the crowd, the police will have the right to shoot him at sight. An inspiring and insightful look into life for our Christian brethren in India.”

The movie was shot on location in India and relates a story that lets us see that we in the US have it easy when it comes to sharing the gospel. The truth is I was convicted by the boldness of Dr. Lall in the midst of the trials he faced. I would encourage you to watch this video and realize that this is not just about the missionaries but also about the struggles and persecution those that come to know Christ must face to be obedient to share their faith.

You can purchase this video from Vision Forum: Binding Faith

Also here is a link to the ministry started in 1982 by Dr. Lall: Central India Christian Mission

The Church

Some time ago I wrote a series of posts on the church and various aspects of it. In September of 07’ I wrote The Church- A Multigenerational Gathering and on that post I linked to the other articles I had written on the church. I have noticed over time that often these articles are being read through searches on the church and more specifically on the Family Integrated Church. Due to this I have put the links below with a few additions.

Over the next year I will get back to my writing on the church, as God leads. It seems that we have lost the love for the church that we should have. After all, the church is seen in scripture as the Bride of Christ and while this can refer to the “invisible church” its “visible” manifestation is in the local church. So we need to see the local church as more than some sort of ritual or event we take part in but something we participate in out of our love and devotion to and for Christ. We often claim love for Christ but show no love for His church and from what I see in scripture those are not compatible attitudes and we need to ask God to give us the love for His church that He desires of us.

The Church:
The Local Church Pt1
The Church Pt 2 - Ekklesia
The Church Pt 3: Church Local or Universal
The Church, Where? Part 4
The Church - Part 5
The Gathered Church - Pt 1
The Gathered Church – Pt 2
The Gathered Church - Pt 3
Some Random Thoughts on the Church

A Series on how I see the Family Integrated Church:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Some General Thoughts on the Family Integrated Church:
Family Friendly?
Family Friendly II
Family Integrated Church is not new
More on Family Integrated Church
Some Random Thoughts on the Church
More Thoughts on the Family Integrated Church
Some More thoughts on the Family Integrated Church
There is Nothing New About Family Integrated Worship

Additional Posts:
The Church: Its Place in the World
The Church – A Multigenerational Gathering
Evangelism and the Local church
Sacrificing Church for Family
The Sacrifice of the Family for Ministry
Family Integrated Church – 1 Year Later
Review of: What is a Family Integrated Church? By Scott Brown

Pendragon: The Sword of His Father

If you have not seen the new movie Pendragon: Sword of His Father you should as it is a very good movie from Burns Family Studios. This is yet another example of the quality, both in content and production, which can be produced on a limited budget and without compromising on godly values. This movie was made on a budget of $80,000 while an article from HSLDA shares that the average cost of a Motion Picture Association of America film was $106.6 million in 2007. In the HSDLA article Chad Burns shares that they have sold around 2000 DVDs and needs to sell 20,000 to get out of the red. I would encourage you to buy one of these DVD’s so that we can encourage others to follow in the footsteps of the Burns family and others such as the producers of The Widow's Might, another very good film produced on a minimal budget.

“Pendragon is about Artos, a young British warrior who must defend his native Britain against invading Saxons in 411 A.D. To do this, Artos must escape Saxon slavery, his own despair, and treachery.” (HSLDA article)

Trailers for the movie are available here.

You can purchase a DVD direct from the site (here) , from Vision Forum (here) or even download a copy from Behemoth (here).

Someone Saw This Coming

Thanks to the Truth in Love Blog post: Did Anyone See This Collapse Coming? Yup! For the videos below. Peter Schiff is shown in the videos below talking about a coming collapse (these are from as far back August of 2006) in our economy due to fundamental flaws in how our economy works. The many that scoffed at him should be embarrassed at the how they laughed at his predictions.

While there are many “fat cats” that have contributed to this economic “crisis” all too often that is used as an excuse to overlook the basic aspect of greed by Americans that has contributed to this current problem. If you build an economy on spending, and specifically spending on credit, it has to collapse sometime because sooner or later the bubble bursts. As Schiff relates in the midst of the videos the only true course of action is a tough pill to swallow but it is to allow our economy to naturally correct. Spending our way out of economic times such as these is foolhardy and actually very irresponsible.

I was saddened, but not surprised, as I listened to the President’s press conference Monday as all that I heard was the usual mantra from Washington: “We are the only one who can solve your problems” & “We need to spend more money to do it.” Again, while not surprised it was interesting to see the press never really ask tough questions such as: “Where is the money going to come from for all these plan’s.” One person came close when asking about our spending problems but the answer given by the President was laughable, he once again blamed everyone but us as a nation, and his answer was not questioned.

While the President could take time to remark about what lessons our children will learn from Alex Rodriguez’s steroid use he did not mention the lessons our children would learn from the Government. A lesson that they can spend now and contemplate the consequences later and when it comes to consequences the lesson is that there are none.

The government is not the answer. God has placed governments in place to protect the people and serve Him, the most important part, (Rom 13:1-7). However our government, as most in the world, does everything but serve God and instead seeks to have the people serve their whims and fantasies. When a government has no basis for what it does but relies on its “own understanding” (Prov 3:5-6) and does what is right in “its own eye’s” (Judges 21:25) you get the government we presently have and not the one that wrote our constitution.

Let us pray that our country sees the need to return to a standard that is not man’s but God’s. The truth is that even Peter Schiff misses the answer. Not that his economic principles may be correct but they need a foundation and that foundation must be the word of God, all of the word of God. Tough times are not new and God places His people in them to refine them and we may be in such a time. It is only principles firmly rooted in God’s word that have lasting affect and so that is where we are to turn and not to government. Let us pray that our government begins to see its true purpose, to serverGod and be used by Him for His glory.

Here are the videos:

Around the Web and Blogosphere (2/6/09)

This months free audio book download at ChristianAudio.com is: Not For Sale by David Batstone. Use the coupon code FEB2009 when checking out to get the free download.


Having recently signed up for Facebook I found Albert Mohler’s article: Facebook Turns Five: Thoughts on Social Networking to be one that may be helpful to those out there that are new to Facebook as well as those that have used it for some time. While it may be a way to communicate from what I have seen it can also be a way for people to disconnect from real relationships that are face to face. Also, it, as with many other technologies seems to be one that can begin to consume vast amounts of time if one is not careful. I encourage parents to take Dr. Mohler’s advice and be vary wary about letting children and youth use this medium without appropriate supervision.


Over at the Truth and Love blog is a post on college education: Searching for an Alternative College Education. Voddie endorses College Plus which I would as well from what I have been able to see of it from their website and a seminar I have been to. Also of interest should be Voddie “synopsis of a five-point sermon” he says his children have heard over and over and the points given are ones we should be sharing with our children and others as well.


You can download the messages from the 2009 Desiring God Pastors conference here.


Doug Phillips has a blog post on: Our Coming Demographic Winter, Part I. I posted on the DVD Demographic Winter some time back, here, and it is a very good one to watch

New Book by Voddie Baucham

Voddie Baucham has a new book out this month: What He Must Be: ...If He Wants to Marry My Daughter. On his blog post, New Book to Launch Next Week, he mentions the importance of sales in the first weeks that in many respects decide how vendors will promote and sell the book. Any reader of my blog will know that I value Voddie’s messages and I am sure this book will be no different. Here is the description at the Crossway site:

Does it matter what kind of man our daughters marry? If so, how are we preparing them to choose the right kind of man? For those of us with sons, what are we doing to shape them into the kinds of men godly young women should be seeking?

All parents want their daughters to marry godly young men. But which qualities, specifically, should they be looking for?

What will you say when that certain young man sits down in your living room, sweaty-palmed and tongue-tied, and asks your permission to marry your daughter? What criteria should he meet before the two of them join together for life? What He Must Be… If He Wants to Marry My Daughter outlines ten qualities parents should look for in a son-in-law, including trustworthiness, a willingness to lead his family, an understanding of his wife’s role, and various spiritual leadership qualities.

Author Voddie Baucham follows up on his popular book Family Driven Faith with this compelling apologetic of biblical manhood. By studying the principles outlined in his book, parents who want their daughter to marry a godly man—as well as those who want their sons to become godly men—will be well equipped to help their children look for and develop these God-honoring qualities.


Here is the link to Crossway and below is a link to Amazon.

A Lesson in Government

Thanks to Voddie for linking to the video below on Government. This is a 10 minute video that is well worth watching and sharing with others. It is a very good explanation of government and its right use. How many out there think we are a democracy but the truth is that the founding fathers set up a republic and this video does a great job of differentiating between them. Incorrect teachings about government and our government in particular have led to the state we are in today, one that heads towards total government control and the loss of the aim of the constitution, a true republic with the law of God as the basis for justice.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (2/1/09)

Over at Ketocton Baptists they have a copy of a letter by Doug Phillips wife Beal in response to a letter they received some years ago. In light of Mrs. Pelosi’s irresponsible comments lately this letter is very timely. Here is the question asked by the questioner and the beginning of Mrs. Philips response:

[Mr. Phillips] Your poor wife must be sick of popping out kids? Stop overpopulation! Use birth control for (expletive deleted)! Pitiful. Stop adding “freaks” to our society. Abstain. God would want you to (sic).

“Dear _, God bless you. This is Doug’s “poor” wife here writing to assure you that “popping out” kids, though challenging, is among the most glorious gifts that the Lord bestows upon a redeemed woman. ………”



Paul Vaughn has opened up a blog that has many good articles on economics: Full Quiver Financials. I alwaya appreciate Paul's vies onteh economy so am looking forward to reading what he has on this site.



Here is a Pro-Life add that as I understand it NBC decided not to show. It is definitely filled with irony considering the views on life of the person mentioned at the end.

By This Standard

I have hesitated in writing about the recent book I have read for the simple reason that from what I have seen on the internet the mere mention of theonomy raises the hairs on many people’s necks. I am fairly sure that most of this distaste comes from a lack of understanding of what theonomy is as I am quite certain that many have learned what they know not from the sources of theonomic writings such as Greg Bahnsen but from others teachings about theonomy second hand.

I have said all this to say that I have just read Bahnsen’s shorter work on theonomy, By This Standard: The Authority of God’s Law Today. As with my understanding of the doctrines of grace much of what I read in this book is what I had already deduced from scripture beforehand but had not categorized it other than simply seeing a call to obey all of God’s law. How that is done I still need to work through but it was clear to me as it seems clear from Bahnsen that the standards of God in all His word are to be obeyed.

In the first chapters of this book Bahnsen sets out that the goal of this work is to seek to convey that to not see God’s entire word as our standard for ethics is faulty.
In Chapter 20 Bahnsen sets out what the Law can and should do:

1) The law declares the character of God
2) The law displays the demand of God on our lives
3) The law pronounces blessing upon adherence to its demands
4) The law provides a definition of sin
5) The law exposes infractions and convicts of sin
6) The law works to incite rebellion in sinful man
7) The law condemns all transgression as deserving God’s wrath and curse
8) The law drives us to Christ for salvation
9) The law guides the sanctification of the believer
10) The law servers to restrain the evil of the unregenerate

Then in Chapter 21 he speaks of how the reformers broke the use of the law down to three categories or uses. These were: 1) The political use of the law, 2) The pedagogic use of the law, convicting of sin and creating a senses of spiritual need, 3) The didactic use which supplies a rule for the life of the believer. Of these three both 1 and 2 are very often argued against today.

As I had never read Bahnsen before but had read much comment on the evils of theonomy I was surprised to find so little to be able to argue against in his book. Again my guess is that many have not read his works but have instead based opinions on a misunderstanding of the basic position of theonomy or have take a particular segment of these that hold to theonomy and applied to all aspects of theonomy. I would encourage those that have not read this book to do so. As this is only a sort of brief overview, if you want a deeper understanding you would need to read Bahnsen’s larger work: Theonomy in Christian Ethics.

Daniel Ritchie at Reformed Covenanter has written a good post, Differences among Theonomists on the Modern Application of the Law of God. In his post he looks at five areas and explains the difference in each that exist among Theonomists. The five areas are:

1) A difference of opinion arises as to whether or not all the death penalties are mandatory, how many are mandatory or are they merely maximum punishments
2) There are differences of opinion as to what was, and what was not, circumstantial to Older Testament Israel.
3) There are differences of opinion over whether the New Testament has modified certain penalties so that they may be punished differently from what they were in Israel.
4) There are differences of opinion whether there is an increased number of crimes in the New Testament than there was in the Older Testament.
5) There is also confusion surrounding the term “judicial law.”

But as Daniel says: “The important thing in all this is not to agree with me, or with Greg Bahnsen, or with the Puritans, but to accept that the Bible alone is our only objective standard for socio-political justice.” I cannot agree more with this statement. It is not a matter of disagreeing with any particular person but one must take the texts that they apply and seek to see what they truly say.

Does this make me a theonomist, I don’t know? What I do know is that before I ever read a word from Bahnsen, Calvin or others I had seen clearly in scripture that God has commands he demands of us and that He has equipped us by His sprit to follow and we need to do so.

Another book I Highly recommend that I have written on before, Bolton on the Law, is The True Bounds of Christian Freedom by Samuel Bolton. From whence comes one of my favorite quotes:

“The law sends us to the Gospel for our justification; The Gospel sends us to the law to frame our way of life”

Next on my list to read will need to be: 1) Theonomy in Christian Ethics and 2) No Other Standard:Theonomy and Its Critics both by Bahnsen

Fireproof Free w/Purchase

With a purchase of $100 or more you can get Fireproof for free. The movie itself is also available at a discount price.

Nancy Pelosi and Family Planning

Nancy Pelosi in an ABC interview said that we need to give part of the stimulus package to “family planning” (code words for contraception which includes abortion) because it will help the states and the economy. From US News here is a quote from the ABC talk:

"Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

By her reckoning children are a burden and to get out of our financial crisis we need to get rid of that burden, what’s next? I guess she may see the elderly as a drain on the economy, how about the infirmed, how about the unemployed. It’s hard to believe people like this get voted in, but they continually do. I know where we can cut spending and that would be in getting grid of many of the politicians we have since they are the ones intent on spending money they do not have and taking raises, of which Pelosi got a big one, while doing inadequate jobs, that would help the economy.

It will be interesting who on capital hill will speak out against Pelosi’s views. My guess is very few and by their silence and the silence of the new president you learn much. In this brave new world we live in it is the government that decides who is worthy of life and who is not. But this decision is not, as Pelosi reveals, based on God’s word but on human logic and reason. When we no longer have as a basis for our decision making God’s law we are left with ill-fated and immoral decisions.

Below is a video of Pelosi's comments, I have a really hard time even watching her speak:



(Updated) Let me make a confession. Before God changed my life the views of Mrs. Pelosi were not much different from mine when it came to such things as dealing with children. I would have been one of those that saw the mandatory sterilization of those on welfare as a viable economic option. I am eternally grateful that God has so changed my views as to be appalled that I could have even thought of such a thing in the past.

A Dilemma

Well this week SGCF faced a dilemma that is not usually faced in larger churches. That dilemma was that I, as the lone elder, am sick as are two others in my family. Now for many churches this is not an issue but when you have four families and meet in our home it is a problem. With one of our families who has already been struggling with sickness for a number of weeks the issue becomes not only my ability to preach but also the spreading of a rather nasty cold to every one in the church.

So while I could probably preach we decided it was probably best this week that we all meet individually on the Lord’s day with our families so as not to infect others so they would not be able to worship in the following weeks. I have to admit that this was a tough decision but one that was needed for the benefit of the entire church. Pastoring a small church has facets to it that others in larger churches may not see. But the truth is I am sure that in the first century there were days when things just happened so that those that met together could not meet as they usually did.

This issue shows the need for multiple elders in a church. It also revels that for those such as us that meet in homes alternate plans for places to meet as well.

So pray for my family and others in our church that they get better and that we can meet again, Lord willing, next Lord’s day.

The Government Knows Best, SPEND MORE

Thanks to Voddie Baucham for linking to this video of Fred Thompson. If you do not understand all of the complexities of the current economic problems, because you use common sense, watch Mr. Thompson explain how the government knows best how to correct the current problem, SPEND MORE!!!

National NCFIC Conference

Don’t forget to put the National NCFIC Conference on your schedule for this year. It will be in Cincinnati December 10 – 12th and the title for the conference is: The Sufficiency of Scripture for Church and Family Life. The speakers are scheduled to be: Paul Washer, Ken Ham, Doug Phillips, Voddie Baucham, Kevin Swanson, Joe Morecraft, Andrew Davis and others.

“The speaker team will affirm their belief that scripture alone is capable of supplying the right answers to our modern day questions on home and church life. This conference will seek to fortify our understanding of the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture and to illustrate how it applies in church and family life. We believe that the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture is the most important doctrinal battle ground in the church today. Hanging in the balance is purity of the Church.”

I will post more on the conference as it becomes available. If you would like more information you can also contact: David Brown: Dbrown@NCFIC.org