The Great September Giveaway

Tim Challies is having The Great September Giveaway and all you have to do is enter. There are three prizes: 1st is all 6 of the Reformed Expository Commentary series, 2nd is any 3 of the Reformed Expository Commentary series, and 3rd is any 1 of the Reformed Expository Commentary series.

When you enter if you could enter my Referral ID ( 10828 ) I get one extra entry and you can get a referral ID and do the same once you are entered.


or you can click here and the ID goes in automatically




Here are the Commentaries:

Put the Baby in the Beemer

Thanks to Charley at HomeDiscipling Dad as he mentions one of the 14 videos I linked to from Voddie Baucham’s FamilyDrivenFaith Videos, on You Tube, entitled “Put the Baby in the Beemer.” I had not had a chance to view this one but I just did and it speaks to how much our culture has invaded our priorities so I have put the video below as it well worth watching. I have heard Voddie often say (I think this is how he puts it), “If you can’t say Amen you ought to say ouch” well here it probably simply needs to be "ouch."

Put the Baby in the Beemer

In Christ Alone

I am not sure if you have heard the song “In Christ Alone” but it is a very good one. There are number of versions you will find online but the one below simply has video of God's creation as a background to the music and does take some musical liberty with the words, enjoy



Here are the original lyrics, I personally would change the line “For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—“ to “For our sin on Him was laid-“ to make it more theologically correct.

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

"In Christ Alone"Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

Voddie Baucham Videos

Thanks to Glenn at BCBC for this link to some Videos of Voddie Baucham. Theses are short videos that touch on many of the subjects Voddie talks about. Here are a couple of them on the purpose and the importance of Family Worship.

The Purpose of Family Worship



The Importance of Family Worhsip

More thoughts on the Family Integrated Church

Back in March I finished a series I was writing on “What does a Family Integrated Church look like” ( Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 ) and in July of this year we started Sovereign Grace Christian Fellowship and are approaching our 8th Lord’s Day service this week. The start has been a growth experience and has stretched me in ways I was not expecting but as with all things God moves us to do I am confident this is the direction God is leading .

I would have to say my views on the church have not changed since starting SGCF and I would credit this to having tried from the beginning to see what God would have His church to look like. One of the areas that I think we fail, and I have failed here before, is all too often we think about church from what we would like rather than what God desires. This usually stems, or it did for me, from wanting to be comfortable but if we read scripture closely Christianity is far from comfortable. If we come together each Lord’s Day to worship God and to exalt His name should not how we worship be more focused on Him than us? If this is so then it would seem that we should to the best of our ability seek guidance from scripture as to how we are to worship rather than what people prefer. This may be uncomfortable for people and probably in our culture with its focus on comfort and individualism will not be popular.

I say all of this because while a fair number of people are seeking out churches that teach from a more reformed perspective the road block SGCF would seem to offer is that we see God desiring all people to worship together and not to segregate. While I firmly hold that first and foremost in the gathering of the local church is the teaching of the word I also believe we are called to do so in a manner that does not fragment families, in whatever form they may be. So I do not see it as enough to simply have good doctrine taught, as important as that is, but it needs to be taught in a community that most exhibits God’s call for the gathering of the local church.

Up until not too long ago, probably around 100 years or maybe less, the concept of children and families being separated to worship God would have been foreign to the church. We have been so ingrained with this philosophy that I admit it will be hard to break out of the mold but I believe for the church to grow we will have to do this. The issues we now face with such a large percentage of youth leaving the church or going in wayward directions is in large part due to a segregating mentality. The motive for initially segregating children and youth and any other group was to supposedly better disciple them but the model in the scriptures of Older teaching the Younger and families being the primary discipling centers of the church is lost in this mentality.

So I pray that people will be drawn back to the way God designed us to worship and that people will struggle through the change and initial discomfort that comes with any change. I pray that in the future one would not have to have monikers like “Family Integrated Church” because it will be the norm rather than the anomaly. I pray that people would be so instilled with a desire to worship with their children that they would do whatever was necessary to do so and that youth and singles would see the call from God to worship with others outside their own comfortable group setting to enter into multigenerational worship at all cost.

I pray that SGCF will remain steadfast in this God given vision

Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/24/07)

Geoff Botkin is the guest blogger on Doug Phillip’s blog and he writes an article entitled: The 'C' Word and the Coming Persecution of the Church in America. The church today is in a state where those that would be considered following historical-orthodox Christianity are soon, if not already, to be labeled cultic. While those that follow “Cultural Christianity”, which in general is not Christian at all, are seen as the norm. He uses the example of China and it is there that the government uses the term “cult” as a tool to rid the country of anything it does not like and deems detrimental to the states goals.


Sovereign Grace Ministries audio messages are being offered for free here: Messages

If you have been following the conversation between Wayne Grudem, John Piper, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan and Sam Storms ( I am sure there are others) you can get a recap with links to the various articles on Justin Martin’s Blog Between Two Worlds: Baptizoblogodebate Roundup (with Breaking News). This is a good debate to contemplate as it does say much about what we believe and how it interplays with how we relate to each other. Personally, I think there is a disconnect in many of the comments I read, between church membership and fellowship. I don’t know why I cannot fellowship with a brother and sister in Christ that is not a member of the church I attend.

Over at the Reformed Baptist Fellowship the article, It’s worse (and better) than you think, speaks to the obstacles usually presented with regards to reaching this generation. But the issue is not the presentation but the spiritual condition of the one that the message is being presented to. I am sure that many would claim to rely on the Word of God but it seems that all of the antics and gyrations performed to “reach this generation” would say otherwise. Does today’s church take Hebrews 4:12-13 as still true?

Heb 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Franklin Springs Media

Free Online Book Resources

At These are the generations of... Scott links to free books from The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

This made me think that it might be a good idea to give out some other places to go for free online books. So, here are some links to other free online book resources:

Desiring God Ministries - Books
Monergism.com - Books
Monergism.com - Commentaries
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics

If you know of others please let me know and enjoy the resources above.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/16/07)

At A Steward of the Secret Things in the article The Benefits of Expository Preaching there is a list of those benefits. This site also has reviews on books that concern preaching as well as the author (John Brand) is “compiling a manuscript on preaching” which he also has on this blog.

Over at Gospel Driven Life there is a series on the question: Is Biblical Fellowship Optional? This is not speaking about simply meeting for a potluck or other social gathering but is asking for us to really think about what fellowship is and what the biblical call for fellowship is. All too often we simply try and cover the “fellowship” aspect as a perfunctory duty but it seems pretty clear to me that fellowship is not optional and it is to be much deeper than simply surface level relationships.

Voddie Baucham wrote a good article on the Harry Potter books entitled: Harry Potter anyone? He lists at least three reasons his family is not reading the books, the article mainly deals with the thirds reason. The three reasons he lists are:

“First, this literature introduces children to a glorified view of the Occult (arguing that children should never read about occult practices would eliminate portions of Holy Scripture 1 Samuel 28). Second, there is better, more wholesome literature available. Finally, I disagree with those who argue that children need exposure to such material in order to be effective witnesses.”

At Banner of Truth there is an article titled: What to Expect of Preaching. The author of the article gives the following as his definition of preaching:

Preaching is the proclamation of the timeless written Word into the present day life-setting of the people, delivered through a called man’s personality, so that a person hears the Word with something of the clarity, urgency, and vitality experienced by the original hearers.

He is not saying that preaching does not include imparting information and helping to discover application but it is that and so much more. The goal of all preaching should be to convey God’s Word to His people as God intended it and not as we would like it to be. This entails making sure that we convey the original message so that today’s listener can understand it as the message was originally intended. I find that preaching through books of the bible systematically helps in this area as I am less likely to avoid tough subjects and thorny passages and instead I have to go headlong into what God has said and is still saying.

The New Pilgrim’s Progress Movie

Mike over at Possessing the Treasure has given the heads up that there is a movie of Pilgrim’s Progress being made. I don't know much about it but it will be interesting to see how close to the book it will be and how accurately it portrays Christian’s journey to the Celestial City. You can see a short clip and keep up on the progress of the movie at their site: Pilgrim’s Progress: Journey to Heaven .

One of the many difficulties with making movies from such literature as Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is being true to the story line and getting it all in with a time limit of 2 – 3hrs. This also leads to the inevitable question about what should be cut out to meet the time constraints. If you have read Pilgrim’s Progress you will know that there is not much if any material that can really be cut out without altering Bunyan’s vision.

We will just have to see how it goes. I am so leery about any film of this nature and pray that if it does anything it leads people to actually read Pilgrim’s Progress. Christians need to be more discerning about what they watch and make sure they are not simply used by the media as a source of income. We need to not be afraid to discern what we watch and support so that the message is sent that our faith is not to be taken lightly or tampered with.

So, at the moment this is not really an endorsement, if my endorsement means much anyway, as I know little about the producers and content but is to let you know this endeavor is out there.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/8/07)

Over at The World From Our Window there have been some good discussions on church polity: Is the Church a Democracy? Elders in Baptist Life & The Question No One Will Answer. Is Church a Democracy? & So Why Don’t We Change? (Church Government)

At Reformation Theology that have an article entitled: The Five Points of Hyper Calvinsim

Doug Philips has a good article entitled: How to Honorably Leave a Church. I am convinced that this does not happen because today people take church membership so lightly that leaving one church for another is not different than choosing another restaurant or grocery store. It is when we truly understand the idea of the local church that when we are called by God to leave that we will do so honorably.

Charley at The Home Discipling Dad writes on: the Unexamined Life and links to another sermon by Paul Washer. I have listened to this one and it is very good.

Lastly, as a shameless plug I have been able to get the sermons from our new church start up and they can be downloaded from the church website, Sovereign Grace Christian Fellowship, or if you use ITunes the Podcast address.

Steve Camp on the Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

Steve Camp gives a response to the bridge collapse in Minneapolis: What is the Message of the Bridge Collapse in Minnesota?...a biblical response

John Piper Writes on Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

John Piper writes on the Bridge collapse in Minneapolis. This is really close to home for Piper as the bridge is “within sight of Bethlehem Baptist Church” and many of the BBC staff drive over the bridge daily. I would encourage you to read his post. All too often we ask why in questions like this, and that is a valid question, but why do we rarely if ever ask “Why not?” You can read his comments here: Putting My Daughter to Bed Two Hours After the Bridge Collapsed

Around the Web and the Blogosphere (8/1)

Here area a couple good sites for sermon MP3s. The first one has a number of sermons by Paul Washer, and others, which are very good. You can find these at: Uncommonly Powerful Preaching. The other site I have linked to before but is worth repeating is: Reforming My Mind-MP3s

I have been visiting this site recently largely due to the series it has on Church Planting: Reformed Baptist Fellowship

I was led by Scott over at These are the generations of…. to read Mike Ratliff’s blog – Possessing the Treasure. The call to the church to repent is a message that needs to be heard more and more today as it seeks to find its way by every other means than God’s word.

At Reformation21 Rick Phillips shares about his visit to the annual Christian Booksellers' Association (CBA) convention in Atlanta this year. Here are a couple observations he makes and you can read the rest at: Christian Booksellers Association Convention

“It was also striking to observe the Christlessness of the Christian Booksellers' Association. The vast majority of it is about you.”

“Okay, I really was shocked by one thing. That was the way that worldly sensuality is starting to permeate everything evangelical. (After all, it sells!) It was utterly shocking to see that the award given for best children/youth book went to one titled Sexy Girls.”

Links to Chapter Reviews of Family Driven Faith

I realized that I had not linked back to previous chapters that I had reviewed, for those that are interested, so I added them to the last chapter I reviewed. So as to have them all in one place here again are links the chapters I reviewed in Voddie Baucham’s new book Family Driven Faith.

Chapter 1- The Lay of the Land
Chapter 2- A God with No Rivals
Chapter 3- Learn to Love
Chapter 4- Give Him Your Heart
Chapter 5- Teach the Word at Home
Chapter 6- Live the Word at Home
Chapter 7- Mark the Home as God’s Territory
Chapter 8- Enjoy the Gifts Without Forgetting the Giver
Chapter 9- The Coming Revival: Is the Church Ready for Family Driven Faith?
Chapter 10- A Radical Departure From the Norm

As I have said before, I highly recommend this book and pray that it challenges you as it has me.

Dog Fighting is a Choice

I have written a little on this once before but every time I hear the outrage concerning Michael Vick and the allegations of being involved in Dog fighting I cannot help but think about abortion. I hear how people think it is atrocious and even the NFL commission called it incomprehensible. But how can people think that this is so bad and look the other way on abortion? I am not saying that dog fighting is OK, it is not, and my title was just for effect but dog fighting and all it includes comes no where near what abortion is and does.

I am going to try a new question to people and see what their answer will be and if for nothing else than to maybe get them to think. How about asking what they think about Dog Fighting and all of the coverage of it in the press lately. I am pretty sure that many will find the dog fighting, and rightly so, unconscionable. But then ask them what they think of abortion. If as we are told by many that we should not intrude on abortion because it is a personal choice then so also ask “is not dog fighting”.

Also, if one were to simply try and play the unborn child is only a fetus or tissue blob card then your next comment should be that regardless of how you view the sanctity of life and if the unborn child is actually to be considered a life scientific proof has shown that at a very early stage in development the unborn child experiences pain and other sensations. The disgust from dog fighting comes from the pain and death inflicted on helpless animals, well I would say an unborn child is much more helpless and worthy of our concern. Again all of this is first and foremost to try and put abortion in a clear perspective of which those that are supposedly Pro Choice, even they do not like to use the word abortion, have successfully for the most part clouded. We as believers need to care for all life and so we should care for animals but we are to have greater care for human life which was created after the likeness of God.

Pray that even this situation can be used as a spring board for conversations that help people to see inconsistencies in their worldview. Pray also that God would use situations such as this as a means for Him to open peoples hearts to Himself.

Family Driven Faith – Chapter 10 - A Radical Departure From the Norm

Voddie ends Family Driven Faith by revealing what he feels is in the future with regards to the gathered church and the practice of Family Driven Faith. He reveals how he came to struggle with the church and the paradigm that it was and is still in. A paradigm that was not equipping parents to parent as God decrees but in reality was in many ways unhealthy for families. I would add that the paradigm of the church today has a proclivity to advertise itself as “Family Friendly” but at the end of the day is truly anything but. He also deals with what is termed “family-based” ministries and how while they are a step in the right direction there is still a gulf between what they propose and what a family-integrated ministry would propose as methods and practices of ministry.

He sets out to describe some distinctives of the Family-Integrated Church. From personal experience I have found the title. Family-integrated, is often misunderstood or misapplied so I think Voddie’s desire to set out some distinctives is a good way to end this book. The first of those distinctives is that in Family-Integrated Churches (FIC) “Families Worship Together” and this is through all age groups. While the church today sees “corporate worship being a largely adult affair” the FIC sees worship as being most glorifying to God when it is multigenerational and when families are brought together to worship rather than separated.

The second distinctive is that in the FIC there is “No Systematic Segregation.” A hallmark of the modern church is the belief that people are best ministered to by being segregated into some form of age or life situation group. The FIC seeks to keep people together simply because it is first biblical and secondly since it is biblical God uses the multigenerational aspect to help all believers grow. It is here that Voddie makes sure that he reader understands the difference between the FIC and the family-based Youth ministry and he does so not just by conjecture and observation but also by quotes from those that propose this type of youth ministry.

Thirdly, a distinctive is in seeing “Evangelism and Discipleship in and Through Homes.” This probably irks many in the modern church that has so programatized evangelism as this will sound too easy for it to be effective. But, Voddie points out that if we do not evangelize our own children we have missed our primary calling. The church needs to equip men to lead families to disciple and this would in and of itself radically change the church.

Another distinctive is the FICs “Emphasis on Education as a Key Component of Discipleship.” Voddie speaks on the fact that while the FIC is not designed for Home School families it is often a natural fit as many of the reasons people homeschool are many of the same reasons for the FIC. In this chapter he also touches on the schooling of our children and this will probably not sit well with some but I would challenge anyone that disagrees with Voddie to not only listen to what he has to say but to really listen what scripture has to say about the education of our children.

Next, Voddie gives some “Guiding Principles of the Family-Integrated Church”. First is that the FIC is to “Promote a Biblical View of Marriage and Family.” We need to head the church away from its secularization of the family and marriage and see it through God’s word and not the world’s view of things. We need to teach from scripture so that instead of families deciding how many children to have by pragmatic principles that instead the church would see children and families through God’s word.

The next principle is that the FIC needs to “Promote Family Worship/Discipleship.” For me this is the one that I, as Voddie confesses to, have been negligent of for far too long. We need to get back to seeing the training of our children to be more than simply sending them off to Sunday School but that we would take the time and effort to accept our God given responsibilities.

Thirdly is that the FIC needs to “Promote Christian Education.” As with one of the distinctives above the area of training our children in a secular world is one we take far too lightly. In some ways this can go for homeschoolers as well as often many simply school at home and not homeschool so that the motives and drives of the world are still evident even in some Christian homeschooling.

Another principle is that the FIC should “Promote Biblically Qualified Leadership.” This speaks of not just finding men that are trained and skilled in preaching and teaching but ones that also meet the requirements of eldership by having their household in order. As Voddie shares, all too often the household of the pastor is the last place that is looked at when seeking to find a leader for a church.

Voddie finishes the book by sharing what is a very important piece of information, which is that the ideas he is proposing are not new and unique. They are simply practices that have been lost over time and replaced with more pragmatic and seemingly successful models. He quotes Richard Baxter from the 1600” who says:

You are not likely to see any general reformation, till you procure family reformation. Some little religion there may be here and there; but while it is confined to single persons, and is not promoted in families, it will not prosper, nor promise future increase.

I would highly recommend this book and while at times Voddie may push a button or two I think they are buttons that need to be pushed. This is not simply a model of church to follow but a paradigm to return to. If I would have one thing to add and that would be one should not simply “do” Family-Integration” because it is novel. One should strive to be a FIC because it is biblical and what, to me, best exemplifies what God has called the church to always be.

Read and Enjoy: Family Driven Faith

Previous chapter reviews:
Chapter 1- The Lay of the Land
Chapter 2- A God with No Rivals
Chapter 3- Learn to Love
Chapter 4- Give Him Your Heart
Chapter 5- Teach the Word at Home
Chapter 6- Live the Word at Home
Chapter 7- Mark the Home as God’s Territory
Chapter 8- Enjoy the Gifts Without Forgetting the Giver
Chapter 9- The Coming Revival: Is the Church Ready for Family Driven Faith?

Piper on the Being Saved and the Gospel

Thanks to Ken Fields at The World From Our Window for pointing me to this Piper Video: What Does it mean to get saved (1:48). There is also a little longer (6:00) video below it that has Piper on the Gospel. I highly recommend reading Piper’s book God is the Gospel as it does a great job, in my opinion, of giving a biblical view of the Gospel which is so muddied by many who claim to preach it today.

What does it mean to get saved ?



Here is the longer presentation of the “The Gospel” by Piper

Family Driven Faith - Chapter 9 – The Coming Revival: Is the Church Ready for Family Driven Faith?

Chapter 9 of Family Driven Faith is where Voddie begins to speak more on how this all comes together and reveals the struggles that taking a biblical stance on family and church can bring. He reiterates that the goal is not simply doing a few things different or even really adopting a new model of church but it is instead “a complete lifestyle and worldview overhaul.” So it is not enough to simply look at basic structures and programs and run off and change things but it takes truly seeing this as the biblical way church life is to function and taking that conviction and allowing it to be a way of life and not just a way of church.

One of the things that has struck me more lately as a family that homeschools is how many “Christian” families simply school at home rather than homeschool. By this I mean they simply see homeschooling as a way to a better education but if we see homeschooling biblically and tie it into the idea of family driven faith we should see the priority of homeschooling to be to help our children grow spiritually first and foremost with other aspects coming from this spiritual growth. This is not an easy thing to do and Voddie shares how the criticism is not simply from the unbelieving world but he shares how the church itself is often the harshest critic of those that see God’s call to family as being not only important but biblical.

Voddie than shares his struggles with finding a church that would fit the biblical model he saw it was supposed to fill. This comes from seeing church in a different light than today’s culture has changed it into. Having come to the same conclusions I can say I fully understand the dilemma he faced. In our case we have started a church but for some this may not be possible. Thus, the encouragement is that if God has called us to function a certain way as a church God will provide the means to do so. This does not mean it will be easy and that we will not have struggles but we are called to be faithfull and not necessarily to comfort.

Voddie then gives some of the flaws in the Contemporary model of church and does so in a way not so much to criticize but to awaken people to the issues at hand. As we get immersed in our culture we begin to assume certain norms and it takes a call, such as Voddie’s, to awaken us from slumber to see the problems around us. Having been a Youth Leader myself I can fully agree with what he says about the problems with current youth ministry and how whether on purpose or not it is designed to allow parents to not do the job they are called to do by God, disciple their children.

He also gives three problems he sees with the current approach ot church: 1) there is no clear biblical mandate for the current approach. 2) the current approach may actually work against the biblical model and 3) the current approach isn’t working. On each of these he does a good job explaining what the issue is so that it should be easier for someone to spot the issue when it is before them.

Voddie then speaks on the common objections to what he has to say. I too have heard these same objections and Voddie’s answers are well worth taking note of because if you move in this direction you too will be faced with such questions. These common objections are: 1) We need youth ministry for parents who don’t disciple their children 2) We need youth ministry for kids who don’t have Christian parents. 3) Why not let your children be leaders in the youth group and disciple other kids? and 4) What about youth evangelism?

Voddie ends this chapter with a short section on the Emerging/Emergent Church and while the information is only the basics it will give you an idea of the issues at hand. However I would encourage you to do more reading on this since as with most things there are varying degrees with which theses churches function and it is not as easy to understand as one might like. What I would add to this is that the modern church youth culture, in my opinion was the seedbed for the Emerging/Emergent Church. The focus on entertainment and personal gratification has fostered a biblically illiterate generation that is disgruntled with where the church is but ill equipped to change it, biblically. In the end this is not so much to blame youth leaders as much as it is to say that church leadership has failed to raise children that are equipped to see error when faced with it as the Emerging/Emergent Church all too often places does. Voddie’s goal is to show that the Emerging/Emergent Church in many ways is trying to deal with many of the same issues the modern church has created but they are heading down a road that does not have scripture as it’s guide since they do not see it as authoritative in the way God intends it to be authoritative.

This is was one of the chapters that really begins to help one see how the rubber meets the road. Voddie does not sugar coat the fact that Family Driven Faith is not an easy road to go down and that there will often be resistance and unfortunately it will be from within the church walls.

Next, Chapter 10 – A Radical Departure From the Norm

Around the Web and the Blogosphere – 7/18/07

You can download a new song for free from Sovereign Grace Ministries entitled: All I Really Need. You can also hear clips from this new album by the Father and Son duo of Mark and Stephen Altrogge.

There is a review by Colin Adams at Discerning Reader of Voddie Baucham’s new book Family Driven Faith. There is also an interview with Voddie on their site.

Also at Discerning Reader is a review of Graeme Goldsworthy’s book According to Plan which is a book I highly recommend. If you are new to the area Biblical Theology then this is a great place to start. Biblical Theology, as Goldsworthy presents it, is essentially finding Christ in all the Scriptures.

Scott at These are the Generations of….. linked to a Pastor who really said what he feels about children, Children in Church. This pastors feelings go much deeper than just “children in church” as it is more amazing all the time how far churches feel they must go to so called “reach” the world. I guess if people come in the door it does not matter how you get them there and how you keep them. Pragmatism reigns supreme in the church today.

On Voddie Baucham’s blog he has a good article: Please Stop Sending Money? The article should make us think about how we are to aid countries that are in distress. Unfortunately just as we do with education in the US we as Americans simply think that every problme can be solved by throwing money at it.

Family Driven Faith - Chapter 8 - Enjoy the Gifts Without Forgetting the Giver

Many Christians live and work in this world, as if their Christianity was a low priority in life, and this world and its pleasures were all important; when indeed the things of this world are fleeting and Christianity is the one thing we need most.

John Bunyan

Voddie begins with the call by Moses in Deuteronomy 6:12 as they have been brought from slavery into the new land that they were not to forget God. The call to a family driven ministry is also a call to see things differently. As believers we are called to be in the world but not of it. However all too often believers take to one extreme or the other, total separation or total assimilation. The answer to this dilemma is to make sure that we do not get so enthralled by the gifts and blessing we receive that we neglect the giver of those gifts. That families do not fall by the wayside as a result of being enamored by worldly success.
This idea of focus on the gifts and not the giver is not the bane of the rich as it can even happen in meager surroundings as we begin to see our success in parenting as “our” success and not God’s. Often we think that if we just give our family more than we had things will be great so we give so much to our children as Voddie says:

“….our children are screaming at us from beneath the piles of untouched toys and unworn clothes begging for a few minutes of our time. Time we simply don’t have because we are too busy trying to find that one thing we can add to the pile that will make the screaming stop.”

Before we think that this issue of not spending time with family is the sole issue of the world ask how often have we have seen families, make sure we include ours, sacrificed in the name of spending time doing God’s work. Also, keep in mind I have heard the opposite reasoning used so as to justify not being involved in the local church in an integral way. Voddie gives four excuses often used to justify this behavior of a lack of family time: Other Families Suffer Worse Than Ours, My Kids Want to be Like Me, The Benefits Outweigh the Costs and Momma will fix it. In all of these reasons I think if we are honest with ourselves before God we should be convicted as in some way we all fall into these traps

The last reason is one that I think most men fall into and this is that our wives will take care of the family while we take care of the “bacon.” Well the problem is that while our wives are an integral part of raising our families we are responsible not only for the outcome but the path to that outcome.

Voddie gives a look at the path to “A Better Way” which starts with deciding what is important from a Biblical perspective. The guidelines he gives in this area are: God is Not Opposed to Prosperity, Prosperity Vs. Idolatry, Prosper as God Allows, Prioritize Family, Being a Wife and Mother Is an Honorable Calling, You Can’t Have it All….and You Don’t Need It All and Lastly A Life Invested is Never Wasted. We need to take heed of these guidelines as if we, with the best intentions, attempt to have a Family Driven Faith it will all be for nought if we do not do things as god calls for them to be done in His word.
This was one of those chapters that should not make any of us comfortable. However, it is this lack of comfort that can get us to move in the direction we need to move. We should come away from this section asking if we are not only spending adequate time with our families but are we spending God driven time. I think it is a misnomer that our children and families need quality time over a quantity of time. The truth is they need a good quantity of quality time and that time needs to be biblically directed.

Next, Chapter 9 – The Coming Revival: Is the Church Ready for Family Driven Faith?