21st
O Love Incomprehensible!
John Bradford (via Tony Reinke)
What good is it if you make disciples of your neighbors, co-workers, and friends, yet neglect to disciple your own family? This is what Paul meant when he said, “If a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?” (1 Tim. 3:5). This Scripture is not just for pastors, but is also applicable for all Christian parents. The reality is that we are not putting enough focus on discipling our own families, and instead we tend to leave the responsibility to the church.
The call to “make disciples” begins in our homes first. It is our spiritual responsibility as parents to teach our children about the faith. The Bible tells parents, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). As Christian parents, we should desire for our children to have a firm foundation and grow up to love Jesus and know what the Bible says about their lives.
Read the rest of Discipleship Starts at Home - Part 1, by Winfield Bevins.
Work in your hearts a hatred of sin… If a man had killed your friend, or father, or mother, how would you hate him! You would not endure the sight of him, but follow the law upon him. Send out the avenger of blood with a hue and cry after thy sin; bring it afore God’s judgment seat, arraign it, accuse it, spit on it, condemn it and thyself for it, have it to the cross, nail it there, if it cry I thirst, give it vinegar, stretch the body of sins upon his cross, stretch every vein of it, make the heart strings crack; and then when it hangs there, triumph over the dying of it, show it no pity, laugh at its destruction, say, Thou hast been a bloody sin to me and my husband, hang there and rot. And when thou art tempted to it [sin], and art very thirsty after the pleasure of it, say of that opportunity to enjoy it, It is the price of Christ’s blood, and pour it upon the ground. … Shall I live upon that which was Christ’s death? Shall I please myself in that which was his pain? Shall I be so dishonest, so unkind, as to enjoy the pleasure for which he endured the smart?”
Thomas Goodwin (from Tony Reinke)
The Face of Lincoln - presents Professor Merrell Gage, retired head of the Department of Sculpture at the University of Southern California, describing the life and career of Abraham Lincoln as he sculpts a lifelike bust of the 16th President, making physical changes in the subject’s hair, beard and expression to correspond to events in Lincoln’s life.
Married men who have sex outside their marriage, single men who fool around rather than seeking wives, fathers who walk out on their kids, and fathers who are too lazy to work hard and pay the bills all hate children by their actions. And because God is a father to the fatherless, they have made themselves enemies of God.
As Christians, we do not emulate these men in any way. They are the world, and we are the church. In the church, things are different because Jesus and his men are our example. Repentant men who desire to walk with Jesus, love women, and love children with masculine dignity are welcome. But men who want to abuse our sisters in Christ and ignore their responsibilities are unwelcome. Simply, churches must demand that sinful men change or leave.
Mark Driscoll, from chapter 7 his book Pastor Dad
Mark Driscoll, from his book Pastor Dad