Father's Day Gift Ideas

Father's Day is quickly approaching. This year, rather than a tie or new power tool, let me suggest that you buy your husband or father a book to further his sanctification and growth in grace. You'll be blessed by the Spirit's transformative work in your man's life. Here are some titles that would fit the bill, currently available on our Trinity Church Book Table (in the new library):

The Exemplary Husband by Stuart Scott

Water of the Word by Andrew Case

Sex, Romance and the Glory of God by CJ Mahaney

Boy's Passage, Man's Journey by Brian Molitor

Our Misled Loyalty (to the self via the state)

We in 21st century America (Christians included) may be the most narcissistic in history. We want it all, we want it now, and its the job of the government to give it to us. How did we get in this mess? Missiologist Leslie Newbingin provides a very thoughtful analysis. Read it carefully and then consider how our nation's evolving self-focus has informed your own thinking.

"From the Enlightenment onwards, it is the 'rights of man' which has seemed axiomatic. To the founding fathers...to embody the principles of this new philosophy, it seemed necessary and natural to begin with the famous words: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' The rights of the human person are the unquestioned starting point from which all else follows.

These rights include the right to pursue 'happiness.' Happiness was hailed by the eighteenth century philosophers as 'a new word in Europe.' In place of the joys of heaven to which the medieval person was encouraged to look forward, Enlightenment people looked forward to 'happiness' here on earth.

Hannah Arendt (On Revolution, 1963) has pointed out that, for some at least of the American founding fathers, the happiness intended was the 'public happiness' of actively shared responsibility for public life. She also shows, however, that while any sort of private hedonism was very far from their purposes, the course of events led inexorably to an interpretation of their language as meaning the pursuit of private wellbeing. The result is that the world becomes a place where each individual has the 'right' to pursue 'happiness' in the domestic and privatized sense, and it is the responsibility of the state to see that this right is honored.

Nationalism [read 'patriotism'], therefore, becomes our effective ideology, always in times of crisis proving stronger than any other ideological or religious force [think American flag draped and 'God Bless the USA' saturated Christian churches after 9-11]. If there is any entity to which ultimate loyalty is due, it is the nation-state. In the twentieth century, we have become accustomed to the fact that - in the name of the nation - Catholics will fight Catholics, and Protestants will fight Protestants. The charge of blasphemy, if it is ever made, is treated as a quaint anachronism; but the charge of treason, of placing another loyalty above that of the state, is treated as the unforgivable crime. Tha nation-state has taken the place of God."

- Leslie Newbingin, Leslie Newbingin: Missionary Theologian, A Reader, pp. 195-96

The reason for this mess? Our primary pursuit of present, private happiness.

Would you own a pub?

"I have concluded that Jesus is much more concerned about who we are than what we do."

- Mike Hale, Brewer & Owner of Hales Ales Brewery and Pub, Seattle, Washington (and a very orthodox and outspoken Christian)

Your biblically informed thoughts?

Jesus - Master of our Hope

When we think about the benefits which are ours in Jesus, most of us tend to reduce it to the bare minimum of escaping God's wrath through justification. But JC Ryle helps us consider the greater blessings that are our in the Son.

We are called by Jesus:
'They are the called of Jesus Christ' (Romans 1:6).

We are made alive by Jesus:
'The son quickeneth who He will' (John 5:21).

We are washed clean by Jesus:
'He has loved us, and washed us from our sin in His own blood' (Revelation 1:5).

We receive peace from Jesus:
'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you' (John 14:27).

We gain eternal life from Jesus:
'I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish' (John 10:28).

We gain the power to repent from Jesus:
'Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance' (Acts 5:31).

We become God's children through Jesus:
'To as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God' (John 1:12).

- JC Ryle, Holiness, p. 260

O, the glory of our multifaceted Christ!

How Would YOU Respond?

How would you respond if you received a legally binding order from your county that you may no longer host a Bible study in your home unless you pay the high registration costs for a 'religious assembly' application? A San Diego man is facing such a question right now. You can read about it here.

In your opinion, what would be the most God-honoring way to respond?

Intercession For Her

That's the subtitle of a unique and helpful resource recently released by Andrew Case called Water of the Word (Createspace, 2008). Just as The Valley of Vision (a collection of classic prayers by great men of God from centuries past) has become a daily springboard for many of our prayer lives, helping us pray in a more God-centered way, Case's book will do the same to help us pray in a more biblically proactive way for our wives.

Water of the Word is a book of prayers (more than 200 of them) to help us articulate well what God wants us praying for them. As Case himself says in the introduction, every printed prayer is a compilation of Scripture carefully crafted into a prayer for God to bless, encourage, convict and shape our wives into the image of Christ. The result of such praying will be not only God's manifest answer in the form of an encouraged and sanctified wife, but we will be changed as we find ourselves more tender, patient and hopeful about the woman the Lord has entrusted to our care. Even more, God will be increasingly glorified in our marriages as we embody Christ to our wives (Eph. 5:25-27), mirroring His own intercession for us before God's throne for our good (Heb. 7:25).

Rather amazingly, Andrew Case isn't yet married. What a blessed woman she will be who discovers that her husband-to-be has been biblically interceding for her for years. That fact has caused me to begin to pray these prayers for the future wives of my two sons, and I plan to place copies in their hands once they hit their teen years. We, as the Bride of Christ, know the life-changing blessing of His intercession. Isn't it time our brides knew the blessing of ours?

Unmasking False Gospels

An Encouragement to Read

"Television (and even film) doesn't depict [complex] realities very well, and is at its best with the superficial and trivial, which is why the late Neil Postman (in his Amusing Ourselves to Death) expressed a preference for The Three Stooges over The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour. Neither program was significant, but one had the pretense of significance, and it was this pretense that irked Postman. Only by televised news' own silly standards could someone spent ten to fifteen minutes on a matter of public interest and consider this to be 'in-depth' coverage. Nothing of public importance can be covered in ten minutes; few important matters can even be adequately introduced in ten minutes.

[Only] a culture that reads can consider what is significant because reading takes time, and that which is significant ordinarily takes time to apprehend. But a culture that is accustomed to commercial interruptions every six or seven minutes loses its ability to discuss significant matters because it has lost the patience necessary to consider them....

As a medium, reading cultivates patient, lengthy attention span, whereas television as a medium is impatient. One is, therefore, suited to what is significant; the other merely to what is insignificant. As our culture has become a television culture [read 'ipod, texting and blog culture' as well], a larger part of our waking life has been occupied by considering what is insignificant and unimportant (or worse, by inadequately considering what is significant through an insignificant medium)."

- T. David Gordon, Why Johnny Can't Preach, pp. 53-55

Miss California, Gay Rights and Christian Thoughtfulness

If you've been tuned into our American news media recently, you're likely privy to the recent furor over Miss California's opposition to gay marriage. If you're interested, you can read about it here.

For a more thoughtful treatment of the issue from a Christian perspective, consult the recent comments of Carl Trueman.

What Church Kids Need

"Research confirms that the influence of a father's worship practices on the retention of their children in faith far outweighs the influence of mothers."

- Marva Dawn, "Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down"