Training Children: Holy Scripture

“Any system of training which does not make a knowledge of Scripture the first thing is unsafe and unsound (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 17).”

Training Children: Holy Scripture, Again

"See that your children read the Bible regularly. Train them to regard it as their soul’s daily food, as a thing essential to their soul’s daily health. I know well you cannot make this anything more than a form; but there is no telling the amount of sin which a mere form may indirectly restrain (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 18).”

Training Children: Your Child’s Soul, Again

“A true Christian must be no slave to fashion, if he would train his child for heaven. He must not be content to do things merely because it is unusual; to allow them to read books of a questionable sort, merely because everybody else reads them; to let them form habits of a doubtful tendency, merely because they are the habits of the day. He must reign with an eye to his children’s souls. He must not be ashamed to hear his training called singular and strange. What if it is? The time is short,--the fashion of this world passeth away. He that has trained his children for heaven, rather than for earth,-- for God, rather than for man,-- he is the parent that will be called wise at last and throughout all eternity, enjoy each other’s love and fellowship (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 17).”

Training Children: Your Child’s Soul

“This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty questions, ‘How will this affect their souls (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 16?’”

Training Children: Dependence, Again

“Beware of that miserable delusion into which some have fallen,--that parents can do nothing for their children, that you must leave them alone, wait for grace, and sit still. These persons have wishes for their children in Balaam’s fashion,--they would like them to die the death of the righteous man, but they do nothing to make them live his life. They desire much, and have nothing (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 14).”

Training Children: Dependence

“We depend in a vast measure, on those who bring us up (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 13).”

Training Children: The Way They Should Go, Again

“If, then, you would deal wisely with your child, you must not leave him to the guidance of his own will. Think for him, judge for him, act for him, just as you would for one weak and blind; but for pity’s sake, give him not up to his own wayward tastes and inclinations. . . . Train him in the way that is Scriptural and right, and not in the way that he fancies (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 12).”

Training Children: The Way They Should Go

“Remember children are born with a decided bias towards evil, and therefore if you let them choose for themselves, they are certain to choose wrong (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 11).”

Training Children: Patience

“The whetstone does its work slowly, but frequent rubbing will bring the scythe to a fine edge. Truly there is need of patience in training a child, but without it nothing can be done (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 10).”

1 Cor. iv. 20: Power

John Calvin believed that preaching is dead when Ministers of the Word rely solely on ornate preaching. A Minister of the Word that is filled with the Holy Spirit ought to preach in accordance with the Spirit: namely, in Power.

Calvin commenting on 1 Corinthians iv.20 (For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.) -- As the Lord governs the Church by his word, as with a sceptre, the administration of the gospel is often called the kingdom of God. Here, then, we are to understand by the kingdom of God whatever tends in this direction, and is appointed for this purpose—that God may reign among us. He says that this kingdom does not consist in word, for how small an affair is it for any one to have skill to prate eloquently, while he has nothing but empty tinkling [sound of tinkling in the air]. Let us know, then, a mere outward gracefulness and dexterity in teaching is like a body that is elegant and of a beautiful colour, while the power of which Paul here speaks is like the soul. We have already seen that the preaching of the gospel is of such a nature, that it is inwardly replete with a kind of solid majesty. This majesty shows itself, when a minster strives by means of power rather than of speech—that is, when he does not place confidence in his own intellect, or eloquence, but, furnished with spiritual armour, consisting of zeal for maintaining the Lord’s honour—eagerness for raising up of an invincible constancy—purity of conscience, and other necessary endowments, he applies himself diligently to the Lord’s work. Without this, preaching is dead, and has no strength, with whatever beauty it may be adorned. Hence in his second epistle, he says, that in Christ nothing avails but a new creature (2 Cor. v. 17)—a statement which is to the same purpose. For he would have us not rest in outward masks, but depend solely on the internal power of the Holy Spirit.

CREC: History of the CREC

My wife and I have attended Trinity Evangelical Church, located in Larwill, Indiana, for two years. Look us up on the web: http://www.trinity-evangelical.org/. Trinity is currently a candidate church in the CREC (Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches). Look them up on the web: http://www.crechurches.org/.

In 2004, at the eighth Presbytery of the CREC, a report on the history of the CREC was presented; the concluding paragraphs stated: We in the CREC are recovering from 20th century fundamentalism and pietism. As pietists, we tried to be relevant to culture and to make a difference, but we learned that the more relevant we tried to become, the more shallow and fragmented, and at last, the less relevant, we became. As fundamentalists, we wanted to hold up the Bible as our standard of truth, but we came to learn that without owning the church as the “pillar and ground of the truth,” a high Bible is no longer a precious Covenant document, but Gnostic emptiness. God protected us from ourselves. He protected us through all our silly political lobbying, our taste for Contemporary Christian music, and our media-frenzied vision for ministry, even as we neglected the church. He has been kind to show us our folly, and to restore us to our mother. We in the CREC are in love with our creeds and confessions and liturgies and our church government. For our merciful God has rescued us out of the 20th century.

I relate to that history, especially the parts about being rescued from ourselves by a merciful God.

The Gentle Imperative

"Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are there in a mile? Is yellow square or round? Probably half the questions we ask -- half our great theological and metaphysical problems -- are like that."- C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Myself included, this quote would have saved some of my buddies in college a great deal of heartache. We all could have used the gentle imperative, "Easy, Trigger!"

Lord of Patterns, Again

In an essay on “How to Chant the Psalms,” James B. Jordan says, “Just how important is this shape of the text? Well, our answer will depend on how we view the Word of God. Is the Word merely information, or does it shape our thinking and our lives in other ways as well? Does the shape of the text shape us? Does it change how we think, in subtle ways, enabling us to live in God’s world more perfectly? I submit that to ask such questions is virtually to answer them. Certainly the shape of God’s Word is an aspect of the Word, and should be brought across as much as possible in translation and reading.”

Is the pattern of God’s creation week an aspect of the creation? Does the Lord only want to fill our heads with ideas, or does he want to make our bodies and spirits fat with holy patterns, shapes, rites, and real, physical objects (water, bread, wine, etc)? We serve, me thinks, the Lord of pattern and shape, and I believe that we ought to pay attention to Biblical patterns and shapes, for it will cause us to mature in a manner that is cruciform.

The Lord of Patterns

Quote taken from the fifth chapter of The Answers Book : “The fourth commandment in Ex 20:9 tells us that we are to work six days and rest for one. The justification for this is given in Ex 20:11, "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it". This is a direct reference to God's creation week in Ge 1:1-31. To be consistent (and we must be), whatever is used as the meaning of the word day in Ge 1:1-31 must also be used here. If you are going to say the word day means a long period of time in Genesis, then it has been already shown that the only way this can be is in the sense that the day is an indefinite or indeterminate period of time--not a definite period of time. Thus, the sense of Ex 20:9-11 would have to be "six indefinite periods shall thou labour, and rest a seventh indefinite period"! This, however, makes no sense at all. By accepting the days as ordinary days, we understand that God is telling us that He worked for six ordinary days and rested for one ordinary day to set a pattern for man--the pattern of our seven-day week, which we still have today! In other words, here in Ex 20:1-26 we learn the reason why God took as long as six days to make everything--He was setting a pattern for us to follow, a pattern we still follow today.”

The Lord created the world in six literal days. He created real, physical things. When He was finished, He rested. In the Book of Exodus the Lord commands Israel to model their week after the original creation week – resting one day and performing dominion work for six days. As noted above, we still follow this pattern today!

Dominion Work: We are caretakers of the real, physical world the Lord created. We work for six days. We sweat and we bleed to make this world beautiful and protect it from satanic powers. The Lord expects us to transform this world from glory to glory, in the same manner that a father expects his son-in-law to protect and increase the beauty of his daughter, which he graciously gave to the young man at the altar of marriage. A bride-to-be is beautiful and full of glory, but a wife who has been protected and cared for by her husband, she is even more beautiful, even more glorious. When a wife is made beautiful by her husband and has brought forth children who call her blessed, she is transformed from glory to glory. So too creation, which the Lord instructed Adam to tend and protect, will be transformed from glory to glory by her husbandman.

Day of Rest: Churches need to be encouraged in both dominion work and rest. Lord’s Day worship ought to provide rest from and prepare Churches for dominion work. It is good for man to rest and feast; it is good for man to work and execute dominion. When men harvest diamonds from the earth and carve them, setting them in rings so they might woo and adorn women (one way to transform women from glory to glory), that is godly, dominion work. When men build rockets, cram inside of them like canned sardines and start to count down, in order that they may explore the outreaches of space, they are performing godly, dominion work. When man gathers every Lord’s Day to sing holy songs and partake of Christ’s flesh and blood, they rest and feast in a manner that is godly.
Sing praise to the Lord of patterns, who has graciously provided a pattern for dominion and rest!

Evangelicalism

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:27-33

But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Acts 7:55-56

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

An Optimistic Eschatology

"And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." Isaiah 32:17

Samuel 21:15-22: Those Who Kill Giants

In 2 Samuel 21:15-22 several Philistine giants are killed by warriors of the Lord (Abishai killed Ishbibenob, 21:17; Sibbechai killed Saph, 21:18; Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite , 21:19; and Jonathan killed a man with six fingers per hand and six toes per foot, 21:21). (All of this occurs under the leadership of King David.)

When Israel was under the leadership of Saul, there was no man found within the armies of Israel, except for David the shepherd boy, who would go out to face a Philistine giant (Goliath).
However, under the righteous leadership of King David, Israel has become a nation of Davids, slaying giants. Under the leadership of King David, Israel kills the enemies of Yahweh.

Prayer for Bread

Blessed art thou, Lord our God, king of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. We thank you for this Table Fellowship, its unity and intimacy; it is because of this feast that man is able to come from the east and west, the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. Lord, we will celebrate the death of your Son and his resurrection until he returns again. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

The Hoosier Alleyway

gray sky and muddy snow and scuffed shoes
Yellow Balloon still caught in the branches
of the neighbors tree

going to work really is not
that bad, praise the Lord,
after all

Barth and Altizer

Couple quotes (empasis added):

"The individual in the Church certainly cannot and ought not to accept it (Holy Scripture) as Holy Scripture just because the Church does. He can and should himself be obedient only to Holy Scripture as it reveals itself to him and in that way forces itself upon him, as it compels him to accept it. But he still has to remember that Scripture is the Word of God for and to the Church, and that there it is only in the Church that he can meaningfully and legitimately take up an attitude to Scripture. Whatever his private judgment may be, even his private judgment of faith, however much it may diverge, he must always listen to the Church. . . . As such, so long as the Church does not revise it, i.e., restrict or widen it, we have to respect it. As such, it has the character of a direction which no one can simply ignore (Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics)."

“A truly contemporary theology can only begin its task today by first seeking a ground outside of the given and established form of the Church. . . . Yet theology need not necessarily be bound to the life of the Church, not even to the vanguard of the Church, for theology must seek the presence of Christ in the world. The first duty of the Christian theologian is loyalty to Christ, and he must strive to open his thinking to the universal presence of Christ, to the presence of Christ in the totality of human experience. Above all, a contemporary form of theology is in quest of a contemporary form of Christ. In our situation this must mean that theology is now called to listen fully to the world, even if such a listening demands a turning away fro the church’s witness to Christ. At a time when Christian theology is called upon to pass through the most radical revolution in its history, the theologian must not be thwarted from his goal by a false loyalty to the authority of the Church (T.J.J. Altizer, The Gospel of Christian Atheism, pp.9-10).”