“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” C.S. Lewis
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” C.S. Lewis
“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.” C.S. Lewis
“For when we cease to worship God, we do not worship nothing, we worship anything.” GK Chesterton
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” GK Chesterton
“It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything.” A.W. Tozer
“Now, worship is the missing jewel in modern evangelicalism. We’re organized; we work; we have our agendas. We have almost everything, but there’s one thing that the churches, even the gospel churches, do not have: that is the ability to worship. We are not cultivating the art of worship.” A. W. Tozer
“F emininity was designed to display truths about the Gospel of Christ. An attitude of submission and a whole life-posture of support was created by God to be a living picture of His relationship to His own people. When we choose to live apart from that design, we distort the Gospel-picture and miss the entire point of being a woman! Womanhood exists to tell us the cosmic truth of the Gospel.” Mary Kassian
And you guys think I just say it outright?!
“If you do not worship God in your family, you are living in positive sin; you may be quite sure you do not care for the souls of your family. If you neglect to spread a meal for your children to eat, would it not be said that you did not care for their bodies? And if you do not lead your children and servants to the green pastures of God’s Word, and to seek the living water, how plain is it that you do not care for their souls!
Do it regularly, morning and evening. It is more needful than your daily food, more needful than your work. How vain and silly all your excuses will appear, when you look back from Hell! Do it fully. Some clip off the psalm, and some the reading of the Word; and so the worship of God is reduced to a mockery. Do it in a spiritual, lively manner, go to it as to a well of salvation.” – Robert Murray M’Cheyne
Hat tip to Autumn @ Homeschooling in Kerrville for finding this quote
“O God, may Thy Spirit speak in me that I may speak to thee. I have no merit, let the merit of Jesus stand for me. I am undeserving, but I look to Thy tender mercy. I am full of infirmities, wants, sin; Thou art full of grace.
I confess my sin, my frequent sin, my wilful sin; all my powers of body and soul are defiled: a fountain of pollution is deep within my nature. There are chambers of foul images within my being; I have gone from one odious room to another, walked in a no-man’s-land of dangerous imaginations, pried into the secrets of my fallen nature.
I am utterly ashamed that I am what I am in myself; I have no green shoot in me nor fruit, but thorns and thistles; I am a fading leaf that the wind drives away; I live bare and barren as a winter tree, unprofitable, fit to be hewn down and burnt. Lord, dost Thou have mercy on me?
Thou hast struck a heavy blow at my pride, at the false god of self, and I lie in pieces before Thee. But Thou hast given me another master and lord, Thy Son, Jesus, and now my heart is turned towards holiness, my life speeds as an arrow from a bow towards complete obedience to Thee. Help me in all my doings to put down sin and to humble pride. Save me from the love of the world and the pride of life, from everything that is natural to fallen man, and let Christ’s nature be seen in me day by day. Grant me grace to bear Thy will without repining, and delight to be not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned, but separated from the old rock where I have been embedded so long, and lifted from the quarry to the upper air, where I may be built in Christ for ever.”
Hat tip to Stacy McDonald for this disturbing story about a seductive dance performance by a group of 7-year-olds.
OK. I watched the news clip which showed a portion of the dance and then had The Early Show panel discussing it. Thankfully, they were rightly disturbed by the scene.
BUT….the conversation that ensued among the panel made me FAR more upset than the actual dance.
And here’s why:
Whether it’s the crime rate, or the state of failing marriages, or unwed pregnancies, or the rebellion among teenagers or the fight for traditional marriage–pick your societal ill, it has been a constant source of vexation for me to hear people rant about the “crisis” but defend all the precipitant factors that led us there.
It’s as ludicrous as feeding your 5-year-old a steady diet of sodas and candy and then yelling at him at his dentist appointment for having so many cavities.
We bear the consequences of daily decisions. It’s an irrevocable law. There is a logical progression of moral decay that can only be addressed at its earliest beginnings, not at the bottom of the slippery slope.
The three women on the panel were upset at the dance and then rebuke the man who hits the nail on the head…
The host began by showing the video of the dancing girls and then reading this random question from a blog which she states is “a valid question”:
“Why does a society that screams about pedophilia tolerate this appalling exploitation of children?”
Man: “OK, somebody is thinking this looks, ‘how much different from cheer-leading?'”
The women immediately chime in, “Oh this is much different….You haven’t said how you feel about the video.”
Man: “I think it’s bizarre but most of what I experience every day is bizarre. This is just a reflection of how sort of ridiculous we all are.”
Women: “You don’t find it disturbing?”
Man: “I found the original thing disturbing.”
Woman: “I find YOU disturbing!”
(plays a clip of Beyonce’s video–a suggestive dance done in lingerie-like attire)
Man: “OK, what is this?”
Women: “This is art!”
Aggghh!
Not only is the only man on the panel made to look like a buffoon, he’s the only one that is making the logical connection about “how we got here.”
“It’s a reflection of how sort of ridiculous we all are”. Yes it is.
The women on the panel blame the parents, though they’ve just publicly participated in part of the problem.
If I praise a 20-somethings gyrating, seductive dance as “art”, it’s a small journey to my 7-year-old’s performance of that art. The real problem is not the provocative, dancing children; it’s a society that praises pornography.
I listen to as much news as I can stand these days, and usually end up in deep thought over one thing:
“How did we drop the baton?”
How did a country once full of intelligent men and women, of courageous pluck, who believed in the truth that God’s Word contains wisdom that is true and good for all men, willing to fight and die for things that are right and things that make us free–how did we, in just a few generations, turn out a country full of apathetic citizens that hardly know where they came from, or what’s really going on, not willing to fight for much of anything–especially not “truth” because, well, they don’t really know truth? How did we end up with a generation of people so oblivious that they are about to give up this great country we love and call HOME, and they don’t even know it?
We have failed to fulfill our commands across the generations. We have failed to teach our children of God morning, noon and night. We have failed to weave TRUTH into our daily lives, to pass it on to our children so powerfully that they would pass it on to theirs.
“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ Sons when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” (Deuteronomy 4:9, 10)
In What Makes a Family, Edith Schaeffer writes:
“The primary place for the flag of truth to be handed on is in the family. The truth was meant to be given from generation to generation….
Explaining the things of the Bible, of God’s love, and of future prophecy is not meant to be something separated into a cubby-hole of “religious instruction” or “family prayer.” As children grow older there is to be a flowing unity in talking about history, present world news, science, which has its seeds in the beginning days of the first understanding of sentences, the first questions. Children’s questions must be taken seriously at the ages of two and three, or they won’t be continuing to ask you at twelve and twenty-three. The importance of being given answers and being treated as a significant human being begins as soon as answers are asked for….
“Look, dear, at that wonderful magnolia tree coming out with creamy, perfect blossoms. Only God could make such a growing thing. Just imagine; it once was a tiny little tree, and it grew into a big one. God can make things that grow, and then seeds that start new trees of the same kind. Isn’t He wonderful?”
“Did you hear that bird’s song? Listen to it! Imagine God’s creating birds that could sing like that! He would have those sounds in His mind first, just like a music composer has sounds go through his head when he is writing music for a violin or a whole orchestra. How great God is.”
“Ohhhh, I see lights coming on along the bay. What a sight. Some man thought up how to use electricity, didn’t he? And another designed those shapes for the lamps?” — “Amazing! You can see the sunset in the water at the same time. Imagine people thinking there was no person there to design the sun and the water and the reflection on all those ripples!”
“God’s direct Word comes to us — consider your place in the family as central, not just in this moment of history, but as part of the “relay.” Don’t let a gap come because of you. Don’t take the beauty of the family life — and the reality of being able to hand down true truth to one more generation — as a light thing. It is one of the central commands of God. It is direct disobedience to God to not make known His truth, to not make known the truth of Himself, and to not make known the wonderful works that He has done.
It is not a responsibility to be handed over to the church and Sunday school. In fact, in many churches and Sunday schools there is a false flag being handed to the children, and a wrong path being pointed out. The Word of God has been ignored by some, and so the blind are leading the blind. Yes, finding a true church for your family is important, but it can’t take the place of the teaching by example and speaking, when going to bed, getting up, eating meals, and walking together. This is a family task and pleasure, and one of the basic “togethernesses” commanded by God since the beginning.”
May we be “repairers of the breach” in our families. May we lay aside everything that would hinder our efforts of truth-weaving, and pick up the baton again, pointing our children to the truth of God at every moment.
“Let us settle it in our minds that, whether we like it or not, the sovereignty of God is a doctrine clearly revealed in the Bible, and a fact clearly to be seen in the world. Upon no other principle can we ever explain why some members of a family are converted, and others live and die in sin–why some quarters of the earth are enlightened by Christianity, and others remain buried in heathenism. One account only can be given of all this. All is ordered by the sovereign hand of God. Let us pray for humility in respect of this deep teaching. Let us remember that our life is but a vapor, and that our best knowledge compared to that of God is unmixed folly. Let us be thankful for such light as we enjoy ourselves, and use it diligently while we have it.”
~ J.C. Ryle
“My mom gave me $40 on my new pair of jeans, but she still thinks they’re too expensive.”
Fourteen-year-old “Amy” told my daughter.
“They cost $150 but everybody has a pair and I’ve been wanting some for so long. I (interject squeal) loooooove them!”
My bugged eyes matched my open mouth as I listened to the conversation.
This is what we call “the real world”? This is *not* “the real world”. This is one we are fabricating. A world that is being perpetuated through childhood and on into adulthood. A world where adults are slaves to debt because they *must* have what everyone else has, no matter the cost. A world where one’s identity is wrapped up in the name on his label.
Another overheard conversation involved the recent break-up of a young girlfriend and boyfriend. In the prime of their youth, when life offers so many opportunities for growth and preparation, they are distracted, consumed and wounded with premature romance.
Preparing for the real world? What, a world where a boy has practiced leaving the one he “loves” when he gets tired of her? A world where a girl is always looking for a “better relationship”? Do those habits just give way to fidelity once the vows are made?
No. And you can confirm that with about 60% of the population. This is our reality. This is the world we’ve created.
If you say “I want my children to be prepared for the real world”, you had better define which world that is. Because this world is not a world where the principles of God reign. It is not a world where wisdom is exalted. It is not a world where children are grown into responsible, productive adults who love Heaven more than earth.
I watch a family frantically shuffling their schedule to figure out when they might eat supper. “I’ll pick up Tyler at 4, but you’ll have to take Katy to her soccer practice and I won’t make it because Tyler’s team has pictures afterwards. Oh, and don’t forget Katy’s game is tomorrow night. We’ll just pick up a burger.”
Is this the real world? Every ounce of time, money and energy poured into a recreation that will most likely be a distant memory in a few years? Preparing them for the real world? A world where the family table is only a place to hold the clutter of going and coming people? A world where people are so busy they don’t notice how little they know about each other until it’s too late? A world where our children learn where our hearts are because of where we spend our treasure?
Yes, I’m afraid that is exactly the world we’ve created.
Welcome to the “new real world”.
Words pierce when they are God-words…
“W e must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, but to holiness….God has only one intended destiny for mankind–holiness. His only goal is to produce saints. God is not some eternal blessing-machine for people to use, and He did not come to save us out of pity–He came to save us because He created us to be holy.” -Oswald Chambers
The only way we use the word “holiness” today is as a poetic chant in our favorite praise song. We want nothing to do with holiness if it means interference with our desires and interests.
Why can’t I remember that God’s ONLY purpose is to make me holy? Holy and happy are sometimes very far apart. I want to be happy. He wants me to be holy. Sometimes they collide, but He isn’t really concerned with that. I’m busy trying to orchestrate my circumstances to be happy and I have to wonder, how many times do I hinder His attempts to make me holy?
What does it mean to be holy? Christians aren’t even taught holiness. The very word falls awkward on our ears and we recoil a bit. Can I even get to the place where all I care about is being completely His, used by Him, for His purposes, no matter the cost?
Can I say to Him, “I am yours, make me holy?” and then see every circumstance in my life as that which is effecting the very prayer in me?
My heart ponders today….what does it mean to be holy, and am I willing for Him to make me? And I wonder, what do you think it means to be holy?
1. She does her husband good and his heart safely trusts her.
This phrase is so loaded. I would do well to dwell on this phrase alone all day. I’m going to leave it at the challenge to ponder what you think it means to “do your husband good”. Other clues from Proverbs speak of being a “crown” to him contrasted with being “rottenness in his bones”. He is also “known in the city gates” (well-known and respected) and that advantage seems to be at least partially attributed to his wife’s character.
2. She feeds her family well.
This is more than quantity, I believe, and requires a considerate amount of studying, preparing and planning for meal time.
3. She is a strong and vigorous worker.
A virtuous woman in God’s economy is not a woman too delicate to get her hands dirty.
4. She helps those in need.
One important element of being a keeper at home is being available for the very basic Christian command-helping others. The Christian community was and is expected to have reaching arms, always ready to help those around them, especially those of the household of faith. The home should be the center of this tangible, outflowing of love. Such an important responsibility has been diminished and replaced by the activities we have deemed important, leaving little time for this lifeline of ministry.
5. She dresses well and with dignity.
A virtuous woman doesn’t need a lot of money to dress nicely and keep herself tidy and attractive. All it takes is a little time and fore-thought. I think it’s important for us to be careful to avoid gaudy fads while still maintaining a stylish appearance. Sometimes that’s a fine line.
God’s ideal woman has a tall order to fill. I want to study, ponder and practice to become that woman. It’s a life-long process; we are all in different places. But by God’s grace, let’s keep looking to the Author and Finisher of our faith and believe that He will enable us to become “a rare jewel” in our homes, to our husbands and children, and in our communities!