From Colin Hansen at ChristianityToday.com

Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God by Bruce Ware

Your beach companions will think you’re prepping for Sunday school or family devotions. You’ll actually be learning plenty yourself from an unusually gifted theologian equally adept at teaching seminary students and young children.

Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church by Michael Horton

Maybe you should wait to read this book on a rainy day when you can’t go to the beach. Horton, a discerning and clear-thinking theologian, diagnoses what ills American believers, including consumerism, individualism, and nationalism.

Fearless Pilgrim: The Life and Times of John Bunyan by Faith Cook

Biographies make for a quick, engaging read. Cook explores the times that gave us Bunyan, the pastor and prisoner whose best-selling The Pilgrim’s Progress brought theology to the masses.

The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith by Mark A. Noll

Venerable historian Noll expands on the contributions of missiologist Andrew Walls to show how American Christianity has shaped the rapidly expanding global church.

Politics for the Greatest Good: The Case for Prudence in the Public Square by Clarke Forsythe

The senior counsel for Americans United for Life advocates the neglected virtue of prudence for fighting abortion. His timing is impeccable for Christians dealing with the ramifications of George Tiller’s murder.

When Athens Met Jerusalem: An Introduction to Classical and Christian Thought by John Mark Reynolds

Theology has always confronted and conformed to the intellectual trends of its cultural context. Like some early Christian apologists, Reynolds draws connections between Hebrew theology and the Greek philosophy so popular in ancient Rome. He even dares to recommend cooperation between faith and reason in order to save Western civilization.

Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision by N. T. Wright

Read for yourself what all the fuss is about. Bring along the handy chart from the June issue of Christianity Today to compare Wright with his chief critic, John Piper. Justification is too important to be left to professional theologians, so bring your Bible, too, and trace the sometimes-complex arguments.

Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck

The authors of the award-winning Why We’re Not Emergent return to tackle another set of theological innovators. Whether committed, disgruntled, waffling, or disconnected from the local church, this book will help you love the bride of Christ.

Predestination: The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine by Peter Thuesen

Want to celebrate the summer of John Calvin’s 500th birthday? Then read about the history of the doctrine most closely associated with him. You’ll see just how far theology can stretch over space and time.

Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches by Russell Moore

Readers rave at Moore’s ability to link important theological concepts with contemporary concerns. But you better handle this book delicately. You might return home from the beach with a new calling that will change your family’s life.

From FeedingonChrist.com comes this article which provides links to articles by both Ligon Duncan, of First Presbyterian of Jackson, MS, and Tim Keller, of Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan, NY.

Here is the audio from the discussion that Ligon Duncan and Tim Keller had at the 2009 PCA GA concerning the role of women and the deaconate. One of the most significant points in the discussion, in my opinion, was Ligon’s brief exposition of Acts 6. While there is some debate as to whether deacons are in view there or not, Duncan made the observation that men were ministering to women (i.e. the widows mentioned there). This is significant because many egalitarians insist that women need to be the ones ministering to women. Duncan followed up his observation with a strong pastoral note, calling men to care deeply for the needs of the women in the church. It is certainly true that Acts 6 is not prescriptive, but it is certainly descriptive. One cannot argue that there were women chosen from among the seven, but you can most certainly assert that men were. This only serves to strengthen ones understanding of the prescriptive passages.There were many other helpful observations from both Duncan and Keller in the discussion.  I’d love to know what  you think after you listen to it.

You should also look at the aritcles that these men submitted to By Faith Magazine on the subject.Tim Keller’s article “The Case for Comissioning (Not Ordaining) Deaconesses” can be found here. Ligon Duncan’s article “The Case for Our Current Policy on Women Deacons” can be found here.

From Keith Mathison via Justin Taylor

OLD TESTAMENT:

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
• Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth
• 1 & 2 Samuel
• 1 & 2 Kings
• 1 & 2 Chronicles
• Ezra & Nehemiah
• Esther
• Job
• Psalms
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes
• Song of Songs
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Lamentations
• Ezekiel
• Daniel
• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi

NEW TESTAMENT:

• The Gospel of Matthew
• The Gospel of Mark
• The Gospel of Luke
• The Gospel of John
• Acts
• Romans
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians & Philemon
• 1 & 2 Thessalonians
• The Pastoral Epistles
• Hebrews
• James
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter & Jude
• The Epistles of John
• Revelation

These are amazingly helpful thoughts from C.J. Mahaney on teaching Proverbs

As the book of Song of Solomon is a unique gift for married couples, the book of Proverbs is a unique gift for parents and children. For preachers looking to use the summer months to preach this unique book, here are a few tools that may be useful.

Preaching Proverbs in Calvary’s Shadow

It can be difficult to balance the call to obedience with the cross-centered life. Yet that is what William Arnot accomplishes in the final chapter of his old commentary on Proverbs, Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth (published in 1873). The final chapter, “Faith and Obedience—Work and Rest,” models this balance well and I commend it to you.

You can read or download the entire commentary for free online. But you can download the isolated chapter I mention as a PDF here (0.9MB).

Thematic Structures

Of importance to the preacher of Proverbs is getting a handle on a few recurring themes and character developments featured in the book (i.e. wisdom, folly, discernment, understanding, knowledge). Derek Kidner’s excellent commentary will certainly help here.

I also recommend a newer commentary on Proverbs by John A. Kitchen (Mentor, 2006). In the appendix of his commentary, Kitchen has written a very useful systemization and summary of the path of the righteous and the path of the fool (pp. 727–736). Kitchen uses three graphics to distinguish the two paths and the several steps along the way.

The explanations behind these charts are developed in the commentary appendix. And the editors of Christian Focus have granted us permission to post the entire appendix here as adownloadable PDF (2.4MB).

Summer Series Outline

Due to its structure, the book of Proverbs is difficult to preach expositionally from beginning to end. The book lends itself to topical exposition, a feature that makes it a suitable text for preaching during the summer months.

Sovereign Grace Church in Fairfax, Virginia, is using the summer to preach a ten-week series on Proverbs. The pastors have divided the first nine chapters by topic (I was honored to participate in the series by preaching the second message).

FEAR GOD (1:1-7)
LISTEN (1:20-33)
SEEK (2:4)
TRUST (3:5)
GUARD (4:23)
DRINK (5:15)
GO (6:6-8)
KEEP (7:1-2)
HEAR (8:1, 32)
CHOOSE (9:6)

The church printed full-color bookmarks to outline the series and, as you will see, to capture the series as an opportunity to encourage and equip the church to interpret the book of Proverbs for themselves. Here is the graphic they used for the series:

This is Randy Alcorn and Alan Hlavka’s list of anticipated consequences of either of their immortaity. Here’s Randy’s introduction

About twenty-five years ago, while pastors at Good Shepherd Community Church, my friend Alan Hlavka and I both developed lists of all the specific consequences we could think of that would result from our immorality as pastors. The lists were devastating, and to us they spoke more powerfully than any sermon or article on the subject.

Periodically, especially when travelling or when in a time of temptation or weakness, we read through our list. In a personal and tangible way it brings home God’s inviolate law of choice and consequence. It cuts through the fog of rationalization and fills our hearts with the healthy, motivating fear of God. We find that when we begin to think unclearly, reviewing this list yanks us back to the reality of the law of the harvest and the need both to fear God and the consequences of sin.

An edited version of our combined lists follows. I’ve included the actual names of my wife and daughters to emphasize the personal nature of this exercise. Where it involves my own lists of specific people’s names, I’ve simply stated “list names” so you can insert the appropriate ones in your own life.

Some of these consequences would be unique to me, just as some of yours would be unique to you. I recommend that you use this as the basis for your own list, then include those other consequences that would be uniquely yours. The idea, of course, is not to focus on sin, but on the consequences of sin, thereby encouraging us to refocus on the Lord and take steps of wisdom and purity that can keep us from falling.

(While God can forgive and bring beauty out of ashes, that’s a message to those who have already sinned…not to those who are contemplating sin! On the “front side” of sin we must not give assurances of forgiveness and restoration. We must put the focus where Scripture does—on the love of God and the fear of God, both of which should act in concert to motivate us to holy obedience.)

Powerful stuff and something for me to contemplate deeply as I look toward the ministry. Here’s the list itself

• Grieving my Lord; displeasing the One whose opinion most matters.
• Dragging into the mud Christ’s sacred reputation.
• Loss of reward and commendation from God.
• Having to one day look Jesus in the face at the judgment seat and give an account of why I did it. Forcing God to discipline me in various ways.
• Following in the footsteps of men I know of whose immorality forfeited their ministry and caused me to shudder. List of these names:
• Suffering of innocent people around me who would get hit by my shrapnel (a la Achan).
• Untold hurt to Nanci, my best friend and loyal wife.
• Loss of Nanci’s respect and trust.
• Hurt to and loss of credibility with my beloved daughters, Karina and Angela. (“Why listen to a man who betrayed Mom and us?”)
• If my blindness should continue or my family be unable to forgive, I could lose my wife and my children forever.
• Shame to my family. (The cruel comments of others who would invariably find out.)
• Shame to my church family.
• Shame and hurt to my fellow pastors and elders. List of names:
• Shame and hurt to my friends, and especially those I’ve led to Christ and discipled. List of names:
• Guilt awfully hard to shake—even though God would forgive me, would I forgive myself?
• Plaguing memories and flashbacks that could taint future intimacy with my wife.
• Disqualifying myself after having preached to others.
• Surrender of the things I am called to and love to do—teach and preach and write and minister to others. Forfeiting forever certain opportunities to serve God. Years of training and experience in ministry wasted for a long period of time, maybe permanently.
• Being haunted by my sin as I look in the eyes of others, and having it all dredged up again wherever I go and whatever I do.
• Undermining the hard work and prayers of others by saying to our community “this is a hypocrite—who can take seriously anything he and his church have said and done?”
• Laughter, rejoicing and blasphemous smugness by those who disrespect God and the church (2 Samuel 12:14).
• Bringing great pleasure to Satan, the Enemy of God.
• Heaping judgment and endless problems on the person I would have committed adultery with.
• Possible diseases (pain, constant reminder to me and my wife, possible infection of Nanci, or in the case of AIDS, even causing her death, as well as mine.)
• Possible pregnancy, with its personal and financial implications.
• Loss of self-respect, discrediting my own name, and invoking shame and lifelong embarrassment upon myself.

From Pat Aldridge via Jared Kennedy at SojournKids.com

Since coming back from the Children Desiring God conference, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about helping kids develop a passion for God and His Gospel. Mostly “how-to” type stuff. The books I have been reading all start by making two things very clear: 1) The importance of family devotions, and 2) The importance of personal growth. I want to explore these issues in reverse order.

Personal Devotions

The reason I want to start with personal devotions is because apart from them, family devotions won’t have as much, if any, impact on our kids. Our kids need to SEE us spending time reading our Bibles, praying, and handling life in a godly way. They need to SEE grace in action. Whether you understand it or not, parents have the most influence over their children. Two things to keep in mind about that: 1) parents are the people that spent the most time with their children, and 2) kids are like sponges – they absorb a lot from those they spend the most time with. What are we teaching our kids about the value of God, that it’s a private thing not to be disturbed, or that it is in the things of everyday life?

Another reason I start with personal devotions is that you as the parent/teacher need be growing in the graces and mercies of God. If we as the parents/teachers are growing ourselves our teaching will be more mechanical (”going through the motions”) and less life transforming.

Finally, personal growth as a parent means at least one more thing; we need to let our kids SEE us deal with our sin, especially when that sin is against them. We are sinners, just like they are, and we need to deal with that sin openly and honestly if we expect them to do the same. They struggle with the same sins we do – selfishness, stubbornness… do I need to go on? The bottom line in all sin is pride. If our kids don’t see us deal with sin, they won’t understand its devastating power.

Family Devotions

I like to think of family devotions as a kind of “small group” for your family. Most churches have small groups and when they are done well, this is where a lot of spiritual maturity happens. It shouldn’t be different with our families. At this point I must confess that I (like I suspect most of you) struggle with making this a habit. Our current schedule (my wife and I work opposite shifts with just a little overlap) compounds the problem. What we are learning is important in all aspects of child rearing; be intentional. We need to use the time God gives us to the best of its ability. Something I’ve had to say to myself is, “Stop making excuses, and just do it!”

I know what you may be thinking at this point, “Now that I have decided to do it, what should I do?” Here are some great resources to start you down the family devotions road. I have decided to start with a booklet put out by Children Desiring God called Helping Children Understand the Gospel by Sally Michael, Jill Nelson, and Bud Burk. I choose to start here because the Gospel is foundational. If I get this wrong it doesn’t matter what else I teach, it could (and probably will) be corrupt. I want my kids to cherish the richness of the message of the Gospel. Once the foundation is set we are planning on moving on to Bruce Ware’s book Big Truths for Young Hearts. It’s a great devotional that breaks down theology and helps kids (and parents as well) understand (as much as we can this side of heaven) how big God really is. From there we will probably us one of the many Catchisms that are out there. One of the ones we have is the Truth and Grace Memory Bookby Thomas K. Ascol put out by Founders Press. There are a lot of good resourses out there, ask people you trust they can probably recommend more, these are the ones I have come in contact with and will work for me.

Conclusion

Keep the following things in mind:

1. As parents we have the PRIMARY responsibility to raise our children in the ways of God. It’s not the church’s job to see that our kids get God. We spend the most amount of time with our kids and they learn a lot from watching what we do, say, and how we handle life.
2. Help your kids see God in the mundane, everyday situations of life.
3. Let your kids see you deal with sin. Don’t hide it or rationalize it away. Deal with it. This will teach your kids volumes about how dangerous sin is.
4. If you need help, ask. It doesn’t matter what stage you or your kids are at, start working to deepen their faith (yours will be deepened in the process).
5. Be intentional. We don’t know how much time we have so use it wisely.
6. Always have the heart in mind. Work on the heart not the behavior.

From SojournKids.com, children’s ministry at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY where I will, Lord Willing, get assessed for the Acts 29 Network in the fall.

Father’s Day Sojourn Kids Music by Bill Bell

Male singer and guitarist: “Hi, I’m Mr. (First name)”

Female singer: “I’m Ms. (First name)”

Guitarist/other instrumentalist: “I’m Mr. (First name)”

Male Singer/Guitarist: Does anyone know what holiday we celebrate this month?  That’s right, Father’s Day.  Father’s Day is a day that our whole country celebrates daddies.  Dads are the ones who protect their families and care for them in hard times.  When you fall and scrape your knee, it might be your daddy who picks you up and holds you while you cry.  Can you tell of other times where your daddy cared for you in hard or painful times? (take 2 or 3 stories)  Well, God the Father is like that, but even more so.  He cares for us perfectly and is always there when things are good or bad.  This song tells about this Father, who cares for all his children every moment of every day.

1. “Sovereign One” Words and Music by Zach Jones (c) 2004 Sovereign Grace Music

Female Singer: Do you all know the ultimate way that God showed his love for us?  By sending his Son to die for us.  “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were sinners Christ died for us.”  God the Father did something really loving when he sent his Son to die for sinners like you and me.  And by doing this, he invites sinners to call him Father for all of eternity—that’s a long time!  Let’s sing this song to help us remember: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were sinners Christ died for us.”

2. “Romans 5:8 (NIV) Scripture Memory Song,” Music by Mark Altrogge
As Recored on “A Ransom For Many,” Hide The Word, Volume 2 © Forever Grateful Music

Male Singer/Guitarist: Some of you may have daddies that you see every day.  Some of you don’t have a daddy who’s around very much.  Some of you may not have a daddy at all.  Whether your dad is around a lot or not, no dad is perfect because every dad is a sinner just like I am and just like you are.  Because we all sin, we fail not only to love each other perfectly, but also to love God perfectly.  When we or daddies or mommies or whoever should show love all the time, we fail and show anger or meanness or rudeness or disrespect.  But God the Father has a love that is unending.  For those that believe in him, he never turns his back, never fails, never leaves, never lets go.  His love lasts forever.

3. “Your Love” Words and music by Bob Kauflin (c) 2004 Sovereign Grace Praise

Guitarist or other instrumentalist: We are going to pray. . . fold your hands and be still and talk to God. Let’s pray.

Thank you, God, for sending your Son to die on the cross so that all who believe in you can call you our heavenly Father.  And thank you for letting us see what your love and care is like through our daddies here on earth.  Help us to honor our fathers. Please show special grace to our dads as they love us.  Help them to trust in Jesus alone for salvation and hope. God, help our dads to teach us about you every day.  In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

4.  “His Love Will Last Forever,” Words and Music by Chandi Plummer
© 2009 Chandi Plummer/Sojourn Music

Another helpful post from Mike Gilbert-Smith

We are having a useful ongoing conversation with our elders on the last of those: how to fence the table at communion. There was an earlier discussion on this blog with useful comments.

One resource I’ve found helpful in recommending to our elders to read came out of a Sovereign Grace church plant and is very useful.

It, in turn, provides the following further reading list

• Dennis Gunderson, Your Child’s Profession of Faith. Amityville, N.Y., Calvary Press, 1994.
• “Childhood Conversion” by Jim Elliff
• Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology. Leicester, England, InterVarsity Press, 1994. On baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
• “Why Can’t I Have a Snack Like Everyone Else?” by David Michael
• Donald Whitney, How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian? Colorado Springs, NavPress, 1994.
• John T. McNeill, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapters 14, 15 & 17. Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1960

As presented by D. A. Carson via Colin Adams via Andy Naselli

Introduction

I have visited many parts of the world in which the challenges to the 21st-century pulpit look rather different. So part of the purpose of the rest of this essay is modest: to stimulate thinking that will help others flesh out this list and modify it for different cultural locations.

Six challenges that DAC fleshes out

1. Multiculturalism
2. Rising Biblical Illiteracy
3. Shifting Epistemology
4. Integration
5. Pace of Change
6. Modeling and Mentoring

Concluding Reflections

Preachers cannot responsibly ignore these things, for they stand between the speaking God and the listening people—people who are not empty ciphers but culturally located men and women who must be addressed where they are, even if our hope and prayer is that they will not remain where they are, but begin by God’s grace the march down the King’s highway, the narrow road that leads to life.

Our motivation to understand and address people in the 21st century is not to domesticate the gospel by constant appeal to cultural analysis, but to prove effective ambassadors of the Sovereign whose Word we announce. For one day the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever (Rev. 11:15). It is precisely because we are anchored in eternity that we are so utterly resolved, like Paul, to address lost men and women who must one day meet their God.

From Jared Kennedy at SojournKids.com

At Sojourn, our dedication service is a time we set aside to celebrate the children that God has given us.  Member families from our church community come to go public with their desire to bring up new children by God’s grace and according to his instructions.

Our service is simply called a Dedication. Some churches think about it as a baby dedication, but it is better called a Parent Dedication. This is not a water baptism, but it is a heavy thing–serious business for the parents involved. The dedication is a covenant–a holy commitment made between the parents, God, and our church community. It is serious business for our church as well. We don’t believe that God made children the responsibility of the nuclear family in isolation. Church and home are co-champions of God’s ways for our kids. Every member of Sojourn is responsible for these kids. We need each other. These parents need our encouragement, accountability, and our prayers. These kids need our love, nurture, and our gospel examples.

In the service itself, we call for the following committments from our parents and our church membership:

The Parent’s Commitment

Parents, do you profess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and affirm the promises of God made to you and your children in his Word.  If so say  “We do.”

Will you promise to God and this church community to live gospel-changed lives before your children?  Will you promise to discipline them and show them grace?  Will you instruct them by word and example in the truth of God’s Word and in the way of salvation through Jesus Christ?  Will you promise to pray for them and teach them to pray?  Will you promise to nurture them within the body of believers to the end that they become citizens in Christ’s kingdom?  If so, say, “We will with God’s help.”

The Church’s Commitment:

Sojourn, will you promise in the presence of God and one another to live gospel-changed lives before these children and to pray that they will in turn be changed by the gospel?  Will you love and pray for these children—encouraging them and helping to nurture them in the faith?  Will you assist these parents in fulfilling their biblical responsibilities, hold them accountable by confronting sin, pray for them, and spur them on toward love and good deeds?  If so, please read the following:

With joy and thanksgiving,
As Christ’s church,
With God’s help,
We promise to love, encourage, and support you
As you follow Christ and parent your children.

We have parents write up a paragraph about their child for the ceremony, which we publish in a keepsake booklet. You can check out the complete dedication booklet for our April 2009 service here.

This coming Fall, we hope to offer a two-week “foundations” class on Wednesday nights that introduces our parents to the covenant commitment they are making at the baby dedication, introduces our philosophy of student and family ministry, and teaches some basic parenting principles for  parents of newborns.  This class will be an experiement for us.  We got the idea from Kingsland Baptist Church’s (Katy, TX) “legacy milestones” philosophy, and we will be adapting some material from Bethlehem Baptist Church’s (Minneapolis, MN) “foundation builders” classes.  Maybe I’ll report back later with regard to how it goes.