Jesus says, "I Am the True Vine"

In the Bible, there are many books with many great and amazing truths. Lately I have been reviewing and studying and meditating on John 15:1-11.

Jesus says that we are to "abide" in Him and He in us (vs. 4).

What does abiding look like? Well... here's what I am discovering:

Abide means to: remain; continue; stay. It can mean to dwell or reside with, to continue with, to put up with, to tolerate, to stand with, to endure, sustain, to wait for, to accept without opposition or question, to remain steadfast or faithful to.

Let me tell you, abiding is not easy. Oh, I want to abide with Him and I sure want Him to abide in me...

Abide my brother... Abide in Him because as verse 5 promises, "whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is who bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

May we see fruit in our wife & children as we abide in HIM...

Fathers & Sons, Stand Fast

I am reading another great book. It's called, 'Fathers & Sons, Stand Fast'. It is written by Douglas Bond (you can pick up a copy of it, by clicking on the title).


In reading this book, I have been refreshed, challenged, encouraged & rebuked. And I must add, I am so grateful for a read like this. As a father, I want to glean as much as I can, from those who have been where I am going. We have so much to learn from others, who have gone before us.

Mr Bond, in his book, has served us fathers well! He has selected relevant & key issues to address with our sons. And yet while raising these issues, he uses lots of biblical truths, stories, examples and experiences and explains them thoroughly and clearly. One of my favorite bits of his book is at the conclusion of each chapter, because he offers some 'Resolves', a scripture memory verse, some questions for discussion, a hymn & some further study options.

I have worked through a few of the chapters with my son & have walked away refreshed and excited. I must confess that it is quite humbling as a father, when you are able to discuss and learn from God's Word with your son. While discussing a few of the chapters, my son and I have been freshly reminded by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to save sinners like us, as well has having some transparent and honest conversations about the issues in the book that have been raised.

One topic, which I want to blog about later, is respect for women, girls, & our elders...

Anyway - get a copy! It's a great $22.95 investment...

Memorizing Scripture

I want to keep this brief ...

Dad's, teach your kids to memorize scripture!

Here are a few ideas: Commit to doing a verse a week or a month. You pick the verse and then discuss it with your children. Have an incentive to memorize it. I did, and it worked a treat!

Here's some verse ideas to start with:

Proverbs 16:24 - "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."
Psalms 119:9 - "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word."
Isaiah 6:3 - "And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.""

Now these verses can work for your family for either three weeks or three months, depending on what will serve your family best!

Where do you go after that? Well that's really up to you, but here is a suggestion. Psalms 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." - If your family are struggling in an area of sin or are unfamiliar with an area of doctrine, perhaps you could pick a verse that might serve them to grow in that area (?)...

What ever you do, teach your children to memorize scripture.

It's another way we can, 'parent with an eternal perspective...'

Don't Be Ordinary - by John Younts

Parenting is a big job, especially as they get older. I am discovering that it becomes a little more serious to address issues of the heart.

Younts, in his book 'everyday talk' challenges parent's to consider how we will talk to our children when they disobey our directions. Great challenge, Mr Younts!

So when I did a hurried evaluation, I recognized a need for grace in the way I respond to my children when they disobey. Younts is right when he writes, "they ([y]our children) will be stubborn, deceitful, manipulative and rebellious. They will complain, whine and grumble. Your job (as parent's)is to recognize their sin for what it is and teach them how to deal with it God's way."

Wow - what a powerful and grace motivated truth. We do have an amazing job that God has called us to. But more than calling us to this task, He has provided us with loving instructions in His Word on how to be the parent He wants us to be. Younts encourages parent's by calling us to "remember, Christ loved you when you were unlovely." Oh how true that is. When I read this I laughed, because I am so aware of the deficiencies I carry as a husband and father. I am often amazed that God would have me on His team. When I remember this, I am reminded that if He can be that patient with me, then He can equip me to be patient with my wife and children, just as He has ALWAYS been with me.

I trust you will not quit or give up in your calling of parenting with an eternal perspective...

Wait on the Lord - Psalms 27:14

"Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord."


Do you find it easy to wait?

Not long ago I posted about, 'waiting on the Lord'. Brothers the lesson was once again put to the test.

Spurgeon says that waiting is "one of the postures a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching".

If you think about it, that is so true. Doing something, even if it is not going to produce anything, helps us feel better. It's hard not to think like this when you hear the likes of Oprah Winfrey explaining that 'God helps those who help themselves'. This is so untrue!

The thing that we need to do is W-A-I-T. How can we wait?

Three suggestions: 1) Wait in prayer! 2) Wait in faith! 3) Wait in quiet patience!

What does that look like? My hero, Spurgeon explains it like this:

1) Wait in prayer - "Call upon God, and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid."

2) Wait in faith - "Express your unstaggering confidence in Him; for unfaithful, untrusting waiting, is but an insult to the Lord. Believe that if He keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come and shall not tarry."

3) Wait in quite Patience - "not rebelling because you are under the affliction, but blessing your God for it." Spurgeon goes on to instruct us not to "murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses; never wish(ing) you could go back to the world (Egypt) again, but accept the case as it is and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, 'Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done'. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities, but I will wait until Thou will do."

I am in no way advocating we aren't to "do" anything - I am saying that it can be hard to wait on the Lord & when we are required to wait on the Lord - I wanted to suggest these three ideas that Spurgeon so wisely offers. I found them helpful and I trust you will too!

ManUp

Thought of a way to describe what a man, who Man'sUp, would look like. I'm thinking that a ManUp man would be the following:

1) Man of God

2) Accountable

3) Nuts about his families - Church family and biological family

4) Ultimate servant

5) Purposefully planning

Would you think this is a good summary?

What would you say?

What would you say to 75 young men, in 45 minutes, about 'growing into fatherhood'?

I'm thinking of encouraging them that it is good for single men to aspire to marriage and fatherhood - and if they are not aspiring to this - I want to ask them, "why not"? This should grab their attention! Not so sure they would have been challenged like this, especially at this age. I think they are thinking about how to satisfy the desires of their flesh and living in the moment instead of guarding their hearts and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead to assist them in preparing themselves for a wife and children.

Oh, I can hear the arguments - shouldn't you be talking to them about college & careers and sports and setting themselves up before you begin talking to them about becoming a father?

Actually, I think this is perfect to talk to them about marriage and fatherhood, because I am trusting that this will help them focus on manning up and becoming a man who follows God instead of following their fleshly desires.

Mark Driscoll correctly, I think, asks, "Is it not right that men aspiring to be fathers should, AFTER cultivating their own souls and being lovers of God, be instructed by the older men in their church to pursue a godly woman as a wife and mother?" He then concedes that, he knows "this is totally different than a good time, girlfriend, or date: however, wise young men will pursue a woman they can both love as a wife and see as the mother of their children."

I remember, as a young man in my own pursuit of marriage, I totally thought about my potential wife as a lover, friend, wife & then mother to our children. Even at 16! When I was courageous enough to pursue Meg, I asked her many questions about her ideas of family and the way she felt about ministry and God and the church. Thankfully, her answers confirmed that she was someone I wanted to be my wife. And by God's AMAZING GRACE - this remarkable & beautiful woman - that I truly do NOT deserve said, "yes" to me!

I think it will serve these young men to add a bit of history about the decline of male leadership. According to Carolyn Gragilia, author of Domestic Tranquility, she writes that in the 1950's, men were not doing a good job of leading and loving their families, but that the wives did not have the power and authority to overthrow their husbands and rule the families as they desired. So the wives simply recruited their children as allies against their husbands. If they could undermine the father's authority and respect in the home, then the wife and children could control and manipulate and drive out the husbands and rule over the family. Amazingly, in Proverbs 19:13 we discover how we got from the 1950's to the anarchy of the 1960's - namely, foolish men married godless woman who recruited their own children to overthrow their fathers and usher in anarchy.

If you doubt this statement or question this idea - simply watch one of the countless sitcoms on T.V. where the husband is portrayed as an inconvenience, an idiot, the butt end of the joke and the wife trash-talks him in front of the kids. This humor is viewed by millions and leaves impressions on countless young ladies and young boys.

Let me ask you - how is this funny?

Yet - whose fault is it? I can't help but think that it's men's fault. Why? Because men have not manned up and loved God first.

What are your thoughts?

Sovereign Grace, Australia!!!

After years of praying, we are so excited to see a Sovereign Grace Church ready to come to Sydney, Australia in 2010. Check out the website here, or join the Facebook group to keep up to date on the latest developments & news. Please join us in praying for this church plant & the further spread of the Gospel throughout Sydney & Australia.

Mercy

The Mercy of God!

What is the mercy of God? In Psalms 52:8 mercy is described as, "God's unfailing love"!

I reckon that if we dared to meditate on the mercy of God we would recall the tenderness of His mercies. We would recall that it is with a gentle, loving touch that He heals the broken hearted, and binds up their wounds. It truly is a great mercy, for as Spurgeon reminds us, "There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself - it is infinite." That means that God's mercy is unable to be measured.

Consider with me how great this mercy is:

His mercy forgives great sins and great sinners, and I am one of them. Amazingly, even after great lengths of time, He then gives great favors and great privileges. For example, - allowing us access to the Father, eternity with Him; feasting at the royal banquet, to be called, 'sons of God'!

Truly His mercy is undeserved mercy.

I dare you to meditate on His mercies - for they are new every morning...

Children Learning About Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Courtney Reissig has written a very thoughtful article on Children's Ministry. 'The Training Ground for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood'! You can read the article in its entirety by clicking on the title.

As I read this article and continue to reflect on it, I must confess I wonder how committed we really are to living out Biblical Manhood and Womanhood as well as instructing our children about Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

So let me ask you: How do you view this topic? Archaic, relevant, something to be applied or debated and studied - what are your thoughts?

I truly believe that our sons and daughters need to know that God made man and woman equal in value but different in their roles. This is not something to be ashamed of, but celebrated. It is not to be seen that men are superior and women are inferior: however, I think that a correct teaching of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood ought to begin at an early age...

Have a read of the article and let me know your thoughts...