Worshipping the Right God

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Here is a good word from a great new commentary on how the Psalms can help shape our worship and a warning on how we can easily worship a false god under the guise of worshipping the one true God. This is a needed warning for the church.

“Like the temple worshippers, Christians too need to be sure they are worshipping their God in accordance with what he has shown himself to be. They may not be constructing a visible idol, yet their conception of him may not be biblical. They may not think of him simply as just, but also as harsh, not simply as loving but also as sentimental. As we have seen, Psalm 50 shows us that it is possible to call him Yahweh and yet to be thinking of him as if he is Baal. The Psalms with their God-centered theology are a most effective antidote to wrong thinking about God and so may be effective in reforming our worship.”
(Geoffrey Grogan, Psalms, The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary, p. 408)

How Sleep the Brave!

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How Sleep the Brave!: A Novel of 17th Century Scotland, by J. H. Hunter
(Inheritance Publications, 2008), pb., 235 pp.
Ages 8+

This book has joined the list of our top favorites alongside books by C. S. Lewis, Douglas Bond and Allen French! This was a great story, full of action and adventure as well as good teaching. There was also a romance though for my boys that was a negative rather than another positive. 🙂

It seems to me that few people are aware of the Covenanters in 17th century Scotland, their sufferings and their perseverance, but we would do well to acquaint ourselves and our children with these brave believers. Douglas Bond’s Crown & Covenant series is also set in this time period. I first learned of this period during our years in Scotland and have been fascinated with it since.

The story begins in 1685 in the western portion of Scotland around Culzean Castle. As persecution breaks out against the Reformed Protestant Covenanters the rightful lord of Fenwick Hall, Duncan Fenwick, is forced to live among the heather and caves along with many others. As the king’s dragoons harass, pillage and murder people simply because of their faith, Duncan Fenwick disguises himself as the “Black Avenger” and sweeps in thrashing the dragoons and rescuing the faithful. The Black Avenger is essentially a Scottish Scarlet Pimpernel, master of disguise, who overcomes the enemy with superior wit and brute strength. He makes a classic hero. It also adds to the story that one typically hears the Avenger playing his bagpipes in the area before he attacks!

We absolutely loved this story. There is good humor (I often had to quiet my boys so as not to awaken the babies!), rousing action and heroism, real nobility and good theology. It is also provides a good overview of the suffering of the people in this time. The description of the suffering is at times quite straightforward and blunt. Some local words were hard to understand and not included in the glossary, but this did not seriously detract from the book.

The examples of faithfulness in suffering was moving to me. The author includes Sandy Peden (often referred to as “Peden the Prophet”) in the story and the account (often included in books of Covenanter stories) prayer for deliverance from the dragoons and the miraculous answer. These are faith building stories to share with our children.

This is a great book which we would urge you not to miss.

Don Whitney on Pastors’ Clothing

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One of the things I like so much about Don Whitney’s ministry is how he addresses so many concrete practical things- often times things others have not thought to address. I recommend you browse his site occasionally to read the various articles there.
I recently came across a brief piece of his titled, “Clothing Tips for Ministers”. He makes clear that he is not wanting to exalt appearance over godliness, but simply to offer guidance. He states:

So I’m writing these clothing tips specifically to help the minister … who sometimes must dress up, but who feels some need for guidance on the matter and cannot afford to spend a great deal on clothes….
But no minister wants his appearance, especially on more formal occasions, to hinder his ministry in any way or be an embarrassment to those he represents. So to help ministers dress at these events in ways that will not be a distraction or a stumbling
block, and yet be as affordable as possible, I offer these suggestions.

What follows is great advice on ways to save money, including what items and colors are most versatile. Whitney notes that most of what he mentions is what fathers once handed down to their sons, but obviously these things are not being handed down so often today.
I think this is a very helpful article.

The Beauty of Modesty

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David and Diane Vaughan. The Beauty of Modesty: Cultivating Virtue in the Face of a Vulgar Culture. Nashville, TN: Cumberland House, 2005.

The issue of modesty is an important one for our churches today. Barry Maxwell a couple of months ago provided a helpful post on this issue in our churches and homes. At about the same time as Barry’s post I was reading this book by the Vaughans. I had first encountered David Vaughan through his excellent book on Patrick Henry. I was interested to see what he and his wife had to say on modesty and I was not disappointed.

This is an excellent, careful, biblical book that would be good to make available to the families at your church. The book develops in three parts: “The Need for Modesty”, “The Nature of Modesty”, and “The Nurture of Modesty.” They root this virtue solidly in the biblical teaching of holiness as a proper outworking of the gospel. There is no mere moralism here; rather there is exposition and exhortation to applying the gospel to all of life, to living purely unto God and to being aware of how our behavior impacts others.

The fact that there is too little difference between the modesty of the church and the world is a compromise of the gospel. The Vaughans write:

“If immodesty is the incarnation of a pagan worldview, then why are we seeing so much immodesty among Christians? …The answer is that we are experiencing the cultural captivity of the church.” 39

“…what we are witnessing is a sweeping secularization of the church in her very mind and morals.” 44

“Modesty matters because it is an expression of our worldview and a measure of our sanctification.” 46

This is so true.
The book then discusses the need to be shaped by biblical truths and discusses in much detail the role of parents, particularly fathers, in training children in understanding the value and message of modesty. Along the way this is then a great book simply on parenting. I recommend this book highly.

In closing here are a few other representative quotes:

“In light of the value God places on marriage and fidelity, immodesty is no small sin. It is not simply a silly and vain form of self-display. It is a snare to serious sin.” 80

“When it comes to finding a man, no attention is better than the wrong attention. A modest woman, on the other hand, is not only communicating her respect for the institution of marriage, she is also telling all would-be suitors that she is not cheap.” 81

“…in teaching holiness we will be restoring modesty, for holiness is its soil.” 155

“…an immodest worshiper is an oxymoron – a contradiction in terms. . . . It is a frightening thought, but if a woman comes to church dressed to get attention, then she is competing with Christ.” 157-158

Spurgeon, Apply the Text Directly to Hearts

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“No, my brethren, we must always take our texts so that we may bear upon our hearers with all our might. I hope I may never preach before a congregation…I desire always to preach to you; nor do I wish to exhibit powers of eloquence, nor would I even pretend to exhibit any depth of learning. I would simply say, “Hear me, my fellow men, for God doth send me unto you. There are some things that concern you; I will tell you of them. You are dying; many of you when you die must perish for ever; it is not for me to be amusing you with some deep things that may instruct your intellect but do not enter your hearts; it is for me to fit the arrow to the string and send it home – to unsheathe the sword – be the scabbard never so glittering, to cast it aside, and let the majesty of naked truth smite at your hearts; for in the day of judgment aught beside personal home-speaking will be consumed as wood, and hay, and stubble; but these shall abide, like the gold and silver and precious stones that can not be consumed.
But some men will say, “Sir, ministers ought not to be personal.” Ministers ought to be personal, and they will never be true to their Master till they are. I admire John Knox for going, Bible in hand, to Queen Mary, and sternly upbraiding her. I admit I do not exactly love the way in which he did it; but the thing itself I love. The woman had been a sinner, and he told her so flat to her face. But now we poor graven sons of nobodies have to stand and talk about generalities; we are afraid to point you out and tell you of your sins personally. But, blessed be God, from that fear I have been delivered long ago. There walketh not a man on the surface of this earth whom I dare not reprove. There are none of you, however connected with me by ties of profession or in any other respect, that I would blush to speak personally to, as to the things of the kingdom of God; and it is only by being bold, courageous, and sending home the truth, that we shall at last be free from the blood of our hearers. May God grant us the power of Paul, that we may reason on appropriate subjects, and not select generalities, when we ought to be pushing home truths to the consciences of our hearers.”

– From Paul’s Sermon Before Felix

Carson on a Spiritual Home

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Over at my pastoral ministry blog I have commented a number of times on D. A. Carson’s book about his father, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor. In the most recent Crossway book report Dr. Carson was interviewed about the book and I thought his comments were relevant to this blog. The main point of the book is chronicling his father’s simple, plodding faithfulness without fanfare or glamour. Talking about growing up in this home he stated:

“I’d be the first to insist that modeling Christian virtues, not least in the home, is of paramount importance. The worst sort of home to be brought up in is the one where spiritual pretensions are high and performance is low; the best sort of home is the one where spiritual pretensions are low and performance is high. That was the kind of home in which I was reared.”

May we provide such homes for our children.

The Spiritual Home

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I have commented a number of times on D. A. Carson’s book about his father, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor. In the most recent Crossway book report Dr. Carson was interviewed about the book and he commented on the value of growing up in a home where his pastor father was faithful and consistent. In the interview he stated:

“I’d be the first to insist that modeling Christian virtues, not least in the home, is of paramount importance. The worst sort of home to be brought up in is the one where spiritual pretensions are high and performance is low; the best sort of home is the one where spiritual pretensions are low and performance is high. That was the kind of home in which I was reared.”

This is a good reminder to anyone particularly us pastors.

Inheritance Publications Free Shipping

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For the month of August you can get free shipping at Inheritance Publications when you order six or more books. I have commented on a number of their books here, and we have particularly enjoyed a number of them. In the next few days I plan to comment on the latest book of theirs that we have read, How Sleep the Brave, which has become one of our favorites. Inheritance Publications provides some good historical novels which tell parts fo history you do not often hear about. I encourage you to check them out.

GGG Blog Tour

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I am pleased today to be hosting the Gum, Geckos & God blog tour here and at Oversight of Souls. I previously listed all the stops Jim Spiegel, the author, would be making on his blog tour.This is an excellent book that I commend to all my readers, particularly those with children or grandchildren. It is essentially a collection of conversations the author and his wife have had with their children about the faith. Typically then Jim reflects a bit on the topic that was discussed for the reader. I was particularly encouraged by the model of living out Deuteronomy 6, particularly verses 6 & 7:

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

This book shows good examples of parents simply paying attention to their children and making the most of opportunities to talk about God. You don’t have to have a theology degree to do this. You simply have to be intentional and engage your kids.

Another key thing I noticed in the book is how often the children themselves raise questions about the faith. When your children ask questions you have the greatest opportunity to teach them because their interest is already piqued. So I asked Jim:

What have you and your wife done to create a setting in your home such that your kids naturally ask about and speak of things concerning God? Of course kids ask questions, but what leads to them so naturally asking about God? God seems to be a natural part of life, and while any Christian parent would hope for this I find many who wonder how this can be accomplished.

Jim answered:

Our kids’ readiness to ask questions about God traces back to a number of factors. Some of these are not extraordinary, such as our consistent involvement with our church and our teaching them the Bible. But we are also intentional about pointing out biblical lessons which play out in our daily lives as a family. We constantly come back to the Golden Rule, particularly when the kids are fighting or behaving selfishly with one another. I can’t count how many times we’ve said to them, “Now how would you feel if s/he did that to you?” This is such a powerful question because it forces them to apply the Golden Rule. Although sometimes it feels like this doesn’t get through to them, over time the impact is evident.

Also, as is clear in Gum, Geckos, and God, my wife and I constantly draw biblical lessons from nature, whether its observations about insects, gardening, or family pets. We also weave theology into our conversations about popular culture, from Star Wars to baseball. The more we do this, the more naturally kids will do this themselves. Our hope and prayer is that this will develop in them a fully integrated faith, where they consciously apply their Christian worldview to literally everything they experience.

These are all positive things that we do to theologically fertilize our kids’ minds. But one significant choice we have made is a particular kind of abstinence: the elimination of TV programs from our home. We do have a television, but it doesn’t pick up any channels. So our kids can only watch DVDs and videos which we have screened beforehand, and their time doing this is quite limited. TV is not a default entertainment in our home, nor does it function as an electronic babysitter. Consequently, our children spend more time than most kids reading, doing crafts, and playing outside, so they become more active thinkers. This has the added benefit of preventing them from being exposed to thousands of commercials which are so powerful in conditioning young minds to have a consumer mentality. So for our family, the elimination of TV has been the ultimate case of addition by subtraction. I highly recommend that parents give it a try. Yes, it’s difficult (at first), but the benefits are amazing. And not just for the children. Your marriage will benefit as well!