The Plodding Preacher

Halloween plays with fear the way Valentine's Day plays with love.  Praying that I fear correctly today. Mark Dever

Tim Challies is a great Canadian Christian blogger.  In this article, he addresses mistakes parents easily make with discipline. 5 Bad Substitutes for Discipline There is nothing easy about parenting, and nothing easy about the responsibility of training our children in obedience through discipline. Because discipline is unpopular and unpleasant, parents often find themselves looking for substitutes. In her book   Parenting Against the Tide , Ann Benton lists five poor substitutes for disciplining our children—five poor substitutes that fail to address the heart. EXCUSE THEM This is the voice of therapy culture. Sometimes we make excuses for our child’s misbehavior. We say, “he’s tired, she’s had a hard day, he’s disappointed, she’s traumatised, he’s got low self-esteem …” Now all of these things may be true. But that is not the point. The point is this: Are we going to allow our children to take responsibility for their own behavior/misbehavior or not? Or is it always going

One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."  (Mar 2:23-28 ESV) Growing up in a conservative Baptist community, a great deal of contention surrounded Sabbath observance.  Many in our fellowship were staunch Sabbath observers who believed, among other things, that one shouldn't eat at a restaurant, do housework or homework,

One that can apply to both presidential candidates: "In this world we seldom judge men as to character; we judge them as to rank." C. H. Spurdeon

One of the absolute necessities for a strong family is a strong marriage.  Here are a few pointers from some wise ladies. 12 Steps to a Happy Marriage " There is no more lovely,  friendly,  and charming relationship,  communion,  or company than a good marriage."       Martin Luther  When I  first considered  writing this blogpost I  said to Robert something to the effect,   “I think I  can sum up our marital felicity  these past 43 years in just two words:  'Christ and Grace’  - What do you think?”    Without hesitation he said,   “Honey,  I’ve never known you to say anything in just two words."   On   that   note,  these are some things we've learned  together over the years.    1.  LOVE GOD MOST   “And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'    Matthew 22:37 A happy Christian marriage   must   be a Christ centered marriage.   If  you are a  sing

One day America and all its presidents will be a footnote in history, but the kingdom of Jesus will never end. John Piper

Mike Livingstone writes an excellent reminder about the petty things which can destroy Christian unity.  I found number 4 particularly significant. 4. Refusing to forgive Bitterness and resentment are poisons. Unforgiveness poisons the soul and it poisons the body of Christ. The church is, by nature, a fellowship rooted in forgiveness. What does that mean, practically speaking? 17th-century Puritan Thomas Watson said forgiveness looks like this: you don’t seek revenge when someone offends you, you wish him well, you grieve at his calamities, you pray for him, you seek reconciliation, and show yourself willing to come to his aid. That’s what forgiveness looks like, and that’s what it takes to maintain unity. Read the others HERE

Planned Parenthood the world's biggest abortion provider is celebrating its one hundredth anniversary.  They have been congratulated by President Obama and Hillary Clinton.  Here is a balanced article about the founder of PP, Margaret Sanger. This weekend Planned Parenthood celebrated its 100th anniversary, commemorating the day that Margaret Sanger, the organization’s founder, opened the first birth control clinic in America. Although Planned Parenthood has attempted to distance itself from Sanger’s more illiberal views, they still praise her role and annually give the   Margaret Sanger Award —the organization’s highest honor—to “recognize leadership, excellence, and outstanding contributions to the reproductive health and rights movement.” (When Hillary Clinton won the award in 2009 she said, “I admire Margaret Sanger enormously. Her courage, her tenacity, her vision. . . . I am really in awe of her.”) Who was Sanger? Here are nine things you should know about one of the 20t

One of the saddest things about this fallen world is that an adoption can cost $40,000 and an abortion $400. Matt Smethurst

November has traditionally been the month the church focuses on our persecuted sisters and brothers around the world.  Here is a helpful article to involve your children. 3 Ways to Teach Your Kids to Pray for the Persecuted Church RUTH RIPKIN | OCTOBER 2 2016 David’s Zeal for North Korean Christians A six-year-old boy looked up at my husband, Nik, with eyes as big as saucers. Those eyes are a sight forever etched on my mind. After a Sunday morning service, his mom, Debbie, asked us if her little boy, David, could talk to us before the evening service. We arrived a few minutes early in order to talk with him, and he was already sitting on the front row waiting for us. “What is it like for Christians in North Korea?” he blurted, even before we got to the front of the church. What six-year-old boy even knows there are Christians in the most persecuted place on the planet? What six-year-old child cares that believers are severely persecuted and can lose their lives if they follo

In our Wednesday evening study of Mark's Gospel, we observed a couple of weeks back how significant was Jesus' touching of the leper when He healed him.  The leprous were unclean and were driven from society and all the regular human contact which we take for granted.  After months or maybe even years, the leper experienced his first human contact when Jesus touched him. In last night's study, we looked at the calling of Levi. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. (Mar 2:14-15 ESV) At first there seems to be little parallel between the healing of the leper and the calling of Matthew to be a disciple.  I believe there is a strong connection.  In the first story, Jesus heals a person who is physically le

Erik Raymond As Christians we are right to be outraged by things we see and hear in the news and our communities. Our hearts break when we consider people being killed by gunfire, abortion, terrorism, and drug overdoses (just to name a few). But being Scripture-formed people we know better than to limit our frustration over sin to those that make the headlines. We also loathe spiritual apathy, hypocrisy, and lukewarmness in the church. We recognize that all sin is, at its core, a rebellion against God and an assault on his honor (Rom. 1:18-25). So what do we do about it? I know one thing that a lot of people do is talk about it. We as Christians talk an awful lot about what is wrong. Many people engage the issues on social media and there is a lot of chatter by Christians on the topics. But is this really a strategy for doing anything about it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for talking. People are shaped and challenged by healthy public discourse. But this can’t be all that we do.

Today is officially "Day of the Girl."  It is supposed to be a day to fight gender inequality.  "Abortion makes it easier for baby girls to be screened, and then discarded.  This is not gender equality."

Starting a Family Devotion Time by Michael Kelley I haven’t always been a family devotion guy. It’s not because I didn’t want or aspire to be, I honestly did. But we went a long time as a family before pulling the trigger and trying to integrate this practice into the regular rhythm of our family life.  We’ve been doing morning devotions together for about five years now – long enough to where our kids expect that we will. It’s a long road, as are most things with young children I’m finding out. Though revival doesn’t break out every morning over eggs and toast, our continued hope and prayer is that times like these build into the love and discipline our children will have in the future when it comes to God’s Word.  Through those five years, we’ve tried different things, failed at a bunch, and have learned some things along the way. So, as encouragement to those of you just starting out or maybe some affirmation for those of you already in the process, here are six things t

As David Prince recently   tweeted , “Affirming inerrancy in principle, while rejecting its sufficiency in practice, is like saying your wife’s perfect while having an affair.” This is exactly right. To put it in parlance Stanley’s tribe may be more inclined to consider: as the apostle James says, “Faith without works is dead.” If you say you have faith, but your deeds do not show faithfulness, your faith is under question. Further, affirmation of inerrancy without the practical application of sufficiency is dead. If you believe the Scriptures are totally reliable, why would you obscure them? Further—and this is by far the biggest error of the entire attractional church enterprise—this approach to teaching/preaching presumes that the Bible is not living and active, that the gospel is not power, that the book is in fact kind of an old, crusty thing that really should be saved for after people have been softened up by our logic and understanding. In other words, Stanley believes the B

Kevin Halloran lists some important things one loses by missing church. Why Go to Church? According to recent Pew Research data, only 35% of American Christians consider attending religious services as an essential part of their faith .1 Only 28% listed “helping out in your congregation” as essential. It appears that the majority of self-proclaimed Christians do not know how to answer the question, “Why go to church?” Why the Complacency? We can point to several reasons for this: the rise of secularism in society, a celebration of individual autonomy paired with a rejection of institutional faith and authority, and “finding God other places.” 1.   You miss out on obedience to the command to not give up meeting together ( Hebrews 10:24-25 ). 2.   You miss out on loving God in your obedience, and as a result, experiencing him more deeply ( John 14:21 ). Read the rest HERE

Bucket-lists make sense—if you believe this world is all there is. Cram it all in before you exit stage left. They also make sense if your view of the afterlife is some disembodied, ethereal experience or a merging into the one spirit of the universe. This world is undoubtedly beautiful in places, so get it all in while you have eyeballs and tastebuds. But what if there is a resurrection and the world to come is a perfect restoration of all that is beautiful in this world, and you have endless time to explore, without deadlines and vaccinations, without aging and its limitations, without danger from wars, bandits, avalanches and plane crashes, without any hassle. Mark Loughridge in the article " No Bucket List Required ."