“It is a palpable error of some ministers, who make such a disproportion between their preaching and their living; who study hard to preach exactly, and study little or not at all to live exactly.”
“You are likely to see no general reformation til you procure family reformation. Some little obscure religion there may be in here & there one; but while it sticks in single persons, & isn't promoted by these societies, it doth not prosper, nor promise much for future increase.”
“The ministerial work must be managed purely for God and the salvation of the people, and not for any private ends of our own.”
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I said, "I like you but I plan to go into the ministry. I'll probably be poor, be gone a lot & people will hate me. If you aren't cool with that, this won't work."
22 years later, she's still by my side.
22 reflections on life with a wife...
1. Marry for demonstrated potential which is to say catch them on their way up.
2. Marry as young as reasonable so that you develop your tastes and habits as a couple.
3. Children are infinitely better than pets... so don’t delay having them.
4. Have frank discussions about sexual expectations with your spouse & have as much sex as you both can.
5. When arguing, stop & say “Hey, I love you. We are on the same side. Let’s work this out together.”
6. Pray together & share the things you’re learning from God’s Word.
1/ Judas was a woke virtue signaling social justice warrior…
Pay attention to John 12...
"Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume"
2/ Mary worships Jesus. What is Judas' re-action? Outrage.
He says, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?"
Poor people matter, guys. Mary is being irresponsible.
Wow, Judas really gets it. He loves the oppressed, right?
Nope...
3/ John gives us insight into the source of Judas' wokeness:
"Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it."
Say what? Someone can cloak their sinful motives as...
1/ Exodus is a reminder that the war on males is a very old war. It’s a war that’s recurrent. It reappears anytime a tyrannical government fears opposition. They know that men, unlike women, are a threat as they are designed for conquest and rule. Thus, they must be dealt with.
2/ There are three common ways that such a government deals with a male threat:
1. pacify 2. reeducate 3. kill
We find the first and the third in Exodus 1.
Pharaoh attempts to pacify through hard labor (8-14). When that fails he has the male babies killed (22).
3/ We find reeducation in the Exodus by way of Stephen in Acts 7: “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians” (22).
We also can detect the strong cultural influence of the Egyptians in the idolatry in the Exodus generation. It’s a less direct form of reeducation.
1/ This Tweet may sound pious. It isn't. It's naive and *probably* something much worse.
Yes, I get that there is a lot of "Christless" Bible Belt Religion. This is a religion that possesses some of the form godliness but lacks its power. That's not a good thing. However...
2/ ...the form isn't the problem. The lack of the substance is, a true evangelical faith.
What is the BBR being replaced with? Ortlund says:
"We're losing a Bible Belt religion that held us back anyway. We've gained A29, TGC, ERLC, T4G, reformed hip hop and poetry, etc. Great!"
3/ 3 comments...
1. The things "gained" here have often proved to be empty forms as much as Bible Belt Religion. In particular, we've seen TGC & ERLC toe the line of the zeitgeist. And while there are good A29 churches, I've been told repeatedly by pastors within the movement...
For years, I’d expect my family to leave me alone for a period of “decompression” when I got home from work.
I’ve always worked in highly relational/conversation based positions. I’d often arrived home in an overstimulated state and disappear to my office.
2/ My wife would want me to deal with a discipline issue with a kid or be interested in what happened in my day. My kids would want to tell me about their day or have a thousand requests requiring permission from dad.
But I just wanted space.
I was fried.
"Give me a min, guys."
3/ I slowly came to see that this was a missed opportunity. It was a failure of leadership. The way I re-entered my home after a long day of work played an important role in the forming of my home's culture.