Author: David Thomas

Going to church with family

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You’ll find 10 helpful tips for going to church with your family below and they are explained more over here.

The only thing I’d quibble with is the working out of No. 6 – Stay until the end.  That’s fine but I think we can do better than merely opting to district children with toys and books while the adults talk or serve.  That makes church look as if it is an adult only activity.  Better to involve the little people as well, before, during and after our gathered worship.  And here’s a link to a great resource to help think about how to do that.

1. Go every Sunday

2. Go with joy and expectation

3 Arrive on time

4. Pray as a family before you arrive

5. Treat church as an extended family gathering

6. Stay until the end

7. Speak well of church

8. Receive the word with thankfulness

9. Look for new people and people with needs

10. Thank your minister

Visible Submission

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With thanks to Doug Wilson

“If a husband were to ask his wife to put on her best red dress so that they could go out to a fancy restaurant, she would not say, ‘Honey . . . I submit.’ The place where submission is tested is always at the point of significant disagreement. When we think we have only two options — complete agreement or open defiance — we have left out the greenhouse where true humility grows. That greenhouse is a place of cheerful compliance with a legitimate authority that is believed to be mistaken” (A Primer on Worship and Reformation, p. 18).

A prayer against the idols of my heart

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Thanks to Scotty Smith for his A prayer about the functional boss of my heart

 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Col. 3:15

Dear Lord Jesus, today, like every day, somebody or something is going to gain the upper hand on my heart. My heart will be swayed, captured and ruled. Some entity will be the “boss of me”—my functional king.

It could be my bitterness, pettiness, or cowardice. It could be the shaming power of darkness or the alluring power of lust. It could be overbearing or aggravating people. It could be my greed to have a little more or my obsession to be a lot different. It could be religion or my hatred of religion. It could be old regrets or new fantasies. It could be food, success or approval, but I will live as the submissive citizen of some reign(s) today.

But in light of this Scripture, and by the faith you’ve given me, right now, I choose your peace as the ruler of my heart, as the “boss of me,” as the centering and sending power for this one day. And who knows peace better than you, Jesus? You are the Prince of Peace! On the cross you secured God’s peace with me and my peace with God. The enmity and hostility between us have been obliterated and eradicated. Peace with God is now a legal right of mine, a done deal, a settled issue. How can I not overflow with gratitude as this day begins and as it continues?

Lord Jesus, please make this legal right a personal delight—an actual power mightily at work in my heart today and in all my relationships. The peace you gives does much more than simply calm my restless, wandering heart. You peace is the power of reconciling love. You make enemies friends. You humble stubborn people. You soften hard people. You make angry people gentle.

Because you have forgiven me, I will choose to forgive others. Because you have forgiven me, I will choose to ask forgiveness from others. Because you are at peace with me, I will do everything within my power to live at peace with others. So very Amen I pray, in your holy and persistent name.

God’s 10 txt msgs

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With thanks to Steve Jeffery

1. no1 b4 me. srsly.

2. dnt wrshp pix/idols

3. no omg’s

4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r)

5. pos ok – ur m&d r cool

6. dnt kill ppl

7. :-X only w/ m8

8. dnt steal

9. dnt lie re: bf

10. dnt ogle ur bf’s m8. or ox. or dnkey. myob.

M, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl.

ttyl, JHWH.

ps. wwjd?

The idol you love doesn’t love you back

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We were thinking about idols of the heart last Sunday morning.  Over here there’s a great summary post from Justin Buzzard on idolatry, highlighting the emptiness of setting our hearts on idols that cannot satisfy.

Here’s what you need to know about your idol: That idol that you love? It doesn’t love you back. False gods don’t love you. Idols don’t keep their promises. Anything you worship and build your life on other than God will suck the life out of you and destroy you.

Jesus is the one master who will love you even when you fail him. Your idols don’t do that. Jesus is the one master who loved you when you were at your worst and who reigns over your life with perfect wisdom, power, and goodness. He’s the one master you can trust. Only he can give you freedom.

Are you wiser than a miser?

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Someone told me recently of the pastor who stood in front of his congregation and said, “The good news is God has blessed us with enough money to hire a new gospel worker in this church.  The bad news is, that money is still in your pockets!”

Perhaps especially in the current economic climate the issue of giving to gospel work can be a thorny one.  But the principles of giving remain the same, however little or much we have, whatever our circumstances.

Clint Archer has written a timely reminder of 6 principles for giving over here.  On the issue of how regularly we give Clint helpfully says

As frequently as you’re saving, spending, and investing, you should be giving. For some, giving resembles a the once-off ordinance of baptism. Rather, giving should be a regular part of your devotional life.

The principles are

  1. Give to the local church first
  2. Give regularly
  3. Give discreetly
  4. Give generoursly
  5. Give cheerfully
  6. Give sacrificially