Some will know David Burrowes as a faithful evangelical Christian who just happens to be the Conservative MP for Enfield / Southgate. David says some sensible things in his article in the Telegraph today and needs our prayers and support as he seeks to faithfully defend Christian values.
There’s a lot of wisdom in this article by Jason Helopoulos on why children should worship with the rest of the church, a practice which the biblical authors seem to assume will be the case.
However, if anything I’d want to say I don’t think Jason goes far enough. We shouldn’t just be content to get our children into and out of gathered worship without any loss of limbs and surely we’d want our children to be more than mere observers. With some imagination and preparation we should be able to encourage even the youngest of children to interact and participate rather than resorting to mints and offering envelopes.
It may seem like mission impossible, but help is on hand. A book we are currently reading through and that so far we’ve found to be full of great ideas on how parents can better nurture their children in this way is ‘Parenting in the Pew: Guiding your children into the joy of worship,’ by Robbie Castleman.
If you are a UK resident, over 16 and would want to say the following statement, why not add your name to those listed at the newly formed Coalition for Marriage website.
I support the legal definition of marriage which is the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. I oppose any attempt to redefine it.
I’ve not worked out how to get this video to appear as part of this post but anyone with 60 minutes to spare would profit from watching / listening to this Q & A from the recent Desiring God Leaders’ Conference. By clicking on the link above you can watch or listen to the session streamed online or download it to your iPod for listening to while you’re traveling to and from work.
Below is a list of the questions answered by the panel along with when they appear in the session.
00:50 — What is biblical femininity? (Wilson, Patrick)
05:12 — Does Christianity have a feminine feel? (Piper, Loritts, Patrick)
11:25 — How can fathers best care for their daughters? (Wilson, Patrick, Loritts)
15:44 — How do we know to apply strictness or mercy? (Wilson, Piper, Loritts)
24:55 — How do we model Christ in parenting foster children? (Piper, Wilson)
28:40 — Lessons for courage, boldness, and wisdom. (Atallah)
30:56 — How does Christian worship threaten the pattern of this world? (Wilson)
33:43 — How does masculinity relate to our worship music? (Piper, Wilson)
40:45 — What are strategies for building godly men? (Loritts, Patrick)
43:45 — How do we surround ourselves with godly men? (Patrick, Loritts, Wilson, Atallah)
52:53 — Counsel for fathers who want to rebuild relationships. (Wilson, Loritts, Piper, Patrick)
Love OR Discipline
Love INSTEAD OF Discipline
Love WITH Discipline
Love SO Discipline
Preached July 2011
WHATEVER IS COMMENDABLE 