Family Planning

Recently I saw the documentary Demographic Winter http://www.demographicwinter.com/index.html .Amazingly, some secular humanists who understand the negative effects of the "decline of the human family" are deeply worried. Many countries are seeing a decrease in population; in fact, they are dying countries and are beginning to feel it economically.
In the light of the above, I was thankful to find a note lying around the house lately written by one of our younger daughters. At play, she was imagining a family called The Johnston's Family. Under this title is the following:

John 35
Jeanette 33
Jack, Johnathin and Jude 13
Jesse and Josiah 11
Jorden 10
Joseph and Joshua 9
James 8
Jake 5
Jeremiah 8 months
More to come!!!

I was thankful to find this because so far they have not bought into the socially mandated 1.7 children per family as normal. Instead their play is reflecting the Biblical view of children being a blessing.

College Plus video

I read an excellent entry about College Plus on Voddie Baucham's blog: http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2009/5/7_Great_College_Plus_Video.html
Two of our children have used College Plus and it is a great blessing. Joseph, 20, is weeks away from getting a BA in Business. Hannah, 18, is nearly 3/4 of the way through a BA in Communications. I say this as a recommendation for the program. Check out more of Voddie's blog while you're at it. He is a blessing too.

How to enjoy your wealth

Don't we all want to enjoy our wealth? Bill Gates gives some great advice in this article. Larry Burkett, wise Christian financial counselor, further advises that if you leave an inheritance to your children it not be large. And another Christian advised a father with an atheistic son-in-law to leave no inheritance. Money says so much about us. Grant us faithfulness, O Lord.

Godiva pushes out Palmer

As a little girl, I was very undiscriminating about chocolate. Chocolate was chocolate and I loved it all. When I grew older, I tasted Godiva --smooth and rich -- and I began to associate Palmer with wax and sugar. Now I will pass up a poorer chocolate because I have tasted the best. I share this not to encourage you to a fastidiousness about food. Proverbs 23:3 warns about dining with a ruler: "Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food." Rather I share it to say that I have done what the Psalmist calls all to do: "Taste and see that the Lord is good." I have tasted the Lord. He is good. I want to keep tasting so that my appetite for idols will be killed. Why shall I settle for less? At stake is not merely the satisfaction of a craving, but my very real need to have my sins forgiven so that I may stand before a holy God. The alternative is not only inferior joy, it is the loss of sweet fellowship with the One we were made for.

Ah, Jeremiah, you are right.

Most Americans think they are good. If you are among the most, you need to google for the Westminster Larger Catechism and read questions 101 to 148. These questions deal with the ten commandments and what is commanded and forbidden in each one. For example, some violations of the seventh commandment are immodesty and the undue delay of marriage. Obedience to the fifth commandment calls parents to, among other things, commend and reward good behavior. Obedience to the ninth commandment requires the free acknowledgment of others' gifts and graces. This was what we talked about in our Sunday School small group as we discussed Ps.34:13; "Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit." There are many ways to bear false witness. See the guests at Simon's house when a woman broke a flash of costly nard and poured it over the head of Jesus. Some present refused to commend the grace of this woman who rightly discerned and demonstrated the worth of Jesus. That which was good, they called evil. And they cloaked their love of money in a seeming concern for thrift and good stewardship. In contrast, Jesus models a perfect obedience to the commandment: He tells the men to leave her alone because she has done a beautiful thing. He acknowledges her graces. O Lord, I know so little of my own heart. May your commandments unsettle my self-righteousness. I am undone except for the blood of Christ. The prophet Jeremiah said that the heart of man is deceitful beyond imagination. Ah, Jeremiah, you are right.

Creeping Charlie and Sin.

When we moved to Apple Valley, our neighbor Eric told us that we had some Creeping Charlie edging into our yard from another yard. "Put some vinegar on it," he said, " or it will be all over your yard." Well, there was school to do, jeans to wash, floors to mop, visits to make, hair to braid and granola to bake. And the Creeping Charlie crept quietly into the yard, inch by inch. This spring a fine network of roots supported lush, generous, stubborn patches of the weed. It has taken over half of the garden, and I despair of planting anything.
So is the potency and subtly of sin. We excuse little sins, not realizing they are the nose of the camel in the door of the tent. All sin is vile and against our good. The Banner of Truth Trust has published a pocket booklet called Impure Lust by John Flavel (a puritan). One of the directions Flavel gives for staying out of the pit of impure lust is to eat moderately. What? Yes. "Fullness of bread and idleness were the sins of Sodom that occasioned such an exuberancy of lust. 'They are like fed horses, every one neighing after his neighbour's wife. When I fed them to the full, then they committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.' (Jer.5:7-8)
Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that some sin is of no consequence. I thought that of a few shoots of Creeping Charlie. And I often think that of overeating. May God give us repentance and grace to choose to suffer rather than sin.

Look to your own Interests.

All of us have our imbalances. If one of yours is a tendency to tend to other's interests to the neglect of your own, you will appreciate Robert E. Lee's advice:

"You must be aware of one thing, that those you deal with will consider their advantage and not yours. So, while being fair and just, you must not neglect your interests."

"It is the part of benevolence to aid all we can and sympathize with all who are in need; it is the part of wisdom to attend to our own affairs."

This agrees with Paul who says "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Paul assumes we will look to our own interests.
Just be careful to keep the balance.