Repentance is the rudder.

Besides being thrilled that my husband started a blog on Christian marriage --Christandmarriageagree.blogspot.com I like checking out Doug Wilson's blog. Some of his best posts are on politics. He rightly points out that nothing can change without repentance. I think of that often when I hear the conservative talk show hosts boasting of how we are going to turn this ship around. The following post is superb.

http://www.dougwils.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7509:obamacare-a-brief-ten-point-theology-of-resistance&catid=129:obama-nation-building

We thought they'd like the latest fashion

The church seems desperate to keep up with the latest styles, one of the most prominent being egalitarianism. Here is a fascinating quote from The Gospel for Muslims by Thabiti Anyabwile on the effect of this on African-American men and their subsequent draw to Islam.

"African-American Muslims generally take family seriously. They tend to have large families organized in traditional gender roles of male leadership and female submission. For African-Americans, Islam can be seen as the only force that restores healthy family life, including strong male providers and virtuous wives and mothers.

The devastation of black family life is sometimes attributed to what is seen as an emasculating Christian influence. Christian men are viewed as weak. African-American Muslims object to women-dominated churches and homes. So much of the success of Islam in African-American communities comes from the Muslim community's ability to rehabilitate and strengthen African-American men and its concern for the protection of African-American family."

What are "Kidults"?

Kidults are people that are the age of an adult but they still act like kids -- resisting responsibility, resisting growing up, resisting thinking about others. In Do Hard Things Alex and Brett Harris discuss this phenomenon. There are lots of kidults in America.

Therefore, it is always fascinating to learn of young men and women who are breaking out of the mold. Enter David Brown. He recently married at 18 years of age having built a house and being debt free. If you're screaming for pictures go to

http://browns-journal.blogspot.com/2009/10/david-and-monica.html Also click on "David's house up-date" on that page.

For a picture of the wedding go to

http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/blogs/dwp/ and look for "Huzzah. Thanking God for another multi-generational success story."

Need for Reformation in Wedding Sermons

When I read the book of Ruth I am struck by the blessing given at the gates when the news of the marriage of Boaz and Ruth is announced: "may your house be like the house of Perez....because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman." Even before they are married there is talk of children.

Now Russell Moore in his book Adopted for Life addresses the same subject and I will quote him.

"One area of needed reformation in our preaching is in wedding sermons. Too many of our weddings, even in the most conservative churches, pretend as though the event is about the formation of a 'couple.' The language of older wedding ceremonies, which mention procreation and the children of the union, seem quaint and antiquarian to our ears. We're the ones who are odd, however, not our forebears. Marriage is about the formation of a new family. What would happen if our wedding ceremonies were less about a 'celebration of the love of Joni and Todd' and more about the formation of a new covenant family? What if the officiating pastor spoke to the couple not only about what it means to be a faithful husband and wife but what it will mean to be a faithful father and mother? What if every wedding ceremony included a prayer for the children of the union, that such children might actually be and that they'd be saved at an early age? What if this prayer included the mention of such children as coming either through birth or through adoption? Such small measures could help refocus our minds and hearts on our responsibilities to the next generation."

A rare topic

I don't hear much talk of the Lord's Day. I'd love to hear more. Maybe we don't even know what to think of it --much less how to talk of it.

Here is some help from Bryan Stuart.

"Then notice what God does. He does not keep the rest to Himself; He does not hoard feasting and cause mankind to labor without ceasing so as to subsidize His feast. Rather, God gives this Sabbath rest to man. He hallows the seventh day and sanctifies it. He sets it apart so that man too, like the Creator, would be able to work and labor and strive, exercising dominion over the earth, and then on the seventh day sit back and rest, enjoying the fruit of his hands and worshiping the Lord who had given him such bounty to enjoy. In other words, God’s rest, God’s feast, was a blessing for all humanity."

If this paragraph sparks your interest, read the article below. Stuart also has a book from Canon Press called the taste of SABBATH.

http://www.credenda.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=176:the-gift-of-sabbath-rest&catid=96:theology&Itemid=122

"Never let any one make your mother or sister cry"...

One of the casualties of the religious commitment to egalitarianism is a sense of God's call to men to protect, provide and to be faithful. Russell Moore spoke beautifully of this in the parenting seminar at Bethlehem Baptist Church (watch for this seminar -- March6/7 --to come online either at Desiring God or hopeingod.org in the next few days).

Among the Camps by Thomas Nelson Page is a wonderful read-aloud for children about children during the civil war in the south. Major Stafford must go off to war, and his young son Charlie promises that when he gets to be a man he won't let anybody make his mamma cry." In response his father says to his wife: "On my word, Ellen, the fellow has some of the old blood in him." Then he calls Charlie his young knight and, drawing him up, says, "I had rather have heard you say that than have won a brigadier's wreath."

In another story Jack, 10 years old, is left by his father (going off to fight) to take care of his mother. "He told him he wanted him to mind his mother, and look out for her, to help her and save her trouble, to take care of her and comfort her, and defend her always like a man."

No doubt these good old stories can teach us how to charge our young men to begin early their calling to protect, provide and be faithful.

The last picture of my father and I

This picture was taken last summer. Ruthiey took it and I am very grateful to have it.