Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Feminist writer, wise words, and Tim Tebow

February 6, 2010 by caljohnson

This is an excellent article. Yes, it is on the sports page, and yes it is written by a feminist who will probably take some flak. She doesn’t agree with Tim Tebow, but she thinks the flak he is taking over a Super Bowl ad that hasn’t even aired yet is ludicrous.

Let me just quote a little bit, but you really have to read the whole article. Jenkins writes, “I’m pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I’ve heard in the past week, I’ll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the ‘National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time.’” And she goes on to write,

Let me be clear again: I couldn’t disagree with Tebow more. It’s my own belief that the state has no business putting its hand under skirts. But I don’t care that we differ. Some people will care that the ad is paid for by Focus on the Family, a group whose former spokesman, James Dobson, says loathsome things about gays. Some will care that Tebow is a creationist. Some will care that CBS has rejected a gay dating service ad. None of this is the point. CBS owns its broadcast and can run whatever advertising it wants, and Tebow has a right to express his beliefs publicly. Just as I have the right to reject or accept them after listening — or think a little more deeply about the issues. If the pro-choice stance is so precarious that a story about someone who chose to carry a risky pregnancy to term undermines it, then CBS is not the problem.

All I can say is, “Yes, you go girl!”


Posted in Family, contemporary culture | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Desiring God Conference for Pastors live stream

February 1, 2010 by caljohnson

One of my favorite conferences that I have attended numerous times is the Desiring God (Bethlehem) Conference for Pastors, at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, where John Piper pastors. I wanted to attend this year, but was not able to, but still can get in on it live through their video streaming page.

Sam Storms is the main speaker for the conference, and John Piper will be doing a biographical sketch of C.S. Lewis. You can read the speaker bios at the Desiring God website. Here is the schedule for the conference. Remember, the times are Central Time, so in California (where I live) you need to subtract two hours (opening session on Monday, Feb. 1, would begin at 5 pm Pacific Time).

Posted in Pastoral ministry, Personal growth | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

The Myth of the Perfect Parent: Faith over Formula

February 1, 2010 by caljohnson

Sojourn Kids highlights an interesting article from Christianity Today on this subject. I believe the whole article is worth reading. The author begins by addressing some faulty assumptions in parenting and parenting “techniques” or “formulas”:

We must assume, then, that there is serious error in our beliefs about parenting. We have made far too much of ourselves and far too little of God, reflecting our sinful bent to see ourselves as more essential and in control than we actually are. It’s also our heritage as good Americans, psychologist Harriet Lerner observed in her 1998 book, The Mother Dance: We believe that we can fix every problem, that we are masters over our fate. The root of much of our pain in parenting, she writes, is “the belief that we should have control over our children when it is hard enough to have control over ourselves.”

The reflex to judge ourselves by our children, and to judge others by their children, has further implications: It reveals a faulty view of spiritual formation. We often expect that the children of believing parents, whether the children claim Christ yet or not, will show the same kind of spiritually mature attitudes and behavior we hope to see in each other: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and obedience, as a beginning list.

The author states the question well:

The question we ask of ourselves must be reframed. We need to quit asking, “Am I parenting successfully?” And we most certainly need to quit asking, “Are others parenting successfully?” Instead, we need to ask, “Am I parenting faithfully?” Faithfulness, after all, is God’s highest requirement for us.

She goes on to point out that, if our standard is our own success, we will not pass the test.

We cannot pass this test, I’m afraid, nor could we ever. If we are graded on a curve, we will always find parents and children who are more obedient, more joyful, and more peaceful than we are. We will find parents whose children turned out better than ours, parents with a higher percentage of “spiritual champions” than we can claim for our efforts.

If we are graded instead on an absolute scale—as I believe we are—we fail even more miserably. But this is why a Savior was provided, and gifted to us through grace, through faith—”and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). If even our ability to believe in God is given to us by God, then how much of parenting can we perform on our own? We must proceed, then, on our knees first, beggars before the throne, if we are to parent well.

I would encourage you to read the whole article and give me some feedback. I don’t believe that the author is saying there is no hope for God to work in our children (you might get that impression when reading it). Rather, she is saying the parenting is never a place for pride, judgmentalism, or a patronizing attitude. Parenting, like every other spiritual work, is ultimately a work of God. It is faith, not formula, that God uses. He does use means, but the result is still his to decide.

Posted in Family, Personal growth | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

When I do My Best Parenting

January 18, 2010 by caljohnson

Paul Miller, in his book, A Praying Life, writes this about parenting and prayer:

It took me seventeen years to realize I couldn’t parent on my own. I was not a great spiritual insight, just a realistic observation. If I didn’t pray deliberately and reflectively for members of my family by name very morning, they’d kill one another. I was incapable of getting inside their hearts. I was desperate. but even more, I couldn’t change my self-confident heart. My prayer journal reflects both my inability to change my kids and my inability to change my self-confidence. That’s why I need grace even to pray.

God answered my prayer. As I began to pray regularly for the children, he began to work in their hearts… It didn’t take me long to realize I did my best parenting by prayer. I began to speak less to the kids and more to God. It was actually quite relaxing.

Pray for your children, and do your best parenting.

Posted in Biblical Studies, Family | Tagged , | 2 Comments »

Someone who thinks like me!

January 6, 2010 by caljohnson

I refuse to be completely serious.  I refuse to be so rigorous that I become a pain to the people closest to me.  That cannot be the will of God.  If I am not under law but under grace, as the Bible says, then I can relax and enjoy life without a single thought that somehow that will jeopardize my standing with God.  It is God himself who gave me this life and who explicitly authorizes me to receive it from his hand as a good gift — not an ultimate gift but a good gift — and who settles the question of my acceptability to himself through Christ my Substitute who was perfect for me.  Especially with Jani, God’s greatest earthly gift to me, I want so to trust God that I set a tone of enjoyment in our life together.  Like today.  Like right now.  I think I’ll call her and just tell her I love her.  I think God would smile on that.  So would she.  So would I.

God be praised.

Ray Ortlund, Jr.

Posted in Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, Family, Humorous, Personal growth | Leave a Comment »

Once in Royal David’s City

December 24, 2009 by caljohnson

Once in royal David’s city Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a Mother laid her Baby In a manger for his bed:
Mary was that Mother mild, Jesus Christ her little Child.
He came down to earth from heaven, Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable, And his cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly, Lived on earth our Saviour holy.

And through all his wondrous childhood He would honour and obey,
Love, and watch the lowly Maiden, In whose gentle arms he lay;
Christian children all must be Mild, obedient, good as he.

For he is our childhood’s pattern, Day by day like us he grew,
He was little, weak, and helpless, Tears and smiles like us he knew;
And he feeleth for our sadness, And he shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see him, Through his own redeeming love,
For that Child so dear and gentle Is our Lord in heaven above;
And he leads his children on To the place where he is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable, With the oxen standing by,
We shall see him; but in heaven, Set at God’s right hand on high;
When like stars his children crowned All in white shall wait around.

Words, Cecil Francis Alexander

Posted in gospel | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Fantasy Literature and the Christian

December 23, 2009 by caljohnson

If you are a parent, you have probably had to consider, or will have to consider, whether your child should read Pilgrim’s Progress, the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter books, or for that matter any fantasy books. All of these are considered fantasy literature by the author.

If you are looking for a good, short discussion of fantasy literature, then the series of articles below will be very helpful. Kevin Bauder’s essays are each only two pages long, which makes for quick reading, but they address excellent questions, give good insights, and provide help for assessing and addressing questions pertaining to what your children (and you) should consider when you choose fantasy literature.

Read and grow!

1. Definitions and Questions
2. Evaluating Fantastic Writing
3. Magic in Fantasy
4. Pilgrim’s Progress
5. The Lord of the Rings
6. The Chronicles of Narnia
7. The Harry Potter Books

(HT: Andy Naselli)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Thursday, Dec. 24 – The dawn of Redeeming Grace

December 23, 2009 by caljohnson

Radiant beams from Thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace is probably the most beautiful and meaningful statement in Joseph Mohr’s carol, Silent Night. On Christmas Eve, let’s take a look at what he meant as we prepare to celebrate his birth tomorrow.

When we begin to unpack this phrase, the first thing is to get a handle on the picture being presented. When does dawn happen? After the nighttime, at the beginning of the morning. Dawn signals the beginning of a new day. The author is communicating that the darkness is lifting and a new day is dawning.

The day or time period that is beginning is the time of redeeming grace. God’s redemption of his people had been promised for hundreds of years but had not yet come. But at this very time, the right time, a new day dawned, not a day of law but of grace.

This dawn signaled the coming of the answer for how to be freed from slavery to sin. God’s people had not yet fully understood what freedom from sin would be, but God sent the answer in the person of Jesus. The angel told Joseph what his son, the son of Mary, would be: She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).

As Joseph Mohr imagined Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and wise men looking at Jesus, what they saw was the radiance of a new day, a day of grace. They saw the sun! Malachi 4:2 says, But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

His coming is a joyful occurrence! Yes, there was pain, suffering, and death awaiting Jesus. But even in that, Jesus went forward for the joy set before him (Heb. 12:2). So celebrate, be glad, sing, and rejoice this Christmas if you know him. If not, ask God that you might know him, through repentance and trust, this Christmas. It will become for you the most joyous Christmas ever!

Posted in Biblical Studies, Family, Personal growth | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Wednesday, December 23 – Jesus, Lord, at thy birth

December 23, 2009 by caljohnson

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” John 18:37

This is not your typical Christmas passage; however it does help us consider the complete picture of why Jesus was born and who he was at his birth.

Jesus is Lord over this world and us because he created it and us. Col. 1:16 states that all things were created by him and for him. If you make something, it is usually yours because you made it. So it is with all creation. Jesus made it, he is in charge of it, and he is Lord over it.

He is also Lord because of the fact that he caused us to be born again; he made each believer into a new creation. That means he is Lord over our lives. When we become children of God, we also become his slaves, which means that he is in charge of our lives and all that we do is done in obedience to him.

In this carol we again see the contrast, he is Lord, yet he was a little baby. Even as a baby, though, he was still Lord. He never lost his divine nature in his life, but continued as God, although he was also a man.

Jesus’ purpose for coming was to display the truth that he is Lord over creation, Lord over our lives, Lord over death and hell and Satan. It is only through Jesus that we have the victory, especially over death (1 Cor. 15:54-57).

In the end, every knee will bow to him as Lord. Reflect on that Christmas truth as you read Phil. 2:8-11.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Posted in Biblical Studies, Family, Personal growth | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Tuesday, December 22 – Christ the Savior is born!

December 22, 2009 by caljohnson

Yesterday we considered the fact of Jesus’ birth. He was born. At the end of verse 2 in Silent Night, Joseph Mohr emphasizes that at his birth he was both Christ and Savior.

We often think of Christ as his last name, as in Jesus Christ. Admit it, you may have thought that once. Christ is not his last name, but actually the word Christ is a title, like President, Senator, or Mayor. When Jesus is called the Christ, something very significant is being stated about this little baby.

This title means Anointed One.  The coming One that the Jews looked forward to was to be in the line of David, a king anointed to rule on David’s throne forever (2 Sam. 7:13).  Matthew often uses this title, especially in his first chapter, to speak of Jesus.

In Luke 2, we see Simeon waiting in the temple because “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26).  People of Jesus’ day wanted to be freed by God’s promised ruler. They didn’t understand, though, that the ruler who was coming was a ruler who was to be their Savior by dying for their sins.

Whoever heard of a ruler who leads by dying? That was God’s plan. Jesus (Yeshua or Joshua) means God saves. In giving Jesus that “first name,” God tells us his purpose in and through Jesus. God doesn’t want to save us from the bad rulers around us, as the Jews thought, but rather to save us from ourselves and our sin.

The Anointed One who will be God’s planned rescue for his people has been born. Joseph Mohr wrote it much more poetically, but the meaning still applies. Sing, rejoice, and be glad that Christ the Savior is born!

Posted in Biblical Studies, Family, Personal growth | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Older Posts »