Crunching the first fallen leaves

Elisabeth is loving that the leaves are beginning to fall from the trees. She aims for the edges of the paths where she can crunch the most with each step. Of course, she involves Penny in all her fun.

Retreating

This weekend we're going on a church retreat. Since Blogger doesn't enable scheduled posting, that'll mean silence for the weekend, and hopefully some good pictures to post on Monday.

Happy weekend!

God is your salvation

Here's the sermon I preached several weeks ago, titled God is your salvation. Some friends have asked for copies of it, and it is too large to email. Does anyone have suggestions for how to post one 13Mb message online?

9Marks

For sometime, I've seen references to 9Marks on Between Two Worlds. Today I checked it out and found this recommendation from John Piper:

"I love to listen to the interviews at IX Marks Ministries web site. Mark Dever and Matt Schmucker have a way of drawing interesting and helpful things out of the likes of John MacArthur, Iain Murray and Josh Harris. My computer is beside my treadmill and so the wire runs often between IX Marks and my sweaty ears."

Most of you who read probably know that I admire Piper a lot and regard him as one of the best living preachers. I also have a lot of respect for Mark Dever, and after perusing 9Marks (see why its called that here), all the more. I think that there are some excellent resources to direct me in focusing on the important things in the Church.

New lighting for painting!

I just installed new lights under Elisabeth's loft. (She still sleeps on the toddler bed underneath.) The loft blocked out her ceiling light, so now she has her own lights to make it a more inviting play space.

Don't repeat yourself

If there is a rule of good parenting that I find hard to do, it is not repeating myself. I am tempted to remind Elisabeth rather than expecting her to listen and obey. I am tempted to warn [i.e. not require obedience the first time] rather than acting.

Recently I have begun to see the good fruit of insisting on obedience imediately. On a couple of occasions, Elisabeth has been running or walking by herself (not holding my hand) as we approached an intersection. When I say, "Stop," she stops. O how I thank God for that, that my heart doesn't have to leap into my throat every time, wondering whether or not she will obey.

I find it hard to speak once, but the rewards are tremendous.

Resistant to the Gospel

The weakness, however, of this whole mass of missiological writing is that while it has sought to explore the problems of contextualization in all the cultures of humankind from China to Peru, it has largely ignored the culture that is the most widespread, powerful, and persuasive among contemporary cultures - namely, what I have called modern Western culture. Moreover this neglect is even more serious because it is this culture that, more than almost any other, is proving resistant to the gospel. In great areas of Asia, Africa, and Oceania, the church grows steadily and even spectacularly. But in the areas dominated by modern Western culture (whether in its capitalist or socialist expression) the church is shrinking and the gospel appears to fall on deaf ears. It would seem, therefore that there is no higher priority for the research work of missiologists than to ask the question of what would be involved in a genuinely missionary encounter between the gospel and the modern Western culture. (Weston, Paul. ed. "Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian." Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 2006 p108)

Newbigin issues a clarion call to the hardest of all missions work: that in Western culture. As he notes, the only way that it will happen is through a genuinely missionary encounter between the gospel and Western culture.

I think there are few better things for the health of the western church than to begin to recover a missionary encounter with our own culture.

Watching for Turtles

Don't raise your voice?

I have learned not to yell . . . the hard way. As a teacher in the public schools, I found that on occasion I needed to raise my voice (or so I thought). The effect was that I did need to raise my voice, because my students learned that the ordinary speaking voice didn't mean business like the louder, tense voice. In effect I conditioned myself to yell, and conditioned my students to take less seriously my voice when it was not raised.

That experience has impressed on me the importance of not raising my voice with Elisabeth, lest I teach her that my speaking voice doesn't mean business.

Discipline and Honor

If and how your discipline your children is intimately tied to whom you honor. Eli's dealing with his sons, Hophni and Phineas, is one of the clearest examples of this:

[The LORD said], "Why then do you . . . honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.'" (1 Samuel 2:29-30)

Eli honored his sons above the LORD and despised the LORD by permitting them to continue in disobedience. If we do not discipline our children, we despise the LORD. Not only do we ruin our children, but no longer shall we be honored by the LORD.

Hanging out with Ari

Sunshine Smiles

Meeting Penelope- two and a half years ago...

"She doesn't have lips"

This morning as Rebecca was leaving for work, Elisabeth asked her,

Can you give Penny [Elisabeth's favorite doll] a kiss?

Rebecca kissed Penny, and Elisabeth quickly said,

Penny can't kiss you back because she doesn't have lips.

On engaging in dialogue

Dear anonymous,

I understand from your repeated comment on 14 of my posts,

"Your a fag. Jesus is fake. Get a life thats not based on pure faith because you are wasting your human intelligence. "

that you disagree with me. (I, for my part, would quite heartily agree with you that if Jesus is a fake, then I am most certainly wasting my intelligence, not to mention my life.) In the future, I ask the following:

1. That you refrain from name-calling
2. That you engage in meaningful dialogue by posting your comment once rather than spamming the comments.
3. That you use your name, rather than using anonymity as a shield.

If you care to engage in dialogue, you are welcome to comment, provided you abide by my three requests. If you care not for dialogue, then I ask that you refrain from commenting.

Curly Hair

Courage to proclaim

What I am pleading for is the courage to hold and proclaim a belief that cannot be proved to be true in terms of the accepted axioms of our society, that can be doubted by rational minds, but that we nevertheless hold as truth. (Weston, Paul. "Lesslie
Newbigin: Missionary Theologian." Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 2006 p216)

I get really excited when I read Newbigin, because he doesn't bow to the god of modern scientific knowledge. He confesses truth just as ardently as the most avowed modernist, but does so without the intellectual baggage of the modernist. As a result he contends that conversion really is a miraculous, Spirit-wrought action, in which we receive new life, and the ability to hold as truth that which cannot be proved in terms of the accepted axioms of our society, and which can be doubted by rational minds.

Pondering

No fussing

I had always wondered how I would handle fussing when Elisabeth was a toddler. Now that she is a toddler, I need to have an answer. I've found simply not permitting fussing is much more effective than I thought it would be.

When Elisabeth starts to fuss, I quickly address it (rather than letting her fuss until it grates on my nerves). I tell her:

1. She must stop fussing. Period.
2. She must use words to express her frustration because fussing doesn't communicate.
3. She will not receive what she asks unless she uses words without even a hint of whining or fussing in her voice.
4. There are consequences for fussing. (We will not do ___; we will do ____; etc.)

Like most of parenting, I've found that it takes energy and consistency. However, I've also found that with time Elisabeth fusses less frequently, and when she begins fussing, stops more quickly because she has learned that fussing is not acceptable and actually works against her.

Why I follow Elisabeth around the playground

I have been thinking recently about why I still follow Elisabeth around the playground as she plays. Formerly, I did it for her safety, to make sure that she didn't fall off the equipment or accidentally hurt other children. Now I do it to teach her how to interact with others.

Not to teach her actively is to assume that she already has sufficient understanding to navigate the world of a playground - which is just not true. She knows how to handle many situations, in which I can simply watch her do what she has learned. Yet there are also many occasions on which I must actively teach. How should she respond to a child climbing up the slide when she is coming down? How should she react to a child who repeatedly throws sand? How does she respond to an older child running carelessly on the equipment. All of that must be taught so that she will come to a point where she can make good judgments without being directed.

Presence or Preaching?

There is no substitute for telling the story. It is necessary to say this because it is sometimes said that 'Christian presence' rather than 'evangelization' is the proper form of Christian response to pluralism. This is a confusing half-truth. It is indeed true that the message with which the Church is entrusted cannot be faithfully delivered by a company of people who do not follow the incarnate Lord in his total commitment to our human condition. The Church has both to embody and to proclaim the Gospel. . . . Mere words, proceeding from a company which is in peaceful co-existence with the world will not truly represent the Saviour. But words are not dispensable. Jesus himself preached and commanded his apostles to preach. We deceive ourselves (but nobody else) if we imagine that our mere presence is sufficient to do the whole work of Jesus. Certainly there are times when words are not appropriate, yet - even in these circumstances - our presence will be a witness to Christ only because we are known to represent a Church which does preach the gospel. And there are times when silence is betrayal. (Weston, Paul. "Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian." Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 2006 pp180-181)

We bear a message that is not deductive; it must be spoken, and it must be embodied.

Forward Progress!

Elisabeth made significant forward progress on the bicycle for the first time when Uncle Gordon was here. She can now ride for about half a block without help (either pushing or steering). Soon she'll be riding around the park!

Discipleship and the Kingdom of God

When I was in college, I was very active in discipleship. I was discipled by three men that I deeply admired; I also invested in several other guys who were my age or younger.

During that time, I was convinced of the necessity of discipleship, but I remember on more than one occasion puzzling over the question, "Is the goal of all this just to get more people to do the things that I'm doing?" That is not to say that we weren't growing in Christ, because we were - and faster than I had ever grown before. But at the same time I was aware that my experience of discipleship wasn't the fullness of what it is supposed to be.

Only recently have I begun (I think) to see why something so good still felt, in a way, empty. I was only listening to the first half of the Great Commission:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:19-20)

What was missing was the glory God gets through the other actions of obedience to King Jesus that flow from making disciples. Discipleship that functions simply to bring people into a relationship with Christ and to replicate that process with others, without teaching us to obey all that He commanded is not the discipleship that Jesus commanded.

Chatting with Zoe

Drinking fountains

I have mentioned that Elisabeth feels constrained to sit on every rock in the park to take a picture. She has a similar obsession with drinking fountains - not to take pictures, but to drink. Of course, she's intent on being able to push the button herself and drink at the same time. This one, with its step, makes that possible.

The Gospel is a Command

Three times in the New Testament the Gospel is explicitly treated as a command by the use of he word obey, and all in the context of those who do not obey.

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” (Romans 10:16)

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (2 Thessalonians 1:5-8)

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17)

The good news is a command: repent and believe. It is not merely an opinion for a person to adopt to make their life more meaningful. Nor is it merely a historical fact to which one must intellectually assent. Not to obey is to disobey, and to bring on oneself the terrible things spoken of here.

On the Carousel...

Watch that 2 year old climb!

We have no right to keep silent

We are commissioned to bring good news, to tell the story of God's marvellous and mighty acts for the salvation of the world. We must not withhold this story from anyone. To keep it to ourselves, as though it were a private 'in-house' story of the Church, as though Jesus were Lord of the Christians, but not the lord of all, would be intolerable sectarianism. We have no right to keep silent about it, and if we try to do so, we deny its truth. (Weston, Paul. "Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian." Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 2006 p182)

Once again, Newbigin has reminded me, in vivid terms, that proclamation is not optional.

The Crucifixion

This morning I listened to the beginning of Death by Love: Reflections on the Cross where Mark Driscoll drilled the fact that Jesus is not to be pitied; He is to be worshiped. Then this evening I read Jesus' own words to those who mourned and lamented for Him as He went to the cross:

" . . . do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children . . ." (Luke 23:28)

He went deliberately, and with mercy that we cannot fathom. Driscoll unfolds the vicious, excruciating pain that was inflicted upon those who were crucified. With that freshly imprinted on my mind, I was shocked to read Jesus say from the cross:

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (v34)

No man ever spoke like this from the agony of the cross. He had human reasons to curse those who did this evil. He had divine reasons to curse those who were in the act of executing the Righteous One. Yet in infinite mercy, He prayed to His Father, "forgive them . . ." This is mercy that I cannot fathom, that all eternity will not be enough to exhaust.

We are dead people. We are like the thieves on the crosses next to Jesus, "under the same sentence of condemnation . . . indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds" (v40-41). We may revile and mock, as the first did, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Or like the other condemned criminal, we may confess "we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom" (v41, 42). And the King, who died willingly and mercifully on that cross still has authority to say, "Truly, I say to you . . . you will be with Me in Paradise."

Uncle Gordon came to visit!

Mesopotamia

Last week we read in Elisabeth's children's Bible about God calling Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans. In the margin, the Bible noted a little of the history of Mesopotamia. Just for fun, I asked Elisabeth to try to articulate it, and she did! So far as I know, it is her first six syllable word!

First day in Sunday School

Yesterday was Elisabeth's first time in Sunday School! We're going to straddle the fence and let her go to Sunday School during the education hour, and (until her third birthday) nursery during the service. The first week seemed to go well, and she loves her new teacher!

Say something

Yesterday I went to a Save Darfur rally, expecting to learn how I could be active and influential in ending the crisis in Darfur. I was disappointed by all but one of the speakers. There was a lot of hype, but not much content - and very little that I had not already heard. (I was very disappointed by the spokesman from the National Council of Churches, who said he primary reason for the NCC's particpation was a sense of moral responsibility - not love for Jesus Christ.)

On something as critical as Darfur, there is much that can, and should be said, even by people who have no relationship with Christ. As the crisis is so great, it must be said well. At a rally like this, the critical thing is to enable participants to become advocates after the rally is over. I wish they had done that.

Take my picture!

Elisabeth has decided that rocks are the perfect place to take pictures. So every time we see a rock outcropping in the park (which is not infrequent), she runs to it, perches upon it and says, "Take my picture!" Here are two of the many pictures taken upon rocks in the park.

What is holding the airplane up?

This summer when we were flying to visit family and friends, Elisabeth sat next to the window. While in flight she asked me,

Daddy, what is holding the airplane up?

That is a very good question, and very difficult to answer in 2-year-old concepts.

Preaching the whole counsel of God

Perhaps I can clarify this by reminding you that it is obvious that in New Testament times, in the early days of the Christian Church, they did not preach in the manner that has become customary with us. They did not take a text out of the New Testament and analyse it and expound it and then apply it, because they did not have the New Testament. Well, what did they preach? They preached the great message that had been committed to them, this great body of truth, this whole doctrine of salvation. My argument is that this is what we should always be doing, though we do it through individual expositions of particular texts. This, to me, is the general relationship between theology and preaching. (Lloyd Jones, Martyn. "Preaching & Preachers." Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1971. p67)

"This is what we should always be doing . . ." The big picture, the kingdom of God, must always be in view. I find that many proponents of expository preaching (of which I am one) don't consider this unity that Lloyd-Jones defines for true expository preaching: the whole doctrine of salvation

Super Slide!

A lesson at Barnes & Noble

One of the things that I love about our local Barnes & Noble is that they have an entire rack devoted to Caldecott Medal books, so it is easy to quickly find the good books.

Yesterday, however, I learned that the presence of so many books can be a distraction. We picked up Kevin Henkes' Kitten's First Full Moon from the Caldecott shelf, and although Henkes is an excellent author Elisabeth was frequently distracted from the story by other children and other books. Whereas at home she usually sits through multiple books with good comprehension, at Barnes & Noble, it is rare to make it through a book.

Lesson learned: Check things out from the library and read them at home.

I don't want you to teach me

After a weekend with her grandparents, Elisabeth's Grandma commented on Elisabeth's throwing arm, "She throws like a girl." (It was not intended as flattery.) So I figured it was my fatherly responsibility to make sure that our little girl be recognized for her feminity in areas other than her throwing arm.

Our bowling alley apartment configuration works well for teaching a child to throw, so we took full advantage for throwing lessons. After working on the arm motion and stepping forward with the foot opposite her throwing arm (in both of which she showed significant progress), Elisabeth said to me,

"I don't want you to teach me; I just want to do it."

How many times in the history of the world has that sentiment been expressed?

"My sister . . ."

In recent days, Elisabeth has become quite the storyteller. She has realized that we tell stories about people and places, so she does the same. It is not uncommon to hear her say,

"I came here with my sister last Saturday."

or

"My grandfather likes to do that too!"

or

"I was in Chicago with my friends."

You never know who is going to be in the story, or where!

Fun in the park

Brain Quest

Elisabeth was given Brain Quest for 3s and 4s, and she loves it. In doing it again yesterday with her, I was reminded of why I like it. Not only does it reinforce developmentally appropriate skills, but through repetition, it shows me which skills she doesn't yet have - so that I can work on that more deliberately.

An outstanding toy - for parents and kids.

Old McDonald's

Yesterday Rebecca got on the bus with Elisabeth. As the bus was fairly empty, Elisabeth realized that all eyes were on her, and she exclaimed (to everyone on the bus),

Grandma and Pop-pop took me to Old McDonald's for ice cream!

It made us realize that, apart from some McDonald's fries, this may have been Elisabeth's first McDonald's experience.

Handwriting

Elisabeth has a newfound fascination with writing (to the delight of her parents). She shocked us by actually being able to follow the lines. So now we carry our wipe-clean book wherever we go!

Preaching that betrays the Gospel

“Now I do not mean to affirm that in all cases there need be the preaching of false doctrine which involves an open and direct denial of the evangelical truth. It is quite possible that both to the intention and the actual performance of the preacher any departure from the historical faith of the church may be entirely foreign. And yet there may be such a failure in the intelligent presentation of the gospel with the proper emphasis upon that which is primary and fundamental as to bring about a result almost equally deplorable as where the principles of the gospel are openly contradicted or denied. There can be a betrayal of the gospel of grace by silence. There can be disloyalty to Christ by omission as well as by positive offence against the message that he has entrusted to our keeping. It is possible, Sabbath after Sabbath and year after year, to preach things of which none can say that they are untrue and none can deny that in their proper place and time they may be important, and yet to forgo telling people plainly and to forgo giving them the distinct impression that they need forgiveness and salvation from sin through the cross of Christ’ (Grace and Glory, 237-238).” (82, footnote 211) (HT: Justin Taylor)

This selection from The Letters of Geerhardus Vos captures what I have been thinking and feeling for some time. One can preach "things of which none can say that they are untrue" without preaching the Gospel. Not only so but "the result is almost equally deplorable as where the principles of the Gospel are openly contradicted or denied."

An emphasis on what is primary, central and essential, accompanied by an utter dependence on the Holy Spirit to give life to dead people through the faithful presentation of this message is absolutely essential. The absence of these two conditions (right emphasis, complete dependence) perpetuates spiritual death, because the absence of either openly contradicts or denies the principles of the Gospel.

A Newbiginian Revolution

We speak of the Copernican revolution as that change which challenged the prevailing European notion that the world was the center of the solar system, and suggested instead that the Sun was that around which the earth and other bodies orbit.

I believe that I am undergoing a Newbiginian Revolution which is challenging my prevailing notion that reason forms the center of our cognitive system, and contending instead that God is the center - without whom there is no reliable knowledge.

For an outstanding treatment of the Enlightenment, its effects on western society, and the church in particular, check out Leslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian.

Glorifying God in Worship

Recently I have been thinking much (not only with regard to worship) about knowledge. Knowing of a person requires the Knower, and the Known. Jonathan Edwards has helped me to see more clearly the relationship of subject and object, and how we glorify God in worship:

God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart. God made the world that He might communicate, and the creature receive, His glory; and that it might [be] received both by the mind and heart. He that testifies his idea of God's glory [doesn't] glorify God so much as he that testifies also his approbation of it and his delight in it [Jonathan Edwards, The "Miscellanies," ed. by Thomas Schafer, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 13, ed. Thomas Schafer (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1994), 495]

It is the last line (which I have bolded) that has been immensely helpful to me. It is the difference between stating the worth of Jesus Christ as an idea, and as that which has taken control of our hearts. The latter always implies (if it does not explicitly state) the subject, me. "You are altogether lovely to me" speaks not only the objective beauty of Christ, but of its power to fill and transform the subject, me. There are two ways to hear the same phrase. One is parochial, confining beauty to what I can see: "You are lovely to me . . . and I am the judge who decides what is lovely." The other is God-entranced: "You are lovely to me . . . because You have awakened my heart to behold and love Your beauty, of which I see but a ray."

What I love to see is worship that makes this explicit: that the transformation that enables me to see and love the beauty of God is God-wrought. Then God is doubly mangified: 1) as beautiful to the eyes of my heart (and not merely my mind), and 2) as the One who causes dead people to live and blind people to see the glory of God in Christ.

So I think it is important:

1. To explicitly teach parishioners what we are doing in worship, lest many think that our glimpse of God are our own doing, or that His beauty is defined by our appraisal of it.
2. To diligently seek music that expresses not merely our idea of God's glory, but the delight of heart that He has created in that glory.
3. To write lyrics that are so God-honoring as to escape the ambiguity of whose worth and judgment we are praising.

True Maturity

True maturity is being able to deal with immature people in ways that are gentle, loving, firm and genuinely help them to mature. Such maturity is most pronounced when it is seen in times of crisis.

The Rebelution

Recently I have come across The Rebelution, a blog by a couple of 17 year-old twins, who have remarkable depth for their age. They have been a great reminder to me of the depth and maturity that can be present in teen-agers, despite what our culture says.

HT (Justin Taylor)

Spatial intelligence, maps & Operation World

Growing up, my parents read to us daily from Operation World, the Bible, and a missionary biography. I remember loving it, and now I want to share that joy with Elisabeth. However, I've been mindful that she's only two, and I'm inclined to be overeager. So it was with great joy that I recently saw how Elisabeth's natural abilities and interests intersect with my desire to teach.

Elisabeth loves maps, and has a remarkable spatial awareness. She can find and name somewhere between 6 and 12 countries on a world map, and can point to ask many places and say, "_____ lives there." Just this week I realized that since Operation World highlights one country each day, it would be perfect for connecting with her little laminated map. I can tell her the place, a little bit about it, and mention anyone we know who lives there - and then she can have the joy of finding and naming it on the map! So this week she has discovered Norway, Oman, and Pakistan!

From the Book of Common Prayer

Last night we had a strategic planning meeting for our church. We closed with the early evening prayer from the Book of Common Prayer:

O Gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Reading:
It is not ourselves that we proclaim; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake. For the same God who said, "Out of darkness let light shine," has caused his light to shine within us, to give the light of revelation - the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

It was a great reminder to me of how well-written prayers can draw us into true and humble worship and prayer to God.

No more naps?

Elisabeth has been resisting naps for the last week or so, which has left me without the afternoon time to which I've been acustomed to work, blog and email.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to help a toddler self-soothe to sleep in the early afternoon?

'Add Image' not working

At present, I can't get any pictures to load on Blogger, which means no shots of Elisabeth. Sorry! As soon as they get it fixed, I'll put some up.

Bunyan's integrity

John Bunyan was imprisoned for preaching the gospel, and would have been released, if only he would consent not to preach. Bunyan had four children under the age of ten when he was imprisoned, one of whom was blind; their mother had little means to care for them with their father imprisoned. Yet he would not consent not to preach, and his wife, though severely strained by that choice could not have given him a stronger support. In 1661, she went to the authorities to plead again for his release, and this was their exchange:

"Would he stop preaching? "
"My lord, he dares not leave off preaching as long a he can speak."
"What is the need of talking?"
"There is need for this, my lord, for I have four small children that cannot help themselves, of which one is blind, and we have nothing to live upon but the charity of good people."
Matthew Hale with pity asks if she really has four children being so young.
"My lord, I am but mother-in-law to them, having not been married to him yet full two years. Indeed, I was with child when my husband was first apprehended; but being young and unaccustomed to such things, I being smayed at the news, fell into labor ,and so continued for eight days, and then was delivered; but my child died."
Hale was moved, but other judges were hardened and spoke against him. "He is a mere tinker!"
"Yes, and because he is a tinker and a poor man, therefore he is despised and cannot have justice."
One Mr. Chester is enraged and says that Bunyan will preach and do as he wishes.
"He preacheth nothing but the word of God!" she says.
Mr. Twisden, in a rage: "He runneth up and down and doeth harm."
"No, my lord, it is not so; God hath owned him and done much good by him."
The angry man: "His doctrine is the doctrine of the devil."
She: "My lord, when the righteous Judge shall appear, it will be known that his doctrine is not the doctrine of the devil!"
Bunyan's biographer comments, "Elizabeth Bunyan was simply an English peasant woman: could she have spoken with more dignity had she been a crowned queen?" Source

I want to live like the Bunyans, in utter integrity, believing that this Good News is more to be valued than freedom, comfort, and life

Being a loving person

Today was my first time streaming video on the new Desiring God website. (I've found it well done, and well organized.) In Piper's sermon last Sunday, he says,

You cannot be a loving person and not want your life to count for reaching unreached people. It is pure hypocrisy to say, "I love human beings," and do nothing in your life, have no increment of ambition, to see that the gospel reach people who don't know Him.

That is to say, the Gospel of necessity transforms our hearts with love for God and love for people such that we desire God to be glorified in the glad submission of all people, and we want other people to taste of the beauty and joy that are found truly and only in God.

Father, cause this love to pulse in our veins!

Have a good noon we will!

Elisabeth has picked up on the fact that when we part from friends, we often say,

"Have a good ___ (afternoon, evening, etc.)"

She has also realized that the other person usually says, "We will."
So now whenever we part from someone, she does the whole thing herself (except for the "after" part of "afternoon"). In parting, she says,

"Have a good noon we will!"

and bursts into laughter (because we do).

Embodying the Message

This Sunday I preached on John 6:35-51 and developed this theme: The Triune God is our salvation; He shatters our pride in order to give us unshakeable hope in Him.

There is no question to me as I prepared that God intended me to not only deliver this message, but to embody it - having my pride shattered in order to trust truly in Him. Being broken is grace, when He does it to us.

Wet feet

Wet feet are nice on a warm September day.

On Blogging

Recently a fellow parent-blogger pointed me to a couple of excellent resources on blogging. Bob Kauflin writes on Blogging to worship God and Suzanne Hadley writes on Blogging Responsibly.

The articles challenged me to dig deeper with some more substantial reflection, which I look forward to doing. Now that Blogger has enabled Labels, those who just want Elisabethisms can go straight there, or the latest Photos, and those who want to see what I'm digging through can dig with me. (My apologies for the foibles of Blogger Beta. The labels don't work perfectly, and neither does the search, but I think they're working on it.)

Want of the tinker's power

"I would willingly exchange my learning for the tinker's power of touching men's hearts." (John Owen, to King Charles, on why he went to hear John Bunyan, an uneducated 'tinker', preach.)

O how I resonate with Owen - and I don't even have any great learning to renounce in exchange for that power!

John Bunyan's readiness to die

I did often say before the Lord, that if to be hanged up presently before their eyes would be means to awake in them and confirm them in the truth, I gladly should consent to it. (DG)

John Bunyan was ready to be hanged in the gallows, not for anything evil he had done, but if it might awaken and confirm His people in the truth. Is it any wonder that God used Him so instrumentally?

On the playground

One real view

One real view of the glory of Christ, and of our own concern in it, will give us a full relief in this matter. For what are all the things of this life? What is the good or evil of them in comparison of an interest in this transcendent glory? When we have due apprehensions of this, when our minds are possessed with thoughts of it, when our affections reach out after its enjoyments, let pain, and sickness, and sorrows, and fears, and dangers, and death, say what they will, we shall have in readiness wherewith to combat with them and overcome them; and that on this consideration, that they are all outward, transitory, and passing away, whereas our minds are fixed on those things which are eternal, and filled with incomprehensible glory. (Owen, John. "The Glory of Christ." Glasgow: Christian Heritage. 2004. p30)

This then, is the thing that we must seek with all diligence: to see the glory of Christ.