Hard core hymns

For those who appreciated hymns with brutally honest words, here's another that rattles my cage, called Jesus, I my cross have taken:

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure,
Come disaster, scorn and pain
In Thy service, pain is pleasure,
With Thy favor, loss is gain
I have called Thee Abba Father,
I have stayed my heart on Thee
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;
All must work for good to me. (igrace)

It takes courage to sing those words: "Go, then, earthly fame and treasure . . ." yet I don't know a better way to wean my heart of those things than to sing words like those in worship.

[The other five verses are just as potent, for those who are interested.]

All that feeds my busy pride . . .

In our family worship times, we have been singing Jesus Cast a Look on Me from the Indelible Grace 3 album. (Then we can sing along to the CD, as Matthew Perryman Jones is a much better guitarist than I am.) The second verse has been ringing in my ears:

All that feeds my busy pride
Cast it ever more aside
Bid my will to thine submit
Lay me humbly at thy feet

"Busy pride" is a good description of my pride. I need daily to pray and sing these words, and I pray that they will shape Elisabeth as she sings and hears them.

What does "fear" mean?

Recently I was reading with Elisabeth from a portion of the Bible that calls on the readers to "fear the LORD your God."

Elisabeth turned and asked me, "What does fear mean?"

I answered almost reflexively, "It means to honor and respect." But as soon as the words were out of my mouth I realized that I had spoken the same words that dissatisfied me when I was young. The fear of the LORD certainly entails honor and respect, but it also means something closer to the common meaning of that word (which is why we continue to translate it that way).

Does anyone have suggestions on how to explain the fear of the LORD to a 4 year old?

Children's Bible Stories

I love The Big Picture Story Bible, but have been looking for an illustrated children's Bible that contained more Biblical stories so that Elisabeth would see more of the stories that fit into the Big Picture. I was sorely disappointed with the New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, which is probably only appropriate for children under 3 rather than the claimed age range of 4-7.

Happily, we received the Illustrated Family Bible Stories as a gift, and have found a middle ground children's Bible that is not overly simplistic, but still has ample illustrations.

The authors do a remarkably good job of summarizing the Biblical stories. Sometimes there is very little editing at all, and is simply the Biblical text. (I've noticed how well they have stuck to the text as I have been reading through Genesis and Exodus in my devotions at the same time that I have been reading those accounts to Elisabeth.) There have been a few occasions that I questioned the way that they simplified a story for children, but for the most part I'm impressed. So, if you're looking for something to give more of the stories than the Big Picture Story Bible, check this out.

Seminary of Church and State

"A family is the seminary of Church and State. If children are not well principled at home, then everything miscarries! A error in the first mixture is not mended in the second! If youth are ill-bred in the family, then they will be ill-mannered in Church and society. It is in the home where making or marring of one's character first takes place, which early character is the early presage of their future lives (Proverbs 20:11)." [Thomas Manton, quoted in The Family Worship Book p109]

I find it hard to disagree. Therefore there little more important to Church or society than to equip and hold parents responsible for this high duty.

Come Ye Sinners

Recently we have begun including singing in our family worship time (despite the fact that I still can't play the guitar). Our CD player does a much better job than I could.

We started out using one of the songs from the Seeds of Praise album, Praise the Lord (from Psalm 148). I thought that this would be a good fit for Elisabeth as it is Scripture set to upbeat music. However, after about a week of Praise the Lord, she picked up one of my CDs, Indelible Grace, and asked if we could sing Come Ye Sinners, a great old hymn set to new music.

So for the last week or so, we have been singing Come Ye Sinners every night, while Elisabeth follows along the lyrics with her finger. That experience has made me even more grateful for rich hymns and the context that they give to explain and impress the truth of the Gospel. Each verse is an exposition of that great and glorious truth: "not the righteous, not the righteous; sinners Jesus came to call."

What better way to plant the great truths of the Gospel than through song?

Bad parents

"I cannot suppose that you are such a stranger in England as to be ignorant of the general complaint concerning the decay in the power of godliness, and especially of the great corruption of youth. Wherever you go, you will hear men crying out about how bad youth are. But indeed the source of the problem must be sought a little higher: it is bad parents that make bad children! We cannot blame children so much for their unruliness, for the greater weight of the blame lies in our own negligence in their education." (Thomas Manton, Epistle to the Reader of the Westminster Confessions of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, reprinted in The Family Worship Book p109)

It appears from Manton's comments (circa 1647), that the problem of parenting is not a new one, and that then, as now, society was slow to locate responsibility with parents for the education and formation of their children. So his statement is very bold: "it is bad parents that make bad children!" I dare say it is more bold now than then to make such a claim, but no less true. Further, I think that his approach is right not to point the finger at others, but to frame it as confession: "the greater blame lies in our own negligence in their education."

Nor did Manton stop with confession and wallowing in the bad condition of parenting. The Epistle was bound with the Westminster Confession and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, because he was convinced that the application and use of these by parents was the remedy for their situation. I think we would do well to learn from him on all three levels: acknowledging the failure of parenting, confessing our sin, and repenting by taking hold of the resources provided for the instruction of our children.

The Family Worship Book

Before reading Family Driven Faith, I hadn't thought much about the difference between family devotions and family worship. Voddie Baucham primed the pump so that when someone offered to buy me a book for Christmas, I knew precisely what kind of book I wanted. Through some helpful reviews on Amazon, I found The Family Worship Book, which I am pleased to commend just as strongly as they did.

For those who are unconvinced of the importance not merely of Biblical instruction in the home, but of regular family worship, this book provides a helpful and brief overview of why Christians in generations past have considered it indispensable. The author, Terry Johnson, is quite forthright in tracing his heritage to the Westminster Confessions and Catechisms - and provides explanation for why he leans on them so heavily (which you will probably see popping up in my quotables in the days to come). I think his argument is compelling for those who are already sensitive to the issues (as I was), and I think would be very challenging to someone who has not considered the responsibilities of family worship.

Many books are good at casting vision without providing any practical resources for doing so, and I am pleased to say that such is not the case with The Family Worship Book. The author is diligent to outline what he sees as the important elements of family worship, and then offers a sample liturgy for how to conduct family worship. In addition, he includes:

• two catechisms, sans proof texts (including the Westminster Shorter Catechism)
• a great list of hymns and psalms (sadly without scores, although he recommends several CDs that have numerous of the psalms and hymns on them)
• a list of 50 important passages for memorization (including great OT texts)
• a family reading record that uses a harmonization approach for reading with young children
• a great selection of Scriptures for call to worship, and confession (reprinted, so you don't have to look them all up)
• the Apostles', Nicene, and Westminster creeds
• and a recommended pattern for introducing (and reviewing) psalms/hymns, memorization passages, and the creeds.

With a few bookmarks, this is a rich resource for beginning to practice family worship rather than just talking about its importance. I haven't yet found a better book to call and equip parents to lead their families in fellowship with Christ.

Little churches

"The families of Christians should be little churches."
(Richard Baxter in his Christian Directory, quoted in The Family Worship Book p17)

As I am reading through The Family Worship Book, I find Baxter's claim ringing true. If the family functions as a little church in regular worship, confession, prayer, reading, instruction and catechism, would not the church benefit greatly?

If it would not only benefit the church, but is in fact the responsibility of parents, then what greater service could the Church offer than to equip parents to lead its "little churches"? The Church would be rightly shifting the responsibility for spiritual nurture back to parents and equipping them to fulfill that responsibility.

I see the consequences spiraling:

1. Parents realize the gravity of parenting.
2. Parents pray daily with their children and for their children.
3. Children grow to understand worship as a daily, not weekly, activity.
4. Children daily see their parents confess sin and worship Christ.
   
5. The worship of many families (on Sundays) mirrors and reinforces the worship of the "little churches."
6. Suddenly children's "programs" are not as critical.
   
7. Children participating in Sunday worship (rather than going out to their programs) is more normal, because they are learning to worship every day of the week.

I can't think of a negative consequence!