Family
Leadership Library Spotlight
by on Nov 20th, 2009 at 2:35 am
Book: Questions Worth Asking Before the Ring
Author: William L. Coleman
"My hope for this book is that it will encourage couples thinking about engagement to take time to discuss some lasting issues. When couples take the time to get to know each other better, most will love one another all the more. They will become filled with the greatest gift God has given."
- William L. Coleman, Before the Ring, p.7
When my wife and I were considering engagement and marriage, we decided to look for a Christian resource that would provide some biblically based guidance for that time in our relationship. For a long while, we were disappointed at the lack of materials available to people in our situation.
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Leadership Library Spotlight
by on Aug 26th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Book: The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men
Author: Richard D. Phillips
“That is the Masculine Mandate: to be spiritual men placed in real-world, God-defined relationships, as lords and servants under God, to bear God’s fruit by serving and leading.” p. 9
Many Christian books on manhood will offer descriptions of what real men are supposed to do, but they fail to construct a prescriptive idea of who a man is supposed to be. Readers are given a treatment on rules, regulations, and behaviors without a proper understanding of why these rules, regulations, and behaviors should even exist and how they work together to form a man.
Fortunately, Richard D. Phillips attempts to avoid this mistake by concentrating on the reasons for man and the elements that form him. In this book, Phillips bases his definition of manhood on the first man, Adam, and the initial mandate that God gave to this initially sinless person. His reason for existence is directly linked to the fact that he bears the image of God. Man is, therefore, to rule over the world and cultivate its resources in a way that would demonstrate who God is to this same world.
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Can Your Theology Withstand Harm To Others?
by on Sep 29th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
I am not a military man. My only experience with military matters comes from my collection of biographies, books, and journals from military commanders, ranking from private to lieutenant general.
One of the elements that I have learned from reading the words and works of these military men is that it was always easier to expose one’s self to danger than it was to order other men to their deaths (Napoleon being an exception). The brutal business of war required them to do their duty by making plans and ordering others to face death or mutilation while they watched or monitored the battle’s progress from a distance (Alexander the Great being an exception).
Facing harm and compelling others to endure hardship is not the same thing. The latter demands greater courage and surety of belief in a cause than does the former. While most of us will not command armies or face the brutal realities of command in the heat of combat, we, as men of God, will surely come to terms with this idea on a spiritual level. For us, the day will come when our theology will require us to ask others to face harm of some type for the sake of faithfulness to God’s teaching.
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What I Have Learned In 5 Years Of Marriage...
by on Oct 21st, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Tomorrow, my wife and I will celebrate five years of marriage. We’re quite shocked that this much time has passed already because we still feel like we’re getting started. In this short space of time, I have learned a lot about my wife, myself, and life. Perhaps in sharing just a few nuggets of knowledge (some earned the hard way), you will be able to laugh at me (if you have been married for some time) or plan accordingly (if marriage is your future). Also, since we are celebrating five years, I’ll make all lists with just five items.
5 Trivial Things I Have Learned in Marriage
- Dual air controls in a vehicle are worth the extra expense.
- “I don’t want any dessert” actually means “I want a bite of your dessert”
- Apparently, soap and shampoo hardly scratches the surface of the required grooming products of the female species.
- Whatever you do, get a bathroom with two sinks.
- Burping is much funnier around your buddies.
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From Death To Life Twice
by on Oct 27th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
On a cold February night in 2009, I was returning from Columbus, OH with a staff member who joined me in attending the viewing of a student’s mother who had graduated to heaven earlier in the week. Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 reminds us that the house of mourning is better for our souls than the house of partying because the reality of death centers our priorities. We are reminded of our earthly life’s limited duration, and this knowledge is actually healthy for us.
Throughout the drive home, my mind was full of thoughts on death, loss, and what is important in life. The conversation I had with my staff member was also along those lines. I arrived home to find my wife on the couch watching television. My mind was still heavy with thought when she asked me to go into our bedroom. We had recently had a fight about not being able to get pregnant after over a year of trying, and she was feeling sorry for her words even though we had moved on from that situation. She gave me a package, which was an abnormal way for us to resolve conflict, and when I dug the contents out of it I was holding a blue bib and pink bib. Mission Accomplished!
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Leadership Library Spotlight
by on Oct 29th, 2010 at 1:50 am
Book: Orthodoxy
Author: G. K. Chesterton
“Therefore the modern man in revolt has become practically useless for all purposes of revolt. By rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything.” p. 37
“A strict rule is not only necessary for ruling; it is also necessary for rebelling.” p. 105
“To the orthodox there must always be a case for revoution; for in the hearts of men God has been put under the feet of Satan. In the upper world hell once rebelled against heaven. But in this world heaven is rebelling against hell.” p. 107
Douglas Wilson once wrote, “There are two ways to measure a man by his footnotes and bibliography. One is to measure his footnotes and bibliography. The other is to measure how many footnotes and bibliographies he is likely to wind up in.” G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy can be measured as one of the great books in Christian literature according to the latter standard.
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Leadership Library Spotlight
by on Nov 4th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Book: Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain
Author: William M. Struthers
“One underlying problem for many men is not pornography, but a wrong understanding of how they are made. They think of themselves as a soul trapped inside a body, enslaved to it.” p. 115
“Sexual intimacy is not like every other biological function. It has significant consequences at every level of our existence: neurological, psychological, social and spiritual. And given that each one of us is a bio-psycho-socio-spiritual entity, it is no surprise that our sexual nature and how we express that nature has such wide-reaching implications.” p. 167
Pornography is one of the least-liked and most relevant topics for Christian men. We love to pretend that we haven’t seen it. We like to project the idea that we don’t like it. We wish that we could be unaffected by it. Well, I’m a married man who is pursuing purity for the sake of my God, my family, and my ministry and I can say that I have seen it before, I liked what I saw, and I have to admit that it has the power to crush me. Therefore, it’s best to view this topic through the prism of reality and not through the eye-holes of a façade.
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What Are You Contributing To The Family Name?
by on Nov 30th, 2010 at 12:01 am
“A good name is better than precious ointment” - Ecclesiastes 7:1a, ESV
“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory...” - Psalm 115:1a, ESV
Twelve summers ago, a friend of mine was 80 miles into a 500-mile road trip when her car died on the interstate. I drove out to meet her and realized we would not be able to rescue her car without the assistance of a tow truck.
I called the owner of the body shop in what was then our small town. Rollie was his name. He retrieved the car and fixed the malfunction. I brought my friend back to my grandparents’ house to wait out the inevitably high towing and repair bill. We tried to figure out how we would be able to cover the bill so she could return to her home as soon as possible, and just thinking about the problem troubled us. We were poor high school students then. How would we ever cover the costs of repair?