Great Challenge to Christian Dads to Raise Your Sons to Be Men.

Owen Strachan: 

Did you, father, let your son retreat for massive chunks of time to his bedroom or the basement, helping him become asocial and self-driven instead of others-centered and self-sacrificial? Did you speak well of your wife around him, and commend the G0d-given institution of the family to him? Did you take the burden of provision on your back, the back the Lord has given you and made for this purpose, and thus release your wife to care for your kids and your home? When you were home from work, did you retreat to your hobbies, or did you push past the tiredness, grab your baseball glove, and play catch with him?

Did you ever, in all your working life, take a day off, surprise your son, pull him out of school, and do the stuff that he loved to do? Did you try skateboarding with him, even if you hated it? Did you go on a road trip with him that was gratuitously loving and totally unexpected?

Did you win your son’s heart, or did you merely manage him?

What, dear father, were you doing while your boy, your God-made son, busied himself in the solipsistic, virtue-undermining world of American adolescence? Did you take note of his lack of growth over the years? Did you chuckle to yourself over his silliness? Did you shush your wife when she raised concerns about his grades, or his lack of any discernible intellectual interests, or his boorish treatment of girls? Or, did you bring the thunder down upon him when he messed up, which only deepened his distrust of you–because there was little expressed love in the bank from which he could draw?

Where were you, dad?        Where are you?

Read the whole thing here. 

Is it Legalistic to Dress Modestly and Hope Other Christians Will Too?

Another great article in The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood on Modesty.

Courtney Reissig:

Obedience to God by dressing modestly, when the goal is glorifying God, is the beautiful fruit of a life changed by Christ. It’s not empty rules and bondage to the Law.

Any discussion of legalism and modesty usually comes with a discussion of grace, as if grace is what frees us from ever having any guidelines. But is that really grace? Grace is not an invitation to do as we wish or dress like we want. That’s licentiousness. And modesty isn’t legalism. It’s freedom. The freedom Christ gives us doesn’t let us do whatever we want, it frees us from ourselves and the endless pursuit of me and my wants. And at the very heart of immodesty is a selfish quest for the praise and adoration of men.

The reason we dress modestly is not so people will praise us and our good works. And it’s not so we can get another gold star in God’s record of good works. We dress modestly because we have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). We are not our own.

Read the whole thing here. 

A Striking Display of Sacrificial Fatherhood from Japan.

Owen Strachan:

Every person dies. This is just one story of death in a world full of them. Yet some narratives, however brief, speak a deeper truth. This is the legacy of Mikio Okada. We see in his example a picture of the human will to survive, I think; we see a warning about our response to catastrophic weather, maybe; but most of all, we see a crystallized image of what a father is. This is a revelation. It says what a man must be, and must do.

Many men in our modern world have been trained in the opposite direction. Stories of men dropping out and slipping away have proliferated in our day. Whole sections of our culture have witnessed the disappearance of men, and therefore of fathers. Some years ago, David Blankenhorn called attention to a national epidemic of fatherlessness, and many affirmed his insight. Public ardor over the issue has waned in our day; our president has spoken in a few places to the need for reengaged fathers, but the cause seems at present to rally little zeal in the American conscience.

As in America, so in the West. European countries like Ireland and Greece trace their economic decline in part to a manhood crisis. In a disconcerting number of cases, men, to put it simply, aren’t maturing. They aren’t marrying, they aren’t working hard, and they aren’t creating families. Thus they are not filling one of their most important roles: they are not protecting women and children, but are in fact preying on them, as the hugely popular phenomena of sex-trafficking and pornography show.

In his common grace, God has not left us without witnesses. When the snow and the storm closed in on Mikio Okada, he heard an ancient call. Something in him roused. Mikio felt his life ebbing, his body slowing, but that did not silence the call. It rose in his ears, the wind whistling a death tune around him, and he
answered it. He put his arms around little Natsune, and he held her.
 
That was his call. It is also ours.

Read the whole thing here. 

God Opposes the Proud but Gives Grace to the Humble.

I have found the theme of James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 to be reverberating throughout the Scriptures. From the foolishness of Samson, to the sin of David, to Jesus' confrontations with the Pharisees, to the parable Jesus uses to illustrate that theme in Luke 18:9-14. God must want us to know that if we walk in pride we will find ourselves in opposition to God and what He wants for us, but if we humble ourselves we will be given grace and in the end will be exalted. So it would be a very useful exercise for us to examine ourselves often to find where we are in danger of being opposed by God so that we can repent in humility.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss has organized a tool to help us to examine ourselves in this way. It compares and contrasts self-righteous behaviors with humble behaviors. I would encourage you to not just look over it but print out a copy for yourself. Find it in an abbreviated form it here.

HT: Challies

Proud, Unbroken People	Broken People
1. Focus on the failure of others	1. Are overwhelmed with their own spiritual need (Matthew 5:3, 7:3-5, Luke 18:9-14)
2. Are self righteous; have a critical, fault finding spirit; look at own life/faults with a telescope but others with a microscope	2. Are compassionate; have a forgiving spirit; look for the best in others (Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:12)
3. Look down, in a condescending spirit, at others	3. Esteem all others as better than self (Phil. 2:3, Rom. 12:10)
4. Are independent; have desires for everyone else to meet own personal needs	4. Are dependent on God and His grace; recognize others’ needs and seek to meet them (2 Cor. 3:4-6, Phil. 2:4)
5. Always manipulating circumstances to maintain control; must have everyone do it their way	5. Surrenders control by giving freedom for others to do or see things differently (Rom. 12:1-2)
6. Have to prove they are always right	6. Are willing to yield to the possibility that they could be wrong, and thus, yield the need to always prove they are right(Rom. 15:2)
7. Claiming personal rights	7. Yielding personal rights (Eph. 5:21)
8. Display a demanding spirit	8. Have a giving spirit (Rom. 12:13)
9. Self-protective of time, rights, reputation	9. Are self-denying (Luke 9:23)
10. Desire to be served	10. Are motivated to serve others (Matt. 20:26-28, Phil. 2:20-21)
11. Desire to be a success	11. Desire to be faithful to make others a success (John 3:30)
12. Desire for self-advancement	12 Desire to promote others (John 3:3).
13. Are driven to be recognized and appreciated	Have a sense of unworthiness; are thrilled to be used at all; eager for others to get credit, honors and awards (I Tim. 1:12-16)
14. Cringe when others in the same field are praised, wishing it was them	14. Rejoice when others are lifted up (Rom. 12:15)
15. Think ‘the ministry is privileged to have me!’	15. Think ‘I don’t deserve to serve in this ministry (2 Cor. 4:7)
16. Think of what they can do for God	16. Know they can offer nothing to God, and seek for God to work through them in His power (Phil. 3:8-9, Titus 3:5)
17. Feel confident in how much they know	17. Are humbled by how much they have not learned and wish to learn (Phil. 3:12, Prov. 1:7)
18. Are self conscious	18. Have little concern with how others view them (Gal. 1:10)
19. Keep people at arm’s length	19. Risk getting close to others; are willing to take those risks for the sake of love for others (2 Cor. 6:11-12)
20. Are quick to blame others	20. Accept personal responsibility; can see and acknowledge personal failure (Matthew 7)
21. Are concerned with being ‘respectable’	21. Are concerned with being real (2 Cor. 4:3-5).
22. Are concerned about what others think	22. Know all that matters is God and what He knows (I Cor. 4:3-5)
23. Work hard to maintain image and protect reputation	23. Die to own reputation (Phil. 3:7, Rom. 14:7)
24. Find it difficult to share their spiritual needs with others	24. Are willing to be transparent with others (2 Cor. 1:12)
25. Want to be sure no one finds aout about their sin	Are willing to acknowledge and confess one’s sin; brokenness is the ultimate sign of personal success (Ps. 51:17)
26. Have a hard time saying, ‘I was wrong. Will you forgive me’	Are quick to admit fault and seek forgiveness (I John 1:9, James 5:1)
27. Deal in generalities when confession sin	27. Deal in specifics (Ps. 51:17)
28. Are concerned about the consequences of their sin	28. Are grieved over the root of their sin (Ps. 51:5)
29. Wait for other party to come and ask forgiveness in a conflict	29. Take the initiative to be reconciled; gets their first (Matthew 5:23-24)
30. Compare themselves with others and feel deserving of honor	30. Compare themselves with God and feel desperate for mercy (Luke 18:9-14)
31. Are blind to their true heart condition	31. Walk in the light of true knowledge concerning their own hearts (I John 1:6-7).
32. Do not display any spirit of repentance, because they don’t need it	32. Continually display a spirit of repentance, sensing their need for fresh encounters with God and the filling of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5;18), Gal 5:16)
33. Spent time reading these words and wondering if _____________ was reading it	33. Thanked the Lord for using words on the internet to bring brokenness to their lives.

Modesty for God's Glory.

I'm excited to see that the CBMW blog has begun a series of articles on the topic of Modesty. More has to be said about this and hopefully heard from a Biblical perspective in the church today. I think the first article by Keri Folmar is a strong one.

Here's my favorite quote:

One day we won’t need to check our hearts when we shop and when we dress.  God will clothe us in his glory.  He won’t be covering our bodies in black robes, like some women wear in Dubai.  He will give us new glorious bodies without sin and bright white robes that display the good works we have done in Christ.  We with unveiled faces will behold the glory of God, and it will be reflected by us undiminished as we live with our Savior in joy forever.  What a privilege it is to start reflecting him now in our dress and everything else we do!

Read the whole article here. 

Upcoming Sermons at Oakdale.

Here is where we will be in the Word for the next two months at Oakdale, Lord Willing.

Lord's Day                          Sermon Text                                         Sermon Title
May 5                              Ephesians 4:1-16                         "The Gifts Jesus Gives the Church."
                  Installation Service for Associate Pastor Tim Hunter

May 12                          Bible Instruction Class Sunday.

May 19                           Psalm 127                                   "God, Homes, and Children."

May 26                   Memorial Sunday Biographical Sketch of Amy Carmichael.

June 2                             Psalm 14                                      "The Corrupt Can Be Redeemed."

June 9                             Genesis 24                                   "Isaac, Rebekah, and  A Faithful Servant."

June 16                           Genesis 25                                   "The Birth of Israel."
                         (Disclaimer: I may be gone this Sunday, if so Gen. 25 will be on June 23, etc)

June 23                           Genesis 26                                   "Like Father, Like Son."

June 30                           Genesis 27:1-40                           "Trickery, Deception, and Our Redeemer."

Planned Parenthood and Our President.

Joe Carter:

Today, President Obama will give a speech at Planned Parenthood Federation of America's 75th anniversary gala, making him the first sitting president to address the group. Here are nine things you should know about the nation's largest abortion provider.

Read all nine things you should know about Planned Parenthood here.                             

Good Weekend.

"With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the midst of the throng."  - Psalm 109:30 ESV

 My wife Greta and I celebrated our anniversary last week. We've now been happily married for nine years. I am so grateful she said yes. So to celebrate and to help us to continue in our relationship we planned to have a little weekend get-away last weekend. Greta was able to get Friday off from work so we had three days together. Since coming home most of our friends and church family have asked the question, "So, how was your weekend?" I have enjoyed answering that question each time it has been asked, so I thought, "why not make a blog post out of it?"

One of the reasons for why it was such a great weekend was because of the different, tangible ways that we experienced the love that others have for us. First of all, from our family. My parents were more than willing to look after our older two children for the weekend. It would have been a completely different experience if we would have had them along with us, let me tell you. Secondly, our congregation provided us with the weekend get-away as a gift for my ordination. So the two-night stay at the hotel and two meals were gifts from my church family. The elders at Oakdale then stepped up and handled the duties on Sunday morning in my absence doing all except for preaching the message. That was provided by a gentlemen in one of our sister churches who is preparing to become a church-planter. Finally, on Sunday, Greta and I were blessed to worship at Brooklyn Evangelical Free Church where our good friends John and Nancy Mochel serve. I warned John I was planning to be at their service to hear him preach and they then invited us over for dinner following the service. We give thanks to the LORD for loving us in these very tangible ways through His servants.

What did we do? We did a little shopping. Actually a lot of shopping. We ate at some of our favorite places which are not in our area here in Cherokee county. We talked together without having to hurry to the next thing on our schedule. We watched a couple movies, Lincoln and The King's Speech. We enjoyed them both, but probably The King's Speech a little more so. We spent unhurried time reading God's Word. I got to read my book. We spent some one-on-one time with our youngest child Luther. Who often has to share our attention with our other two children. But to cap off the weekend we worshiped our Lord with our brothers and sisters at Brooklyn Evangelical Free Church. This was our favorite part of the weekend.

I love being a pastor. I love serving the church that God has called me to serve. I receive much joy from studying and preaching and teaching the Word of God. But rarely am I able to be ministered to for an entire Lord's Day. This was my experience this past Sunday. We were so blessed to worship and visit with the church family at Brooklyn Ev. Free. Pastor John Mochel preached a faithful, hope-filled message from Genesis 5-6:8, which is a difficult passage to preach. Then enjoying the hospitality of John and Nancy and their daughters was such a blessing. We left their home with full hearts, looking forward to the time when we would get to see them again.

It has been a long time since I have felt so rested and enthusiastic to get back to work after a weekend. We are so grateful to all who blessed us this weekend. Most of all, we publicly give thanks to our faithful Lord who graciously gave us the weekend we had.

This is THE ISSUE Keeping Our Young Adults in Bondage in Our Churches.

You guessed it, Fornication also known as Sexual Immorality. Far too many of our young adults are so far enveloped in today's sexual revolutionary culture that it is keeping them from walking with the Lord in freedom and thus keeping them from serving the Lord faithfully in ministry. The churches in the big cities are seeing it as well as we here in the rural farmlands of Northwest Iowa.

I encourage you to read what Derek Rishmawy had to say about this in an encounter that he recently had with Pastor Tim Keller of Manhatten's Redeemer Presbyterian Church. 

Here is the key quote:

Illicit sex is an idol in our generation that cannot be ignored, but must be dethroned if the worship of the true God is going to fill the Temple of His Church.

 Read the whole thing here. 

HT: Z

Brothers and Sisters, We Need Each Other.

Brian Howard provides a very helpful list of questions that we can use to examine ourselves regarding whether we are living the "lone ranger" style of the Christian life or the more Biblical version.

Christianity is not simply attending a church service. Christianity is not only personal. Beyond having a personal relationship with God and attending a church service on Sundays, the Scriptures clearly show Christians having close relationships with each other. These relationships go beyond Sundays. Are you living out what God really has for you? Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who are you daily living life with?
2. Who in your life truly knows your struggles?
3. Who are you encouraging continuously?
4. Who are you regularly praying with?
5. Who is praying for you?
6. Who are you partnering with to reach unbelievers that you know?
7. Who can correct you?
8. Who are you investing in?
9. With whom do you meet with to discuss what God is teaching you?
10. Who would be by your hospital bed to pray for you and encourage you?
11. Who will not allow you to walk away from your marriage or from the faith?
12. Are you faithfully participating in the life of a local church?
13. Who would you meet with if your marriage was in trouble?
14. Who have you counseled with the Word of God recently?

Read the whole thing here.


HT: Z

The Risen Jesus Makes All Things New.

One of my favorite songwriters and musical artists is Andrew Peterson. Here is a great song that praises Jesus for His redeeming work through His death and resurrection.

You can order and or download the song and cd here. Or here at Amazon.

He is Risen!
 Enjoy "All Things New."

Come broken and weary
Come battered and bruised
My Jesus makes all things new
All things new

Come lost and abandoned
Come blown by the wind
He’ll bring you back home again
Home again

Rise up, O you sleeper, awake
The dawn is upon you
Rise up, O you sleeper, awake
He makes all things new
All things new

Come burning with shame
Come frozen with guilt
My Jesus, he loves you still
Loves you still

Rise up, O you sleeper, awake
The dawn is upon you
Rise up, O you sleeper, awake
He makes all things new
He makes all things new

The world was good
The world is fallen
The world will be redeemed

So hold on to the promise
The stories are true
That Jesus makes all things new
(The dawn is upon you)

Words by Andrew Peterson
Music by Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive, and Andy Gullahorn

A Prayer for Good Friday.

I have been greatly helped in my meditations on the gospel by reading the prayers from The Valley Of Vision. It is a book of prayers from the writings of many Puritan saints from the 17th and 18th centuries, compiled by Arthur Bennett.

Here is one I keep coming back to especially as we approach Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.

Love Lustres At Calvary.

My Father, Enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips,
     supply words that proclaim 'Love lustres at Calvary.'
There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son,
     made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;
There the sword of they justice smote the man, they fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified,
     and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due,
     and infinite punishment was endured.
Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
     cast off that I might be brought in,
     trodden down as an enemy
     that I might be welcomed as a friend,
     surrendered to hell's worst
     that I might attain heaven's best,
     stripped that I might be clothed,
     wounded that I might be healed,
     athirst that I might drink,
     tormented that I might be comforted,
     made a shame that I might inherit glory,
     entered darkness that I might have eternal light.
My Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,
     groaned that I might have endless song,
     endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
     bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem,
     bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
     experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
     closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
     expired that I might for ever live.

O, Father, who spared not thine only Son that thou mightest spare me,
All this transfer they love designed and accomplished;
Help me to adore thee by lips and life.
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise,
     my every step buoyant with delight, as I see
     my enemies crushed,
     Satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,
     sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,
     hell's gates closed, heaven's portal open.
Go forth, O conquering God, and show me the cross,
     mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

(Bennett, The Valley of Vision. Banner of Truth, 1975. p. 42-43)

Definitely Rooting Against This . . .

So I am a big fan of March Madness. What an enjoyable time. And so far this tournament has been living up to the hype with all of the upsets. I love the upsets, especially when it means teams like Georgetown and New Mexico are now out.

But the teams I am rooting against the most are the teams who wear those devastatingly ugly Addidas camouflage uniforms with the bright flourescent colors. I am hoping all those teams get beat out early so I am not forced to see those hideous uniforms. So yes, all you cyclones, I am rooting against Norte Dame tonight.

Reading Books With Others.

Admittedly, I do love to read books. But because I love to read books, I like to read a lot of books. My regular practice then would be to be reading 2 to 3 books at a time, and reading them quickly so as to get to the next book I want to read. It's kind of like a family that is on a vacation to Washington DC. They are really excited to see all of the historic sights, and so when they do stop at each sight they only stay there briefly because of their excitement to get to the next stop on their itinerary. That was me in reading books.

That kind of reading practice did not leave much room for thinking over the content of what I was reading. Pondering it, letting it really hit home. Now there were certain books that did stop me in my tracks, but the majority of books I just read to get on to the next one. Therefore I did not allow the book to be used by God for much if any life transformation.

But then while in seminary, I was mentored by a wise, book-loving pastor. When he agreed to mentor me he told me to buy a certain book, and that we would read it together and discuss a chapter each week that we met together. Thus I was introduced to reading as a community discipleship activity and not just a race to see how many books I can read in a month. There are several helpful disciplines that reading a book with Pastor Randy led me into.

• Reading at a more helpful pace. Our plan was to meet on Friday afternoons and discuss one chapter each week. So that encouraged me to only focus on that one chapter we were going to discuss, rather than trying to get through as many chapters as I could in a week. At the time this was particularly helpful, since I was taking several classes that each had required reading in. So I did not need another book to read. But the great thing was, all I had to do was read one chapter a week, and the books that we read were much stronger and more helpful than most of what I was required to read for my classes.
• Reading with a goal of comprehension. Since I knew that we were going to discuss the chapter each week that I had better have something to talk about from what I had read. So this encouraged me to truly seek to understand what I was reading and to ask questions of it. Then when we got together we would not waste our time but actually have an intelligent discussion of the book.
• Personalizing what I read. One of the primary things we would discuss is what effect the message of the author was having on our souls. So I needed to personalize what I was reading. Apply the ideas to my situation. Are they helpful or not? If so, why are or why aren't they helpful? Is the author's argument convincing? Are there changes that I need to make in light of what God is teaching me through the book?
• Learning with the help of other perspectives. This is one of the greatest benefits to reading books along with other people is that we hear the others' perspectives on the books. Often what strikes others about what an author writes doesn't strike me, until I hear how it struck them, and then all of the sudden the light bulb goes on above my head.
• Much greater motivation to be reading good books. If I would not have been involved in the reading groups that I have been, there are many great books that I would have never read. Some of the most challenging, yet greatest books I have read came to me because I was involved in a reading group. Also because I know we are going to meet at a certain time and discuss certain chapters from the book, this motivates me to make sure I am spending enough time reading the book rather than wasting time on other things.
• It is an excellent way to make disciples. Jesus commanded His church, "Make disciples of all nations, . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:19-20)  Reading books with other Christians is simply an excellent way to teach others all that Jesus has commanded. In fact we often just end up teaching each other. And the church grows spiritually as God's people get together to talk about Him and His ways through the use of strong, Biblically-centered, Christian books.

Reading good books with others has been one of the greatest methods the Lord has used to help my faith to seek understanding. It has helped me to disciple others, and it has helped me to build and keep up strong relationships with others. Right now I am in three different reading groups. One meets weekly, one meets monthly, and one meets bi-monthly. I would encourage you if you are not reading books with anyone else to invite somebody else to read a good book along with you. Then see what the Lord will do through your relationship.

Pray for our Brothers and Sisters in Pakistan.

“The police let our homes burn and be vandalized … a heavy price to pay when you are a Christian in Pakistan,” an area resident identified only as Shaukat told Morning Star News Saturday night as he walked dingy streets littered with burnt furniture and appliances, smoke billowing from small houses while firemen continued to put out blazes. “The entire locality was left to the mobs just because a Christian happened to get involved in a dispute with a Muslim.”

Read the whole news report here.

 Inform yourself of the what our brothers and sisters deal with here: Open Doors, Persecution.org, Voice of the Martyrs.