August sounds turn into August photos. Here are a few shots of a cicada in our back yard.

I was really excited he decided to give me the thumbs up as I took the picture!

We are organizing things in the office this week and sorting old files. These two comic strips were in the back of one of my folders.

This audio clip (you can also play it below) is a wonderful help and good follow up to a recent post on training young children to participate in worship and church.

C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney discuss how they developed a love of the local church in their children.  They speak clearly about the priority of church family over biological family and how this impacts our ordering of activities.

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Peter Jeffery is one of my favorite present preachers.  I have recently found several simple talks he has recorded for youtube.

The first is an invitation to those who know the gospel but have not committed themselves to the great gain for fear of the risk of what they may have to give up.

The second is a parable of a train ride that reminds us of what we have in Christ

How simple salvation is! How great it is!

For those of you that have enjoyed R.C. Sproul’s TABLETALK over the years, here is an offer that may be very attractive.  If you have never heard of it, it is a very helpful monthly devotional.

That’s right, one of the blog world’s favorite words: “free.” If you are not aware, Tabletalk published a great issue on “The New Atheism” this month. In light of this timely topic, we would like to equip you with extra copies to discuss atheism with those close to you — or, maybe more importantly, those distant from you and God.

Simply send us an email (follow details at bottom), letting us know how many you could make use of, and we’ll get them out to you at no charge.

Here’s the flow of the issue:

In the opening page, editor Burk Parsons sets the stage by showing us how this new atheism is actually not new at all. That is followed by R.C. Sproul encouraging us to be constantly on our guard against irrational arguments. Next, Ravi Zacharias provides a solid, biblical answer to the accusation that Christians are mentally deluded. Then, John Blanchard explains convincingly that contrary to popular belief, science does not rule out the biblical account of God as Creator, followed by David Robertson revealing to us the true face of evil. These articles are in addition to all of the columns, which you can access online here.

Please send an email to tabletalkoffer@ligonier.org and include “Tabletalk Offer” in the subject line of the email, your full name, address, phone number, and how many copies of the August 2008 issue of Tabletalk you can make use of. Offer is good while supplies last.

(HT:TC)

Today was the first day of school for Kara and Lauren!

Having small children can be a challenge when it comes to worship.  We, as parents, can make it even more of a challenge if we fail to prepare our family for worship.  Yes, we must prepare their hearts and minds, but sometimes preparations include the most basic of things as well.  Here is a brief list:

• Get them to bed early on Saturday Night.  We do it for school, why shouldn’t we do it for something that is to be more important?  It will probably limit some of your Saturday social life, but it will set an example of priorities for your children.
• Have things laid out (clothes, shoes, bibles, Sunday School papers) or in the car ready to go Saturday evening.  For some reason Sunday Mornings seem like the worst morning of the week.  With three kids there is always a bible or paper missing and then we pull out for worship with dad blaming mom, mom not having time to get done what she needs because she has spent 15 minutes looking for a flip flop, and kids crying and upset after getting instructed on their irresponsibility.  All the devotions you did Saturday night to prepare for worship seem rather empty at this point.
• Parents should rise before the children.  (Usually not a problem, this also seems like the one morning when all of the kids would sleep until 10 AM if we would let them)  No matter how much we seem to prepare on Saturday evening, there is always something else that comes up.  If we can be ready to go before we get the children up it helps us be on time and the attitudes of all are usually dramatically improved.
• Take your children to the bathroom. I cannot stress how important this is for the entire congregation and the preacher.  Not only does it disrupt your ability to worship, but the pee-pee parade down the center aisle will disrupt others as well and spark a subconscious desire for other children to “need” to go to the bathroom.  Take your children to the bathroom 5 minutes before the service and they will almost always be able to hold it for an hour or more.  They do it all the time during “Cars” and “Cinderella”.
• Bring your loose change for the offering. It may not be their offering, but it gives them something to anticipate and participate in during worship.  As they get older, then they can bring their own money to give.
• Allow them to use a Hymnal, Bulletin, or Prayer Sheet.  Again, it is important that they know they are a part of what is going on and not just required to sit still while we participate.  Small children love to imitate and if they desire to imitate us worshiping, why not allow them?  As long as they are using it semi-properly, allow them to have it so they know what is going on is for them as well.
• Have them draw or look at books, don’t bring toys.  Bring papers, quiet crayons, etc.  Once a child is out of toddler nursery and in worship it is for training them.  If they still need toys, maybe they still need to be in nursery (talk to your pastor or nursery staff and see if they can stay in a little longer).  Let them color, draw, take notes or look at books (There are many good bible story and bible picture books they can use).  Again, even if they are not always drawing or coloring about the sermon or reading about what is being preached on, they are doing what everyone else is doing.  (Hopefully parents still “draw”, take notes during sermons)  Also, don’t allow them to draw during prayer, singing, etc.  Have them participate in all that they can.  Drawing should be limited to times when you as a parent would be drawing.
• Learn to pray with one eye open. If you don’t there may be entire rows of adults with both eyes open behind you.  Multitasking is part of it.  It is a training process.

Hopefully this will help enhance not only our children’s worhip, but also our’s and the entire congregation’s.

Here is the interview referenced in this morning’s sermon at Edgewood. It is in 6 parts.

A few weeks ago we headed to Marietta, OH for a couple days.  Here are some shots of the kids swinging on some grape vines

Tim Challies continues to deal with comments on his review of The Shack. In a post today he writes a very helpful critic of the pragmatism used in the arguments people make against his reveiw.  It is broadly helpful in dealing with our culture, not just those who love or hate The Shack.

The first is pure pragmatism, implying that the book should be judged not on theological arguments, not on the basis of comparing it to Scripture, but on the basis of how people have reacted to it. Because so many people are responding positively to this book in opposition to “stodgy old religion,” we must believe that it is good. “William Young wrote a novel – a story that inspired me and thousands of others to want to have a closer, more intimate relationship with God. All your theological arguments can’t erase that.” The danger of such an argument is that it effectively places us over the Bible and over God. No longer do we judge right and wrong by what God says, but we judge right and wrong by how we feel. If the book inspires people to be intimate with God, we must judge it to be good. If it stirs emotions we like, we judge it to be good.

There are profound implications here. Pragmatism necessarily causes us to lose our focus on the absolute standard God has given us in His Word to determine right from wrong. When we lose that focus the church is placed on the slippery slope to becoming like the world. When we discard God’s standards we must depend on our own deeply flawed standards. We begin to trust in ourselves and lose our trust in God. We lose our reliance on His Word as the tool for discernment.