Parents,

I’m hearing good things about a message Gregg Harris (father of Josh, Alex, and Brett, etc.) gave at Covenant Life Church on Sunday called Don’t Waste Your Kids, based on Psalm 127. You can listen here:

Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents
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Check out this review of C.J. Mahaney’s latest book (it’s a collaboration), called Worldliness.

Look for it in our bookstore this fall!

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Don’t forget Laser Quest on Sunday.  It’s not too late to register if you are still interested in coming.  Here are the details:

• WHEN: Sunday, August 3, 12:45pm
• WHERE: Laser Quest in Woodbridge (Directions)
• HOW MUCH: $15, includes 2 games, 2 slices of pizza and a soda
• REGISTER: Sign up online.  (Max 60 people)

Categories: Events
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Some questions from Sunday and some more for home:CHAPTER 9: TAKING A STAND

• On page 151, Alex and Brett explain, “a changed heart will result in a changed life.” [Whiteboard:] What are some of the changes in a teenager’s life that we should expect to see after conversion?
• Read the paragraph on page 154 that starts with “When we…” Describe a situation in which you took a stand for God and suffered for it in some way. How was God at work in that situation?
• What do Alex and Brett mean when they say, “the right thing, though hard, really is the smartest—and in many ways the easier thing.” (p. 155) What do they mean by this? Explain why you agree or disagree.
• The section on page 157 and following is packed with wisdom. Have you ever taken a stand for something that wasn’t really worth taking a stand for?
• Of the six steps on page 157ff, were there any that surprised you? Which one is hardest for you, and why?
• From page 164: Is there a stand you know you should be taking but haven’t? [Discuss at home with Dad and Mom:] Is there something in your life you know is wrong but continue to do?

From the OFFICIAL STUDY GUIDE:

• When Eva decided to live for Christ, she had to make choices that isolated her from her friends. Have you ever had a similar experience? If so, talk about it.
• Do you think it’s harder to take a stand for what’s right around friends who say they are Christians or around friends who don’t? What are some of the different challenges in each case?
• Can you think of an example of a Christian you know who took a stand on an issue but made a choice that didn’t seem wise to you—and perhaps the outcome wasn’t positive either? If so, describe what happened. Apply¬ing the authors’ principles listed on page 157, how could that person have made a wiser choice?
• Alex and Brett include a letter from a guy who mostly disagreed with the values of the Modesty Survey but admired how the site responded to critics. Do the Christians you observe generally deal with critics respectfully, or generally not? If so, how? If not, how could they improve?
• Is there a stand you know you should be taking but haven’t? What are you willing to do about it, starting now?

Categories: Discussion Questions, Summer Reading '08
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For those of you who were able to go, how did you enjoy the Rebelution Conference?

What did you learn? What are you taking away?

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Parents, are you helping your students build their own library of theological resources? J. I. Packer was asked recently for a starter list of books for your kid’s library, and he recommended the following:

• J.C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots
• John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress
• John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
  
• Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield: The Life and Times
• C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

How about some feedback from parents here? What are the books that have been particularly formative for your kid’s spiritual development?

Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents
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I’m on vacation right now with the fam.  In the past, Nicole’s dad has read us this quotation to help us keep a right perspective while on vacation:

“Pleasures are shafts of glory… The sweetness [of earthly pleasures] is still a beam from the glory… I have tried since to make every pleasure in to a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. one must of course give thanks, but I meant something different… Gratitude exclaims very properly, “How good of God to give me this.” Adoration says, “What must be the quality of that Being who far-off and momentary coruscations [=sparkling, gleaming, or flashing of light] are like this!” One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.” C. S. Lewis, quoted by John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, p. 18.

Check out this five15 sighting: there’s a family picture of us at Wal-Mart over on the GirlTalk blog.  Check out my brother-in-law Mike’s shirt!

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Justin Taylor recently posted this outstanding quotation by old-dead-guy bishop J. C. Ryle:

You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on every side. Your own heart is deceitful. Bad examples are numerous. Satan is always laboring to lead you astray. Above all false doctrine and false teachers of every kind abound. This is your great danger.

To be safe you must be well armed. You must provide yourself with the weapons which God has given you for your help. You must store your mind with Holy Scripture. This is to be well armed.

Arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the written word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible. . . . Neglect your Bible and nothing that I know of can prevent you from error if a plausible advocate of false teaching shall happen to meet you. Make it a rule to believe nothing except it can be proved from Scripture. The Bible alone is infallible. . . . Do you really use your Bible as much as you ought?

There are many today, who believe the Bible, yet read it very little. Does your conscience tell you that you are one of these persons?

If so, you are the man that is likely to get little help from the Bible in time of need. Trial is a sifting experience. . . . Your store of Bible consolations may one day run very low.

If so, you are the man that is unlikely to become established in the truth. I shall not be surprised to hear that you are troubled with doubts and questions about assurance, grace, faith, perseverance, etc. The devil is an old and cunning enemy. He can quote Scripture readily enough when he pleases. Now you are not sufficiently ready with your weapons to fight a good fight with him. . . . Your sword is held loosely in your hand.

If so, you are the man that is likely to make mistakes in life. I shall not wonder if I am told that you have problems in your marriage, problems with your children, problems about the conduct of your family and about the company you keep. The world you steer through is full of rocks, shoals and sandbanks. You are not sufficiently familiar either with lighthouses or charts.

If so, you are the man who is likely to be carried away by some false teacher for a time. It will not surprise me if I hear that one of these clever eloquent men who can make a convincing presentation is leading you into error. You are in need of ballast (truth); no wonder if you are tossed to and fro like a cork on the waves.

All these are uncomfortable situations. I want you to escape them all. Take the advice I offer you today. Do not merely read your Bible a little—but read it a great deal. . . . Remember your many enemies. Be armed!

(Cited in J. I. Packer, 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know, pp. 40-41.)

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Here’s a winner:

“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.” Laurence J. Peter

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Some questions related to today’s chapter:

CHAPTER 8: SMALL HARD THINGS

• p. 134 – “Sometimes the smallest hard things can be the hardest things of all.” What are small hard things that are hard for you? If they are small, why are hard? See page 135-136. Which of these excuses do you use most?
• What about the five ways we fail to do small hard things? Which is most common for you?
• What is the danger in thinking, “I’ll get serious about that later on”?
• Explain the connection between privilege and responsibility. What does this have to do with Doing Small Hard Things?
• How are small hard things like an individual pushup?

From the OFFICIAL STUDY GUIDE:

• Have you ever felt like Joanna—“ready and motivated to tackle something big and exciting, but stuck against your will in a seemingly endless round of chores”? If so, talk about it. Why do you think small hard things can be so hard for teens?
• What are the small hard things you struggle with most? Describe some of the self-talk that goes on in your head that makes doing those tasks even harder.
• On pages 135-137, the authors identify the top five reasons why doing small tasks is so hard, as well as five ways we tend to respond in not-so-rebelutionary ways. Talk about the five reasons and come up with a rebelutionary response to each.
• How could doing everything for God’s glory (see 1 Corinthians 10:31) radically influence how you think about and complete small hard things?
• See what you come up with in response to this three-step suggestion from page 143: “Do you have a big goal for your life that you can’t achieve without a commitment to small hard things? (1) Write down your big goal. Then (2) write out the small hard things that help you achieve it—and (3) how faithfully do¬ing those small hard things now will help you achieve your dream later.”

Categories: Discussion Questions, Summer Reading '08
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