Jonathan Edwards on, The Only Happiness With Which Our Souls Can Be Satisfied

Jonathan Edwards was the apostle of joy despite the inaccurate message of the diabolical forces at work in the world which branded him as a hardbitten seething cauldron of judgment from his famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." The politically correct commentary in his life deforms both the man and the message, which is more accurately summed up in the word, "happiness."

In his sermon on Hebrews 11, he says

...the enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows. But the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean. — Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey towards heaven, as it becomes us to make the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives, to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for, or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?

Voddie Baucham Weighs in on Church and Home

Hang on to your hat and enjoy...

Our friend Voddie Baucham recently preached this at the Texas Baptist State Evangelism conference.

http://fccm.net/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=72

Voddie is an elder at Grace Family Baptist in Houston Texas,

www.gracefamilybaptist.net

You can learn more about Voddie at http://www.voddiebaucham.org/

Al Mohler on College Life Today

Al Mohler issues a "wake up call' regarding the contemporary college situation. Underlying the problem is a complete loss of understanding of a biblical theology of education.

Mohler writes:

"Yale was recognized for its annual "Sex Week" on campus; an event started by students but now supported by Yale faculty members and administrators... The undeniable fact is that education is in big trouble. Americans now lack any common conception of education in terms of its content or its process. The elite academic institutions of the nation have been taken hostage to the postmodern worldview... There is little hope for a secular recovery. The major institutions of higher education are now almost entirely captive to radical perspectives and the secular ideologies that compete for primacy on each campus."

http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2006-04-05

Education is not the only place we have set aside biblical coordinates. It has also happened in the church on issues of ecclesiology, discipleship and manhood and womanhood because people in the church do not think Christianly anymore about subjects before them. The result is that contemporary lifestyle options often trump biblical clarity. The Bible has much to say about education's requirements. Two fundamental principles of education from the Holy Scripture are that education is father directed (Deuteronomy 6:1-9), and the content is "the training and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:1-4).

Fitting these two principles in to modern education opportunities can be a challenge.

Daughters Wield Enormous Influence

Doug Phillips issues a call for the recovery of the Biblical pattern for fathers and daughters. His message is that we not devalue our daughters, through neglect or undue delegation of their training, but that fathers take an active role to give them clear and loving and Biblical leadership.

Daughters wield enormous power for cultural transformation through the spread of the gospel through their roles as helpmeets and mothers. They are key frontline evangelists of the next generation and they need to be equipped with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6).



Friday Night Intimacy Building Activities at the Vision Forum 2006 Father Daughter Retreat. These men would have their hair combed, faces shaved, ties put on and shoes tied by their dutiful daughters.

Doug Phillips on, Your Evangelistic Purpose

Vision Forum's 2006 Father Daughter Retreat



"We have watched the systematic annihilation of biblical manhood and womanhood and the destruction of the family. When you turn your hearts toward home, you fulfill an evangelistic purpose. You can be instrumental in leading thousands to Christ if you raise the next Lydia…"

"The transgenerational theme of the Abrahamic Covenant is about evangelism and a long term covenantal vision. As long as we are here in the earth, we are advancing the knowledge of God in every generation."

Raising Daughters in the Age of Feminism

"Vision Forum is not a ministry that covers every important issue before the church. We are part of the wall building activity in the area of the family, which is one of the most dynamic wars raging in the culture." Doug Phillips



Father Daughter Retreat Sound Bites From Doug Phillips:

"Feminism has gripped our culture. Here is some historical perspective. In the nineteenth century, the Queen of England said that feminism was a “mad wicked folly of women’s rights… feminists ought to get a good whipping..” There are not a hundred pastors alive today who would read anything like this out loud. We live in a time in history where we are out of sync with historic understandings of manhood, womanhood."

“The godly man sees four generations… in Psalm 128 he sees the peace of Jerusalem to the fourth generation."

"Daughters need to say, “The choices I make will make a difference in the next generation.” Daughters need to start thinking more important thoughts and having bigger plans than they had before. Life is not about figuring out the kind of life we want to live. When we signed up with Christ we signed up for His plan not our own."



Five Hundred Fathers and Daughters gathered for Sola Scriptura



Future Fantastic Husband, Samuel Turley, Handling Tasks at The Vision Forum Book Table



Sound bites from Scott Brown:

"Fathers need to prepare their daughters to be wives who are under submission, helpers to their husbands, mothers, keepers at home and domestic entrepreneurs."

"There is a real danger in raising picky un-pleasable daughters who are unable to follow an imperfect man. We have no business raising wimpy prima donna daughters."

I want to give a daughter who is ready to be a helper to her husband as he makes his way through life, even though he is a male, a sinner and a husband with an imperfect family background.

"I don't want her to be a primadonna expecting every perfection and comfort, but that she would be a dutiful helpmeet respecting her husband following him to the ends of the earth and helping and comforting him through any battles he might face."

Father Daughter Retreat - Day One

This Vision Forum Father Daughter Retreat 2006 is dedicated to the proposition that God speaks clearly about fathers and daughters and the ways they were created to relate to one another. We go directly to the wisdom of God... Solomon described God's wisdom correctly, 'Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace" (Prov 3).



The Browns and the Phillips family started the day by visiting the Butterfly Conservatory where you will find a very arresting display of beauty. God spreads His beauty in every detail of creation from the 50,000 foot level to the microscopic level. Beauty is everywhere in creation, which tells the story of the beauty and the love of God.


Butterfly Conservatory was a wonderful reminder of the beauty and wisdom of God. For example, we learned tht the Monarch butterfly begins it's journey from California to Canada, but it takes at least four generations to make the trip. Since these butterflies only live two to six weeks the next generation must carry on.

A highlight of the Father Daughter Retreat is always the "unity games", which bring fathers and daughters together for exercise and fun. These games are designed to create trust and unity and enjoyment between father and daughter.



A game to test the ability of daughters to follow the voice commands of a father



Pat Walsh and Family
A wonderful surprise... Candace Joy Walsh was released from the hospital only a few days ago after enduring forty days and forty nights in the hospital. Her family and hundreds of thousands of people around the world fought for her life through prayer while her body was attacked by a bacteria that was consuming her body.



Don Hart giving voice commands to keep his daughters Emily, Katy and Hannah walking circumspectly not as fools but as wise



Barry and Cori Daming three legged racing and beating all competittors




Doug and Liberty Phillips desperately Trying to catch up with Pat Walsh and Candace Joy (on his shoulder) and Katherine on the ground.


Picnic Lunch on the Lawn at Calloway Gardens



The Browns joined with Kyle and Kennedy True from Casper Wyoming for dinner on the lawn.



Kelly and Peter who will be married on August 26



An exercise in wooing. A father sings Eidelweiss to his daughter to demonstrate his love for her. Most singers on the stage were nearly tone deaf, but their daughters got the message. Fortunately, singing on key is not a biblical requirement for fatherhood.



More wooing both off key and on key...



To kick off the evening meeting, Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin made beautiful melodies with Be Thou My Vision.



Doug Phillips gave a call for the recovery of biblical manhood and womanhood as it relates to the lifestyles and attitudes of fathers and daughters. He closed the evening with the story of "The Princess and the Kiss"

The Road Trip to the Father Daughter Retreat Begins

Scott Brown and his three daughters, Kelly, Blair and Claudia are Traveling with Barry Daming and his daughters, Erica, Elizabeth, Monica, Cori and Heidi. We are on our way to the Vision Forum 2006 Father Daughter Retreat at Calloway Gardens Georgia - in full bloom.


The Road Trip Begins

We are traveling from our home in Wake Forest, riding in style in a big motorhome with enough fuel to make the whole nine hour trip without stopping.


Barry Daming, Motorhome Driver and Father of Six Daughters

There is nothing like a road trip to make a day of rejoicing in the Lord.

Since I like road trips so much, I decided to take a quick poll. The question is, “what do you like about road trips?”

Monica: “the adventure”

Kelly: “Drammamine for car sickness”

Claudia – “everybody together talking”

Elizabeth: “The food”…

(Note, if were here you would see that the Daming girls do not simply make lunch – we are talking about “presentation” and culinary creativity. We are now eating some “tapenade’,(can anyone please tell me what this word means) followed up by a Brick Pressed Sandwich.”

This is NOTHING like traveling with guys. Daughters possess a particular glory!

Now we turn to one of my personal favorite things about road trips – Scripture Memory. We memorized Psalm 127:1-3, my father’s “life verse”.

“Do not be envious of evil men nor desire to be with them. For their heart devises violence and their lips talk of troublemaking. Through wisdom a house is built, by understanding it is established, by knowledge its rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”


Road Trips are For Singing

We broke out the hymn books a couple of times and I felt burdens lifting as we sang “This is My Father’s World”, “Nothing But the Blood”, “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”, “Rock of Ages”, “Standing on the Promises.”

When we hit gridlock in Atlanta, we sang, “This Train is Bound for Glory”, “Clementine”, “Oh Sussanna”, Home on the Range. For the finale’ we sang two particularly epistemologically self conscious “Whoopi ti yi yo” cowboy songs, “Git Along Little Dogies” and “Back in the Saddle Again.” Little known factoid: Gene Autrey sang both of these songs to our troops on Iwo Jima, and my dad got to wear his hat for an hour.

Teacher, tender, comrade, wife

On this, the 87th day toward our 25th year together as husband and wife, I would like to give praise to God with these verses, for Deborah, the wife He gave me:

As unto the bow the cord is,
So unto the man is woman;
Though she bends him, she obeys him,
Though she draws him yet she follows’
Useless each without the other
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Teacher, tender, comrade, wife,
A fellow-farer true through life,
Heart-whole and soul-free
The august Father gave to me.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Spurgeon on Amusements

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“But,” says one, “are we not to have amusements?” Yes, such amusements as you can take in the fear of God. Do whatever Jesus would have done. GS291

I have nothing to say against recreation in its proper place. Certain forms of recreation are needful and useful; but it is a wretched thing when amusement becomes a vocation. Amusement should be used to do us good “like a medicine”: it must never be used as the food of the man. From early morning till late at night some spend their time in a round of frivolities, or else their very work is simply carried on to furnish them funds for their pleasures. This is vicious. Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling. Pleasure so called is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement: everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle. 2040.476

Report: Workshop on Expository Preaching

Scott Brown gave the first address, "The Need of the Hour' at the Vision Forum Expository Preaching Conference in Wake Forest, NC. Men came from ten states, some from established churches and others representing around ten fairly new family integrated church plants. Some men came simply to learn how to better explain scripture to their wives and children. http://www.visionforumministries.org/sections/events/ncfic/mini-conferences/roadmap/default.asp







Dr. Andy Davis blew us away with his exposition on Psalm 2. If you would like the CD, or a complete conference set, contact David Brown at firstkings213@aol.com





















Kevin Herrin Graciously recorded the whole conference and blessed us with a really good room set up.














Dr. Wayne McDill. Several people mentioned to me how helpful it was be infected by Waynes childlike delight in scripture.














Happy Men: Jay Valenti, Scott Brown, Jason Dohm














Matt McDill Explaining how to mine the Text

One man reported, “The most important thing to me was the convicting preaching of Gods Word and the genuineness of the speakers. They didn't talk over our heads, they cared about us and were open and willing to talk personally after they were done speaking. The Lord has changed me because of this conference. Do not attend this conference if you don't want your life changed along with your family and church. The drive home with my 14 year son was so awesome, just talking about what we took in.”














We wrapped up the conference with a Sunday afternoon discussion in my home with scrambled egg sandwiches and chocolate shakes. We memorized Psalm 119:92, and spoke of it’s implications for all of our handling of scripture “Unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.”

The McDills Passing the Baton

Wayne and Matthew McDill, An Inspiring Father and Son...

I was inspired over and over again during the “Workshop for Expository Preaching” as I watched father and son labor together. Wayne McDill, (the father) has spent his entire life encouraging men to preach the Word. Now his son, Matthew, is doing the same thing. It is always encouraging to see with your own eyes the successful passing of the baton of faithfulness to the Word of God.

It reminded me of another father and son duo from the seventeenth century – Phillip and Matthew Henry. Matthew is best known for his wonderful commentaries on all of the books of the Bible entitled, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments. His warm hearted and accurate expositions are beautiful, and he was walking in his father’s footsteps.

Whitefield, and Spurgeon used Matthew Henry’s commentaries, and recommended them faithfully. One commentator says, "Whitefield read it through four times, the last time on his knees. Spurgeon said
"Every minister ought to read it entirely and carefully through once at least." (Commenting and Commentaries, p. 3)



Matthew Henry

Al Mohler on, The Return of Patriarchy? Fatherhood and the Future of Civilization

on Wednesday, March 01, 2006, Al Mohler writes,

"A truly Christian response to this argument must go further than cultural concerns alone can sustain. In the biblical vision, patriarchs establish a trans-generational vision for their families, looking to generations beyond with the promise that the father will give himself to the task of fatherhood and leadership in order to perpetuate the promise and establish the line.

Beyond this, Christians should understand that the Bible reveals a form of patriarchy as the norm--with men called to lead within the marital union and the family, as well as the church."

For full article go to:

http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2006-03-01

Heads-Up Hunters - Good News

This Just in...

February 21, 2006, WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A white house source stated that Congress is considering awarding Vice-President Dick Cheney the Medal of Freedom, the national highest civilian commendation, for his act of bravery in shooting an attorney. The source was quoted to say, "All Americans have wanted to shoot a lawyer at one time or another and Cheney actually had the courage to do it."

In a related story, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which issues hunting licenses, said that it will start requiring hunters, wishing to bag a lawyer, to have the new "lawyer's stamp" on their hunting license. Currently Texas hunters are required to carry stamps for hunting birds, deer, and bear, at a cost of $7 annually. The new "lawyers stamp" will cost $100, but open season will be all year long. The department further stated that although the "lawyers stamp" comes at hefty price, sales have been brisk and it is believed it will generate annual revenues in excess of $3 billion dollars the first year.

Other states are considering similar hunting license stamps. Impatient with efforts to close the courts to litigants, the Administration literally fired the first shot in its groundbreaking "No Lawyer Left Standing" initiative.

Vice President Cheney, hunting on a private lawyer ranch near Kingsville, Texas, bagged an impressive buck (Harry Whittington, UT Law '50). Under the new program, hunters may take one white shoe in-house lawyer or three outside lawyers daily. The limit has been suspended for trial lawyers. "We've just got to thin the herd," said the Vice-President. "We've tried tort reform and caps on damages, but people are still suing." Cheney added, "It's easy and fun. In Texas, you can shoot in almost any direction and hit a lawyer."

Media Triviality Shrivels Joy and Worship

John Piper said this during his "Gravity and Gladness" on Sunday Morning series, makes pointed statements about TV. You can find the sermon by clicking here:

http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/bio/johnpiper.html

'You’ll never hear me on Sunday morning saying, “The problem with this service is people don’t come here to give, they only come to get.” That’s not the problem. You know what the problem is? The problem is people stuff their faces with the white bread of the world and then they come to the banquet table of God’s word and they’re not hungry. And I’m talking television mainly and a lot of other junk that we waste our time on. The world as I look at it is just filled with triviality. . . . Almost all T.V. is trivial. Almost all ads are trivial. They’re silly. It’s an epidemic of silliness, so that the soul that feeds itself on this an hour or two a night . . . can’t help but just shrivel up to the smallest capacities for real, magnificent, glorious joy. . . . 'How . . . much silly stuff . . . can you watch before you begin to realize you’re a stick-figure, you’re a puppet, you’re just a silly little echo of the silliness coming through that tube continually? . . .'

The Need of the Hour

One of the addresses I am going to be giving at the Expository Preaching Conference is entitled, "The Need of the Hour", in which I desire to extoll the importance of the study and preaching of the Word of God in churches. Of course, this is the theme of the whole conference. http://www.visionforumministries.org/sections/events/ncfic/mini-conferences/preaching/default.asp

Here is something I plan to communicate which comes from the Introduction of John MacArthur's book "Preaching". It explains why we do some of the things we are doing at Trinity.

"Fifteen unintended negative consequences of the “superficial brand of preaching that is rife in evangelicalism”

1. It usurps the authority of God over the soul. Who has the right to speak to the church?

2. It removes the lordship of Christ from His church. "Who is the head of the church. When we look at contemporary ministry, we see programs and methods that are the fruit of human invention, the offspring of opinion polls and neighborhood surveys, and other pragmatic artifices. Church growth experts have wrested control of the church’s agenda from her true Head, the Lord Jesus Christ.” p. xiv-xv

3. It hinders the work of the Holy Spirit. "What is the instrument the Spirit uses to do His work? The Word of God. He uses the Word as the instrument of regeneration (James 1:18, I Peter 1:23). He also uses it as the means of sanctification (John 17:17)"

4. It demonstrates appalling pride and a lack of submission. “In the modern approach to “ministry” the Word of God is deliberately downplayed, the reproach of Christ is quietly repudiated, the offense of the gospel is carefully eliminated, and “worship’ is purposely tailored to fit the preferences of unbelievers.”

5. Is severs the preacher personally from the regular sanctifying grace of scripture.

6. It clouds the true depth and transcendence of our message and therefore cripples both corporate and personal worship.

7. It prevents the preacher from fully developing the mind of Christ. “...too many modern preachers are so bent on understanding the culture that they develop the mind of the culture and not the mind of Christ. They start to think like the world and not like the Savoir.”

8. It depreciates by example the spiritual duty and priority of personal Bible Study. "Why would people think they need to study the Bible if the preacher does not do serious study himself in the preparation of sermons.’ Pxvi

9. It prevents the preacher from being the voice of God on every issue of his time. Jeremiah 8:9 “The wise men are ashamed, They are dismayed and taken, behold they have rejected the word of the Lord, So what wisdom do they have.”

10. It breeds a congregation that is as weak and indifferent to the glory of God as their pastor is.. “Seeker sensitive” preaching fosters people who are consumed with their own well-being.”

11. It robs people of their only true source of help. “People who sit under superficial preaching become dependent on the cleverness and the creativity of the speaker. When preachers punctuate their sermons with laser lights and smoke, video clips and live drama, the message they send is that there is not a prayer the people in the pew could ever extract such profound material on their own. Such gimmicks create a kind of dispensing mechanism that people cannot use to serve themselves. So they become spiritual couch potatoes who just come in to be entertained.” xvii

12. It encourages people to become indifferent to the Word of God and divine authority. “predictably, in a church where the preaching of Scripture is neglected, it becomes impossible to get people to submit to the authority of Scripture. The preacher who always aims at meeting “felt needs” and strokes the conceit of worldly people has no platform from which to confront the man who wants to divorce his wife without cause.” The man will say, “you don’t understand what I feel”… You cannot inject biblical authority into that”. xvii

13. It lies to people about what they really need. Jeremiah 8:11. “God condemned the prophets who treated people’s wounds superficially. They omit hard truths about sin and judgment.”

14. It strips the pulpit of power. “The Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword.” Heb 4:12. Everything else is impotent giving an illusion of power.’

15. It puts the responsibility on the preacher to change people with his cleverness. “We preachers cannot change people with our insights and cleverness by entertaining them, or by appealing to their human whims, wishes and ambitions. There is only One who can change sinners. That is God and He does it by His Spirit through the Word.”

From the Introduction of "Preaching, How to Preach Biblically", by John MacArthur,
2005, Nelson Reference and Electronic

Turning Around and Going the Other Way - Again

I believe that most fathers either have not known the basic tenets of Biblical fatherhood, or they have not paid attention to them enough to really understand them. The result is that they have been going in the wrong direction (with a lot of their friends) for a very long time. This is the most common situation among the men in Christian churches.

But the reality is, they have been going the wrong way.

Have you ever heard of “Wrong Way Riegles”? The moment that created the name happened on New Years Day 1929 at the Rose Bowl. It was The University of California at Berkeley Vs Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech fumbled the ball and Cal defensive back, Roy Riegels picked it up and ran the wrong way. He ran 65 yards when he was finally brought down by his own team mate, Benny Lomm who had chased him down the field hoping to turn him around.

From that day forward, Riegles would be known as “Wrong Way Riegles”. Whenever introduced people would say, “Oh, you are the guy who ran the wrong way at the Rose Bowl.” What a discouraging legacy.

During the half time on that fateful day, the dejected Riegles hid in the corner of the UCLA locker room with a towel over his head. His coach, Nibbs Price said nothing to him and had little to say to the whole team. A few minutes before they were to go back out, the coach said quietly, “the team that started the first half will start the second half.” Riegles cried out, “I can’t coach; I can’t go back in. I’ve humiliated the team, the school and myself. I can’t go back in.” Price replied,

“Get back in the game Riegles, the game is only half over’.

What a great coach! I believe that this is the same message of the Lord Jesus Christ for fathers.

We may have run in some wrong directions, but we can always turn around and make headway in the right direction. Solomon expressed this principle in Proverbs 24:16,

“For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again”

I hope that the expositions at our upcoming "Charting a Roadmap for Biblical Fatherhood", will help to chart the roadmap for fatherhood and will encourage us to get back in the game. We may have made mistakes in the past, but there is always time to get back in the game and start running in the right direction.

http://www.visionforumministries.org/sections/events/ncfic/mini-conferences/roadmap/default.asp

Tools for Fathers

I wanted to extend to you an invitation to a couple of conferences in Wake Forest North Carolina that will be an encouragement to fathers. You can get more information here:

"Workshop on Expository Preaching". We will give help for interpreting various kinds of texts (historical, poetic, didactic...) and provide examples of exposition, and teach the principles of expository preaching.
http://www.visionforumministries.org/sections/events/ncfic/mini-conferences/preaching/default.asp

"Charting a Roadmap for Biblical Fatherhood". We will feature Biblical exposition on some of the great fatherhood passages in the Bible: Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 78, Psalm 127, Genesis 18...
http://www.visionforumministries.org/sections/events/ncfic/mini-conferences/roadmap/default.asp

Fathers as Historians

God makes real men out of fathers and sometimes it means that he makes them something they never thought they could be. Yes, God makes His men... Historians.

I Psalm 78: 2-7 Asaph declares,

I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; 6 That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, 7 That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments.

One of the points he makes here is that sons should incline their ears to “the things our fathers told us.” This makes historians out of fathers.

In God’s economy, what fathers say matters. The things they say are represented in v2 as “dark sayings of old”, and “a parable”, which means, “story from the past.” In the drama of redemption in human history contained in the stories from the past are importance to men who are teaching the next generation. It is not “the next new thing” that is important to the health of the next generation, but the fatherly stories of old.

Fathers are God’s appointed historians for the next generation.

When they do their jobs well their children have a sense of place in history. One of the blessings of being “the people of God: is that we know who we are because we can recall the things our fathers told us about the past. Our faith is a historical one. Children need to know history under the teaching of their fathers.

A Father's Legacy is Shaped by His Affections

Our most powerful legacies as fathers are formed by our affections. Another way to say it is, our most powerful legacies are shaped by what we love. What we desire eagerly will make all the difference in the world, because affections are almost always caught.

Affections are the key to sanctification, for the sanctification process of the people of God is dependent upon affections. Paul said to the Corinthians, “O Corinthians…You are not limited by us, you are limited by your own affections’ I Cor 6:1-18

About one hundred years before Edwards, an English Puritan, William Fenner wrote, with insight and graphic imagery, about the role of the affections.

"The affections are the feet of the soul: for as the body goes with its feet to that which it loves, so the soul goes with its affections to that which it loves. The soul hath no other way to come at that which it loves, but only by its affections."

This is why Moses urged fathers in Israel in Deuteronomy 6:5-6, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I command you today will be in your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children…”

Fathers - Tell of the Deeds of God in the Days of Old

The role of father as historian for his family is a constant lifegiving theme in scripture.

David knew it well.

We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us,
The deeds You did in their days,
In days of old
Psalm 44:1

Hope for the Church - A Special Eye Upon Families

Richard Baxter cast a powerful vision of hope for the church:

“We must have a special eye upon families,
to see that they are well ordered,
and the duties of each relation performed.
The life of religion, and the welfare and glory
of both the Church and the State,
depend much on family government and duty.
If we suffer the neglect of this, we shall undo all.
I beseech you, therefore,
if you desire the reformation and welfare of your people,
do all you can to promote family religion.”

Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter, Take Heed to Thy Flocks

Little Girl Arise - Prayer for Candace Walsh

Candace Walsh and her family need our prayers right now. I can't help thinking of the Lord Jesus when Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."Mr 5:41

For updated information please click on the following link http://www.candacejoy.org/

Her parents, Pat and Cathy and the rest of the family are in Florida fighting for her life.

The Entertainment Father

Because "in your presence is fulness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Ps 16:11) my spirit is stirred for fathers that we would engage ourselves and our families in meaningful time investment for the Kingdom of God for the joy of the next generation.

I am concerned about this because I see christian fathers engaging their families in many amusements, passive entertainments and mindless time investments.

John Piper says it better than I ever could:

I feel such a burden for us as a church to swim against the tide of almost every current in our culture. More and more and more, America is a nation given over to play. The industries of play are huge! Houses are built today with entertainment centers. Computers and videos and television and stereo all coordinate to give us ever more stimulating and captivating distractions from the realities of the world. When we need to be dreaming, for the glory of Christ, about how to spend our lives alleviating ignorance and sickness and misery and lostness, we are becoming more and more addicted to amusement. From a Sermon by John Piper delivered on November 29, 1998, Romans 2:6-10 - Eternal Divide – Eternal life or Eternal wrath

And, we often end up taking our children with us into addiction to amusement. We have a whole generation of children whose fondest memories with their families are their "fun" times. If you know the Brown family, you know that I am all for family fun time. But the reality is that if we slake their thirst on entertainment, it gives our children a powerful taste for it, and their fondest memories will be forged by the entertainment.

Is it possible that this is one of the tragedies of the modern church in the age of entertainment? I hope for a day when fathers live in such a way that their children's fondest memories are forged on their times in prayer, in mission, in the fellowship of the saints, in worship in evangelism in scritpure... for the pleasure of millions before the throne of God forever.

Mixing God and "Belial" in The Church

I am aware of churches which are holding super bowl parties in their churches. In view of the sexualization and idolatries and wicked personalities which are promoted at this event, I would encourage them to consider I Cor 6:15-18

What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does God's sanctuary have with idols? For we are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said: I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 17 Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. 18 I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.

The meaning of Paul’s statement “What fellowship has Belial with Christ” hinges on the meaning of the word “belial.” Belial is translated, “worthlessness, reckless, lawlessness. The expression son or man of Belial must be understood as meaning simply a worthless, lawless fellow – the personification of all that is bad.”. Eastons Bible Dictionary and Smith’s Bible Dictionary

Not Your Daddy's Super Bowl

Remember when you started feeling like you had to turn off the commercials on the Super Bowl? It finally got so bad that the Federal Government tried to get involved and that didn’t help all that much.

40 years ago the ads were mild. There was a harmlessness about the whole event. Those were the days! But today the whole context is completely anti Christian.

How does Christian fellowship mix with cheerleaders, Mick Jagger, NFL role models, and sexualized commercials? What was the process that made this appropriate or even desirable? I suggest that it was a slow process of desensitization to the enemies of Christ. We have experienced a cultural drift seemingly unnoticed by the church. We got used to smelling a little garbage and then a little more and then we couldn't smell it anymore as do all people who live near the dump.

Ephesians 3:3-14
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks... 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.

Protecting the Flock Through Wise Counsel Regarding Entertainment

Because of the nature of modern entertainment, the kind of counsel we give to our children in our care matters. And, in the area of lustful content that is embedded in much modern entertainment, it matters enormously.

On the subject of entertainment, our counsel and our silence can cause the sin and stumbling of our children.

Jesus words in Matthew 18:6-10 speak of the issue of one causing another to stumble.

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! 8 If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire. 10 "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven."

Matthew 18 makes at least five points regarding causing others to sin:

1. People will be held responsible for causing children to sin, v6
2. The opportunities for stumbling are pervasive, v7
3. The measures necessary for avoiding offenses are extreme, v8-9a
4. The consequences of stumbling are extreme, v9b
5. Causing children to sin is the same as despising them, v10

In the same way church leaders are called to be protectors of the household of faith. And, they are responsible in some ways for the lives of those under their care.

This is why the apostles had so much to say about purity in their teaching to the church - the dangers were everywhere in their day just like our own. It is appropriate for church leaders to speak to their people regarding fleeing immorality when it is presented to them.

This is true of hundreds of areas that scripture speaks about. Shepherds are in the business of taking "heed to the flock' because of the "Savage wolves" (Acts 20) by teaching what scripture says about relationships, work, anger, marriage and time… God calls elders to speak the words of God to keep the church family from sin.

The position that church leaders take on the issue of entertainment will make a difference in the worldliness and the sanctification of their people. It will affect their marriages and it will affect the purity of the young people who are not yet married.

By our silence and by our counsel we can participate in the offenses of the children in our households as well as the people in the larger household of faith.

I believe that many of the pornography, fornication and marriage problems in the local church are directly related to the unclear and unbiblical pastoral counsel regarding entertainment.

And, I believe that Jesus' words in Matthew 18 mean that we will be held accountable for our counsel. And if in our silence or our counsel, we cause them to stumble the consequenses will be severe.

The Starvation Principle

When we say, "Starve the Lust Monster" we mean that if we starve lust it will get weaker. We cannot completely kill the monster, but we can severly weaken him.

We reap what we sow. If we sow seeds of lust, we will reap a harvest of like kind.

My counsel to men is to starve the lust monster into insensibility by giving him nothing to feed on.

Starving the Lust Monster: Extreme Measures for Extreme Consequenses

Lord Jesus issued the most extreme example of taking extreme measures to flee immorality.

"whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. Matt 5:28

The most obvious principle from Jesus words is that extreme measures are required to avoid extreme consequenses. This is why Paul said "flee' immorality... meaning run from it wherever it might show up.

My message to men is mild by comparison: get rid of your television because you cant' predict when lady lust will jump out of it.

Starving the Lust Monster - Not Your Average Sin

The sin of lust is not your average sin.

I Corinthinians 6:18-20 makes this clear enough,

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

7 Reasons Not to Entertain Lady Lust

My friend Dr. Peter Schemm has provided us excellent help in seeing the importance of fleeing lust when it presents itself.

His tone is that we flee immorality because it steals the best things in life; that the ways of Christ are more wonderful than the pleasures of the world; and that purity offers a better reward.

Seven Reasons Not to Entertain Lady Lust

1. My God to enjoy (Ps 4:7; 16:11; 1 Tim 6:17; Col 1:10)
2. My Heart to guard (Prov 4:23; cf. 5:2, 8; Rom 6-7)
3. My Wife to honor (1 Peter 3:7; Exod 20:17)
4. My Sons and daughters to train (Prov; Eph 6:1-4)
5. My Men to sharpen (Prov 27:17)
6. My Sermon to verify (Phil 1:27; 1 Tim 4:16)
7. My Church to protect (Eph 4-5; Pastorals; 1 Peter 2:1-5)

Super Bowl – An Open Letter to Fellow Christian Leaders

“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes” Psalm 101:3

I would like to submit the idea that the Super Bowl game and commercial broadcasts are of such a nature that Christian pastors should speak freely about them and offer pastoral leadership for the care and the beautification of the flock.

My thinking on this has changed through the years. Several years ago, I was part of a men’s ministry team that presided over Super Bowl parties in the church sanctuary. The idea was to bring a lost neighbor for the purpose of evangelism. During this time there were some really uncomfortable moments, with the obvious inappropriate content. We began to think that not only shouldn't we bring our lost friends into that environment, but we would be best served in our spiritual walks to remove ourselves from it as well because of the immoral and idolatrous content. So we quit doing them because there was the conviction that it was wrong for leaders to participate in and encourage this kind of activity.

I. It is important that we argue from scriptural principle

The passages of scripture below form some of the biblical guidelines which I believe should be applied to all entertainment. I trust that we will boldly and consistently and patiently and unswervingly declare these to our families throughout the course of our ministries. The scriptural arguments for this are as follows.

Psalm 101:2-4
I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.

Job 31:1-8
"I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?

Matthew 5:28-30
But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

As a fellow elder, I want to warn us to take these very seriously in our counsels to the families under our care. The sexual lives of our families are at stake and we dare not be the kind of men who wink at the content of their viewing. It matters if we play it soft on these principles because whole families will be indelibly affected. It is urgent that we appeal to men to “set nothing wicked before their eyes.” If we are liberal in our treatment, we will find more stumbling into sexual sin and perhaps the sin of wasting precious time on irrelevant things. What men and women and boys and girls watch is transforming to their souls, which is why the above scriptures are so important.

I would appeal to you to stand with me in this area.

Elders have a dual responsibility both to commend and to warn. Acts 20 makes it clear that we protect the flock by both of these responsibilities.

On the one hand, we have a responsibility to “commend to God and the Word of His grace.” On the other hand, we have a responsibility to warn of the pitfalls and the “savage wolves” that lurk for the destruction of the soul and the defrauding of the life of a Christian.

For this reason, elders must have a good grasp of the threats to the purity of the flock. In the case of the Super Bowl (or any other entertainment offering) these threats to purity usually come through the brandishing of the sexual revolution and the winsome promotion of idols.

Is it appropriate for elders to speak on this issue? I believe that it is not only appropriate, it is our biblical obligation to speak out about anything raised up against Christ that might become appreciated by our people and cause them to stumble.

II. It is important to understand and expose the true nature of the Super Bowl

Five facts about the Super Bowl:

1. There will be sexually seductive content played during the commercials at the super bowl. There will be immoral connotations promoted through direct immodesty as well as innuendo. I viewed some of the commercials at home last night and there are multiple promotions of lust.

2. There will be sexually seductive content delivered through the cheerleaders. This is the equivalent of looking on the nakedness of a woman. There is little difference in hiring a stripper into your living room.

3. There will be the promotion of the lives and messages of wicked men. Last year it was Paul McCartney, and this year it will be Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.

Who is Paul McCartney? He is one of the most influential individuals of the twentieth century and a renowned and highly prolific song writer. He was one of the key figures to proliferate the drug revolution, the free sex revolution and the anti family revolution and more recently the animal rights revolution. His band, The Beatles were arguably (along with several other rock and roll groups) the most important agents of change that sought to obliterate Christian culture. They have been responsible for the loosening of morals that has been the chief agent behind the murder of 46 million babies, the dissolution of millions of marriages and the plunging into perdition almost an entire generation.

Paul McCartney (in spite of his winsome sounds) is an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ and the church.

Who is Mick Jagger? I am assuming that you are aware of the global debauchery that the Rolling Stones have promoted since the middle sixties.

4. Historically, the Super Bowl majors on the glorification of the idols of the sexual revolution. The owners of the Super Bowl are consistent so you don't have to wonder what they are going to do. They always promote the personalities who have devoted their entire lives to immorality and the proposition that sex without boundaries is good. It is a package deal of sex, drugs, rock&roll framed in the medium of athletics.

5. The winsome promotion and appreciation of the idols of the age.
From start to finish, you will be able to see with your own eyes the major idolatries of our day. The advertisers of the products will seek to engage the idolatries of the heart which have so helped them sell their products. Idolatries like materialism, entertainment, leisure, power, pride, sex, beauty… will be promoted in a most appealing manner.

The NFL halftime show is the most-watched event worldwide each year with eighty million American viewers and a billion worldwide. Advertisers pay over million dollars per thirty seconds to sell their wares.

III. Understand three convictions that I believe arise from the principles above.

1. Christian leaders have no business promoting the idols that the super bowl presents and neither should they sit in silence while their people are affected.

2. Christian men should be advised about the issues since such wicked things are presented in such an appealing and “harmless’ light when in reality they are the spirit of the antichrist.

3. We should caution people about abusing their liberty and lowering the bar in an area of morality. This puts others in jeopardy, particularly when we are not talking about things that go into the body (as in Romans 14 and I Cor 8), but what goes into the heart. These things are of distinctly immoral nature and should be seen in a different light than “meat sacrificed to idols.” We have no freedom in Christ to look upon immoral things.

Charting a Roadmap for Biblical Fatherhood

Vision Forum is sponsoring a conference in Wake Forest North Carolina, entitled, "Charting a Roadmap for Biblical Fatherhood." in April 28-30 in Historic Downtown Wake Forest.

For more information contact, missblairbrown@aol.com

Scott Brown

Workshop on Expository Preaching Conference

Vision Forum will be holding a conference designed to train men in the craft of expository preaching entitled, "A Workshop on Expository Preaching" on March 17-19 2006 in Wake Forest North Carolina.

For more information contact, missblairbrown@aol.com

Scott Brown

"Papa, There is a Boy Outside"

A red helicopter landed off the back porch of my house the other day.













A young man in a cowboy hat stepped out and asked if he could take my daughter Kelly away. When she returned, there was an engagement ring on her finger.













Peter and Kelly spent many months going through a process to determine if they should be married. They found that they were united in love and in their pursuit of the Kingdom of God by fulfilling the transgenerational vision to which He has called them.













Deborah and I and Blair and David and Claudia are so very very very pleased with this happy saga with Peter and his family. We do so love these Bradricks...













It is pure joy to announce that after a five month courtship, Kelly Jeannette Brown will be married to Peter David Bradrick on August 26, 2006 in Wake Forest North Carolina.

Woman Power

Newsflash: Millions of Jews, are the descendants of only four women. I like this statistic, because I have three young daughters who have massive potential to affect history.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/01/12/jewish.descent.ap/index.html

The power that so many women in our world long for is sought after in a place where it will quickly pass away in a short term burst of corprate management or expressing her "gifts" in a company that will soon slip off the edge of the cliff. It is a matter of record that most companies simply dont last very long. This is why I believe that women are wasting their lives there.

But if a woman sees her life as a key contributor as a child bearer in the stream of history, her ministry will be far reaching... that her "days may be prolonged" (Deuteronomy 6:1-9). This is why Rebekah's brothers burst out, And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: "Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them." 61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man.

So it should not surprise us that there are around thirty million documented descendants from the seven pilgrim women who survived the first winter in Plymouth.

Of course, all of this this is small potatoes in view of the fact that the entire world population descended first from Eve and then from the eight people of Noah's family on the Ark.

Therefore..."be fruitful and multiply"

Fatherless America

Several years ago, a friend of mine brought me a book, “Fatherless America, by David Blankenhorn. What I read there deepened my growing conviction that the greatest leverage for the spread of the gospel and the healing of our broken world is found in nothing more than the work of ordinary fathers.

“Never before in this country have so many children been voluntarily abandoned by their fathers. Never before have so many children grown up without knowing what if means to have a father…Fatherless ness is the most harmful demographic trend of this generation. It is the leading cause of declining child well being in our society. It is also the engine driving our most urgent social problems, from crime to adolescent pregnancy to child sexual abuse to domestic violence against women”. (Blankenhorn, Introduction)

He reported that "40% children in America go to bed each night without a father in the home." He asked, “does a child need a father? Our feminist culture says “no” or “not necessarily” This is why, one third of all childbirths happen outside marriage (p10). It gets worse, “Families headed by single women with children are the poorest of all major demographic groups regardless of how poverty is measured”…The best anti-poverty program for children is a stable, intact family”. (p 43)

“In sum, over the past two hundred years, fatherhood has lost, in full or in part, each of its traditional roles: irreplaceable caregiver, moral educator, head of family, and family breadwinner”. (p 16)

“With each passing year, fewer and fewer men are living with their children, fewer and fewer fathers are willing or able to sustain cooperative partnerships with the mothers of their children”. (p 18). See graph on p18 and 19

In another book “Growing Up With a Single Parent", the author reports, that fatherless children are “twice as likely to drop out of high school, Twice as likely to have a child before age 20 and One and a half times as likely to be “idle” out of school and out of work. (Growing Up with a Single parent, Mclanahan&Sandefur. P2)

What fathers do matters immensely!

The Greatest Untapped Evangelistic Opportunity Before the Modern Church

I am praying that God would use us in the rescue of millions of lost children who live in their parents households as a result of recovering the biblical role of the father in the church and the home.

Here is an article I wrote recently that explains:

http://www.trinitybaptist-church.org/equip/Articles.php?ArticleID=80

Powerpunch From The League of Grateful Fathers

My dad is a constant strength to me. And, I still want him to be proud of me... I was recently in the midst of some debate from some things I had said, and he wrote to me, "Scott you are right, hold your position, and it will be a blessing to all those around you."

When your father stands with you, it helps you to stand taller and feel better.

On New Years Day, I opened a letter my dad wrote to me saying:

"Dearest Scott,

You may be a charter member of "The League of Grateful Sons", but I am a charter member of "The League of Grateful Fathers."

The joy of having a son follow the Lord is a most precious gift.

Dad"

When a father delights in his son, the world is a better place. And, it makes the son more ready to rumble.

It Matters What We Feed Our Senses - In an Entertainment Obsessed Culture

The writer of Hebrews issues a very stern rebuke because the people were spiritual babies when they should have been teachers by then. He blames the problem on laziness and a wrong use of their senses. Hebrews 5:9-14

He contrasts these with the mature "who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14)

It matters how we entertain our senses.

Let me propose some questions to ask about every activity: How are my senses being exercised? Am I exercising them so that they would be full of the “word of righteousness? Is my reading, listening to music, conversation, movie going, giving or stealing from exercising the senses for the "word of righteousness."?

It is a Christian's sacred duty to examine everything we are doing in the mind and body in light of it’s affect on our maturity. Is there anything in your affections or practices that puts you at a disadvantage for spiritual growth. Is there any occupation of time which makes you immature and keeps you there unless you stop your practice or kill your affection. There are often many “good” things in which we indulge our senses which hold us back.

Nothing has a neutral impact on us. Even if it is harmless, it is important because it may steal from something of greater value.

Advice for the New Year: Build your entire calendar for maturity in light of the fact that we live in a world where people spend massive amounts of time in entertainment and games.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows so shall he reap”

Samuel Davies on Simple, Biblical, Patient Church Ministry

I like the perspective of Samuel Davies, the Great Awakening preacher as well as the theological and homiletical mentor to the Patriot, Patrick Henry. Here are a couple of quotes from his book of sermons that argue for "sober views"... not in 'new experiments" and "new modes of doing things". I wish I understood this as a young pastor.

“The times demand a ministry of sober views: of settled habits of industry; of plain practical good sense; of sound and judicious modes of thinking; a ministry that shall be patient, equable, persevering, and that shall look for success rather in the proper results of patient toil. Than in new experiments find new modes of doing things…. Success should not be expected from that which is adapted merely to startle, shock, surprise, confound or perplex. Success should not be looked for as the result of scheming, of dark plans, of unusual modes of thought, of paradoxes in theology or in an affected originality.. The men who enter the ministry should be men who will be willing to labour patiently as long as may be necessary to accomplish an object; to tread on, if necessary, in a path which has been trodden by thousands before; and at the close of life to look back upon results gained by patient toil rather than on the results of fitful efforts, however brilliant, or which have only served to startle and amaze mankind." p. xxxv Sermons of Samuel Davies

“The times in which we live demand of the ministry a close and patient, and honest investigaton fo the Bible.” Sermons of Samuel Davies, p. xxx

Anniversary of 58 Years of Marriage

Today, my father and mother celebrated fiftyeight years of marriage. My mom always says that "Bill made everyday a honeymoon." That's a long honeymoon... sounds like something our Father in heaven would do.

What I am NOT saying about Fantasy

Here is what I am not saying about fantasy. I am not saying that it is always wrong to write or read or watch some fantasy, allegory or parable. I do believe that there is a good place for allegory and parable to communicate truth. My opinion is that fantasy is a different category in which much sound wisdom and discernment should be exercised. And, I am not advocating that it is categorically wrong to create or read or view it, but I do have issue with what I regard as "unsanctified fantasy" which is not under the order and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this sense it is our duty to urge our fellow believers to bring every thought (and image and word) captive to Christ. I am simply registering a caution for a culture that consumes lots of fantasy without much forethought.

My main thoughts and questions regarding fantasy are as follows:

Issue #1 The Rush For Entertainment. People in the church today seem to wantonly rush toward every form of fantasy entertainment offered by Hollywood that is “clean” without weighing the other important issues.

Issue #2 The Importance of Images used to communicate the Gospel. Christian people should have a sensitivity to the images that they see and they should understand how important it is that we look upon "whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things." (Phl 4:8).

Issue #3 The Words used to communicate the gospel. The words that we read which are surrounding a “presentation” of the “gospel’ in that particular context should be carefully weighed. Why? Because we have been given a perfect, fixed, external Word of God that is best understood in it’s own context, not the context of the fantastical meditations of a creative uninspired writer.

Issue#4 The Relative importance of different genres of literature. I want to encourage my brothers and sisters to see the relative importance of the different genres of literature. For instance I would encourage fathers and mothers to limit their children’s time spent reading fantasy because reality is better than fantasy. This is very important because all the things that we expose ourselves and our children to builds affection. What we expose them to, will grow a taste and desire. Giving your children fantasy will give them a taste for fantasy and I have seen this taste become an obsession in many children in christian homes consuming much of their time and meditation. And, personal tastes are hard to break. My appeal goes like this: give them God so that they will have a taste for God. You may have fond childhood memories of fantasy stories, but what was it's relative value? Fantasy is indeed fantasy. What if your fond memories were developed by sitting and reading the Bible? Wouldn't that have been better for the building of the fond memories. This is why I advocate limiting exposure to fantasy.

Issue #5 The use of time. The use of time is a critical issue for any person wishing to “redeem the time for the days are evil.” (Ephisians 5:15-16) Where does meditation on fantasy fit in to redeeming the time?

What About Pilgrim's Progress

One of the most asked questions about my view of fantasy and specifically, The Lord of the Rings and Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, is ‘what about the allegory that John Bunyan wrote called Pilgrim’s Progress”.?

To answer this question it is important to define two terms, “fantasy” and “allegory.” The following definitions have been taken from Websters Third New International Dictionary published in 1966.

Fantasy
”...imaginative fiction dependent for effect on strangeness of setting (other worlds or times) and of characters (as supernatural or unnatural beings).

Allegory
The oral or written or artistic expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human conduct or experience (as in Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”…) simply telling a story for the sake of presenting a truth.”

I do not put the Narnia movie and Pilgrim’s Progress in the same category. Granted, they have some similar qualities, but they are not the same genre.

I am more affectionate toward Pilgrim’s Progress because it is more closely tied to real life and real people and it avoids much of the fantastical beasts and images that hard core fantasy presents.

On Fantasy and Video Games and Other Time Wasters

In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul encourages the Ephesians to maintain a vigorous lifestyle that is characterized by walking in love, walking in the light and walking in wisdom. Then he says

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, for the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15

Then he gives some examples of misuse and good use of time.

The point is, God has given us fleeting days on earth and he does indeed call us to use the time well, savor it and redeem it.

Richard Baxter wrote clearly about the importance of how we spend our time. Here are three selections of his counsel to his people delivered somewhere between the years of 1641 and 1660:

“I tell you time is a most precious thing; more precious than gold, or jewels, or fine clothes’ and he is incomparably more foolish that throws away his time, than he that throws away his gold, or trampleth his clothes or ornaments in the dirt.”

“How think you the miserable souls in hell would value time, if they were again sent hither, and tried with it again on the terms as we are? Would they feast it away, and play it away, as you do now and then say, Are not plays, and cards, and feastings lawful.” Baxter p1041, Vol 4 The Reformed Pastor

"Have you not many good works of charity to do? And will you leave the most of this undone, and waste your time in plays, and cards, and feasts and idleness and then say, what harm is in all this, and are they not lawful…. And then you would easily tell yourselves whether playing and fooling away precious time be lawful for one in your condition. If your servants leave most of their work undone, an spend the day in cards and stage-plays and feasting, and in merry chat, and then say, “Madam, are not cards, and plays, and jesting lawful?” Will you take it for a satisfactory answer? And it is not worse that you deal with God.” Richard Baxter, p1040. Vol 4 The Reformed Pastor

It always amazes me that parents would allow their children to spend hours on end playing video games and plunging their minds in fantasy. To me this does not qualify as "redeeming the time."

Rushing To Fantasy

As people who know me well might imagine, I am unsettled with the rush of the church for Disneys new "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" movie. Of course, I am always concerned when the church rushes en masse toward entertainment or anything Hollywood has made. The release of this movie, with it's great story line and with it's many teaching points that are helpful in seeing some of the issues of good and evil, is still one of those entertainment offerings presented by Hollywood - the enemy of the church. I just think we need to remember that Satan is an angel of light who always masquerades.

It is a difficult thing to write these things as I have many happy memories of reading most all of what C.S. Lewis has written. And, I have read the entire series of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' to my children. I have also received much benefit from his philosophical works. So please understand that I am not advoctating burning your C.S. Lewis books or protesting at the movie theatres. I am not saying "don't go to that movie or you will be forever outside the camp. I am not even saying, don't go to that movie."

Please consider my comments as a genuine effort to increase the joy and the beauty of the body of Christ.

Here are the concerns I have with fantasy movies as well as most of the other entertainment offerings the church gets excited about.

How we communicate the gospel
How we communicate the gospel matters. My assumption is that the best way to communicate the gospel is the same way it's presented to us in the Bible… not through replacement messages or words or images of fantasy stories, but with the historic ones. For example, what words are best suited to describe the gospel message? I maintain that the best words to use in evangelism or equipping the saints are the bible words. The most powerful tool we can wield is the sword of the spirit, using the very words of scripture to preach the gospel. God has spoken perfectly in words and these words are enough for us as the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture declares. “God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

This is why I become uncomfortable when there are attempts to explain the gospel with non biblical images and words through fantastical beings.

The caution that I issue for Christian movie goers is to be very discerning about the words they hear and the images they see. It matters what we see and read and hear because we are created by God to be drawn into whatever words we hear or images we entertain. We simply cannot help ourselves. We cannot engage in anything and expect to come out “neutral” from it. Everything affects us.

What happens in these fantasies is that elements of the gospel are embedded in fantasy which uses all kinds of unscriptural words and images. We are literally staging the gospel in a non gospel or even an anti gospel context.

The gospel is hemmed in by unbiblical words.

Many modern churches like to take out the gospel words and replace them with more modern ones so that people would relate to more easily. The megachurch movement has been the champion of this technique and it has only led to further worldliness in the church.

One of the most vivid expressions of setting the gospel in the midst of non biblical words and contexts is Veggietales. This is a radical trivialization of everything biblical. With Veggie tales it is the gospel in cucumbers and tomatoes. Instead of David and Goliath, it is “Dave and the Giant Pickle”. The good Samaritan becomes “Junior Asparagus’. Narnia does a similar thing, yet with much more style and eloquence. With Narnia, it is witches and centaurs and nymphs. Just because Lewis uses one biblical image - a Lion - does not erase the rest of the miscasting.

The Importance of Images

Images matter. Images can become objects of meditation which shape our thinking. So when we think about going to a movie, we should ask some questions, “where do the images originate?” Do they come from people with Godly meditations or heavenly wisdom? Do they come from the hearts of people who honor God, who are filled up with the knowledge of God, who have set their minds on things above not on the things on the earth.?” "Did God intend for us to create these fantastical extrabiblical beasts to communicate the gospel? Does He desire that our imaginations be activated by images which cast our thinking far from reality? Which images are most helpful to understand the gospel?

I maintain that if we want to give the best information about Christ, we should use the Bible images. In scripture, Christ is portrayed as a lamb, high priest, shepherd, bread… The church is depicted as a family, body, holy nation… These are the perfect images to use in our communication of the gospel.

What do Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia have in common? They are enormously popular, singularly creative, fantasy stories which bring up certain biblical ideas couched in unbiblical words and settings and were produced by very creative people who had the responsibility to make money for their bosses. They contain images that are replacements of the images used to portray the gospel. And they promote replacement words to explain it that are not Biblical words. In this sense, I believe that these entertainment offerings are often misleading for understanding the true gospel.

The Superior Genre

I have a conviction that not all genre's of literature are created equal. For instance, I hold that reality oriented books like historical, biographical, theological and technical writing are superior to fantasy. In the daily educational life in the Brown home, this works itself out in an emphasis on reality oriented books and a virtual starvation of fantasy.

I want my children thinking about the real world not fantasy worlds.

This principle makes me judge the Bible as the supremely important genre is that it presents things that are true, not mythical and profitable not theoretical. This is of enormous importance because it is the truth which sets us free.

If the truth sets us free, what does fantasy do?

God is the God of reality, not fantasy. The beauty of truth is shown everywhere in the Bible (Revelation 22:6, Daniel 8:26, John 1:9, Proverbs 14:2)

This is why I am not a big fan of fantasy stories.

All my life, I have preferred reality to fantasy. And, I want to train my family in reality and knowledge and service instead of spending time understanding the nuances of the latest fantasy story.

I have fond memories of reading Lewis in my younger years, but where did all the time spent and the fond memories get me? Perhaps sentimental feelings, but no real forward movement toward real and important conquerings.

"The Entire Concept of School is Flawed", Says C.S. Lewis' Son

Douglas Gresham step son of CS Lewis... on Homeschooling

Homeschooling and why I advocate it is not a matter of whether the schools are good or bad, though obviously I would rather children went to good schools than to bad ones, if go to school they must. It is that, as someone who has been trained and works in the field of post-childhood abuse trauma, and has devoted considerable thought to the mattter, I have formed the opinion that the entire concept of school is flawed. In fact, it is a terrible mistake.

Look what we do: we observe what God has designed, a pair of parents, one of each
sex, and two pairs of grandparents, often with a few aunts and uncles thrown in. In fact, a Family. This is the unit designed by God Himself for the specific purpose of ministry of raising each new generation.
Then what do we do? We take the child and remove him from this carefully designed support group of parents and close family members, all of whom share a genetic bond with the child, and plunge him into a mass group of his peers, all of whom are as ignorant and as demanding as he is, with one adult stranger supervising. In terms of the psycho-emotional development of the child, this is complete madness.

A child is best nurtured by having the one-on-one attention from each of the two parents for a specific period of time each day. Ideally, a child should be homeschooled by both parents sharing the task equally, though I do realize that this is not always possible. Bear in mind that I am not referring to idiotic parents, criminal parents, drug-addicted parents, or self-indulgent, self-obsessed parents, nor to anyone else who should never be graced (in my view, not God's, of course) with progeny in the first place. I am referring to normal, well-adjusted, good parents.

And with our modern habits of sending children away from their home and families for the better part of every day these [well-adjusted parents] are becoming more and more scarce as the vast majority of people are damaged or scarred emotionally and intellectually themselves by being exiled from their home and parents and placed in the hands of strangers at a young age.

It is a trans-generational progression exacerbated by the fact that those who are damaged very often are not even aware of it. If I had known back then what I know now, my children would never have gone to school until they were at least 18 years old. Satan hates what God loves and God loves us, Mankind. The basic unit of Mankind is the family, so Satan has targeted the Family, and he has been pretty successful, mostly by using "good intentions." I think that "School" is one of his very clever inventions. As far as I am concerned, schools are for fish.
(The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, Fall 2005 issue, page 57)

http://daddypundit.blogspot.com/2005/11/douglas-gresham-on-homeschooling.htmlThe Fall 2005 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine includes an interview with Douglas Gresham, stepson of C. S. Lewis. While much of the conversation focuses on the upcoming Narnia movie and Gresham's relationship with Lewis, there is some frank discussion about Gresham's own strong support for homeschooling.

Families, The Seminaries of Christ's Church

Richard Baxter spoke as clearly as anyone on the importance of Godly family life:

"Holy families are the seminaries of Christ's church on earth, and it is very much that lieth upon them to keep up the interest of religion in the world. Hence come holy magistrates, when great men's children have a holy education. And, oh, what a blessing is one such to the countries where they are! Hence spring holy pastors and teachers to the churches, who as Timothy, receive holy instructions from their parents, and grace from the Spirit of Christ in their tender age. Many a congregation that is happliy fed with the bread of life, may thank God for the endeavors of a poor man or woman,that trained up a child in the fear of God, to become their holy, faithful teacher."

The Reformed Pastor, Vol 4, The Poor Man's Family Book. p230