Wedding Moments

I have rehearsed this moment in my mind many times over the years. I consider it an honor to experience it in this life.



Final moments with Kelly, with my sweet wife and brilliant counselor to her children.




Doug Phillips, Friend and Officiant of the wedding ceremony... brimming with godly vision.



Scene at the wedding feast: notice the pictures of two generations of intact marriages on both sides of our family. In the foreground, a wedding picture of Tom and Carol Albright (Deborah's parents) Next to the right, Bill and Mary Brown (my parents) and the last one on the right of Scott and Deborah Brown, married on January 23, 1982.



Some of the best young women alive today...

Pictures can be ordered directly from this wedding photographer
http://www.poiemaphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/1838858

My Daughters In Place

Everything was in place:

The groom
The bride
The brothers and sisters
The daughters of Zion
The friends of the bride and bridegroom
The elders
The parents and grandparents
The father who gave a wedding feast for celebration
The Lord Jesus who did his first miracle at a wedding

And my daughters...



Kelly and Blair, the Maid of Honor



Blair and her little friends and understudies - the Breagy girls



My youngest daughter Claudia, an intimate witness to the marriage covenant of her sister and new brother in law... in the center with the prettiest and sweetest flower girls ever to walk the aisle. The daughters of Zion rejoice before their King, as they hear the marriage covenant spoken.



A tear is shed as Kelly and Peter drive away... They leave and cleave and make a new life for the glory of God and the cycle of life continues as God planned it. Daughters set in their glorious place are treasures.

Using Biblical Images to Communicate The Content of Marriage

Peter and Kelly desired to collect the images and personalities and language from texts where there were instructions or patterns regarding marriage, weddings, brides or bridegrooms etc, in the Bible and use them in as many parts of the wedding as possible.

Doug Phillips has Captured this wonderfully on his blog post. http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/blogs/dwp/2006/08/1719.aspx

Below are the children gathered to celebrate...




















”...Gather the children and the nursing infants...” Joel 2:16

Using Bible Words for Wedding Vows

One of my favorite parts of my daughter's wedding was that the couple composed their vows using scripture alone. There are four options for wedding vows: you can use someone elses, create your own, you can go to scripture, or you can mix and match scripture with your own thoughts. Peter and Kelly chose to use scripture alone.

I have performed lots of weddings, but these vows were my favorite. Here they are:

GROOM
I, Peter David Bradrick, covenant before God and man, to you Kelly Jeannette to be your loving husband, and to lead you, to protect you, and provide for you in the fear of the Lord[1]. I vow to love you as my wife even as Christ also loved the church, to lay down my life for you[2]; to wash you with the water of the word[3]; to love you as my own body and to nourish and cherish you even as the Lord the does the church; to render unto you the affection due you, knowing that I do not have authority over my own body but you do[4]; to dwell with you according to knowledge, giving honor unto you, as unto the weaker vessel, and living together with you as heirs together of the grace of life[5]. You alone will be my delight as the wife of my youth[6]. I will fight for you, for our sons, for our daughters, and for our household[7]. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me[8]. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I pledge to you my life as a loyal and faithful husband[9].

1 Timothy 5:8, Ephesians 5:25, Ephesians 5:26, 1 Corinthians 7:4, 1 Peter 3:7, Proverbs 5:18, Nehemiah 4:14, Ruth 1:17, Hosea 2:19-20

BRIDE
I, Kelly Jeannette, covenant before God and man, to you Peter David Bradrick to be your loyal wife and to submit myself under your headship[10]. Just as the Church is subject to Christ[11], so I will be to you in everything. I will live first unto our God and then unto you, loving you, caring for you, obeying you, and ever seeking to please you as my earthly lord[12]. I will be your discreet, chaste keeper at home[13], diligently, industriously, and faithfully caring for the affairs of your household so that your heart may always safely trust in me[14]. If the Lord chooses to so bless us, it will be my delight to be your fruitful bearer[15] of children, and I will help you diligently teach them the commandments of the Lord as we talk of them in your house, as we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up[16]. Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, And your God, my God[17]. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me[18]. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph, I pledge to you my life as an obedient and faithful wife.

Ephesians 5:22, Ephesians 5:24-25, 1 Peter 3:6, Titus 2:5, Proverbs 31:11, Psalms 128:3, Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19, Ruth 1:16, Ruth 1:17

[1] 1 Timothy 5:8
[2] Ephesians 5:25
[3] Ephesians 5:26
[4] 1 Corinthians 7:4
[5] 1 Peter 3:7
[6] Proverbs 5:18
[7] Nehemiah 4:14
[8] Ruth 1:17
[9] Hosea 2:19-20
[10] Ephesians 5:22
[11] Ephesians 5:24-25
[12] 1 Peter 3:6
[13] Titus 2:5
[14] Proverbs 31:11
[15] Psalms 128:3
[16] Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19
[17] Ruth 1:16
[18] Ruth 1:17

Someone said to me after the wedding: "those vows sure started some tongues wagging especially Kelly's vow to seek to please you "as my earthly lord".

Yes, the language might be offensive, particularly those who are either unaware of the language of scripture that explains the creation order regarding biblical manhood and womanhood. Or it may sound foreign particularly for thinking which has been affected by feminism a little too long. The phrase, "as my earthly lord" is taken from I Peter 3:6, exalting Sarah's example of Godly femininity. Kelly wrote her own vows desiring that they would be reflections directly from scripure. What I love about these vows is that each phrase was composed of the sweet and refreshing words of God found in scripture. It seems strange that even people in the christian community would bristle at language like this. Perhaps, it reveals a worldly or in some cases , an apostate church in need of trusting and treasuring the words of Christ for all things above all other philosophies. All we like sheep have gone astray. How much we need God's help to love and proclaim His words more than ever.

Proclaiming The Gospel Through A Wedding

A wedding is a wonderful opportunity to explain the gospel.

My daughter was married to Peter Bradrick on Saturday and I wanted the guests to see the double meaning of earthly marriage and glorify Christ through the proclamation of the gospel through the wedding ceremony. God has given us dozens of ways to proclaim the gospel. Here are two examples. First, when the church gathers, she celebrates communion which is a living demonstration of grace of God toward sinners as we procalim His death until He comes. Second, we perform the ordinance of water baptism to proclaim the death and resurrection that is accomplished in the life of the believer - through faith in Christ.

Marriage, though not an ordinance, is one of God's evangelistic tools and a marvelous opportunity to proclaim the gospel to people in the community

Marriage is a relationship that was created by God to picture the love of Christ toward His Church. Ephesians 5:25-27 makes this plain,

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

"Right to Die" becomes "Duty to Die"

We need to recognize that the right to die has become the 'duty to die" and many more evil propositions.

For more on the worldview that leads to these conclusions that include a loathing for caring for ageing parents, read Al Mohler's post on the subject:

http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2006-08-21

A Primer on Gossip - "Do Not Speak Evil of One Another"

"The Gossip's"
By Norman Rockwell, Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1948.

Church membership calls for the fulfillment of certain responsibilites. One of those responsibilities is the way that members speak about one another. Scripture has very specific and very strong instructions for regulating gossip.

Here is a sermon preached last Sunday at Hope Baptist Church, which is part of a Series on Church Membership and the responsibilities of church members.

http://www.hopebaptistchurch.info/equip/sermons.php

What is at stake is the fulfillment of the whole law, living the gospel instead of just talking about it, and the preservation of love in the church.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Norman Rockwell piece above is that Rockwell put himself in the painting - can you identify him? Both Rockwell's painting and scripture indicate that gossip in church is neither new nor rare.

Rediscovering the Forgotten Virtue of Family Entrepreneurship

Doug Phillips Addresses the Entrepreneur Boot Camp. His keynote the first night of the conference is a "MUST HEAR."

I just returned from a thrilling conference - Vision Forum Ministries, Entrepreneur Boot Camp for Christian Familes. It was not about becoming successful or getting rich, but being faithful to God in the midst of His callings for discipleship and stewardship.

http://www.visionforumministries.org/events/eb/001/



David Brown and Joshua Phillips, Two Exemplary Young Entrepreneurs

Here is the core of the message from my perspective:

Faithfulness and Stewardship
Mattthew 25 and the parable of the talents was central to the message. It paints a picture of faithfulness with resources, based upon a transcendent principle: servants should be faithful with what they have been given. Servants of the King of Kings should be risk takers and not bury their assets. They should be spiritual entrepreneurs.

Wealth and Covenant
Deuteronomy 8:18-19 declares that we are given resources for one reason: so the covenantal blessing will be passed from one generation to the next… to make the people of God mighty in the land. It is impossible to have a biblical view of entrepreneurship unless you have a biblical understanding of the family and God's desire for "Godly seed"... God says, I am giving you wealth for covenant.

Deuteronomy 8:18-19 "And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers as it is this day."

Family Enterprise or Flophouse Consumption. The need of the hour is to recover a biblical vision of the family that encourages the whole family working together to intensify the discipleship mandate of the family. Today the home is a flophouse of sloth and consumption where each member operates as independent autonomous units. We need to foster the unity and interdependency that creates discipleship instead of individualism. We wanted to paint a picture of father and mother who need one another for enterprise; children and grandparents who contribute and benefit from one another's labor; fathers discipling their daughters and sons combining their assets together for the building of strength in the next generation.



These young ladies already have a big vision for Kingdom faithfulness as domestic entrepreneurs.


Arnold Pen't theme was Faith, Prayer and God's definition of success - faithfulness
Goeff Botkin's theme was building spiritual wealth through stewardship of resources.
Nick Logan's theme was breaking the chains of a culture that has gone off course.
Jim Leinenger's theme"God works through failure and humility."



Don Hart's theme was faithful stewardship of God's resources.

Wade Myers theme was a call for the applicaton biblical principles of finance, debt and planning
Isaac Botkin's theme was an appeal to use the tools of God's provision to proclaim the gospel

This conference was all about rediscovering the forgotten virtue of family entrepreneurship.

There seems to be a building wave of activity in family entrepreneurship afoot in the land. Praise the Lord!

Chilling Trends in Public Opinion

Terri Schiavo: victim of court approved, citizen endorsed death by starvation - March 2005

Michael Schiavo is still angry as the article below indicates. What strikes me about this article is that the cold and heartless disposition of Michael Schiavo seems to be rubbing off on the rest of us. The opinions of Americans indicate that we are, as a culture embracing a culture of death.

In a recent poll of 134,000 respondents, 73% indicated that the right thing to do to Terri Schiavo was to pull her feeding tube (starve her to death), and only 27% indicated that she should have been kept alive.

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/husband-takes-schiavo-fight-back-to/20060816094909990019

Our culture is accepting reasons to eliminate people who cannot have a "quality of life" that others impose upon them. The next step is to eliminate those who are a burden or possess some quality that is undesirable. Michael Schiavo's anger against his former wife, and her defenders brings up thoughts of:

Founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger's racist eugenics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sanger

Nazi Germany:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Against_the_Jews and

Japan's Unit 731:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731

These are the prophetic voices that should tell us where all of this leads. "Baby Boomers" and their successors, future health care options will quite likely be under the influence of this philosophical genre.

The question is, will the church have the moral courage to speak up for the despised, protect the defenseless and stand against the savage tide?

Calling the Church to it's Center - The Gospel

On Sunday we had our last sermon on the Book of Hebrews, summing it up. The writer of Hebrews is calling the church to it's center - the gospel of Christ.

To listen to the sermon click here: http://www.hopebaptistchurch.info/equip/sermons.php

The author is constantly arguing for the supremacy of Christ over all things. This concept runs in every chapter, and it is stated with crystal clarity in Chapter 8:1 "This is the main point of the things we are saying: we have a high priest in heaven."

The message of the gospel has been the sweetest thing to people like Jonathan Edwards:

"I have loved the doctrines of the gospel; they have been to my soul like green pastures. The gospel has seemed to me the richest treasure; the treasure that I have most desired, and longe that it might dwell richly in me... Sometimes, only mentioning a single word caused my heart to burn within me; or only seing the name of Christ, or the name of some attribute of God." (p 99-100, Jonathan Edwards, A New Biography, by Ian Murray)

"You Have Offended Me"

Check out Albert Mohler's blog and recent post for some wisdom on, "The Culture of Offendedness--A Christian Challenge".

Not only are there challenges of offending and being offended between the Christian and the secular culture, we live in a church environment where people have a hard time living with one another because they do not know how to handle their differences.

Here is an excellent and thoughtful article on getting offended and offending from Al Mohler.

http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2006-08-04

The Supreme Importance of a Mother's Instruction

The Mother Who Raised a Boy to Be a King

In our family devotions this morning, we read Proverbs 31 which contain the words of king Lemuel (Israel did not have a king by this name) recounting the wisdom of his mother. Here is what came out of our disussion:

1. A son praises God for what his mother taught him to prepare him to be a king. King Lemuel is recounting what his mother had taught him. He is honoring his mother for her good teaching and naming specific glorious things about her teaching. He recounts her instruction on a wide range of subjects: alcohol, loose women, righteous judgment, pleading the cause of the poor, and how to identify a virtuous wife. Yes, Lemuel's mother taught him how to identify a virtuous woman.

2. Lemuel is exalting the role of a mother. Lemuel understood the supremely important role of a mother to teach her children to have the wisdom of a king. What greater role could there be for motherhood, and yet the world culture despises it by luring women from this role and offering them a house of cards.

3. I issued a challenge to my three daughters to become the kind of mothers who could raise a good king by their excellent instruction.

4. I asked my son and daughters to explain what their mother has taught them that would prepare them for a kingly role. It was wonderful to recount the marvelous teaching of Deborah to her children.

Mortifying Sin

When Jonathan Edwards was a boy he made some resolutions. My son and I have been reading them lately and have benefited from them. Here is one that we particularly desire to pay attention to:

#8 Resolved, to act in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God

He Was Quite Aware of Her When She was Only Thirteen Years Old

Sarah Pierrepont

When I was twenty years old, I had inklings that I liked Deborah when she was only thirteen... now she is my wife. I just realized this week that Jonathan Edwards had strong inklings that he liked Sarah Pierrepont when she was thirteen, and by age 17 she would be his wife.

Here is what Jonathan wrote about her when she was thirteen.

THEY say there is a young lady in New Haven who is beloved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight, and that she hardly cares for anything, except to meditate on him- that she expects after a while to be received up where he is, to be raised up out of the world and caught up into heaven; being assured that he loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from him always. There she is to dwell with him, and to be ravished with his love and delight forever.

Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disregards it and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or affliction. She has a strange sweetness in her mind and singular purity in her affections; is most just and conscientious in all her conduct; and you could not persuade her to do anything wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this Great Being.

She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure; and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always conversing with her.

Happy Anniversary - Jonathan and Sarah Edwards

Today is the wedding anniversary of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. Their marriage was not only a lifelong sweetness for the two of them, but it was also a very frutiful marriage in terms of world evangelism. By 1900 many of their offspring were faithful to bring the gospel into nearly every major industry, supplying 13 college presidents, 65 professors, 100 lawyers, a dean of an outstanding law school, 30 judges, 66 physicians, the dean of a medical school and 80 holders of public office.

I have said it before and I will say it again - Jonathan Edwards was the apostle of love.

The Rev. Simon Vibert reports that today is the aniversary of his wedding to Sarah. July 28, 1727. (I have also seen July 20 published as their wedding date).

He writes about the happy couple:

"Sarah Edwards uniformly paid a becoming deference to her husband and treated him with entire respect, she spared no pains in conforming to his inclinations, and rendering everything in the family agreeable and pleasant: counting it her greatest glory, and that wherein she could best serve God and her generation, to be the means, in this way, of promoting his usefulness and happiness. (Edwards “Works” Banner, Vol 1: xlv).

Sarah, like many clergy wives, felt keenly the criticism which her husband received. This was especially acute when it came from family sources, such as Chester Williams, an Arminian minister who would turn his head as he rode past the Edwards’ house (1971: 78)!

During this period, Sarah Edwards went through a period of depression... Sensing his wife’s fatigue, in 1740 Edwards took her on a trip to Boston, without children. The purpose was to have their portraits painted, but with the added benefit of a much needed break from duties.

George Whitefield commented on Jonathan and Sarah Edwards’ relationship following his visit to Northampton in 1740:

A sweeter Couple I have not yet seen … She … talked feelingly and solidly of the Things of God, and seemed to be such a Help meet for her Husband that she caused me to … [pray] God, that he would be pleased to send me a Daughter of Abraham to be my wife. (1971: 80).

Jonathan once gave Sarah a gold locket costing £11 at a time when the town was bristling with muttering over him wearing his slightly ostentatious wigs. He was known to delight in his wife, and whilst some men went off to ordinations or barn-raisings, Edwards would rather be at home with her whenever he could.

As George Gordon has put it, Edwards’s life at ‘the world in which love lifts the whole animal endowment to an ethical level’. In 1738, Edwards poured out his feelings about this in sermons which eventually appeared as a book, Christian Love as Manifested in the Heart and Life. He summarized the conviction his family had planted in him that ‘

the whole world of mankind are chiefly kept in action from day to day … by love’. (1971: 54).

My Top Five Favorite Family Integrated Church Pastors

John Calvin, Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards.

These blessed pastors enjoyed lifelong ministries preaching the gospel to their congregations in age integrated worship services with the whole family together.



John Calvin 1509-1564

These ministers found their greatest joy in preaching the pure and pleasant Word of God to these families, week after week, filling them up with great theology. Imagine what it would have been like to have heard Calvin's voice as a babe in arms, then as a teenager and then as a young adult starting out life cleaving to a spouse.



Richard Baxter 1615-1691

What joy it must have been for these men to preach and at the same time, to pray for whole families as they sat before them in the pews. Baxter would systematically visit his families in their homes and then preach to the gathered family on Sunday.



John Bunyan 1628 - 1688

How encourageing it must have been to explain the gospel to whole families and anticipating the growth that would come when the wives would ask their husbands tough questions at home (1Cor 14:34-35), making the head of the house "the Bible answer man."



Matthew Henry 1662-1714

Think of the rich life applications they spun with all generations sitting there in the form of infants, widows, fatherless, grandmothers and singles. One of my favorite bible expositors, Matthew Henry sat as a boy under meaty expositions of his father, pastor Phillip Henry and then followed in his footsteps.



Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758

This is what every child needs - and in my experience - wants. Perhaps this is one reason for the towering transgenerational impact of these family integrated church pastors...

Pro Aborts Would like to Abort the Counsel of Father and Mother

Senate Wades Back Into Abortion Debate to kill or not to kill parental authority.

The Associated Press By LAURIE KELLMAN July 21, 2006
How would you feel as a parent in a situation like that?

The Senate reopened the abortion debate Friday in advance of the midterm elections, this time over a bill that would make it a federal crime to take a teenager across state lines to end a pregnancy without a parent's knowledge.

The acceptance of abortion unleashes poisons that spread their infections to nearly every area of life. Click the following link to see 23 areas from the notes a sermon I preached on Sanctity of Life Sunday 2006 - entitled "Planet Patricide"

http://www.hopebaptistchurch.info/equip/Articles.php?ArticleID=85

A Terrifying Beauty

Doug Phillips gave a riveting analysis in his speech "A Terrifying Beauty", of the message of Mayans for Modern man and the beauty of many of their cultural features coexisting seamlessly with the institutionalization of child sacrifice and culture of death. Here are some statements from my notes:

"The Mayans were a people who displayed phenomenally advanced, science, technology and aesthetic genius... but brought savagery to their people. They are an example of cultures capable of degeneration to such an extent that they promote as virtuous unspeakable horrors 2 Kings 17:31, 2 Chron 28:, 2 Kings 17:17. They serve as a warning. Nations that worship athletics, promote ungodly violence, and communicate a fascination with death and darkness, are well on the way to ritual public sacrifice and bloodsport.

A modern example chronicled in the book on Nazi Germany,“Ordinary men” illustrates their technique to carry out the final solution... getting the baker and the plumber to pull the trigger. They gave them ethical challenges…and convinced them they were performing a kindness .

Ordinary men and women are capable of being so desensitized to evil that they tolerate, accept and promote unthinkable atrocities. We live day by day with people who think nothing of abortion but forget the words of Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger in 1922, "the most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."

Last year the nation yawned as Terri Schivo was snuffed out by her husband. This is the desensitized culture of death."

Dr. John Whitcomb

I

It was a special blessing to be in the presence of Dr. John Whitcomb. Each moment with him at the conference, his mouth was always filled with praise toward His Savior. Here is one example,

“I want to be in the full time business of finding out what God says and telling everyone about it.”

What I Loved about Vision Forum's History of the World Conference

Dr. John Morris explaining where he was hit by lightning on Mt Arrarat

What I liked the most about the History of the World Conference

First, every speaker had childlike trust in scripture and believed in a literal, historical, grammatical interpretation of the creation narratives and the chronological timelines of scripture.

Second, they offered the events in history in a way that was supremely practical for life. For them, history = inspiration. Instead of simply going over boring and lifeless names and dates, they made history live. Every session was a life encounter with God and His will for mankind.

Third, the speakers represented diverse theological perspectives. There were Presbyterians, Baptists, dispensationalists and covenant theologians all praising the Lord Jesus for His faithfulness. They shared a common belief in the perfection and beauty of scripture and that it should be trusted in everything.

Fourth they believed that history should put fire in the bones in the form of hope for the future, and an understanding of our place in the stream of God’s Sovereign plan.

Do Children Belong in Church?

God has blessed the church with commands, patterns and principles of scripture which lead us to keep faithful to normative practices. For example, we pray, sing, preach, break bread and baptize because these things the apostles patterned for us, and therefore they are some of the biblical patterns for church life.

Here is a good article by Rob Rienow, of Wheaton Bible Church, for biblical thinking that leads us to believe that keeping our children with us in church is biblically normative.

http://www.hopebaptistchurch.info/equip/Articles.php?ArticleID=84

The Safest Society in the World

John Owen (1616-1683 who was perhaps the greatest theologian among the British Puritans) weighs in on the true strength and the wonderfulness of the church:

"The church is the safest society in the world - A kingdom it is, a city, a family, a house, which the power of hell and the world can never prevail against...Our Lord Jesus Christ, the head of this society... It is the most honorable society in the world; for all the angels in heaven belong unto it - This poor despicable, persecuted church, consisting for the most part of such as are contemned in the world, yet is admitted into the society of all the holy angels in heaven, in the worship and service of Christ'. "

From John Owen's commentary on Hebrews, p336-337

"The Cutting Edge Has No Edge"

For those of us who are concerned for the church in her morphing into modern culture, Al Mohler speaks the truth about being "on the cutting edge" and the importance of the Gospel as our only "edge." He says:

Authentic relevance is represented by the transforming Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the faithful witness of the church throughout time.

To read the whole piece, click here:
http://blog.togetherforthegospel.org/2006/06/the_cutting_edg.html

The Glory of Fatherhood and Sonship – Proverbs 17:6

Here is an expression of praises toward God for the glory of fatherhood and sonship in the blessings they bring to one another:

Like Father, Like Son

I’ve worked in close relationship with Hope Baptist Church elder, Jason Dohm for about 15 years and today he shared with me a current article from the East Carolina University Medical Journal that featured an article about his father.



Jason Dohm, the grateful son

Jason's father, Dr. Lynis Dohm, was recently honored as Professor of Physiology at East Carolina University, Medical School for his scientific work in the area of diabetes research.



Dr. Lynis Dohm, the honored father

In the article, one of his long time colleagues spoke of the generous spirit of Jason’s father during their almost 30 years of working together.

"He has total, unfailing integrity and great patience… I've been here since 1977 and can't remember a time when I haven't worked with him. He has been my inspiration, my gentle advisor and my moral guide in the pursuit of research. Without him we would have accomplished very little. He is a consummate gentleman at the same time that he is a demanding teacher and a rigorous scientist. In all of our discussions and debates, I've never heard him raise his voice or breach the rules of courtesy. That's what makes great science: the ability to disagree totally yet maintain a friendly discourse."

When I read these words, I kept thinking about the son, who is the spittin' image of his father in the qualities listed.

Like Father, Like Son!

This is the glory of fatherhood and sonship. As one generation succeeds the next, sons who honor their (imperfect) fathers become like them in their best qualities and then they pass them on to their children. Jason has always honored his father. As a result, the promise of God in Ephesians 6:1-2 ("that it may be well with you...") is being fulfilled before our very eyes in demonstrable ways.

Solomon captured this idea of one generation blessing the other in Proverbs 17:6

"Children's children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father".

Jonathan Edwards on "The Necessity of Self Examination"

Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon, "The Necessity of Self Examination', where one of the points was how to receive criticism, which is good tonic for neutralizing presumption and pride.

He begins the sermon with Psalms 139:23, 24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

"Be advised to consider what others say of you and improve it to this end, to know whether you do not live in some way of sin...And though the imputation may seem to us to be very groundless and we think that they, in charging us so, are influenced by no good spirit; yet if we act prudently, we shall take so much notice of it as to make an occassion of examining ourselves ... it is most imprudent as well as most unchristian, to take it amiss, and resent it, when we are thus told of our faults: we should rather rejoice in it, that we are shown our spots ... we should improve what our enemies say of us. If they from an ill spirit reproach and revile us to our faces, we should consider it, so far as to reflect inward upon ourselves and inquire whether it not be so, as they charge us ... they are likely to fix on real faults, they are likely to fall upon us where we are weakest and most defective."

Needful Reformations

The church is always in need of reformation and it is the responsibility of every generation of Christians to seek Him for it. It is all about the health and beauty of the church. Thankfully, the beautification of the bride continues in many ways and through many different kinds of people and ministries...

Here are some of the reformations that I believe are most necessary in our particular times:

A presentation of expository preaching that fosters a new love for the words of the texts of scripture, fills minds and hearts with thoughts of God and sets the gospel in center stage.

A recovery of the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture that brings the church back to a childlike trust in biblical patterns for all of life so that the church would be regulated and governed by scripture so that the glory of the gospel is exposed.

A revival of biblical manhood in the home and the church where the gospel is preached daily in the home so that the world would fill with worshippers of God for many generations and where men rise up to insure the success of their marriages for the glory of God so that the gospel is proclaimed through them.

A return to biblical educational philosophy so that vast numbers of the next generation will not be educated by pagans and be lost to worldliness and even perdition as so many are now. This keeps the gospel from disappearing from the scene as it it now being legislated out by federal mandate.

The Blind Eye and the Deaf Ear

Charles Spurgeon has written as well as anyone about handling ill words spoken about us. For their equipping and for their joy, I was quoting him to my family after dinner from his book, "Lectures to My Students" from his chapter entitled, "The Blind Eye and the Deaf Ear".

Every family should read this...

First, he quotes one of my favorite verses in Ecclesiastes, "Do not take to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. For many times, also, your own heart has known that even you have cursed others.' Ecclesiastes 7:21

"You cannot stop people's tongues, and therefore the best thing is to stop your own ears and never mind what is spoken...He will find that even those who live with him are not always singing his praises, and that when he has displeased his most faithful servants they have, in the heat of the moment, spoken fierce words which it would be better for him not to have heard."

Regarding ill speaking in the church he says,

"The blind eye and the deaf ear will come in exceedingly well in connection with the gossips of the place. Every church, and for the matter of that, every village and family, is plagued with certain Mrs. Grundy's, who drink tea and talk vitriol... No one needs to look far for perpetual motion, he has only to watch their tongues.... they practice vivisection upon the characters of their neighborurs, and of course they are eager to try their knives upon the minister, the minsiter's wife, the minister's children, the minister's wife's bonnet, the dress of the minister's daughter, and how many new ribbons she has worn for the last six months... There are slso certain persons who are never so happy as when the are "grieved to the heart' to have to tell the minister that Mr. A. is snake in the grass, and that he is quite mistaken in thinking so well of Messrs. B and C., and that they have heard quite "promiscuously" that Mr. D. and his wife are badly matched. Then follows a long string about Mrs. E., who says tha she and Mrs. F. overheard Mrs. G. say to Mrs. H. that Mrs. J. should stay that Mr. K. and miss L. were going to move fromt he chapel to hear Mr. M. and all because of what old N. said to young O. about that Miss P. Never listen to such people.'

It is a great read and excellent for family instruction.

He appeals to us to accept his "declaration that I have one blind eye and one deaf ear, and that they are the best eye and ear I have"

Financial Counsel for Cowboys

The Singing Cowboys at the Flying W Ranch

David and I went to The Flying W Ranch in Colorado Springs to hear the cowboys sing... one song particularly got my attention: "Night Riders Lament." It is about a cowboy whose family and friends are sending letters and talking to him, trying to encourage him to be wiser with his time and to quit workin for 'short pay" (pay by the hour) instead of gettin his share from a percentage of the herd at the end of the cattle drive.

"Why do you ride for yer money? Why do you rope for short pay? You aint gitten nowhere and you're losin your share... Must have gone crazy out there."

The Joys of Summer... Throwing Children

David Brown making Claire Breagy giggle

Notice the technique: this is how I have done it all my life, and now, in my old age I can see that my method is being passed on to the next generation through my son... It's all about leverage...Crouching down and extending with legs and then the arms throwing back over your head produces the maximum power and lift. It always ends with, "DO IT AGAIN".

Planned Parenthood Celebration Jolted by Abortion Survivor

Here is one of the most inspiring stories you are likely to read this week:

http://www.family.org/cforum/commentary/a0040927.cfm

"The Hand of God Which Has Hold of the Swords of Men."

John Fox, pictured here in ancient copy of his book Foxes Book of Martyrs of the Christian Church

Last Sunday I preached on Hebrews 11:32-40 on the accomplishments and the sufferings that go along with faith. Hebrews has been one blessing after another. My favorite commentators during this study, who are pure balm to my soul have been Matthew Henry, Charles Spurgeon and John Owen (who has 7 rich volumes on Hebrews).

These blessed brothers have a firm grasp on our Sovereign God who superintends every synapase of every enemy's thoughts, and every leaf that falls to the ground. They know "The Hand of God Which Has Hold of the Swords of Men."



Graphic drawings in Fox's Book of Martyrs for the various ways believers have been martyred throughout the centuries.

Here is how Henry, Spurgeon and Owen made sense of v37-38 "They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented-- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth."

Matthew Henry
Thus David escaped the sword of Goliath and of Saul; and Mordecai and the Jews escaped the sword of Haman. The swords of men are held in the hand of God, and he can blunt the edge of the sword, and turn it away from his people against their enemies when he pleases. Faith takes hold of that hand of God which has hold of the swords of men; and God has often suffered himself to be prevailed upon by the faith of his people.

Charles Spurgeon
"God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains His soldiers not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and subjecting them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, and climb mountains, and walk many long miles with heavy backpacks of sorrow. Well, Christian, may this not account for the troubles through which you are passing? Is the Lord bringing out your graces and making them grow? Is it for this reason He contends with you?"

John Owen
“We know not what command, what ordinance, what institution, what prohibition, God will single out to be the means and subject of our trial as unto sufferings. If we are not equally ready to suffer for every one, we shall suffer for none at all."

The lesson: It pleases God that the church from time to time endure persecution so that we would be beautified and unified and sanctified as a result of our trials.

Devin Kerns on Church Membership and Gossip

Wilmington NC, pastor Devin Kerns shared with me one of his criteria for church membership - "no one can join this church without hearing my sermon on gossip."

He informs new members that he has a zero tolerance policy on gossip and evil speaking. He says, "if you commit adultery in our church you get four chances to repent according to Matt 18, but if you gossip, you are rejected after the first and second admonition."

He also guarantees his church members this: "No one will say anything bad about you behind your back without severe repurcussions."

He quotes Titus 3:10 which says, "Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned."

He sent me these pictures of churches wrecked by Katrina that he used in his "gossip' sermon in 2005.



He says: "These churches were only damaged of brick and mortar and the people still meet, but when gossip strikes, it destroys the people spiritually and emotionally. "



Gutted - a vivid reminder of how gossip can gut a church


Here is a church before the storm


The Same Church after

James devotes an entire chapter of his letter(chapter 3) to the devastating influences of the tongue " see how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire..." and then in the next chapter he says, "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. James 4:11

The apostle Paul exhorts his disciple Titus to "remind them… to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. Tit 3:2

Invitation From a Little Boy to Honor God's Faithfulness

Here is an inviation from a little Boy to come to Memorial Day Picnic:

http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/blogs/dwp/?archive=/2006_05_01_index.htm#114824538612260345

For more information on an Old Fashioned Memorial Day Celebration, go to:
http://www.brownfamilyfarm.org/memorail_day.htm

Memorial Day - Declaring the Providence of God

Each year the Brown family hosts an unusual Memorial Day Picnic... the whole community is invited. Our neighbors and friends cook and serve Southern Bar B Q, and under the tent we have numerous military veteran speakers who speak of the goodness of God toward them during their military service. Our desire is to exalt the providence of God that was on display through men who served our country.

Bring the Whole Family. YOU are invited!

This year, NC Supreme Court Justice, Paul Newby, Ashley Brown, David Lanier, Dan Heimbach, Bill Henderson, Jim Dyer and others will be sharing their testimonies.

This year, we will be showing the film, "The League of Grateful Sons" which is a call for sons to honor their fathers and for fathers to tell the stories of the great deeds of God to the next generation.

For more information: http://www.brownfamilyfarm.org/memorail_day.htm

Entertainment's Poison Pills Taken Over Time

Here are two great articles about one the threats to Life that is really Life, and Joy that is true Joy.

Here is Joshua Harris on Entertainment:
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001258.cfm

Here is Al Mohler on TV:
http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_print.php?cdate=2006-05-15

The Mother of My Children

Deborah, my Helper and the Mother of my Children

The other day when I awakened in the morning, and felt my wife beside me in the bed, it struck me that I was lying next to a woman who has given all of her energies and the best years of her life to me and our children. Every ounce of mental and physical and spiritual energy has been poured out to promote our welfare. She has been perfectly undistracted from this, giving her whole life as helper to her husband and mother to her children.

Happy Mothers Day Deborah. We love you.

Shocking Statements about Separating Brothers

In our day when the average Southern Baptist pastor stays only 18 months, where there are regular internet gossip attacks against leaders, and people in the church feel that they can say anything about anyone they wish - with or without honor and love - Some of the most shocking things are said about separating brothers and factious men:

Titus 3:10,11… tells us to, “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”

Romans 1:29… tells us that those who continually practice gossip will not inherit the Kingdom of God, and gossip is listed with such sins as homosexuality, murder, inventors of evil, and haters of God.

2 Corinthians 12:20… tells us that gossip is evidence of an unrepentant heart and is bundled in the midst of contentions, outbursts, tumults...

Proverbs 6:16-19… teaches us that seven things are an abomination to the Lord, and all seven condemn the gossiper: "A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

Proverbs 26:20-26… Ignites and reignites quarrels

Proverbs 16:27-28… leaves friendships in ruins, and inflicts pain to its victims

Proverbs 6:16-19… “A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers”

Leviticus 19:16… Gossips and backbiters have crippled leaders, armies, homes, and churches. "A whisperer separateth chief friends."

1 Timothy 3:11… Deacons wives cannot be slanderers but temperate and faithful in all things.

2 Timothy 3: 3… it is evidence of perilous times and a host of other sins.

Titus 2: 3… talks of what happens when older women become “malicious gossips,” This Greek term is “diabolous”, and is also translated, “devil.” In Aramaic, slanderer means "one who eats another’s piecemeal” slander is devilish and diabolical.

A modern author suggests that there are three common excuses used to justify gossip:

“Excuse #1. Gossip disguised as “Seeking Counsel.”
When we have a problem with another individual, it may be appropriate to seek another's counsel, but only within Biblical guidelines.

Excuse #2. Gossip disguised as a “Prayer Request.”
When we have a problem with another individual, it may be appropriate to have someone pray for you, but only within Biblical guidelines.

Excuse #3. Gossip disguised as “Bearing one another's burdens.”
When we have a problem with another individual, it may be appropriate to have someone help bear your burden, but only within Biblical guidelines. If “seeking counsel” from someone curses, wounds, or tears down the individual being discussed, it is gossip!

Practical How To's

1. Go directly to the offender/offended. If someone has a problem with someone in the church, they need to first, go directly to the person who offended them, and never to a friend or confidant in the congregation.

2. Refuse to listen. The person who is hearing the dainty morsel needs to refuse to hear about the problem, and send the gossiper straight to the offender. This tends to cause offenses to die away.

3. Personal conversation and reconciliation. If there is no satisfactory resolution and no true unity from the meeting, then another witness can be brought to the original offender.

It is a good thing to be a stickler on this process. There is more true reconciliation and peace in churches where the people refuse to even hear accusations by making it policy to go directly to the offender or the offended.

The alternative to this is broken relationships, wrecked churches and unloved brothers and sisters.

New Church Start This Sunday May 7

Former Trinity Baptist elders, Jason Dohm and Scott Brown, will be the founding elders of a new church on Sunday morning at 10:00 May 7, at the Brown's barn.

Scott will bring a message from Psalm 127, "Unless the Lord Builds the House, They Labor in Vain."

For scripture memory this week we would like for all to memorize Psalm 127:1-5. We will be reciting it during our service.

Why A New Church?

There were a number of factors... For quite some time, it has been the conviction of the people and the elders that Trinity Baptist Church needed to multiply, because it had grown to an unwieldy size, and there were some doctrinal and application issues in play in the church that made it plain that we had two churches in one. Now, each group will be able to develop according to their respective callings. The past month has been difficult for us, but we are trusting that God is bringing all of us to maturity, and looking forward to what God will do next.

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.