Voddie Bauchman Explains Weekend Events

You can read Voddie Bauchman's response here about his not speaking at the Men's Conference this past weekend.

Really, really sad when a sound teacher is asked not to participate in something because he stands for truth.

Russell Moore at Idlewild

Dr. Russell Moore preached this morning at Idlewild Baptist Church here in Tampa. We were going to go, but ended up not. Turns out, Newt Gingrich ended up making a stop at Idlewild and heard Dr. Moore's sermon. Justin Taylor links to the sermon here.


Sorry we missed Dr. Moore. I would've loved to hear him preach. Not sorry we didn't get to see the media circus surrounding Newt Gingrich. I just wonder what he really thought of Dr. Moore's preaching?

Isn't it funny how God works that stuff out.

Romans 1 and the GOP Candidates

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

(Romans 1:18-32 ESV)

I've been listening to Brannon Howse at the Worldview Weekend website a lot lately. He has some wonderful resources on the GOP candidates and their worldview. It is certainly worth the time to learn as much as possible about the possible next President. The Florida primary is January 31 - NEXT Tuesday - so I am trying to be as prepared as possible.

I am not in love with any of the 4 remaining candidates. Brannon explains that he thinks our lack of good candidates could be God's judgement on the United States of America. At first, I thought this was a bit extreme until I re-read Romans 1. It really does sound like the USA.

I'm not saying for sure this is or isn't God's judgement. What I am saying is it is very important to learn everything we can about the man we may elect to become our party's nominee and possibly even the President. What is their worldview? What is their theology? How will it play into the Presidency. No, we are not electing a "pastor in chief" however that doesn't mean we shouldn't know about their beliefs because their underlying beliefs will dictate how they run this country. Just look at the current administration. Obama's worldview certainly plays a role in how he creates his policies. Redistribution of wealth is a philosophy (that was taught at Obama's church). His speech last night was laced with those types of thinking.

All this to say, please, spend some time learning -- and praying. I'm very concerned for our country and the choices we have for leaders right now. But thankful that above all God is sovereign and in control. Pray for our country. Pray for our President. Pray for the candidates running for the GOP nomination. Pray for wisdom and discernment.

I know Daniel's prayer was for a specific purpose - captivity was about over and the decree to go home was about to be issued. But this is an excellent guide to help start prayers for our country.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

(Daniel 9:3-19 ESV)

Visual Theology by Tim Challies

Very Cool!

Post 1 The Order of Salvation

The Attributes of God Post 2

Letter from our sponsored child

Back in November, we attending a Casting Crowns concert. World Vision was there and Mark Hall shared his experience with World Vision in sponsoring a child.

I have always wanted to sponsor one, but every concert World Vision or Compassion International was at, there always seemed to be some financial reason not to do it.

My (at the time) 10 year old daughter attending the concert with us. She was so excited about the possibility of sponsoring a child --- she begged us to do it. So we signed up to sponsor a 2 year old little girl from the Dominican Republic.

Well, on Thursday, we received a package from our little sponsored girl and her family. Her mother wrote us such a sweet letter and the little girl drew us a picture. We learned about their family, their family life and even what the sweet little girl's favorite color is!

I know, we are bad sponsor parents for not having written to her first. Honestly, we have been working on it. All the kids have either colored her a picture or written a letter. We are gathering some small trinkets to send to her (World Vision has pretty strict guidelines for sending gifts - only because foreign governments can seize things and the child never get it). We hope to get it out this weekend.

It is a blessing to sponsor a child. We are excited to be such a big part of this sweet little girl's life, to be able to make an impact on her and her family. And the Dominican Republic is somewhat conceivable that we could visit and meet her one day. My children love having a little "sister" to pray for and encourage through letters. I love the way they can build up a loving relationship with her and her family.

I'm so thankful God has allowed us this opportunity to do something for one of his children.

Tebowmania

Excellent blog post at Practical Theology for Women on Tebowmania. Read it here.

Our family is huge Tebow fans....we love the Gators, love the Broncos, love that he is a godly man committed to Christ and a homeschool graduate leading the way to all kinds of new opportunities for homeschooled kids. But this blog post is excellent...we really need to not put so much pressure on him.

Marriage Book

Not even finished with 3 chapters of the book, Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll, and I see what all the controversy is about. I'm not really enjoying this book, not sure I can even finish.

I read this wonderful post by Phil Johnson. You can read the whole thing here. I especially like these three paragraphs:

But if Driscoll's exhibitionism is less ambitious than Young's, Driscoll's approach nevertheless seems darker. He reveals dishonorable and scandalous details about private aspects of his relationship with his wife, her sin, and their sex lives. He does this in a way that elevates him to new heights of mysticism and authority, portraying himself as a prophet and seer entrusted with the ability to see others' sin as if on a movie screen—or so he claims. (Why do his revelatory dreams always feature sexual sin or some violent act involving physical abuse of women? Why do Driscoll's dreams and visions never seem to expose white-collar criminals—tax cheats, embezzlers, or religious hypocrites?)

If you ask me (and some readers have), Mark Driscoll fails to safeguard his wife's honor and reputation. He uncovers her sin for all the world to analyze, giving intimate details that should have been kept between husband and wife. In the process, Driscoll portrays himself first as victim, then as hero. In the words of Todd Friel: "Not a manly thing to do." Oh, sure: he admits a personal fault of his own here and there—but readers are left with the distinct impression that the problems that plagued the Driscolls' marriage for more than a decade stemmed mainly from Grace Driscoll's sin and subsequent cover-up.

Driscoll and his book's endorsers refer to Driscoll's tell-all approach as "transparency"—as if it were an utterly benign and wonderfully humble thing. But given Driscoll's history and swagger, it's hard to see it as anything other than carnal exhibitionism. And someday the Driscoll children will grow up and read their father's account of their mother's fornication.

I guess if it were my Mark and I writing this book, I would be mortified to share something like this with the whole world. Some things are best left unsaid. In the book, he speaks about honoring his wife and he didn't do that by giving us details of what she did. Not cool.....

And the sentence about the kids...wow.... I wonder if the Young's kids have kids too and how they feel about mom and dad on the web in the bed on top of the church? Yuck!!!

Totally Disgusted

Really??

Pastor Ed Young and his wife to spend 24 hours in bed on the church roof.

Umm.....anyone else have an issue with this???

Real Marriage

So, despite the not so stellar reviews by Tim Challies and Denny Burk, my husband and I are reading together Mark & Grace Driscoll's new book: Real Marriage.

There are a few reasons I am going ahead with this. Thankfully, because of the reviews, I know what to watch for. I already read through one of the problems (mainly Mark's sexually graphic visions). I realize there is more to come and will be prepared. With that said, I think we (my husband and I) can learn from the book.

It really was his idea to work on a marriage book together. I am always dragging him (kicking and screaming) to do a Kay Arthur study. I have even gotten him to do Beth Moore studies with me (PTL -- those days are OVER --- so not a Beth Moore fan anymore). But he rarely comes up with an idea to do together. When he mentioned doing something on marriage, my first thought was, "Kay Arthur has a Precept about Marriage." The excitement immediately left him. Ok, no Kay Arthur this time.

I knew Mark & Grace Driscoll had a book coming out. I follow him on Facebook and Twitter. I love some of his you tube clips (Twilight and The Shack are my favorites). He is very frank, straightforward and my husband likes him. Now, I know in recent weeks, he has been seen in a not so great light, especially over at the Pyromaniacs site. And quite frankly, they have good reason to be frustrated with him, really, I don't like the pornographic visions that God tends to give him. He has said some rather crass and harsh things. He is one of those guys, for me, that I have this love / hate relationship with. Sometimes he can say something so powerful, so good, so theologically correct in one sentence and in the very next say something so utterly ridiculous that I want to throw something at whatever it is he is speaking through.

But, my husband enjoys him. John MacArthur is still both of our all time favorites...but its OK to switch things up a bit, once in a while.

Anyway, all of that to say, I am looking forward to very cautiously and discerningly reading this book. Hopefully, I will get a review out on the book when we are done with it. For now, I'm looking forward to this time with my Mark as we work through this book together :)

Until then, here are reviews so far on the book. Reading them, you'll see why I am hesitant to read it but I think I can get through it - taking some of the good advice and ditching anything Driscollish odd that comes out.

Denny Burk

Tim Challies

New Year's Resolution

I know, I am the worst blogger! Maybe my resolution should be to be a better blogger!

Last year I posted how I didn't like "Read through the Bible" plans. Mainly because I always fail at them and would prefer to read the Bible at my own pace.

But this year, I was challenged. I cannot say that I have read through the entire Bible. I think I have read most of it, but its been a really long time since I have focused on reading through the entire thing.

So this year, I joined Tim Challies 3650 challenge to read through the Bible. You can read his post here. It took me a couple of weeks to decide for sure I was going to do it. I had a list of excused not to....mostly how would that effect my Precept studies???? But, I do think it is important to do and this reading plan is challenging enough to keep me motivated. Tim Challies started a Facebook group for all of us participating and it keeps me motivated and accountable. I have also encouraged my husband to join in!

Tim posted here some resources to assist. I am using the YouVersion app to read the 10 chapters on my iPad. I also downloaded the Bible Bookmarks app to the iPhone --- as a back up --- just in case Anything happens to the iPad app. I am reading all 10 chapters on my iPad. With the YouVersion app, I can listen to them too, sometimes it helps to listen and read along at the same time.

Also, here is a post about the reading system itself. At the end is a link to download specifics about a plan.

Finally, the blog post that finally did me in.....evoked enough challenge that I am ready to take this on! Dan Phillips post at Pyromaniacs.

No more excuses. No more being lazy. Up early, read my 10 chapters. THEN focus on Precept studies. Which, by the way, I have to do. I begin leading Daniel Part I next week at my church. After that....we will focus on Daniel Part 2! I have to stay on top of it :)

I will post occasionally about how the plan is going. But, so far, I have to admit that I LOVE this plan. I am really enjoying this and look forward to continuing.