The First Prayer Offered in Congress

  

September 7, 1774 by Jacob Duche

Oh Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over al lthe Kingdoms, Empires, and Governments;

Look down in mercy, we beseech thee, on these our American States, who have fled to thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee...Give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries;...constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved bands in the day of battle!

Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation.  That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony, and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion, and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people...

All this we ask in the name of and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.  Amen.

american flag with cross1
 

A Sleeping Giant

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." -- Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Yes, this quote is attributed to Adm Yamamoto, the head of all Japanese naval forces after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.  Prior to that, America had been reluctant to get involved in the war raging in Europe.  The reasons for this can surely be debated and is beyond the scope of this humble blog post.  But here is my point:

There is a spiritual war raging in America right now, and for the most part, the church is asleep, or at least, by and large unwilling to engage.

I mean we must be: 70-88 children losses from Christian homes, rampaging and unchecked immorality, the gospel message about houses and cars, a civil government out of control and in my view, "causing Israel to sin," and who knows what the Supreme Court will do today. (Edit: Supreme Court struck down a critical DOMA provision.  Hell rejoices.)

Asleep.

I'm hoping that just as America woke up, entered the war, and kicked Hilter's facist, Nazi tail, the church in America will wake up and take the fight to the Enemy:

  1. Reclaim the Gospel!  Not about success but about freeing us from sin!  Law to the proud, grace to the humble!
  2. Reestablish Holiness!  Because our God is holy!
  3. Ready through Stewardship!  Get out of debt, save, give, and raise our children in the fear of the Lord!
  4. Reform the Family!  One man, one woman, holy and chaste singles!  Biblical Manhood and Womanhood!  Family Discipleship!
  5. Restore Trust in Leadership!  Establish biblically qualified Elders and Pastors in our churches who will preach the whole counsel of God and equip the saints with a biblical worldview!

Eph 5:11-16 ESV  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  (12)  For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.  (13)  But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,  (14)  for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."  (15)  Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,  (16)  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

What Does the Ninth Commandment Forbid?

"The ninth commandment forbids anything that gets in the way of the truth or injures anyone's reputation."

My family and I really enjoyed this devotional catechism question and discussion earlier this week. Not bearing false witness is really about truth...speaking it, living it, promoting it. The Scripture reference for this morning was:

Eph 4:21-25 ESV assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, (22) to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, (23) and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, (24) and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (25) Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

So the Christian must love truth and avoid falsehoods. A Christian promotes truth because Christ is The Truth. A Christian does the hard work of searching out truth in every area of life (a Biblical Worldview) for the glory of God! What a good journey this is....

What I Did to Disciple My Family by Scott Brown

 

Hey there my friends!  Below are the notes my friend (and one of my mentors) Elder Scott Brown powerfully delivered at our recent Call to Battle Men's Conference.  I asked him to tell us what he did to disciple his four children.  Although humbly hesitant to do so, he gracefully relented.  His notes are below (reprinted with his permission).  You can get this audio message in our Call to Battle audio set from our website, www.CRCChesapeake.org.  Highly recommended. :)

------------------------------

 Scott Photo
 

What I Did to Disciple My Family by Scott Brown

I. Four biblical Texts formed the heart and soul of everything: Psalm 7; Deut 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:1-4; Malachi 4:5-6.

II. I went back to a bygone era – I followed the example of Matthew Henry.

III. I defined femininity for my girls and put those teachings in a book: “Feminine By Design – The Twelve Pillars of Biblical Femininity.”

IV. I defined masculinity for my son put those teaching in a book: "Preparing Boys for Battle."

     I asked questions. Here are 12 questions I asked myself to sharpen my discipleship of my son:

  1. Scripture - What scripture passages does this boy need to memorize before he leaves my home?
  2. Theology - What theological books must he read?
  3. History - What historical books and biographies does he need to read?
  4. Experiences - What experiences does he need?
  5. Relationships - What men should he know?
  6. Accomplishments - What projects should he conquer?
  7. Passions - What burns in my heart that I think I should do?
  8. Skill sets - What are the skill sets that God has invested in my family?
  9. Church life - How can he more effectively study Scripture we are studying in church?
  10. Personal time management - How can I best use my driving time?
  11. Business – What business skills does he need?
  12. Battles – What battles do we need to fight?

V. I managed the day.

VI. I tightly managed (and limited) my children's time with other children...no sleepovers.

VII. I centered everything around the life of the church.
 

-------------------------

I must admit to being a bit overwhelmed by all the above (We all were!).  It suggests such a different kind of living and parental intentionality...even more different that where I currently am after several years of work on D6 principles.  One of the things Elder Brown said was that he led his family through the reading of the Bible...EVERY YEAR.  Huh?  Wha?  CONVICTED!!!!! LOL. :)

Talk about being stretched!  And...I need to write some books! LOL  ;)

Cart (0)