From One Degree to Another

Here is Jesus (for today’s Marriage Monday segment) from Mark 10:1-12 (ESV):

Teaching About Divorce
10:1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Jesus wants you to pursue marriage for life. He doesn’t want you opting out if it doesn’t work. He wants you to embrace the Gospel as a means for strengthening your marriage and deepening your walk with Him. This text was the text for my sermon yesterday, entitled Marriage Is For Life. Let the truth of Jesus’ words settle on you and embrace marriage for life.

Speaking of conferences, I am heading out today with some men from church to a church I used to serve in St. Louis for the Midwest Founder’s Conference. If time allows, I will try and do some blogging about the sessions. The conference theme is “The Atonement.” I plan on having good fellowship with men and being encouraged in this vital theological area. (As a result of this, regular blogging may be affected.)

It appears the Resurgence Text and Context content will be online. This conference begins today and features Mark Driscoll, John Piper and C.J. Mahaney among others. Looks like promising content.

I’ve commented on the need for regular family worship before, but this article from John & Noel Piper kindled my passion by way of reminder. Among other things, they give good, practical tips for insuring that our children are engaged in corporate worship. It is worth checking out and would definitely benefit your marriage.

I was encouraged and provoked to thought with Mark Dever’s latest post on “Divine Guidance” at the T4G Blog. Thoughts?

Sovereign Grace Ministries has launched a new leadership interview series. The first installment features a discussion between C.J. Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, and Joshua Harris on the pastor and reading. I would highly commend it. And, best of all, it’s free!

JT had an interesting post this morning for prospective seminary students. One article he recommends is by John Frame entitled Studying Theology as a Servant of Jesus. I would highly recommend this article to all those who are serious about applying God’s Word to their lives.

Frame is so helpful. I remember being influenced by reading Calvin’s Institutes in such a huge way. Calvin was writing a summa theologica or a summary of theology, holding forth the unique things he believed. He wrote the Institutes as a summa pietas or a sum of piety, emphasizing the import of what he believed upon life. Frame’s article had much the same feel.

– This article takes into account the presence of indwelling sin as it relates to the study of theology
– This article prepares you for the pitfalls you will encounter as the pride of knowing more than others creeps into your life in higher education
– This article holds forth a high view of Scripture upon theology

These are just some of the reasons I would highly commend reading this. Pastors, we need this reminder. Students of theology, this will help you in your studies. Good lay person in the church, be encouraged in your pursuit of God through this. Benefit from God by studying theology as a servant of Jesus.

John Frame: Studying Theology As A Servant of Jesus

For today’s marriage Monday segment, I thought I would publicly praise God and thank Him for my wife. We joined the throng of people who “celebrate their love” on Valetine’s Day last Thursday. In commenting to someone I was visiting with about this, my response was for someone who is a Christian husband, functioning like the Bible says, everyday is valentine’s day. We don’t need culture to dictate to us when we romance our wives, we are to be laying our lives down everyday out of love for them. Anyway, we did celebrate V-day. We arranged childcare for Andrew, then left to go to Wichita (about 45 minutes away). I suprised Meg by getting her some shoes she has been wanting. Then we ate at Jason’s Deli (which serves Dublin Dr. Pepper). We shopped at Border’s. Then went to the movies and watched National Treasure: Book of Secrets. All in all, was a good time and felt encouraged and communicated well.

My wife is pregnant with our next child, but I could not be more happier married to anyone. The Proverbs 31 woman receives praise from her husband at the gates, I want Meg to know my praise publicly. I am so thankful for her service to me, Andrew and our family. She works hard. I know she gets tired, especially in these days, but she perseveres through that and always seeks to be a blessing to me. So, here I am, praising God for the gift He has given me in a wife, specifically Meghan. I couldn’t be happier!

This.

I increasingly enjoy reading Civil War history in my spare time, so I have especially enjoyed this week where the following articles appeared on the web:

Marvin Olsasky in World Magazine on how Lincoln looked to God as the prime actor in history

John Piper weighed in

and Justin Taylor pointed us to a new Lincoln book

Enjoy!

Oh, I just finished (2 days ago actually) James McPherson’s Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg. It was a great read and really made me want to visit there someday.