Trisha was flipping around the channels on Friday night, and settled on Rock Center. I'm generally not a fan of these kinds of shows, but I found myself intrigued by one of the stories - about the marriage of Gabrielle Reece and Laird Hamilton. The story also caught the attention of Ryan Gold, who blogged about it:
What if I told you a former professional beach volleyball player/fitness model and her world-class surfer dude husband resemble more of a biblical marriage than many evangelical Christians.
...
while it’s not my desire to hold this couple up as a model to follow, I do think they are a rebuke to many Christian marriages that ought to be experiencing and modeling what Laird and Gabby are doing without the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Here are some things I found intriguing about this interview:
She embraces submission.
She embraces clearly defined gender roles.
She’s a strong woman married to a strong man.
She believes regular sex in marriage is not an option.
A few videos from around the blogosphere/twitter-verse caught my attention today, and I thought they were worth sharing. (If you subscribe via RSS or email, you may need to click through to view the videos.)
The first is a video titled "When Love Leads," and is about a couple fighting for their marriage. While watching this, I couldn't help but think of some of the things we talked about while going through John Piper's This Momentary Marriagelast summer.
The second is called "Jacob Chen: An Adoption Story." Here's a brief blurb about the video that I found here:
“Jacob Chen: An Adoption Story” follows the Chen couple as they meet their adopted son, Jacob, for the first time. As the film demonstrates, adoption can be an outward witness to and expression of worship for God’s adoption of us—and a way to showcase the gospel in living color to the world (Gal. 4:4-7).
Austin Stone Church has launched a massive adoption campaign to try and adopt all 244 kids needing adoption in the city of Austin, Texas.
The third video is a longer one, which I haven't made through all the way yet. But it features a recent interview with Russell Moore, author of one of my favorite books, Adopted For Life. As his website bio states, "Moore is President-elect of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. At present, he also serves as Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he also serves as Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics." I've watched/listened to about half of the video so far, and am impressed with Moore's reasoned, humble responses to questions from both the host and callers. If you find yourself interested in or engaged in the so-called "culture wars," I think this video would be well worth your time.
As we approach next week’s fortieth anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, churches in my tradition will observe Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. I hate that we have to. Let me explain why. Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s a joy to preach the whole counsel of God. And I love the truth of human dignity and the image of God in all persons. But it makes me sad. I don’t hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday because I think it, somehow, unbiblical. No, indeed. The entire canon throbs with God’s commitment to the fatherless and to the widows, his wrath at the shedding of innocent blood. I don’t hate it because I think it’s inappropriate. Just as every Lord’s Day should be Easter, with the proclamation of the Resurrection of Jesus, and Christmas, with the announcement of the Incarnation, so every Lord’s Day should highlight the worth and dignity of human life. I hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday because I’m reminded that we have to say things to one another that human beings shouldn’t have to say. Mothers shouldn’t kill their children. Fathers shouldn’t abandon their babies. No human life is worthless, regardless of skin color, age, disability, economic status. The very fact that these things must be proclaimed is a reminder of the horrors of this present darkness.
Some of my greatest joys in life stem from being a parent to two delightful children. However, some of my greatest struggles in life also stem from being a parent to these same two children. There are days that I cannot imagine anything more rewarding and other days that I want to get into the fetal position and remain there for a week. Here are a few reminders for me and all the other Christian parents out there:
For those who follow Christ & really want to make a difference this week/year: Don’t wait until Sunday morning to “get ready for church.” Why not start NOW by:
praying for your pastor as he prays, finishes up preparation,etc. pray that he have wisdom, understanding, clarity, & passion, as well as that he would be faithful to God’s Word in his study, life, & proclamation.
pray for sunday school teachers, nursery workers, ushers, & other church servants
study your small group/ sunday school lesson!!! you’ll be amazed at how much more enjoyable & beneficial your time together is, if what is being discussed is something you have been thinking/ praying through before you got there!
pray for your own heart & mind to be impacted by God’s word, worshiping with the church, & by encouraging & being encouraged by your brothers & sisters in Christ
pray for visitors who may be there & think of ways to make them feel welcomed (more than just a quick hello & handshake). pray that any who have not trusted Christ will have their hearts pierced by the proclamation of the gospel!
get on the phone or in the car & bring people with you!!!
Now, imagine if most everyone in our churches “prepared” this way each week- think we might notice a difference?
I recently read a blog post by this name, written by Adam Griffin at The Village Church's blog. When a friend of mine linked to this on Facebook, I couldn't read the title and not read the full post. And it was well worth it. Very thought provoking. Here's a portion of it:
I have a strong, and certainly not uncommon, desire for my child to be validated by the love of other people. Most parents want their son or daughter to be a lovable person, and it’s that desire that makes John 15:19 so important and so transformative when it comes to the way we prepare our children for the future. Christ tells His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” It’s not just John 15:19, either. There are many Scriptures that describe the adversarial relationship that God’s followers will have with those who are not believers.
Reading this, I realized that if God answers my prayer for my son to be a follower of Christ, people will hate him. People will absolutely, unquestionably be repulsed by my son.
From Crossway's website, a description of John Piper's poem, The Innkeeper:
Only two weeks from his crucifixion, Jesus has stopped in Bethlehem. He has returned to visit someone important—the innkeeper who made a place for Mary and Joseph the night he was born. But His greater purpose in coming is to pay a debt. What did it cost to house the Son of God?
Through this imaginative poem, John Piper shares a tale of what might have been – the story of an innkeeper whose life was forever altered by the arrival of the Son of God.
Ponder the sacrifice that was made that night. Celebrate Christ’s birth and the power of His resurrection. Rejoice in the life and light He brings to all. And encounter the hope His life gives you for today – and for eternity.
Here's Piper reading the poem:
I'm more than a week late in posting this, but Desiring God also has a good Advent resource that Trisha and I have been going through. It's a free ebook/PDF, called Good News of Great Joy, and it's a collection of devotional readings for each day of Advent. I'd encourage you to check it out.
