The most important school for theology.

Where is the prime learning place for God's word? It is the home.

Home is where we learn to learn. It is where patterns of learning and thinking are modelled and formed—and taken into school, to church and into the rest of our lives. What is often sown and nurtured under the trellis of the home flourishes into later life accordingly.

What an exciting privilege and responsibility this is for parents! May you love teaching your children to love being taught by Jesus—his words are spirit and life; he is wisdom from God; and his words will never pass away!

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Train up a child in the way he should go; 

even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Insights indebted to Phillip Jensen

Ministry principles:

Never do something on your own that you can do with somebody else.

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You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings.

2 Timothy 3:10-11

I found this funny.

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For Christ's love compels us.

2 Corinthians 5:14

We are not forgiven by all.

We have been forgiven by God in Christ Jesus, yet for some it can remain so defeating to know that they may never be forgiven by people they've deeply sinned against.

This is the damaging reality of sin, yet it also teaches us the immense beauty of forgiveness, grace and mercy.

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Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.

Psalm 32:1-2

Imagine wearing leaves.

After committing the sin which brought about the Fall, shame was thrusted into humanity. Nakedness was no longer without shame between Adam and Eve. They became helpless, scrambling for fig leaves in a desperate yet futile attempt to cover their nakedness.

Despite their rebellion, God showed incredible mercy and grace by clothing their nakedness and shame.

A few reflections:

• Humankind remains the only created order which experiences shame from nakedness. This is one of many characteristics that separates us profoundly from the animals.
• Regressing back to nakedness does not annul our shame. Rather, it would be an act of rebellion against the judgement God has instituted in clothing—nudity points to our shame, not to our freedom from it.
• This incredible act of grace pointed forward to the day when God would decisively and permanently deal with our shame. The cost would be immense — it would require the death of his one and only beloved Son. Yet he will not only cover our sin and shame but will also clothe us with glory and honour and power.

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For all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 3:27

Insights indebted to John Piper

Finding it hard to remember Scripture?

God has already given a solution to that problem:
Write it out then read it every day.

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When [the king] takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or left.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20

There is nothing a good resurrection can't fix.

Thankful for the example of friends who fix their eyes heavenward:

"My eczema has been terrible. But it's okay — I'll get a new body in heaven."

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Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who.. will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Philippians 3:20-21

Far more than rubies.

Prioritise well.

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A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is fleeting,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:10, 30

When you're dreading tomorrow.

When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

Ecclesiastes 7:14

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I guess you can say that it's quite inconvenient that God does not usually explain his immediate actions nor reveal his immediate purposes for what happens in our lives, especially when we're in dread. And it leaves us hanging over whether tomorrow might bring joy or despair—we just cannot know for sure, although it is no secret to God.

Yet it is a beautiful thing that God has revealed his ultimate purposes for his children: to be pardoned of sin, to be justified by faith through grace, and to share in the glory of our risen Saviour Jesus. It will be a day where there will no longer be any shame nor guilt nor dread nor anxiety.

So for those who are anxious about tomorrow:

1. If God is to grant you peace and blessing, then may you receive it with thanks and praise to God. 
2. If God is to grant you suffering and hardship, then may you receive it remembering that God works for the good of those who love him–that our momentary troubles are refining our faith and character to be like gold, fitting us for entry into the glorious kingdom of heaven above.
3. And in everything, pray—present your requests and thanks before God our Father in patience and in trust.

Let us fix our eyes on our home of righteousness in heaven, and let not the troubles of this life move us.

Favourite quotes:

Unhappy songs addressed to God, ftw.

Psalm 13
For the director of music. A psalm of David.

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts 
and day after day have sorrow in my heart? 
How long will my enemy triumph over me? 

Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. 
Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 
lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,” 
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. 

But I trust in your unfailing love; 
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 
I will sing to the LORD, 
for he has been good to me.
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It is a comfort to be able to read God's word to find that he understands how you feel—crap and all.

I feel indebted to the psalmists who, despite their immense angst and suffering, continued to trust in the goodness and salvation that God promised his people. And although it was not revealed to them, they would've been overjoyed to have known the mysteries of Christ, of what he has done and what he will do.

Work is cursed, though not ineffective.

Because work isn't just pain and toiling for the sake of income, but there is also a joy and excitement in contributing to our community; in flourishing a society and environment for the good of one another. Work is like tending the Garden of Eden again, only now there's people in it.

Yet even as work is cursed with pain and grief, there remains a rest that will by far outweigh our toil. So let us look forward to the day when Jesus returns to take us home to glory—where there will no longer be any curse and we will rest from our own work just as God did from his.

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"He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed."

Genesis 5:29

Make the most of your wedding day.

Proclaim Jesus.
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Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:31
(See Jeremiah 9:24)

It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman.

1 Timothy 2:14 

So why didn't he say anything?

He was listening to the serpent's devilish cunning to deceive his wife. He heard how Eve misquoted the command of God. He even watched her as she began looking at the forbidden tree, as she began taking her first steps towards it, even as she began taking her first bite—he was there the whole time yet he remained silent when he should've spoken.

He could have turned to Eve and said, "Honey, this snake is up to no good! He's trying to make you think that you can gain more satisfaction from disobeying God rather than by remaining faithful to him. Take a look around us, sweetheart! This is Paradise—God made it and gave it all to us. We have no reason to doubt his goodness." Then, perhaps turning to the serpent, "Snake, get lost! This conversation is over!"

But it never happened. He just stood there, possibly afraid, and didn't say a word. Adam failed to exhibit headship. And ever since Adam, every man has inherited this same inclination to remain silent—the cowardice to let faithfulness slip rather than to uphold God's word.

But Jesus bears a different image. He is the man who did not hesitate but called out against sin—even in the face of his own temptation. He is the man of strength, of holiness and of faithfulness. He is the man we were created to be, but never were. Yet he is the man we are becoming.
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Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

1 Corinthians 16:13 

Adapted from The Silence of Adam by Larry Crabb.

Do you like what I'm saying?

The first priority for anyone in ministry is to please God,

• not leaders
• not friends
• not those we lead
• not those we preach to
• not even ourselves

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If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10

Men's weak spot.

Sisters, we are not proud of our weaknesses. On behalf of myself and my brothers, please be mindful of what you wear for the sake of us guys who battle with lust—any revealing flesh above the knees or around the chest, back and shoulders are potential hazards for stumbling thoughts and desires.

Please help us also not to be distracted so as to see your worth in your dress or beauty, but rather in the display of Christ's lordship over your life: your devotion to godliness; your perseverance in prayer and bible reading; your zeal to see disciples of all nations maximised for Christ's glory.
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Women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel, but with good works, as is proper for women who affirm that they worship God.

1 Timothy 2:9-10

Favourite quotes:

How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?

Joseph, Genesis 39:9

An angry man.

An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.

Proverbs 29:22

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Incessant distress and frustration is no excuse; 

For the anger of man does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
May God impel that spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline in us,
And be merciful unto me, a sinner.

Not in vain.

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Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12

The perplexing battle for righteousness.

1. Christians fight sin knowing ultimately the battle has already been won.
2. Christians don't fight trying to earn victory, but living up to the victory we have already attained in Jesus. 

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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1