Monthly Archives: November 2012

Premier Family Guidance for Less than the cost of a Soda

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My recommendation is to skip buying that $2.50 soda at the restaurant today, get a water, then click one of these links and get a book that can add some eternal value to your family, rather than just empty calories to your diet.

Today I have come across some Kindle Deals on three fantastic books that can change the way you approach child rearing. These books all come from a thoroughly biblical perspective and I believe create the best way to raise you children.  I paid full price for these back in the day…sheesh…but you can get a great deal if you check it out today.

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Shepherding a Child’s Heart – by Tedd Tripp – $1.99

“With the plethora of material on parenting and the family, it is inspiring-and distressing-to see how few books are genuinely biblical. Here is a refreshing exception. Tedd Tripp offers solid, trustworthy, biblical help for parents. If you are looking for the right perspective, and practical help, you won’t find a more excellent guide.” -Pastor John MacArthur

Instructing a Child’s Heart – by Tedd and Margy Tripp – $1.99

“This is not a book that tells you how to control or manipulate your children so that they will spend their lives living in an irrational fear of a domineering parent or a hostile deity. Instead, it is a book that teaches parents to gently but consistently build into children a worldview that begins with the heart and that focuses on God and on His glory. “We should impress truth of the hearts of our children, not to control or manage them, but to point them to the greatest joy and happiness that they can experience–delighting in God and the goodness of his ways.” We’ve waited a long time for the follow-up to Shepherding a Child’s Heart. I believe most parents will feel the wait has been well worth it.” -Tim Challies, Author

Adopted for Life – by Russell Moore – $3.03

“Yes, yes, yes! Russell Moore has given the church a God-centered, gospel-saturated, culturally-sensitive, mission-focused, desperately needed exploration of the priority and privilege of adoption. He exposes misconceptions and uncovers misunderstandings that not only keep us from fostering an adoptive culture in our churches but that keep us from truly understanding the gospel by which we are adopted as sons and daughters of God. This book contains encouragement for children who have been adopted and the parents who’ve adopted them, practical advice for parents who are considering adoption and parents who have never considered adoption, and admonishment for the church-at-large to consider how to be obedient to scriptural commands to care for orphans here and around the world. Readers will find themselves laughing on one page, crying on the next, and ultimately bowing before God, thanking him for adopting them into his heavenly family and considering how to show his love to the fatherless on earth.”
—David Platt, Senior Pastor

 

High School Students Show Off Really Bad Writing Skills

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So I’m not claiming to be much better, but I’d like to think I have a bit more skill than some of these students. Some may think this is a sign of the times, and to a small degree it may be. But for the most part I post this just for a light hearted laugh. I’m product of public schooling myself, so no stone throwing here.

🙂 Hope you enjoy reading these like I did (…and you go home and encourage your teenager to study hard in English class so they don’t end up in a list like this!)  – Adam

It’s a Boy! Welcome Silas Abram Lickey!

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Yesterday at 9:53am another blessing entered into my life. Silas Abram Lickey was born healthy and loved. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, my blogging has been somewhat slim lately. That is because family is way ahead of blogging on the priorities list.


I have sat here in the hospital the past 24 hours and thanked the Lord for another wonderful son. Many people have been freaked out by the thought of four children, 6 years old and under. I look at our bustling family and cannot see beyond the lavishing of grace God has given to me and my beautiful wife to live with such blessings.  Sure it’s hard at times, but the love and joy totally outweigh the sacrifice.

While little Silas is totally unaware, he is loved. Yet many children go  without such unconditional, immediate love. Holding this little life in my hands I think about the many lives lost each day in the United States due to abortions.

Here is an infographic about the young adult perception of abortion. Since I work with teenagers all the time I thought this was particularly a good question. “What do young people think about abortion vs the standard cultural position?” It is equally telling what the “don’t know” as it is what they do know.

All I know, confirmed with Silas snoozing here next to me, all life is precious.

Two FREE Books – Today only!

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Here is something to brighten your day. Jump on Amazon and get some free books that are as good as it gets. Jerry Bridges and R.C. Sproul write books that bring us to the truth with amazing insight and passion. Free is the right price, so this is a no-brainer. These are Kindle downloads so you can have the e-book instantly on your device or computer as a resource. Go get them today!

Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts.by Jerry Bridges – (I have personally owned this one in paperback for many years and fully recommend it for anyone facing life struggles or tragedy.)

In an effort to strengthen his own trust in God during a time of adversity, Navigator author Jerry Bridges began a lengthy Bible study on God’s sovereignty. The revelations changed his life. In Trusting God, he shares the scope of God’s power to help you come to know Him better, have a relationship with Him, and trust Him more—even when unjust things happen. Tragedy, grief, loss, and death are part of life. Discover how Trusting God can reveal biblical truths about God. Includes bonus chapter taken from More Than Ordinary by Doug Sherman. (Amazon book description)

God’s Love: How the Infinite God Cares for His Children. by R.C. Sproul –  Love has come to mean many things. It’s used to describe emotions. It’s the glue for relationships. It frames countless stories. And the greatest of these stories opens before time began and echoes throughout eternity. It’s the story of God’s unrelenting, overwhelming love for His people. Yet the truth of love is even more majestic, more staggering, and more extraordinary than we can understand: God doesn’t just love us. He is love.

 Renowned theologian and teacher Dr. R.C. Sproul takes a remarkable look at this most profound truth. God’s Love delves deep into Scripture to explore this dynamic attribute of God, which finds its ultimate expression in His Son. Dr. Sproul also examines seeming paradoxes of God, such as a loving God and divine hate, and how love coexists with His sovereignty. Practical, insightful, and revolutionary, God’s Love compels and calls us to reflect His nature of unconditional love.
I hope you enjoy these books and are encouraged in your walk with Christ!
-Adam

Train Up the Next Generation

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Here is a fantastic article focused on a glaring deficiency among pastors, and really all believers. We can get so fixed on running “my race” for God in the day to day grind that we forget there is a biblical mandate to guide the next generation into maturity. If we don’t do it who will?

Writing for DesiringGod.org, Mike Bullmore posts “Brothers, Train Up the Next Generation” as a reminder to this very fact.  Check out the article to get a great perspective of the need and solution.

Here are his main points, but go read the full article:

  1. Disciple Faithful Men: Paul is used as a rubric here. Do you have a Timothy?
  2. Beware the Hezekiah Syndrome: After God grants 15 years of “added” life to the sick king, he goes off and parades Israel’s riches before Babylon, Isaiah prophecies coming captivity, but Hezekiah is content that there will be peace in his lifetime. (aka, sorry next gen, but at least I’m ok.)
  3. Avoid Temporal Shortsightedness: it is easy to think only about the here and now, but the coming glory is always a key element in biblical living.
  4. Cultivate a Far-seeing Vision: Contrast Hezekiah with Paul. It take intentionality and devotion, but it is our responsibility.
  5. Invest in the Next Gospel Generation: 1) be personally devoted to Gospel ministry, 2) Notice those who rise to the top, 3) create context for youth to “practice” handling the Word, 4) Pray intentionally for God to raise up passionate hearts, pray for your replacement.

Who Actually Votes in America – Infographic

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A Prayer for America on Election Day

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Al Mohler published this article “A Prayer for America on Election Day”. It is ten prayerful points that shine light on the fact that America’s problems are rooted in the spiritual realm, not the physical or governmental.

Here is a brief synopsis of his ten points.(but read his full article, which has a fuller treatment of each point.)

  1. First, we should pray that God will bless America with leaders better than we deserve.
  2. Second, we should pray that Americans will be motivated to fulfill the responsibilities of citizenship, yet also that we will be stripped of an unhealthy and idolatrous confidence in the power of government to save us.
  3. Third, we must pray that Americans will vote by conscience, not merely on the basis of celebrity or emotion.
  4. Fourth, we must pray that Americans will vote to defend the least among us — and especially those who have no vote.
  5. Fifth, we should pray that God will prick the conscience of the nation on issues of morality, righteousness, and respect for marriage as the central institution of human civilization.  There is much work to be done, and so much is at stake.
  6. Sixth, we should pray that God will protect these candidates and their families.
  7. Seventh, we should pray that the election is conducted with honor, civility, respect, and justice. May there be a clear winner, not a contested result.
  8. Eighth, we must pray that Americans will be prepared to accept the results of the election with respect and kindness.
  9. Ninth, we should pray that this election would lead to even greater opportunities to preach the Gospel, and that the freedom of the church will be respected, honored, and protected.
  10. Tenth, we must pray for the church, praying that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ would be strengthened in the truth, grounded in the faith, and empowered for witness and ministry.