You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2008.
The LCMS offers a pair of family newsletters free via e-mail subscription. In the newsletters for September they:
“raise a few questions in this new issue, and hopefully, provide some answers.
1. Mother, what would your child ask you to change?
2. What’s our F.L.A.G. up to?
3. How eagerly should we sign a pre-nuptial agreement?
4. What are some current tip-offs about dating abuse?
Click here to read the September 2008 Home Base
Be sure to check out the September issure of 24/7 also
Click here to read it.”
Every parent wants to be a good parent. Every parent wants to provide for their child(ren) in the best way possible. The trouble is that becoming a parent does not mean that we are given all the answers in advance on how to accomplish these noble goals. This past Wednesday we began a class called Parenting Your Teenager. The go to experts on parenting that put the materials together are Les and Leslie Parrott (yes a Les married a Leslie). The Parrott’s are a great resource to the family on relationships, both within the family and the marriage. So for today’s parenting resource I am recommending the Parrott’s book The Parent You Want To Be. Here is how they describe their book.
When it comes to parenting, who you are is more important than what you do. After all, your child internalizes your traits more than anyone else’s on the planet. And that’s why Les and Leslie Parrott—in a parenting book like no other—give you a proven plan for cultivating the traits you most want your child to have.
Discover …
• the most important question you’ll ever ask as a parent
• the three-step method to avoid being the parent you don’t want to be
• the secret to making your “intentional traits” stick on even your worst days
… and much more.
A husband and wife team made up of two of today’s leading relationship experts, Les and Leslie Parrott reveal their personal experiences as parents to help you fulfill the most important calling you will ever have. The Parent You Want to Be is inspiring, warm, and filled with a transformational power for your entire family.
Yesterday Confirmation instruction for 2008-2009 began. In and amongst all the details about the class and helping the students to connect with each other, I taught a brief lesson on the Lutheran approach to scripture. Lutherans assert that the entire Bible can be understood on the basis of just two over arching categories. These categories are The Law and The Gospel. The key in ones study of the Bible then is what C. F. W. Walther, first President of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, refered to as “The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel.” Here is a summary to help you begin to distinguish between Law and Gospel.
- The Law is all those parts of the Bible that provide commands and instructions.
- The Law is a statement of God’s wrath, judgment, and damnation.
- The Gospel, on the other hand, is the portions of Scripture that promise free salvation from God, even to sinners.
- The law condemns, the Gospel saves.
- Both the Law and the Gospel are gifts from God; both are necessary.
- The function of the law is to show a person their sinful nature and drive (draw) them to the Gospel, where the forgiveness of sin is promised for the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Though it is tempting to think that the Old Testament is the Law and the New Testament is the Gospel, after all there are four Gospels included in its books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), there is in fact both found in both. In fact you can find books, chapters, and even verses where both Law and Gospel are present. The key is to be able to identify which is which.
So, what, you might ask. Why is this important to know? Isn’t this just a silly intellectual exercise? Why spend time on this? If these are your concerns, let me approach it this way. Knowledge of what the Gospel is and faith in the truth claims that are made in it, namely that salvation come through faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone, found in Scripture alone (look for another post explaining each of these in the near future), is what unites us with God and ensures us our place in heaven. Doing good things is great, but there is not amount of doing that is enough to earn our way into heaven. The Law tells us as much.
In Romans 3:23, Paul tells us that all of us have sinned. As we examine the Ten Commandments in Confirmation class, we find out all the ways in which we fall short. God is a holy God and not able to have sinful people in His presence. Yet He is a loving God and does not what merely to cast us out into the dark and cold of night. That is where the Gospel comes in. Once we see that we are sinners in need of a savior, the Gospel presents Jesus as that Savior we need. We are told that through not merit of our own (Ephesians 2:8-10), we are made holy and restored to a relationship with God the Father through the life, death, and resurrection of God the Son. Thus the Law causes dispare and the Gospel removes that dispare. People who are not aware of their standing before God need to hear the Law so that they understand why they might even need a savior. People aware of sin and their standing before God need to hear the Gospel promise that through Christ, their sins are washed away. What joy it is to know that eternal promise of God’s love for us!
Youth and Family Ministry expert Jim Burns is one of the top guys in the field. His books are ready by DCE’s and youth leaders around the country. Now you can gain perspective from his years of ministry and extensive training through his radio show podcast. You can also check out his books and other resources at HomeWord.com.
Lutheran Hour Ministries offers a great web-site designed to give kids a safe place on-line to enjoy games, print out coloring pages, find devotions & Bible stories, and much more. Check it out!
