Berean Wife Wordpress

Although this site will stay up for a while I have discontinued comments and will no longer be adding posts here. The WordPress site will be the active site.

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Berean Wife

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The Happy Man

The happy man was born in the city of Regeneration
in the parish of Repentance unto Life. He has a large
estate in the county of Christian Contentment.

He was educated at the School of Obedience
—and often does jobs of Self-denial.

He wears the garment of Humility, and has
another suit to put on when he goes to Court,
called the Robe of Christ’s Righteousness.

Continue

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Passionate Youth Groups

Passionate Youth Groups

Pyromaniacs has written about the topic that I discussed in Youth Groups – Losing Your Inhibitions Is a Good Thing !?! He shares some interesting points about being passionate Christians.

Peanut-butter Passion by Phil Johnson

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Think Before You Speak … Then What?

Often we have heard the saying:

"Think before you speak."

George Washington's 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation includes the following:

73rd Rule - Think before you Speak pronounce not imperfectly nor bring out your Words too hastily but orderly & distinctly.

While this is good advice it is still lacking. Why is that? Many of us think before speaking. We think about how the other person is wrong. How they are misjudging us. That they obviously don't understand. Maybe if we showed them the error of their ways they would change their thinking, etc.

Continue

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Are You On The Side Of Scripture?

"Our object should not be to have scripture on our side

but to be on the side of scripture;

...

Continue

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Matthew 18 - Little Ones

I don’t even know how I ended up reading in Matthew 18 last night. I started in Genesis as probably 90% of the people did who were following a reading plan for January 1. But after reading along in Genesis while listening to the audio from the ESV Daily Bible Passage, I somehow ended up in Matthew 18. This is a very familiar passage to many people and the KJV is the version I have most often heard it in, so here is the KJV of Matthew 18:1-14. Notice the little child and little ones throughout. ...

Read the rest Here.

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Migrating From Blogger to Wordpress

My son has been working hard migrating the technical stuff from this Blogger site over to the Wordpress site.

Spam comments are just not worth the hassle. There is no reason to have to personally screen the spam, I don't want to see the trash nor do I have time to.

My son has migrated the Feedburner Feeds from Blogger to the Wordpress site. Hopefully no one was dropped nor was there an error.

I thought it was funny that I had posted about the Cranes migrating for today since that is going on now in Alabama and the connection hit me that I'm migrating also. The kids just rolled their eyes.

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Whooping Crane Migration

We have a small pond and we often have blue herons that fly over or land at our pond. One year we actually had one living at the pond for a few weeks.

This might be an interesting activity for your children to watch. Can you believe that they lead young whooping cranes by an ultralight to new nesting grounds for the winter?



WKRG.com News

Live Crane Cam

Deke's Way - 2009 Migration Route

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Nothing Wrong with Making Resolutions

Some people make lots of New Year’s resolutions, while others have given up on them, knowing they tend to fail anyway. Many of us make new resolutions regularly whether we think about it or not. New Year’s is the most common day for most people. But parents and even children tend to make new resolutions at the beginning of the school year – better grades, more reading, consistent bedtime, no TV on school days, etc. We make resolutions when we move into a new house – maintain it better than the last, keep the yard up better, pay it off quick, keep it clean, etc. Even getting married or having a baby is a time when we tend to make resolutions about how we are going to act. How about the resolutions we might make after a health scare?

See we all make resolutions whether we think about it as such or not. My older kids have learned that when mom makes a new resolution that impacts them such as chores or school, just give it some time it will soon fail. They are probably right, because that new school idea while new and interesting for a time soon gets replaced by a better idea or turns out to be not so interesting after all.

There is even a Biblical basis for the resolutions to eat well and to take care of our bodies.

Daniel 1:8 (ESV) But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

God honored Daniel’s resolve.

We as believers always have a great opportunity to start our new resolutions. Every single morning the Lord grants us new mercy and love so each day is renewed. We can start fresh and clean when we put our trust and faith in the Lord.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

In the letter to the Thessalonians we see Paul praying that every resolution of theirs for good and everything done of faith might be accomplished by the Power of Jesus. That is my resolution for the year that I, my family and all I know might do every good work in faith through the power of Jesus to glorify the Lord.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (ESV)
11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,
12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

My paraphrase:

I pray for us, that our God may make us worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in each of us, and us in him, according to the Grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Even The World is Seeing the Problem With Divorce

If the Biblical reasons for not getting a divorce are not persuasive enough here are some facts gathered from the world’s research about divorce.

1. 72% of divorced people say that they regret the divorce later and just traded one set of problems for another.

2. Divorced people are twice as likely to suffer from mental problems than those who have never divorced. Divorced individuals are three times more likely to commit suicide than married people.

3. Studies of children of divorce has shown noticeable effects lasting 12 – 22 years (length of study) after the divorce.

4. Children of divorce (whose parents divorced while they were children) are 62% more likely than children of non-divorced parents to no longer identify with the faith of their parents when they grow up.

5. It will even affect your grandchildren - "... parents who divorced in the 1970s and 1980s are increasingly realizing that the repercussions are not over: if divorce has distanced them from their children, they also are less likely to enjoy close ties with their grandchildren."

6. "Children who grow up in single-parent homes are less likely to marry, more likely to divorce, and more likely to have children outside of wedlock."

http://www.divorcereform.org/mel/apsychdivorce.html, http://www.divorcereform.org/stats.html

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Made For a Moral and Religious People

The United States Government no longer works because the people are not held in check by morality and religion.

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We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

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John Adams

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The Marriage Covenant Is Unbreakable Unless God Breaks It

Read this profound statement about marriage from John Piper.

What God Has Joined Together, Let Not Man Separate, Part 1

One of the reasons that I have emphasized the ultimate meaning of marriage so much in this series is that the meaning of marriage is such that human beings cannot legitimately break it. The ultimate meaning of marriage is the representation of the covenant keeping love between Christ and his church. To live this truth and to show this truth is what it means, most deeply, to be married. This is the ultimate reason why marriage exists. There are other reasons, but this is the main one. Therefore, if Christ ever abandons and discards his church, then a man may divorce his wife. And if the blood-bought church, under the new covenant, ever ceases to be the bride of Christ, then a wife may legitimately divorce her husband. But as long as Christ keeps his covenant with his bride, the church, and as long as the church, by the sustaining grace of God, remains the chosen people of Jesus Christ, then the very meaning of marriage will include: What God has joined, only God can separate, not man.

Do you see how this applies to our salvation?

If a person is truly a believer, then we cannot lose our salvation.

Christ does not divorce His Church and His Church may not divorce Christ.

Our marriages are pictures of Christ's relationship to the church and thus divorce is not allowed unless we want our salvation to be dependent upon our own actions and not be dependent on the Lord's Grace and Mercy to keep us.

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True Woman Conferences 2010

The first True Woman '10 Conference will be held at the Chattanooga Convention Center on March 25-27, 2010. Early Registration ends January 31, 2010.

A few of the speakers in Chattanooga include the following:

Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Nancy Leigh DeMoss is a beloved mentor and “spiritual mother” to hundreds of thousands of women who have read her best-selling books and who listen to her two daily radio programs, Revive Our Hearts and Seeking Him.


Dr. Voddie Baucham Jr.
Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr. is a pastor, church planter, author, professor, husband, father, and . . . chef. He brings a unique blend of sound biblical exposition, theological content, down-to-earth demeanor, and an engaging presence.


Mary Kassian
Mary Kassian and her husband, Brent, who make their home in Canada, are celebrating their twenty-fifth year of marriage and have three young adult sons. Mary is a distinguished professor of Women’s Studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and is the author of several books including The Feminist Mistake and In My Father’s House.


Kay Arthur
Kay Arthur and her husband, Jack, founded Precept Ministries International in 1970 to help people discover the Bible’s Truth for themselves. Kay has written over 100 books and Bible studies, and she reaches over 90 million viewers and listeners through Precepts for Life (a half-hour television program), and Precepts from God’s Word (a one-minute radio feature).


Pastor James MacDonald
Pastor James MacDonald, founding and senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, has committed his life to proclaiming the truth of God’s transforming power. As a husband, father, pastor, author, and host of Walk in the Word, a daily 30-minute radio program, Pastor MacDonald ignites a bold passion for God in every avenue of influence.

Other speakers in Chattanooga.

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There are two other True Woman Conferences scheduled for 2010. Each venue has a different set of speakers.

• The second True Woman '10 Conference will be held at the Indiana Convention Center on September 23-25, 2010.
  
  



• The third—and largest—True Woman '10 Conference will be held at the Ft. Worth Convention Center on October 14-16, 2010.
  
  

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Bible Reading Plans for 2010

It is time to think about your Bible reading plans for 2010, if you use a Bible reading plan. It is always better to decide on some method before Jan 1st arrives and it is so busy you find yourself trying to start your yearly Bible reading at 11:30 PM so you can go to bed. (Surely very few have done that, right?)

Anyway here are some Bible Reading / Bible Listening Plans to contemplate.


• ESV Daily Bible Passage - I have used this one this past year. I get an email/feed of the text (with a click link for audio if online) and I get a podcast of the audio. I have really enjoyed this method. I’m less likely to get distracted with cross references and writing notes when I have the audio going.

• M'Cheyne Reading Format - All I can say is this is a method that those fond of M’Cheyne really like, I haven't tried it.

• AIG - Audio only - This is NIV, so might not interest some.

• Dr Horner’s Bible Reading Plan - This has you reading 10 chapters a day from a variety of books in the Bible. The amount of days rotate but this means that what you are reading together changes also. I have read lots of compliments of this reading system but it is a little too haphazard for me. However, I have done a modified version of reading maybe five of the different areas a day. Works better that way for me.

• Bible Reading Record - Not a reading plan per se but a check list to mark what as been read.

What methods have you used? Any that I left off?

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Christmas Is Worth Nothing Without The Cross

When we recently went to the nursing home to play Christmas music for the residents, I shared the gist of the following with them.

Most everyone but an ardent atheist have no problem with Christmas and a baby in a manger. Even those of other religions accepted that Christmas was a Christian holiday and rarely complained before. But even those who claim to be Christians tend to forget and gloss over the real Christmas gift - That the baby grew up and died for our sins on the cross. Without the cross, the birth of Jesus is just a virgin birth, miraculous for sure, but it in itself was just preparation for the cross. Every event surrounding the birth of Jesus was in light of the cross.

• John the Baptist wasn't preparing others for a baby. He was a baby himself. John the Baptist was to prepare others for the ministry and death on the cross of the Messiah.

Luke 1:16-17 (ESV)
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

• Zachariah, the Father of John the Baptist, showed that the birth of the Messiah was just a step along the road to the cross.

Luke 1:76-79 (ESV)
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

• Even the shepherds in the field were told that the baby in the manger would be their Savior. They were looking forward to the future events not just focusing on the baby in the manger.

Luke 2:10-12 (ESV)
10 And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

• Simeon at the temple also was looking beyond that little baby Jesus to the future.

Luke 2:34-35 (ESV)
34 "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed
35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."

• Anna, the prophetess in the temple, also was looking beyond the baby Jesus to the future.

Luke 2:38 (ESV)
38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

So if you are celebrating Christmas today make sure all your celebration and focus is toward the future of that little baby Jesus in the manger, that became an adult God/Man, was crucified on the cross and has risen from the dead. Otherwise you have left out part of the Christmas Story.

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