What happens when something falls apart around you? One of the most encouraging things I see as a pastor (or a father) is when I see people in the church or my children in times of distress and they grow stronger and softer, sweeter and deeper than they were before. The trials bring forth fruit instead of failure. Our family saw an example of the opposite when we wee reading 2 Chronicles 28:22 this week,

“Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the LORD.”

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Tags: anguish, Bible, brain cancer, cancer, Christ, distress, endurance, fret, happy, hate, joy, love, peace, ulcer, war, worry

Here are “Thirteen indispensable pursuits that prepare the next generation for marriage.”

1. The Clearest understanding of the Gospel, Col. 1:14
2. The Gladdest embrace of God, Ps. 100
3. The Thirstiest passion for the Word of God, Ps. 119
4.  The Keenest inclination for repentance, Ps. 51
5. The Hottest desire for holiness,1 Pet. 1:16
6. The Sweetest harmony in marriage, Eph. 5:22-33
7. The Quickest pursuit of reconciliation, Eph. 4:26
8. The Highest investment in the church, Eph. 1:23; 5:32
9. The Biggest vision for life, 1 Cor. 10:31
10. The Liveliest, zippiest daily life, Deut. 6:1-9
11. The Sharpest conception of marriage, Eph. 5:22-33
12. The Tightest embrace of biblical manhood and womanhood, Tit. 2
13. The Strongest sense of the sovereignty of God, Dan. 4

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Tags: Bible, child, children, Christ, courtship, dating, daughter, discipleship, family, father, feminism, fret, godliness, gospel, happy, hate, joy, love, manhood, marriage, relationship, relationships, sacrifice, speech, talk, womanhood, worry

Here is a fantastic piece on 7 Evils of a Grumbling Spirit.

Here they are in bullet points, but you can read the whole thing here.

1. It models Satan.
2. It is contrary to who you are.
3. It is the opposite of prayer.
4. It is simply a waste of time.
5. It swallows up the blessing of mercy before it arrives.
6. It worsens sufferings and afflictions.
7. It wears the hopeless costume of pessimism.

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Tags: Bible, bitter, cancer, complain, discipleship, godliness, grumbling, hate, joy, love, peace, worry

Doctrine is fundamental to the Christian faith and essential for the family.

The NCFIC is now releasing two new product sets on one of the most sound confessions of the Christian faith — the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 (SLBC). This confession forms a rockbed of Christian doctrine that helps to establish an unshakeable faith upon the Word of God.

The first of these products is Family Foundations in Sound Doctrine. This set contains 16 DVDs of pastoral application on the SLBC, a re-published SLBC + the Baptist Catechism, a study guide to solidify the doctrines, and an MP3 recording of the reading of the SLBC by Bill Brown.

You can buy portions of the set, but if you buy the whole set, you save over 20% on the total value!

The second product is FOUNDATIONS in Sound Doctrine. Containing about 40 hours of teaching by seven church elders and teachers, this audio teaches you how to defend biblical doctrine.

We are excited about these products at the NCFIC, because they are timely and needed to establish Christians (by the grace of God) in the firm foundation of the Word of God.

Titus 1:9 says, “Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”

Get these products and seriously seek to establish your family and churches in sound doctrine.

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Tags: Bible, child, children, Christ, confession, daughter, discipleship, doctrine, Familia, family, father, foundation, godliness, gospel, grounded, Jesus, king, manhood, peacemaker, priest, prophet, teaching, womanhood

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Tags: Bible, bravery, celebration, child, children, Christ, country, Courage, daughter, duty, endurance, family, father, freedom, godliness, gospel, Honor, liberty, memory, remember, sacrifice, salute, veteran, victory, war, worry

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Tags: adventure, battle, boyhood, discipleship, manhood, war

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David Lanier sang ballads at the Old-Fashioned Memorial Day Picnic as well as read the recent casualty list from the Operation Enduring Freedom.

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Meet Michael Courage Bradrick, 5 pounds 14 ounces, born on the same day his great grandfather Brown was shot down in WWII over Tokyo Bay. He is named after his grandfather Michael Bradrick.

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Tags: baby, birth, child, children, Courage, family, grandchild, grandpa, grandson, happy, Honor, love, manhood, son, war, womanhood

Please accept my invitation to join my grandsons, Triumph and Knox (pictured above), for our annual Old-Fashioned Memorial Day Picnic.

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Tags: Bible, child, children, Christ, country, daughter, duty, endurance, family, father, feminism, fret, godliness, gospel, Honor, manhood, relationship, relationships, Robert, vet, veteran, war

I got to spend some time today with the Price brothers before memorial day on Monday.

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Tags: Bible, children, Christ, country, duty, endurance, family, father, feminism, godliness, gospel, Honor, joy, love, manhood, relationship, relationships, responding, Robert, vet, veteran, veterans, war, womanhood, worry

Next Monday, please come to my farm and join hundreds of people at an old-fashioned Memorial Day Picnic, as we remember the fallen, proclaim the gospel, and seek to rebuild a culture of honor.

Also, please read this special Memorial Day note from my friend Doug Phillips:

	On behalf of the the children of America whose future was purchased through your sacrifice more than half a century ago, we honor you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and purpose to pray for you throughout the year that the Lord would bless you and cause His face to shine upon you and all your progeny. At this crucial moment in American history, when the hope of our nation rests upon the mercy of the Lord, we stop to give thanks for you and all the fathers through whom the Lord worked to secure our liberties. —From the Awards of Honor, The League of Grateful Sons of 2012 The Story of Liberty and the Veterans of WWII For just under a year now, amazing letters and packages have been showing up at the home of Liberty Phillips. Some include beautiful notes written by hand. Others not only contain letters, but photos and memorabilia from more than half a century ago. The common denominator is that the senders are aged veterans who served close to seventy years ago during the Second World War. And they are writing to Liberty because she first wrote to them. (more…)

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Tags: Bible, child, children, Christ, country, daughter, duty, Familia, family, father, feminism, godliness, gospel, grateful, gratefulness, hate, Honor, justice, liberty, manhood, memorial, memorial day, old, peacemaker, Robert, sacrifice, son, thanksgiving, veteran, veterance, war, womanhood

Yesterday, I was on the radio at AM 1030 with Steve Noble talking about Memorial Day:

Come join Steve Noble, myself, and hundreds of other people at an old-fashioned Memorial Day Picnic as we seek to rebuild a culture of honor, praise God for His mercy to us, and proclaim the gospel.

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Tags: battle, Bible, child, children, Christ, dating, endurance, family, father, feminism, fret, godliness, gospel, gun, hate, Honor, love, manhood, old, peacemaker, pearl harbor, relationship, remember, Robert, veteran, Vietam, war, WW2, WWI, WWII

A Special Message from Joaquin Fernandez, producer of the film “IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America”

This weekend, Florida’s FPEA, who hosts the largest homeschool convention in the world, has made special, last-minute arrangements to add IndoctriNation to their program. IndoctriNation was added after the convention’s program was published. As a result, some 15,000 to 18,000 attendees will converge at the Gaylord, but few will know of their opportunity to watch IndoctriNation for free. Parents who are considering homeschooling need to know the severity of the risks of public education and the importance of not handing their children over to the state for their training.

Will you please help us raise awareness? We’re asking you to use whatever means available (e.g., phone, email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blog, etc.) to shout from the housetops about this film’s availability.

The FPEA graciously assigned the “Naples” conference room to us for Friday and Saturday.  The film will play four times each day, at 10 AM, 12 NOON, 2 PM and 4 PM. Deep DVD discounts will be available.  Our potential viewing audience is 2,176.  Please help us share the piercing warnings of IndoctriNation.

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Tags: Bible, brain, brain wash, brainwashed, child, children, Christ, courtship, dating, daughter, Dewey, education, Familia, family, father, feminism, Fernandez, godliness, gospel, grade, Gunn, hate, Honor, love, manhood, marriage, reach, responding, teach, teacher, womanhood, worry

©iStockphoto.com/Fertnig

Has anyone ever borrowed something from you and broke it and ignored the problem? Has anyone ever stolen anything from you and you had no biblical thinking with which to figure out what should happen next? The Bible actually has much to say about how to proceed.

In church life, this is very important. If you have a church where there are relationships that follow biblical patterns, people will sometimes sin against one another. They borrow from one another. They might ask to borrow your truck or your lawn mower. But did they dent the truck or scratch it? Did they break the lawn mower? What to do? The Bible has very helpful guidelines. Most of this teaching comes from Old Testament case law.

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Tags: back, Bible, borrow, child, Christ, christian, command, commandment, economics, fix, Honor, love, manhood, mercy, moral law, restitution, restore, sacrifice, stealing, theft, tools, worry