Worldview

Friend Focus: Glenda Hotton

Friend_Focus_icon

Why Focus on a Friend?

My service of editing and helping people develop an online presence introduces me to some delightful people. In serving them, it is my privilege to have made new friends over the years, so I thought it would be good from time to time to point the camera, as it were, on some of them, and the excellent ministries that they themselves conduct.

Glenda Hotton

In this post, I would like to introduce Glenda. I first became aware of her when my good friend, Dr. Paul Tautges, began recruiting authors for a series of booklets he and I were spearheading, Day One’s Living in a Fallen World resources, now available as the Lifeline Mini-Books from Shepherd Press.

Glenda’s little book, then titled Help! I Can’t Submit to My Husband, posed some challenges when it came to finding an appropriate cover image. We wanted something that communicated “Hey! You must read this” but the matter of perceived relevance played an arpeggio in the orchestra of our thinking. We even considered a 1940s monochromatic image with a humorous visual hint of “Surely this kind of idea is old fashioned and you can’t be serious to bring this into Christian teaching today!”

Well, we persevered, and eventually found an image that worked–and it wasn’t the monochrome one! And if you would like to see what the Shepherd Press version is going to look like, take a look here for a preview!

Times change, and with the end of my former employers’ presence in the USA, a new strategy was developed; hence the Shepherd Press initiative. In this, I came to have more direct dealings with Glenda, especially when she commissioned me to take charge of some developments in her online strategy. The outcome? Find out here by visiting her site!

Practical Godliness

Glenda is a delightful lady who cherishes and makes the most of every opportunity to inculcate a spirit of practical godliness on the part of the women whom she mentors. A member of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley (John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher there), she teaches regularly at the Master’s College.

Being a Help Meet

The term help meet sounds a little old fashioned to some people, but it articulates a wonderful truth from creation, how it was that the first woman, Eve, was to be a helper suitable to and corresponding to her husband, Adam. Glenda loves to tease out the practical implications of this in her writing and speaking ministry, and her blog is replete with thoughts, biblical principles, and lines of application to her readers. If you are a woman seeking guidance on how to grow on grace and godliness in the area of womanliness and in the service of marriage and motherhood, Glenda has so much to offer.

Gracious

Inculcating a spirit of grace in others comes so easily and naturally to Glenda, as she models it herself. Having seen so much of her material in working with her in building her website, I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed in reading her writings and considering her points of application. You will find her an excellent mentor!

Glenda’s Resources

Glenda offers various downloads, some for free, others for a small payment. You might like to check out her free audio message here. And there is also a downloadable PDF study guide to go with it here.

Whether you are the mother of a young daughter (and would like to help her to grow into a gracious young woman who understands social etiquette), whether you are a young bride, or whether you are a seasoned mom and grandmother, you will find helpful ideas and principles on Glenda’s site to guide, challenge and inspire you! And, if you respond to any of her posts, I know she will be delighted to engage with you.

 

Posted by Jim Holmes, 0 comments

Understanding Anger: Shepherd Press Blog

snow-plough

On Anger

Shepherd Press provides a wonderful range of resources to help ordinary people deal with matters of the heart. Consider the words of the SP blog posting of July 18th, 2015.



Anger is a difficult sin.
Like an ice-breaker pushing huge chunks of ice in all directions, anger leaves a trail of broken pieces in its wake. Broken chunks of ice are good thing. Broken pieces of life – not so much.

Anger is often a response to injustice. With God this is good. His motives and reasons for anger are always pure and right. Your child’s anger is also often a response to injustice. But his motives and reasons are seldom pure and right.

A young child thinks he has been wronged because someone else has his toy. A middle-schooler is angry because others are not kind to her. A teenager struggles with anger because of guilt as a result of being entangled in the web of pornography. Children of any age can experience anger when they believe their parents do not understand them.

Paul, in Ephesians 4: 26-27, has important things to teach about anger.

First, anger is a part of life. Because your children live in a fallen world, there will always be things to be angry about. Sinful anger results when God is separated from personal anger. There must be a deep confidence that God sees all that is wrong. He has promised he will make all things right in his time (Romans 12:17-21 & 8:28)

Second, human anger must be quickly resolved. Paul says do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Ignoring anger leads to more anger. If your child, middle-schooler or teenager is angry, don’t settle for a quick solution. Do whatever it takes to get to the underlying problem.

Whatever it takes!

Modern life steals time from families. There are appointments, schedules, school, church and the many other things that demand to be done. Time is essential to address anger.

Unresolved anger provides a foothold for the enemy. Anger is like cancer, it doesn’t stop growing unless it is removed. If you only clean up the broken pieces of life caused by anger, the root problem remains.

Please hear me! Anger covered over and not resolved will grow into an ugly, tragic mess. Failing to take time now can result in losing years to the aftermath of anger later on.

What can you do?

Listen well. Listen for attitudes as well as words. Listen for hurt, disappointment, indifference and despair. Listen for a troubled heart.

Speak with words that address your children’s heart and not only their actions. Use pleasant words, avoid harsh, sharp responses. Know your children well enough to say words that will truly build them up.

Remember that you have to be a refuge before you can be a resource. Pray eagerly for God’s help! These things take time. There is no substitute!

Live in humility before God and your children. Don’t be dominated by anger in your heart. Take the time needed to address anger.

This post is from Shepherd Press, July 18th, 2015 and may be accessed here.
Featured image from www.publicdomainpictures.net. "Like an ice-breaker pushing huge chunks of ice in all directions, anger leaves a trail of broken pieces in its wake."
Posted by Jim Holmes in Current Issues, Family and Friends, Spirituality, Worldview, 0 comments

Responding to God’s Sovereignty in Our Circumstances: A Reading from C H Spurgeon

A Meditation from C H Spurgeon

365_Days_CHS_1_DSAs I have mentioned before, the insights, perspectives and applications of the nineteenth-century English preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, are both remarkable and abiding.

His ability to perceive truth and to draw lines of application from it to the situations ordinary people face was nothing short of remarkable. A young child once listening to him preach turned to his nanny and asked her, “Miss, why is Mr. Spurgeon speaking directly to me?” Others recounted that what he said from the pulpit came, as it were, as words directed to them personally from heaven.

Many people are puzzled by the intersection of God’s sovereignty, on the one hand, and human responsibility on the other. How do these matters fit together? There is a measure of confluence in these that we are not able completely to analyze, but which nevertheless are a part of the dynamic of our ongoing experience of life.

Consider Spurgeon’s brief meditation here. It is from a book of daily readings based on sermons he preached in the earlier phase of his ministry. Readers in the USA may buy the book at a discounted price, shipping-free, here.

A Wise Desire

“He shall choose our inheritance for us.” Psalm 47:4

Suggested Further Reading: Genesis 45:4-11

If you turn to the pages of inspiration, and read the lives of some of the most eminent saints, I think you will be obliged to see the marks of God’s providence in their histories too plainly to be mistaken. Take, for instance, the life of Joseph. There is a young man who from early life serves God. Read that life till its latest period when he gave commandment concerning his bones, and you cannot help marveling at the wondrous dealings of providence.

Did Joseph choose to be hated of his brethren? But, yet, was not their envy a material circumstance in his destiny? Did he choose to be put into the pit? But was not the putting into the pit as necessary to his being made a king in Egypt as Pharaoh’s dream? Did Joseph desire to be tempted of his mistress? He chose to reject the temptation, but did he choose the trial? No; God sent it. Did he choose to be put into the dungeon? No. And had he anything to do with the baker’s dream, or with Pharaoh’s either? Can you not see, all the way through, from first to last, even in the forgetfulness of the butler, who forgot to speak of Joseph till the appointed time came, when Pharaoh should want an interpreter, that there was truly the hand of God?

Joseph’s brethren did just as they liked when they put him into the pit. Potiphar’s wife followed the dictates of her own abandoned lust in tempting him. And yet, notwithstanding all the freedom of their will, it was ordained of God, and worked according together for one great end; to place Joseph on the throne; for as he said himself, “Ye meant it for evil, but God intended it for good, that he might save your souls alive!”

For meditation: You may find yourself in undesirable circumstances, but God can take these bad things and work them together for your good and his glory if you are his child (Romans 8:28). The all-knowing God knows what is best for us and can direct us clearly by our circumstances (Isaiah 48:17).

Sermon no. 33
8 July (1855)

Posted by Jim Holmes in Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Heritage, Reflections, Spirituality, Worldview, 0 comments

The Stars and the Stripes

USA_on_Globe

It’s July 4th!

Go on… Celebrate! And enjoy the words below!

 

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro’ the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


Words from http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/starspangledbanner.html
Featured image from www.publicdomainpictures.net
Posted by Jim Holmes, 0 comments

July Thoughts

Flag_large

Pray for America!

As we move into July, my thoughts turn to this great nation’s need for prayer. Consider the words recorded by Billy Graham in 2013:

‘Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable…

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from sin and Set us free. Amen!’

Heritage in a Hymn

Then consider the words of Samuel Francis Smith, composer of My Country, ‘Tis of Thee, in this prayer:

My country ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture fills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom’s song.
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God to, Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

Below is a musical rendering you might also enjoy watching.

 

Posted by Jim Holmes in Heritage, Reflections, Spirituality, Worldview, 0 comments

Tedd Tripp Talks about the Lifeline Mini-Books

Help!

Each title in the Shepherd Press imprint, Lifeline Mini-Books, begins with the word “Help!” And helpful is exactly what this series is intended to be.

In an earlier post, December 2014, I mentioned the release of some more titles. Subsequent to that, four more new ones have been published. Their details are linked below:

Help! I’m Being  Deployed

Help! My Anger Is Out of Control

Help! Someone I Love Has Alzheimer’s

Help! I’m in a Conflict

As I have previously expressed, the Lifeline Mini-Books are packed with biblical content, written with feeling and concern for readers in the issues covered (all the authors are in the trenches of ministry themselves–here is no ivory tower, distant academic theorizing!), written with personal application projects to help readers engage practically with the issues concerned, and, especially important, written with a call to turn from sin and trust the Savior. All this in just 10,000 words (that’s 64 pages of small-format reading) makes for an excellent resource to use and give away.

Consider this series of excellent resources in your ministry, your church, for your friends and family, and for your own use!

Two Minutes with Tedd Tripp

You may view a two-minute promotional of video of Tedd Tripp from the Lifeline Mini-Book website here, or click on the screen image below.

 

 

Posted by Jim Holmes in Current Issues, Gospel, New & Noteworthy, Publishing Books Today, Worldview, 0 comments

God’s Lightnings Enlightened the World

Lightning2

His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. (Psalm 97:4)

My son, aged twelve, and I were discussing Benjamin Franklin earlier, and the topic was lightning and why it strikes where it strikes. It led to a discussion on his views.

Matthew writes as follows:

Ben_FranklinBen Franklin, Matthew reports, believed we would be judged by our good works, so he decided to do some good for the town of Philadelphia. He started America’s first library, etc. He decided to try and discover the mystery of electricity, so he performed experiments to see whether electricity could kill a turkey. He observed some similarities in what he observed with lightning, and found that if he put a small metal ball near a metal rod, there would be a blue spark that made a small noise, similar to what happens with lightning (though on a much grander scale in the case of lightning).

Franklin performed an experiment in which he flew a kite on a stormy day to see if he could transfer electricity from the lightning via a key that was tied to his kite and, in turn, to his finger, to be transferred to a jar to be reused.

He published details of his experiment in his almanac that year, and it caused a stir among the clergy because, in their opinion, if lightning is an act of God, then if a person or a house gets struck by it (and you are trying to prevent it by using a metal rod), then you are interfering with divine forces. Ben Franklin argued that, since we put roofs over our heads to protect us from unbearable weather, as well as rain and hail, then why should we not protect ourselves from lightning?

Thoughts and Observations from Jim and Matthew’s Discussion

This led us to look up a few Bible verses on lightning. Ephesians 1:11 makes the point that God is working all things after the counsel of His own will. So that includes lightning as a direct act of God.

Some Bible verses specifically state:

Exodus 9:23-24

And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

Job 37:3

He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

Psalm 135:7

He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

As we considered these verses, and the video clip below, we thought of how wonderfully powerful God is, able simply to send millions of volts of power surging through the atmosphere!

To find out more Bible verses on the topic, visit this site here.

Enjoy this two-minute video with HD lightning strikes!

 

Featured image above, www.publicdomainimages.net
"Franklin-Benjamin-LOC" by Joseph-Siffrein Duplessis - Library of Congress LC-USZ62-25564. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin-Benjamin-LOC.jpg#/media/File:Franklin-Benjamin-LOC.jpg
Posted by Jim Holmes in Biblical Creationism, Technology, Worldview, 2 comments

With Casual Sincerity

A Meditation from C H Spurgeon

365_Days_CHS_1_DSThe insights, perspectives and applications of the nineteenth-century English preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, are both remarkable and abiding. Do we speak with sincerity and care as we engage with friends, neighbors, colleagues, and associates in our casual, day-to-day interactions? How easily do we promise to pray for someone and yet within minutes forget what the matter for prayer even was? How unlike the Lord from heaven we prove ourselves to be!

Consider Spurgeon’s brief meditation here. It is from a book of daily readings based on sermons he preached in the earlier phase of his ministry. Readers in the USA may buy the book at a discounted price, shipping-free, here.

 

The Best of Masters

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” John 14:27

Suggested Further Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

It is the same with the world at this day. Everyone greets us in writing with a “Dear sir,” or a “My dear sir,” and concludes with “Yours very truly,” and “Yours sincerely.” We call all “friends,” and if we meet but casually we express the utmost anxiety with regard to one another’s health, and we carefully enquire after each other’s families; when perhaps we shall no sooner have passed by the person than we shall forget his existence, and certainly shall entertain no anxious thoughts with regard to his welfare, nor any loving remembrance of him. The world gives very largely when it gives compliments. Oh, what blessings would descend upon all our heads, if the blessings uttered could be blessings bestowed. Even when the “Good bye” is given, which translated means, “God be with you”—if that could be but true, and if God could be with us, in answer to that prayer, so little understood, how rich might we be! But alas! the way of the world is, “Be ye warmed and filled;” but it has not that which should warm, nor that which should fill. It is a world of words; high-sounding, empty, all-deceiving words. Now this is not so with Christ. If he says “Peace be with you,” his benediction is most true and full of sweet sincerity. He left his own peace in heaven, that he might give the peace which he enjoyed with his Father, to us in this world of sorrow, for thus he puts it, “My peace I give unto you.” Christ, when he blesses, blesses not in word only, but in deed. The lips of truth cannot promise more than the hands of love will surely give. He gives not in compliment. Furthermore, even when the world’s wishes of peace are sincere, what are they but mere wishes?

For meditation: Greetings and best wishes from the lips of a Christian should be modelled on Christ, not the world. Do you go in for the “polite lie” or are your concerns for others genuine (Philippians 2:20; 3 John 2)?

Sermon no. 247
10 April (1859)

Posted by Jim Holmes in Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Reflections, Worldview, 0 comments

Gospel Hero of Hijacked Flight 961

Being Instant In Season and Out of Season

Being ready to testify for Christ is something we should be ready to do, even at a moment’s notice. Who knows when we might be called to a sudden and catastrophic event? How many people on German Wings Flight 9525 were ready and prepared for the sudden end that came upon them?

Titanics_Last_HeroThe story of the Titanic’s last hero is well known. John Harper was a passenger on board the luxury liner who loved Jesus and knew the fear of the Lord. He was also ready to depart this life at a moment’s notice. He gave up his life vest to another passenger floundering in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. And he urged his fellow strugglers, who were battling the waves, to call upon the name of the Lord. Even in those moments, the gospel call was going out! The story is told in the book, The Titanic’s Last Hero, by Moody Adams.

At over 20,000 feet…

Image from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/

A similar incident came to my attention earlier. A news and prayer update from Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association recounts an incident from 1996 when three hijackers seized control of an Ethiopian Airlines flight, attempting to force the pilots to fly to Australia, notwithstanding the fact that the aircraft, a Boeing 767, had fuel only enough for not more than one or two thousand miles. With the fuel now all depleted, the aircraft rapidly lost altitude and glided for between thirty and forty miles. Guided skilfully to an emergency water landing by the captain, Leul Abate, an experienced pilot, the plane came down smoothly at 200 miles per hour, but cartwheeled when one of its engine pods snagged a submerged coral reef off the Comoros Islands. Of the 175 people on board, 125 perished, many of then drowning as they were unable to exit the submerged plane wearing inflated life-jackets.

A Call at the Brink of Eternity

But just before their exit from this world to the next, they heard the wonderful old story of God’s love and grace, recounted urgently to them by a Kenya-based missionary, Andy Meakins, a passenger on the plane. Let Franklin Graham take up the story:

Andy Meakins was a gentle giant of the faith, an Englishman who loved Jesus Christ and served Him in Africa for many years. In 1996 an Ethiopian Airlines flight was hijacked and crashed into the ocean just off the Comoros Islands after running out of fuel—you may have heard the story. The dramatic moment of impact was caught on home video and broadcast around the world. Only later did we learn of something even more dramatic happening in the cabin as the plane headed for disaster.

Andy Meakins and his wife were on that plane, seated together. The hijackers demanded to be flown to Australia even though there wasn’t nearly enough fuel for that distance. As they neared the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean, one engine flamed out, and the pilot told passengers that the remaining engine would soon run out of fuel as well. Immediately, Andy’s wife heard the snap of a seatbelt being unbuckled and turned to see her husband stand up.

“Many of us might die in this crash,” he called out, “so there’s something you need to know.” Andy then began explaining the Gospel simply and urgently, moving to each part of the cabin so that everyone would hear. He invited people to place their trust in Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. A flight attendant heard Andy’s words, bowed her head, and asked Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her heart. She watched many more respond and, along with another survivor, later told the story. Of the 175 people on board, 125 died, including Andy, who was still on his feet preaching the Gospel as the plane hit the water.

Source Citation

I appreciate Franklin Graham’s recounting of this incident of a man ready to bear testimony just moments before the end of life. I had never heard of it. What a way to go! It illustrates powerfully how the Lord may call us to an instant and urgent task. Are we walking with Him and ready to do serve Him in ways such as this?


You can view an eight minute video summary of the facts of the incident in the History Channel YouTube video below.

Posted by Jim Holmes in Gospel, Spirituality, Worldview, 0 comments

Philip Henry and a Form of the Baptismal Covenant

A Form of the Baptismal Covenant from Philip Henry*

In our family devotions, we recently read the following from John Whitecross’ book, The Shorter Catechism Illustrated, Banner of Truth Trust reprint

Philip Henry drew up the following short form of the baptismal covenant, for the use of his children:

“I take God the Father to be my chief good and highest end. I take God the Son to be my Prince and Saviour. I take God the Holy Ghost to be my Sanctifier, Teacher, Guide, and Comforter. I take the Word of God to be my rule in all my actions, and the people of God to be my people in all conditions. I do likewise devote and dedicate unto the Lord, my whole self, all I am, all I have, and all I can do. And this do I deliberately, sincerely, freely, and for ever.”

This he taught his children; and they each of them solemnly repeated it every Lord’s Day in the evening, after they were catechized, he putting his amen to it, and sometimes adding, “So say, and so do, and you are made for ever.”

Online source citation

* Philip Henry, father of the Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, was a Puritan minister ejected under the Act of Uniformity 1662.

 

Posted by Jim Holmes in Heritage, Reflections, Spirituality, Theology, Westminster Standards, Worldview, 0 comments