Micah 7 - Look to the Lord

This Sunday we are in Micah chapter 7, the last chapter of the book.

Micah encourages us not to look to man for the solutions to our problems, but to God.

"Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me." (Micah 7:7)

Our hope is in God not man.

--Craig

NPR on the Quiverfull movement ...will wonders never cease?

When notoriously liberal National Public Radio does a report on the large-family trend among homeschooling Christians, you naturally expect a full-scale hatchet job, full of ridicule and inaccuracies.

But actually, this is a pretty fair and positive article .... with the exception of a snarky undertone in a paragraph or two.

In Quiverfull Movement, Birth Control Is Shunned

Among some conservative Christians, a movement is giving new meaning to the biblical mandate to "be fruitful and multiply."

The movement, called Quiverfull, is based on Psalm 127, which says, "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them."

Those in the Quiverfull movement shun birth control, believing that God will give them the right number of children. It turns out, that's a lot of kids.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Sunday School: Alarming Statistics

In the category of "things that make you go, hmmm...."

But first, a disclaimer.

At Heritage Family Church we do not care to be known as anti-Sunday school.

True, because of our convictions about keeping families together for worship and Bible study, we do not have a Sunday school program. And yes, we question the wisdom of an age-segregated, family-separating approach to Christian education.

But when there are so many ungodly and unscriptural abominations all around us, it doesn't make sense to focus a great deal of "anti-ness" on a well-meant program like Sunday school. For all of its weaknesses, Sunday school has reached many people for Christ and has no doubt been a blessing to many of the Lord's people.

So I don't post this in a spirit of attack or gloating, and frankly I'm not really sure what to make of it.

Ken Ham (Answers in Genesis) and Britt Beamer (from America’s Research Group), in their new book, Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do about it, reveal this startling fact:

Based on research among young adults aged 20 to 29 who attended conservative, evangelical churches when they were younger, those who attended Sunday school regularly as kids were more likely to leave the church and depart from the faith than those who didn't.

Read about it here:

A Shock to the Church

Micah 5 - O Little Town of Bethlehem

Micah chapter 5 contains the famous prophecy that predicted the Messiah would be born in the very little town of Bethlehem.

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel" (Micah 5:2)

The Bible contains many prophecies. It has proven to be 100% accurate and true. It can be trusted ... and must be believed.

--Craig


O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Violence in Mexico

We received this email from the Daniel White family about the ministry situation in Mexico.



Dear Prayer Team,

I write to you tonight heavy of heart and burdened for Mexico. On Monday I went to visit pastors and orphanages in Morales, Nava, and Piedras Negras. They are all concerned about the current situation in their towns. In particular, Pastor Esquivel was very concerned. He told me that just last week the army battled the drug cartel right in his neighborhood. He said bullets were flying everywhere and they felt so helpless. Many of you have visited the Home for the Disabled, you have been in that neighborhood that is now a war zone.

As a result of the increased violence, the economic crisis in America, and the recent swine influenza, most of the mission groups are no longer coming and helping. Missionary John Bevins told me that several mission teams (over a hundred people) that had planned to come during Spring Break canceled their trips. Only six people ended up coming to help him with much needed work at the children's home in Morelos. Br. Esquivel also told me that many of the groups that come and bring them supplies on a regular basis are not coming and they are now in need of basic supplies.

These are just a few of the stories to illustrate the hard times that our friends are going through in Mexico. They need our prayers, they need our encouragement. Please commit to pray for Mexico, to pray for the churches and orphanages that we work with.

I was also told tonight that a lady in El Paso was just recently kidnapped and taken across into Mexico to be held for ransom. This is not an isolated case. The violence in Mexico has spilled across the border and is US cities all along the US/Mexico border. So far, we have not heard of anything happening here in Eagle Pass, but unless something changes soon, it will only be a matter of time.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support of our ministries and our family.

Daniel White Family

Dr. Thomas White: Children are a Blessing! (AUDIO)

As a follow-up to yesterday's post about changing perspectives on family reformation in the Southern Baptist Convention, here's a remarkable audio excerpt from a sermon on Psalm 127.

It was preached last Fall during a chapel service at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX.

The speaker is Dr. Thomas White, Vice-President for Student Services and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Seminary.

This could have been preached on a Sunday morning at Heritage Family Church. In fact, it might be a little extreme for some of us!

Only those who have followed the SBC over several decades can appreciate how utterly breathtaking it is to hear this message being preached at a SBC seminary.

But quite apart from the SBC context, this is just good stuff. The excerpt is about twenty minutes long. Don't miss Dr. White's adoption testimony at the end.

Click, give it a minute to load ... then listen and appreciate the clear presentation of truth!

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary - Chapel Audio - October 7, 2008

Are Southern Baptists embracing family reformation?

This statement on the priority of the family and the blessing of children reads as though it were written by a group of fathers from Heritage Family Church.

In fact it was drafted by a Southern Baptist seminary president.

It is endorsed by Johnny Hunt, the Georgia mega-church pastor who currently serves as SBC president.

It already has over three thousand on-line signatures of support from Southern Baptist leaders.

It will be presented for adoption by the ten thousand or so messengers attending the SBC annual meeting later this month in Louisville, KY.



It is part of a document called, the "Great Commission Resurgence Declaration." The "declaration" lays out ten commitments the authors believe are needed for a renewal of evangelism and missions among Southern Baptists.

The first nine commitments deal with such matters as a commitment to the Lordship of Christ, to the inerrancy of Scripture, to the centrality of the gospel, to sound biblical preaching, to a more effective convention structure, etc.

At the very close of the document, though, is commitment #10, a "Commitment to Distinctively Christian Families." It is a truly remarkable statement.

For those who may wonder why I am even bringing this up, it's worth noting that many in our fellowship have a Southern Baptist background. While our church is non-denominational and independent in affiliation, our primary confession of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message, is a Southern Baptist confession.

Some of our families have had discouraging experiences with fine Southern Baptist churches that were unsympathetic to their convictions about family renewal, the blessing of children, and the restoration of the home as the center of education and discipleship.

Some of these less-than-pleasant experiences are due to churches being bound by tradition or being over-protective of scripturally questionable programs, such as youth ministries and children's church.

On the other hand, some of us at times have been guilty of over-zealousness, immaturity, or impatience in our dealings toward those with honest misgivings about our family convictions. I know for a fact this has been true of me.

But I believe we can all rejoice in changing attitudes among SBC churches regarding family reformation. May we be as humble and open to Spirit-led change in our traditions and practices as some of these Southern Baptist brothers are.

Here is the statement about the family (Commitment #10). The whole thing is a blessing, but I couldn't help highlighting a few sentences in italics.

X. A Commitment to Distinctively Christian Families.

We call upon all Southern Baptists to build gospel-saturated homes that see children as a gift from God and as our first and primary mission field. (Deut. 6:1-9; Psalm 127, 128; Eph. 6:4)

The family is the first institution ordained by God and the foundational institution in all human cultures. Unfortunately, in our own time we see the family attacked on a number of fronts. Too many Southern Baptists have embraced unbiblical notions about marriage and family. Too often we believe that children are a burden rather than a blessing and smaller families are more “responsible” than large families. Too many believe that motherhood is not valuable as a woman’s unique and primary calling and is not as “fulfilling” as other occupations. Too many believe that husbands and fathers are not uniquely called and gifted for leadership in the home and that biblical gender roles destroy authentic equality.

We believe that distinctively Christian families are characterized by a deep love of Jesus Christ above all things and a desire to honor God as a family. We believe that Biblical truth is loved, taught, and lived out in healthy Christian homes. We believe that godly families cast a vision for spiritual greatness and equip every member, including children, to live for God’s glory and pursue great things for His name’s sake. We believe that strong Christian families are characterized by an atmosphere of love, fun, service, humor, faith, and fellowship. Southern Baptists must continue to reject the cultural status quo and seek to be a counter-culture for the common good when it comes to building God-centered, gospel-driven, Great Commission-loving homes.

GreatCommissionResurgence.com