Beyoncé at Halftime: Children, Social Justice & the Empowering of Women

John Stonestreet of Breakpoint had some good thoughts related to Beyoncé's halftime show at the Super Bowl. Please take a minute and read or listen to it in its entirety.

In all fairness, I didn't even see the halftime show, so I can't comment directly on its content. What I can heartily agree with though are some of the broader themes Stonestreet discusses as he addresses the hypersexualization of youth in our culture and the damaging effects it has. He states,

This is a social justice issue. And to the hipster Christian writers so concerned with social justice who celebrated Beyoncé’s performance as “empowering women,” shame on you. Beyoncé is unbelievably talented. But using sexuality for power is not a triumph for feminism. It only leads to the objectification and victimization of women, especially young ones. I will tell you that wives, watching their husbands watch Beyoncé, weren’t empowered.

Click here for the entire post.

Are You a Supermom?

I'm a firm believer in the concept that there is no more difficult (nor more underappreciated) job in all the world than being a mom. There has always been a lot of pressure on moms, and in this age where everyone is so quick to share their successes via social media (and conversely, so slow to share their failures), it seems to me that the pressure to "measure up" could often be crushing. And even if this isn't a temptation for you as a mom, your (righteous) desire to do what's best for your child is no doubt mingled with the reality that you at times fall short of this lofty goal.

Against this backdrop, Stephen Altrogge offers what I thought was a helpful word of encouragement for moms at his blog today. He writes,

Moms, Jesus wants you to chill out about being a mom. You don’t have to make homemade bread to be a faithful mom. You don’t have to sew you children’s clothing to be a faithful mom. You don’t have to coupon, buy all organic produce, keep a journal, scrapbook, plant a garden, or make your own babyfood to be a faithful mom. There’s nothing wrong with these things, but they’re also not in your biblical job description.

Altrogge goes on to present what that job description is:

1. Love God.
2. Love your husband (unless your a single mom, of course).
3. Love your children.

Click here to read the whole post and I'd love to hear your feedback...especially if you're a mom!

(HT: David Crabb)

Friday Fun...Take Your Child to Work Day

Brian Regan on the pride of fatherhood...

Parenting By God's Promises: Raising Children in the Covenant of Grace

Check out the promotional video below for the book Parenting by God's Promises: How to Raise Children in the Covenant of Grace by Joel Beeke. It looks to be a wonderful offering on the subject. I especially want to draw your attention to the 30 seconds between 1:47 and 2:17 in which Beeke quite succinctly states the basic idea behind gospel-centered parenting.


Parenting By God's Promises - Joel Beeke from Ligonier on Vimeo.

Well, Aren't You Adorable?

I saw this great post by Jeff Lawrence last night. It is a response to a Huffington Post piece written by Lisa Bloom entitled How to Talk to Little Girls.  In Bloom's article, which has been "liked" on Facebook by almost 400,000 people, she makes the point that with little girls, far too often the way we talk to them overemphasizes their physical attractiveness (e.g., "You're so cute..."), and, "Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything"

This, of course, only reinforces unhealthy cultural standards that they will face later in life, and serves to grease the skids toward their own practice of the idolatry of beauty. Instead, Bloom asserts, we need to interact with young girls in such a way that sets them up for, "A life of meaning, a life of ideas and reading books and being valued for our thoughts and accomplishments."

This is where Lawrence adds what I feel is a helpful insight to the conversation. Reading, independent thought and accomplishments are all good things. As is physical beauty for that matter. But, as Tim Keller points out in Counterfeit Gods, when we make any good thing an ultimate thing, it has supplanted God and becomes an idol. To guard our daughters from this, Lawrence suggests the following:

I must recognize that I cannot control all of the voices that my daughter will hear. She will always live in a world that overvalues her beauty. She will also have to deal with pressures to measure up intellectually and educationally and financially. Countless voices will praise, or criticize, her according to unhealthy standards.

I cannot control all of the voices that my daughter will hear, but I do know which one I want to be the loudest in her ears. It is not the voice of her boyfriend, or the academic advisor at her college, or the CEO of her company, or even my voice as her father. It is the voice of Jesus.

Her deepest longing is not to be loved for her beauty, praised for her intelligence, or admired for her performance. No, the deepest longing of the human heart is to be loved, and this longing is so deep that only God can fill it.

That's the beauty of the gospel: Jesus doesn't love us because we are beautiful. Or smart, or talented, or anything else. He loves us as we are, in all our unloveliness, because of his grace. And that's the most beautiful thing of all.

Children in the life of the Church

"Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:13-14 ESV)

The other day, Kevin DeYoung had a post with a couple helpful suggestions on how to have a prayer service at your church. Of all the wise advice included, I was especially pleased to read what he had to say in regards to the inclusion of children:

Keep the kids. I know that keeping kids in the church service, let alone a prayer service, can be challenging. We do have a nursery for infants and toddlers on Sunday night. But one of the best things about our prayer service is that many children are present. They sit in the small group circles (when we break up into groups) and often contribute with the adults. I can’t tell you how pleased I am when one of my kids prays in our circle. I’m just as pleased that they are seeing prayer modeled by believers from outside their family and from every age group. They get to hear confessions, praises, and supplications just like everyone else. We are teaching our children to pray by having a prayer service. We are also demonstrating that prayer really matters.

Far too often we fail to include children in our church activity, either because we (like the disciples in Matthew 19) find them to be an unnecessary distraction, or perhaps because we feel they're not mature enough to understand what's going on anyway. Before we fall prey to this prevalent though faulty way of thinking, let us consider the words of R.C. Sproul Jr.:

"There is every reason to believe that little children do not have the capacity to believe the gospel. They lack that which is necessary. The good news, however, is that no person has the capacity to believe the gospel. Not one of us can believe on our own, not because we aren't smart enough, but because we aren't good enough. What stops the little children from believing is not an underdeveloped brain, but a wicked heart. But God is stronger than both underdeveloped brains and wicked hearts."

 For a couple other posts in this vein, click here and here.

The Jesus Storybook Bible

Yesterday I passed on a blog post by Dane Ortlund in which he asked a number of theologians to attempt to share the message of the Bible in a single sentence.  It got me to thinking of how many people (Christians and non-Christians alike) have a  faulty conception of the Bible, considering it merely a book of rules we must follow.  At the same time, others see it as a book of heroes we should emulate.  In her introduction to The Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd-Jones offers what is, in my opinion, a quite helpful corrective:

No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes.  The Bible is most of all a Story.  It's an adventure story about a young Hero who came from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne — everything — to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that have come true in real life!

You see, the best thing about this story is — it’s true.

There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.

It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every
story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a  puzzle — the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

I highly recommend The Jesus Storybook Bible, not only for children, but for adults as well.  I have personally found reading it to be quite devotional in nature.  As I pointed out in  Part 1 of last year's Disney series, I greatly appreciate this idea that the Bible tells the one true Story.  And I especially enjoy the way Lloyd-Jones tells the Old Testament stories in a way that is simple and Christ-exalting, realizing that all of them ultimately point to him.

If you'd like to check it out, free MP3 and PDF downloads are available at The Jesus Storybook Bible website.

How to Encourage Your Kid to Leave the Church

I read a great blog post today by Scott Linscott addressing the fact that so many young adults are leaving the Church.  In it he offers the following suggestions for those who want to do all they can to make sure their kids join the ranks of those who are apathetic about faith:

1. Put academic pursuits above faith-building activities.
2. Chase the gold ball first and foremost.
3. Teach your kid that the dollar is almighty.
4. Refuse to acknowledge that the primary motivating force in kids’ lives is relationship.
5. Model apathy in your own life.

There are subpoints beneath some of these and a whole lot of good explanation on them all.  If you're a parent, I'd encourage you to check out his whole post here.

(HT: Craig Dunham)

A Father's Love

As the school year is just about to get under way here in Michigan, I am amazed at how fast my kids are growing up. It's an odd thing, because I remember how old I felt when I was their age, and at the same time I still see them as the little babies we brought home from the hospital.

Growing up is hard for kids, but it might be even harder on parents. Frank Cusumano of KSDK-TV, the NBC affiliate in my old hometown of St. Louis, recently did a fantastic feature on taking his oldest child off to college. As someone who was trained in sports broadcasting, I always admired the excellence with which Frank exercised his craft. Among the many great stories I saw him do though, this one stands out head and shoulders above the rest.

If you have children, please let me commend this piece to you. It's well worth the five minutes it will take to check it out.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

"It would be a good thing for us all if we had never left off being boys and girls, but had added to all the excellencies of a child the virtues of a man. Surely it is not necessary to kill the child to make the saint." (Come Ye Children, pg. 15)

Faith Like a Child (Part 2)

It truly is amazing the way that children can see past many of the distractions that we get caught up in and focus simply on what really matters. Last month I posted on a conversation that I had with my six-year-old daughter to that effect. I was reminded of that post today when informed of a conversation that my sister had with her daughter, who, like mine, is in kindergarten.

As she was driving home from scouts the other night, her daughter matter-of-factly declares, "I think I am going to like going to heaven. Did you know you don't have to pack to go there? You already have everything you need to see Jesus. Plus, you're dead so you really don't need anything."

Indeed.

Faith Like a Child

One of my greatest joys in all of life is when my children ask me good, biblically-informed questions. My daughter just turned six about a month ago. Today, while giving her a ride to school, we had the following conversation out of the blue:

C: Dad, Where does God live?

Me: In Heaven.

C: Where’s that?

Me: We don’t know for sure.

C: Doesn’t the Bible say that when He comes back, He’ll come on the clouds?

Me: Yes, it does!

C: Then heaven must be in the sky.

For a second, I actually thought about explaining to her that while it’s certainly possible that she was right, it's also possible that “on the clouds” could just be a metaphor referring to “in great glory.” Instead, I think I did the wise thing: I commended her for being very bright and I silently gave thanks to God for the fact that He is already working in my six-year-old child’s heart to pique her interest of spiritual things.

Children in Worship

R. Scott Clark blogs today on the benefits of children partaking in worship with their parents on Sunday morning. He writes:

Yes, having children in church means that it will be slightly less entertaining and possibly less moving emotionally. It’s a little harder to be enraptured by the latest chorus when your child is fidgeting next to you or someone else’s is wailing in your left ear. That’s okay. You might not have the same emotional “high” this week as you did when there was children’s church. That’s okay. Worship isn’t about your experience of religious ecstasy. It’s about hearing God and responding appropriately, according to his Word.

God doesn’t mind that your emotional experience is less intense. He takes the long view. Your children will grow up not segregated from public worship and the means of grace. They’ll grow up a part of the community of the redeemed and watching baptisms (so they can see what happened to them). They’ll see the supper administered and they'll ask, “When can I have it?” They’ll hear the Law and the Gospel and they’ll grow up knowing that this is their identity, that it’s really true, that God said, “I will be your God and your children’s God.”

Read the entire post here.

Child-Friendly Church

Beth Lewis Samuelson urges our churches to be more child-friendly in this article.

In a child-tolerant church, families with small, squirmy children are truly welcomed, not separated and exiled. An infant’s vocalizing, a dropped toy, the movement of a restless child in a pew—all are viewed with tolerance, if not sympathy. Parents whose small children start to scream get up and take them to the cry room or the church foyer. The few moments of noise as a child is carried out are endured by the congregation and politely ignored. No one enjoys the disruption, of course, but all are mindful of having been in the same position or, at least, that all are called to “suffer little children to come unto me.”

(HT: Kevin Golden)

The Gospel for Children

John Piper with a great word on preaching the Gospel to children:

President Obama's School Speech

President Obama is going to address school children across our nation on Tuesday. This has been met with some trepidation on the part of conservative Christians who fear that their children might have their impressionable young minds shaped by the smooth talking of a President who does not share their values.

Regardless of your political bent though, Doug Wolter has what I would consider some good thoughts for Christians regarding this topic.

Some Great Parenting Advice

Saw this from Doug Wolter yesterday and thought it was particularly sound parenting advice. If we want to be better parents, why not be shaped and molded by our perfect Father?