On Friday 2/21/11 Makoto Fujimura was featured on Fox News Live. If you happened to miss the broadcast, tune in below to see Fujimura’s interview where he briefly discussed The Four Holy Gospels project.
Archive for February, 2011
Nancy Guthrie on Facing Death with Courageous Confidence in God
Justin Taylor interviews Nancy Guthrie on her new compilation called O Love that Will Not Let Me Go. Guthrie’s new book helps readers re-think how to view and handle the reality of death with courageous confidence in God. In the video below Guthrie discusses the project, why she compiled it, how it affected her, and how she thinks it can be used:
Celebrate the history of the KJV with Crossway
Join Crossway April 1-3 and celebrate the heritage of the English bible. Dr. Leland Ryken, author of The Legacy of the King James Bible, and Dr. Rhett Dodson, Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church, will be speaking on the historical, theological and cultural impacts of the King James Version. A time for Q & A will allow attendees to interact with the speakers.
The conference will be held at Grace Presbyterian Church in Hudson, OH and is free of charge. Register online here.
Do We Spend More Time Correcting or Affirming in Relationships?
A shortage of affirmation explains many things in relationships, from teenage rebellion to failed marriages. Affirmation withers up, and with it, the relationship. Meanwhile, ongoing corrections can make relationships more and more painful.
What does it look like to restore a pattern of affirmation to a relationship? At first the other person may not believe you, or receive affirmation well from you. That’s because of the deficit. Your checking account [so to speak] is in the hole.
Here are some practical suggestions to reverse the trend of an overly corrective relationship:
- If she has stopped listening to you, quit preaching.
- Stop moralizing about listening: “You should be listening to me!” Instead, ask the Holy Spirit to do his job.
- Affirm. Stay up nights if you have to, thinking of ways to say what is so commendable in him.
- Keep up a steady, tender flow of words and gestures that confirm and commend them.
- Model. We don’t affirm any particular quality we don’t personally embrace and exemplify in some appreciable measure. If we try to commend punctuality while always running late ourselves, our hypocritical compliments become off-putting.
- Love the unchanged person as is. Be a blessing to that person before he listens to you.
Things are moving in the right direction when affirmation, not correction, is the pattern. Relationships are healthy when so much affirmation is being spread around that no one is keeping track of either affirmation or correction, because the relationship doesn’t feel predominately demanding, but refreshing. This is not a matter of a raw mathematical ratio, but a perception from the other person’s point of view. This requires us to see things through others’ eyes. Do they see us as affirming?
Content modified from Practicing Affirmation, by Sam Crabtree. Learn more here.
Building a Foundation of Worship in Marriage
In lieu of Valentine’s Day, we thought it timely to consider how relationships, and marriage in particular, must be rooted in something other than romance.
Some of you already know that you don’t always feel romantic feelings toward your spouse, especially when he or she is not being particularly lovable. A healthy marriage of love, unity, and understanding must first be rooted in worship.
Worship in this sense is not an hour once a week full of songs and a sermon. Rather, worship should be our identity, the thing drives our every decision. We should not be driven by our career, our spouse, or our hobbies. It should be rooted in pleasing God in every action.
So what does this look like in marriage? Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Worship God as Creator. Look at your spouse as an artistic creation of God. He designed every trait and talent your spouse possesses. Seeing your spouse in this light will help you treat him or her with the respect God’s creation deserves.
- Worship God as sovereign. He brought you and your spouse together through unforeseen circumstances. You bring different backgrounds and experiences into the marriage that should work together, not serve as points of conflict or ridicule.
- Worship God as Savior. It doesn’t take long to realize that you have married a sinner. As you reflect on God’s saving grace for you, you will be reminded that your spouse is not the only sinner in the room in need of redemption. This will allow you to be more graceful and forgiving toward your spouse and encourage their growth and redemption
Content from What Did You Expect? by Paul David Tripp. As a little holiday gift, we’d like to give away two signed copies of What Did You Expect. Here’s how you can win. Simply leave a note in the comments section telling us either 1. Practical ways you and your spouse worship God in your marriage 2. Tips or elements from a successful marriage that you’ve experienced or witnessed in others or 3. Why you’d really like a copy of this book.
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