Briefing

Well, the Briefing team have managed to do it again. Just as I had decided (again) that I would cancel my subscription as I never have time to read it - they come out with an issue I really want to read.

It arrived in my inbox last night and I read it straight away. Thankfully for you non-subscribers out there, the main article by Toni and Roger Lindeback, Raising Kids in a Sex-Crazed World, is available online. For those with kids and those who minister to kids, it's definitely worth reading, as well as printing a copy to keep. There is also a book review on Getting Real (which I also looked at earlier this year).

The other very helpful article was by Jean Williams, Love, sex and romance: Sexual purity for every woman. Sadly that is not available online, but I can send a copy of the Briefing to anyone who wants it (allowable with their copyright requirements), so if you would like to read it & I highly recommend you do, email me. Alternatively you can buy a emailed copy of the whole issue from Matthias Media.

One to one ministry, and ministry apprenticeships

I have just got around to reading The Briefing for this month, amazingly I actually read it in the month it was published!

The focus this month is on 'one-to-one ministry' - meeting with one other person regularly to read the bible and pray.

If you don't normally get the Briefing, this one is worth buying.

Have a think about whether you meet with anyone to read the bible together, and if not, ask yourself "why not?". Surely you and someone else could benefit from it? Why not take that scary step and ask someone to read the bible with you - it could be a friend, an older mentor, a new Christian or a younger mentoree (is that a word?!).

Isobel Lin, in her article "Women, awkwardness and one to one", lists three benefits of reading the bible with someone:

1. Reading the Bible together can protect us from becoming self-absorbed (we don't spend the whole time talking about ourselves)
2. Reading the Bible together can protect us for favouritism (we can meet with people we don't know very well)
3. Reading the Bible together can give us the priceless treasure of a friendship that has been enriched by God's word

And don't think by the title of that article, one to one ministry is only for women, most of the rest of the issue talks about men meeting together.


There is also a very helpful article by Col Marshall for those considering full-time ministry and the importance of doing a ministry apprenticeship before having theological training. Some of his reasons include:

• apprentices learn to integrate Word, life and ministry practice
• apprentices are tested in character
• apprentices are well-prepared for theological study (a point Husband & I would definitely agree with, have not done a apprenticeship and having gone straight to college. The people who had done a MAP/MTS program were more aware of the issues of ministry as they studied and the questions they needed to answer for ministry)
• apprentices learn ministry in the real world
• and a few more...

Worth getting your hands on if you thinking through such things...


I can email a copy of the eBriefing to any one who is interested (which is allowable under the copyright requirements). Leave a comment with your details (I will not publish it!) and I'll send it to you.

The Briefing - May

I have just finished reading this month's e-Briefing, and highly recommend it to you.

The topic this month is Purity in the Age of Porn and it contains a number of helpful articles.

In Sexual Immorality: Some Thoughts from Corinth Gordon Cheng talks about how the first and final solution to dealing with sexual sin is the death and resurrection of Jesus. We cannot jump in first with ways and tips to help each other, but must first come to grips with what Jesus has done for us on the cross, and how that must shape all of how we live.

In The naked truth about porn, James Warren talks through the realities of life today, where TV, the movies and most predominately the internet, ensure that porn of all types has a AAA rating "Available, Affordable, Anonymous". James evens attempts a helpful definition of porn "explicit material designed to promote sexual desire outside God's design".

James discusses 3 reasons why porn actually is bitter, because it reinforces three distortions of the life that God wants for us. It distorts sex, distorts relationships and distorts ourselves.

He goes on to suggest 4 ways we can deal better with these issues:

1. We need to be mindful of diversity - some people have no issues with porn, others dabble in it and others are addicted to it. We have to understand that it is a problem for some, but not all - and therefore we must be aware of it, and never dismiss it out of hand

2. We need to be honest - we need to be opposed to all porn and have 'absolutely no porn' as our goal. Those who struggle in this way need to be honest with some trusted friends who will help to keep them accountable.

3. We need to be supportive - help those who struggle, for those who do struggle in this area "face a long, hard and lonely path with little support. The discipline required is immense, and the process is humiliating".

4. We need to speak up publicly. Christians are in danger of saying too little on this topic, "yet we have immensely valuable things to say about sex to our society. By not speaking up, we end up capitulating to and condoning the world's agenda."

A helpful article in many many ways.


In Making Singleness Better, Tim Adeney talks about how to love and serve single people in our churches. As you can see from the title, I have linked to the full article which is available online. The most insightful quote that I found from this article is:

Paul was not married, but neither was he lonely. I think he would see this epidemic of loneliness as a major moral failure of the church to be the church, and, perhaps, more particularly, a moral failure of families to treat those not in their family as family. The church is a family, and we are to treat those in the church as family—not by lowering the standard with which we treat our family, but by raising the standard with which we treat others.

He goes on to give suggestions about how our families could operate better to include single people, and how are churches could also do a better job within their own structure and design.

He also encourages singles to take advantage of the freedoms of being single, but also to be careful about it - to ensure they are embedded in a community.


Gordon Cheng also reviews Walking with Gay Friends, by Alex Tylee. He says:

Tylee's book is short and readable. It is particularly useful for readers who are Christians or readers who are open to hearing that there is hope of rescue from homosexual sin. The style is friendly and familiar, and manages to avoid the twin evils of being preachy and patronizing. There is a reading list at the end, which includes Christopher Keane's What Some of You Were. I recommend both books as readable, biblically challenging and pastorally compassionate treatments of homosexuality.

A book I now will try to read.

And finally, Simon Roberts in Avoiding the traps of an online world, takes on the issues of sexual immorality online and how to manage them wisely. He gives some very helpful practical tips on how to use computer software to protect you and your family and to help keep ourselves accountable. Some of these are filter software and others are programs that report on your internet usage to another person.

As part of this, he makes two very helpful points:
1. "We should not expect to find a technological solution to a theological problem" . We must actually try to become more Christlike in everything.
2. However, like in any area of sin, help is available and we should use whatever help we can that works for us.

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This is one issue that is certainly worth having.


My understanding of the eBriefing copyright requirements is that I can send anyone a copy of it, as long as it is not more than 2 issues per year. So, if you would like a copy - let me know via a comment, and I will email it to you.

Motherhood

Well, it's taken some time to finally getting around to reading the articles that I had put aside from the October Briefing, mainly on Motherhood.

I found the article from Lesley Ramsay helpful at a number of points. She stated that 'in God's eyes, what you do as a parent matters more than any other job you will ever have'. This is a good reminder that what I do as a mother counts and is important. I found her explanation of how 'not to love your children' extremely helpful. She said that we are not to idolise our children, make them the centre of our lives or make our goals for them the same as that of the worlds: 'They may say, "'You don't love us!" but we should reply, "I do love you. I just love Jesus more. And so should you." ' (I have the eBriefing so if you want a copy, ask me, copyright lets me send it on with some restrictions.)

Nicole had highlighted in her post that there were additional articles available online. I downloaded the ones from JC Ryle on the Duties of Parents (2 parts). It was obviously written some time ago, as the language was more formal than we usually read. However, it was great. Insightful, forceful and biblical. It's long, so you need to be ready to sit down with it for a while. He starts looking at Prov 22:6 (Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it), and then goes on to outline 17 (!) things we should be training our children in. I especially liked the ones on training them to a knowledge of the bible and training them to a habit of prayer. You may not agree with everything he says, especially perhaps in the later points, but I found it a timely reminder nonetheless to continue to think about how we train our children in the Lord.

Both of these articles emphasised the importance of the home as the place of training, and the role of mothers (mainly) in this role. As a stay-at-home mum, I was reminded that just because I do not work outside the home, I cannot assume my kids get more time from me - if I choose to fill it with washing, cooking, cleaning, blogging (!), rather than with them.

There was an interesting article in The Australian paper today "The momification of the US first lady", which reports that Michelle Obama has decided "to the chagrin of Democratic feminists" to be a mom-in-chief and give up her job. The mood from feminists seems to be that because she can be in a high-paying job and she has degrees from Princeton and Harvard she should be using them. Columnist Ruth Marcus is reported as complaining "when the needs of our families collide with the demands of our jobs, it is usually the woman's career that yields".

To which I want to reply 'of course' and 'so what?'. How is the 'feminist agenda' come to this where they think (for example) that a family with two young children who are about to be the most public in the world do not need their mother looking after them, and it is entirely appropriate that she should be the one doing so (seeing her husband was elected, following a path they decided on, to a rather busy job).

I do find the constant belittling of women who choose to stay home tiring. And it is a choice - I feel privileged to have the choice - not all women do. My husband has to work, but I have the choice. And (most days!) I am very happy with my choice.

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By the way, the article on Children of Divorce (Generation Ex) by Karen Beilharz was excellent. I thought her suggestions on how to reach out as friends and churches to children of divorce very helpful and her general comments were very insightful to someone who has had no personal experience in this.