Missio Dei Suburbia

Choosing Thomas

The Dallas Morning News has posted a video about the story of T. K. and Deidrea Laux, an evangelical couple who decided to give birth to their son, Thomas, despite the fact that he had the DNA abnormality Trisomy 13.

There isn't a person I know who's watched this who hasn't ended up crying like a baby - this is what happens when we come face-to-face with the realities of a broken world and the curse-reversing effects of a love fueled by the gospel.

Discipleship Begins At Home

Dream: to see churches disciple children more effectively.

Making that dream possible: churches who equip parents to disciple their kids.

Winfield Bevins provides parents with a helpful list of practical ways to pass along the Christian faith to their children:

• Find a good children’s Bible.
• Remember to have fun with your children while learning the Bible.
• Keep the time brief to hold the child's attention.
• Recite the verse several times a day in your child's presence so it becomes familiar to them.
• Make flash cards with Scripture on one side and the book, chapter, and verse on the other.
• Put the verse to music or rhythm. Your child will enjoy singing and clapping their hands.
• Think of fun activities to make the verse fun and easy to remember.
• Tell them you are proud of them and have them recite it to someone else, like a grandparent or teacher.
• Pray with your children every day at meals and before they go to bed at night.

Check out Winfield's entire series of posts on discipleship in the home here.

Homemaking and Mission

From Girl Talk...

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Expect Perfection

One of the unintended consequences of teaching our children to pursue holiness is that they can begin to expect or assume that everyone they come into contact with has grown up walking that same path.

Case in point - watching something die in the heart of a student who finds out that his girlfriend or her boyfriend has previous sexual experience. Mind you, this took place before this particular relationship had begun, so we're not talking about betrayal within the relationship.

But the situation is no less devastating - the dream of a first kiss or first touch dies with that confession. But my greater concern is that somehow our parenting has traded in the gospel for religion. To the degree that we not only call our children to personal holiness but (unintentionally) demand the same for their friends or even future spouses, are we discounting the transforming power of grace?

Is the young woman who has been changed by the gospel, leading her to confess to her fiancee that she has a sexual history - is she now damaged goods, suffering from evangelical leprosy, unfit to be loved by someone who grew up dreaming of a virginal bride? Can any good Christian girl stay together with a guy who confesses that he struggles with porn or same-sex attraction?

Sex and the Teenage Girl

Caitlin Flanagan writes in the NY Times: female desire can bring with it a form of punishment no man can begin to imagine, and so it is one appetite women and girls must always regard with caution.

Denny Burk responds...

Anthony Bradley - Bringing Some Old School Funk

I've really liked Anthony Bradley since I heard him speak at the Reform and Resurge Conference in Seattle in '06. I liked him even more after hanging out in the back of a hotel ballroom in Atlanta during the 2006 PCA General Assembly.

I've thought Anthony is an important voice in the continuing conversation called the Gospel - particularly because of his concern about what the church has done and is doing to men - the image in your head should be Jackie Sherrill castrating a bull.

If you don't think this is a serious issue in the church, check out what Anthony has to say about why more than a few guys in their 20s and 30s want to die - literally. And then read this as just a reminder that more than a few men have grown up completely smothered by their mothers.

Oh, and then for grins and giggles, read what Anthony posted over at the World Magazine blog about the role that growing up in a conservative suburban evangelical church may have played in leading Matthew Murray to go on a shooting spree in Colorado recently. I'm not going to lie to you - I spend alot of time with students at UGA who haven't gotten to where Murray was, but they're pissed off and confused because what they got growing up in church was something other than or in addition to Jesus and it's done nothing but jack up their world. And like Murray, more than a few guys that I know who don't fit the 'influential, extroverted, key guy' stereotype that many churches and ministries target live with a lot of  bitterness and flat-out anger that they don't know what to do with.  Massive problem.

And here's one last post from Anthony - his net worth is somewhere in the neighborhood of $-50,000. I post that only because I'm swimming in the same financially choppy water - $40,000 of student loans will do that to you. For me and Lindsey, that means we're starting our own Total Money Makeover thanks to Dave Ramsey - we'll keep you posted.

When Jesus Doesn't Make A Difference

What are suburban Christian parents doing to guarantee their kids will end up in counseling? Find out here.

Bible Story Books for Children

Finding childrens' story Bibles that actually focus on the story of the gospel is more difficult than it needs to be. Al Mohler provides a great service in posting about two great resources for younger children here and a resource for older kids here.