A couple of weeks ago I offered a series of bullet points on the subject of death. I guess it’s no less strange to equate bullet points with marriage. Nevertheless, according to the Bible, marriage is…

…Instituted by God, Uniting One Man and One Woman

Matthew 19:4-6 - “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh' [Genesis 2:24]? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

…A Portrait of Christ and His Bride, the Church

Ephesians 5:31-32 - “‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ [Genesis 2:24]. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

…To Be Honored

Hebrews 13:4 - “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

…A Source of Trouble, Divided Interests, and Anxiety

1 Corinthians 7:28, 33-34 - “But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. … But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.”

…Not Every Person’s Calling

1 Corinthians 7:7-8 - “I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.”

…Meant to Be Permanent in This Life

Mark 10:11-12 - “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” (cf. Luke 16:18; Matthew 19:8-9; Romans 7:2-3)

…Impermanent in Eternity

Matthew 22:30 - “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” (cf. Mark 12:25; Luke 20:35-36)

…Fulfilled In Christ’s Return

Revelation 19:6-9 -

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

‘Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure’--

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’”

There are many, many resources available to us if we wish to teach our children their Bible stories so they can live moral and upright lives. We can teach them to be like Noah, that man of great faith who endured years of scorn before finally receiving vindication; we can teach them that David trusted God and marched into battle against the giant and that they, too, can face their own giants. The stories and morals are easy to find. It is far more difficult to find resources that will go from these stories to the cross—that will set these stories in the context of the great story.

It used to be difficult. In the past couple of years we’ve seen quite a few excellent products hit the market that focus on finding gospel in the stories. Here are four of them, each of which is meant to be used as curriculum for a church’s children’s program. Along with the leader of our children’s ministry at church, I have been looking at these programs and have found it very difficult to choose from among them. Each looks just as good as the one before it.

The Gospel Story for Kids

The Gospel Story for Kids is produced by New Growth Press and is based on books by Marty Machowski. It begins at the preschool level and extends to older elementary children. The curriculum comes with a long list of endorsments that includes Joshua Harris, Al Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, Tedd Tripp, Susan Hunt and many others. Here is a brief description:

The Gospel Story for Kids is a unique, three-year program that helps churches and families ground children in the gospel story from Genesis to Revelation. Children who began this program at age three will have learned and absorbed the gospel story from Genesis to Revelation three complete times. At each age level children are taught the gospel through age-appropriate illustrations, activities, coloring pages, object lessons, and memorization using the Gospel Story Sunday school curriculum, an illustrated children's storybook Bible, The Gospel Story Bible, and two family-friendly devotionals, Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God (OT) and Old Story New: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God (NT-available October 2012).

I am currently reading The Gospel Story Bible with my two girls (aged 6 and 9) and we are all enjoying it. With just about every story Machowski looks to the big story, pointing forward to the cross again and again.

The Gospel Project

The Gospel Project is a brand new resource from Lifeway that is launching for the fall season. It has modules for children, students and adults and is thus suitable for all ages. It was developed under the leadership of Trevin Wax and Ed Stetzer and has an advisory counsel that includes D.A. Carson, Matt Chandler and several others.

Some people see the Bible as a collection of stories with morals for life application. But it is so much more than that. Sure, the Bible has some stories in it, but it is also full of poetry, history, codes of law and civilization, songs, prophecy, letters -- even a love letter. When you tie it all together, something remarkable happens. A story is revealed. One story. The story of redemption through Jesus.

The Gospel Project is a Christ-centered curriculum that examines the grand narrative of Scripture and how the gospel transforms the lives of those it touches. Over a three-year plan of study, each session immerses participants -- adults, students, and kids -- in the gospel through every story, theological concept, and call to missions from Genesis to Revelation.

If you sign up to be part of their pilot project, you will receive the first month of the program for free.

Gospel writers Matthew and Mark seem to be chronicling the same event in Jesus’ life when they tell the story of him cursing the fig tree. However, their accounts appear to differ when it comes to their description of when the tree withered.

Matthew 21:19 - And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once.

Mark 11:14, 20 - And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it. … As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.

In Matthew’s account, it sounds as if the tree withers just after Jesus curses it, while Mark suggests that it wasn’t until the next morning that the withering was apparent. Are these writers telling two separate stories? Is it the same story but one of them get the facts wrong? Or is there another way to understand the difference?

The ESV Study Bible offers a helpful explanation. It says that Mark treats the account chronologically, which is why he tells it in two parts (11:12-14 and 11:20-25), while Matthew is more interested in the lesson behind it.

Matthew discusses the cursing of the fig tree and the disciples' reaction together, treating the events topically just as he did the triumphal entry and the cleansing of the temple (see note on v. 12). Mark gives the probable chronological order, while Matthew gives a literary compression of the account. Thus the tree was cursed most likely on Monday morning on the way into the city, and on Tuesday morning the disciples react to the withering on their way back to Jerusalem (cf. Mark 11:12-14, 20-26).

Apparently Matthew intended for his term parachrema (“at once”) to indicate a short though non-specific amount of time after the cursing, rather than an immediate occurrence.

(I have previously looked at a few other supposed contradictions in the Bible: that pesky rooster, who incited David? and are we justified by faith or by works?)

It was on this day in 1525 that former monk Martin Luther married former nun Katharina von Bora. Luther was 41 and Katharina 26. Their marriage was very significant and made a statement nearly as important as Luther’s famous “Here I stand” at the Diet of Worms. It stood as a bold display of a biblical understanding of marriage that directly opposed the teaching of the Catholic church.

The Catholic church held (and still holds) that monks, priests, and nuns may not marry so that they can give themselves entirely to the Church. By marrying, Luther demonstrated his rejection of this view and modeled what the New Testament assumes--that church leaders could, and for the most part should be married (1 Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6). The Luther’s union was a declaration of the sacredness and inherent goodness of marriage and sex.

There are a lot of good sources for reading more about the development of Martin and Katharina’s love and the success and influence of their marriage. One of the more recent and accessible accounts is Justin Taylor’s chapter in Sex and the Supremacy of Christ titled “Martin Luther’s Reform of Marriage.” (You can download the book via the Desiring God website, or purchase it from Amazon or Westminster Books). Justin also wrote a five-part blog series for the Resurgence based largely on the content of the chapter.

For a general biography of Luther that includes information about his family life, I recommend Roland Bainton’s Here I Stand, still the go-to volume on Luther.

Let’s file this in the “better late than never” category. A few people have asked if I could put together a list of Father’s Day gifts and I have not been able to do so before today. Still, in a world of Amazon and rush shipping, it is not too late to order any of these. The list of potential Father’s Day gifts is near infinite, so I’ve chosen to narrow it down to a few books that may appeal to the husband or father in your life.

Let me begin with three books that each deal with being a man of God, focusing on marriage and parenting. They are all good reads, so I will lead it to determine which best suits you.

• Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes
• The Exemplary Husband by Stuart Scott
• The Complete Husband by Lou Priolo

Daddy Dates by Greg Wright calls on fathers to date their daughters. Though the book is not explicitly Christian, I think any dad would be pleased if his daughter handed it to him and I am certain that any father-daughter relationship will benefit from those special times together. (my review)

Amazing Dad is a collection of letters written by William Wilberforce to his children. It was compiled by Stephanie Byrd and self-published. Wilberforce was, by all accounts, a great dad, and these letters are a joy to read. (my review)

When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey is an excellent book on marriage that deals honestly and “gospely” with our less-than-perfect marriages. (my review)

Gospel-Powered Parenting by William Farley. This is one of my favorite books on parenting. Farley shows that keeping the gospel at the forefront of every aspect of marriage helps parents fear God, sensitizes them to sin, motivates them to enter their children’s world, and causes them to preach the beauty of the gospel to their children through their marriage.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. The story of Louis Zamperini is one that just about any man will enjoy reading. The hardship he suffered during the Second World War provides a powerful setting for his eventual conversion to Christianity.

Fearless by Eric Blehm. Fearless tells the story of Navy SEAL operator Adam Brown. A new release, it is currently settled on the New York Times list of bestsellers.

I am in the unique and enjoyable position of receiving copies of most of the latest and greatest Christian books and I like to provide regular roundups of some of the best and brightest of the bunch. Here are some of the notable books that I've received in the past week or two.

A Theology of Mark by Hans Bayer - “Hans Bayer places Mark's Gospel in its biblical context and explores the dynamic relationship between Jesus and his disciples--a process in which Jesus radically transforms them from self-dependent to God-dependent--beginning with their hearts.” (Learn more and shop at Amazon or Westminster Books)

The Juvenilization of American Christianity by Thomas Bergler - “Bergler traces the way in which, over seventy-five years, youth ministries have breathed new vitality into four major American church traditions — African American, Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, and Roman Catholic. Bergler shows too how this “juvenilization” of churches has led to widespread spiritual immaturity, consumerism, and self-centeredness, popularizing a feel-good faith with neither intergenerational community nor theological literacy. Bergler's critique further offers constructive suggestions for taming juvenilization.” (Learn more and shop at Amazon or Westminster Books)

The Eerdmans Companion to the Bible edited by Gordon Fee and Robert Hubbard - “Marked by a broad evangelical perspective, up-to-date research, and contributions from respected biblical scholars, The Eerdmans Companion to the Bible offers a reliable and illuminating guide to the entire Bible. Whether readers find the Bible familiar or foreign, they will appreciate the Companion's informative articles and its commentary by Connie Gundry Tappy on all of the Old and New Testament books.” (Learn more and shop at Amazon or Westminster Books)

This is my once-monthly post on the Puritan John Owen. In this series of posts I am sharing some of what John Owen says about putting sin to death, or what he calls mortification. I have been going through his book Overcoming Sin and Temptation and trying to distill each chapter to its essence--to a few choice quotes that capture the flavor of what Owen is trying to communicate.

So far we've looked at The Foundation of Mortification, we've been encouraged to Daily Put Sin to Death, to understand that It Is the Holy Spirit Who Puts Sin to Death and to acknowledge that Your Spiritual Life Depends Upon Killing Sin. Then we saw What It Is Not to Put Sin to Death and What It Is to Put Sin to Death. Then, at least, he began to move to the actual instruction on putting sin to death. First he dealt with a couple of foundational issues and then with dangerous sin symptoms. Last month he told us that when you identify a sin in your life you need to get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and conscience of the guilt, danger, and evil of your sin. Now he adds that you need to load your conscience with the guilt of sin and that you need to long for deliverance from sin's power.

Load Your Conscience with the Guilt of Sin

Owen is going to take you to the gospel to put your sin to death, but he doesn't want to get there too quickly. Before you begin to put that sin to death, he wants you to acknowledge the actual guilt of that sin, not just your guilt in a general sense. Here is how to do that:

Charge your conscience with the guilt which comes when you compare your sin with God's holy law. You need to ponder God's holiness as reflected in his revealed will, admit how far you have missed the mark, and then allow yourself to acknowledge the weight of that guilt. "Bring the holy law of God into your conscience, lay your corruption to it, pray that you may be affected with it. Consider the holiness, spirituality, fiery severity, inwardness, absoluteness of the law, and see how you can stand before it. Be much, I say, in affecting your conscience with the terror of the Lord in the law, and how righteous it is that every one of your transgressions should receive a recompense of reward. ... Persuade your conscience to harken diligently to what the law speaks, in the name of the Lord, unto you about your lust and corruption. Oh! If your ears be open, it will speak with a voice that shall make you tremble, that shall cast you to the ground and fill you with astonishment."

Bring your lust to the gospel, not for relief (yet!), but for further conviction of its guilt. Owen wants you to find hope and peace through the gospel, but only after you've seen all that the gospel tells you about the guilt of your sin. Say to your soul:

What have I done? What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on! Is this the return I make to the Father for his love, to the Son for his blood, to the Holy Ghost for his grace? Do I thus requite the Lord? Have I deled the heart that Christ died to wash, that the blessed Spirit has chosen to dwell in? And can I keep myself out of the dust? What can I say to the dear Lord Jesus? How shall I hold up my head with any boldness before him? Do I account communion with him of so little value, that for this vile lust's sake I have scarce left him any room in my heart? How shall I escape if I neglect so great salvation? In the meantime, what shall I say to the Lord? Love, mercy, grace, goodness, peace, joy, consolation--I have despised them all, and esteemed them as a thing of naught, that I might harbor a lust in my heart. Have I obtained a view of God's fatherly countenance, that I might behold his face and provoke him to his face? Was my soul washed, that room might be made for new delements? Shall I endeavor to disappoint the end of the death of Christ? Shall I daily grieve that Spirit whereby I am sealed to the day of redemption?

I love writing book reviews and I love reading them. Since I cannot possibly read and review all of the interesting books out there, I publish occasional round-ups of reviews written by other writers. Here are a few notable links I've collected over the past few weeks.

The Betrayal by Douglas Bond. Reviewed by Tony Garbarino. “This novel faithfully portrays Calvin's brilliance, and character, but more importantly, his love for his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The chapters are brief and direct, written in a style that moves the story forward and keeps the reader wanting more.” (Learn more and shop at Amazon or Westminster Books)

A Woman’s Wisdom: How the Book of Proverbs Speaks to Everything by Lydia Brownback. Reviewed by Staci Eastin. “All the book is solidly biblical and helpful. The final chapter on Proverbs 31 was, in my opinion, the strongest chapter in the book. This chapter is often boiled down to a giant, unrealistic "to-do" list, but Lydia managed to bring out the heart issues behind the actions, all while grounding it in the gospel.” (Learn more and shop at Amazon or Westminster Books)

Matthew Henry: His Life and Influence by Allan Harman. Reviewed by John Brand. “If, like me and many others, you are thankful to the Lord for Matthew Henry's Commentary and perhaps some of his other work, you will want to learn about the man himself and there's no better way to do that than to read this biography.” (Learn more and shop at Amazon or Westminster Books)

The Roots of the Reformation: Tradition, Emergence, and Rupture by G. R. Evans. Reviewed by Carl Trueman. Here’s a book that didn’t live up to its promise. “The Reformation section is unfortunately replete with errors of historical fact, some of which are very serious, even if a few are possibly the result of typos. The sheer number of these errors renders the book a liability in the classroom and undermines its stated purpose as a textbook.”

I've been at this blogging thing for quite a long time now—it’s coming up on ten years. I've been at the daily blogging thing for almost as long. This means that I've got an extensive backlist of articles from years gone by. I thought it might be fun to pull out some of the articles I wrote in previous Junes, stretching all the way back to 2004.

2011

From the Garden to the Cross - This was one of those connections I made while studying the book of Genesis and just had to preach and write about it.

I Am Unalarmed - This article generated quite a loud response, as I recall.

2010

Trusting God with what Matters Most - I have thought about this subject often, about coming up against the edge of my faith.

A Parody of Ourselves - Sometimes I think the evangelical world is beyond parody. We Reformed types may be getting close as well.

2009

Don’t Take Your iPod to Church! Parts 1, 1.5, and 2 - I once told people not to take their iPods to church. Apparently no one listened! 

Little Evils, Little Sins - I found this a useful illustration in my own life.

Modern Parables is a Bible study series that uses short films to teach the parables of Jesus. The idea behind it all was to use film to recapture or recreate the kinds of emotions that Jesus' 1st-century audience would have felt when first hearing those parables. It is remarkably successful. These are high-quality films that have merit both artistic and theological.

The films are geared towards use for youth groups, small groups, evangelism or even home schooling curriculum and the set features six of Jesus’ parables, told anew through film and set in a contemporary context.

The 12-lesson study combines cinema and theology in short dramatic films that exegete (or explain) Jesus' parables. In other words, just watching the films helps teach the historical, grammatical, contextual and interpretive elements in the parables.

Modern Parables lets people grasp the parables at an immediate, gut level. This emotional immediacy enables them to engage the Bible in a powerful and compelling new way.

Each parable is covered in two lessons. The first lesson is geared towards understanding the parable. Viewers watch the dramatization, ask questions about it, teach and then discuss the parable. In the second lesson viewers watch the application video, ask questions about the application video and then review the film and discuss the parable. Each of the application videos features a different pastor (some of whom you may recognize) providing basic teaching about the parable followed by a few words of application.

Here are the six parables covered in this volume along with a brief description and a trailer for each one.

Hidden Treasure

The parable of the Hidden Treasure is told through the story of Jeff Smith who was having a really bad day trying to sell a horrendous piece of property until he found oil oozing out of the ground. The comedy of the set, this quick-moving and funny piece asks what we would be willing to sell in order to gain great treasure. It is “a light, screwball comedy filmed in the style of Frank Capra. We tried to find funny, heartwarming characters who represented middle America, then built a story around them.” The application video is provided by Dan Doriani of Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis.