Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Oíche chiúin, oíche Mhic
Dé, Cách 'na suan dís araon.
Dís is dílse 'faire le spéis
Naíon beag, leanbh ceansa 'gus caomh.
Críost, 'na chodladh go sámh.
Críost, 'na chodladh go sámh.
[ Lyrics found at www.mp3lyrics.org/RlE ]

Oíche chiúin, oíche Mhic
Dé, Aoirí ar dtús chuala 'n
scéal. Allelúia aingeal ag glaoch.
Cantain suairc i ngar is i gcéin.

Críost an Slánaitheoir Féin.
Críost an Slánaitheoir Féin.

Silent night, night of God's son,
Everyone is asleep, the pair together.
The most faithful pair, watching with hope
A little baby, a mild and gentle child.

Christ, calmly asleep.
Christ, calmly asleep.

Silent night, night of God's son,
Shepherds were first to hear the tale.
The angels crying out Alleluia.
Lovely chanting near and far.

Christ, the saviour himself.
Christ, the saviour himself.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Third Sunday of Advent

Second Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent

Children in Worship

Someone on the WTM Message Board recommended this article when another asked about how to handle having children participate in the worship service. It clearly states the philosophy behind including children in the worship service while also offering helpful, practical tips. Here is a taste:

God-centered worship is supremely important in the life of our church. We approach the Sunday morning worship hour with great seriousness and earnestness and expectancy. We try to banish all that is flippant or trivial or chatty...

There are several reasons why we urge parents to bring their children to worship. But these arguments will not carry much weight with parents who do not love to worship God.

The greatest stumbling block for children in worship is that their parents do not cherish the hour. Children can feel the difference between duty and delight. Therefore, the first and most important job of a parent is to fall in love with the worship of God. You can't impart what you don't possess.

I encourage you to read the entire article, The Family: Together in God's Presence, by Noel Piper on the Desiring God Ministries website if you are interested in learning how and why to involve your children in worship.

We have included our children in the worship service since Primo was a newborn. It hasn't always been easy. Children wiggle and yell and ask embarrassingly phrased questions at inappropriate times and at inappropriate volumes. "But how can I worship if I am tending to my children through the worship service?" you ask. I contend that you are worshipping while tending to your children. God tells us that children are a blessing (Psalm 113:9; Psalm 127: 3-5; Proverbs 17:6). He also commands us to worship Him corporately (Acts 2:1; Acts 5:12; Acts 15:30-35). Therefore, for the stage of life in which you have small (or not so small) children, you worship God by teaching your children to worship. Clinging to unrealistic visions of what worship is when you are teaching your children to worship alongside you will only cause you, your children, and those trying to worship around you to become frustrated and miss out on true worship.

Some tips that we have found helpful in involving our children in the worship service:

1. Draw pictures of the sermon for younger children or encourage older children to do so. This keeps them (and you) listening to what is being taught rather than disappearing into an imaginative world or counting ceiling tiles. (from The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer)

2. Allow children to sing, clap, and dance as they are moved to during times of music. Make sure that you sit in a place where you can minimize distractions of those who may have a different worship philosophy.

3. Sit in the deaf section if your church has one. Often, children can grasp concepts by watching the signs for complex thoughts and words even if they could not understand the spoken concept. An added bonus is that children's hand movements are tolerated more where others communicate and worship with their hands.

4. Do not be afraid to remove a child from the service if they are being disrespectful in their disruptiveness. (Every child is going to ask questions, and these should be answered as often as possible, but yelling or jumping around is not acceptable.) However, use this period of removal for discipline then return to the service, otherwise the child will think that he can get out of the service by being disruptive.

5. Pray for your children. Pray in the service, before the service and throughout the week that your children would serve God through corporate worship.

I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.

-Psalm 34:1-3

What is the chief end of man?

On her blog, Writer Mom, Nan (wife of a PCA pastor), shared her recent ponderings of the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

What is the chief end of man?

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

A portion of her post reads:

I have been summarily told by an atheist that Christianity provides no more meaning in life than Atheism does and therefore cannot be more worthy as a belief than an unbelief. The atheist adjudges that if the chief end of man is to glorify God and if God is glorious in and of himself then humans are unnecessary. Hence the life devoted to God, if he does exist is meaningless because we are an unnecessary part of the story. He concludes that life apart from any god is every bit as meaningful as life with a just, all knowing, all powerful, all loving God. He derives that the Christian life is every bit as meaningless as the atheist life.

Being a member of the PCA myself (and thus also holding to the tenets of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms), this statement forced me to revisit this question in my mind and see if I could defend my position. After reading the rest of Nan’s post and rereading the Scripture proofs for the question, I developed a defense which had not occurred to me before and has strengthened my belief that man is not meaningless.

The problem with this atheist’s argument is his point of view. He argues from the viewpoint of men, but for man to find his purpose, he must look through the eyes of God.

My daughter, Secondo, has two baby dolls. These dolls have a cradle next to Secondo’s bed and a special place in her heart. When she refers to these dolls, she does not refer to them as “my dolls” she calls them by name, Ashley and Jonathan. When a stranger looks at these dolls, he will see cloth sewn into the shapes of human bodies with plastic, humanoid heads. These organized pieces of cloth are clad in clothing that could be seen on a human baby. In other words, the viewer would see ordinary dolls. He would not, however, see Ashley and Jonathan. The dolls’ Ashley-ness and Jonathan-ness come from Secondo. When she looks at them, they live. When she talks to them, they respond. If the stranger came across these dolls lying on the street, he might pick them up and look for an owner, or he may toss them in the trash. If Secondo came across them in the street, she would see Ashley and Jonathan and feel remorse for not caring for them properly. She would feel pity for them and clean them and talk to them. Their value comes not in what they are, but in who they are to Secondo.

The same goes for man and God. Man has no value except that which God gives him. We have value because God gives us value by loving us and making us in His image. The scientist may look at us and see carbon-based beings, but God looks at us and sees His handiwork. If we are His children, He sees His Son. We can do nothing to give ourselves value… just as Secondo’s dolls do nothing to make her love them. They are because Secondo says they are. We glorify God because He made us to glorify Him. That is the purpose to which we were created. We cannot change it, and we cannot devalue it. We are necessary because God has made us necessary. Could God have gone on for eternity fully glorified in and of Himself without man? Yes. He doesn’t need us; He wants us. What greater value is there?

Since I won't be online Sunday...

I'll post this a little early. (Responses encouraged!)

He Is Risen!