Bible reading plans...

Here are several reading plans recommended by Justin Taylor.

Memorize ESV Passages via MP3

If you want to download and transfer passages of the ESV to an iPod (or any MP3 player), here's how.

HT: ESV Blog

Christ-Centered Parenting with Young Children

A good Q&A from C.J. & Carolyn Mahaney, check it out here.

Lemonade Corporation

HT: Justin Taylor's blog

What Great Managers Know

From First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham, the point is made that great managers don't assume that they can correct or add lacking traits in their employees. Rather, they know that there is a limit to how much they can remold someone's nature. So, instead of bemoaning differences among employees, they capitalize on them.

"They try to help each person become more and more of who he already is.

Simply put, this is the one insight we heard echoed by tens of thousands of great managers:

People don't change that much.
Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out.
Try to draw out what was left in.
That is hard enough."

Conquering Anxiety and Panic - David Powlison

This was a message presented by David Powlison (a good introduction to Powlison posted by Justin Taylor is posted here) on the topic of panic attacks, anxiety and fears. I have written below a fairly comprehensive outline of what was said, but if you want the main points, check out the conclusion toward the bottom.

Goals of message

1. "I want to communicate "feel" for a change process, "feel" for a person growing; what are the elements, pieces; what is going on where someone who has struggled intensely with these "free-fall", just utterly destructive patterns of fear-- the most extreme; what are ways that they go forward?"

2. Hope that all listening will, "by getting a certain kind of orientation, will not be intimidated, to be willing to enter very hard, deep waters with other people;" that underlying the scope and depth of the problem are certain points of continuity, of identity, there's no temptation that overtaken that's not common to all, that we'd have a confidence to not ourselves be stricken with fear because we're dealing with someone else who's absolutely ripped apart by fear.

3. To get some practical sense of direction

*Other introductory note is that these are fear experiences that are not generated by something outside of you, but rather the attacker is you, it's inside of you

I. Point 1

4 Scenarios with trajectories that can lead to panic:

1. Living double lives, guilt, pressure ("Paul" story)

2. There was a "traumatic event", where one encounters their fragility and lack of control

3. Pressure upon pressure, and eventually they break. "Straw that breaks the camel's back" occurs

4. The experience is extremely narrowly focused on one particular object. "phobias"

**There is a common thread that runs through all of these, where they all have in common the sense of precariousness, and the fragility of life, and our vulnerability and the fact that there's these things that are bigger than us that we cannot control that are very, very threatening.

Basic elements of genuine change (deep, ongoing, with staying-power):

1. A "Reckoning" with deeper connections, with wider issues.

2. He started to hear another's voice-- God's voice.

3. Not only does hear another voice, but he gains a voice.

There's someone you can talk with. There's something about gaining a voice that is the opposite of this fear experience, this fundamentally isolated experience that one has.

4. It's not just vertical. There's someone else there along with your for encouragement.

5. You start to see an outreaching care for other people.

6. There is an "unfolding" change process.

The difference between Christian perspective and our culture, is that the culture sees these horrendous symptoms, and says "if you can just take the edge off with medicine, fantasies, etc."... Christianity has brought in the lens because it has a sense of a far-more comprehensive change process.

..."from the Christian standpoint, you don't necessarily nail the fear experience in its extreme version directly and then hope it trickles out. You actually nail the whole life, and it inevitably ripples in and touches those more extreme experiences of fear."

Find commonality in fear experience

What you find is that everyone, if they're honest, has the ability to identify with the essential core experience, and it is that:

• We are vulnerable
• We are weak
• We are fragile
  
• There is something about the human condition that is fundamentally unable to control the world and unable to guarantee our own life
• We are dependent even by our own creation.
  

We live in a world that is fundamentally evil. But God reverses this evil, both in this life and in the final reversal.


Our role in supporting someone suffering from panic (1 Thess 5:14):

• Encourage the fainthearted-- There's no analysis, no admonishment; it's just straight encouragement. You're there with them, you're not leaving
• Help ("hang on to") the weak - In the panic experience, it is the one best thing we have to offer is in a sense you "hang on", you're there as an anchor of sanity in a world of madness, of courage in a world of terror, etc...

Out of the box, we're working more in the "hold on" and "encourage" part of the ministry.

Notes on Phobias
Phobias "named fears" are actually too narrow of a focus of fear, attributing a fear to one defined thing, when in reality we are far vulnerable and lack control in a far wider spectrum.

The "unnameable fears", which are attributed to the panic attack, anxiety attack, dark abyss, etc., are just chaos, while with phobias --"named fears"-- point out specific dangers. With panic, it's just absolute chaos and destruction, you don't know what's coming at you.

One of the goals in helping a person with phobias is you really almost want to "broaden" the problem. There's something else that's bigger than that fear. Maybe they're without God and without hope in this world, and death is writing their script...

With panic, you actually want them to "name" the different sources of fear so that it's not just blank panic going on.

Meditating on Luke 12

The birds of the air, the lilies-- there is a fundamental vulnerability in all the world. We are fundamentally weak. We are dying, we are mortal.

You want to have good reasons for fear. Reasoning your way out of your fears is never is never big enough. The fears are too unreasonable, and the fears are too real underneath.

** The truth is, all that we work for will come to nothing. Death is all that's guaranteed, and the real marvel is that we're all "kooks", going crazy with panic, because this reality applies to all. Without a saving knowledge of the resurrection of Christ, we have no hope.



Summary: Relate your way Forward

You can't reason your way out of the fears of life, but you can relate your way forward in life. That relating gets you out of the "isolation" of the fear experience. It makes you connect to God and to others.

1. Involve others, or Be the Involved Other

If you're the sufferer: Involve others. Ask for help. God has designed it that having someone in the room is part of solving the problem with fear, that there's someone else there.

If you're the helper: This is a situation where you are truly powerless. You can't fix or control the other person's panic attack. And you're being asked to "jump in" to someone else's free fall, and you ask "who am I that I should be able to help this person?"

-- think of Moses asking God, "who am I?" God comforts him, "I'll go with you."

"The medicine for the helper is always the medicine for the needy. It's always the way God does it. It's terrific. It's a wonderful dynamic-- for grace, for grace, for grace, for grace."


2. Though we can't reason our way out of the whole, we can make sense of what' s going on. It's something bigger than the moment

a. It's very important for our self and others to face what we're afraid of. What is it? Name it, identify it.

• If the person's got phobias, broaden the identification-- it's usually a fear of death or a fear of being out of control. There is always an underlying fear, and it's isolated on a specific object.
• If it's panic, what are the evils, the troubles, the hardships that they are afraid of. This is not rocket science. (The fear of failing, fear of death, fear of running out of money). These are the things that become monsters in people's lives.
  

b. Identify what your wants

• "Fear" and "want" are just two sides of the same coin. Fear is what I don't want, and it always implies something that you want. It usually is a good thing, but it's not good enough to build your life on.
  
• Example: "I want to live, not die"-- living is a good thing, but it's not good enough because it's fundamentally precarious and you are going to die; it's good to want friends, but it's not good enough because friends will betray you and fail you
  
• This identifies the idolatries of the heart

3. Be able to make sense of "What is my specific need for God's mercies?"

• Christ is the only true hope of the fearful
• When you can sort out the fears, you know who to call and what to say

It's not enough to just focus on Bible verses. Talk! Talk to God, get out of your head and talk to God. If God is Soveriegn and good and we need help, ask for help.

4. Walk openly with other people

- Be"sowing" to the needs of others (sowing implies you don't know what's going to happen); Like St. Francis of Assisi, pray, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is fear let me sow courage and hope and love; And Lord, where there is panic, let me sow safety and trust."

-We should be willing to go into people's lives and sow good things that will have a ripple effect in their lives

-One of the wonderful things about the way the Bible works is that all the things that are bad have this wonderful, redemptive alternative. For example, love is a good, holy anxiety for someone else's welfare. Phil 2, 2 Cor 12. We want to feel a holy anxiety, so that we can act on behalf of others.

Christian Classics: The Duties of Parents

The Duties of Parents by J.C. Ryle.

This was one of about 15 outstanding classic short books I received via mail from the Chapel Library, which offers all of its materials free of charge. This particular work has proven very timely as our 2-year-old son, Cameron, is in a season of exhibiting both humble obedience and foolish rebellion. Kerry and I are often finding ourselves in challenging situations that demand a quick response, but we often encounter situations that are difficult to discern, and in general had lacked a vision for what godly training of our children looks like.

For this reason, I have found "The Duties of Parents", written nearly 150 years ago by pastor J.C. Ryle, to be a timeless and exceedingly helpful resource, and would recommend it to any Christian parent as a clear framework for developing a vision for "training" your children. The booklet is relatively short and describes 17 areas of "training" for parents to prayerfully consider. The book is easy to read and my copy was only 35 pages long, so it can be read in one sitting. You can also read it for free here. Here's a few highlights from the book:


The foundational verse of the book is:

"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." -- Prov. 22:6

Ryle begins with the argument that this text, though well known among most Christians, is not heeded. Thus the Lord's promise "when he is old, he will not depart from it", he argues, is not fulfilled. He asks the reader to ask himself, "Am I in this matter doing what I can?"

The 17 key principles/exhortations of Ryle directed toward parents are as follows:

1. First, then, if you would train your children rightly, train them in the way they should go, and not in the way that they would.
2. Train up your child with all tenderness, affection, and patience
3. Train your children with an abiding persuasion on your mind that much depends upon you
4. Train with this thought continually before your eyes-- that the soul of your child is the first thing to be considered.
5. Train your child to a knowledge of the Bible
6. Train them to a habit of prayer
7. Train them to habits of diligence, and regularity about public means of grace
8. Train them to a habit of faith
9. Train them to a habit of obedience
10. Train them to a habit of always speaking the truth
11. Train them to a habit of always redeeming the time
12. Train them with a constant fear of over-indulgence
13. Train them remembering continually how God trains His children.
14. Train them remembering continually the influence; of your example
15. Train them remembering continually the power of sin.
16. Train them remembering continually the promises of Scripture.
17. Train them, lastly, with continual prayer for a blessing on all you do.
    

Some brief comments:

-On #1: Followers of "Love and Logic" parenting strategies will conflict with this first point

-On #2: I find this point exceeding important and one of the most difficult. Ryle compares a child's mind to a lump of metal-- "not to be forged and made useful at once, but only by a succession of little blows." And, "their understandings are like narrow-necked vessels: we must pour in the wine of knowledge gradually, or much of it will be spilled and lost. 'Line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.'" He urges the parent to "try hard to keep up a hold on your child's affections", for "it is a dangerous thing to make your children afraid of you."

-On #3: A good point on the fact that we can't "convert" child. Ryle concedes this is absolutely true, but that God also expressly says,"Train up a child in the way he should go", and "He never laid a command on man which He would not give man grace to perform," and that "our duty is not to stand still and dispute, but to go forward and obey".

-On # 4: The idea of training your child for heaven, not for earth, has been impactful. This overlaps with other points, but gives meaning to witholding pleasures and comforts in this world.

-On #5: "Fill their minds with Scripture. Let the Word dwell in them richly. Give them the Bible, the whole Bible, even while they are young". I plan to give my son an ESV Study Bible as soon as he's able to read.

-On #6: This chapter could stand alone as an exhortation to pray:

"Prayer is the simplest means that man can use in coming to God."

"Prayer is on great secret of spiritual prosperity. When there is much private communion with God, your soul will grow like the grass after rain; when there is little, all will be at a standstill, you will barely keep your soul alive. Show me a growing Christian, a going forward Christian, a strong Christian, a flourishing Christian, and sure am I, he is one that speaks often with his Lord. He asks much, and he has much."

"Prayer is the mightiest engine God has placed in our hands. It is the best weapon to use in every difficulty, and the surest remedy in every trouble. It is the key that unlocks the treasury of promises, and the hand that draws forth grace and help in time of need. It is the silver trumpet God commands us to sound in all our necessity, and it is the cry He has promised always to attend to, even as a loving mother to the voice of her child."

"This, remember, is the first step in religion which a child is able to take."

On #8: Train your child to be content to obey without having full understanding of "why"

On #9: On the importance of teaching your children that obedience is of the highest importance (this will clash greatly with our culture):

"Parents, do you wish to see your children happy? Take care, then, that you train them to obey when they are spoken to, --to do as they are bid. Believe me, we are not made for entire independence, -- we are not fit for it".

On #11: Ryle says, "Idleness is the devil's best friend. It is the surest way to give him an opportunity of doing us harm."

On #12: Scriptures sited are Prov 13:24, Prov 22:15, Prov 23:13-14, Prov 29:15,17.

"Reader, if there be any point which deserves your attention, believe me, it is this one. It is one that will give you trouble, I know. But if you do not take trouble with your children when they are young, they will give you trouble when they are old. Choose which you prefer."

On # 13: See Exod. 13:17, Num. 21:4, 2 Cor 12:8,9

On # 14: "Fathers and mothers, do not forget that children learn more by the eye than they do by the ear. No school will make such deep marks on characters as home."