These Inward Trials

I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He’d answer my request,
and by His love’s constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

‘Lord, why is this?’ I trembling cried,
`Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?’
`This in this way,’ the Lord replied,
`I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou mayst seek thy all in Me.’

John Newton

Boys, Math & Video Games

"In 1992 we began to see a very significant academic decline in boys.  You might remember that before that boys were king of the math world. Girls ruled in the English department, but boys were king of the math world. And they had a rather strong work ethic in their academics. But we saw a significant decline in that beginning in 1992.

Well, you have to ask yourself what transpired right prior to that to make that happen. In the 1970s, in 1971 exactly, the very first computer game came out, but it took a warehouse to store it. When they finally got it down small enough, the only thing they could do was to put it in a public place. So some of you may remember visiting something called an arcade? It took them a few years after that and they came out with a pretty archaic system. Some of you might remember playing asteroids or pong. Blip! Blip! Blip, blip! That was a fast one.

It wasn’t until the early 1980s that we had a viable home system called Nintendo. And computers began to be created specifically for game use including the Commodore 54, Macintosh, and PC Compatibles. By the early 90s, we saw that significant decline. We saw boys who became so concerned about fighting epic battles that were virtual, that they no longer cared about the real world around them.

Today the average boy will spend thirty-five hours in front of his PlayStation or X-box console or in front of the computer playing games. Most of them by the eleventh year of their life will have been introduced to pornography."

Dannah Gresh

Modeling For Our Children

"If your children learned about submission from the way you submit to God-ordained authority, how would they submit? What are the attitudes of the adult generation toward authority? Are we quick to berate or badmouth anything from the President to the pastor to the husband to the schoolteacher? What is our attitude toward authority? I have watched parents skirting the law, lying about the kid's age to get into an amusement park. That's rebellion against authority. Then you have a mom who rolls her eyes when it comes to her husband's authority and is a disgruntled wife, then wants her children to obey with a happy heart and a good attitude. I think when the younger generation sees us honoring authority, and they see the blessings and the rewards of that in our lives and the peace that that brings, to me that's going to be more compelling than just saying, 'You need to come under authority'".

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph. 5:21

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king." 1 Samuel 15:21

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1