This coming Sunday, I am preaching on Galatians 4:1-11 that extols our adoption as sons. Here is what Thomas Watson said about adoption,

"We have enough in us to move God to correct us, but nothing to move him to adopt us, therefore exalt free grace, begin ghe work of angels here; bless him with your praises who hath blessed you in making you his sons and daughters." Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity

How wonderful that "when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Gal 4:4-7

(Thomas Watson is quoted in "Heirs with Christ," The Puritans on Adoption, by Joel Beeke)

O Lord My Lord, This is the day, the heavenly ordinance of rest,
the open door of worship,
the record of Jesus’ resurrection,
the seal of the Sabbath to come,
the day when saints militant and triumphant
unite in endless song.

I bless thee for the throne of grace,
that here free favour reigns;
that open access to it is through the blood of Jesus;
that the veil is torn aside and I can enter the holiest
and find thee ready to hear,
waiting to be gracious,
inviting me to pour out my needs,
promising to give more than I ask or think.

Here is the baptismal covenant that Matthew Henry's children memorized,

I take God the Father to by my chiefest good and Highest end. I take God the Son to be my Prince and Savior. I take God the Holy Ghost to be my sanctifier, teacher, guide and comforter. I take the Word of God to be my rule in all my actions. And the people of God to be my people in all conditions. And this I do deliberately, sincerely, and freely and forever."

A Church in the House, by Matthew Henry, p21
 

Jonathan Leeman has written a ground breaking book, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love  that may serve to break up the fallow ground of churches that listen.  This book shows how the very structure and nature of the church promotes love, but not in the way we normally think of it. Click here to listen to a roundtable discussion with Mark Dever and others.  Leeman writes,

"The world thinks it understands love, just like it thinks it loves God. Yet it doesn’t. It only understands idolatrous phantoms or fabrications of them, shadows that bear some of the shape but little of the substance. The local church, therefore, is called to be a three-dimensional display of true love. And the practices of church membership and discipline are precisely what help to make the local church visible and clear. They demonstrate love’s demands. They help us to know, in the apostle John’s phrase, who are the children of God and who are the children of the Devil (see 1 John 3:10). "

There is a heartbreaking story coming out of the earthquake in Haiti. A couple from the Netherlands waited five years to adopt a young boy. They arrived on the day of the earthquake, were introduced to their new son, went to their hotel to await their departure. Only four hours after their meeting, all of them died together in the hotel. Their dead bodies were found clutching one another in the rubble.
 

Peter Bradrick shares the gospel with men who thronged around him pleading for jobs in front of the ruined Haitian Capital.

Not only are we experiencing the sheer destruction and ruin surrounding us, but also the permeating disorder and instability that shackles the Haitian culture. These people need Christ, more than anything. Please join me in begging the Lord that He will use the heartbreaking situation here in Haiti to drive these people to their knees and show them their great need for a Savior. Revival and reformation would be the greatest rebuilding that could take place here in Haiti and would be the one thing that could turn the greatest devastation into the greatest opportunity for Haiti.

The Bible makes it clear that God goes to great lengths to adopt children. In Galatians 3-4 Paul tells the Galatians that God gave the law to convict them of their sins and in so doing, lead them to trust in the sufficiency of Christ.  He gave so many laws. Why?  In order to show us our sins and how much we need His mercies and His parenting. Facing the realities of orphans in Haiti, now reminds us afresh of how little children without parents cry out for gospel love and they throw us back on the words of Paul to the Galatians 4:4-7,

"But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

We have had lots of snow here and in NC, locals hole up both in and outside

More couples are going "Childless by Choice"

msnbc.com reports on a rising phenomena - people who are decidedly against having children for personal reasons. It shows an alarming departure from the biblical idea that "children are a blessing from the Lord." Whatever logical and personal perspectives it promotes, it is an idea that departs significantly from Christian thinking on the matter. Let me suggest that this is reflective of the church which has rejected the sufficiency of scripture for the building of christian culture. When the church rejects scripture, it loses its saltiness and thereby emboldens the wider culture to do what is right in its own eyes. The article reports that that here is a growing number of couples who do not want children. One woman explains an aspect of why she takes this position,

I heard from Peter Bradrick tonight giving me an update. They visited three orphanages today. Here are few points from his on the ground commentary:

1. The damage in Haiti makes Katrina look like nothing.

2. Compared to what has been in the media, there is amazingly little crime and the people are behaving in an orderly manner in spite of the privations and absence of government intervention.

3. They are completely stunned by the situation: the comprehensively crushing devastation and the number of orphans
 

The NCFIC has sent Peter Bradrick to report from Haiti on the situation as we seek work through churches in the country. We will be trying to follow his footsteps during this time. Please pray for him as he travels with Doug Phillips. They will be flying out early in the morning on Saturday and will return in six days. We will be providing updates from Peter on this blog as we get them. We plan to have a period of evaluation and then later in the year send teams there to work and preach the gospel, working through churches

I am delighted to report that my grandson, Loyal is home from the hospital and making all kinds of waves in our world. Peter and Kelly, Loyal's parents, are like Moses and Zipporah who named their children, Gershom and Eliezer for specific godly purposes (Gen 18:3-4). What a blessing it is to have a "Loyal Cromwell" in the family.

This will do your heart good. Here are lots of verses on the Sovereignty of God.

Our church in Wake Forest consists of approximately 70% children. I like what Luther and D. Martin Lloyd-Jones says about this,

Martin Luther: “A preacher should have the skill to teach the unlearned simply, roundly, and plainly; for teaching is of more importance than exhorting…When I preach I regard neither doctors nor magistrates, of whom I have above forty in the congregation. I have all my eyes on the servant maids and the children. And if the learned men are not well pleased with what they hear, well, the door is one.”

D. Martin Lloyd-Jones: “the wise preacher keeps his eye on the simple and the children. If a great and learned man feels that he does not get anything out of the message he is condemning himself. He is condemning himself in the sense that he is not spiritually minded, that he is not able to receive spiritual truth. He is so ‘puffed up’ and blown up with his head knowledge that he has forgotten that he has a heart and a soul. He condemns himself, and if he walks out, well, he is the loser.”
 

It matters where you put your energy, and modern churches expend enormous energy trying to make Sunday schools and youth programs work. Here are two thoughts about this. First, a proposition to ponder: the practice of comprehensive age segregation is not found anywhere in scripture. Second, a principle to consider:

“Don’t get caught doing well that which should not be done at all.”
 

Here is a helpful piece on Tim Challies Blog that may help you tomorrow on the Lord's Day in your local church

Richard Baxter:

Remember that all these…sermons must be reviewed, and you must answer for all that you have heard, whether you heard it…with diligent attention or with carelessness; and the word which you hear shall judge you at the last day. Hear therefore as those that are going to judgment to give account of their hearing and obeying.
 

At our "Our Marriages and the Marriages of Our Son's and Daughters" gathering February 12-13, Jonathan Sides will be bringing an unusual message, "Marriage Preparation for Two-Year-Olds."

"Christian families have been blessed by a recently renewed interest in Biblical practices for forming marriages. All too often, however, families wait to investigate such practices until their children are already near marriageable age. The methods taught by Scripture suggest that we need to begin preparing our children for marriage from a far earlier age than is commonly practiced. 'Marriage Preparation for Two-Year-Olds' will investigate the Biblical basis for why we need to be instructing our children in Godly marriage practices even when these children are many years from being married."

To sign up, click here.

Use the discount code NCFIC and you will receive a $50.00 discount.

Please accept our invitation to a Free Online Elder Discipleship Webinar, January 19, 8:00-10:00 pm, on love in the church and Jonathan Edwards' Charity and Its Fruits . Scott Brown, Dan Horn, Jason Dohm and Abe Van Wingerden will be on the line. We are offering this to give men a chance to see what it is like to participate in our webinar. If you like to participate for the rest of the year, then you can register here.

In our elder discipleship program, we started with the subject of love by reading and discussing Charity and Its Fruits by Jonathan Edwards. God forbid that we would have loveless churches. If we do, they may not be true churches at all. We will be having a Free Online Webinar to discuss this book again on January 19 and invite any man that is interested to join us.

Here is another resource: In 1970, Francis Schaeffer wrote a book entitled The Mark of the Christian in which he rightly identifies love as the chief identifying mark of a true believer. 

"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:33-35)

You can read it here and buy it here.