Every morning I wake up and it’s okay—until, with a dull thud, it comes back to me: image after image of people who died in the fires; rows of army tents with homeless people staying in them; entire communities that have been wiped out; my friend whose parents lost their house; a family known to me who died in their car in their driveway; a 12-year-old girl, badly burned, whose parents and sister died. (more…)
Author Archives: Jean Williams
Surely goodness and mercy
How are you feeling about the year that’s just begun? Are you optimistic and ready for its demands? Or are you anxious and stressed, worried that you won’t be able to cope with the months ahead?
Just how sovereign is God?
Up front, Sola Panel
I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of sear leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.1
In one of his sermons, John Piper tells the story of a couple who approached him one day and shared that they had learned more about God’s sovereignty during six months at his church than in their whole Christian lives previously. Some time later, their family went through a time of terrible suffering. The mother thanked Pastor John with tears in her eyes, saying that they could never have made it through this time without the conviction of God’s sovereignty. (more…)
To MP3 or not to MP3?
Don Carson. John Piper. Mark Driscoll. Tim Keller. Mark Dever. Josh Harris. CJ Mahaney. Rip. Sync. Play.
Remember when you had to read Desiring God to know what John Piper thought? Remember when you had to buy JI Packer’s sermon collections on CD? Remember when you had to travel to a conference to hear John Stott speak?
Just how sovereign is God?
I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of sear leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.
An appeal to women and their pastors
Older women are to be reverent in behaviour, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Titus 2:3-5)
Dare to do things badly
Our minister is a very godly man: he has chosen to do something he’s less good at for the sake of the gospel. Let me explain.
Caution: Parenting book. Read with care. (Part 2)
My last post may have left you thinking that I hate parenting books. Let me assure you that there are some excellent parenting books which apply the Bible’s teaching with care and wisdom.
Caution: Parenting book. Read with care. (Part 1)
Recipe for one parenting book
Take one favourite and fashionable parenting philosophy.
Add 10 sets of 10 steps, five guarantees and six dire warnings.