Josh McDowell's Family Devotions

I recently ordered Josh McDowell's Family Devotions to see if it would be a good devotional for our daily SFR (Shock Family Revival).  I found it to be a very good devotional, even though it is not exactly suited for the life stage the Parson's House is in at this point.

It would be a Very good devotional for families with elementary and pre-teen age children.

I am including an excerpt below from today's reading so that you can get an idea:


Don't Be Devoured -- March 11.  (Read 1 Peter 5:8-11)  "Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (NIV)

"She looks terrible!" Rachel said.  She sat on the couch, watching a television report of the arrest of a famous music star.

"Who looks terrible?" Josh, her little brother, asked.

She pointed at the television.  "That's Tawny Morrison, the lead singer of Toe Jam."

"Where are the police taking her?" Josh asked.

"She was in a car wreck," Rachel explained, "and they found out that she was on drugs, so they arrested her.  I can't believe how terrible she looks.  I would be so humiliated."  Then Rachel got an idea.  She and her family had been talking a lot about right and wrong.  She pointed the remote control at the television and turned the volume down.  Then she turned to Josh.

"See how Tawny Morrison looks there?" she asked, pointing at the singer's disheveled image on the screen. Josh nodded.  "She doesn't look very happy, does she?"

Josh shook his head.

"See, Josh, Tawny Morrison is a really good singer, and she's really pretty," Rachel started.

"She looks ugle now," Josh interjected.

Rachel tried not to smile.  "Yeah, she does in that picture.  But that's what can happen when we don't pay attention to God's commands.  See, Tawny Morrison would probably never go out of the house looking like that--"

"She's a mess," Josh said, starting to enjoy the conversation.

"Yeah, and she messed up her car and got herself in trouble, and might even have hurt somebody--all because she got messed up on drugs."

"I don't EVER want to use drugs," Josh said seriously.

"Good, Joshie," she said.  "But it's not just drugs.  People can lose control and get messed up a lot of ways--with drugs, alcohol, food, lots of things.  That's why God wants us to be self-controlled.  Because it'll protect us from stuff like that."

Josh crawled up onto the couch and said,"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Rachel said proudly, pleased that her brother wanted to know more.

"Can we watch cartoons now?" Josh asked.

TO DISCUSS:  The lack of self-control can lead to all types of overindulgence and excesses.  Obedience to God's commands to "be self-controlled" can not only protect us from those excesses, but also provide greater enjoyment of such things as recreation, music art, food, health, and so on.  How has self-control protected you in the past?  How can self-control protect you and provide for you in the future?

2010-Year of the Book!

Okay, so I'm on a Book Kick this year.  A MAJOR Book Kick!

I've always been a reader, but the past several years absolutely Stole my Reading Time.  I became Lost in a Maze of Doing, Solving, Becoming, and Cleaning The Kitchen.

My one Big Resolution for 2010 was to make it the Year of the Book and restore Reading to my Life.  It has been very inconvenient, but it is happening.  And I am finding a part of me that I didn't even realize was Shriveled is opening up and Drinking In the Wonders of the Written Word.

So just get ready! I'm going to be throwing Book Titles your way all year!

Ish. . .

Creativity is in full bloom at The Parson's House and Ideas are Flowing Freely from Outer Wall to Outer Wall.  All of life progresses in Seasons, and this is a Season of Dreaming, Pursuing, and Declaring.  The four Humans who abide here have all been Bit by the Bug.  (It's about time. The Drought of Drudgery had quite overstayed its welcome.)

In the middle of all the wonderful ingenious, inspired, innovative inspirations that have been swirling through the atmosphere, it occurred to The Good Wife that we were all setting the Bar a little bit too high in some areas and, consequently, were beginning to Stifle the Good Ideas that weren't Great.  We were editing our thoughts before letting them out. And some Good Thoughts that had potential for Great Thoughts were being killed before they were ever allowed to be born.

Then, there appeared in our house a book called, "Ish."

A delightfully, freeing little book that has set our Feet to Dancing and our Hearts to Singing even if they are off-key.

Perfection is not the Goal in our World of Wonder.  Setting ourselves Free to Celebrate the Pursuit of Perfection is the Goal.  So, we aren't Perfect, but we're Perfect-ish.  Our days aren't Great, but they're Great-ish.

Ish.

It's the route that all people have to take from Start to Wonderful.

(You can purchase it just by clicking on the link to the left. A portion of the proceeds go to KingdomQuest Ministries/Philippines Missions.)

Thompson Chain RULES

Well, the Shock Family Revival is in full swing and The Parson's Son is emerging (oops!) as the Prime Time Evangelist!

Due to Eat This Book, the class that I (The Good Wife) have been teaching on how to study the Bible (which the ENTIRE household of the Parson is attending, INCLUDING the Parson), the Parson's Son declared that he could not live one more day without a KJV Thompson Chain Bible.  So, of course, we set out to buy him one.  After all, if your Son asks for Bread, you don't give him a Stone.  And if he asks for Thompson Chain, you don't tell him to just continue to use his Kiddie Version, cartoon-illustrated, New Living Translation.  You get him a Thompson Chain.

Once home with his brand-new, black leather, gold-embossed, KJV, Thompson Chain Bible, he immediately began to practice some of his new Bible Study Skills that he has been learning at Eat This Book.  And he immediately received insight into why none of us need to complain on this 40-day Daniel fast that we have now been on for 14 days.  He drew verses from Jeremiah and tied them into a passage in Esther, and lo and behold if that Boy didn't come up with some Really Good Stuff!

He said it was all because of his new Thompson Chain Bible.

And I said that if that was all it took we would buy Gold Plated ones for each young person in the youth group.

The Parson said that he has won the right to claim Chief Evangelist title for the rest of the duration of the Shock Family Revival.