The following was a recent Grace Talk question…

Why are Catholics persecuted when for the most part we believe the same things that any normal protestant church believes?

As I read this question, I have to make a few assumptions.

The alleged persecution is coming from Protestants and or protestant churches like ours.
The persecution is inappropriate and unloving.
This question is directed to the leaders of Grace Fellowship because we have participated in this persecution.

Why Focus on the Differences?
There are clearly differences on topics such as the authority of the church, the nature of justification, the relationship between grace and works, the role of the sacraments, to name a few. The existence of these differences is not disputed by either side. The mere fact …

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We had a recent graceTALK question…

I recently visited another church with a friend who wanted to start going to church again. They (husband and wife) wanted a church that was big so that they could “ease” into the whole church thing. So, I went along to encourage them. We went to a “mega” church in the area and I was blown away. It was like a rock concert! The message was good (in a creative sense) but seemed very shallow. I didn’t even need to use my Bible. So, now I am in a pickle. I want my friend to go to church, but I fear that they will see Christianity is a warped way by going to this …

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If your children have been intrigued by the messages and movie clips about Martin Luther and the Protestant reformation over the last two weeks, I highly recommend Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed The World by Paul Maier. As with all of Maier’s children’s books, this one is historically accurate and beautifully illustrated. 

Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed The World

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In my previous three posts, I highlighted the talks given by Tedd Trip from the concepts in his Shepherding a Child’s Heart. Here are the other four talks Dr. Tripp gave that weekend…

Passing God’s Greatness to the Next Generation – Dr. Tripp lays out a vision of what it looks like to pass on the truth of God to the next generation.

The Sowing and Reaping Principle in the Word of God – Here he relates Biblical concept of reaping what we sow to the discipline process with our children.

Loving Leadership – Dr. Tripp speaks to the men about leadership within the marriage and the home.

Motivating and Encouraging

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The next lesson in Tedd Tripp’s Shepherding Your Child’s Heart seminar is…

Shepherding Your Child’s Heart: Teenagers

This is the time where the child transitions from the faith of his parents to owning his own ideas and belief system. This is when children tend to question things they never have before. It can be a scary time for parents who are not mentally prepared for it.

In this valuable lesson, Dr. Tripp focuses on communication and how to keep it open with your kids. As always, he gives the Biblical basis for his teaching, then he shares lots of scenarios and examples from his own life and those he’s counseled over the years.

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The second part in Tedd Tripp’s Shepherding Your Child’s Heart teaching series is…

Shepherding Your Child’s Heart: Age 6 to 12

In this message, Dr. Tripp covers the important issue of addressing the heart over of manipulating the child to get the desired behavior. When our children are very young (say toddler age), they learn right from wrong through training in obedience; however, as they get older, mere obedience is not enough. Continuing to focus simply on obedience will tend to create children that learn to manipulate the system so that they look good and get what they want.

Addressing behavior is easier than shepherding our children’s hearts, though. So Dr. Tripp’s Biblical justification for it and encouragement

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In my last post I talked about how valuable Shepherding a Child’s Heart was for me in the forming of my parenting philosophy. If you read that post and thought to yourself “That sounds great, but I’ve already got a stack of unread books next to my bed. This would just be one more book I’ll feel bad about not reading,” then I’ve got some good news for you. I’ve found a series of messages that Dr. Tripp gave at The Bible Church of Little Rock in 1997 that covers much of what is in his book.

The first message is Shepherding Your Child’s Heart: Ages 0-5.

In this message, Dr. Tripp lays the foundation you need for …

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We are in the middle of working through a very helpful video training training class called Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes… in You and Your Kids on Wednesday nights. The course centers around the idea of what it means for us to honor one another and how we can train our children to live out Ephesians 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’”

As good as the course is, I feel

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The ESV Study Bible ships this week. As study Bibles go, this appears to be a good one. If you are planning to order one, you can get it Amazon for $31.49 (as of this posting). If you order it from this link (or the search box on the Library page), Grace Fellowship will get close to $2 as a referral fee.

I haven’t seen a copy, but with features like in-line color maps and figures (see Solomon’s Temple example), extensive background notes and introduction (see Psalms example), it looks like it will set a new standard for study Bibles.  Of course, at 2752 pages, you may need to check with your doctor before making

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During the summer’s ChurchWorks series, Dan mentioned the process we have for recognizing, developing, and appointing gifted leaders within the church. If this has you thinking thoughts like “Is God moving me toward a shepherding role within the church?” or “How would I know if I have the skill and desire to be a pastor?” or “How can I personally develop as a shepherd and pastor to those God has put in my path?” then I commend an excellent resource to you titled They Smell Like Sheep: Spiritual Leadership for the 21st Century by Lynn Anderson.

Ken gave me this book when I

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