Nov
26
52home Store
Filed under 52homeAnother new gift idea over in the 52home store today:
Another new gift idea over in the 52home store today:
The 52home store will be having its annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales this weekend.
On Black Friday we’re offering a sale on the 52home calendars. For every calendar you buy, you get the second one 50% off. The sale begins at midnight on November 28th and ends at midnight on November 29th.
On Cyber Monday we are offering free shipping on all orders. That sale begins at midnight on December 1st and ends at midnight on December 2nd.
Give friends and family the gift of 52home this year!
Some new gift ideas for Christmas over in the 52home store today:
What are the most urgent needs for Christian women today? We believe that the greatest need for Christian women today is to be women of God’s Word. And so we began our “Timely Cautions” series back in the spring by urging all of us to not neglect our pastor’s preaching.
The pastor’s preaching tops our list because God has appointed gifted men to “teach what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Tit. 2:1, see also Acts 2:42, Heb. 13:7) and to deliver his Word to his church. If preachers are God’s messengers, called to bring his Word to us, we best pay close attention (J.I. Packer). We must also continually encourage and exhort one another to make it our “first great and primary business” to be in God’s Word on a daily basis (George Müller).
Which brings us, these many months later, to our second concern: that the Word of God “would not be reviled”—that we would not deny our doctrine with our lives, open a door to gospel-ridicule by our behavior, or give the enemies of Christ a reason to say evil about us, but that as Christian women, we would show forth the beauty and power of the gospel (Titus 2:5,8,10). How can we accomplish such a daunting task? Paul tells Titus:
“Older women…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).
This list of goodness, as with any list in Scripture, is not exhaustive. Discipleship of Christian women includes more than the teaching of Titus 2, but never less.
Here is an explicit agenda for a home-focused curriculum to be taught by older women to younger women that we dare not neglect if we are to remain faithful to Scripture. Paul’s instructions do not limit or restrict Christian discipleship for women, but they should shape our priorities.
If our one-on-one or church-wide discipleship for women ignores or neglects passages like Titus 2—if we (intentionally or accidentally) leave the application of sound doctrine to a woman’s life and home in the back supply closet with the broken chairs and old wedding decorations—then we need to reconsider whether our ministry priorities line up with the priorities of God’s Word.
Does this mean women must not teach beyond Titus 2 or biblical womanhood? Of course not! Christian discipleship entails a variety of topics that arise from God’s Word, and I rejoice when I see God raise up godly women who are gifted to teach other women, and who are in a season of life where they can do so while remaining faithful to their God-given responsibilities in the home.
But as we shape ministry to women and define discipleship in our local churches, a healthy church, like the one Paul is describing for Titus, needs a pastor who preaches sound doctrine, and older women who teach younger women how to live according to that sound doctrine.
The pastor cannot do our part any more than we are called to do his part in leading the church. A pastor must teach sound doctrine, “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), but there are many lessons of godly womanhood that a woman needs to learn from the example and instruction of another woman. Therefore we must not marginalize or shrug off our assignment. And what does our assignment involve? Elisabeth Elliot explains:
It is doubtful that the Apostle Paul had in mind Bible classes or seminars or books when he spoke of teaching younger women. He meant the simple things, the everyday example, the willingness to take time from one’s own concerns to pray with the anxious mother, to walk with her the way of the cross—with its tremendous demands of patience, selflessness, lovingkindness—and to show her, in the ordinariness of Monday through Saturday, how to keep a quiet heart…. Through such an example, one young woman—single or married, Christian or not—may glimpse the mystery of charity and the glory of womanhood.
To teach biblical womanhood is not shallow or frivolous. Titus 2 is not the Pinterest passage of Scripture. It is “the way of the cross.” It is a call to Christian women to help other Christian women glimpse “the mystery of charity and the glory of womanhood.”
Titus 2 calls women to a deep and profound understanding of the gospel that issues forth in a genuine and sacrificial love of family and home, a counter-cultural purity and self-control that is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a lifestyle that proclaims in a loud and joyful voice to our dying world:
[T]he grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).
This question—what do Christian women need most?—is personal and immediate before it is church-wide and global. What do you and I need most? What does the young woman sitting next to me in church need most? We all need a “Titus,” a pastor to teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. We all need to delight in and meditate on God’s Word day and night (Ps. 1:2). And we all need older women to help us apply gospel-centered teaching to our daily lives—all for the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
52home Calendars are back in time for Christmas! Available now in the 52home store.
Each calendar contains 12 individual 5x7 prints of a variety of home inspired scenes or urban architecture featuring quotes to encourage your soul. The unbound pages provide endless display options: framed, pinned to a bulletin board, hung with clothes pins, displayed on an easel or attached to the fridge! And when a month is over, simply trim off the calendar portion of the print and you have a 5x5 photograph which can be framed or mounted.
Yesterday, I achieved a personal best in the event, “Preparing for Advent Season.” I’m usually still in recovery from Thanksgiving cleanup when I realize it is the night before December 1 and time to go on an emergency hunt for our advent stuff. Last year, I never even found our advent devotional and had to share with Janelle. It turned up some time in August, so I’m ready this year.
Each morning in December we light the appropriate Advent candles and my husband leads our children in Scripture reading and discussion from one of The Good Book Company’s Advent devotionals. The kids meanwhile munch on a piece of chocolate (for breakfast!) from the Advent Calendar house that Mom-Mom bought us a few years ago
Then every evening we light the candles again after dinner and read a Christmas story together. Over the years I’ve collected our favorite stories and developed a schedule of readings. Here it is below in case you want to follow or adapt. We’re going to try a few new ones this year as well so I’ll let you know how it goes.
Also new for Advent this year is a gift for your kids—that you give to yourself. A Better December by Steve Estes is a one-of-a-kind book that helps you apply the wisdom of Proverbs to the craziness of the Christmas season. Simple, humorous, short, and convicting, it will help you lead your family with wisdom and grace through a Christ-centered Christmas season.
I’m looking forward to the Advent Season where we anticipate the celebration of our Savior’s birth!
December 1
“A Kind of Christmas Tale” by John Piper
December 2
Jed & Roy McCoy by Andrew McDonough
December 3
“He’s Here” from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
December 4
If You’re Missing Baby Jesus by Jean Gietzen
December 5
The Donkey Who Carried a King by R.C. Sproul
December 6
Chpt. 1 & 2 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 7
Chpt. 3 & 4 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 8
Chpt. 5 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 9
Chpt. 6 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 10
Chpt. 7 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 11
Chpt. 8 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 12
Chpt. 9 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 13
Chpt. 10 & 11 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 14
Chpt. 12 & 13 of Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade
December 15
“The King of Kings” from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
December 16
The Plan: How God Got the World Ready for Jesus by Sinclair Ferguson
December 17
“The Light of the Whole World” from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
December 18
Chapter 1&2 of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
December 19
Chapter 3 of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
December 20
Chapter 4 of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
December 21
Chapter 5 of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
December 22
Chapter 6&7 of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
December 23
Not What I Deserve by Annette B. Gulick
December 24
kidtalk Christmas by Mike Bradshaw
Can’t wait to put together this kid’s wedding slideshow!
My friend, Joy, recently told me about a conversation her family had with author Jerry Bridges. He was preaching at our church’s Sunday service, and Joy’s family invited him to their home for lunch. Joy asked him about how he got into writing and Mr. Bridges told her that he did not publish his first book until he was in his mid-forties. He may have gotten a late start, he told Joy, but he thought it was necessary to have gone through all he had experienced in order to be able to write what God had called him to write.
I, for one, am grateful that Jerry Bridges wasn’t writing books in his twenties. His biblical wisdom is valuable precisely because it has been refined for years in the daily grind of obscure obedience. He didn’t write fresh out of a trial or high off an accomplishment. He learned his lessons slowly, over decades of walking faithfully with God, with no one watching or publishing.
There is a time for living and a time for writing. A time for every season, the wise teacher tells us (Ecc. 3:1-8).
A time for sowing and a time for reaping.
A time for teaching and a time for learning.
A time for speaking publicly and a time for serving silently.
For young women, yours is primarily a time to learn and sow. Young women, full of zeal and overflowing with desires to serve Christ’s kingdom, let me encourage you to channel your energies to learning from older women, to striving after maturity, to seeking out lowly places of service.
Mothers of small children, yours is a season for gathering up seeds of wisdom from older women and planting them in the fertile soil of your family. Each day you stand at the head of an endless row of seeds to be sown—disciplines to be lovingly administered, squabbles to be settled, splinters to be extracted, plates to be cleared, lessons to be taught to little ones. Make it your aim to faithfully sow.
And may I encourage you, young woman, not to despise the sowing time? You may feel as if your kingdom influence is small at best. You may feel as if your time and talents are going to waste. You may feel as if everyone else is teaching and you are still stuck learning. You may feel as if your seeds will never sprout.
But I think, perhaps, that the church needs young women like you most of all. More than young women teachers, we need young women learners. More than young women leaders, we need young women doers. More than young women bloggers and speakers we need young mothers and sisters to raise the next generation in the ways of the Lord.
The church desperately needs young women who are fervently learning and faithfully sowing today so that they can become the older women of tomorrow. If the present dearth of qualified, older women has taught us anything, it has taught us this.
So let me encourage you, young woman. Do not chafe at the learning and do not despair in the sowing. Delight in this season, in this time appointed by our gracious Lord. Toil and struggle, learn and sow, with all his energy that he powerfully works within you (Col. 1:29).
Previous Posts in Series:
Q&A: How Can I Find an Older Woman to Mentor Me?
As my kids keep reminding me, the holidays are just around the corner. To give you plenty of time to shop for Christmas, here is our eighth annual list of CJ’s book recommendations. I’m so excited about all of these new books, I might only put books on my Christmas list this year. Enjoy!
The Guns At Last Light: The War in Western Europe (1944-1945) by Rick Atkinson
The Boys In The Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
Storm Kings: The Untold History of America’s First Tornado Chasers by Lee Sandlin
Frozen In Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
Unsinkable: The Full Story of the RMS Titanic by Daniel Allen Butler
Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural by Ronald C White Jr.
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II by Adam Makos
God’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America by Larry Eskridge
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship by Colin Duriez
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill Defender Of The Realm 1940-1965 by William Manchester and Paul Reid
Dinner with Churchill: Policy Making At The Dinner Table by Cita Stelzer
Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever by Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O’Connell
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
The Mystery of Courage by William Ian Miller
Letters From Mississippi; Reports from Civil Rights Volunteers & Freedom School Poetry of the 1964 Freedom Summer ed. by Elizabeth Martinez
The Missing Ink: The Lost Art of Letter Writing by Philip Hensher
Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen C. Guelzo
October 31st was a dark and stormy night here in Louisville and this resulted in a bunch of dark and blurry phone pics. The picture quality can also be blamed on a certain crazy lion that was keeping his picture-taking-mommy very busy. But here ya have it:
