Truth is ancient; it's grey hairs may make it venerable;
it comes from Him who is the ancient of days. --Thomas Watson

 

30 November, 2006   comments: (0) Classic Family   Family Worship DVD Returns You To The Old Paths In 1766, Issac Baccus wrote of a problem in his time that is also a deficiency in our time: "New England has formerly been a place famous for true religion in general, and for family worship in particular. But as of late, the neglect of this, as well as other religious duties, has evidently been growing upon us, which has caused much grief to pious souls. But I have not heard that any discourse has been published upon this subject here these many years, as there have lately been numbers remarkably awakened in some parts of the land, who were trained up in the neglect of family prayer, and who are still at a loss about the scriptural authority for daily practice thereof." A few years ago, I was in the same spot, not knowing what or how to lead family devotions. If that describes you, here's a resource that can help. Unfortunately, today's churches tend to focus on family-dividing activities that you go to during the week. I say "family dividing" because they generally fragment families into age-segregated groups. For the kids, these "family nights" are often more about fun than biblical substance. And for adults, well when I was a part of that kind of church, I had something going on at church most nights of the week. It's a danger that Martyn Lloyd-Jones warned about when he said: "Perhaps the greatest danger confronting the Church and Christian people today, is that instead of realizing that the supreme need of the moment is this knowledge of the love of Christ, we spend our time and energy in organizing activities." That's what this excellent DVD set from CrossTV called "Family Worship" attempts to remedy. You might remember a mother's letter that I posted off of this set of videos; it's a heartbreaking account of what happened when too much trust was placed in her church's youth leaders to disciple her children. Borrowing from the classic book Thoughts on Family Worship by J.W. Alexander, this set of three DVDs makes the case for a centuries old practice of daily family devotional times. It's not a replacement for church, but is something that you do with your family in between church services. Here's a clip from the video that presents the case for family worship: Did you catch this Jerry Marcellino quote in the video clip?: "For some reason 'progress' makes people, more often than not, despise the past. (As though it no longer offers anything of any value). This is especially true in our own day (amongst this present generation. . . who live in the lonely age of iPods, CD-Roms, the Internet, and cellular technology). Even among today's professing Christians there is a subtle rejection of historic Christianity at the cost of presently remaining restless, in the shallow fads of a modern 'Christianity'; a Christianity that has taken on the attributes of a shallow culture, and not knowing why." But what will return the Christendom of this present generation to a "salty Christianity" (as Matthew 5:13 calls a Christianity that is vital, and that acts as a powerful preservative against sin)? What will return modern-day Christendom to a Christianity that will act as a "preserving agent" to a decaying society? What can offer certain hope . . . to a nation of families that are in utter disarray? ANSWER: "A present return to the old paths". Those old paths, the family devotional practices of the Reformers and Puritans, are talked about in this clip from the video. Note that in the midst of a time of great trials in the colonies, a Puritan synod in 1679 concluded "Most of the evils that abound amongst us, proceed from defects as to family government": I highly recommend this video series to Christian families of any size. They made a lasting impact on our home. Another family in my church who watched these videos said that they were so challenged by them, that they think there will be life-long changes in their devotional practices as a result. At around forty dollars, the videos are reasonably priced, and give you practical advice on how to get your family started. They also provide you with a listing of other family worship resources that you might find helpful. (I'll try to blog about some of those in the future). Note: The lower of the two prices listed on the CrossTV page - is for VHS tape format, and the higher price is for the DVD set. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.590   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism