“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ” (Col 3:12–13)
Matthew took a flying leap off the deck in the backyard. Some friends were over and Jenn thinks he was doing a little showing off. She also tells me he cried a little but was more upset when she tried to take him inside. He really love playing outside. Here’s a photo of his first major facial wreck.
We started attending an excellent class on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood at West Hills. The course aims to teach the biblical view on the roles of man and woman. It’s funny that shortly before West Hills offered this class, Jenn and I were already studying about parenting and our roles. We were reading through journal entries from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, scripture and other authors like James Boice and John Macarthur. This class comes at a perfect time for our family that’s going to soon be Jenn, Matthew, Claire and I. We want to make sure that we learn all we can from scripture and the wisdom of other Christians about God’s plan for our family. I want to know how to be a good father and husband and Jenn wants to know how to be a good wife and mother.
One of the topics we covered introduces the biblical concept of complentarian roles between man and women. This means that man and woman are equal in value but diverse in their roles. What is this diversity in roles? Part of it is related to authority.
But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. (Cor 11:3)
It is amazing to note how Jesus perfectly submitted to God in everything he did through his entire life. Wow! This verse also relates God’s authority over Jesus in the same way that man is to be in authority over woman. However, this authority is not based on our superiority. Consider that although Jesus submitted to God the Father, Jesus continue to remain an equal member of the Trinity. John MacArthur has an excellent section of his Expository Commentaries that dispels some misconceptions about male authority.
God established the principle of male authority and female subordination for the purpose of order and complementation, not on the basis of any innate superiority of males. An employee may be more intelligent and more skilled than his boss, but a company cannot be run without submission to proper authority, even if some of those in authority are not as capable as they ought to be. Elders and deacons are to be chosen from among the most spiritual men of the congregation, but there may be other men in the church who are even more spiritual. Yet, for the very reason that they are spiritual, those who are not in positions of leadership will submit to those who are.
A church may have some women who are better Bible students, better theologians, and better speakers than any of the men, including the pastor. But if those women are obedient to God?s order they will submit to male leadership and will not try to usurp it?simply because that is God?s design. A wife may be better educated, better taught in Scripture, and more spiritually mature than her husband. But because she is spiritual, she will willingly submit to him as head of the family.
MacArthur, J. (1996, c1984). 1 Corinthians. Includes indexes. (251). Chicago: Moody Press
The Biblical Manhood and Womanhood class continues for 5 more weeks. I will continue to post thoughts and updates as we progress through the class.
We started attending a church in Morgan Hill called West Hills Community Church. They are a biblically minded church with their foundation in the inerrant Word of God. They are also only 10 minutes away! This is quite a blessing compared to the 30 minute drive we were making to Grace Presbyterian. West Hills attracted us in a number of ways…
They adhere to conservative orthodox beliefs in their statement of faith. Each Sunday is filled with Expository preaching, feeding us God’s word. The teaching is passionate, encouraging , well organized and informative. They have a church building with Sunday school for all ages. The nursery is staffed by volunteers who are also members of the Church. The church resources links point to many of my favorite preachers and teachers. Christian Zorio, the associate pastor is trained from John MacArthur’s Master’s Seminary and the senior pastor, a John Piper fan, delivers excellent sermons that display a passion for God much like John Piper.
Jenn, Matthew and I are really starting to feel that this may be our Church home. We will miss all our friends from Grace Presbyterian although we will probably continue to attend the Grace Presbyterian small group on Tuesday’s until our friendships and community at West Hills picks up. We will continue to keep you all up to date.
Here’s a short video of Claire’s ultrasound. This was when we discovered that our baby is a girl. We also discovered that we might have a tom-girl, check out those shoulder and arm muscles! 
The first portion of the video shows her arm, followed by some close-ups of her face, then it wraps up with her flexing her arm.
I know. It’s so late to be talking about last years Christmas, but I forgot about these photos until my brother Michael had asked me about them. We had fun that day and I snapped a few keepers. Here’s a couple of my father smiling and thinking as he tells a story.
These are actually two natural and classic expressions from my dad.
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