Goal for Weekly Once-Over Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we've seen this past week that have been helpful. Our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. Each Thursday of every week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. Enjoy!

Weekly Once-Over (6.27.13)

The Gospel Coalition asked three moms of school-age children to share their families' perspectives on education. Jen Wilkin, Jenni Hamm, and Amanda Allen are three friends who attend the same church and raise families in the same geographic area. All three share mutual respect for each other as parents trying to raise children with intentionality, in the fear and admonition of the Lord. In this series, you will see their perspectives on how and why they chose to educate their children through public school, private school, or homeschooling.

• Going Public
• Homeward Bound
• A Private Enterprise

When Sin Is Grievous and Grace is Stunning - Tim Keller writes, "If we are going to grow in grace, we must stay aware of being both sinners and also loved children in Christ. We need a high and due sense of our sin before God and a deep and profound sense of our union with and acceptance in Christ. In the end, it's the joy and wonder of the gospel that will change you permanently."

The Most Compelling Reason to Read Your Bible - Often when we're asked about why we should read the Bible, we appeal to personal fulfillment, the exciting stories, the grand drama of redemption within its pages... Certainly all this is good and right and true. But there's a better reason, a more compelling reason for the Christian to read the Bible than any other.

6 Lessons from Everyday Discipleship - "Here are six lessons I’m learning as I lead my family to live in community with other people while making disciples of believers and unbelievers in the every day of life." - Josh McPherson

The Beauty of Church Membership - "Once each quarter I teach a new members class for people interested in joining our church. It's become one of my favorite responsibilities as a pastor. I'm a believer in church membership, no question. But I'll be honest: every time I teach the class I cringe a bit along with my audience at some of the things we discuss." - Matt McCullough

photo credit: Jon Winters via photopin cc

Goal for Weekly Once-Over Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we've seen this past week that have been helpful. Our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. Each Thursday of every week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. Enjoy!

Weekly Once-Over (6.20.13)

 A Prayer for the Mom Who's Worn- Christina Fox writes a great blog post about motherhood. She writes, "Motherhood is both the best job and the also hardest job I've ever had. It has brought me great joy and revealed to me a level of love I hadn't known before. It has also stretched me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I've lived on less sleep than should be humanly possible. I've even learned more than I care to about bugs, science, and how machines work (two boys will that do that to you). While the physical stretch marks may fade, the ones on my heart are there to stay..."

Perspectives on Our Children's Education: Going Public - The Gospel Coalition asked three moms of school-age children to share their families' perspectives on education. Jen Wilkin, Jenni Hamm, and Amanda Allen are three friends who attend the same church and raise families in the same geographic area. All three share mutual respect for each other as parents trying to raise children with intentionality, in the fear and admonition of the Lord. In this series, you will see their perspectives on how and why they chose to educate their children through public school, private school, or homeschooling. The series begins today with Jen Wilkin on  why she sends her children to public school.

How to Read a Book - Reading a book seems like a pretty straightforward task, doesn’t it? And in some cases, it is. If you’re reading purely for entertainment or leisure, it certainly can be that easy. There’s another kind of reading, though, in which we at least attempt to glean something of value from the book in our hands (whether in paper or tablet form). In that instance, you might be surprised to learn that it’s not as simple as opening the book and reading the words.

How to Ask for Forgiveness - Making this a habitual practice would make our marriages, families, and churches the most beautiful places on earth. I would probably say that nothing has changed the tone of my marriage in the last 5 to 7 years as much as having the phrase, "I'm sorry.  Will you forgive me?" come out of our mouths.

Praying With Children - Tim Challies has a great post on his blog called Praying with Children. He says, "One of the great privileges of being a pastor is always having a good reason to speak to the children of the church. I love getting down to their level (i.e. sitting on the floor), talking to them, and hearing about their lives. A question I love to ask them is this: How can I pray for you? We ask this same question on Wednesday evenings when our church gathers for our mid-week service. The children go off to classes to learn about Jesus while adults go and spend an hour in prayer. But before we dismiss the kids we ask them the question: How can we pray for you tonight"

Funny: If I saw this sort of drummer at our church play drums like this, I would probably laugh...A lot!