News and Reads

I Will Sing an Old Song.

Trouble comes to the people of God. If it is not here now, it will be here soon. Those who promise that the Christian life is a breezy walk through the meadow not only have not taken up their cross and followed Him, but, I fear, He may not have taken up His cross for them. Our walk, according to His Word, will be fraught with peril, our days filled with troubles. His yoke is indeed easy, and His burden light. But we follow Him on the via dolorosa. Praise God that He has not left us wandering in the dark. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is with us. He has told us troubles will come, and He has told us how we ought to respond. [Keep Reading ...]
From Tabletalk magazine, on the Ligonier Ministries blog.

R.C. Sproul Jr. goes to Colorado, with photographic evidence.

R.C. had the opportunity and priviledge of speaking in Colorado and taking his family there for a vacation as well. We decided, for no profound reason, to give you a glimpse of the Sproul family in vacation mode. Click the photo on the left to see this rare collection in our Overflow Gallery.

Watch Evangelizing Your Children online now.

This talk was given by R.C. Sproul Jr. at the 2008 National Conference of Ligonier Ministries. We also gave a recording of this talk to all our You Get Everything supporters. The video of this talk is now available to watch at the Ligonier Ministries website. Go to their website here, click on "video" in the middle index bar, and then scroll down to "Evangelizing Your Children," dated 6/24/08. Enjoy!

Kingdom Notes

Enthroned in the Praises of Israel
If you're like me, though you are loathe to admit it, you find Hebrew poetry less than satisfying. While sophisticates know better, most of us like a poem to rhyme. Hebrew poetry does not when translated, nor even in the original rhyme words. Instead it rhymes ideas. David, in Psalm 22 laments that "O my God, I cry in the daytime but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent" (verse 2). Twice David notes that he cries out to God, first in the day, and then at night. This is what passes for rhyming.
[Keep Reading ...]

Summer 2008 Couples Camp begins today.

A full weekend starts today, June 26, at 3PM as campers begin to gather at R.C. Sproul Jr.'s home for a three day discussion on all things family. We will be enjoying not only these great talks by R.C., but the outworking of these talks in covenant life by taking part in our Ice Cream Social and Folk Dance, worship, picnics, softball, and more. Pray that we will honor God well this weekend.

Ask RC

3 for 1:
1) At what point does environmentalism become a god?
2) Is social justice biblical?
3) Is racial diversity in the church really about church unity or is it pharisaical self-flagellation?

One of the most compelling evidences that we have become statists is this — we do not know how to distinguish between the state, and the rest of the world. Go visit your local library, for instance, and ask for any information they have on censorship. They have special brochures there all put together highlighting the many assaults against the first amendment going on in our land. Trouble is, not a one of them fits the criteria. Censorship is when the state makes it illegal to publish something. A parent who asks a school board not to have the students read certain books, or the library carry certain books isn't asking that the book be made illegal. But we treat it that way. [Keep Reading ...]

Annual Ice Cream Social and Dance this Friday, June 27.

Well, there goes my diet. This Friday is the Highlands Study Center Annual Ice Cream Social. We expect to have several talented families in the church contribute to the home made side of things, and HSC will contribute more fatteningly good stuff to fill in the blanks. Families coming to the Social are encouraged to bring their favorite condiments.

Following the Ice Cream Social we will be celebrating with another folk dance. The Band With a Dozen Not Real Names, led by Jonathan Landell, will be providing the wonderful music. The inimitable Blake Saunders will be calling as well.

All of this will be held at the Mendota Community Center starting at 6:30PM for the ice cream and 7:30PM for the dance. Everyone is welcome.

Kingdom Notes

What Lucy Learned Redux
Several years ago I published at our website a brief piece entitled, "Forbidden Knowledge, or What Lucy Learned." I told a story therein of a dishonorable man who sent me a transcript of a group of my friends having a private list-serve discussion about me, and me, the dishonorable man who read it. Most of you will remember what happened when Lucy Pevensie peeked into a magic book, and used a spell to listen in on a conversation of two friends. She didn't like what she heard. Aslan was good enough to tell her why she had done wrong, and why she should not trouble herself with what she heard.
[Keep Reading ...]

Coming Soon.

The Basement Tapes #77, Some Dance to Forget.
We live in a tuned in age. Music, video, internet, media crowds out the quiet, and leaves us unable to think. Which may be just why we love it so. In this conversation we consider together not just the distractions of contemporary life, but what it is we are so eager to be distracted from. We remember that for all our modern technologies, that there is nothing new under the sun, and that this too is chasing after the wind. Join us as we do something counter-cultural, speak in measured tones on important matters.

This CD will be out the first of July. Click the CD cover to listen to a sample from the CD.

Ask R.C.

Is it wrong to read fantasy stories?
This particular question serves as rather common fodder for debates among homeschooling families. Some families believe that reading fiction is in itself a sin, a violation of the ninth commandment in principle. Others argue that it isn't fantasy per se that is the sin, but that stories wherein magic is used, particularly if it is used for good, are off limits. Still others would argue that reading fantasy is at least sinful indirectly, that such reading is a failure to wisely steward our time. Others, of course, have no quarrel at all with reading fantasy. [Keep Reading ...]

New addition to our Online Store.
Family Practice: God's Prescription for a Healthy Home

Edited by R.C. Sproul Jr., Family Practice reveals that the biblical concept of covenant is salutary for the family, and explores the implications of covenant for fathers, mothers, and children.

This book is a wonderful compliment to Bound for Glory as it explores many of the same themes for the family while digging deeper into the understanding of what the covenant roles are for fathers, mothers, children, as well as our Father, His Son, the church as our mother, and us, the children of God and the bride of Christ.

This book is on sale now for $8.00 at our online store. Click the picture to go there.

Kiss the Son

There is no such thing as the "More Party." They do not run campaigns seeking to unseat sitting officials of the "Less Party." Both "more" and "less" need more context and less ambiguity. We need to know what we are getting more or less of. In like manner, the question of pluralism begs a previous question — plural what? What is it the pluralists want more of? On the surface it might seem that what they want more of is religions. One religion isn't enough. We need to construct, according to these people, a world with plenty of room for Hindus and Hottentots, for Muslims and Mormons, for Buddhists and Baptists. When we look deeper, however, we run headlong into an inescapable spiritual reality, that every religion in the end is all about authority. What they want is multiple authorities.
[Keep Reading ...]
From Tabletalk magazine, on the Ligonier Ministries blog.

Handy new product at our Online Store.

Whether you are a frequent purchaser of The Basement Tapes or a monthly supporter of the Highlands Study Center, you have likely aquired a number of our CDs, all without cases to put them in. After several requests, lots of staff meetings, hours of research, and 15 minutes in the design studio, we present to you the official Highlands Study Center CD case series. The designs are simple, generic, and cheap, not even printed on high quality paper, but the cases are sturdy, not cheap, and hold 12 priceless CDs from the Highlands Study Center. At a meager $5.00 each, they are well worth the investment.

We only have 2 different covers available now, but there are more coming soon. Visit the new CD Cases category at our Online Store to see more.