The apostle Peter writes,

Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7)

This is strange at first glance. How does caring for your wife connect to having unhindered prayers?

Here's Wayne Grudem's challenging commentary:

So concerned is God that Christian husbands live in an understanding and loving way with their wives, that he "interrupts" his relationship with them when they are not doing so. No Christian husband should presume to think that any spiritual good will be accomplished by his life without an effective ministry of prayer. And no husband may expect an effective prayer life unless he lives with his wife "in an understanding way, bestowing honour" on her. To take the time to develop and maintain a good marriage is God's will; it is serving God; it is a spiritual activity pleasing in his sight." (1 Peter, 146)

Christian husbands shouldn't feel that time given to their wives is "time away from the real ministry." Time invested with our wives is time well spent. It's God's will—"a spiritual activity pleasing in his sight."

On November 25th, the oldest member of Bethlehem who is still walking the earth turns 100. Irene Peterson attended Bethlehem for over 90 years. Only recently did she move to be near her daughter Joan in Washington, D.C. Joan says what Irene misses most is the body at Bethlehem.

We miss you too, Irene.

Some people get crotchety when they get old. But Joan says, "Mother is mellowing and aging well. Her neighbor calls their home Finishing School; she is finishing well!" Though her loss of hearing makes conversing difficult, word has it that the staff and fellow residents of Ingleside at Rock Creek love her. "Her quiet appreciative ways are winsome!"...

Read the rest of the article.

Thanks to all of you who participated in last week's giveaway for subscribers. Copies of This Momentary Marriage will be sent out to 125 of you this week.

(We'd list all the winners, but we'd have to get everyone's permission first, so you'll just have to trust me that the books are being sent.)

I wish we could have given everyone who wrote in a free copy, but we've done the next best thing by pricing it affordably. You can purchase This Momentary Marriage for only $6.49.

You may also be interested in the Marriage gift set that we have on special right now. It includes a copy of This Momentary Marriage, as well as John Piper's new book of poetry Velvet Steel and the CD set of his sermon series on marriage, "Marriage, Christ, and Covenant: One Flesh for the Glory of God."

Thanks again for reading and subscribing. Hopefully, we'll do another giveaway soon.

Good children's books are profitable for adults. C. S. Lewis put it like this:

I was therefore writing "for children" only in the sense that I excluded what I thought they would not like or understand; not in the sense of writing what I intended to be below adult attention. I may of course have been deceived, but the principle at least saves one from being patronizing. I never wrote down to anyone; and whether the opinion condemns or acquits my own work, it certainly is my opinion that a book worth reading only in childhood is not worth reading even then.

This weeks sermon: "Behold the Lamb of God"

Like a great root—one that protrudes above the ground a few feet out from the tree trunk—John the Baptist appears at the outset of the Gospel of John and then falls to the background.

He is a bridge between the Old Testament and the New. He is prominent at the beginning of Jesus' story because he is part of the deep roots of the Gospel in previous Scripture.

Jesus didn't appear on the scene of history without historical preparation. God had been at work in Israel for two thousand years—and even before that—putting in place a historical backdrop that would make Jesus life and ministry more intelligible.

The highpoint of what John the Baptist proclaims about Jesus is that he is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." In this announcement are two shocking truths:

1. Jesus, the Messiah, will be slaughtered like a lamb and
2. he will open up the way of salvation not to Jews only but to the whole world.
   

Regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity, or status, those who embrace Jesus as their Lamb and their Lord will be sheltered from the otherwise inescapable wrath to come.

A vague bad feeling that you are a crummy person is not the same as conviction for sin. Feeling rotten is not the same as repentance.

This morning I began to pray, and felt unworthy to be talking to the Creator of the universe. It was a vague sense of unworthiness. So I told him so. Now what?

Nothing changed until I began to get specific about my sins. Crummy feelings can be useful if they lead to conviction for sins. Vague feelings of being a bad person are not very helpful. The fog of unworthiness needs to take shape into clear dark pillars of disobedience. Then you can point to them and repent and ask for forgiveness and take aim to blow them up.

So I began to call to mind the commands I frequently break. These are the ones that came to mind.

• Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Not 95%, 100%. (Matthew 22:37)
• Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Be as eager for things to go well for him as you are for things to go well for you. (Matthew 22:39)
• Do all things without grumbling. No grumbling—inside or outside. (Philippians 2:14)
• Cast all your anxieties on him—so you are not being weighed down by it anymore. (1 Peter 5:7)
• Only say things that give grace to others—especially those closest to you. (Ephesians 4:29)
• Redeem the time. Don't fritter or dawdle. (Ephesians 5:16)
• Set your mind on things that are above. Connect all your thoughts to Christ. (Colossians 3:2)
• Do not return evil for evil—like when your wife or daughter says something you don't like. (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
• Rejoice always, and again I say rejoice. Always. If sorrowful, keep rejoicing. (Philippians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 6:10)
• Give thanks in all circumstances. All. All. All. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

So much for any pretensions to great holiness! I'm undone.

But now it is specific. I look it in the eye. I'm not whining about feeling crummy. I'm apologizing to Christ for not keeping all that he commanded. I'm broken and I'm angry at my sin. I want to kill it, not me. I'm not suicidal. I'm a sin hater and a sin murderer ("Put to death what is earthly in you" Colossians 3:5. "Put to death the deeds of the body" Romans 3:18.)

In this conflict, I hear the promise, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1John 1:9). Peace rises. Prayer feels possible and right and powerful again.

Brian Gault was born in Northern Ireland in 1960 with no arms due to the "completely safe" drug prescribed for his mother's morning sickness. I've just finished reading his autobiography, Look, No Hands.

At Bethlehem Baptist's Disability Ministry blog, you can read about some of the impact of the book on me.

Update: The contest is now closed. Books are being sent to the winners.

Remember to subscribe to the DG blog by email or RSS before Monday if you want a chance to win This Momentary Marriage.

Whether you subscribed a second ago or have been reading for a long time, just let us know you're a subscriber by responding to this post, and you'll be entered into the drawing.

We originally said we'd give away 100 of these books, but let's make it 125, so everyone's chances are a little better.

Thanks for reading!

Registration is now open for our 2009 pastors conference:

Commending Christ: The Pastor, the Church, and the Perishing

Topic: Evangelism—telling the gospel

When: February 2-4, 2009

Where: Minneapolis, MN

Who:

• Mark Dever
• Matt Chandler
• Michael Oh
• John Piper (on George Whitefield)
  
  
• Hundreds of other pastors from around the world
• And, we hope, you

Why

John Piper on this year's conference:

People are born again through hearing the gospel....

And what is the gospel? Basically this: "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel.... that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:1—4).

Telling this old story is the means God has ordained for people to be born again. This strikes me as simply amazing. Words coming out of our mouths about events in history are the way God brings about the stupendous, supernatural miracle of the new birth....

I am eager to be together with you and to worship and pray and think and discuss these great matters. I hope you will come.

How much: $110 until December 31 (or $100/person for groups of 5 or more)

Register online.

Or call 888-346-4700, 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. CT, Monday - Friday.