I've been suffering from a block of sorts lately. I'm still writing posts, so it's not writer's block; I just can't bring myself to publish them, so I guess you could call it publisher's block. I have thirteen (thirteen!) posts sitting in my "drafts" folder that just aren't quite right. I keep tweaking and editing and rewriting them. One of these days I'll either delete them or publish them, I'm not sure which.
For the time being, I thought I would share this article about family worship by Dr. Beeke. Our family practices family worship regularly, and it's a very important and dear tradition to me. The starting point for reading about family worship, of course, is the Westminster Directory for Family Worship; but this article by Dr. Beeke is also quite interesting. I especially enjoyed the part where the Beeke siblings thanked their father for his faithfulness in leading family worship. I knew Dr. Beeke's father when I was a child. He was a very godly man, and I can easily imagine him teaching his children with tears streaming down his face!
Here's the link:
Family Worship
I'm not wholeheartedly endorsing everything that Dr. Beeke suggests--for instance, my preference would be for psalms only in family worship (I haven't gotten tired of them yet!), whereas he suggests including hymns as well.
I also noted something perplexing: he suggests reading not only from the Bible, but from various other good books too; memorizing Scripture together; and singing not one, but several psalms and hymns--I don't see how the worship he describes could possibly fit within his suggested ten to twenty-five minute timeframe! Perhaps he and his family sing very quickly!
In other news, I have added a blog roll on a separate page (see the tabs at the top). This list will probably change as I remember important blogs that I have forgotten to include. If your blog is listed and you don't want it there for any reason (perhaps privacy?), please let me know and I will remove it. :)
I say just go ahead and publish your other posts. I'm sure they're good! Thanks for sharing on the family worship. do you have a set time that you guys do this or just whenever it fits in the day? If you don't mind me asking, how have your boys responded to it? Are they reluctant at times or do they generally look forward to it?
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew, we do worship morning and evening, but exact times vary depending on my brother's schedule (he's the one leading worship). So morning worship takes place just before my brother leaves for work, and evening worship takes place at some point between dinner and bedtime.
ReplyDeleteMy youngest has accepted that worship is a fact of life, and he doesn't object. He likes to "sing along" though he can't read the words of course. :) My oldest will grumble at first if family worship time interrupts his play, but once we're into it, he seems to enjoy the singing and Bible reading, especially if we're reading something exciting, like in Acts where we had shipwrecks and poisonous snakes in back to back chapters! He also gets excited when we read verses that he has previously memorized as proof texts to go along with his Shorter Catechism memory work.
Wonderful, I love it! I must confess that family worship is an area that I am struggling with so far. It's just my wife and I right now, but nonetheless I want it to be a priority. Right now our biggest obstacle is that we both have weird schedules, with me working shifts and her taking classes and working part time. Of course, this is no excuse, so I need to take responsibility for my home and lead as God has called me to. I appreciate you posting the links above. I am looking forward to reading them.
ReplyDeleteLOL and here I don't usually edit or read my post before it goes up...and I dont plan on it either! Have too many things to do to manage that. But, if you got the time thats great!
ReplyDeleteWell, Ev, a few times I've posted something without much thought before hand, and managed to step on a few toes by doing so! So now I am more cautious. Maybe if I weren't so opinionated, I wouldn't have so much trouble. :p Or maybe if I would just keep my opinions to myself. :p
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I know that varying schedules can make family worship really difficult! But if you can find a way to make it work, I can promise you won't regret it, as it can be the source of much blessing.