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The World We Made: Coming soon...

UPDATE: There’s been lots of interest in this podcast, with about 2000 listens from 30 countries and counting! If you haven’t subscribed yet, we’ve added a few links to make it easier for those of you who aren’t on iTunes, which is most of you. (Welcome non-Apple fanboys.) Don't miss an episode. Scroll down and subscribe now.

"These are the confessions of American Christians recovering from American Christianity. This is the world we made."

Warhorn Media is pleased to announce a new podcast hosted by Jake Mentzel and Nathan Alberson and featuring Tim Bayly. The World We Made is designed to help ordinary American Christians think through the difficult issues we face in our culture today. Season 1 is about homosexuality.

Over the course of the first season, we talk with Tim about how we went from having anti-sodomy laws in all 50 states (just 50 years ago) to where we are today. What are the changes Tim has seen in his lifetime? What exactly do they mean? What part did the culture play and what part did the church play? How are regular Bible-believing Christians supposed to respond? What has Tim learned as a pastor to help equip us for the challenge of ministering to men and women tempted by homosexuality?

These are the questions we'll be unpacking over the course of eight 20-minute episodes. We'll start out slow and easy, and things will pick up steam as we get closer and closer to the end. You won't want to miss it, so check out the trailer (above), and go ahead and subscribe now in iTunes or Android (or wherever you listen to your podcasts—Google Play Music, Stitcher, TuneInRSS feed) so you're ready when the first episode drops (July 17). 

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Daddy Tried audiobook now available...

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Warhorn Media is pleased to announce that Tim Bayly's Daddy Tried is now available as an audiobook. If you haven't had a chance to read it for yourself, swing over to Audible.com or Amazon.com, download a copy, and have Tim read it for you.

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We're also pleased to offer a free download of the Chapter 1 audio to Baylyblog readers.

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Luther and marriage...

Should I get married? Most of us don’t ask the question. We just assume we’ll get married and spend time thinking about whom we will marry.

Martin Luther, however, did ask that question. When he became a monk, he had taken a vow of celibacy and the Bible has stern things to say about those who break their vows. He also thought there was a good chance he would be martyred, soon. There were many people who wanted him dead. Should he marry when his wife could end up a widow before their first anniversary? Too, his Roman Catholic critics believed the new Protestant movement was just a cover for sexual licentiousness. If he got married and others followed his example, this would help silence the critics.

Luther struggled with the question and asked his parents about it. His father urged him to marry and have children, just like fathers everywhere, always, and at all times.

In Roman Catholicism, marriage was a sacrament and regulated by canon law that told you...


The good father: the family-centered church movement (2); water flows thicker than blood...

Whether we speak of the "family-integrated" or "family-centered" church, there's a problem. The Church doesn't exist to please mothers. It is not the church's purpose to keep children in the home, safe and happy until they make a home of their own. If this happens and the church has helped it come to pass, that's all good, but the church has larger fish to fry.

The church is to make disciples who obey everything our Lord commanded, and although this work normally flows in the direction of keeping families together, this work will also split families apart.

Let's put a fine point on it...


A tribute to my mother-in-law, Margaret Louise Taylor, on her one-hundredth birthday...

Note: Three days ago was the one-hundredth birthday of my dear mother-in-law, Margaret Louise Taylor. This past weekend, Mary Lee and I gathered with Mary Lee's nine siblings and their spouses, as well as Mom's brother-in-law and his wife, Lyman and J. Mae Taylor, to celebrate this wonderful occasion.1 

It would be hard to overstate the blessing Mom Taylor has been to all of us for many decades, now. Twenty years ago, thinking about Mom Taylor and my own mother, Mary Louise Bayly (who at the time was still living), I wrote this article as a tribute to them both. Now is a good opportunity to reproduce it as a hundredth birthday tribute to Mom. I hope it serves as a good reminder to readers of the true nature of biblical femininity, womanhood, and motherhood. Of truly sacrificial Christian faith.

* * *

Mom Taylor studied for her degree in Home Economics during the late '30s and early '40s, graduating summa cum laude from Oregon State University. After marrying her childhood sweetheart, Ken Taylor, she gave birth to ten children in fourteen years.

Engaged for most of the years when the family was young as editorial director of a religious publishing house, her husband, Ken, brought home low wages, so frugality was a necessity and the degree served this young mother and her family very well...


Women, incest, and the internet...

For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality... (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

If you want to see this sort of father-daughter sweetness in your home...

In Corinth, sexual perversion and immorality were everywhere, starting with their houses of worship. This "everywhere" included the Christian house of worship where the congregation was very proud while their brother in Christ lived in their midst incestuously, with their full knowledge of the fact.

This is America and the church of America, today. We are proud of our religion; of our deep theological understanding and grace-centered living. Meanwhile, our children view naked flesh and commit incest. You could call it secret, but we don't ask or put up safeguards around them, so these sins in our homes and church are don't ask-don't tell public sins.

Your daughters should never ever shower with their father! What, are you crazy? You think your husband's above that? You think your daughter would...


The good father: older women and younger women...

A friend and I were talking on the phone one day when my friend told me he didn't allow his wife to attend his church's women's Bible study. I knew his pastor was good and his church was good, so I was shocked. "Why not," I asked?

He told me Scripture says wives should ask their husbands at home. He was referring to 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35:

The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

Knowing he hadn't been a Christian long, I probed to see if there was some harm the women of the church may have done to his wife; some emotional slight or alienation that might explain his decision...


The good father: the fearful romance of marriage and children...

At first, just the weight of responsibility of marriage is overwhelming. I remember waking up the second night of our honeymoon, looking at my dear Mary Lee sleeping next to me, and thinking "the rest of my life!"

Other than following Jesus, I'd never before consciously made a decision about the rest of my life. But now I'd said my vows and I would be responsible to care for my bride and the children God chose to bless us with, and there would be no running. No getting out of it unless I was willing to face the wrath of God and suffer shame before everyone who loved us.

So I lay there thinking to myself... 


The Christian Mind Conference in Spartanburg, SC...

This announcement from Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Spartanburg:

Evangelicalism has been gutted. The core has has been scooped out and little more than a thin shell remains. Churches are clubs, sermons are stand up, and the sheep are fed with the sawdust of entertainment. No wonder most Christians can’t define or defend basic doctrines of Scripture. Like the rest of the West, the church is amusing herself to death. 

The Reformed answer usually comes in the form of a toothless scholasticism. We find a way to do nothing that requires faith. Instead, we rest complacently within the technical confines of our confessions. In other words, we snore to Bach rather than Lady Gaga. 

This isn’t the faith of Calvin, Ryle, and Hodge. These men demonstrated that a mind possessed by the glories of biblical doctrines leads to a life of faith and holiness. Harry Blamires says, “The Christian mind is the prerequisite of Christian thinking, and Christian thinking is the prerequisite for Christian action.”

In just a few weeks, Dr. David Talcott, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at The King's College, will tackle how the church got here and what we can do to return to a Biblical way of thinking. We'd like to invite you to attend The Christian Mind conference at Trinity Presbytery Church in Spartanburg, SC on August 19 & 20. Then, in a Friday night concert, My Soul Among Lions will demonstrate the power the Psalms possess to shape the Christian mind. Both the conference and the concert are free. 

Here's a rundown of the sessions, followed by a link for more information and registration...


Why women are being encouraged to attend The Enemy Within: Sexual Abuse in the Church...

This year we hope women will attend our February 17-19, 2016 conference, The Enemy Within: Sexual Abuse in the Church. Previous years we called this conference a "Pastors Conference" or "Church Officers Conference," and only men attended—men who are officers and men who aspire to holding office in the Church.

This year, though, our subject demands the most intense work and wisdom on the part of pastors, elders, and deacons, and that work cannot be done and that wisdom cannot be gained without the help of wise women of the church, including officers' wives. So we've opened up registration, not just to the wives of pastors, elders, and deacons, but also to women, single or married, who obey the command of God given in Titus 2:3-5, to serve the church by "teaching what is good."

My wife Mary Lee and I will be talking about the necessity and helpfulness of church officers working with Titus 2 women in the protection of children of the church. If elders and pastors don't have...


Child abuse: I'm for grace!

...each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”  - 1Corinthians 1:12, 13

So, apparently, the sin of some in the Corinthian church was saying "I am of Christ."

A year and a half ago, I was talking with a Presbyterian counselor who was counseling an older single man who had physically and sexually abused several young men under his authority. Despite this predator's pastor and several of his elders a decade ago knowing of the specifics of his abuse of one victim, they had allowed the man to keep his job on the staff of their Presbyterian church where he continued to have young men under his authority. When his corruption of his first victim ten years ago became known, his pastor and several of his elders had refused to ask other young men under this man's leadership if he had abused them, also; nor had they warned them.

Now, the church's pastor and elders were finally having their noses shoved into the sins they and their predecessors had worked hard to avoid. They were finding out their church staff worker had abused more than the one man who had been known. Two more victims had come forward and were calling the church's session to acknowledge their past failures and bring this ministry leader under discipline and I was hoping to get the counselor to help with that process.

In our initial conversation, this counselor said he was...


Our little bundle of joy...

This just in: being a parent is hard. Very hard. The Washington Post recently published an article about a study from Germany which indicates that parenthood is downright awful. Here's how the article starts:

Life has its ups and downs, but parenthood is supposed to be among the most joyous. At least that's what the movies and Target ads tell us.

In reality, it turns out that having a child can have a pretty strong negative impact on a person's happiness, according to a new study published in the journal Demography. In fact, on average, the effect of a new baby on a person's life in the first year is devastatingly bad — worse than divorce, worse than unemployment and worse even than the death of a partner.

So we've known for a long time that we kill babies in this country to the tune of over 1,000,000 per year. And now we know Planned Parenthood sells baby parts to the highest bidder. It should surprise exactly no one for me to say we don't actually like our children...


Clearnote Summer Conference: Whole families are welcome

We are excited to host our seventh annual Clearnote Summer Conference this July 10th and 11th! One of the best features of our conference is that it truly is a conference for the whole family. So, if you are thinking about attending but are wondering what the kids will be doing throughout the weekend, here is a sneak peek...


Next come the children...

There's not the youngest child in the whole domain of our existence over which the state, which is sovereign over all, does not cry "Mine!" PBS is all a-flutter over the possibilities, titling their piece "The Case for starting sex education in kindergarten":

Welcome to “Spring Fever” week in primary schools across the Netherlands, the week of focused sex ed classes… for 4-year olds.


Family values; the Levites, you, and your pastor...

Who said of his father and his mother, ‘I did not consider them’; And he did not acknowledge his brothers, Nor did he regard his own sons... (Deuteronomy 33:9)

Probably the most scandalous parts of Scripture to those of us committed to the reform of marriage and family life are the places God warns us that we must put Him first, above our families. It's that "above our families" part that gets us, but this is what our God Whose Name is Jealous requires and He commends those who obey Him in it. The text above shows the blessing given to the Levites by Moses at the end of his life. He blessed them because in obedience to God's Word they slew their own brothers and sons (Exodus 32:25-29).

John Bunyan highlights the constancy of this choice between loved ones and God at the beginning his Pilgrim's Progress when he describes Christian running from the voices of his family who were crying after him to stop, turn around, and come back home. Covering his ears with his hands...


Parents and travel sports clubs...

On the other hand: here's another piece by the same emergency room doc (who wrote the prior piece) and it is excellent. Titled "Your Kid and My Kid Are Not Playing in the Pros," here's an...


Discipline: the paddle or the tongue?

Under the post "Black mothers are switch-hitters...," a reader asks:

To clarify, you aren't justifying beating your child so bad you leave possible scars (as in AP's case), you are advocating beatings in the vein that most of us received as kids; ones that made us remember what we did wrong and why we shouldn't do it again, correct?

I respond:

Dear Matthew,

Thanks for your question.

First, I would not use the word 'beating,' but rather 'spanking'. Spanking communicates punishment that is intentional and constructive whereas beating communicates hostility and aggression and the release of one's temper, all of which are wrong with children.

As for AP's case, I haven't read the details. Concerning scars in child discipline, though, marks aren't scars. Scars are permanent and I can't ever imagine a spanking done in love that would leave physical scars. On the other hand, I regularly see young adults and older adults who are emotionally scarred for life by...


What does a loving father's discipline look like...

If you're interested in what godly discipline of a son by his father looks like and you're one of my FB friends, check out the link on my timeline to Chris Taylor's tribute to his own father, Peter Taylor.


Michael Farris misses the mark...

Homeschoolers can be a fractious bunch, so it's a wonder to behold how Homeschool Legal Defense Association's Michael Farris has been able to unify homeschoolers in supporting his work. For years now, he's spoken for homeschoolers as Tim Keller speaks for the Presbyterian Church in America and Bill Clinton speaks for the Democratic Party.

It's noteworthy, then, what Farris recently declared concerning manhood and womanhood in the wake of the fall of his fellow homeschool leaders, Doug Phillips and Bill Gothard. Posted to the HSLDA website, Farris starts by saying he doesn't intend to condemn Phillips and Gothard's sexual sins, but rather their teaching. It's a curious way to begin, but maybe his tack makes sense when you consider that Phillips and Gothard's teaching has been the same for many, many, years whereas their sexual sin is the new revelation hitting Farris now. You know, it takes him a while to decide what he thinks about things, so helped by the scandal surrounding their sexual sin, he's finally been able to come to an understanding concerning their teaching. You get my point?

Back around 1980, our Dad confronted Bill Gothard publicly in the pages of Eternity magazine. He wrote a column exposing Bill Gothard's teaching on authority and he took Gothard to task for his tolerance of sexual sin at Gothard's headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. Which is to say Gothard's failures are very, very old. So why didn't Michael Farris condemn Bill Gothard for his bad teaching many years ago?

Because men who want...


Clearnote Summer Conference: your children will love it!

Here's the e-mail that went out to fathers and mothers of children registered for our 2014 Clearnote Summer Conference this coming weekend, "Salt and Light: Confessing Christ in the Public Square," and it's one small evidence of the truth we repeat to those considering attendance: the Clearnote Summer Conference children's programs are second to none. Clearnote churches and Clearnote Fellowship are family-centered. 

We are very thankful to the many men and women who serve our children during the conference, and especially Dr. Ben Burlingham who has led them. If you have children and you're able to get out of town during the summer, make plans now to attend next year's conference. You and your wife and sons and daughters will love it!

A Parents’ Guide to the 2014 Clearnote Fellowship Summer Conference

We have a great program planned for the kids this year, and the purpose of this email is to ensure that they all arrive ready to hit the ground running...