I’ve recently begun reading
Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change by Paul David Tripp. I hope to put a book review together upon completion. So far I’ve found it to be a very well-written and compelling book. The thesis of the book, in essence, is that too often Christians assume that “counseling” in the church is the domain of professionals. This assumption is too often fed by an unbiblical view of the pastoral ministry as *the* “ministry” — when in fact, the saints themselves are the ministers and pastors are called simply to equip them to do it.

Having read the first 1/4 of the book, I’ve been impressed especially by Tripp’s emphasis that preceding counseling — informal and formal — there must be proper understanding of what causes behavior, namely, the *heart*. He uses a number of helpful autobiographical examples to drive home this point.

One thing he points out a number of times which rang especially true is that too few Christian marriage, family and relationship books spend any time talking about the core causes underlying conflict and problems, i.e., the desires of our hearts. Much energy in these books and counseling is spent on improving communication, etc. But as he points out wisely, the problem is often not merely failing to communicate effectively with another person, but our own fallen hearts. As I’ve thought on a number of occasions, it’s not other people who make me angry — it’s my own sinful heart. After all, Jesus in his perfect manhood would still never have sinned even under the duress of my life. It seems vain to even hint at it, given his holy response to the suffering of the cross. The point is, my sinful heart at the core of my problems — not the external stimuli that reveal my heart.

In any case, Lord willing, I’ll finish this book within the millenium and be able to offer a review.

Well, at least, I think it’s being “adored.” Either that, or they’re driven by immense curiosity.

And here’s proof she firmly belongs in the Ding family: on day three she’s a thumbsucker just like the rest!!!

We gratefully announce the arrival of our fourth child, a little girl named Calissa Jane Ding. Her name is derived from the Greek word “kalos” which means “beautiful” or “good.”

She was born on May 19, 2006 at 11:54 pm. Her initial stats: 7 lbs 8 oz and 18 inches long.

Oddly enough, this was Lois’ longest labor yet. Her contractions began at 6:30am and continued into the evening with little progress. By then we’d checked into the hospital because Lois’ water broke in the noon hour. We made a difficult decision at 9:30pm — after 15 hours of inconsistent contractions — to have a light drip of pitosin administered to accelerate her seemingly stalled and ineffectual labor. That did the trick (yikes!) and within 2+ hours, we had our baby girl. Through it all, as with her other two deliveries, she did it without any anesthesia.

What makes this day particularly notable is that it’s also our fifth wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary, babe. Though arguably the toughest one! We’ll have to do a make-up date soon…

Thank you Lord. Bless this little girl! And God bless her momma for an amazing job enduring a long and at times discouraging labor.

In a previous post I mentioned a couple of good resources on gospel-motivated feminine modesty. If you haven’t read that post, I’d encourage you to first visit and download an excellent message from C.J. Mahaney titled “The Soul of Modesty.”

Here are a few more recent blog-links that discuss this topic helpfully:

From the Mahaney girltalk blog
From the PyroTeam blog

Brothers and sisters, I encourage you all to take some time to consider this subject.

… though I might be slightly biased.

And in case you missed it, a couple of months ago our Emmaline had photos taken as well!

According to SalaryWizard.com, even though I bring home all the bacon, my lovely wife deserves to keep all the money and more!!! And that’s based on conservative estimates of hours & no performance bonuses (which she deserves!).