"In public prayer a minister must not only endeavor to have respect and reverence for the great Majesty to whom he is speaking; he must also manifest this externally without pretense or imitation of others, but in truth and moderation. The matters must be presented in a manner suitable to move and stir up the congregation to follow him in a prayerful frame, and repeatedly say 'amen' upon his prayers. It is dreadful to babble some words in an unintelligible fashion, jumping from one matter to the next, and to speak on without any rhyme or reason. The congregation would benefit much more and be much more attentive if a form-prayer were used than with such a vain production of words." - Wilhelmus à Brakel

A blessed Lord's Day to you all. Enjoy Sabbath worship with your brothers.

https://youtu.be/rH5FYZ-ZrSY?si=6mTJtCTs2UhHCwo8

Letting your children choose their religion is as stupid as letting them choose their gender. If you're a Christian, they are, too, whether they like it or not.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Jos. 24:15)

Praise God

> Show me a single instance of infants being baptized or receiving the Lord's Supper.
> Sure, let's look at 1 Corinthians 10:1-4...

I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food. and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual  Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

The entire nation of Israel, who was baptized in the cloud and sea, obviously included infants. And the whole nation partook of the spiritual food and drink (the Lord's Supper).

Lest someone argue these Old Covenant sacraments conveyed something less than the New, Paul notes the substance of what the Israelites recieved was Christ Himself.

John Calvin on Wrestling with God:

It is not said that Satan, or any mortal man, wrestled with Jacob, but God himself: to teach us that our faith is tried by him; and whenever we are tempted, our business is truly with him, not only because we fight under his auspices, but because he, as an antagonist, descends into the arena to try our strength.... For as all prosperity flows from his goodness, so adversity is either the rod with which he corrects our sins, or the test of our faith and patience. And since there is no kind of temptations by which God does not try his faithful people, the similitude is very suitable, which represents him as coming, hand to hand, to combat with them....

He, having challenged us to this contest, at the same time furnishes us with means of resistance, so that he both fights against us and for us.... We may truly and properly say, that he fights against us with his left hand, and for us with his right hand. For while he lightly opposes us, he supplies invincible strength whereby we overcome....

We, also, are to learn from [Jacob], that we must fight during the whole course of our life; lest any one, promising himself rest, should wilfully deceive himself. And this admonition is very needful for us; for we see how prone we are to sloth.

-- Commentary on Genesis [32:24]

This is an excellent lecture series by James B. Jordan arguing for paedocommunion. As always, his keen insights from Old Testament study are extraordinarily thought provoking.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwCFU-IL_Ww2sNVmsTRxe4-cCqnoxgtQK&si=ek_r1BQeUV-91Tt7

Heidelberg Catechism Question 32: But why art thou called a Christian?

Answer: Because I am a member of Christ by faith, and thus am partaker of His anointing; that so I may confess His name, and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him; and also that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life, and afterwards reign with Him eternally, over all creatures.

God does NOT "hate the sin; love the sinner"

And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. (Lev. 20:23)

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. (Ps. 5:5)

The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. (Ps. 11:5)

There are six things which the LORD hates, seven which are an abomination to him: ...a false witness who breathes out lies, and a man who sows discord among brothers. (Prov 6:16-19)

My heritage [Israel] has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me; therefore I hate her. (Jer. 12:8)

Have you utterly rejected Judah? Does your soul loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but behold, terror. [The answer is yes, as the context shows] (Jer. 14:19)

Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels. (Hos. 9:15)

Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. (Mal. 1:2-3, cf. Rom. 9:13)

How Much Should We Pray?

5 to 10 minutes per day is plenty in general. This is about how long it takes to pray several Psalms, or other biblical prayers. Of course, extended prayer on special occasions is warranted (Matt. 26).

Pietists have heaped guilt on Christians for "not praying enough" or having a deficient "prayer life."

Yet Christ's instruction on prayer is to to condemn "heaping up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words." And the example prayer He gives is remarkably brief (Matt. 6).

Career success is a function of four factors, each of which has dual components.

1) Competency & hard skills -- Are you good at the basic tasks your job requires?
  a) Retaining already acquired skills
  b) Building relevant new skills

2) Industriousness -- How hard do you work?
  a) Number of hours you put in
  b) Productivity within those hours

3) Network -- Your connections with customers & coworkers, subordinates & superiors.
  a) Number of connections
b) Strength of those connections

4) Blessing -- God's blessing on your work.
a) Blessings from common grace
b) Blessings from covenant faithfulness

I wish the reader to understand that as often as we mention Faith alone in this question, we are not thinking of a dead faith, which worketh not by love, but holding faith to be the only cause of justification. (Gal. 5:6; Rom. 3:22.) It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone: just as it is the heat alone of the sun which warms the earth, and yet in the sun it is not alone, because it is constantly conjoined with light. Wherefore we do not separate the whole grace of regeneration from faith, but claim the power and faculty of justifying entirely for faith, as we ought.

– John Calvin, Antidote to the Council of Trent, 6th Session on Justification, Canon 11

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
Born of the virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into Hades.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
And sits on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy catholic church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting. Amen.

The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed 381AD

We believe in one God,
The Father almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
Of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
The only-begotten Son of God,
Begotten from the Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
Very God of very God,
Begotten, not made,
Being of one substance with the Father,
By whom all things were made;
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,
And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary,
And was made man,
And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,
He suffered and was buried.
On the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into heaven
And sits at the right hand of the Father,
and shall come again with glory
To judge the living and the dead,
Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
The Lord and Giver of life,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
Who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
Who spoke through the Prophets.

And we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church;
We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
And the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Chalcedonian Creed

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the properties of each nature being preserved and both concurring into one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us.