Ignited by the Word: A Christian Magazine for Children
This week the blog is sponsored by Reformed Free Publishing Association. This post is about their children’s magazine, Ignited by the Word.
Ignited by the Word is a quarterly-published, Christian children’s magazine split into sections for three different grade levels: PreK–2nd grade, 3rd–5th grade, and 6th–8th grade. Whether you are looking for Bible stories to read to your preschooler, stories about the heroes of the faith for your ten-year-old, or a set of daily devotions for your young teenager, Ignited by the Word is the magazine for you and your children!
Why a children’s magazine?
Jesus told his disciples to let children (little children!), come unto him. He also said that his kingdom belonged to children such as these whom he held in his arms and blessed.
Our goal for every issue of Ignited by the Word is to bolster the faith of God’s dear children as they live in this world. By bringing the truths of the Bible and the Protestant Reformation into every part of their lives, we also bring them closer to their heavenly Father and closer to each other.
What can readers expect to find in the magazine?
You can find just about everything in Ignited by the Word! Here are some of our favorite rubrics:
He Shall Purify – Devotions: these are the three sets of devotions in each issue, one for each grade level. This rubric instructs children and teens about their creator and heavenly Father, applies Bible passages to their young lives, and encourages them in their daily walk as Christians.
Here I Stand – Defense of the Faith: a rubric where pastors, teachers, and other believers explain Christian fundamentals like abiding in Christ, unconditional election, and brotherly love to children and young teens, encouraging readers to stand firm for the truth and live new and holy lives.
Creation Connection – The Beauty of the Earth: there is so much to learn about God’s creation! From the twinkling of each star above to the beauty of tiny butterflies to the grandeur of mighty mountains, every creature glorifies its Creator. This rubric leads children to join all of creation in praising his great name.
The best part?
Four times each year, the latest issue of Ignited by the Word is delivered to the mailboxes of children living in nine countries and all over the United States!
No matter how digital our world becomes, children will always find it exciting to receive something in the mail. A hard copy of the magazine also means children of all ages will get the added fun of completing the Spark Your Interest activities at the back of each issue–these include word finds, coloring pages, arts and crafts, and more!
Subscribe today
If you have children or grandchildren, a subscription to Ignited by the Word will be an invaluable resource to gift in the new year. And don’t forget about the children at your church, down the street, or halfway around the world!
A yearly subscription includes four highly-engaging, faith-focused issues designed for Christian children of all ages. Visit ignitedbytheword.org and subscribe today!
And as a thank you for subscribing, we will send you our devotional ebook, Preparing for Dating and Marriage: A 31-Day Family Devotional by Cory Griess—absolutely free!
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My Favorite New Songs of 2023
I have wide-ranging tastes in music and will gladly listen to a host of different genres. Apple Music recently put together an accounting of all I listened to in 2023 and that got me thinking about the songs that resonated most. I eventually narrowed my favorites down to this list of 12—my 12 favorite songs of 2023 (with a few bonuses added in). I’ve included YouTube videos and a Spotify playlist if you’d like to give them a listen yourself. They are in no particular order.
(Note, if you’re reading this through the email newsletter and the formatting is broken, click through and read it on my site.)
“One Day (Far Side of Our Sorrow)” by Folk Hymnal
This sweet song of comfort is from the album “Folk Hymnal” and features Tyson Matthews. “Today we weep / But one day we won’t / So wail and cry those tears today / And grieve, but not without hope / Hallelujah! there’s a far side of our sorrow / Sing hallelujah! There’s a hope beyond the grave.”[embedded content]
“He Will Keep Us” by Brook Hills Worship
This song, featuring Daniel Renstrom, is just one track in an extremely strong album. “If the Lord had not been on our side / If the Lord was silent when we cried / If He turned His face We’d be swept away / But He will not forsake his own / He will keep us now And forevermore / For His steadfast love Is forever sure / Even if hell may war We will trust the Lord / He will keep us now And forevermore.” I also really appreciate the songs “At the Glorious Cross” and “He’s Alive.”[embedded content]
“The Lord Is By My Side” by CityAlight
There was obviously going to be a song by CityAlight in this list, but I had to work hard to pick just one. In the end I settled on “The Lord Is By My Side.” “I know my Shepherd gives me peace / the Lord is by my side / for every day he walks with me / the Lord is by my side / the Lord is by my side / Forever by my side / His hope, his strength, his peace is mine / The Lord is by my side.” If it wasn’t this, it would be “He Calls Me Friend,” and if not that, “My God Is All I Need.”[embedded content]
“Love of Christ” by Carmel Worship
Carmel Worship sticks very close to the Scriptures in their songs, including this one which is based on Ephesians 3:18. “God would you give to us the strength / To comprehend together with all the saints / What is the breadth and length and height and depth / And to know the love of Christ.” I could as easily have chosen “Not Ashamed” which I appreciate every bit as much.[embedded content]
“Fear Not For I Am With You (Jeremiah 45)” by Rachel Wilhelm
Rachel Wilhelm released an entire album based on the book of Jeremiah. “Fear Not For I Am With You” is apparently based on Jeremiah 45, but I’m pretty sure it’s actually Jeremiah 46:27-28. Its content is largely drawn from the passage and it’s set to an upbeat and catchy melody. “Don’t be discouraged, I am here to save you / Though I seem so far away. / You were created for rest and restoration / Hear me and don’t be afraid.”[embedded content]
“All My Boast Is In Jesus” by Keith & Kristin Getty, Matt Boswell, and Matt Papa
This song by Getty Music features Keith and Kristyn Getty along with the songwriting duo of Matt Boswell & Matt Papa. “All my boast is in Jesus / All my hope is His love / And I will glory forever / In what the cross has done.”[embedded content]
“Eternal Christ” by Redeemer Hymnal
“Eternal Christ” from Redeemer Hymnal features the band Sow & Tether and celebrates Christ as our eternal Savior. “Holy, Sovereign, Great / The begotten, the unmade / With mercy and might, He’s just and He’s right / eternal Christ.”[embedded content]
“Awake My Soul (Psalm 57)” by The Worship Initiative
This song from The Worship Initiative features Shane & Shane and Mac Hays and beautifully adapts Psalm 57. The rest of the album is well worth a listen, as is the recently-released “Christmas with the Worship Initiative.” “You are exalted oh God above the heavens / Come let your glory cover the earth / You have saved me from the roaring lion / Awake my soul to love you / Awake my soul to sing.”[embedded content]
“Praise The Lord (To God Be The Glory)” by Matthew West
This is a boisterous adaptation of the classic hymn “To God Be the Glory.” “Oh, praise the Lord / Let the earth hear His voice / Oh, praise the Lord / Let the people rejoice / Oh, come to the Father / Through Jesus His son / And give Him the glory / Great things He has done.”[embedded content]
“Like A Tree (Psalm 1)” by Caroline Cobb
“Like a Tree” is a lovely adaptation of Psalm 1 by Caroline Cobb that doesn’t stray too far from the original psalm. “I wanna be like a tree by the river / Oh, plant me down by the deep, deep water / When the sun gets hot, my leaves won’t whither / Oh, plant me down like a tree by the river / Oh, plant me down by your deep deep water.” I also appreciate her mellow adaptation of Psalm 63 which she titles “Better Than Life.”[embedded content]
“Sing With All Your Heart” by Mission House
This song rejoices in our unity with God and prays that God would grant us unity with one another. “Rejoice, again, I say rejoice / Sinners, strangers, we’re welcomed in / Lift up your hands, lift up your voice / Sing with all your heart he calls you friend.”[embedded content]
“It’s Time” by The Rivers
I love the folk-style, vocal-driven treatment of this song. “I know it’s time to / Lay these troubles down / I’ve had enough / the burden is too much / I’ve got this song of / Deliverance in my heart / You lifted me / You set me free.”[embedded content]
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Weekend A La Carte (November 16)
I’m thankful to The Good Book Company for sponsoring the blog this week. They wanted to be certain you know about Alistair Begg’s new advent devotional Let Earth Receive Her King.
Today’s Kindle deals include at least a couple of interesting titles, plus whatever else I can dig up in the morning.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Spiritual Gift Inventory I Believe In)
This is an important word for pastors. “It is easy for me to focus on the difficult parts of pastoral ministry, the problems in the church, and the difficult church members. It takes an act of the Spirit and me yielding to the Spirit to have a reflex of gratitude. Problems are often in our faces as pastors, and we can be utterly blind at times to what we should be thankful for in our churches.”
Can a church require its members to tithe? John Piper provides a good answer.
“My friends might not say I’m a bad listener, but my colleagues can tell when my mind has wandered. And my family? They’d probably say my listening skills need work (mine are abysmal compared to my wife’s!). Maybe I’ve improved a little over the years, but slowing my mind down enough to give full attention is still something I have to work at.”
Steve Burchett lists ten mistakes we may make when preaching or teaching, each of which is easy enough to correct.
Are you interested in a small change that can help the Word really do its work in a church? Then this article is for you.
Benjamin Gladd: “According to a recent survey, roughly 73 percent of adults in the United States believe in heaven. Drilling down further, about 60 percent believe the afterlife entails a future free of suffering where we’ll have “perfectly healthy bodies.” But I suspect the majority have thought little about what they’ll doin these bodies for all eternity.”
I believe in the Bible as the Word of God, the divine scriptures, but also as a special object or artifact that will often outlast the one who owned it, who read it, who treasured it.
To be right with God the judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.
—J.I. Packer -
Cessationist: The Film
The debate about the continuation or cessation of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit shows no signs of abating or of coming to a resolution. This is true within the wider church and true also within the narrower group who hold to Calvinistic theology. The debate began soon after the coalescing of what became known as “New Calvinism” and it extends today past its recent rupture. Some insist that the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit—prophecy, healing, and tongues—have ceased and base their view on Scriptural proof; others insist that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are still operative and base their view on Scriptural proof. Additionally, both base their view on experience (or lack thereof). Two positions, two convictions, and two sets of experiences—yet only one can be correct.
New to the discussion is Cessationist, a two-hour documentary film directed by Les Lanphere (Calvinist, Spirit & Truth). As evidenced by the name, this film does not mean to provide arguments for competing perspectives while allowing the viewer to evaluate and choose between them. Rather, it is a defense of the cessationist position and a critique of continuationism. It makes its argument through a script written and narrated by David Lovi, interviews with those who hold to the cessationist position (e.g. Joel Beeke, Phil Johnson, Steven Lawson), and an abundance of videos by continuationist teachers and leaders.
I will tip my cards from the outset and go on record as a convinced cessationist. But as such I always feel the need to add this crucial but often misunderstood clarification: Cessationists believe that God can continue to perform miracles, and not merely that he can but that he does. And so we do pray that God would act in miraculous ways; we do follow Scriptural instructions by having elders lay hands on the sick and pray for them; we do see him work in out-of-the-ordinary ways. What we do not believe is that God continues to distribute the spiritual gift of prophecy, the spiritual gift of healing, or the spiritual gift of tongues. Hence, while there may be extraordinary actions on God’s part, he no longer distributes the extraordinary gifts. He no longer distributes them because they are no longer necessary following the establishment of the church and the completion of the Bible.
I will consider Cessationist through two lenses: whether it offers a valid defense of its position and whether it offers a fair critique of the alternative.
Does Cessationist offer a valid defense of its position? While admitting that I am by no means unbiased, I believe it does. Before it offers any substantial critique, it explains why there is solid evidence within Scripture that God meant for the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit to operate for a time, but then to cease. The film does this by showing the rarity of miracles in the Bible and the fact that they were grouped around certain crucial periods of redemptive history, by examining key passages that offer teaching about the use of gifts and the sufficiency of Scripture, and by drawing conclusions from the obvious decline of the gifts through the progressive narrative of Scripture. It makes a strong positive case for its position.
Does Cessationist offer a fair critique of the alternative position? I believe it does. It is easily able to rally the extreme fringes of the charismatic movement to its cause to show continuationism at its worst. Many of these people are obvious frauds and charlatans. Yet it also shows that some of the foremost theologians of continuationist theology are men we respect and regard as friends for their other positions—John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Sam Storms. I believe it treats them fairly, evaluating and critiquing their positions without writing them off entirely. I don’t think it ascribes to them positions they would not agree with, though they may perhaps take issue with the associations, such as when the film flows directly from Todd Bentley to John Piper—one of them a man whose wider theology and ministry track record is abhorrent and the other of them a man who honors God and serves his people.
The thing about the debate between cessationism and continuationism is that one side must be wrong—and quite seriously wrong. If cessationists are wrong, they are neglecting to exercise gifts that God may wish to use mightily for the saving of the lost, the blessing of his people, and the glory of his name. If continuationists are wrong, they are acting in ways the Bible forbids and foolishly thinking they are speaking in tongues, healing others, and, perhaps most seriously of all, prophesying in God’s name when they are actually doing no such thing. While we can still regard those who hold to the opposite position as friends and brothers, we must also believe they are disobeying God and acting in ways that are misguided or perhaps even foolish. The stakes are high, which means we do well to deepen our understanding and sharpen our convictions.
While I am certain that advocates of continuationist theology will take issue with some of the Cessationist’s claims and some of the associations it draws, I generally found it to be a strong and fair critique of an issue of great importance. No matter your perspective on the issue, I’d encourage you to watch it, to consider its claims, and to better understand why so many Christians are convinced that God no longer means for us to pursue or to exercise those extraordinary gifts.
(Note: The film is also already available in Spanish)
