This post is sponsored by Christian Focus Publications and written by Ben Preston. Get your copy of The Illustrated Westminster Shorter Catechism here.

For generations upon generations, families have used the Westminster Shorter Catechism to teach their children the biblical truths of the Faith. Here are three helpful pointers in how to use our new illustrated edition of this beloved resource.
Commit time.
We would suggest that the ideal time to open and use our book would be at regular family worship or in the quiet Sabbath afternoon. Children thrive on consistency, and your commitment to them in this manner will quickly become the regular and expected thing that the family does. Family worship doesn’t need to be long, but it does need to be a regular feature of the day. A time where the Bible is read, praise is sung, and the doctrine and practises of the Christian faith are discussed and learnt. Use the Catechism as part of that discussion.
Cooperate in the learning.
It is a great help when parents and guardians commit to learning and memorising the catechism alongside the children. For example, if you ask what the answer is to question 4 ‘What is God?’, it is important that you know the answer without looking. Do persist in this style of memorisation of question and answer, as in our experience both teacher and child can very quickly catch onto what is expected and we trust the modern language used in our book will be an aid to this. Furthermore, we recognise the importance of imagery and with this beautifully illustrated version, there are plenty of visual clues to discuss and hang memorised parts on it. The goal in this is not just robotic parroting of answers but that you would discuss and learn the principles and biblical truths that the Shorter Catechism so clearly reveals.
Community is vital.
Parts of the Shorter Catechism can be hard to understand, and children will come up with tricky questions. In these moments you should remember your place in the church community.  Seek advice from your pastor and elders; they would be only too delighted to help you and your family as you seek to pass on our Christian beliefs. In using our book, in teaching the truths of the Christian faith with this pattern of asking questions and memorising answers, you are serving the body of Christ, and laying a lifelong foundation of knowledge. As a minister, I have been at countless bedsides and asked elderly saints questions from the catechism of their youth and found their eyes light up with remembrance of the answer and more importantly the confession of their faith in a God who saves and transforms.
In ending our brief blog, we recognise your great desire to see your children confess the faith. We trust in God’s promises that His salvation is for our children and us, and with given parental responsibility we set out to teach them of God who wills and works in them for His good pleasure. Our prayer is that this illustrated catechism book would be a useful resource for you in that task, but ultimately remember is it God who will provide His children with everything He requires of them. Keeping trusting in God’s promises and availing of His provisions, especially the ordinary means of grace; the Word, and Sacraments.
Get your copy of The Illustrated Westminster Shorter Catechism here.

There is a crucial distinction between means and ends. Ends are the goals we have set our hearts on, while means represent the habits or disciplines through which we can realistically hope to attain those goals.
The end of exercise is fitness, and the means is training in both cardio and strength. The great goal of the Christian life is to know God, and the means are the spiritual disciplines. We need to be careful that we maintain this distinction, for as Jerry Bridges warns us, we are prone to make the means of grace an end unto themselves. Specifically, he says “We must remember that the methods of spiritual discipline are a means to the end, not the end themselves.”
Instead of understanding the means of grace as the habits through which we come to achieve that great goal of deepening our relationship with God, we can come to see the means of grace as the sum and substance of the Christian life. Instead of pursuing God, we pursue the means, assessing our faith not by our likeness to God, but by the quality or consistency of our reading, prayer, and fellowship. We must always look beyond the means to that great and wonderful and motivating goal of knowing our God.

Good morning. May the Lord bless and keep you today.

Westminster Books has a couple of deals you should know about this week. The first is on the John Piper preaching bundle while the second is on a new children’s book.
There’s a nice collection of reference works in today’s list of Kindle deals.
Clinging to God and Grammar
Carl Trueman: “In times past, progressive politicians described those they despised as clinging to ‘God and guns.’ I suspect that we are not too far from a time when they will insult those they deplore for clinging to God and grammar. That might sound an odd claim, but the days are coming rapidly to an end when it was morally acceptable to think that language, among its many functions, had a positive relation to reality. Today, dictionaries and grammars look set to become relics of a bygone age of evil oppression.”
Ten Truths About a Liar
“Is Satan capable of inception? Does he whisper temptations in our ear? Is Satan’s authority, power, and relationship to unbelievers the same or different from Christians? These are all valid and, frankly, somewhat haunting questions. I am not left emotionally unmoved by the many destroyed marriages and ministries around me Satan has devoured. I trust your experience is comparable.”
The Influence Game
Janie B. Cheaney writes about some of the trappings of online fame.
What Lewis Had Wrong about Hell
Bob McKelvey writes about Lewis’ The Great Divorce and says that “What Lewis communicates about anthropology in these vignettes is unsurpassed. Sadly, what he conveys about theology proper is appalling.”
Smartphones and Fallen Natures
Doug Eaton: “There are so many benefits to today’s technology that it is hard to overestimate, but that does not mean there are no negative consequences involved, especially when we combine it with our sinful nature.”
Heart Medicine
Kristin shares another little anecdote from her childhood while drawing a lesson from it.
Flashback: How to Pray Like a Pastor
Personally, I pray for one of these traits each day, using the bullet points as a guide. Perhaps you will find it helpful to do something similar.

How sweet is rest, after fatigue! How sweet will Heaven be, when our toilsome journey is ended. —George Whitefield