Practical Theology

C. J. and Carolyn Mahaney on Parenting

February 29, 2008 by Andy Naselli

This week my wife and I listened to a two-part interview that Grant Layman conducted with C. J. and Carolyn Mahaney and their daughters Nicole and Janelle in 2002 (at least that’s the copyright date). My wife had already listened to it and wanted me to hear it. What an edifying, humbling, enjoyable interview. Highly recommended!

Part 1: “Grant Layman opens this message on parenting by inviting his audience into the Mahaney’s living room. This session of testimonies from C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney and two of their daughters offer insight into biblical parenting. Grant interviews the Mahaney family on topics including guarding family times together, training godly sons and daughters, faithful confrontation of sin, proper discipline, and building a collection of family memories.”

Part 2: “Grant Layman continues an insightful and fun-filled interview with C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney. Daughters Nicole and Janelle share what each appreciated most about her upbringing and make a fascinating statement concerning what they wish their parents had done differently. Topics include the challenges faced by parents of teens, and insight on graciously dealing with those challenges according to Scripture. “

Carolyn Mahaney on Biblical Womanhood (by Jenni Naselli)

February 25, 2008 by Andy Naselli

[This is a guest post by my wife, Jenni. She has benefited immensely from Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters on biblical womanhood, and at my request she graciously agreed to summarize her experience for the benefit of others. –ADN]

Last year a close friend began telling me about Girl Talk: Mother-Daughter Conversations on Biblical Womanhood by Carolyn Mahaney (wife of C. J. Mahaney) and Nicole (Mahaney) Whitacre.

My friend had recently given birth to her first child, a baby girl, and was thoroughly enjoying the book’s emphasis on teaching daughters about biblical womanhood. I soon began devouring it! Then I discovered the Girl Talk Blog, MP3’s by Carolyn Mahaney, and two other books written by Carolyn Mahaney:

Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother (an ideal place to begin reading Carolyn Mahaney)
Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and NOT Be Overwhelmed (coauthored with her three daughters)

I began spending hours each day listening to Carolyn on my MP3 player while working in the home. I even bought the three books above and gave them as Christmas presents to my Mom, sister, mother-in-law, and three sisters-in-law!

Throughout these past few months, Carolyn has mentored me in the disciplines of biblical womanhood.

Her Titus 2 series (free as MP3 downloads) has challenged me to think seriously about my role as a believing wife and mother.
Her emphasis on “discovering the idols of your heart” in your motivations has convicted me to examine my own life and discern what motivates my decisions.
Her practice of encouraging others for God’s grace at work in their lives has challenged me to be more intentional about edifying others this way.
Her seriousness about confessing and dealing with sin has sobered me to examine and deal with the sin in my own heart.
Her teaching on motherhood has meant the most to me since our own baby girl, Kara Marie, is on the way! May God give me the grace to be half as intentional in teaching baby Kara about the disciplines of biblical womanhood as Carolyn was with her daughters.

I am so grateful for Carolyn’s mentoring over the last several months. I am thankful that rather than giving fluffy women’s talks, she applies the gospel to all of life—especially to our roles as wives and mothers for the glory of God.

Related:

Accountability

February 12, 2008 by Andy Naselli

By Philip R. Gons, Matthew C. Hoskinson, and Andrew David Naselli

(cross-posted at our respective blogs: Gons, Hoskinson, Naselli)

Christians will give an account to God for their lives, and wise Christians live in light of that sobering reality (Rom 14:12; 2 Cor 5:10). Consequently, we have covenanted to keep each other accountable in preparation for our future accounting. Since some of our friends have asked us about our method of accountability, we decided to co-author this article in order to glorify God by provoking other Christians to seek out a greater degree of accountability.

[Read more…] about Accountability

Carson on the Pastor as Father and Son

February 5, 2008 by Andy Naselli

Last night, this morning, and this evening D. A. Carson delivered three addresses at the 2008 Desiring God Conference for Pastors:

Piper on “Planet Earth”

January 19, 2008 by Andy Naselli

Last summer I published a blog post entitled “Planet Earth: A Theological Documentary.”

Yesterday morning during a painfully freezing (!) early morning run, I was listening to an MP3 from John Piper’s 2007 regional conference on “The Pleasures of God.” In part 2 (MP3 | video), Piper describes the pleasure of God in His creation, and he enthusiastically endorses the above “Planet Earth” DVDs.

In the MP3, start at 38:08 to get the context (“God loves the world that He made”) and listen until 42:43. Here are a few highlights:

39:30: “There are many aspects of nature that no human ever sees.” And then some BBC cameraman comes by and captures it!
40:54: This is where the “Blue Planet” and “Planet Earth” endorsement begins.
“My wife and I and little girl have worshipped for eight hours watching these unbelievable works of God! There are all these pagans producing this worship DVD!”
While they were watching the DVDs, Piper kept saying to his daughter, “That can’t be happening! That can’t be happening!”
“I hate evolution. It is so worship destroying! I mean that. Secular, atheistic evolution is worship destroying.”
“I get so much pleasure talking about what God has done in creation. It’s way better than talking about movies, but that’s another story.”