Archives for December 2019

Today we received from Christian Focus the most moving book I have ever read on the horrendous holocaust of killing children in the womb (which we rather politely call “abortion”). Mark Jones writes “If I Could Speak: Letters from the Womb” from the perspective of a little girl in the womb, pleading with her mommy not to kill her. These “Dear Mommy” letters share the child’s hopes and fears with the mother who controls whether she will live or die. We have ordered thousands of copies of this book as we believe that individual Christians and churches should order these in groups of ten and give them out far and wide. Pray that God will use this book to strengthen opposition against this dreadful and horrific sin of baby-killing. Order here: http://bit.ly/IfICouldSpeak

Two new RHB small books in the “Cultivating Biblical Godliness” series arrived today: “How Can I Grieve to God’s Glory?” by Ryan McGraw, and “How Should We View Our Children in the Church?” by me.

The Queen and I just arrived home safely from Ontario last night. On Saturday, we drove to Ontario where we visited some friends of the seminary and attended an evening of advent music held in the Vineland, Ontario Free Reformed Church. On the Lord’s Day, I preached to this church of close to six hundred people (a vibrant flock with lots of young people and children) on The Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane. It was good to be there and to serve them. Between the services we enjoyed spiritual fellowship with some friends from this church, Henry and Jackie VanderVeen and Garry and Marietta Postma. The flock is pastored ably by Rev. Joel Overduin, a PRTS graduate, who is greatly appreciated. After the late-afternoon worship service, we had a special evening visiting a few of the Beeke families (children and grandchildren and a new great-grandchild of my brother and sister, John and Miekie—see picture). The new great grandchild is the firstborn of my namesake, Joel Beeke (see picture of me with him). I can hardly believe he is a father already!

Monday morning we visited a few more friends of the seminary, saw my brother at the thrift store he works so diligently for on behalf of their local Christian school, stopped by Niagara Pre-hung Doors (now run by my brother’s sons) where we received a fascinating tour from our nephew Mark Beeke, who lived with us for four years while attending college in Grand Rapids, and then headed for home Monday afternoon.

Last night we stopped by our favorite diner in Flint for my birthday dinner (yes, I turned 67 yesterday—and thanks for so many of your best wishes), and enjoyed our drive home talking about a host of things as only a husband and wife can do. There is no person in the world I would rather spend my day with—any day, but especially a birthday—than my very special wife. I love Mary far more than words can ever express; she is an amazing gift of God to me.

In this short video, I discuss the proper balance of authority between the Church and the family: https://ncfic.org/resources/210428

In this address, I consider how we should prepare our family for Lord’s Day worship, how we should teach them to get the most out of worship, and how to retain the sermons after they are preached: https://ncfic.org/resources/7210

When we set out to create Puritan: All of Life to the Glory of God, we wanted it to be a resource that could be enjoyed by the entire family. On top of the flagship documentary, we worked with top Puritan scholars to film 35 lessons on the Puritans. Included in the Deluxe Edition is a workbook that corresponds with the teaching lessons.

The lessons and workbook combined turn this into a full-fledged course on the Puritans. This curriculum is perfect for homeschooling, family studies, and Sabbath school. Order your copy today from Heritagebooks.org and learn from the Puritans on how to live “All of Life to the Glory of God.” http://bit.ly/PuritanAllofLife

God brought us a significant Michigan snowfall (6 inches fell in 3 hours early yesterday morning!) to introduce us to December. Pray for our seminary as we enter the last week of lectures and then final exams, and as we enter a few intense weeks of fund-raising. How utterly dependent we are on God in both the realm of nature and the realm of grace!

We are excited to report that the shipment of our Spanish Family Worship Bibles that Reformation Heritage Books sent to Cuba has finally reached the hands and homes of Cubans. Here is one church that is rejoicing over receiving it! Thank the Lord for the donor that helped make this possible and pray that God may bless these Bibles abundantly to the Cuban people and others throughout Spain and Latin America.

I’ve had the privilege of being the editor of the Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth for over 25 years.

The Banner is a family periodical, published bi-monthly, that provides solid biblical truth for every age group. Each 48-page issue contains 16 pages devoted to a particular theme, as well as a wide variety of articles and topics, including a meditation, Old and New Testament Bible studies, family guidance, doctrinal and practical Christianity, questions answered for teens and adults, Christian worldview, and a children’s section with a meditation, Bible quiz, and stories.

Subscriptions are very reasonable at only $25 a year for 6 issues, and would also make an excellent gift idea for your loved ones. You can subscribe on the Banner website at the following link: http://www.bsgtonline.com/subscribe