Product Description

When the Gospel of Jesus Christ entered the Roman world of the New Testament the landscape was very bleak. Christ’s church was born into a world of mixed-up marriages and confused families. First-century believers had to learn the first principles of having godly marriages and families that please God. Twenty-first century believers face the same difficulties, but thankfully, God’s plan has been the same in every age: His people are to have Word Filled Families!

This book will instruct and challenge you in the Scriptures. By God’s grace, you will be drawn to desire a Word-filled life as a man or a woman, a Word- filled marriage as a husband or wife, a Word-filled family as a father or mother, and a Word-filled prayer life as a couple in oneness of heart and mind.

*Some discounts are time sensitive and as such may not reflect the current cost of the above resource.

http://gospelresourcecenter.com/2012/01/01/word-filled-families-walk-in-truth/

http://krisparker.net/2012/01/01/i-resolve/

Let me preface this by telling you that God has given me a word for the year 2012. I have never been one to write down New Year’s Resolutions. I usually make a list of goals. But this year I was very specifically given a word and that word is “intentional.”

While God is asking me to be intentional about many areas in my life, one of them is specifically in my role as a mother. The following is an excerpt from a devotional I received through email and what follows are my thoughts on it:

“It’s far too easy to grow weary, to think its okay to cease our perseverance, give in, and drift with the prevailing currents. But the only way for you and me to finish strong is to be relentless in our faith.…

What does it mean to be relentless? The term describes an attitude or posture that is resolute, persistent, and unyielding. Simply put, it does not relent. To relent is to become more lenient, to slacken, or even to concede. …Whether for the short-term or the long-term, a relentless heart is in it to finish according to the desired end. Nothing will deter him or her from the completed goal.”

Excerpted from Relentless by John Bevere

Looking back on the past year, I can see a lot of weariness has crept in as a parent. I have become weary dealing with the changes, the challenges and the disappointments. I can see how I have let up on my perseverance, in storming the gates of heaven for God’s intervention into their lives. At times I have even said out loud that it does no good to take them to church, nothing seems to make a difference. Deep in my heart I know that isn’t true but it has been easy to think that way.

This devotional also mentioned the word “drift.” I do sometimes feel like I am drifting along as a parent, with no real direction. As this devotional mentions, I have also relented. I have become too lenient in some ways. I have slackened in my parenting and I have definitely conceded in areas I wish I hadn’t.

I can’t change these things. I can’t fix my mistakes. I can’t undo the past. I can only look ahead to 2012 and make an effort to be relentless…to be resolute, persistent and unyielding in most especially my prayers. And through the empowerment I receive from those prayers, I can apply this practically as a parent.

May you be intentional and relentless as a parent in the year 2012!

http://heartofamothersprayers.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/make-2012-a-year-to-be-intentional-and-relentless/

Lately he’s been teaching me a lot about obedience: his obedience… and mine.  My wife and I feel like we’re constantly having this conversation with him:

Me: “Hey, stop stealing your sister’s toys.  You need to share.”
Son: nothing
Me: “Did you hear me?”
Son: “Sorry”
Me: “Come here, we need to talk.”
Son: nothing
Me: “I said come here“
Son: “I love you daddy”
Me: “I love you too buddy, and because you love me you should obey me and mommy.”
Son: “Okay”

We proceed to have this conversation a few times a day.  Now, I’m not throwing my son under the bus… afterall, he’s an almost-four-year-old boy… I’m really throwing myself under the bus, because how often does the Holy Spirit have this same exact conversation with me?!

My wife and I are really careful to make sure that we don’t use God as our disciplinarian who is constantly looking out to see if our kids are naughty or nice.  Too often, Christian parents fall into the trap of using the Bible as a book of morality (Be nice, Help other, Obey mom and dad) and less as a book where God has revealed Himself to us (God made you, You sin – yes, we teach our son that he sins and use the word “sin” – but God loves you SOOOO much that he became a man named Jesus so he could forgive your sins and live inside you).  If you’re looking for a good Bible to read with your kids at night, I recommend the Jesus Storybook Bible, the words are sometimes more geared towards older kids and the stories can be a bit lengthy at time, but I very highly recommend for anyone, not just children!  What I love so much about the JSB is how it captures the Bible story as so much more than a story to tell you to be nice, it makes that connection while demonstrating how the entire Bible is all about Jesus.

God definitely does care about what we do and whether or not we’re “good people.”  But to always use God as a divine disciplinarian and as the one who demands us to be nice and to share our toys is to simply make God into a rule-giver.  Sure, God gives rules… but He’s so much more than a rule giver, isn’t He?

The last few days have been filled with reminders that obedience flows from love.  As I discipline my son for not obeying, it’s a reminder that loving dads discipline out of love while loving sons obey out of love.  There’s a very simple, yet profound, lesson to be learned here.

Obedience flows from love.  When I grow impatient with my son, how can I not feel convicted of my own hypocrisy: demanding of him what I don’t give to God, my Heavenly Father, who deserves so much more honor and respect and obedience than I deserve from my kids?

“Jesus replied, ’If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.’” (John 14:23-24)

http://ebccrosswalk.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/obedience-flows-from-love/

Copyright V. Gilbert and Arlisle F. Beers

For the last 2 decades of my life, I have contemplated the meaning of 2 Corinthians 6:14, and have discovered in my latter years how far-reaching this passage is concerning Christ-centered love. There are so many ways to be unequally yoked, as the Word of God clearly outlines , often times resulting in more discord with a fellow believer than would be expected. Did you know that you can be “unequally yoked” with a another Christian? 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 runs deeper than the obvious not pairing your heart with an unbeliever in Christ; a Christian couple can have subtle differences that may seem on the surface as a hairline crack that in time reveals a hidden canyon underneath! Issues in temperaments, financial perspectives, education, communication styles, and parenting (to name a few) can truly wreck the foundation of a Christian relationship or courtship.

However, the most paramount of all is being unequally yoked in where each follower’s relationship stands with Christ. What do I mean by this? Suffice it to say, each believer’s journey with Christ is unique and is what makes Jesus such a personal Savior who can meet us where we’re at and develop/strengthen our relationship with him accordingly. Nonetheless, there are certain foundational elements in our beliefs in who God-Jesus-Holy Spirit is and His Word that should unify all Christians (1 Corinthians 12:12). If the building blocks of faith, salvation, and worship of Our Creator is in discord, how can a couple/friendship/business partnership/family fortify each other’s growth in The Lord ? What are the things that can’t be compromised on, and what can be?

It’s already challenging enough to nourish kinships of love in this world without the difficulty of also finding compatibility with another believer on topics we should be at peace with. However, I thank Our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) for exemplifying love and elements of companionship in His relationship with us. With His Word as an infallible guide, we can endeavor to understand and appreciate the dynamics of our own courtships & relationships. As a result, we can furnish our hope in materializing an earthly companionship centered in Christ and satisfying in everlasting love.

http://equallyoked.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/equallyokedhome/

http://ourfathershouse.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/5-things-a-husband-can-do-to-have-a-happy-wife-and-a-happy-life/

The VideoPress upgrade, which allows you to upload and embed your own videos on your blog, now comfortably handles videos from iPhones and iPads. You can shoot vertically or horizontally, and we’ll take care of rotating it for you so that your video looks great when it’s published on your site.

If you don’t already have VideoPress on your WordPress.com account, head on over to VideoPress.com, we’ll get you up and running in no time. And don’t forget to install the free WordPress App on your iPhone or iPad!

Duotone: Now Video-Friendly

If you’re a photoblogger, you’re probably familiar with the cool Duotone theme, which changes color to match the first image in every post and page. The big news is that Duotone now seamlessly supports VideoPress videos, so now you can engage visitors with photographs and videos!

Learn More about VideoPress

If you use VideoPress on your self-hosted WordPress site, keep an eye on the VideoPress Blog – we have some exciting annoucements coming out soon, just for you!

You can find more details about VideoPress by checking out the following resources:

• VideoPress.com
• WordPress Support: VideoPress

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/videopress-duotone/

Designed by Andy Rutledge, Currents, is a responsive, minimal yet attractive premium theme from WooThemes.

Currents is perfect for news driven sites. The phrase, “less is more” couldn’t be more true. This clean and minimal design maximises your reader’s focus on the content. Having said that, the theme is packed with many customization options — a wide featured post slider, custom news areas, six alternative color styles, and more. Together, all of these features help you to control how to present current events you want to share with your readers.

Think your readers might check your site on a mobile device? No problem! Currents makes your site look great on an iPad, iPhone or any other mobile device.

This is not all about this great theme, Currents — so be sure to read about it on the Theme Showcase.

Next up is Debut – a beautifully designed theme by Luke McDonald of Press75.

Debut is a mobile-ready theme custom tailored to present your content in a professional and eye-catching manner. Five beautifully designed post formats provide you the flexibility needed to display media of all types. Musicians may be specially interested in the audio post format which expands into a multi-track playlist. Highlighting specific content couldn’t be easier with Debut’s Home page template which includes an innovative, customizable content slider as well as a featured area that can display in both grid and list styles.

Read about its features in detail in the Theme Showcase!

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/new-themes-currents-and-debut/

Authenticate with Tumblr

To bring your tumblelog’s content to WordPress.com, head to Tools → Import in your WordPress.com dashboard and look for the Tumblr importer. If you don’t already have an account here on WordPress.com then head over and sign up first.

Click the link to get started and then enter the email address you used to sign up to Tumblr, your Tumblr password and click Connect to Tumblr.

Start the Import

The importer will then fetch a list of your blogs and let you pick which one to import. Click Import this blog to get going.

Once you have started, the import progress will be shown on the import page and you will be sent an email when the import is finished. We try super hard to make sure that all your Tumblr content, including your Videos, are imported into your WordPress.com blog. Videos you had uploaded to Tumblr are imported into VideoPress and other embeds are converted to use shortcodes. Sometimes the importer finds an embed it can’t convert and a list of these is included in the import completion email for you to check.

If your Tumblr site has a custom domain (like you.com instead of you.tumblr.com), then you’ll need to disable the custom domain temporarily while the import is processed. You can do this by going to your Tumblr Dashboard, clicking on the Settings button and then un-ticking the “Use a Custom Domain” checkbox:

Then you’ll want to set up Domain Mapping on your WordPress.com blog so that your readers can use the same domain to reach your site as before.

Style Your New Site

WordPress.com supports Post Formats which allow you to distinguish between the different types of content you post on your site. While you wait for your content to be imported why not customize the design of your site by picking one of our post-format-enabled, Tumblelog-ready themes.

If you have any trouble importing your blog  you’re welcome to contact support where one of our Happiness Engineers will be glad to help out. To learn all about WordPress.com’s features, we encourage you to check out our handy tutorial. We also provide comprehensive feature documentation at our support site.

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/import-from-tumblr-in-3-easy-steps/

Add the new WordPress.com extension for Chrome and as soon as you get a new follower or a new like on one of your posts, a notification will appear in your browser:

Simply click the icon to view your latest WordPress.com notifications:

Start following new blogs without visiting WordPress.com

The Chrome extension also makes it easy to follow sites from your WordPress.com account by displaying a Follow button whenever you’re browsing a site that has an RSS feed.

Clicking the Follow button will add new posts from the website to your reader, and send you an email each time an update is published. (You can change your default email settings if you like.)

When you visit a WordPress.com site, you’ll notice that the extension icon will turn blue, but keep in mind that you can follow blogs on Blogger, Tumblr, and other services, too.

Quickly post cool stuff you find while browsing the web

Press This is a lightning-fast way to publish content on your blog without ever visiting WordPress.com. Click the WordPress.com extension, then select Press This whenever you find something on the web that you’d like to share on your blog, and a pop-up editor will appear:

Select the blog you’d like to post to, then hit publish to share a link to the site. Your blog will be updated, and you can continue browsing the web from wherever you left off.

If you’d like to publish an excerpt of text along with the link to the site, simply highlight the material with your cursor before clicking Press This:

And it will appear in the editor for you to publish along with the link:

We hope this makes it easier for you to share cool stuff on your blog quickly! If there’s anything you’d like to see in future versions of the extension, be sure to let us know.

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/chrome-extension/