Walter on Divorce

Grace Fellowship Church of West Toronto: Walter on the Family:

Sometimes I like to re-read the letters Walter has written us. I found this little gem this afternoon... (Have you cut loose your lifeboats?)

"Agree to never talk about some things. Really, only one thing comes to my mind... and that is the D-word. Mrs. Walter and I have never discussed, even in jest, the idea of divorce. We never joke about it, threaten it, think about it or talk about it. We decided early on that death would be the only thing to separate us.

Now that does something to you! If you walk into a marriage with some ridiculous 'escape clause,' you are inviting division! Old Charlie McIntyre used to talk so much about how everything was going to go wrong it almost always did... for him! If he'd of just kept at has task and worried about pleasing the Lord more than what troubles might beset him, he'd lived a happier and no doubt longer life.

I read once of a sea captain who cut loose his own lifeboats so as to keep his men on board ship while they passed some tropical islands. Those sailors were tempted to sneak off to what looked like greener pastures when there was a way to get there. Once them lifeboats were gone, they were focused on the task and kept to their duties. A couple needs to take out the slightest thought of slinking off on a lifeboat to some supposed Tahiti. Life will always be better if they stick together and grow in the Lord."

J.C. Ryle on Parenting

Click the link to read the whole thing for free. What wise counsel!:


I mentioned on Sunday that I have wildly strong opinions on parenting, but that the Scriptures limit their instruction to two key verses (you can hear the whole thing here). That being said, I think parents are always looking for advice to ponder. Ryle does a great job of that. No wonder this piece has been reprinted so many times!

"Without the blessing of the Lord, your best efforts will do no good. He has the hearts of all men in His hands, and unless He touches the hearts of your children by His Spirit, you will wear yourself out for nothing. Therefore, water the seed you sow in their minds with unceasing prayer. The Lord is far more willing to hear than we are to pray; far more ready to give blessings than we are to ask them—and, oh, how He loves to be petitioned for our children. And I set this matter of prayer before you, as the capstone and seal of all you do. I believe the child of many prayers is seldom cast away."