Nick Bogardus

lifeinthestory:

Especially Heads of FamiliesMost copies of the Westminster Confession of Faith begin with the brief note, “To the Christian Reader: Especially Heads of Families”. It contains a strong admonition and helpful instruction for fathers in leading their families into a knowledge of God in Christ. It is worth a read, particularly for fathers and single men who aspire to be. While both parents are crucial to the upbringing of their children, God holds the father primarily accountable for the spiritual well-being of the family. Like it or not, fathers are the Gospel pace-setters. It is a high calling and should put the fear of the Lord in any dad who wants their children to live for the only One that eternally matters - Jesus. Here’s an excerpt:

If, therefore, there be any spark in you of love to God, be not content that any of yours should be ignorant of Him whom you so much admire, or any haters of Him whom you so much love. If there be any compassion to the souls of them who are under your care, if any regard of your being found faithful in the day of Christ, if any respect of future generation, labor to sow these seeds of knowledge, which may grow up in after-times.

A note to single men: Don’t wait to begin preparing your heart, mind and soul to lead a family. That preparation begins now, in you. Make a plan. Start building your library. Talk to those who are already fathers. Pray for your future family. Lead yourself before trying to lead others. Build in the disciplines of grace in your life. Surround yourself with other men who seek the same. Ask the Spirit for wisdom, grace and supernatural enabling.
Father God, give us the grace and wisdom to love and lead our families well. May none of them be ignorant or haters of you, who we love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Especially Heads of Families
Most copies of the Westminster Confession of Faith begin with the brief note, “To the Christian Reader: Especially Heads of Families”. It contains a strong admonition and helpful instruction for fathers in leading their families into a knowledge of God in Christ. It is worth a read, particularly for fathers and single men who aspire to be. While both parents are crucial to the upbringing of their children, God holds the father primarily accountable for the spiritual well-being of the family. Like it or not, fathers are the Gospel pace-setters. It is a high calling and should put the fear of the Lord in any dad who wants their children to live for the only One that eternally matters - Jesus. Here’s an excerpt:

If, therefore, there be any spark in you of love to God, be not content that any of yours should be ignorant of Him whom you so much admire, or any haters of Him whom you so much love. If there be any compassion to the souls of them who are under your care, if any regard of your being found faithful in the day of Christ, if any respect of future generation, labor to sow these seeds of knowledge, which may grow up in after-times.

A note to single men: Don’t wait to begin preparing your heart, mind and soul to lead a family. That preparation begins now, in you. Make a plan. Start building your library. Talk to those who are already fathers. Pray for your future family. Lead yourself before trying to lead others. Build in the disciplines of grace in your life. Surround yourself with other men who seek the same. Ask the Spirit for wisdom, grace and supernatural enabling.

Father God, give us the grace and wisdom to love and lead our families well. May none of them be ignorant or haters of you, who we love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker is one of my favorite records. My friend Grant gave me a copy years ago when we worked together at a record label and management company.

For those of you familiar with Adams, you may not be familiar with the woman singing with him, Laura Marling. In a piece on NME, Adams said this about Marling’s newest album, “Made me feel rather insignificant at songwriting…now that is songwriting!”

You can check out Adam’s album Ashes & Fire here and Marling’s album, I Speak Because I Can here.

kimbogardusblog:

Fall (almost winter) Family Love.

We went out with some dear friends to Irvine Park recently and had a blast taking family pictures and watching the kids attack the massive pile of leaves that they raked up. It was beautiful and I love being outside this time of year in California. It’s chilly enough to jog your memory of wearing layers of clothes, but the sun still reminds you of it’s warmth on your face. It’s just right for me and I look forward to many more outside adventures with Evangeline soon. My heart smiles seeing her run around with a hoodie on for some reason. Love it.

Also, for the first time since we have married, Nick and I will be near family and not traveling during the Christmas season. That means we can finally begin to have traditions of our own! We were so excited about this that we literally sat down on Thanksgiving night after we were full of delicious turkey, my mom’s incredible sweet potatoes, and homemade cannolis, and listed out each of our family traditions from our childhood and then combined and created a new list of traditions of our own that we want to do with our little girls. It was amazing and gave me so many ideas of how we can incorporate each of our senses into getting us excited for the Christmas season. We are so stoked and hope to make many lasting memories in our growing little family in the years to come.

The Mars Hill Church Orange County staff families. Photo by Kim Bogardus

So thankful to be working with these men and for their wonderful wives and kids.

Five favorite books?

Great question. Here are the ones that come to my head in no particular order.

On Being a Theologian of the Cross by Gerhard Forde. Highly, highly recommend this one. It’s a commentary on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation that shows the difference between a theologian of the cross and a theologian of glory - in our words, religion vs. the gospel. Powerful and devastating.

The Courage to be Protestant by David Wells. His first four books coalesced into an incredibly helpful critique of church and culture. Wells is a sociological theologian.

The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. Most people know Luther for the Five Solas, the Protestant view of salvation. What, unfortunately, most people don’t know is how that is applied. The Bondage of the Will is what he called “the hinge upon which everything turns”. He also said that if all of his writings were burned but one survived, he’d wish it was The Bondage of the Will. J.I. Packer’s intro is worth the price of the book alone.

Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. Klosterman was a writer for SPIN, Esquire, and, I believe now, ESPN. Has some entertaining and sharp insights into culture.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. I read this in my early 20s and had never seen someone write with such power. The way he uses words and the way he can paint scenes is really unique. It is a fictionalized autobiography about how both of his parents died when he was 21 and he had to raise his 11 year old brother. This book was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Eggers went on to write other highly acclaimed books as well as the script for Where The Wild Things Are. Lastly, he art directed Thrice’s album Vheissu.

Bonus: