The Directory of Family Worship A look at how the Puritans structured Family Devotions and Worship.

The Directory for Family Worship
ASSEMBLY AT EDINBURGH, August 24, 1647, Sess. 10.

ACT for observing the Directions of the GENERAL ASSEMBLY for secret and private Worship, and mutual Edification; and censuring such as neglect Family-worship.

The General Assembly, after mature deliberation, doth approve the following Rules and Directions for cherishing piety, and preventing division and schism; and doth appoint ministers and ruling elders in each congregation to take special care that these Directions be observed and followed; as likewise, that presbyteries and provincial synods enquire and make trial whether the said Directions be duly observed in their bounds; and to reprove or censure (according to the quality of the offence), such as shall be found to be reprovable or censurable therein. And, to the end that these directions may not be rendered ineffectual and unprofitable among some, through the usual neglect of the very substance of the duty of Family-worship, the Assembly doth further require and appoint ministers and ruling elders to make diligent search and enquiry, in the congregations committed to their charge respectively, whether there be among them any family or families which use to neglect this necessary duty; and if any such family be found, the head of the family is to be first adminished privately to amend his fault; and, in case of his continuing therein, he is to be gravely and sadly reproved by the session; after which reproof, if he be found still to neglect Family-worship, let him be, for his obstinacy in such an offence, suspended and debarred from the Lord's supper, as being justly esteemed unworthy to communicate therein, till he amend.

"The Fields White Unto Harvest" by Shane C. Montgomery W/Reference to Richard Baxter

  I am a man who feels the weight of mens souls pressing upon my chest daily. The Lord who delivered me, who freed me from the bondage of sin, now calls me to call others to Him. Since He regenerated me and is sanctifying me, little by little, making me holy, more Christ like. He has also been preparing me over the last four years or so for this calling, blessing me with a voice to cry out with, a voice to plea with, a voice to proclaim the Good News of Salvation through Christ Alone.

"A Return to Puritanism!" by Shane C. Montgomery

  When I was kid if you knew someone old, maybe a neighbor lady, who never cussed, never drank, always went to bed early in the evening and was always one of the first up in the morning, always polite, and never missed a church worship service, then you would have called this person a "Puritan." Back in the days when I was a snot nosed brat, this was meant to be an insult, but was it?

"Where are God's Saints?" by Shane C. Montgomery

  Do you ever feel like you just might be the last true Christian in your town? I bring this up because today my son and I spent three hours at a local 4th of July festival here in our city. We took 1,500 Gospel tracts with us to hand out, this was our third year doing this, last year we gave away over 400 tracts and ran out just over 90 minutes. So this year we made sure we brought plenty of tracts so we could spend several hours tracting and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"The Doctrine of Assurance" by Shane C. Montgomery

  Are you a Christian? Are you saved? If so, how do you know? It is a fair question, one that you should be asking yourself everyday. I bring this up because we see two sides to this coin. We as believers tend to take assurance either to one extreme or the other, for the most part I encounter those confessing Christians who rest on the finished work of Christ on the cross for their salvation, this is all they need, someone told them that if they trust in Christ they have eternal life and this is something no one can take away from them. Well, most people when pressed will tell you they trust in Christ and I hope they do, but the problem lies in they are taking John 3:16 and crawling up on top of that verse and just living there, that was never the intent of that verse.

"Sept. 11, 2009" by Shane C. Montgomery

Sept. 11,2009 will be a great day in America for all Christians. Or it will be a flop. That is the day "Cry Out America" will be held, at 12:00 Noon at courthouses in every county of the United States of America. Christians from every county will come together as The Body of Christ to pray, fast and call for national repentance. The event is sponsored by Awakening America Alliance, which is a very great organization. They are going all out in an atempt to bring God back to our great nation. Each county has a coordinator to set up and run this event for and in their county. For Highland County, OH that would be me. This is not the first time I have tried to bring the Body of Christ together in this area to call for repentance and to reach out to the lost.

"Spoiled, Lazy Americans!" by Shane C. MOntgomery

Spoiled, lazy Americans... How does that make you feal? Does it make you upset? It shouldn't, because it is true. Can you honestly tell me that we as a nation, are not spoiled and lazy? I will grant you that we, as a people, normally have a good work ethic. We have no problem motivating ourselves to get out of bed every morning and rushing off to work. We have no problem working hard and being nice to our co-workers, in an attempt to get ahead and earn that raise or that promotion.

"Why does the Truth offend?" by Shane C. Montgomery

The more time I spend preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, the more I see how much it offends people, not true believers, they take no offense. But to the unbeliever and to those who are false converts, it makes them very angry. Why is this? The more I preach the Word, the more I want to preach the Word. I am driven more and more everyday to serve my Lord. Thus driven to get the Gospel to anyone and everyone. The town I live in is spiritually dead, no one is preaching the Bible. We have a abundance of churches preaching what my 13 yr. son refers to as "A Cotton Candy Gospel", it taste good but has no real substance, nothing but empty calories.