Church Plant Media

Why we recommend Housetop Media

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:40:00 EDT

Do your audio monitors give you feedback? Do you have monitor mixing nightmares? Do you experience wireless microphone interference? Does your audio simply not sound good? Does your video not look good? Our friends at Housetop Media will help you solve these problems and more. They help Christ-centered church plants, portable ministries and multi-site campuses, preach the gospel loud and clear. And they do it for free.

They’re not “techies” that happen to know something about ministry. Rather, they are first ministry folks that happen to be experts at the technical stuff.
~ Brad Evangelista, Pastor, CrossPointe Church, GA

Technology solutions for church planters, by church planters

Derrick Jeror, Managing Director of Housetop Media is a good friend of Church Plant Media and a dear brother in the Lord. If you attended the Exponential Conference earlier this year and stopped by our booth, you definitely noticed Derrick’s herd of followers. It was no mistake that our booths were side-by-side at the conference. For years we have wanted to endorse and recommend an audio/video provider that is focused on the unique needs of church planters. When Houstetop Media launched earlier this year, we found a partner who shared our heart to serve gospel-centered churches.

If that is not enough to get you stoked about Housetop Media, then read on…

5 reasons why we love Housetop Media

Free Needs Analysis
Free Custom System/Upgrade Design
Free Customized Training
Free Lifetime Support
Free Shipping for all CPM Partners*

Need a complete system or just an upgrade?

Whether you are starting a new church and need a complete system or just need some help upgrading your current audio or video system, Housetop Media is here to help. No system or upgrade is too small. Their services are FREE so the quality of their services aren’t based on the size of your budget. Every church gets the same service and care.

Endorsed by church planting networks

Aside from our enthusiastic endorsement, Housetop Media has already received top kudos from both Stadia and our friends over at the Acts 29 Network. Feel free to consult with either organization to learn more about their endorsement of Housetop Media.

*Exclusive Offer: Free Shipping for all CPM Partners

Call Housetop Media today at (607) 542-9156 or go to www.housetopmedia.com and use the promotional code FREESHIPCPM to get free shipping on your order. Please do tell Derrick we said hi!

10 of our favorite designs from Q2 2010

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:00:00 EDT

As we head into the summer months, we wanted to share 10 more sites that we have launched in the 2nd Quarter. A few of these sites were current CPM partners who decided to update their look and feel with a new design. Also numbered among these 10 sites, is New Covenant Bible Church, the church plant that our blogging friend, Justin Taylor, is now a part of. Finally, we are very excited to announce two newly launched CPM service partners: Child of God Ministry Concepts, lead by Carlfred Giles, and Housetop Media, lead by Derrick Jeror.

New Covenant Bible Church - St. Charles, IL
newcbc.org - Launched: June 2010

Sovereign Grace City Church - Brooklyn, NY
sgcitychurch.com - Launched: June 2010

Christchurch Baptist Fellowship - Houston, TX
christchurchbaptist.org - Launched: May 2010

Child of God Ministry Concepts - Monroe, LA
childofgodmc.com - Launched: April 2010

Housetop Media - Corning, NY
housetopmedia.com - Launched: April 2010

Grace Church of the Valley - Kingsburg, CA
graceofthevalley.org - Launched: April 2010

Church in the ‘Boro - Statesboro, GA
churchintheboro.com - Launched: April 2010

The Village Church of Irvine - Irvine, CA
villagechurchirvine.com - Launched: April 2010

Capital Community Church - Raleigh, NC
capitalcommunitychurch.com - Launched: April 2010

Christ Our Lord Church - Lake Ridge, VA
christourlordchurch.org - Launched: April 2010

Announcing Ezra Cofie Otero

Mon, 17 May 2010 01:44:00 EDT

On Monday, May 17, 2010, at 1:44pm, our Lead Developer, Ben Otero and his wife Jeraldine, welcomed their 4th child into the world. Ezra weighed in at 8lbs, 8oz. Both mother and baby are doing great.

Congratulations Ben & Jeraldine!

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127:3-5 ESV

Justin Taylor interviews our team

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT

Our good friend, Justin Taylor, blogger at The Gospel Coalition and Editorial Director at Crossway, recently asked us the following questions for an interview on his blog. Justin is also facilitating a free website giveaway for us to celebrate our partnership in the Gospel and to promote our new 50% discount for church plants and small churches. A word to the wise: If you don't regularly read Justin's blog, we strongly suggest that you make it a regular part of your day.

An Interview with Church Plant Media

by Justin Taylor | originally posted 4/27/2010

Our church is using Church Plant Media to design a new website for us. I’ll link to it when it’s done. They recently designed the new Acts 29 Network website, the new Coral Ridge website, and the new Master’s College Undergrad website.

I asked them if they would consider doing a free website design giveaway to a pastor who reads Between Two Worlds. They were happy to do this, and offered to answer some questions for those who want to know more about them and their vision...

Here’s the interview:

Tell us a little bit about Church Plant Media. Who are you, what do you do, when did you start?

We are a team of ten people who want to expand the reach of the Gospel via the Internet. We consider ourselves first and foremost a Gospel company, and secondly, a web design company. Our partnership base is made up of church plants, existing churches, church planting organizations, and a few church-related conferences. We design websites for them that look great, are easy to navigate, and very simple to maintain. We started out in 1998 by initially working with churches, companies, and non-profit organizations. As we began to work with more and more church planters, we felt God was directing us to serve them specifically. So we created a service that would give churches the high quality they needed at an affordable price.

Do you design websites for any church that asks?

We do not serve all churches. Many churches have departed from the biblical Gospel found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Since this Gospel is the foundation of everything we do as a company, we view the websites that we provide as a stewarded partnership in the Gospel. Therefore, every church and church planting organization we partner with must agree to and sign our Statement of Belief. This statement includes 5 simple truths about the authority of the Bible, the Trinity, the sinlessness of Jesus, the sinfulness of man, and the death of Jesus for sinners. Pretty standard teaching for Bible-believing churches, but unfortunately, many churches teach a corrupted Gospel. In the past we had a few of these churches approach us for work, so we decided to draw a line in the sand and only work with churches who proclaim a biblical Gospel.

Since churches are called to be good stewards of their resources, why do you guys think it’s worth investing in a quality website?

We believe a great website will position a church to serve more people with the Gospel. Since the vast majority of all people in the U.S. frequently use the Internet, the church website is the first impression that most people will have of the church. This is especially true with portable church plants who do not own a building or have a physical presence in the community. The website should be viewed as the literal front door of the church and a critical tool for ongoing discipleship (via podcasts and blogs). Another aspect to keep in mind are the people that move to your community. The majority of these folks will try to find a church in their new community by using Google. Websites that display in the first 20 or so listings will have the best shot of grabbing their attention. Our websites are built to address all of these needs, and our Content Management System makes it easy for any church secretary, pastor, or volunteer to update.

For those out there thinking about a redesign, what are some good principles for them to keep in mind?

Usability is huge. We make sure the user interface in all of our designs is perfectly clear, so a visitor will know how to quickly find all of the content they are looking for. We put a visual emphasis on sermons, events and general information about where the church meets or what a visitor can expect. We also believe a good design should reflect who the church is, not how cool the church wants to be. If there is a cowboy church that meets in the heart of Seattle, then their site should reflect their internal, cowboy culture, not urban Seattle. Know who you are, and go with a design that reflects the vibe of your church. You should also remember that something isn’t always better than nothing. A pastor would never step into the pulpit and only say “this sermon is still under construction, content coming soon.” In the same way, it is never a good idea to write that anywhere on the website. A good habit to get into is to always under-promise and over-deliver.

What are some common mistaken assumptions or practices that are often made when thinking about a church website?

Churches often make the mistake that they think need to load up their website with as much “bling” as possible. But the opposite is true. Churches should take a hard look at their website and remove anything that distracts from what their website visitors need. People are primarily looking for two things when they come to the church website: (1) Does this church feel like a place I would be comfortable visiting? and (2) Where, when, and why should I visit? So it is very important that the design of the site accurately reflects the honest vibe of the church. Once a visitor decides to visit the church, they will be asking questions like: Does this place truly feel as friendly, warm, personal, and authentic as the website showed me? We maintain a wide variety of design styles to serve these individual church needs, preferences, and cultural differences.

If you want to learn more about Church Plant Media, visit their Frequently Asked Questions page or their Statement of Belief page to learn more. I’m excited and grateful that a church will get a new website through this. Again, stay tuned!

[FYI: This isn't a paid ad or sponsored post for Church Plant Media.]

Good Friday and the Gospel for everyday

Fri, 2 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT

What is so good about Good Friday? And should the perpetual goodness of this day effect any other day? To help you answer these important questions, we offer the following counsel from our good friend, Tullian Tchividjian, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Everyday Gospel

Maturity doesn't mean moving beyond the gospel, but more deeply into it.

by Tullian Tchividjian | originally posted 1/18/2010

I once assumed the gospel was simply what non-Christians must believe in order to be saved, while afterward we advance to deeper theological waters. But I've come to realize that the gospel isn't the first step in a stairway of truths, but more like the hub in a wheel of truth. As Tim Keller explains it, the gospel isn't simply the ABCs of Christianity, but the A-through-Z. In other words, once God rescues sinners, his plan isn't to steer them beyond the gospel, but to move them more deeply into it.

In his letter to the Christians of Colossae, the apostle Paul portrays the gospel as the instrument of all continued growth and spiritual progress, even after s believer's conversion.

"All over the world," he writes, "this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth" (Col. 1:6).

After meditating on Paul's words, a friend told me that all our problems in life stem from our failure to apply the gospel. This means I can't really move forward unless I learn more thoroughly the gospel's content and how to apply it to all of life. Real change does not and cannot come independently of the gospel. God intends his Good News in Christ to mold and shape us at every point and in every way. It increasingly defines the way we think, feel, and live.

Martin Luther often employed the phrase simul justus et peccator—"simultaneously justified and sinful." He understood that while he'd already been saved from sin's penalty, he was in daily need of salvation from sin's power. And since the gospel is the "power of God for salvation," he knew that even for the most saintly of saints, the gospel is wholly relevant and vitally necessary. This means heralded preachers need the gospel just as much as hardened pagans.

In his book The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges picks up on this theme. The answer to sin, he says, isn't to try harder, but to comprehend more fully and clearly Christ's incredible work on the cross—then to live in more vital awareness of that grace day by day. The main problem in the Christian life, in other words, is not that we don't try hard enough to be good. It's that we haven't accepted the deep implications of the gospel and applied its powerful reality to all parts of our life.

There are two challenges for preachers, those of us called to announce this good news. First is to help people understand theologically that the gospel doesn't just ignite the Christian life but it's also the fuel that keeps Christians going and growing every day. The second challenge, which is much harder for me than the first, is to help people understand how this works functionally.

I address the second challenge by regularly asking myself this question: Since Jesus secured my pardon and absorbed the Father's wrath on my behalf so that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," how does that impact my longing for approval, my tendency to be controlling, and my fear of the unknown?

In other words, how does the finished work of Christ satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?

If you're a preacher, then God has called you to help others make the connection between Christ's finished work and their daily life. To do this, we must unveil and unpack the truth of the gospel from every biblical text we preach in such a way that it exposes both the idols of our culture and the idols of our hearts.

Every sermon ought to disclose the ways in which we depend on lesser things to provide the security, acceptance, protection, affection, meaning, and satisfaction that only Christ can supply.

I pray that as you come to a better understanding of the length and breadth of the gospel, you will be recaptured every day by the "God of great expenditure" who gave everything that we might possess all.

Tullian Tchividjian is pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and a grandson of Billy Graham.

10 of our favorite designs from Q1 2010

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EDT

As we move into the 2nd Quarter of 2010, we wanted to share 10 different sites that have gone live since the beginning of the year. Numbered among these are a 3 generation church, a few brand new church plants in the US and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a 5 year old church plant who has already planted a number of churches. We are also very thankful to be serving our good friends at the Acts 29 Network, and author, blogger, and pastor, Tullian Tchividjian with his congregation, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

East West Church - Marietta, GA
eastwestchurch.org - Launched: January 2010

Frisco Bible Church - Frisco, TX
friscobible.com - Launched: January 2010

Christ Community Church - Chapel Hill, NC
cccpca.org - Launched: January 2010

Redeemer Church of Dubai - United Arab Emirates
redeemerdubai.com - Launched: February 2010

Resolved Conference - Santa Clarita, CA
resolved.org - Launched: February 2010

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church - Fort Lauderdale, FL
crpc.org - Launched: February 2010

Christ's Church of the Valley - Royersford, PA
moviechurch.com - Launched: March 2010

Blue Sky Church - Bellevue, WA
bluesky-church.com - Launched: March 2010

Acts 29 Network - Seattle, WA
acts29network.org - Launched: March 2010

Mosaic - Cary, NC
madebeautiful.com - Launched: March 2010

The iPad and our commitment to web standards

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST

On January 27th, Steve Jobs announced the new Apple iPad to the world. The iPad is a 9.5 inch tall, 1/2 inch thin, multi-touch tablet device that allows users to "experience" the web, e-mail, photos, videos, music, e-books, and more, like never before. At the end of his announcement, Jobs referred to the iPad as "our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price". We applaud Apple for announcing such an innovative device that will allow you to literally hold the Internet in your hands!

Without going into great detail as to why we think the iPad is such a big deal, we do want to express that we believe the iPad will set the new standard for how users interact with the Internet. In his address, Jobs explained that the iPad fits into a "3rd category" between a laptop and a smartphone. In the iPad promo video, Jony Ive, Senior Vice President of Design at Apple says "I don't have to change myself to fit the product, it fits me". Then later in the video he says, "In many ways this (iPad) defines our vision and our sense of what's next".

With this in mind, it is critical to understand how the Internet will work on the iPad. Apple has made the decision not to support Flash on the iPad, just as they do not support Flash on the iPhone. Days after his public announcement to the world, Steve Jobs held a Town Hall style meeting for his employees at Apple HQ. During the meeting he fielded questions from his employees about the iPad and the future of Apple. Wired Magazine reported the following on how Jobs explained why Apple will not support Flash on the iPad.

And the absence of Adobe Flash support on the iPhone for three years and counting, and now on the iPad, is either celebrated by users as a poke in the eye of one of the web’s most dextrous tools, or the most over-rated and overused crutch for decent design.

Jobs, characteristically, did not mince words as he spoke to the assembled, according to a person who was there who could not be named because this person is not authorized by Apple to speak with the press . . .

About Adobe: They are lazy, Jobs says. They have all this potential to do interesting things but they just refuse to do it . . . Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy, he says. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash, he says. The world is moving to HTML 5.

There you have it. On a number of levels, the Church Plant Media team agrees with Apple. This news just solidifies our commitment to design standards-based web sites instead of Flash-based web sites.

To dig a bit deeper into the future of web standards, Wired Magazine discusses Apple and HTML 5 in another article. They share that the ambition of HTML 5 is "to bring the web to maturity as a full-fledged application platform, a level playing field where video, sound, images and animations are all standardized". Wired goes on to explain the outcome of a standards-based web site.

The result is a considerably leaner page than you would see were it written in HTML 4 — gone are the lengthy embed and object tags for video content, and sophisticated animations happen without Flash, JavaScript or other auxiliary tools. And that means the page loads faster and gobbles up less memory in the browser . . . HTML 5 represents the biggest leap forward in web standards since the current (4.01) specification, which was completed in September 1999.

In other news, John Gruber, a full-time technology blogger, reported in a recent blog post that Flash is the “leading source of application crashes on Mac OS X”. Gruber then provides his source for this claim and he goes on to share why the world may never see a Flash plugin for the iPhone (or the iPad).

Here’s the deal. On stage at the WWDC 2009 keynote address last June, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Bertrand Serlet was explaining the new web content plugin mechanism for Safari in Snow Leopard . . .

Serlet explained that, based on data from the Crash Reporter application built into Mac OS X — the thing that asks if you’d like to send crash data to Apple after a crash — the most frequent cause of crashes across all of Mac OS X are (or at least were, pre-Snow Leopard) “plugins”. Serlet didn’t name any specific guilty plugins. Just “plugins”. But during the week at WWDC, I confirmed with several sources at Apple who are familiar with the aggregate Crash Reporter data, and they confirmed that “plugins” was a euphemism for “Flash”.

In other words, in Apple’s giant pile of aggregate crash reports — from all app crashes on all Macs from all users who click the button to send these reports to Apple — Flash accounts for more of them than anything else.

In closing, we want to communicate to our readers that we are committed to developing sites using standards-based, open-source technology, and we will not use a proprietary technology like Flash as the foundation for our web sites. We are also very excited to experience current Church Plant Media web sites on the iPad!

If you would like to learn more about the standards-based websites that Church Plant Media develops, feel free to give our Partnership Director, Kevin Giddings, a call at: (800) 409-6631 x 1.

9 of our favorite designs from 2009

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

Now that we are well on our way into 2010, we wanted to take a look back at some of the PLUS and MAX sites that we launched in the 2nd half of 2009. As always, our Creative Director, Andrew Bradshaw, knocked these out of the park with his kung fu master design skills. Here are just a few examples of his work.

WordServe United Methodist Church - Fulshear, TX (PLUS)
wordserve.org - Launched: July 2009

Pastor Brian Jones - Royersford, PA (MAX)
brianjones.com - Launched: July 2009

Midwest Center for Theological Studies - Owensboro, KY (PLUS)
mctsowensboro.org - Launched: July 2009

Exponential Conference - Orlando, FL (MAX)
exponentialconference.org - August: 2009

EFCA Challenge Conference - Columbus, OH (MAX)
challengeconference.com - Launched: September 2009

Northpointe Christian Church - Lincoln, RI (PLUS)
northpointechristian.com - Launched: October 2009

True North Community Church - Smithtown, NY (MAX)
truenorthchurch.net - Launched: October 2009

The Master's College Undergrad - Santa Clarita, CA (MAX)
masters.edu/undergrad - Launched: November 2009

Resolved Conference - Santa Clarita, CA (MAX)
resolved.org - Splash Page Launched: December 2009

Church Plant Media welcomes Kevin Giddings to the team!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

Church Plant Media is pleased to announce the addition of Kevin Giddings to the team (despite his love for the Texas Longhorns). Kevin is a tech-savvy gent who loves churches and loves all things web. He'll be handling our Partner Development, which means he's the guy you'll talk to if you call us inquiring about our design packages or Content Management System. Check out Kevin's bio details here www.churchplantmedia.com/kevin-giddings. Welcome Kevin!

70 Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

Earlier this year, our team was hand picked to serve John MacArthur and the staff of Grace Community Church, to create a new web site design for the 2010 Resolved Conference. Early registration is now open for the conference, which will be held from June 25-28 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

We are looking for some cool and we know that Church Plant Media specializes in cool.
~ Erin Dibble, IT Director

The Resolved Conference is calling a new generation to live with the same resolve that Jonathan Edwards had, when he was 19 years old. This young man, who would eventually be acknowledged as America's most important theologian, became dutifully focused on his life's purpose before his 20th birthday, and thus penned 70 commitment statements. His initial 34 Resolutions were written in only 2 sittings, some time before December 18, 1722. His other 36 Resolutions were each written on brief occasions, through the summer of 1723.

Jonathan Edwards went on to read these 70 Resolutions once each week, for 35 years, more than 1,800 times before his death in 1758. At the dawn of this New Year, we commend a regular reading of the Resolutions, that you may also declare your dependence upon God, for Christ’s sake.

The following Resolutions are quoted in their entirety from volume one of The Works of Jonathan Edwards.

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

Resolved, That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration; without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved, to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved, so to do, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.
Resolved, To be continually endeavouring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the forementioned things.
Resolved, If ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.
Resolved, Never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God, nor be, nor suffer it, if I can possibly avoid it.
Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.
Resolved, To live with all my might, while I do live.
Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.
Resolved, To act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings, as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. Vid. July 30.
Resolved, To think much, on all occasions, of my dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.
Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.
Resolved, When I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances do not hinder.
Resolved, If I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.
Resolved, To be endeavouring to find out fit objects of liberality and charity.
Resolved, Never to do any thing out of revenge.
Resolved, Never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.
Resolved, Never to speak evil of any one, so that it shall tend to his dishonour, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.
Resolved, That I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.
Resolved, To live so, at all times, as I think is best in my most devout frames, and when I have the clearest notions of the things of the gospel, and another world.
Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour before I should hear the last trump.
Resolved, To maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.
Resolved, Never to do any thing, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him.
Resolved, To endeavour to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigour, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.
Resolved, Frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs, and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God’s glory, to repute it as a breach of the fourth Resolution.
Resolved, Whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavour to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.
Resolved, To examine carefully and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and so direct all my forces against it.
Resolved, To cast away such things as I find do abate my assurance.
Resolved, Never wilfully to omit any thing, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.
Resolved, To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive, myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.
Resolved, Never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession which I cannot hope God will accept.
Resolved, To strive every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.
Resolved, Never to say any thing at all against any body, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of christian honour, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said any thing against any one, to bring it to, and try it strictly by, the test of this Resolution.
Resolved, To be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Prov. xx. 6. ‘A faithful man, who can find?’ may not be partly fulfilled in me.
Resolved, To do always what I can towards making, maintaining, and preserving peace, when it can be done without an overbalancing detriment in other respects. Dec. 26, 1722.
Resolved, In narrations, never to speak any thing but the pure and simple verity.
Resolved, Whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.
Resolved, Never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call to it. Dec. 19, 1722.
Resolved, To inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,—what sin I have committed,—and wherein I have denied myself;—also, at the end of every week, month, and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722.
Resolved, Never to utter any thing that is sportive, or matter of laughter, on a Lord’s day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.
Resolved, Never to do any thing, of which I so much question the lawfulness, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; unless I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.
Resolved, To inquire every night before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.
Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month, and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.
Resolved, Frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism, which I solemnly renewed when I was received into the communion of the church, and which I have solemnly re-made this 12th day of January, 1723.
Resolved, Never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God’s; agreeably to what is to be found in Saturday, Jan. 12th. Jan. 12, 1723.
Resolved, That no other end but religion shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. Jan. 12, 1723.
Resolved, Never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan. 12 and 13, 1723.
Resolved, Never to allow the least measure of any fretting or uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved, to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye; and to be especially careful of it with respect to any of our family.
Resolved, To endeavour, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving, and sincere, temper; and to do, at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have so done. Sabbath morning, May 5, 1723.
Resolved, Constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.
Resolved, That this never shall be, if I can help it.
Resolved, That I will act so, as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.
Resolved, That I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.
I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, That I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.
Resolved, To improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.
Resolved, Whenever I hear anything spoken in commendation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, that I will endeavour to imitate it. July 8, 1723.
Resolved, To endeavour, to my utmost, so to act, as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the happiness of heaven and hell torments. July 8, 1723.
Resolved, Never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.
Resolved, When I fear misfortunes and adversity, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it and let the event be just as Providence orders it. I will, as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty and my sin. June 9, and July 13, 1723.
Resolved, Not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness, and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723.
Resolved, When I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July 11, and July 13.
Resolved, Whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4 and 13, 1723.
Resolved, That I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it—that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, &c. May 21, and July 13, 1723.
Resolved, Never to do any thing but my duty, and then, according to Eph. vi. 6-8. to do it willingly and cheerfully, as unto the Lord, and not to man: knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall be receive of the Lord. June 25, and July 13, 1723.
On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true lustre, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, To act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. Jan. 14, and July 13, 1723.
Resolved, When I find those ”groanings which cannot be uttered,“ of which the apostle speaks, and those ”breathings of soul for the longing it hath,” of which the psalmist speaks, Psalm cxix. 20. that I will promote them to the utmost of my power; and that I will not be weary of earnestly endeavouring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and Aug. 10, 1723.
Resolved, Very much to exercise myself in this, all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness of which I am capable, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him, all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance, according to Dr. Manton’s Sermon on the 119th Psalm,. July 26, and Aug. 10, 1723.
Resolved, That I will endeavour always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking, in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.
Resolved, After afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them; what good I have got by them; and, what I might have got by them.
Resolved, To confess frankly to myself, all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
Resolved, Always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723.
Let there be something of benevolence in all that I speak. Aug. 17, 1723.