The spectacular events of life grab our attention—particularly “natural” disasters, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, and tropical cyclones. The 24/7 news outlets swing into action, as they did this past weekend. Hurricane Irene made headlines as it moved up the eastern seaboard of the United States. For a while it appeared that Irene would strike large cities, from Washington, D.C. to Boston, with the power of a major hurricane. There was a collective sigh of relief as the storm approached land and weakened. But even in its weakened condition, over 40 people have died, millions are still without power, trees were uprooted, tornadoes were spawned, and news reports of inland flooding are still coming in. As significant as this damage is, […]
Monthly Archives: August 2011
5 posts
If you read the last post, you might well be asking how wisdom and the Beatitudes fit together. You know your child should learn to be wise; you also know that he should be poor in spirit. Yet, at first glance, there appears to be a lack of specificity to both goals. For example:
The last several posts have focused on the excellence of wisdom and the pursuit of wisdom. Anyone who reads the Bible regularly is familiar with Proverbs, where wisdom is highly commended. But familiarity too often breeds neglect—if not contempt. I believe it is helpful to stop for a moment to consider what the pursuit of wisdom looks like today. To set the stage, here are some basics about wisdom truths:
Proverbs 2 says sexual immorality is something that is damaging to people – something that need to be saved from. For many enlightened people, this is an outdated viewpoint. More and more Americans believe that they can discard this thinking as easily as they would yesterday’s newspaper. American young people are becoming increasingly wary of commitment. According to a new study done by the University of Missouri, the creative solution to handling the stress of commitment is something called stay-overs. An article entitled Living together – too much commitment for today’s couples, in USA Today about this study explains:
We have been looking at how wisdom offers protection from sexual immorality and from the ways of wicked men. In the last post we saw that Joseph acted wisely when he fled from Potiphar’s wife. What caused Joseph to have this immediate, emotional, and wise response to temptation? The answer will help you train your children to live for God in a sinful world. It will help you as well. Several positive factors combine to produce this protection for Joseph. Let’s look at them.