Too often we cover our backsides with intentions. We intend to love, so we tend to ignore the impact of our actions. For example: “I am so sorry I got angry with you. It is just that I love you so much and I know that what you did will be bad for you. I just needed to get your attention right away.” Hint, your child is not buying this. A decision was made to replace love with anger. But, you may protest, that was not my intention! However, intentions are not safe guides unless they are informed by Scripture. This is why the Bible does not define love by a state of mind or by intent. Love is defined […]
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Parents, when your children sin and they are not respectful to you, how do you want to respond? If you make the matter primarily a personal offense against yourself and respond in anger and frustration, you will do what any ordinary parent might do. You might get angry at them. You might just let your children know how painful this is for you. You might yell. You might walk around in silent pain. You might tell your kids they have gone too far this time. All these responses would be ordinary and totally understandable. In this way you would associate God with the ordinary actions of ordinary people. When you give in to anger, resentment or self-pity at your children’s […]
The Danger of Being a Fool by Tedd Tripp The alternative to teaching our children biblical hierarchy is to allow them to be autonomous self-directed people. The Bible has a term for such a person: the fool. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Ps. 14:1). The fool says, “I will be my own self-directed person; no one will tell me what to do. I will do what I want to do, when I want to do it. I will be ruled by nothing other than my own whim.” This is not freedom; it is foolishness. To live in God’s world as though there is no God is the height of folly. A later chapter will be […]
Social networking is a big part of modern life. It is necessary to ask what biblical principles intersect with 21st century electronic information transfer. You have to admit it is a stretch to think of Paul texting Timothy to bring him the parchments so that he can post them on his blog. Social networking was virtually unknown a decade ago. Yes, email allowed us to correspond quickly, but as a form of communication it was not much different than regular mail. Today our lives, as well as our children’s lives, are dominated by Internet-enabled communities. Emoticons form a modern shorthand that allows for an instant transmission of moods, thoughts and plans across cities, states and continents. People write on electronic […]
2015 will be a challenging year for you and your family. Belief in the Bible is seen as extremism. Belief in the necessity of a relationship with Christ is seen as intolerance. Belief in a biblical view of marriage is seen as hatred. This is the focus of our culture,, our government, our educational system. More than ever God’s people need discernment. Here is one definition of discernment: Discernment is seeing the difference between good and bad – or good and best – so I know what to do to please God. (from Get Wisdom! by Ruth Younts) Here is a prayer for discernment to teach to your children and to yourself. Dear Lord, sin makes me so foolish and […]
What hope does a country have that has no fear of God? The first option is to repent of her sins before the Lord of heaven and earth. There is no Plan B. Unrepentant sin leads to arrogance and self-importance. Ancient Nineveh was considered an important city. It was large and proud. And like today, obeying God was an outdated joke. The city was evil. Jonah’s message was simple, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown.” When the King of Nineveh was confronted by God’s prophet, he did something extraordinary – he repented! He rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation: By the […]
We cannot teach our children how to submit to an authority unless we understand a vertical structure where equals willingly place themselves under authority. It is true that human relationships are horizontal in terms of worth and dignity. All human beings are made in God’s image, are crowned with glory and honor, and are given rule over the rest of creation. In relationship to God and saving grace all human beings are equal; all come to God on the same basis and God is no respecter of persons. But at the same time, God has established spheres of authority and responsibility for mankind. The contemporary mind has only two ways to respond to authority—rebellion or servility. We do not understand […]
Something mysterious happens to items in colorfully wrapped boxes and then placed under a tree full of lights. After a short incubation period these items, called presents, become possessions when they are removed. Suddenly, all of the challenging things your remember from last Christmas, but over the course of 364 days have somehow managed to forget, are back. Presents have become possessions. Christ had an encounter with a brother who was also concerned that his sibling was not being fair. He wanted Jesus to settle an inheritance dispute. No doubt, this issue was critically important to the offended brother. He must have been taken aback to see his desire for fairness and justice be exposed for what it really was […]
Why did Jesus come? In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tells you why he came to earth. His words are a mixture of joy and fear. Joy, because Jesus is my only hope. Fear, because Jesus describes exactly who I am without his mercy. If you do not think of yourself as a poor, blind slave apart from the grace of Christ, you think too much of yourself and too little of Christ. Listen to the voice of your Savior: Luke 4:16-21 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling […]
Time as we know it is not eternal, it is created. Before there was time there was God. After time ends there will be God. This is one reason God refers to himself as I Am. God is infinite, he cannot be measured by time. He simply and profoundly is. Time is temporal, having to do with what is temporary. As Paul says, don’t focus on what is temporary, but focus on eternity. Faith has to do with eternity. This means that faith is rooted not in time but in the person and character of God! For example, when we say, “I have faith everything will work out,” our understanding of faith is misplaced. Faith is not primarily about everything […]