Recently Tim Challies put out two excellent blog posts on “What We Lost When We Lost Our Hymnals” and “What We Gained When We Lost Our Hymnals.” The posts are balanced (as the titles suggest) and thoughtful. I think he is correct when he suggests that it would be unwise to return to the hymnal on the one hand, and equally unwise not to think through the implications of losing the hymnal on the other.…
Don’t make them attend church/youth group. After all, church is only for those who feel like going. If they are too tired or just don’t like it that much, assure them those are valid reasons to opt out of fellowship with other believers. Make sure they are entertained, not equipped. Priorities, after all: if all your youth group is doing is teaching them to follow Jesus, without sufficient fun saturating the event, it is time…
One hears it like a mantra today: “Family is more important than church.” It is said with such tendentious frequency that we rarely stop to ask whether or not it is true. In a sense it feels a little bit like saying, “The Father is more important than the Son,” or “The Son is more important than the Holy Spirit.” It is contrived and unnecessary categorization. The family, after all, is merely a temporary…
How does the Bible define true and godly love, the blessed intimacy and bond that unites a man and woman in the state of marriage? Here are some reflections on just this question, given as the charge to my younger brother and his new bride at their wedding last week. Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as…
Get down on your knees, fall on your face, and seek his will and wisdom, pleading for his grace. When the Spirit releases you, get up and go about your gospel-proclaiming, disciple-making business until he calls you to get down on your knees, fall on your face, and seek his will and wisdom, pleading for his grace. Repeat as necessary.
Most holidays suffer from insufferable commercialism and superficiality in these dark times. Occasionally Christians respond by retreating from the holiday as a whole. I wonder if this is really the best course of action, however, especially when young children are present; I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to redeem the holidays instead. While not addressing the issue directly, Scripture does hint at the latter response. After all, Jesus encountered the same crass commercialism…
The goal of parenting is not to be the perfect parent. The goal of parenting is that your children know God as the perfect Father. Parents devote too much energy to the idolatrous pursuit of perfection in parenting: choosing the best method of discipline, sleep training, nutritional habits, devotional activities. While working through the possibilities and choosing the wisest course for your family is important, it is not the most important. What…
The goal of parenting is not to raise children who are good. The goal of parenting is to raise children who know God. We must be wary of any parenting philosophy that assumes, however implicitly, that we hold sovereign sway in our children’s lives—as if we could rear children so perfect they are not in need of God’s grace. This is heresy of the very worst sort. Too many parenting approaches, even…