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Raising Children for a Babylonian World
A recent article in the TableTalk Magazine gives parents wise counsel on how to raise a Daniel for the Babylonian world they will be experiencing! This is a superb article with many wise points. Preparing Our Children for Babylon
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A Teaching Technic that Will Change Lives
When it comes to teaching the Bible. We need the Holy Spirit’s guidance, revelation, and inspiration to first impact our own hearts and then the hearts of our students. I learned a teaching technic years ago that made all the difference in my own life and in my teaching. It may be new to some of you. This new method will not only change the lives of our children but is guaranteed to change our lives too, as we hear, believe and live out the truth of our position in Christ. When I was being trained by Child Evangelism Fellowship, I was taught that every lesson should contain a PAS…
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The Magi Got it!
I was leading a lesson the other day about the Christmas Story. Not the movie but the actual story about Jesus coming to earth as a baby thing and I noticed that the kids I was teaching were all squirming in their seats and restless and bored. It’s not that I was teaching in a boring way or that the content was boring. I think it was because most of the kids in the room that day had already put the Christmas Story on their mental shelves and had other things on their minds. Just from the conversations I heard, most of the boys in the room were much too…
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Plan Now for the Holidays: 7 Suggestions
Carved pumpkins still line my walk. We still have some leftover candy. And I have yet to decide between apple or pumpkin pie for the family Thanksgiving gathering. So maybe it feels early. But the first Sunday in Advent falls on November 28 this year. And I want to create a sane, wise holiday season—and to replace debt with dignity. That requires planning ahead. If you want to do the same, here are my seven suggestions: Select your devotional reading. If you use You Version, check out these two reading plans: “Advent Chai with Malachi,” which my seminary students and I wrote; and “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” a collection of pieces…
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The Beckoning
It stirs unease. On bloodied knees again I plead the pieties that once appeased my gnawing need for guarantees. In clinging to these grainy things like safe routines, I flee true peace.
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Purity Culture: A Corrective (Part 2)
Part 2: A Better Way Last time we looked at the some of the developments in purity-culture trends among evangelicals in the US over the past thirty years. Teaching on the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit was noticeably absent from much of the instruction focused on making vows to tame the flesh till marriage. In Song of Songs we read that the beloved tells her lover: “I would lead you and bring you to the house of my mother who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates” (Song of Songs 8:2). Having been taught the facts of life by her mother,…
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Purity Culture: A Corrective (in Two Parts)
Part 1: The Context Purity is good. Purity culture, not so much. Purity culture isn’t new. And it’s global. While a young son may live the wild life, family honor depends on the daughter’s virginity. People tend to connect worth and worthiness with a woman’s sexual purity. Muslim, Hindu, Christian, atheism. Name your major belief system, and you’ll find purity-culture elements manifested in its subcultures. In the US, purity culture reveals itself differently in different geographical areas and ethnic groups. But in the past few decades it has had a deep hold on the evangelical church. Especially the white evangelical church. Women of color already had their own unique challenges. …
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What Really Matters in How We Spend Our Time?
I walked into class and saw friends scurrying through their notes, stuffing their brains with facts like squirrels hoarding nuts. I froze. I forgot about the science test. Instead of studying the night before, I played Rummy with mom and watched an episode of Quantum Leap with a bowl of popcorn. I sat down and quickly skimmed my notes. The teacher handed out the exam and I filled in circles with graphite, half-guessing. I passed the test—barely. It’s been decades since memorizing facts about neutrons and electrons, but sometimes I feel the same way. Like I show up to my life, unprepared. Especially in raising three kids. I’m busy, sure.…
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The Magdalene: Mary from Magdala or Mary Tower?
Who was Mary Magdalene? Because early New Testament manuscripts were more difficult to search than today’s books, Mary M. has at times been confused or combined with other Marys. “Mary” is a form of Miriam, the name of Moses’s sister, whom the Bible describes as a prophet and leader. Some have conflated Mary Magdalene with the sinful woman who anointed Jesus (Luke 7). Thus, Mary M. has been described in prose and depicted in art as a reformed prostitute. Others have suggested she had a romantic relationship with Jesus—or even married him! But the Scriptures suggest none of these things about her past. The actual details (given in Luke’s Gospel) are…
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Bible Backgrounds: When Is It Legit to Appeal to Them?
A few months ago, a friend expressed discomfort with appealing to culture, or “backgrounds,” to explain some difficult Bible passages. “Aren’t we just explaining away what we dislike?” he asked. “Can’t an appeal to culture become a way to change obvious meanings? Isn’t that what liberals do?” He asked great questions. Important questions. Sometimes people do use knowledge of Bible backgrounds to explain away what they dislike in the text. But that doesn’t mean all such appeals come from having a low view of Scripture. A few weeks after that conversation, I heard a Bible expert discourage appealing to Bible backgrounds to help with understanding texts because, “the text itself…
