Wisdom
What influences our children’s lives the most? As Christian parents we would all like the answer to be that we are the main influence in our children’s lives. We know that is how it should be. [...]
In the book of Proverbs, we are instructed to “pay attention” to the words of the wise and to “give our attention” to wisdom (Prov. 4:20; 5:1), to which many of us will, if we are honest, respond with the words of Augustine, “Behold, my life is a distraction” (Confessions, 11.29.39). In the same passage, […]
One of the reasons for the wisdom literature in the Old Testament, we are told in Proverbs 1:4, is “to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth.” The discretion that wisdom bequeaths to those who take up abode with her is not simply a bare knowledge of right and wrong (though […]
Ever notice how the latest fad seems to have a shelf life of a year or two? It’s true even of our worship songs. The shocking novelty of introducing ‘I Wish We’d All Been Ready,’ or other choruses from the Jesus Movement, into a worship service has worn off and rock bands are now ‘traditional […]
We are so good at being legalists. One minute we’re the “older brother” in our Lord’s parable, resentful of the father’s lavish grace showered on the prodigal son; the next minute we cast ourselves as the younger brother’only, unlike him, lording the father’s indulgence over our brother’s head. To reverse the roles in another parable, […]
If your children are in your home for 18 years, you have over 5,600 occasions (figuring a 6-day week) for family worship. If you learn a new psalm or hymn each month, they will be exposed to 216 in those 18 years. If you read a chapter a day, you will complete the Bible 4.5 […]
Last fall, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an article outlining some of the challenges facing public schools in our time. The report included a school official who was quoted as saying that middle schools in the area should no longer be thought of as "cold, instruction-driven places." I was amazed by that particular comment. How […]
