The Rhythms of the Lord
My Problem I’m not sure why I have such a hard time resting and heeding the fourth commandment. Maybe I’m still trying to silence my grade school teachers, who constantly berated me for laziness (Actually, I was lazy). Or…
Tag Family
Heaven on Earth?: Some Hard Questions & Some Help
It is fitting that Christians should love the springtime of the soul, the bodily resurrection that will come in God’s time. But how much do we really know about the resurrection? Children often ask, “Will I know my mommy and…
Heaven on Earth?: Talking with Our Children about Death
“Is she going to die?” That’s what my boys wanted to know when we told them how sick their Bisabuela[1] was. How do we answer that question and other questions about death that our children ask? Talking about death is…
Why Get Married?
Many Americans are still marrying but an increasing number are not. So, why aren’t people getting married these days? Recently, I was reading an article by a secular psychologist who offered several reasons for what he called the decline of…
Worshiping with Your Family
My spiritual mentor began worshiping with his wife before they were married, and has faithfully continued the practice through the arrival of children and grandchildren for more than fifty years. Sadly, it seems that few men among even the best…
Wedding Day Counsel
I will officiate at a wedding ceremony today. My wedding sermons aren’t really sermons but meditations. They are short but calculated. I view the wedding meditation as the last effort on the heels of pre-marital counseling to sink the arrow…
Dogmatics for Fourth Graders
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on reformation21 in December 2008. From Adam onward, each generation of believers has faced the challenges of bad and erroreous theology. When we look at our children—and the one I’m looking at now happens to be a fourth…
Anne Locke – An Influential Woman of the English Reformation
John Knox considered Anne Locke one of his dearest friends and valued her advice and support. He confided in her at some the most difficult times of his life, even in the midst of military battles. In spite…
The First Twenty Years are the Hardest
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on reformation21 in June 2007. It was twenty years ago that Lisa Maxwell and I walked down the aisle at the First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As a minister, I go to more weddings than…
A Short Theology of Social Reform
Over the last year, I have interviewed a number of believers who are trying to love their neighbors and change the way work is done in their field. Listening to them, I have come to a clearer understanding of…