“This can, of course, be easily misunderstood. No one is saying that a boy with a severed limb should yelled at for bleeding on the carpet. Nevertheless, instilling toughness in boys is extraordinarily important. A masculine toughness is the only foundation upon which a masculine tenderness may be safely placed. Without a concrete foundation, thoughtfulness, …
Palm Sunday and a Crown by Faith
In the Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, we see that the cross is very much in view. At the same time, it is a triumphal entry because the resurrection is equally central. We might even say that the death of Christ is surrounded by resurrection. On the next day much people that were come …
Passions Growing Up
“Another important principle is that of seeing small boys as future men. The way boys learn to deal with their various immature “passions” will generally be the way they deal with adult passions. A boy who is not obviously learning self-control with regard to his temper, his stomach, his video games, or his school work …
The Crowds of Palm Sunday
A commonplace in Christian circles understands the events surrounding the first Palm Sunday as a demonstration of the “fickleness of crowds.” But there are good reasons for questioning this common assumption. On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of …
Vanity in Prayer
In this passage Christ strikes at the heart of religiosity. Christ has no use for spiritual showboating, even if it is of the most subtle variety. The Father sees the heart in our acts of charity; He also sees the heart when we come into His presence in prayer. “And when you pray, you shall …
God’s Daughter-in-Law
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Almighty God, everlasting Father, gracious Lord, we worship You now in Your triune holiness, knowing that we cannot worship You or approach You in any other way. We pray to You, Father, lifting up Your name because we know that Jesus taught …
A Divine Comedy
In the resurrection of Christ from the dead, we see the banishment of the old pagan idea of tragedy. The history of the world, in the light of the resurrection, is actually a divine comedy. And Christ rose from the dead in the middle of human history so that we might know the end of …
Routine
We celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week, considering it the culmination of our service of covenant renewal. But to many of our fellow believers, this fact by itself smacks of ritualism or superstition. “Why do this so often? Do you keep forgetting?” Well, on one level, yes, we keep forgetting. We believe that we are …
Style Over Substance
The story is told of the preacher who had prepared a manuscript of his sermon, and in the margin of one section he had scribbled a note to himself. “Argument weak. Shout here.” The phenomenon can be seen in many settings. Lousy rock bands often invest significantly in dry ice and laser light shows. All …
Joy Set Before You
In our day, biblical marriage is mocked in two ways. The first is by those who pretend to be friends of the institution, but who live in a manner that overthrows the pretence entirely for anyone who knows them. The second way is usually more honest, and mocks the name of biblical marriage while rejecting …