Posts

Posted on

7 Norms for the Family

In every time period, the subject of the family is likely to set off intense emotions. In our own day, the family has become an intense political issue. This is all aggravated by the breakdown in family structure and the terrible pain often caused by it.

How can we find our way out of it?

Finding our way out of the messes in which we find our families requires a clear sense of the goals, ideals, or norms that a family should pursue.

In the book of Genesis, we have a picture of the family prior to the rupture of family relationships. This is helpful for our families and for the proper understanding of the book of Genesis. As you read through Genesis 3–50, you find a lot of messed up families and questionable family situations (like multiple wives). How are we to evaluate them? I believe that Genesis 1–2 gives us the answer.

Let me suggest 7 norms for the well-functioning family based on Genesis 1:26–2:25.

  1. God is at the center of a well-functioning family. God made the family and blessed it (Gen. 1:26–28). Often families have trouble because they are only looking at one another and not seeing the God who is above them all. They seek from their families things only God can give. This creates frustration and struggle.
  2. Children are a blessing. Children today are often viewed negatively, but God gave the command to be fruitful and multiply. He wanted more people on earth. “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him” (Psalm 127:3).

    3. Continue reading “7 Norms for the Family”

Posted on

The Old Testament: The Big Picture

A friend of mine asked me to help him understand the Old Testament. He’s reading it, but he wanted a framework for thinking about its individual parts, the 39 books that make up the Old Testament. Here are two different perspectives on the big picture of the Old Testament.

The first is a framework for thinking about its construction–how we got the books that we got. The second is a framework for thinking about its meaning or spiritual significance. In each successive age, God revealed new things about His plan for the world.

Construction of the Old Testament

  1. The first major period of construction of the Old Testament was in the lifetime of Moses. He described how Israel became a nation and gave them a constitution for the religious and political life of the divinely chosen nation. You find this material in Genesis-Joshua.
  2. The second major period was the establishment of the Monarchy under David and Solomon. David built the temple to replace the portable tent for God’s worship. He then wrote and compiled songs for temple worship. We call these “psalms,” a word that really just means “songs.” Solomon wrote a significant amount of what is called the wisdom literature, applying God’s wisdom to all of life. You can read the history of this period in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and the first part of 1 Kings. The wisdom literature of Solomon is found in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

    3. Continue reading “The Old Testament: The Big Picture”

Posted on

Denominations

The fact that the church is divided into a multitude of denominations does not bother me.

There is a core of Christian teaching that provides a basic unity across denominations.

There is unity, but there is also diversity. Denominations seek to bear witness to the fuller teaching of Scripture and think through the details of the organization and government of the church.

That diversity is not necessarily bad. What is the alternative? In my view, only two: indifference to doctrinal precision or coerced unity for doctrinal uniformity.

The first option would be to say that doctrinal and organizational precision does not matter, but that would be to give up any united witness to the whole counsel of God.

The second option is to try to enforce unity by demanding that every church or individual agree to all the particulars of doctrine. This seems to me to be a recipe for hypocrisy.

A variety of denominations is the only option left. The church can have different organizations all seeking to do their best to explain the faith in its broader implications. The advantages of this arrangement is freedom of thought and conscience, a measure of unity, and a basis for common ministry.

But what about choosing a denomination or evaluate the denomination we are in? In light of the principles stated above, I believe that there are two wrong approaches we can take to our own denomination or tradition. Continue reading “Denominations”

Posted on

Faith for All of Life

There is no question that America is religious. Even those who don’t attend church regularly often have some sort of connection to the church. Our church attendance is much higher than other parts of the Western world.

Yet when you look at large swaths of American culture, one might question whether we are religious at all. You can watch television for hours without any sense that God has anything to do with life at all.

Some of this is based on a secular view of culture. The secularist believes that religion should never touch the public square. Religion should be relegated to the private world of the individual.

We must admit that some of the reason for the rise of secularism is the sectarianism of so many religious people.

Religion can be a blessing, but religion can also be a curse. The pride of man easily turns faith in the absolute into a belief that our own finite, limited view of things is absolute. This can lead to conflict worse than any pride of power.

It is understandable that people are cautious about religion in the public sphere.

For many of us, the problem is not a lack of belief in the applicability of religion to all spheres of life. It’s a lack of effort. It’s a challenge to apply our faith to every sphere of life, and we just don’t want to take it up.

We also may simply not know how to do it. Lack of clarity on what it means to be a Christian artist or economist or husband can easily cause us to give up any attempt.

But the attempt needs to be made. It needs to be made with humility, patience, and wisdom, but it needs to be made.

Why? Because Christ is Lord of all of life. As Dutch theologian and Prime Minister Abraham Kuyper put it, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” Continue reading “Faith for All of Life”

Posted on

Responsive Call to Worship Reading from Colossians

In our church, we use a call to worship to emphasize the fact that it is God who seeks worshipers and invites us to fellowship with Him in worship.

Whenever I preach on a text from a book of the Bible, I like to include readings from other parts of the book in our liturgy.

This week’s sermon is taken from the book of Colossians. So, I searched the web for a responsive reading that compiled the main verses and themes from the book like this one from 1 Thessalonians.

I was not able to find one.

So, I put together my own based on the structure of the book that describes for us who Jesus is and what He has done for us and our response. The leader reads a statement about the blessings and benefits we have in Christ. The people respond with our duties from Colossians 3 that we are called to in light of what Jesus has done for us.

Leader: The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
People: Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Leader: For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
People: So whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Continue reading “Responsive Call to Worship Reading from Colossians”

Proudly powered by WordPress