Words are not just names. If they were, we’d have no problem swapping out one label for another. No, words are things. Yes, they are man-made things, concatenations of syllables created by human cultures, and their particular meanings have been shaped through convention and association. But they are things that have meaning in themselves, and… Continue Reading
It appears today that “authenticity” has become the most important virtue. In one sense this is good. Hypocrisy is a vice condemned by Scripture (Mathew 23:27). I often think about this with regard to my children. Never would I want them to watch me act one way in public with others and think to themselves,… Continue Reading
Last month I had the privilege of spending a week in Brazil, where I spoke at a conference of pastors and church leaders. It was my third time in Brazil, and I’ve grown to enjoy every chance I get to minister in that country. It was also the second time I was invited by my… Continue Reading
Our family has begun using the New City Catechism as part of our family worship and Bible study time. The catechism is a combined adult/child catechism that adapts many historic catechisms into the 52 question and answer plan. One of the features that the authors note of this catechism is that they retained much of… Continue Reading
To understand reality, a child must think. Thinking that brings understanding is not the thinking that a cow does when it notices a car passing its pasture. It is the kind of thinking about ideas. To think about ideas, a child must know language. Language is the technology of thought. Language, as we are using it… Continue Reading
The question before us is this: are there any New Testament terms that are equivalent to the contemporary notion of “culture”? At least three separate categories of NT Greek terms possibly parallel the more contemporary idea of culture. The first grouping includes terms translated with the English words “race,” “tribe,” “nation,” “people” or “languages.” These ideas are… Continue Reading
My four-year-old son has been learning French recently. Well, sort of. We’ve checked out some children’s French DVDs from our local library, and each day he watches the DVD. It’s a silly little story that is spoken entirely in French. It comes with a little book that has screen shots of the different scenes and… Continue Reading