Children Turning Into Teenagers

Instead of dreading the day when my children turn into teenagers, I think often about what I hope my children are like at that age. All the warnings I've received from parents with older children which essentially say, “just wait until your children are older,” haven't discouraged me yet. I look forward to that time. I want to raise my children to be likeable, even at the age we are supposed to not like them, the age we are suppose to call adolescence.



A good economist thinks two or three steps beyond the immediate effects of a given policy, even if that policy claims to be for the people, for the children, for education, for the environment, or for the poor.  And parents need to be good economists. We need to know what the long term goal is. It's not enough to determine if a given behavior in our children bothers us now. We should ask, what will this behavior look like coming from an older person? Even though my children are small, this gives me much to think about.



I hope my children as teenagers interact politely with each other and with us, their parents. I want them to know that there is wisdom to be gained from the adults in their sphere of life, and to accept the word "no" with humility.  This means I have to teach them now that things which are unpleasant can be beneficial, and I believe that through hard work (weeding, shoveling manure, laundry, cleaning, memorizing) they are learning this.  I hope that they are people with self control, gained from years of practice reigning in their will.  When I think about it, I guess what I want for my children as teenagers isn't much different from what I expect to see at their ages now.

It is not essential to me that my children as teenagers are college bound. This doesn't mean I see no value in the college experience, and I had a rather good one.  But I know that college degrees don't guarantee reasoning ability or wisdom, and it is equally clear to me that intellectual goals can be achieved apart from a four year institution. I do hope that they value knowledge, can dissect different ideas, and are enthusiastic learners. I want them to value logically consistency, and I hope they are able to recognize inconsistency in their own arguments.  I was so proud  when my nine year old recognized the logical fallacy of asserting the consequent (though not by name) while watching a documentary on the planets.  I also hope that their attitude in disagreement is humble and not disdainful or dismissive of others. I guess what I hope for my children as teenagers is not much different from what I want for myself.



I hope my children as teenagers know the Scriptures well enough to teach and to refute false ideas. I hope that their participation in our local church is more than the habit of sitting still, but I hope that they seek to be a blessing to those around them. I hope that they don't see their time as their own possession to be spent only for their own benefit, using all their time for their own education and pleasure.  This means that starting now, we can't use our time only for our own pleasure and education.  So when I think about it, I guess my goals for them as teenagers aren't much different than what I hope for them as adults.

These goals will keep me very busy.  Because I don't believe that the character of our teenagers is randomly determined or completely a product of hormones.  In the qualifications for elders listed in 1 Timothy 3, we read that if a man's children are unruly, then his household in not being ruled well.  This is a sobering warning.  This is a serious task.  And I know that I need to start now.

Content and Motives

Vincent Donovan lived in Tanzania before and after it achieved its independence from Britain. He was there as the British national anthem was sung for the last time, the British Union Jack being lowered, and the new flag of Tanganyika flew for the first time. He was a Catholic missionary living in Tanzania (then Tanganyika) in the late1950s through the 1970s. He spent his time there with very little of the comforts which we enjoy, living among the Masai and later the Sonjo people. He watched his hometown disappear out of the back of a train, he learned Swahili and the Masai language, and he lived in tent without access to running water. He writes to his family and friends to kiss the faucets and taps at home for him. In one of his letters home, he says, “...it is not easy work. It is hard. It is discouraging. It is thankless. It is lonely. But I wouldn't willingly change it for any other work in the world.”



Donovan taught the Beatitudes to a people for whom mercy was a vice and not a virtue. “They told me that a man who was wronged by another man was not a man unless he worked out his own revenge...,” he writes. “This revenge is not an empty word... I have seen it worked out in the most horrible forms. I have reached the point of not being able to be shocked or startled at anything anymore. But I couldn't help thinking how unfit I have become for chatting with the Sodality women of St. Bridget's in Connecticut about their difficulties in arranging a cake sale.”



He endured these difficulties in order to bring his religion and his gospel to the people of Tanzania. His letters home to his family and friends make evident his compassion for the people he lived among. But what was his message? What is the content of the religion he traveled so far to spread? The content of his gospel which he taught is written in The Missionary Letters of Vincent Donovan:

“Once there was a young maiden, a virgin, who was very beautiful and very good. She was so beautiful and so good and so holy... that God wanted her for Himself. ... And so that girl, who was called Mary, agreed, and she became the espoused one of God Himself. ... And so after some time, God, by His invisible power, without even appearing on earth, placed a child in Mary's womb... He was the greatest warrior and chief who had lived up until now. ... Every brave man can join the tribe of Christ. ... Christ is our head and he needs brave, good warriors for his tribe and his chiefdom.”

All those years of preparation and travel and hardship to bring them a message of works, a message which says God will accept your goodness, if you have enough goodness. No mention is made of the reason man needs a savior (sin), and no mention of Christ's death and the purpose of Christ's death (atonement). Donovan left out all discussion of sin consciously. To teach the doctrine of original sin, he said, was to engender hopelessness. “The Sonjo and the Masai consider their ancestors beautiful...it is no part of the Christian message to tell them that they are not...that their ancestors and their peers were and are steeped in sin...” So in an effort to not bring them any bad news, he ended up with no gospel at all.

Sometimes it is tempting to think that we ought to be approving of all things done from a caring motive. We are told by the world that it is unloving to disagree with people. It is even called hateful to say that another person's beliefs are wrong. Like a child who dislikes discipline, we are told that to love someone means to approve of them and all of their choices. But just as a wise parent knows that love sometimes requires hard truths, being loving sometimes means telling someone that they are wrong. Christians are accused of violating society's law of non-judgment. The god of tolerance loves everyone- almost. There are a handful of ideas one can be disdainful of, like the truth claims of Christianity, and one will still consider themselves open minded and tolerant.

The command to love one's neighbor is meaningless without further explanation. What does it mean to love someone? Whose notion of love are we to emulate? Some people come up with their own notion of what love looks like; they invent their own ethical code, and they expect others to live by it. And those codes can be as detailed as any organized religion. But Christians are to define love according to the Scriptures. It is God who is the law giver.

Paul writes in Philippians 1:17 that it is the message, not the motive, that is central. “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.” Paul is obviously not saying that it is good to preach from selfish ambition. But the gospel can change hearts apart from the motives of the one bringing the message.

So when we pray for missionaries, we ought to pray that their message would be undiluted. We need to pray that God will make His people able to faithfully communicate His truth. It is in this way that the church is “the golden casket,” as described in O Word of God Incarnate, “where gems of truth are stored.”

I Love Hymns

In C. S. Lewis' story The Last Battle, many of the talking beasts in Narnia were deceived by a donkey wearing a lion's skin, who was giving orders and claiming to be the lion Aslan. When orders were given which seemed out of character for the real Aslan, doubts arose, but one line was repeated which kept the animals from entertaining serious doubts against the imposter: “He's not a tame lion, you know.” One line of truth used to conceal other truths, like Satan quoting Scripture to Jesus in His wilderness temptation. Feist is almost right when she says, the truth lies.



God help the church to not be so easily deceived when the world echos the serpents words, “Did God really say...”. It is one of my goals as a parent to have my children know the truth so well, even at their young ages, that they would be able to recognize a false gospel and other doctrinal errors. That is one of the reasons I love my children learning hymns. So many important doctrines are communicated in the hymns I love. And when I hear my little ones singing, “God and sinners reconciled...” from Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, I hope that their minds are being fortified against error through the truths they are enmeshed in.



Even if not everyone loves the tunes which the great hymns are set to, no one should miss the doctrine contain in them. We learn about God's sovereignty in Praise to the Lord, the Almighty: “Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wonderously reigneth.” We see our own frailty in Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing: “Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” We see the power of the gospel in O For A Thousand Tongues: “He breaks the power of canceled sin...His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.” We learn about Christ's three-fold office in Praise Him! Praise Him!: “Prophet and priest and king!” The trinity is articulated in Holy God We Praise Thy Name, which says, “Though in essence only one, undivided God...”. God's immutability is seen in Great is Thy Faithfulness: “Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not...”. We admit our likeness to Adam, and Christ's role as the second Adam in Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: “Adam's likeness now efface, Stamp Thine image in its place: Second Adam from above, reinstate us in Thy love.” God's Word is called, “..the golden casket where gems of truth are stored...the chart and compass...[which] guides, O Christ, to Thee.” in O Word of God Incarnate. We see what our affections ought to be in Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart: “...make me love thee as I ought to love...I see the cross, there teach my soul to cling...teach me the patience of unanswered prayer...”. We are reminded of God's purpose for trials in How Firm a Foundation: “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie...The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”

I know I will wince tomorrow about the hymns I forgot to include which deserve to be mentioned. I'm sure I've mentioned enough to get my point across. But I have to include this funny depiction of the difference between chorus and hymns:

A Funny Little Story About Hymns and Praise Songs
By Author Unknown
An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.
“Well,” said the farmer. “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.”
“Praise choruses?” asked the wife. “What are those?”
“Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the farmer.
“Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.
The farmer said, “Well it’s like this … If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you, ‘Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, in the CORN, CORN, CORN, COOOOORRRRRNNNNN,’ then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well that would be a praise chorus.”
As luck would have it, the exact same Sunday a young, new Christian from the city church attended the small town church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.
“Well,” said the young man, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs.”
“Hymns?” asked the wife. “What are those?”
“They’re okay. They’re sort of like regular songs, only different,” said the young man.
“Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.
The young man said, “Well it’s like this … If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a regular song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you,
Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, glorious truth.
For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense,
Hearkenest they in God’s sun or his rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.
Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn chewed.
So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn,
then, if I were to do only verses one, three and four, and change keys on the last verse, well that would be a hymn.”

History and Sovereignty

Even children know a good history book when they read it. My favorite history books are those which show connections between influential people, people who had formerly existed in separate spheres in my mind, or make connections between the mundane events in history and the pivotal ones, showing that history is not just a series of unrelated names and dates.




While recently studying Michelangelo, my boys and I learned that he was raised in the home of the famous Medici family. One of the children he was raised with later became Pope Leo X, the same pope who used the sale of indulgences to help pay for the building of St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo worked as an architect on St. Peter's. The sale of these indulgences is what led Martin Luther to write his 95 Theses, which is considered by many historians as the start of the Protestant Reformation. Luther was later excommunicated by this same Pope Leo X of the Medici family.

While studying the history of England, I read about King Charles II of England's attempt to ban the newly introduced coffee and coffeehouses, issuing A Proclamation for the Suppression of Coffeehouses. In coffeehouses, he reasoned, defamation against his government was spread, so coffeehouses should be banned. When it looked as if people would revolt and overthrow the monarchy (as they had during his father's reign, King Charles I, who was eventually beheaded), he withdrew the ban. This King Charles II is the same one who kept John Bunyan imprisoned for preaching without a license. Prior to this, as a youth, John Bunyan was stuck in a moat and was helped out by a stranger, who later he found out to be Oliver Cromwell. This is the same Cromwell who was in charge of the army which overthrew the monarchy of King Charles I. It's amazing how intertwined events and people are.

In our own small sphere, we don't always see the lives which are affected by our words and our actions. But that doesn't make it any less real. The one who plants and the one who waters isn't necessarily there to see the growth of the fruit (I Corinthians 3:6-7). But that doesn't make the fruit any less real. 1 Peter 3:16 explains that a watching world will be put to shame by the good conduct of believers, and as my pastor has reminded us often while preaching through I Peter, our conduct matters. Yet though we know that our conduct matters, we also know that God is sovereignly orchestrating all of history for His glory.

Philippians 1:29 tells us that God has granted that His people should suffer, and He has granted us faith. We should acknowledge His sovereign control over all our suffering. We should acknowledge Him as the giver of faith. That God has ultimate and immediate control of the best that can happen and the worst that happens speaks to everything in between. God is in control of all of history. That's why Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”




In Chosen By God, R.C. Sproul makes the point that when the soveriegnty of God is taught, people sometimes consider that the same as teaching Calvinism. But in actuality, teaching that God is sovereign is simply to teach theism. A god who is not in control is not God.

We don't always like to think that the events which cause our pains and our joys are under the control of a sovereign God. We would rather, at times, have the outcome be determined by our feeble power and foresight, because we think that we really do know what is best. But praise God that those things which He has purposed in Himself are accomplished, and that our obtaining His inheritance does not depend on our work, but on His.

Law and Gospel

To understand the difference between the law and the gospel in Scripture, it is necessary for us to distinguish between commands and promises, between indicatives and imperatives. Regarding this distinction Martin Luther said, “This difference between the Law and the Gospel is the height of knowledge in Christendom. Every person and all persons who assume or glory in the name of Christian should know and be able to state this difference. ” There are some who teach that there is never any antithesis between law and gospel in the Bible. And while it is true that the law and the gospel do not oppose each other in God's purposes, the two have different uses. Paul shows that they are in conflict when one uses the law to do what only the gospel can do, seeking to be justified by the law. But the Scriptures speak of a righteousness apart from law keeping (Romans 3:21).




Recognizing the difference between law and gospel is important for several reasons. In order for the law to be a school master to bring us to Christ, it has to be understood in its full severity. Reading commands as if they are only advice keeps us from seeing our need for the One perfect law keeper, Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 1:8 says that the law is good when it is used lawfully. When the law is taught as law, souls are convicted and made new.

On the other hand, to read gospel passages as if they're obligations for us to fulfill is to turn good news into bad news. To read the indicatives of Scripture, such as “...the just shall live by faith...,” as if they are instead imperatives, (let us live faithfully), is to mishandle the Word of God. Sometimes the gospel is presented as a set of new laws, laws which are easier to keep that the Old Testament regulations. But a softer set of rules cannot provide relief from our sin nature inherited from Adam.




I am privileged to sit under preaching where this distinction is carefully observed. The sweetness of the gospel is set before me often, and the imperatives of Scripture are proclaimed, yet the two are not blurred. Preaching should not just be a 45 minute list of “oughts.” God's Word is to be handled with respect to its original purpose. Theodore Beza has rightly said, “Ignorance of this distinction between Law and Gospel is one of the principal sources of the abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity.”

A hymn by Isaac Watts

The law commands, and makes us know
What duties to our God we owe;
But 'tis the gospel must reveal
Where lies our strength to do his will.
The law discovers guilt and sin,
And shews how vile our hearts have been;
Only the gospel can express
Forgiving love and cleansing grace.
What curses doth the law denounce
Against the man that fails but once!
But in the gospel Christ appears
Pardoning the guilt of numerous years.
My soul, no more attempt to draw
Thy life and comfort from the law,
Fly to the hope the gospel gives;
The man that trusts the promise lives.

Giving Up Things

In the last days, some will depart from the faith to follow false teaching. Paul tells us it is so in I Timothy 4. And what will be the content of the deception intended to lead people astray? What are those teachings which he calls the doctrine of devils? They will speak lies. They will forbid marriage. And they will command people to abstain from certain foods. Not what immediately comes to mind when we think of the doctrine of devils, right?

The Christian religion is not one of asceticism. Sometimes we confuse difficult with God-honoring. But pleasure is not a bad thing in the Scriptures. This seems an important concept to remember during this season when many are participating in lent. In Rome, penitent Catholics are still climbing on their knees up the stairs called Scala Santa, especially popular during lent. In our country, chocolate and coffee are popularly given up for lent, and not because it's thought to be sin, but because to some, we just have to give up something...



If we seek to please God by our denial of personal pleasure, we misunderstand what it is that God is pleased with. Paul prays that the Christians in Colosse would be fully pleasing to the Lord, which he describes as being fruitful in good works and increasing in knowledge of God. If anyone thinks the Bible is against pleasure, consider how the goodness of wine is described in Psalm 104:15, that it makes the heart glad. Food is given to be received with thanksgiving (I Timothy 4:4). And then there's Song of Solomon.



Self-denial for the needs of others is a good thing (Philippians 2:3). But self-denial for it's own sake has no value against the indulgence of the flesh (Colossians 2:23). Colossians 2:20-23 calls the regulations to not touch, taste, and handle the commandments of men. These teachings are self-imposed; it is false humility.

There is a time for mourning. There is a purpose to fasting. And so we all know we should be thoughtful about the things we indulge in. But let us also be careful about the things we forbid.

Defining The Word "Mystery"

“This Is a Great Mystery...” Ephesians 5:32

What comes to mind when the word “mystery” is used? We might think of that which is unknowable, something that is beyond us, that which we do not have the ability to comprehend, or even that which is contradictory. We see this explanation in the writings of some theologians. But when we look at the Bible's use of the word “mystery,” we see something different: The word “mystery” in the Bible means a truth that is or was a secret, later to be revealed.

John Murray explains the Biblical usage of this word in Redemption Accomplished and Applied. He writes, “We are liable to use the word [mystery] to designate something that is completely unintelligible and of which we cannot have any understanding. That is not the sense of Scripture.” Murray goes on to say that a mystery is something which was hidden in the mind of God, but that it did not continue to be hidden: God has made it known.



This is how the word mystery is used in Colossians 1:26. The mystery of the Gentiles is said to have been hidden, but now has been revealed. Romans 16:25 speaks of a mystery which was hidden in times past, but has now been revealed. Mystery is not opposed to comprehension, it stands in contrast to that which is made known. God has disclosed Himself in words, and man is to receive them.

There is difference between saying that a given truth is not known, and saying that it cannot be known. There is a temptation to think, if I don't understand a concept, then it is not understandable. But that is an unwarranted leap. To some, it may may seem that it is a display of humility or piety to declare that the truth of God is unknowable. That God reveals to man knowledge about Himself that is comprehensible is rejected by Herman Bavinck. He expresses this opinion when he says, “...the idea that the believer would be able to understand and comprehend intellectually the revealed mysteries is...unscriptural. On the contrary, the truth which God has revealed concerning himself in nature and in Scripture far surpasses human conception and comprehension.”




Yet Jesus tells His disciples, to them it has been given, to know mysteries (Luke 8:10).

And what good news that is, that God's Word is given that we can comprehend it. We should hold on to those truths which God has made known. Because knowing Him is eternal life.


"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3