All of us ought to approach our thrice holy God with humility and trepidation. The sixth commandment requires more than feeling sorry for the wounds we have made. It calls us to stop inflicting them, and to become, by God’s grace, a life giver instead of a life taker.   The commandment “Do not murder”... Continue Reading

So what is honor? It is more than affection or quiet, unquestioning, obedience. Honor means giving a person what is owed because of the place God has given him or her. Luther recognized that honor includes respect and deference. The Reformed catechisms also teach that parents owe their children instruction, protection, and care. The commandment... Continue Reading

We want sons and daughters who are wise, who fear the Lord, who love what God loves and hate what God hates. We want children who govern their appetites, confess their sins, receive correction, work with their hands, worship with gladness, and gladly spend their lives serving the kingdom of Jesus Christ.   The goal... Continue Reading

Even if an authenticated portrait of Jesus had survived, it could truthfully preserve the contours of His human face. But once presented as an image of Christ for worship, it would be asked to do what pigment cannot. Christ is not merely an extraordinary man who happens to share space with God. He is one... Continue Reading

If you belong to Him, you have work to do. The very areas of life where you have allowed sin to grow are places where you must now learn to obey your King and pray His Kingdom victory will come as it already is in heaven.   Across New England, which boasts one of the... Continue Reading

Every false god puts his servants upon the altar, but the Gospel shows us the Master already lying there. We do not climb onto the altar to atone for ourselves. Christ has done that once for all. We climb onto it alive, pardoned, and wholly His, not to purchase mercy, but because mercy purchased us.... Continue Reading