marriage meditations (three gracEmails)
I have had the unusual privilege, as a minister underneath although an attorney on the surface, of performing the marriage of my daughter Melanie to Mr. Michael Simpson (July 1997) and of my son Jeremy to Miss Kristy Lang (August 1998). Each ceremony involved appropriate personal remarks, but both included my own biblical meditation from which the following thoughts are excerpted.
A gracEmail subscriber seeks spiritual counsel concerning infrequent sexual relations with his wife. After caring for young children all day, she tells him she is too tired.... He intends to be faithful to his wife but feels that he is being cheated by her abstinence which requires his as well.
A gracEmail subscriber asks whether it is advisable for a Christian to marry someone of a different race, tradition, upbringing, culture or religion, and whether such factors make a difference in the success or failure of a marriage.
A brother in the West inquires whether Paul's command not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers ... prohibits believers from marrying or perhaps even dating non-Christians.
A gracEmail subscriber asks the meaning of the second curse pronounced on Eve after she and Adam ate the forbidden fruit, that "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you"
A gracEmail reader ... hesitates to utilize birth control. "I feel disobedient to God's command to increase and multiply," this troubled person writes. "I feel like we are thwarting God's purpose for sex. Have you any advice?"
"God calls children blessings," ... writes a Christian sister. "Why, then, don't we want to have them? Or why only one or two? Are modern-day babies not also a part of God's plan?"
After I mentioned that my congregation dedicates infants ... a brother in Western Tennessee wrote to ask, "Where is your authority for this dedication? Is it not nearly the same as 'christening' babies? Why this special ceremony? What actually takes place during such a service?"
baptizing children (three gracEmails)
A scholarly minister writes, "I am leading a study this summer with five other families, all having children who have expressed an interest in baptism or a desire to be baptized. The children range from seven to 13 years of age. What are your thoughts on this subject?"
infant's baptism raises questions (two gracEmails)
A gracEmail subscriber writes that his infant grandson is soon to be baptized, although Grandpa raised the baby's mother in a church that baptizes only confessing believers. This grandfather requests more information on the subject.
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "As a mother of two young children, I want to parent them in a godly manner. The only scriptures I have found regarding physical discipline refer to 'blows' given with a 'rod' and leaving 'stripes' on the back.... I would have to be pretty angry to do the things recommended here."
A leader of a local church expressed concern that many teenagers appear generally disinterested and are sometimes even disruptive or unruly in church meetings.
A gracEmail subscriber who serves as a spiritual shepherd in his church asks whether the passage 1Timothy 3:4-5 means that he should step down from that role because his teen-age child has, for three years, had a bad attitude and has acted out in disruptive and inappropriate ways. The child's parents have lovingly dealt with the situation as best they knew, and are now about to administer tough love in the form of treatment at a faith-based residential facility.
A gracEmail subscriber has a married child in her 20's who is struggling in her faith. She and her husband rarely attend public worship and do not consistently manifest a Christian lifestyle.... The father asks how he can help them see that God loves them and desires to forgive them and to be their friend.
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "My son-in-law is having a hard time respecting his mother, who left him ... when he was small. He continues a relationship with her because he ... wants to do the right thing. Please tell me your thoughts on the subject."
situation calls for tough love
A Christian mother of two unmarried children over age 21 ... expect their parents to pay for food and rent, while the children spend all their money on entertainment.... The more she does, the more disrespectful they become. She asks for my opinion regarding how she should proceed.
Sara Faye's mother is 85 years old [in 1997]. Since 1939, she has lived in her little rock house in Middle Tennessee. She doesn't go out much, but she still takes care of her house and yard.... The truth is, she is very lonely much of the time, there in her little rock house which has been "home" for 58 years.
It was an eventful year, 1912. The Titanic sank, New Mexico and Arizona joined the Union, Juliette G. Low founded the Girl Scouts of America, Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States. And in Wartrace, Tennessee, Kate and Frank Taylor welcomed their firstborn -- a daughter they named Celia Baldwin Taylor. She grew up to marry Jamie Locke of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, to whom she gave a daughter, Sara Faye, now my wife....punishing descendants
Exodus 20:5 states that God "visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation." How, asks a gracEmail subscriber in the Philippines, does that conform to the idea that each individual has a personal relationship with God?
I was initially attracted by her beauty, intelligence, character and alto singing in church. None of that has changed since. She immediately undertook the tasks of smoothing out my rough edges and polishing my cultural veneer, a process I have sometimes resisted and even resented but for which, upon sober reflection, I am truly both grateful and continually in her debt.
A gracEmail subscriber writes that he has been unfaithful to his wife.... His wife has left the house and he fears for her safety. "God allowed me to drop to the bottom so that I can see that I must truly give everything over to Him." He asks for my prayers and advice.