My father read Scripture and prayed with us. Sometimes, he would kneel at his chair and pray. Discipline was of the corporal variety, without anger or belittling, and usually concluded with prayer and hugs. I dreaded the “old tickler,” for a spanking meant pain, as well it should, for how else can we learn that sin hurts us? One morning, when he happened to be at home, I was belittling my sister, which was a perverse sport with me. In addition to the usual discipline, he dire

Most people today look at everything from the psychological perspective. How does this make me feel? Will it help my sense of well-being, personal comfort, and self-esteem? When human psychology guides, God is left in the dust. He says, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Instead of the joy of honest nearness to him, the bitter bile surges. Fear and trembling? I thought Jesus put an end to morbid thoughts. Surely the Lord does not w

Our Lord set highest value upon things that appear to have no value, at least not to us. He travelled to Samaria to talk with a serial adulteress. Why not make a trip to Rome, talk with Tiberius, set the world in order? A poor sinner was more important to him than a proud emperor. He stood in the temple courtyard and watched a woman throw “two mites” into the treasury. A mite was 1/8 of a penny. Translation: she gave nothing. The way our Lord sat mesmerized by