Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.
Know Your (Teenage) Child’s Frame
Cara Ray wrote a helpful article about loving the teenagers in our families (and our churches!).
The changing teenage frame can be as mysterious as it is wonderful. As parents, we sometimes have mixed feelings about entering this season, which can be marked by tension and the tendency to pull away from one another. Knowing our teenagers’ frame and how God kindly remembers ours helps us move toward them as fellow strugglers and sufferers with compassion and grace. We don’t always know how to respond to our teens, but with God as our perfect Father and model, we can rest confident that everything will ultimately be “just fine.”
You Need Context When Reading the Bible
Here is an article explaining the different contexts that matter when reading the Bible. All are important!
Unfortunately, when we come to the Bible, we all too often do something very similar to what your friend did with your words: we take verses and passages from Scripture and rip them out of their proper context. Sadly, I believe that people tend to do this with the Bible even more than with other books that they read. Many times, people do this with good intentions. They are seeking to find a word of encouragement for their day, an inspiring quote for a friend, or a devotional thought to share with a small group, sports team, or business gathering. They read quickly, find a verse or verses that seem to work, and grab them and go, only to discover later that they wrongly interpreted verses by missing their broader context. Despite their good intentions, such disregard for context can often result in the abuse—and misuse—of the word of God.
Merry Mind
Our poem of the week: Merry Mind, by Sherry Poff. This poem, part of The Clayjar Review’s issue on mirth, asks the reader to think about what the mind of God must be like to have made some of the wonderful (and absurd) things on earth.
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.