For those privileged to be born in Christian homes, good theology begins in the nursery, where it is communicated--one suspects--most often in song. What better introduction to truth as a whole and in all its aspects than this: Jesus loves me. This I know, For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; They are weak but He is strong. There we have it--“Truth” for all, Jews and Greeks. For the Jews it is faithful Relationship, love in all its orbs, reason to say “Amen,” For the Greeks it is sober Reality swaddled in propositions, freely knowable and told in the Bible. Then the … [Read more...]
‘LITTLE GRANNY’ GOES HOME
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 of 42 years. As mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, Celia was surely among the best anywhere. We called her "little Granny." She lived 97 years, three months … [Read more...]
ADULTERY NOT THE END
A gracEmail subscriber writes that he has been unfaithful to his wife. He has just confessed to her, his spiritual leaders and the other people involved. In her pain, his wife has left the house and he fears for her safety. "I am seeing the importance of developing a personal relationship with Jesus first," he says. "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. * * * My brother, I pray that God who has given you conviction and repentance will now also make you know and feel his forgiveness, which … [Read more...]
CELEBRATING SARA FAYE
Today, July 27, 2006 is a special day in this Fudge family. It is the birthday anniversary of one for whom we all are daily grateful and whom we frankly cannot imagine life without. I am speaking of my bride of 39 years, Sara Faye. We grew up just 80 miles apart -- she in Middle Tennessee (Franklin) and I in North Alabama (Athens). We met at Florida College (Tampa) in 1964 and married three years later upon our graduations from college (she from Peabody College, Nashville; I from Abilene Christian University, Texas). I was initially attracted by her beauty, intelligence, character and alto … [Read more...]
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? * * * This troubling statement concerning national judgments, which appears also in Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18 and Deuteronomy 5:9, reflects the ancient Near Eastern concept of family solidarity which viewed as one unit not only parents and children but also grandparents and grandchildren. By stating this phrase in question, God … [Read more...]
GRANDMA WAS SAD
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 -- sweeping off the steps, picking up little sticks that blow on the porch, and even raking some leaves. She has now survived her husband and most of her friends, although her only sister, slightly younger, lives just 15 miles away. The truth is, she is very lonely much of the time, there in her little rock house which has been "home" for 58 years. My wife is an only child and we love having Grandma … [Read more...]
SITUATION CALLS FOR TOUGH LOVE
A Christian mother of two unmarried children over age 21, writes that both her offspring "seem to think we owe them a living," and expect their parents to pay for food and rent, while the children spend all their money on entertainment, or don't want to get a job. The parents have on "many occasions" paid for bail from jail, apartment rent and groceries for these children, who respond by being rude, disrespectful and destructive. The mother says that if she doesn't help them, she feels guilty -- although she thinks the more she does, the more disrespectful they become. She asks for my opinion … [Read more...]
HONORING THE DISHONORABLE
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "My son-in-law is having a hard time respecting his mother, who left him with his grandparents when he was small until he was a teenager and then took him back to be a 'servant' to her and her new verbally-abusive husband. His grandparents are fine people and taught him Christian values which he practices. He has been a loving husband to my daughter for 15 years. He says he doesn't love or respect his mother, but he continues a relationship with her because he is a Christian and wants to do the right thing. Please tell me your thoughts on the subject of honoring … [Read more...]
MAKING FAITH HER OWN
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, yet they agonize over these facts and express their wishes that things were different. The father asks how he can help them see that God loves them and desires to forgive them and to be their friend. * * * Your concern is shared worldwide by believing parents in the same situation. When our children were growing up, we attempted to pass on the faith to them by age-appropriate verbal teaching and … [Read more...]
A WELL-SUITED SHEPHERD
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. * * * I salute you for your conscientious concern. Let me answer by saying that the best and most mature literal shepherd is not … [Read more...]