Category Archives: Anthropology

Preparing for Life’s Final Transition: God’s Expectations to Honor Aging Parents

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My wife, Tricia, and I have been in an interesting and important phase of our lives for the last few years—caring for aging parents. In 2020, Tricia’s parents, Larry and Nancy, moved in with us, and we became their primary care providers. Just over five short months after they moved in with us, Nancy unexpectedly passed away. Larry, who struggled with Parkinson-like symptoms, stayed with us through the next year, but eventually his health and care needs reached a point where we needed to transition him to a care center.

Senior Saints and Sensibility

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If you have ever heard someone say, “You just had to have been there,” or, “Hindsight is so much better than foresight,” then you are also hearing what senior saints often think in the church. No one knows how seniors think or feel until they’ve become one, and no one sees from their perspective until they’ve been a senior themselves. I turned 67 this year and only feel that I’m beginning to understand what many of these great saints are saying.

A Theology of the Family

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I. God created and designed the institution of the family (Gen. 1:27, 28, 2:18, 20–24; Matt. 19:4–6). A. The family design, structure, and order existed before the Fall. B. The family continues through all dispensations until eternity. C. The family is the means by which God propagates the human race. D. The family unit is the basic building block for both society and the church. II. God’s design for most individuals is to enter into the institution of marriage. A. Marriage is a sacred covenant before God and between spouses (Prov.

Captain Myles Standish: Separatist Pilgrim, or Roman Catholic Soldier of Fortune?

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The Mayflower set sail from England in 1620 with 102 passengers1 (fifty men, twenty women, twenty-two boys, and ten girls).2 This number includes three crew members who were hired to remain permanently in Plymouth and two crew members hired to remain for one year. Not included in the number are Oceanus Hopkins (a boy born at sea) and Peregrine White (a boy born on the ship while it was anchored off Provincetown, Cape Cod)—making the actual number of “passengers” to be 104.

Effective Instruments for the Master

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Tragic current events, degradation of moral standards, and today’s warped philosophy may lead some to believe that we live in a hopeless situation. However, God is very much at work changing people’s hearts as He carries out His program for the ages. He has placed many of us in leadership positions in the local church, the primary vehicle for accomplishing His program in this present dispensation. To be effective instruments for the Master and His work in the church, we must be Godly leaders.

Personal Separation

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1. The Pattern of Separation One of the recurrent themes of the Bible is that of separation. In the opening verses of the Word of God, the Creator separates light from darkness, water from land, and sky from sea. In the closing paragraphs of the Bible God separates the old earth from the new creation, the sinners from the saints, and the unholy angels from the holy angels. Throughout His Word, God calls on His people to separate from evil. False worship, false doctrine, and false conduct are to be avoided (Ex.

Ministry After “The Shelf”

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A young pastor proposes new programs in his first church. Some follow his leadership, but others resist change. After two years, the congregation “blows up” and the pastor is forced to resign. His early dreams of ministry have been shattered. He feels he has been “laid on the shelf.” He finds a new job selling life insurance. A senior pastor, respected by many for his sermons on marriage and the home, finds little time to nurture his own family. Suddenly, his congregation finds him gone, having taken the church organist with him.