Marriage Curriculum

Colossians 1–3: Apprenticeship to Jesus

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Colossians 4:1 is a good place to pause for a bit of a review in our study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. After a splendid introduction to Jesus Christ— his primacy, his deity, and his presence—Paul makes the case in chapter 2 that Christians enjoy a particular freedom. This liberty is not license to do whatever one pleases, but practical freedom from human regulations (like the Jewish Law) and secular humanistic philosophies. Life in Christ gives a person the opportunity to enjoy the freedom to do good without the lead weight of counterfeit wisdom or spiritual OCD (2:23). A […]

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Colossians 3:20-21: Family Lessons

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20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Remembering that these two verses follow Paul’s exhortation to the church as a whole, it is a wonderful thing the apostle recognizes: children are a part of the church family, too. Previously, husband and wife were urged to demonstrate to each other the quality of relationship that is to pervade the church. Here, too, we see that children (and their parents) have a special responsibility even as they are given the privilege of participation in the household of

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Colossians 3:19: Marriage Lessons, for Husbands

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As we anticipate our 40th wedding anniversary in June, Andy and I recall one story we would just as soon forget. But because it holds a good lesson, we share it: About three years into our marriage, Andy and I decided to take our first backpack trip together. It was a trail to Stanford Lakes in the Sierra Nevada. It must have been in the 8,000 to 9,000 ft. elevation range. What I remember is how out-of-breath I was and so tired I could not make it up this one hill. Andy, up ahead, was getting frustrated that my pace

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Colossians 3:18: Marriage Lessons, for Wives

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As we come to the Apostle Paul’s very brief instruction on marriage, there is one point to be made in general. Whatever Paul has been teaching up to this point has direct application at home as well as the church. In one sense, the household is a mini-church, a community of believers centered on Jesus Christ. I picture this centeredness with the following analogy: Imagine a Chinese acrobat who spins a plate on the tip of a pole. Imagine that pole extending all the way through the plate to become the axis around which it spins. Think about your plate—your

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Colossians 3:18: Lessons on Marriage, A Personal Introduction

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In the months leading up to our 40th wedding anniversary, my husband and I occasionally look back to our experiences together since we met as Stanford freshmen in 1971. Of course, our nation has observed a huge cultural shift in the practice of marriage; but Andy and I have also experienced phases and seasons in a relationship that has evolved and strengthened through the years. At Stanford, we were assigned to Rinconada House within the Wilbur Hall complex during the days of the famous “Stanford ratio,” two men for every one woman. The first and third floors of Rinc were

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Is Our Teaching Method Watering Down Our Doctrine?

3 Comments / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Fellowship of Presbyterians, It All Started in the Garden, Marriage Curriculum, PCUSA, Personal, Teaching / By /

October has turned out to be an intense month of preparations, and my blog has gotten short shrift as a result. Aside from preaching every Sunday this month (an unusual schedule in my current context), I am giving a series of theological lectures on the topic “It All Started in the Garden: Theological Themes Arising Out of Genesis 1-3” and presenting three talks at the California Wee Kirk Conference next week (a plenary address, a sermon, and a seminar—all on different topics). Behind-the-scenes, I have been working with a colleague on a study guide for ECO’s “Essential Tenets” (ET) paper,

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Bone of My Bone, Flesh of My Flesh!

1 Comment / It All Started in the Garden, Marriage Curriculum, PCUSA, Teaching, Theological Reflection / By /

Slowly but surely we are doing the biblical work to seed our marriage curriculum for use in PCUSA circles. In my last post we observed that the accounts of creation in Genesis 1 and 2 emphasized different elements but had at least three features in common: they each announce a likeness that empowers human beings for meaningful existence, they each identify human sexual distinctions to be foundational, and they each differentiate humans from the rest of the creaturely world. In Genesis 1 we observed that there is no differentiation between male and female with regard to their being in the

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God Imparted Gifts to Humanity for Good Reason

Leave a Comment / It All Started in the Garden, Marriage Curriculum, Marriage Definition, PCUSA, Teaching, Theological Reflection / By /

26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27            So God created humankind in his image,                       in the image of God he created them;                         male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it;

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Log Dog Cannot Be God

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On our early morning hikes through the Walnut Creek Open Space, we often encounter a delightful English lady with one or two dogs in tow. She is a volunteer at the local dog rescue shelter, and she just loves her pets. One lab mix we call “Log Dog” will carry a sizable tree branch all the way up the hill, sometimes dropping it at our feet in pride. Great fun. Anyway, for the first time in the years we have been acquainted, Dog Lady this week had along a Gentleman Friend who led Log Dog on the leash. My instantaneous

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It All Started in the Garden

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Okay, let’s start. My next few posts will explore the themes in Genesis 1 through 3, particularly those that frame the marriage question. The discussion will intertwine with theological anthropology (the nature of the relationship between humanity and God). But first, at the request of one of my readers, for the sake of context I will list some other themes that have their genesis in the Creation and Fall accounts. The following concepts will be taught in my church class on the following schedule between now and Christmas, and the remaining topics will be covered after the first of the

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