I saw something beautiful the other day while walking down Breckenridge Lane. In a front yard not far from my home, a young mother was removing a layer of leftover leaves from the fall in preparation for planting spring flowers—an ordinary activity in the middle of an ordinary day.
What was extraordinary about this scene was what I saw beside this young woman.
A tow-haired boy, perhaps three or four years old, was attempting to assist her. His rake was man-sized, his movements were far from efficient, and he was leaving more leaves than he moved. Yet, as I passed this mother and child, I heard no criticisms. Instead, I heard a constant stream of encouragement: “Daddy will be so proud of your hard work! Can you try to get those leaves over there? You know, honey, it might work better if you turned the rake over.”
If this woman’s sole goal for the afternoon was leaf removal, her best bet would have been to plop her preschooler in front of a television to watch professionally-produced children’s programs that pretend to equip children with skills for life while leaching away their capacity for meaningful relationships. If this mother had chosen this option, she could have pursued the goal of planting spring flowers far more efficiently.
But this woman had a goal that was far bigger than any flower-bed.
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R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, announced Thom Rainer as distinguished alumni of the year at the Southern Seminary alumni luncheon during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), June 12, 2013. Rainer, a master of divinity (M.Div.) graduate from Southern in 1985 and doctor of philosophy graduate [...]
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president, R. Albert Mohler Jr., today announced his appointment of evangelism professor and denominational statesman Adam Greenway as dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry, effective June 1. Greenway becomes the fourth dean of the Graham School, replacing Zane Pratt, who will continue teaching on faculty [...]
More than 250 Southern Seminary students received degrees – ranging from certificates to doctorates – during commencement exercises on the seminary lawn, May 17, 2013. “This great assembly is humbled by the knowledge that you will go where so many of us have never gone,” R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Seminary, told the [...]
As the 2013 Southern Baptist Convention convenes this morning in Houston, theological issues will be ever close at hand. This is as it should be, for Baptists are a theological people. The history of the Southern Baptist Convention has been a legacy of significant doctrinal debates and controversies — most of them over issues that [...]
Serious readers tend to read by season. A worthy book is ripe for the reading in any season, but winter seems to privilege the weightier volumes over those that seem to be more easily set aside for reading in a more opportune season. Summer is that season. Why? Vacation and a change in pace have [...]
The church’s engagement with the culture involves a host of issues, controversies, and decisions–but no issue defines our current cultural crisis as clearly as homosexuality. Some churches and denominations have capitulated to the demands of the homosexual rights movement, and now accept homosexuality as a fully valid lifestyle. Other denominations are tottering on the brink, [...]
Meeting Thursday in Grapevine, Texas, the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America will decide whether it will retain or revise its historic membership policy on the issue of homosexuality. The 1,400 voting members of the B.S.A. National Council hold the future of one of America’s most iconic organizations in their hands. In reality, [...]
Few would think of television’s Mad Men series as religious programming. The show, set in the 1960s era of cutthroat Madison Avenue advertising business, is almost a high-class soap opera, saturated with adultery, substance abuse, and backstabbing. The program’s worshipful aspects might have been recognized, though, by a turn-of-the-century Dutch politician and theologian. In his new (and [...]
The Supreme Court of the United States is set to hand down a set of decisions this summer that could advance a cultural and political shift in the way marriage is defined in this country. Is your church ready for this? By that, I don’t mean whether your church has a position on the definition [...]
Every thoughtful person must deal with the problem of evil. Evil acts and tragic events come to us all in this vale of tears known as human life. The problem of evil and suffering is undoubtedly the greatest theological challenge we face. Most persons face this issue only in a time of crisis. A senseless [...]
And so, you graduate. The Seminary Lawn is filled with hundreds of graduates, faculty, family, and friends. Everyone is playing his or her part. Parents are proud, spouses are glad, friends are happy, and a good number of infants are hungry. The faculty is feeling old and the graduates are feeling wise. And you are [...]
