Bruce is a member of Faith Protestant Reformed Church. This article was written for the 2002 Protestant Reformed Scholarship. Laodicea was a city of great economic importance in the days of the Apostles Paul and John. It would never need any economic assistance from any other churches, thus financially speaking it was secure. However, their […]
Your homework sits in your backpack. You know it is going to take a good deal of work. If it doesn’t get done you can expect to get a D-. But you say to yourself, “who cares if I get a D-, I don’t feel like doing it now.” Your parents say “don’t you have […]
In response to Thad Lubbers’ article “Learned Passivity” (October 1993), I would like to express my disagreement with the assumption that the Church is responsible somehow for the “learned passivity” of its youthful, middle-aged, and elderly members. To begin with, I am not certain throughout the article exactly what is meant by “the Church.” Is […]
“The way to love anything (anyone too) is to realize that it might be lost.” Tremendous Trifles, Gilbert Chesteron, p.56 1917. Teachers despise it, parents fear it, and ministers exhort about it; yet, its destroying effect relentlessly pounds at the Church’s foundations and debilitates the fibre of the Church, as the Church shuts her eyes […]
What is apathy? Someone told me a story about a discouraged Young People’s leader who wrote the word “APATHY” on a chalkboard just prior to one of their meetings. As the young people began to straggle into the room, one young person slumped into his chair, stared at the chalkboard with a puzzled face, and […]
Thank you, Bob. Several times this evening I have heard comments that rather worried me. Someone told me that the first speaker said he was thankful to be the first so that no one would steal his thunder. That is alright for the first and maybe the second and the third speaker, but for the […]
The public schools of the U.S. are under fire! But, why? Do you recognize the apathy and disorder of this classroom in your school? I hope not. “Morning at a West Coast high school. The first-period bell rings, barely audible above the classroom din. ‘O.K., everybody settle down,’ says the soft-spoken teacher of the course […]
One time a young man went to a car lot to buy a car. While looking over one of the automobiles, the young man notices that the horn didn’t work. Whereupon we hear the following dialogue between the young man and the car dealer: “Sir, the horn on this automobile must be broken.” “Broken? No,” […]
Have you ever met Harry? He is one of those fellows who is not so very interested in the worship service or various activities of the church. The first thing Harry does after he is ushered to his seat in church is settle down as comfortably as possible. Then he struggles through a tradition prayer. […]
About eight years ago, this phrase was part of a speech by the late President, John F. Kennedy. I am sure we all know what Mr. Kennedy was referring to. The entire sentence goes: “Ask not what your country can do for you; but what you can do for your country.” I am not about […]