The question, “Why not go straight to Jesus?” Is often brought up in conversation with Protestants in regard to prayer to the saints. Sometimes prayer to the saints is treated as a form of idol worship, as if it is positively prohibited. Other times it’s treated as if it is inefficient and creating an unnecessary layer of middle management between the believer and Christ. However, I believe what is underneath both of these objections is an insufficient view on the relationship between Christ and His people. This view assumes a level of separation between Christ and His people that runs contrary to the evidence of
The Bible is the written form of divine tradition that has been handed down to us by Christ Jesus through his apostles and their successors. It presents to us the fundamental shape and structure of reality and serves as a link between heaven and earth. It does this primarily through narrative, with supporting poetic and wisdom texts. The Bible tells a story, our story, that explains where everything came from (creation), how it went wrong (fall), how it’s been healed (redemption), and where it’s all headed (consummation). It is one of the primary ways in which we come to know and love God. We are able
You are on a path into manhood. There’s nothing easy about the path, the process, or the destination. Along this path, a transformation takes place. Along this path, something within you must give way so that something greater may take its place. St. Paul says it this way, “when I was a child I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; but when I became a man, I put an end to my childish ways.” I think Tolkien illustrates this path well, with the character of Frodo, in The Lord of the Rings. When we are introduced to
“Dada, why do you use weights?” my daughter asked me one morning as I was working out in the garage. I paused for a moment and said, “this is going to sound weird, but in order to get stronger, you have to be willing to make yourself weaker.” Her brow furrowed with that dada-are-you-kiddin’? look. “Seriously,” I said. I explained to her how in order to make your muscles get stronger in the long term, you use the weights to make them weaker temporarily. In doing this, the muscle grows back stronger than it was before. Strength comes from appropriate types and amounts of stress,
