Last week I was blogging about the guidelines for prayer offered by the Heidelberg Catechism and I whizzed right by one that some may find troubling. When we pray, says the Catechism, we are supposed to ask “for everything God has commanded us to ask for.” It sounds like we are playing the spiritual version […]
Putting The Pieces Together About Prayer
Some Christians can make prayer seem like bit of a puzzle. Not that they portray prayer as confusing — far from it. They make it more like a jigsaw puzzle: once you get each piece in the right place (and they only fit one way) the picture emerges automatically. In the puzzle theory of prayer […]
The Attitude of Platitude?
The problem with Christmas when I was a child was the “Thank You” notes. Mom was clear: people who gave me gifts had to be thanked. Mom was also firm: there would be a session at the kitchen table, however long it took, and I would write notes to them all. Writing those thank you […]
Taking Things Personally
“Hey, don’t take it personally!” they say, when they do something that causes us pain. “Hey, it’s not about you!” they say, when we take it personally anyway. For the Heidelberg Catechism, the Christian faith is all personal. In a sense, Heidelberg says “Yes, it really is all about you.” Not in a self-centered way. […]
So What’s All This About The Heidelberg Catechism?
. If you’ve been reading this blog recently you know a lot of my posts have included reflections on the Heidelberg Catechism. Part of my motivation is to honor a document that has formed generations of Christians in the Reformed tradition as it celebrates its 450th anniversary. Another part is that I’ve been very involved […]