The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. If you have young children, or if you watch how parents with new babies behave—you’ll notice that there’s often a delightful dreaming that goes on. Wondering what their child will be like, guessing at how their little budding personality will flower, dreaming about their future achievements in sports or art or music or learning, or things like these. There’s a sense of hopefulness for their child and the recognition that a child is the birth of something good into this world. Trusting God, we release the fears that cloud our horizons to His care and keeping, and His victory over fear and evil. The naming of a child can be as simple as choosing a family name, as the relatives of Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted to do, for their newborn son John. It’s an honorable and traditional way to give names. Another traditional practice is choosing a name by its special meaning. All around the w...

Every month we have a bulletin insert from an evangelical organization, which gives helpful Christian parenting advice, and an assortment of short articles and Q & A’s. I’ve often been blessed by the insights they offer into relationships. But the August 2011 issue had an article about “Your Child’s Faith,” titled: “Big Decisions.” It discussed a mother’s conflicting emotions over her 4-year-old daughter’s wish to make a “faith commitment” to ask Jesus into her heart. Even after reading her pastor’s response to the “dilemma,” I still felt it noticeably missed the heart of the serious Biblical question involved. That question, is “Can (or does) a child have faith?” Before we look at some Bible passages to find the answer, lets first just consider how the situation described in the article would have played out differently, if the underlying premise had been “Yes, a child can have faith!” First of all, the child’s desire to have Jesus in her heart would not have been a source of any ...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, may the Holy Trinity grant you Christmas joy! Amen. The Christmas carol “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come” retells the Christmas story from the perspective of the angels speaking to the shepherds, and then the shepherds’ response as they go and see this wondrous birth, and find out what it means for the whole world. Verse 8 reads as follows: “Welcome to earth, O noble Guest, Through whom the sinful world is blest! You came to share my misery That You might share Your joy with me.” Welcome to earth, O noble Guest…Jesus received a majestic welcome from angel choirs; a less-majestic, but no less joyful welcome from peasant shepherds come to adore Him. Jesus was a heavenly visitor, a noble guest. But He while He was a stranger to the world, He wasn’t totally unexpected. He was known by many prophetic titles. By many promises He was long-expected. But not till He was born was His personal name Jesus revealed. Before Chris...