Preaching last Sunday's sermon was a particular challenge for me, not because of the trickiness of the theological insights or points of application, but precisely because of the obvious nature of some of the implications that God was making clear to me personally.  As a man, by far the greatest challenges of my Christian life relate to the nature of my roles as a son, husband, and father -- in other words, the areas of dearest relationship to me.  When considering before God points of conviction regarding areas of sin in my life on a daily or weekly basis, the larger percentage of my sins relate to how I handle each of these relationships, particularly my relationship with my wife.  In preaching from John 19 about Christ's care for his mother, I was once again confronted with my inadequacy AND the blazing example of our Savior in how he cared for his mother.  But she was not just his mother, she was one of his sheep, a disciple, a sister in the family of God, and a fellow heir wit  read more »