What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?
Psalm 116:12
It is worth noting the word “return”. It reminds us that everything on the asset side of our ledger is a gift from God, and — as Kyper so eloquently notes with his line, “There is not one square inch in the entire universe about which Jesus Christ does not say “Mine!” — God retains all rights. We are stewards, temporarily entrusted with His stuff, and expected to invest it in ways consistent with His teaching.
Time to Start Counting: Speaking of His goodness to us, Thanksgiving will soon be here. It’s time to focus on how much we have to be grateful for. Make a list. It will change your mood.
Our Collective Mental Health: A team from Christ Church has been meeting to discuss how to leverage the small grant we received to study mental health. For me, these discussions put faces on the grim statistics I often cite in this post – e.g., Deaths of Despair, the epidemic of loneliness, etc. As a pastor, I interface with those struggling with mental illness every day. And chances are, so do you.
Kanye Take 2: Last week I noted that America’s most prominent public theologian deserves both: 1) the benefit of the doubt, and 2) our prayers. I want to double down on the second. The trajectories of other celebrities who have declared faith in Christ – Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash come to mind– suggest bumps ahead. (Kanye likely has been told this.) In one of the cuts – Hands On – he says that Christians will be the first to judge him. The song ends with a request for prayer: “Don’t throw me up, lay your hands on me.”
Quotes Worth Requoting:
- The antagonism between life and conscience may be removed either by a change of life or by a change of conscience. Leo Tolstoy
- When you want to hide is actually when you have the greatest need for Community. John Ortberg
- Why do we expect life to be easy? The Bible does not suggest that it will be hard even for those seeking to follow Christ, it suggests that life will be especially hard for those who do. It was for Jesus. No one started higher or descended further than He did. And He told us to expect related challenges. Soldiers endure hardship, athletes face discipline, and farmers must toil. We should not expect the Christian life to be easy.
- How would the person I wish to be, act today?
Ironies Noted:
- Today’s culture is the most sexualized in the modern era – and yet, it is also the most lonely.
- The stock market is over 27,000; unemployment is at near historic lows, and interest rates are in the basement. Even the fiercest advocates of capitalism do not think things are going well.
Closing Prayer: God, I want your guidance and direction in all I do. Let your wisdom counsel me, your hand lead me, and your arm support me. I put myself into your hands. Breathe into my soul holy and heavenly desires. Conform me to your own image. Make me like my Savior. Enable me in some measure to live here on earth as he lived, and to act in all things as he would have acted. Ashton Oxeden (1808-1892)