Happy Friday:
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
The Apostle Paul
Ephesians 1:18-19
Most people’s inner world is shaped by their outer world. Paul prays that the opposite will be true for his friends.
News Rules – #5: So far, I’ve laid out four News Rules (NR): 1) The Bible First; 2) Less is More; 3) Be Skeptical; and 4) Pay for Your News. Five is: Think Local. Most of us focus on national and international news, which provide updates about events we cannot shape. We need to focus more on things we can impact. I’m not saying, “no national or international news.” What I am saying is that if you can name more European leaders than you can next door neighbors, you’re doing life wrong.
A Bad Sign: After years of trying to get people to attend the church’s annual meeting, I realized the only time you get a big crowd is if they want to “throw the bum out.” In other words, low attendance is a vote of confidence. I doubt there’s a one-to-one comparison between annual meetings and national elections, but I’ve been told we will have record voter turnout for midterm elections this November.
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WOTW: This was a busy week. I’m ignoring two nominees – recession and Armageddon – and giving honorable mention to four others: 1) Reality-challenged – a term describing those who “enjoy a robust on-line life but are not fairing as well in the real world;” 2) Quiet Quitting – a previous nominee which returns after Gallup claimed that “half of the U.S. population now fits the definition;” 3) Sleep-tourism – the industry that recently formed to make money off of the forty percent of people reporting “a reduction in the quality of their sleep since COVID;” and 5) Pathological optimism – the term used to describe anyone who expects the UN Human Rights Council to deal with human rights. The winner is (insert drum roll here……….) Justice-involved.This is the term being used in California to describe the people they would like to receive a license to sell marijuana. Justice-involved is the new way of saying they have a criminal record. (I am tempted to make fun of this term, but this is California and so I am not sure that they would get the joke. Plus, I am sin-involved so I am not going to pick any fights.)
Podcast: This past week I interviewed Dr. Dana Harris, the chair of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School’s New Testament department, following her Lakelight lecture on the formation of the New Testament. BTW, the Lakelight Institute is up and running with talks, classes, and a Fellows program. To learn more, click here.
The Rings of Power: Though some will accuse me of being pathologically optimistic, I think there are signs that Rings will rally.
Without Comment: 1) More Millennials are attending church now than before the Pandemic; 2) YouGov’s latest study shows that liberal women (ages 18-55) are significantly less likely to be happy with their lives and “mental health” than their conservative peers; and 3) After the age of 19, the odds of someone accepting Christ drop to six percent.
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Quotes Worth Requoting: I have two quotes from Drew Dyck’s new book, Your Future Self Will Thank You: 1) A loss of self-control always results in a loss of freedom; and 2) Satan always gives you the best stuff upfront, and makes you pay for everything down the road. God, on the other hand, is more interested in your future self. He’s more concerned about you than your current level of comfort. He cares more about who you’re becoming than how you feel right now.
Faith is a Given: As Immanuel Kant noted three hundred years ago in Critique of Pure Reason, every worldview rests on assumptions that must be accepted by faith. This includes science. We are free to believe that “what we see is all there is,” but we cannot prove it using the scientific method. Or to state this more forcefully, it is fine to affirm Carl Sagan’s claim that “the Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be,” but we must recognize it for what it is, a naturalist’s statement of faith.
Fat Bears: I saw a lot about Fat Bear Week this week. You can catch up on the craze here.
Closing Prayer: O gracious God, I am fully aware that I am unworthy. I deserve to be a brother of Satan and not of Christ. But Christ, your dear Son, died and rose for me. I am his brother. He earnestly desires that I should believe in him, without doubt and fear. I need no longer regard myself as unworthy and full of sin. For this I love and thank him from my heart. Praise be to the faithful Savior, for he is so gracious and merciful as are you and the Holy Spirit in eternity. Amen. (Martin Luther – 1483-1546)