Happy Friday:
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua, Joshua 25:14f
We live in a world of choices. If you think I’m wrong, order a Coke. Did you want regular or diet? Classic, vanilla, cherry or lime? Caffeine free? A diet cherry caffeine free? Was that small, medium or large? By the way, did you want ice? Of course, some decisions matter more than others. Indeed, some decisions do not matter at all. One of the things we need to do if we hope to navigate this moment is to save our decision muscles for things that matter. Joshua points to a question that should remain top of mind: choosing who we will serve.
A Second Critical Decision: While I’m here let me note that one of the other big choices we make is how we see ourselves. Are you a child of God? A cancer patient? An alcoholic? The guy who was unjustly fired? The woman who was cheated on? Something else? Who do you see when you look in the mirror? We get to decide what defines us. We need to choose wisely.
Travels: I’ve paid the full idiot tax for being out of the country for three weeks and that is OK. Israel delivered. As I have said before, in addition to finding it smaller, safer and more political than they expected, first-timers almost all also find it more spiritually enlightening and invigorating. In terms of Ghana – which was the second half of my trip – I saw a lot of poverty, a lot of discipline and a lot of joy. What I did not see were many cell phones.
Resources: Speaking of Ghana, I came away very encouraged by the thoughtful, holistic, Gospel-centered work our partners there are doing. Here is my interview with the Executive Director of International Needs – IN – Ghana. (And while I’m listing resources, here is last week’s sermon on Wisdom from James 3).
Overheard: 1) Intellectual conflict is to be encouraged; personal conflict is to be resolved; 2) The current mantra in China’s Tech industry is 996, as in “employees are at their desks from 9 AM to 9 PM six days a week;” 3) Nature will turn girls into women. It takes a healthy culture to turn boys into men; 4) First we shape our institutions, then our institutions shape us; 5) When the situation points to incompetence and stupidity on the one hand, or a conspiracy on the other, bet on the first; 6) The giant in front of you is never bigger than the God who lives in you.
Without Comment: 1) Only 60% of Americans now believe it is immoral for married people to have sex outside of marriage, down from 91% in 2001; 2) Death rates among American children rose 10.7% between 2019 and 2020 and another 8.3% between 2020 and 2021; 3) Couples with joint checking accounts are happier than those who have separate accounts; 4) The share of US adults who are “extremely proud” to be an American is essentially unchanged from last year’s 38% record low; 5) Nearly 1 in 4 history journal citations are inaccurate; and 6) 10.8% of people 65 and over have some level of Alzheimer’s dementia.
I’m Available: I was going to list the Saudi’s $776M one-year offer to French soccer phenom Kylian Mbappe under This Week’s Sign that the Apocalypse is Upon Us. But Mbappe turned them down. Sooooo, I am using this space to let the Saudis know that I’m available. BTW, keep this info away from Christ Church interns. We do not pay them quite as much as the Saudis are offering Mbappe.
Humankind: I get pushback for giving too much ink to human depravity and not enough to happy things. Fair enough, but since I’m not a cat-video guy, I have to look elsewhere. Here is David Bote’s 2018 walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th with two strikes. (Yes, yes, yes. I realize I’m reaching back five years to get a highlight from the Cubs, but the Cards are doing so poorly that their fans can’t point that out).
WOTW: I collected quite a list of WOTW candidates while I was out. Most – such as consensual non-monogamy; post-antibiotic; stolen focus, cognitive warfare, techno-determinism and Neocolonialist Environmentalism – all share a dark, foreboding quality. Given the encouragement to be more positive, I’m pushing them aside for something happier. I considered granddaughter – a word that consistently makes me smile – but I’m going with Gratitude Parade instead. I’m also suggesting that you host your own today. (Note: when ancient historians are given a chance to live at any time in history they all choose today!)
IS2M: 1) Being told to “be true to yourself,” “you do you,” “go with your gut” or “follow your heart” often means, “feel free to yield to temptation;” 2) It is increasingly clear that secular materialism does not lead to the first amendment.
Closing Prayer: Father, thank you for the grace that has preserved my life to this moment. Now give me enough love for this day—a sense of love from you (so I’m not scared or driven), a welling up of love for you (so I’m not proud or selfish), and a resulting love for others (so I am not cold or distracted). Let your Spirit illumine my mind and enlarge my heart for that. And because it means nothing to begin well if one does not persevere, I ask that you would continue and increase your grace in me until you have led me into full communion with your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, that I may see his beautiful and great glory. And as I laid down in sleep and rose this morning only by your grace, keep me in a joyful, lively remembrance that whatever happens, I will someday know my final rising—the resurrection—because Jesus Christ laid down in death for me, and rose for my justification. In Jesus’s name. Amen. (Timothy Keller – 1950 – 2023)