Happy Friday,

Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven.

Psalm 32:1

Guilt is tricky. Some feel it when they shouldn’t. Others do not feel it when they should. As Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things.” In light of this, we must prayerfully submit ourselves to the Word of God, asking the Spirit to alert us to our true state. All of that aside, what many do not appreciate is that confession leads to true joy. There is nothing like rehearsing your worst thoughts, deeds and inactions to a friend and having them declare that the grace of God is more than adequate to cover even that. “You are forgiven.”

Updated: Last week I noted that Jesus said, “The meek will inherit the earth.” FWIW, J. Paul Getty – the oil baron whose net worth eclipsed that of Bezos and Gates – quipped, “They might inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights.” Apparently, Getty was claiming those for himself. Given that he’s been dead for 46 years, we can assume he now knows better.

Who is Famous in Your World? Public intellectuals have been in the news lately. Alas, the stories about them come in articles titled, “The Decline of…” or “Whatever Happened to…”.  Some say there are fewer public intellectuals today because knowledge is too specialized to allow anyone to be comprehensively informed. I doubt that’s true. And besides, not being informed has never stopped people from sharing their opinions on TV. Public-Intellectual-Wannabees abound. Their problem at the moment is they cannot compete with celebrities, social media influencers and radio talk show hosts.

Without Comment: 1) In Great Britain, an 80-year-old is eight times more likely to be in church than an 18–year-old; 2) Historians note that we’ve been at war for 3,183 of the last 3,500 years, leading to the deaths of 62M civilians and 40M soldiers.

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) Christians no longer get their primary identity from either Jesus or the church. Last year, their primary identity was through politics. Rick Warren; 2) Many people struggle to learn how to pray because they are focusing on praying not on God. Paul Miller.

While I’m citing Rick Warren: I’ve noted before that the best thing to do when a friend is suffering is show up and say little. Warren reduces his advice to two memorable rules: 1) “show up and shut up;” and 2) “the deeper the pain the less you say.”

Lessons from 2020: One of the things the last eighteen months has made painfully clear is that it is easier to believe a false narrative that fits our outlook than a true one that challenges it. BTW, if you read this and think, “Yes, this is a problem for THEM. THEY are wrong and clueless. I wish THEY could see how wrong THEY are!”, without at least briefly wondering how your thinking might be askance, you can see what a vexing problem this is. 

What Will Covid Bring? I’ve already noted that a year of quarantine led to fewer babies (down 4% from 2019) – but more puppies – than expected. I’ve also noted the widespread concern that addictions and domestic violence are spiking behind quarantined doors. This week’s news feeds focus on grief. Some think a “tsunami of grief” is coming. Perhaps.

Social Security: Back in the 90s, more thirty-somethings believed UFOs were real than believed they would receive anything from the Social Security kitty when they turned 62. FWIW, I didn’t believe in UFOs, but I also didn’t believe Social Security would still be solvent. And it is.

Question of the Week: Given that I’ve never felt the need to wave good-bye at the end of a business meeting, why do I feel the need to do so at the end of a Zoom call?

Coming Your Way Soon: After decades of demonization, psychedelic drugs appear to be on the cusp of entering mainstream psychiatry. A friend – who is also a psychiatrist – is skeptical that they will live up to the hype. She not only worries that the clinical trials are too short, but she also suspects that many conducting them view humans more as complex chemical reactions than, well, as humans. I share her concern. It’s not just that magic mushrooms make me think of Timothy Leary endorsing LSD, it’s that efforts to fix what ails us with a pill seem naively utopian and reductionistic. All of that aside, I am cheering the researchers on. As a pastor I seldom feel more impotent than I do in the face of mental illness. Join me in praying that we find new ways to address depression, addictions, PTSD, etc.

Old Books: If you have not read CS Lewis’s five-page essay on the importance of reading old books, you are missing out. It’s here.

BTW:  In case you haven’t heard, gas is the new toilet paper.

Closing Prayer: Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he will come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (From The Book of Common Prayer)

Happy Friday

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Jesus, Matthew 5

The call to meekness has never sat well with me. The word sounds too much like weak and it has a certain Caspar Milquetoastish about it that I’d like to not be associated with. However, meekness is celebrated – both in the Sermon on the Mount and also in Psalm 37:11. And if you bother to dig you learn it’s not a call to weakness. Quite the opposite. Meekness and timidity have nothing in common. Indeed, only the strong can be meek. And only those who are both strong and fiercely yielded to the Holy Spirit have a chance of pulling it off.

From the Archives: It seems like a good time to read some of our nation’s more thoughtful political messages. I am thinking of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural, of George Washington’s Farewell Address and of MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail.  BTW, I think there is a lot of truth to the idea that we get the government we deserve. Rather than complain, pray for our leaders.

Question of the Week: Why do we all struggle with self-righteousness? Why do we feel the need to persuade ourselves that we are good?Why do we feel threatened if someone implies we are not?

Question of the Week Two: Would I want to be married to me? Would I want to work for me? Would I want me as a Dad or Mom? Would I want to try to tell me the hard truth?

Quotes Worth Requoting: This classic is from Lewis’s Prince Caspian. “Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”

“That is because you are older, little one” answered he.

“Not because you are?”

“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

This Week’s Challenge: It’s old news that this moment is not only fueling an us/them tribalism, it is also encouraging “us” to view “them” in the least generous ways possible. Jesus calls us to rise above whatever subgroup we identify with and to love and serve others, especially the poor and oppressed. May we take seriously our mandate to proclaim the Good News and engage in Good Works. (BTW, it may be worth reminding yourself that people are more often won over by love than they are by arguments.)

Quick Takes: Isn’t it obvious that secularism is failing and this is a moment when the church could be shining!

Corrections: In last week’s update, I identified Jonah Goldberg as an editor at National Review. Though he held the post from ‘98 to ‘19, he is now associated with AEI and TheDispatch.

Marriage: Just as Brad and Angelina suggest that marriage is hard even if you’re both shockingly good looking, Bill and Melinda’s divorce suggests it takes more than money. 

 Without Comment: Since many of the Ivy-League schools have made the submission of SAT / ACT scores optional, the number of applications have sky-rocketed.

Application: Information + Inspiration = Frustration. What we need to make life work is more than insight and desire, we need the Holy Spirit, friends and practice.

JP on JP: A few years back, I noted the rapid rise of Jordan Peterson, a Harvard trained psychiatrist whose rules for life – and his unwillingness to accept PC protocol – had made him a viral sensation, albeit one who is equally lauded and despised. He has been out of the news for health issues, but he is back with a new book. I found this WSJarticle – The Man They Couldn’t Cancel – interesting, in part for his suggestion that he thinks he achieved fame because, unlike many who claim to be smart, he does more than criticize – he encourages and provides direction.

Words matter. BTW, one of the things I’ve noted about JP is his belief that “the battle” is won or lost with words. More to the point, that the assault from those who will strip rights and force conformity comes by their determination to define some terms and to banish others.  

Closing Prayer: Holy Lord Jesus, the heavenly Vine of God’s own planting, I ask you, reveal yourself to my soul. Let the Holy Spirit, not only in thought, but in experience, give to me all that you, the Son of God, are to me as the true Vine. Amen. (Andrew Murray – 1828-1917)

Happy Friday:

Depart from me you evildoers. I never knew you.

Jesus, Matthew 7

I find the words Jesus directed to those who called him “Lord, Lord” – which suggests they considered themselves His followers and friends – to be among the most terrifying in the Bible. Why? Though He calls them “evildoers,” He does not challenge their claim to have done good things in His name. Which not only suggests they did do “good things,” it also suggests how easily we are spiritually deluded. As much as we may talk about grace, we remain impressed by our works. Alas, according to Jesus, there are no impressive people doing impressive things. There are just the humble and the proud, and He favors the first while opposing the second. Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

Disclaimer: He has not asked, but I am suggesting that our Heavenly Father periodically remind everyone that the views expressed by His followers do not necessarily reflect those of the management.

Prayer Concerns: This past week I have been grieved by the challenges faced by friends – in India, where the dramatic COVID spike has overwhelmed the healthcare system; in Turkey and Belarus, where self-important thugs are oppressing millions; and in Africa, where millions who recently rose out of poverty have fallen back in. Closer to home, the announcements about President Biden completing his first 100 days convicted me. I am not praying for him anywhere near as much as I should.

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) My life is going to tell a story whether I want it to or not. It’s going to tell a story that says, “this is what a follower of Jesus is, this is what he or she is interested in, this is what he or she believes and trusts, this is what he or she thinks is important.” Charlie Peacock; 2) We live in an age of strong opinions, weakly formed. Carey Nieuwhof.

Question of the Week: What if this past year – with all the challenges it has brought – is not the new normal, but as good and easy as it will be for the rest of my life?

A Challenge: In their book, The Blessing, John Trent and Gary Smalley note: 1) The Hebrew word for bless suggests adding coins to a scale – i.e., adding value to someone else’s life; and 2) It’s a big deal. The word blessing comes up a lot in the Bible, and various people (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, et al.) focus considerable time and attention on who is blessing who. So…. who might you bless today? Get busy placing some metaphorical coins on their scale.

Without Comment: 1) On 4/15/2021, 1.49 million travelers went through TSA screening at airports. This number is up from 95,085 on 4/15/2020 but down from 2.62M on 4/15/2019; 2) The NYT recently reported that “in keeping with a national trend,” the Manhattan District Attorney will no longer prosecute prostitution.

Haunted: Last week I cited a New Yorker piece on light pollution’s impact on the night sky. I remain haunted by a line found in the piece. It is a comment made by David Crawford, who laments that 21^st century Americans are those “who spend their day and night sitting in a box staring at a box.”

Preach What You Practice: UVA Sociologist Brad Wilcox makes a secular case for marriage during this interview with National Review editor Jonah Goldberg. Among several interesting points Wilcox makes, is his observation that many on the left live far more traditionally than they suggest others should.

Closing Prayer: Grant me, I beg you, almighty and merciful God, fervently to desire, wisely to search out, truly to acknowledge, and perfectly to fulfill, all that is well-pleasing to you. Order my worldly condition to the honor and glory of your name; and of all that you require me to do, grant me the knowledge, the desire, and the ability, that I may so fulfill it as I ought, and as is expedient for the welfare of my soul. Amen. (Thomas Aquinas – 1225-1274)

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

Psalm 119:147

As I have noted before, many monastic orders follow Benedict’s decision to interpret this passage literally, thereby dividing the day into eight times for prayer – Matins (nighttime), Lauds (early morning), Prime (first hour of daylight), Terce (third hour), Sext (noon), Nones (ninth hour), Vespers (sunset evening), Compline (end of the day). You are welcome to join their ranks, but I am not sure it is necessary. The heart of this passage calls – indeed it invites – us to live our lives before the Lord. It’s a 24×7 challenge.

Twinkle Twinkle?: Andy Crouch alerted me to this New Yorker piece, which reminds us of what we are missing. It has been twenty-five years since I last saw the heavenlies. It was while climbing Mt. Baker in Bellingham. I remember looking at the stars and being amazed, humbled, dumbfounded and then sad. To think this is there all the time but we can’t see it. As Psalm 19:1 declares, the heavens declare the glory of God. I think there would be fewer atheists if we could see the night sky.

Shamed for Being Old School: Some who are high tech chastised me for suggesting you write out a Bible verse on a note card. “A note card? How 1985 of you!” They pushed various alternatives – Notes, Evernote, Bible Memory apps, etc. I’m good with any method that helps you get the Word into your heart. I intend to keep using notecards, having only recently stopped painting the passages on cave walls.

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson; 2) The Church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples. John Wesley; 3) Technologies give velocity to stupidity. George Will.

Without Comment: 1) The UN estimates that the economic effects of the lockdown will lead to the starvation of 130 million additional people; 2) Year-to-date the S&P 500 is up more than 10 percent, unemployment has dipped to 6.0%, the mortality rate remains steady at 100%; 3) In June of 2020, a CDC survey found that one in four young adults between 18 and 24 had seriously considered suicide.

Pastoral Ministry Illustrated: This 40 second video illustrates pastoral ministry, parenting, Isaiah 53:6 and alas, way too much of my own life.

Question of the Week: Can we establish common ground even if we do not agree on the common good?

Evidence: When I was in college, critics of the New Testament argued that it was not written until several hundred years after Christ, thus allowing time for legend to accrue. Over the last forty years, archeological finds (e.g., fragments of John 18 that date from early 2^nd century) have eroded this claim. A recent find – discussed here – is solidifying the claim that the NT was written shortly after Christ’s death. Many think this new discovery dates within five years of Christ’s death.

Human Rights: Many make much of human rights. It’s worth reminding ourselves that the idea that we have value grows out of Scripture. Despite what Thomas Jefferson said, there is nothing self-evident about us all being equal. Indeed, quite the opposite. We have to be told that the weak (i.e., the old, mentally challenged, sick, etc.) have value. And while we are here, it’s worth restating that though the halo effect of Christianity continues to shape the thoughts of many, it does not shape all. Ingrid Newkirk, the founder of PETA, famously declared that “a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.” Meanwhile, prominent Israeli intellectual, atheist and author, Yuval Noah Harari, notes that the belief that humans have rights is nonsense based on Christian myth. As Christian influence wanes, rights will diminish.

Freedom: Admitting that our “accomplishments” are gifts from God is hard for those who want credit. But all we have – including the time and talent needed to accomplish something – are gifts from Him. Recognizing this is freeing. It turns out things really aren’t dependent on me! I remain free to work hard, but the pressure I have sinfully owned is gone.

Closing Prayer: Lord, I live in a culture that calls for self-assertion. Yet if you withdrew your upholding strength I would cease to exist in the blink of an eye. I confess that I forget that and think I am holding myself and the world together. I ask that you heal me of my damnable self-sufficiency. Amen. Tim Keller

Happy Friday,

Remember your word to your servant, in which you made me hope.

Psalm 119:49

God’s word brings hope, which we need. Always. Some suggest clear thinking leads to despair, “especially now.” No. Not in Christ! Evil loses. We do not need a false optimism, just a clear vision of Christ and His promises.

Scripture Memory: In Psalm 119, David notes that he has “stored up” God’s word in his heart, “that I might not sin against you.” John Wesley parrots David, saying, “I have laid it up in my mind like a choice treasure, to be ready upon all occasions to counsel, quicken or caution me.” Spurgeon also, “There, laid up in my heart, the word has effect.” I could add others, most notably Christ, who counters Satan’s attacks with quotes from Deuteronomy – making it clear that the Word of God (Jesus the logos) had memorized much of the word of God. Why not join them? Scribble a few verses on a 3×5 card and carry it with you today.

Don’t Stop There: Of course, Scripture memory is not the goal. Indeed, it is of little value unless we allow it to lead to right thinking. But right thinking is also not the goal. It is of little value unless it leads to obedience. But neither is obedience the goal. God does not want our joyless compliance. He wants our heart. The reason to memorize Scripture is to shape our heart in ways that direct our life to spill over in worship.

Trust: It’s old news to note that our trust in today’s news is down. Likewise, the reasons are well known: 1) Reporters biases increasingly shape their reporting; 2) Increased competition leads to less ad revenue, which leads to cuts in news budgets; and 3) The 24-hour news cycle (and increased competition) leaves reporters with less time to check sources. To these I would add three that are unique to “Christian news.” 1) Irreligious reporters often do not understand the story; 2) The evangelical world lacks a Pope, making it hard for outsiders to know who to call for insight; and 3) Individuals likely to give the best sound bite often hold the most strident positions.

Without Comment: 1) More Americans died of drug overdoses in the last year than any year before it; 2) The Berlin Wall has now been down longer than it was up; 3) Among young US adults, socialism is as popular as capitalism; meanwhile, among Baby Boomers capitalism is dramatically more popular than socialism: 4) An Emory University study suggests that the more people who attend your wedding, the more likely it is to last.

This Week’s Question: What am I missing? What is the pandemic causing me to overlook? What am I not paying attention to that I otherwise would be?

Silence: Fourteenth century Renaissance scholar, Petrarch – who is credited with coining the term “The Middle Ages” – issued a warning then that seems appropriate now: “Like our stomachs, our minds are hurt more often by overeating than by hunger.”

Coincidence? While prepping for tomorrow’s podcast on the Reformation, I learned that coffee first reached Europe in 1515. 1515! Think about that. Two years later Luther launched the Reformation. I’d always assumed his stein was full of beer. Coffee would explain more. I can’t be the first to make this connection.

Criticism: Leadership today involves criticism in stereo. At least that is what I am telling myself, because, well, I am surrounded by “music.” The list of problems I cannot solve and must simply accept as “tensions I must manage,” is growing. All of this makes the need to embrace and embody the hope of the Gospel that much more important.

Closing Prayer: O God the Holy Spirit, most loving Comforter of the fainthearted, I pray that you will always turn what is evil in me into good and what is good into what is better; turn my mourning into joy, my wandering feet into the right path, my ignorance into knowledge of your truth, my lukewarmness into zeal, my fear into love, all my material good into a spiritual gift, all my earthly desires into heavenly desires, all that is transient into what lasts forever, everything human into what is divine, everything created and finite into that sovereign and immeasurable good, which you yourself are, O my God and Savior. Amen. (Thomas à Kempis – 1380 – 1471)

Happy Friday,

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool. He is holy.

Psalm 99:5

The Lord is holy. To move in that direction, we must be wholly His. Many early Christians were, and their resulting honesty, generosity, chastity, and integrity prevailed over the Greco-Roman culture that surrounded them. Lord God, may we do likewise.

Post Easter: When Hamlet spoke of death as “the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns,” he was wrong. Jesus returned. May the hope and joy of Easter carry you forward this week.

Speaking of Easter: The LA Times chose Easter to run a piece by skeptic Bart Erhman. It promoted secularism and his tired arguments. Meanwhile, both the NYT and the WSJ ran thoughtful and hopeful pieces about the resurrection.

The Truth About Us: Last year I commended Brant Hanson as an author with a unique voice – one that was an odd combination of thoughtful and breezy. He’s struck again. This time with a book about our sinful nature that is laugh out loud funny. The Truth About Us is very good news about how very bad we are.

Remember the Pantyhose Experiment? A handful of classic social science experiments stand above the rest – e.g., the Stanford Prison Experiment, Asch Conformity, Bobo Doll, the Marshmallow test, etc. It’s past time to add the 70’s Pantyhose Experiment to the list. In it, people were asked to select the best pantyhose from among four samples. After they made their selection, they were told that the four samples were identical. Their response? Most doubled down on their selection and argued that the person conducting the experiment did not know what they were talking about. Once we take a position, we defend it to the end.

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) “Do not despair; one of the thieves was saved. Do not presume; one of the thieves was damned.” Augustine; 2) “I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn’t explain away afterwards.” Rudyard Kipling

Post Pandemic: If there is anything of substance to “the fourth wave,” it may be too soon to talk Post Pandemic life. But I am praying (and believing) the end is near. To that end, it’s time to prepare. And among the things that should shape how we think about the future is this: Of those working from home, two-thirds thought the cons outweighed pros, and many now returning to the office are discovering how much they missed human interaction. For more on this, you can access Arthur Brook’s take here.

Perspective: In times of discouragement, we must remember that evil’s wins are temporary. God will prevail. His Kingdom will come. Play the long game.

Speaking of Perspective:  This article from The Wall Street Journal is worth reading. It not only places our challenges in perspective, it also reminds us of our broader call.

Revival: I’ve been reading about how revivals start. Two things are clear. First, God’s timing is mysterious. Second, several things seem to pave the way: prayer, an awareness of God’s holiness, an awareness of our sin, and a focus on the all-sufficient nature of Christ’s death.

Closing Prayer: Lord, you say that no man may be drawn to you unless you draw him. Therefore, Lord, I pray that you will draw all people to you, regardless of how sinful they are. I never deserved to be drawn to you, Lord, and yet in your great mercy you drew me. If people around me knew my great wickedness as you do, they would marvel at the great goodness you have shown to me. If you can make such an unworthy creature as me worthy to be your servant, then you can turn the lowest sinner into the highest saint. I beg that you will turn all sinners into saints. Amen (Margery Kempe – 1373 – 1432)

Happy Friday,

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

I Peter 3:18

There have been other deaths. Indeed, there have been other unjust deaths, other untimely deaths and other heroes dying sacrificial deaths. But the death of Jesus Christ is unique because He died in your place – the righteous for the unrighteous – to bring you to God.

Can the Center Hold? In last week’s sermon, I noted that frustration is rising, and civility is declining. This NYT piece contains good news and bad. The extremes are smaller than most believe, but those willing to be civil are exhausted.

Crazy Times: In this article, a CNN reporter stated that, “It’s not possible to know a person’s gender identity at birth, and there is no consensus criteria for assigning sex at birth.” Colin Wright, an evolutionary biologist writing for Reality’s Last Stand, responded by noting that: “Observing genitalia is the consensus criteria for determining one’s sex at birth,” and claimed that this method was “only inaccurate about 0.018 percent of the time.” In this Wall Street Journal piece, Margaret Harper McCarthy responds to the Equality Act by stating, “At stake is the freedom of rational human beings to use a common vocabulary when speaking about what all can see. . . that is why religious freedom is also at stake. Religion is the last bastion of sanity.”

The “Collapse” of Church Attendance: You may have heard that “the percentage of American church members has dipped below fifty percent of the population for the first time since 1937.” Yes and no. The stat focuses on membership not attendance. Mainline denominations, that track membership, have been hemorrhaging members for seventy years. The churches that have been growing or stable – which are generally more conservative – focus on active involvement not membership. The number who are walking away from the church is alarming, but likely overstated. In the US, pre-COVID church attendance – which is the data we are looking at – was near all-time highs.

Censorship: 1) This Wall Street Journal article notes that religious groups – whose views on marriage, sexuality, life and other moral issues do not line up with the Silicon set – are being silenced by tech companies at the rate of about one a week. 2) According to this Newsweek article, a US Army Reserve training presentation on religious extremism listed the following groups that “advocate or use violence to accomplish their objectives and are therefore rightly classified as extremists: al-Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelicals.”

Radical Islam: As an aside, it appears as though radical Islam is losing global sway and, in small ways, westernizing.

Last year’s Easter Song: It feels like a violation of Lent, but if I do not send this now, you will not have it on Sunday. I am referring to last year’s Christ Church rendition of Christ the Lord is Risen Today.

Correction: Last week I cited Andrew Warnock’s book on the resurrection for a thoughtful quote about fearing God, HERE. Alas, his name is Adrian not Andrew. BTW, the book is entitled, Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything.

Without Comment: 1) The divorce rate has dropped enough so that it is no longer accurate to say that one in two marriages will end in divorce. (Note: that claim was always a bit misleading.) However, the marriage gap is growing. Higher incomes equal higher marriage rates. In recent years, the sharpest decline in marriage has been occurring among the middle class. 2) The percentage of Americans in therapy is 47%; 3) The number of Americans who believe the pandemic “meaningfully damaged their mental health” is 62%; 4) Personal credit card debt declined by 11% last year; 5) One in five Bitcoin owners have lost their Bitcoins – for a total loss of $164B.

Two Quotes from the Past:

• Beuchner on Anger: Given the spike in angry rhetoric, this warning from Frederick Beuchner – the decorated 94-year-old author and Presbyterian Pastor – seems timely. “Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back–in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.”

• Chesterton on the Future: Here is GKC’s predictions about his future (which has become our present): “Everything will be denied. Everything will become a creed. It is a reasonable position to deny the stones in the street; it will be a religious dogma to assert them. Fires will be kindled to testify that two and two make four. Swords will be drawn to prove that leaves are green in summer. We shall be left defending, not only the incredible virtues and sanities of human life, but something more incredible still, this huge impossible universe which stares us in the face.”

Closing Prayer: Father, make us more like Jesus. Help us to bear difficulty, pain, disappointment, and sorrows, knowing that in your perfect working and design you can use such bitter experiences to shape our characters and make us more like our Lord. We look with hope for that day when we shall be wholly like Christ because we shall see Him as He is. Amen. (Ignatius of Antioch – c.107)

Happy Friday,

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 24:15

Like Clockwork: Shortly after COVID hit the US, Tim Keller warned pastors that – based on NYC’s 9/11 experience – pastors, social workers and others in the “helping professions” would start to burn out in about a year. He was right. I am doing well, but it seems like spiking levels of fatigue and frustration are taking a toll.

Isn’t it Odd?:  It does not surprise me that if I know how someone voted I know their news sources. But it does seem odd that if I know what they think about, say Meghan Markle, I can guess which charities they support, what kind of car they drive and what they think about Whole Foods.

Case Sensitive: In case you missed the memo, Social Justice and social justice do not mean the same thing (nor do either necessarily mean the same as justice). At least not to everyone. For that matter, some who used to identify as Evangelicals now identify only as evangelicals, mostly so they are not confused with EVANGELICALS. It used to be only my passwords that were case sensitive.

A Second Wave of Postmodernity: In my laughable attempt to understand what is going on, I have been reading a book in which two liberal sociologists (a tautology?) explain “second wave postmodern activism.” Their work includes chapters on post-colonialism, Queer Theory, Gender Studies, Research Justice and the like. It is fascinating, alarming, enlightening and depressing. It’s also evidence that Chesterton was right, “When people choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.”

On Believing Anything: A pastor friend noted that his congregants’ response to COVID is based entirely on their news source. “I have some members who are elderly, obese and fighting congestive heart disease who will not wear a mask, and young married couples who triple mask at home and are abstaining from sex.”

Our Public Face: How do we respond in this new day? With humility, hope, patience and love. Peter says, Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Christians cannot be one with those who think constant angry indignation is a virtue.

Fearing God 2.0: Last week I noted that fearing God had to mean more than respect. This week I ran across a related quote from Andrew Warnock. In his book on the resurrection, Warnock suggests that because God’s “nuclear-hot holiness” will burn up every trace of sin, we are right to fear him. He goes on to write, “When the Bible tells us to fear him, it means simply that – fear him. Sometimes people say they are afraid of God. We might need to tell some of them that they are not frightened enough.”

The Half-Life of a Career: In the Middle Ages you did what your parents had done, which is what their parents had done before them. Progress meant your kids did the same thing, but in a slightly different way. The Industrial Revolution and Higher Education changed that by giving people options. Your choices were still limited, but you had choices and – and here is my point – stability. When I was in High School I heard that I might live so long that I would need to have two different careers. Two? I wish. It now seems like two-hundred. If I take a long lunch I feel the need to retrain because my job has changed. And COVID has not just been a disruptor, it’s been an accelerator of change.  I hate to sound like such an old guy, but would someone please Stop the Train!

Lawsuits: Hundreds of colleges are being sued for tuition refunds. On the one hand, I get it. College is expensive and Zooming-in is not what people agreed to pay for. On the other hand, what exactly do people think they are paying for when they pay for college?

Without Comment: 1) According to one study, we’ve been gaining about 2 lbs / month during the lockdown; 2) In light of the 31^st anniversary of the release of Pretty Woman, Jim Dennison ran the following stats: a) The homicide rate among active female prostitutes is seventeen times higher than that of the age-matched general female population; b) The average prostitute is physically attacked once a month; and c) 89% of prostitutes want to escape but are trapped; 3) Cambridge, MA became the second US city to officially recognized polyamory; 4) A Canadian father was jailed for contempt after publicly objecting to his 11 year-old daughter taking testosterone; 5) The number of times the word inflation was searched on Google has doubled from a year ago.

End of Life: In last week’s update I suggested we recognize the difference between prolonging life and postponing death. This week, Justin Taylor published a piece that fleshed out what I was thinking. You can read his piece here.

Babies:  It’s been three months since I  said something about demographics – so let me note: 1) There was no COVID baby bump; 2) As this article suggest, we needed one. On a related note, here is a piece on the family that is worth noting because its claims would have elicited yawns ten years ago, but now seems brazenly controversial.

Saint Patrick’s Day Late. Below is the prayer I should have run last week. But I do not want to wait all year. Also, HERE is a lecture I recently gave on Saint Patrick. And here is a musical version of the prayer by The Brilliance.

Closing Prayer: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise.  Amen. (Saint Patrick)

My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.

Psalm 119:120

Some say, “The fear of the Lord” equals deep respect. No. Though “terror” goes too far, “deep respect” does not go far enough. “A deep trembling joy and wonder” has been suggested. I think this is closer. Of course, the big challenge is not in agreeing on a definition, it is in re-orienting our heart. We do need to tremble in His presence. By the way, this section of Psalm 119 teaches that the fear of the Lord is realized through His Word. God is not who we hope or imagine Him to be, He is who the Word reveals Him to be.

Wonder: Reflecting on creation can elicit awe in the Creator. Did you know there are 350,000 different kinds of beetles? Beetles! What kind of God lavishes His world with 350,000 different kinds of beetles? And have you thought about rain since the last time I brought it up? Seriously! The wheat fields in Kansas get plenty of water because God warms the Pacific Ocean, thereby turning water into steam – which is 1,600 times lighter – and then blows those molecules a thousand miles inland, where He causes it to drop water on the wheat fields. Do you have any idea what it would cost to pipe or truck water into Kansas? By the way, did you know that there are three trillion trees in the world – which is about 422 per person?

The COVID File: Given the likelihood that COVID will not be the last pandemic, we navigate this piece of Monday morning quarterbacking, How the West Lost COVID, by David Wallace-Wells. It may interest you. Those attempting to tutor me in science (Did you know there are more elements than earth, sky, water, and fire?) say the article is helpful. They also rue the political comments at the end, and suspect Wallace-Wells overreaches on a few points, but otherwise give him a thumbs up.

Two Pastoral Observations: 1) Medical advances can make medical ethics, especially end-of-life ones, complicated. Here is a good (not perfect, but good) question to keep in front of you during these decisions: Am I prolonging life or postponing death? 2) Remember, when spending time with someone in deep pain, your goal is to express love and support while saying little. And under no circumstances should you say: “I know how you feel;” “everything will be all right;”“if you have more faith everything will work out;” or, “God told me you’ll be healed.”

Verbing: A college roommate who prided himself on being a “grammar geek,” not only encouraged me to care more about commas and semicolons, but he also suggested the fate of Western Civilization hinged on it. I’ve been thinking of him as I watch grammar rules cast aside. In recent days it’s been the “verbing” of our language. I had quietly resigned myself to “friending, sexting and greening,” but then I heard about a virus that was “virusing,” a man busy “husbanding,” and some people who were “small grouping,” This “gerunding” has got to stop.

Give it a Go: Legalism is an ugly thing, but I wish everyone would give it a try. Why? Because only those who have tried really hard to be really good know how really bad they are. Many think we sin because we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. No. We sin because we are sinners. It’s important to understand what we are up against, otherwise we might think we can be rescued by a coach or an example instead of a Savior. Think I am wrong? Give legalism a try.

Dictionary Entries: My tongue in cheek request for entries to help Orwell update a Dictionary got some response. However, I couldn’t determine whether the entries being suggested – e.g., boy, equality, justice, spiritual, etc. – were serious or sarcastic. I am giving up on the project, but before I do I want to whine about the words liberal and conservative. (Note: I am not whining about these positions or the people who identify with them. I am expressing my inability to know what they mean. I’ll illustrate with liberal this week and take up conservative later on). I was taught that a liberal: advocates for private property, free trade, a market economy, the rule of law, and freedom of both religion and the press. At some point, however, it stopped meaning those things and started referring to those who advocated for government solutions, egalitarian outcomes, and globalization. In recent months, I read about liberals demanding an end to free speech, which seems, uh, very “illiberal” of them. Which is it? And for the record, I only grow more confused when the words “leftist” and “progressive” get mixed in. And that is before throwing in capital “L” Liberals – i.e., those who embrace the doctrines of a theological school that grew up in the 18^thcentury. What does liberal mean?

Problem Solved: When Douglas Coupland made the term Generation X famous, he was not looking ahead. Gen Y and Gen Z followed, but then we were out of letters. Some tried to steer us back to titles aka Baby Boomers, consequently we have Millennials, iGeners and Tweeners. But it can be hard to keep the cohorts straight. Be encouraged. I am now seeing references to Generation C (as in COVID). It looks like the naming process has been reset with plenty of room to run.

Without Comment: 1) Hate crimes against Asian Americans have spiked since COVID; 2) Estimates for the global cost of the pandemic are starting to be calculated. The number appears to be between eight and fifteen trillion; 3) polyamory and polygamy are gaining acceptance.

Closing Prayer: My dear Lord, though I am so very weak that I have not strength to ask you for suffering as a gift, at least I will beg from you grace to meet suffering well when you in your love and wisdom bring it on me. Let me bear pain, reproach, disappointment, slander, anxiety, suspense, as you want me to, O my Jesus, and as you by your own suffering have taught me, when it comes. Amen. (John Henry Newman – 1801 – 1890)

The earth is filled with your love, Lord.

Psalm 119:64

Stop and consider the scandalous and overflowing love of God FOR YOU. Not the sappy and sentimental stuff trumpeted in greeting cards, but the real-world, fully informed, gritty, ferocious, unrelenting, and sacrificial love our heavenly Father has FOR YOU. Francis Thompson – a 19th century poet who battled poverty, depression, and drug addiction experienced God as the relentless Hound of Heaven who hunted him down. He hunted me down also, and He has either found you or He is still hunting.

Identity Politics: We’ve always had our tribes, but lately our identity seems to pivot more around who we are against than who we are for. I suspect our adversary is having a party. Christians must lead forward by looking back at Christ’s example. He loved and cared for others, including those who were different.

The Interview: I was one of the few who did not watch the Oprah interview with Harry and Meghan. (Do we still call them “The Royals”?) Consequently, I am confused. I’m being told she was a brave woman fighting for her marriage, mental health and children against the prejudice and opposition of some in the royal family. And I have heard her described as a vindictive outsider, selfishly lashing out at the royal family. Were there two interviews, or is this just another week of polarized reporting?

Seeing is: The cliché suggests that seeing is believing. Scripture suggests that seeing is becoming. As Augustine noted, we focus on what we love, and we become like what we focus on. Let’s not overthink this: focus on Jesus.

Herd: When I first heard “herd immunity” I pictured slow-moving and dimwitted cattle. Nevertheless, I’m now looking forward to contributing towards “herd immunity.” Given that I had COVID months ago, maybe I already am. Whatever the case, be encouraged. This is just about over. We are in the fourth quarter and we have a big lead.

Jesus: As we move through Lent, it’s worth remembering what makes Christianity unique. Unlike Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. – Christianity does not rest on religious wisdom or moral examples. It rests on a person. You can have Judaism without Moses, Islam without Mohammed, and Buddhism without Buddha. But you cannot have Christianity without Christ.

Question of the Day: What should the Good Samaritan have done if he arrived twenty minutes earlier – i.e., if the man he later found unconscious was being mugged? This is the question of the day. Evangelicals have done more crisis care than they get credit for, but we have been too slow to act systemically.

Without Comment: Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the WHO declaring COVID a pandemic. Globally: 118M people have been infected and 2.6M have died. In the US, 29M have been infected and 529K have died. Approximately 1 in 4 Americans say they have lost a close friend. (Reminder: The Black Plague is estimated to have killed well north of 100M people, and occasionally as many as 70 percent of a city.)

Declarative Fractions: In a recent study, teenagers around the world were asked to rate their mastery of 16 areas of math, including “declarative fractions,” “proper numbers” and “subjunctive scaling” – none of which exist. To the surprise of few, “those boasting of their skills in the nonexistent fields were disproportionately male, affluent and North American.” (For the record, I got an A- in Declarative Fractions in college.)

Censorship: First Things– one of the journals I subscribe to – is warning readers that they need to sign up for the print edition because they suspect their e-version may be shut down. I am not sure if that threat is real or this is a good marketing moment. I am hoping it’s the latter.

Keller on Cancer and Nationalism:A few weeks back, I referenced a podcast in which Tim Keller spoke about his cancer. Here is his recent Atlantic Monthly piece in which he writes about facing death. And here is a new piece in which he critiques Christian Nationalism. Yes, I am a fan.

RIP: Early yesterday morning Luis Palau – a global evangelist and long-term friend of Christ Church – passed away from cancer. Information about his life and legacy can be found here.

Closing Prayer:Look upon us, O Lord, and let all the darkness of our souls vanish before the beams of thy brightness. Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom. All our desire is known unto thee, therefore perfect what thou hast begun, and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer. We seek thy face, turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory. Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect. Amen (Augustine – 354-430)