• Modern society—including the U.S.—is more fragile than most of us realized. Like David’s small stones downing Goliath, COVID-19 has brought our complex systems and record-breaking economy to its knees.
• It’s time to plant a Victory garden.
• While some people will buy the last eleven packs of toilet paper (and then offer to sell you one for twenty dollars), at least for now most people are eager to help friends, neighbors, and even strangers.
• It’s easy to deliver sermon content online, but nearly impossible to deliver real community.
• It’s hard to go very long without touching your face.
• This would all be a lot easier to deal with if we had some idea of when things will be back to normal.
• The twenty-seconds you are supposed to use to wash your hands dozens of times each day is a great opportunity to say the Lord’s prayer or to pray for other things.

• According to Wikipedia, most of the top 10 best-selling books of all time are from one genre… fantasy (e.g. Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia).
• An estimated sixty percent of Americans have at least one chronic health condition.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

May we each learn how to rest in the assurance that we have not been forgotten. And let us also be assured that He can use the challenges of the moment to make us more like Christ. Remember, eternity changes everything.

COVID-19: Last week I said the COVID-19 story was starting to feel like Y2K. It does not feel that way this week. On Monday I created a special Outlook folder to hold all the Coronavirus emails. On Tuesday I spent time seeking the advice of experts. Late on Wednesday we started cancelling events. I suspect your week unfolded along similar lines. I have not had much time to reflect, but I have found myself praying that we move towards the kind of cultural softness we enjoyed in the days after 9/11. I am also hoping that we follow in the path of our Third Century predecessors. I am speaking about those who were so loving that the pagan Emperor Julian complained about the way they were winning people away from the Roman gods. He wrote:

“Atheism [I.e. the Christian faith!] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.”

Worshipping in the Time of a Pandemic: One of the documents I turned to this week was C. S. Lewis’s sermon Learning in Time of War. On the eve of WWII, Lewis—a WWI vet—was asked to address a group of Oxford students. The question he was asked to answer was: should I remain a student when the world is collapsing? You can read excerpts of his sermon here. Two aspects of what he said have stayed with me over the years: 1) as Christians we are always in a battle, so if something is not worth doing during a period of war, it is never worth doing, and 2) war does nothing to increase the likelihood of death. It simply clarifies what faces us.

Five Questions: The answers to five questions shape our life. We may or may not have given them much thought, but we have answers for them all the same—and those answers profoundly shape us.

1. Who am I or what am I?  Am I the accidental exhaust of the random collision of space, time, and chance? Am I a created being, made by an all-powerful personal God and endowed with purpose and meaning? Or am I something in between?
2. What is the greatest good? What ultimately matters? Does the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob exist? Or am I the greatest good? Is love? Pleasure? Something else?
3. What is expected of me? What does the good life look like? If there is no god, then it would appear as though my only thoughtful options are nihilism (saying nothing matters), existentialism (saying nothing matters but acting like some things do) or hedonism (I am going to eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we die). If there is a god who made me and I am going to be assessed by Him, on what exactly will I be assessed?
4. What happens when I die? Is what we see all we get or do I live on? And if I live on, do I come back in this world as something else—i.e. am I reincarnated? Or is the Bible right when it says that we die once and after that face judgment?
5. And finally, where do I go to get answers to these questions? Do I look inside my heart? Is the answer based on reason? Science? Philosophy? A book? Has God revealed His plan in some way? How do I know what I know?

I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.

Psalm 3

Psalm 3 is a favorite of mine. For starters, though I seldom struggle with fear, there are days when it feels like I have ten thousand problems. Secondly, I take comfort knowing that David wrote this while fleeing from Absalom – which means, he wrote this while facing problems of his own doing. The older I get, the more I realize, most of my headaches are my own fault. But the deepest comfort I find here comes from the reminder to relocate my hope in God. In Him we find a peace that overcomes pandemics, market losses and whatever else the 24-news cycle is screaming about.

Mental Health: As previously noted, Christ Church received a small grant to explore the church and mental health. This has me paying attention to things I otherwise would not, such as this video by rap artist Nathan Feurstein.  NF – whose songs have been used by the NFL, etc., happens to be a Christian who openly struggles with mental illness.

Anxiety:  Speaking of mental illness, some now argue that anxiety is rising in parallel with cell phone use.

Max McLean does C.S. Lewis:  Over the last twenty years, Max McLean – the founder of the Fellowship of Performing Arts (a NYC- based, Christian group) – has produced several C.S. Lewis related one and two man productions. I had previously attended his works on The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce. This week I saw, The Most Reluctant Convert. If you get a chance to attend one of these, do. MacLean brings Lewis to life.

Corrections Run on Page Two: The long-standing joke about the New York Times is that they never run corrections on page one. And that is because their mistakes are so frequent that they do not constitute news. I don’t mean to pick on The Gray Lady, I’m just noting that the Update’s format doesn’t allow me to bury anything on page two. And each week I need to provide a correction – or at least a clarification – on what I wrote previously. This week I need to note that polygamy is only one expression of polyamory. The former refers to one husband with multiples wives; the latter refers to “intimate relationships with more than one partner with the consent of all involved.” For more on this, you can read this CT article.

Since I Have Doubled Back: I received another thoughtful comment about what to say when a friend is in crisis. This comes from a woman whose friends were silent when her daughter was struggling. She wrote to say that her experience taught her that, “even if I am terribly uncomfortable or uncertain about what to say, to say nothing is cruel. All I ever needed anyone to say was ‘I’m so sorry’. They didn’t need to ask for details, which I was in too much pain to provide. If one of them had said ‘I realize something is happening in your family and I’m sorry. I’m thinking of or praying for you’ that would have been enough.”

CORONA 2.0:  As COVID-19 flirts with the pandemic label, an MD friend of mine – who is a travel-medicine expert by training – is among those who think Americans need not panic despite what the media is suggesting. He expects the rate of confirmed US cases to rapidly increase in the next couple weeks, but notes that, given lower mortality rates in developed countries, at least 2 million Americans would need to be infected with Coronavirus in order for the number of deaths to equal those who will die of “regular flu” this year. BTW, even those numbers would not begin to approach the flu pandemic of 1918, where more than 50M died globally (675K in the US). I am thankful for those who fight infectious disease – and Christ Church is taking all recommended precautions – but this is beginning to feel like Y2K. And lest we forget, while the CDC is telling us to wash our hands, Jesus calls us to more. His followers are instructed to “fear not” and to “care for the sick.”

Want to Grow Spiritually: One of the surest ways to grow closer to Christ is to share your faith with others. Such a step leads to more diligent personal Bible reading, more focused prayer, more heartfelt worship and a greater dependence on His Spirit.

All Will Be Known: From time to time, someone laments that Google knows our search histories and that VISA knows our spending habits. Along these lines, a recent Atlantic piece notes that historians will soon know what the Vatican did – or did not do – to thwart Hitler. The gist of all this is, our secrets will not remain hidden. I understand the fear. Being fully exposed is a scary proposition. But it’s not Google, VISA or The Atlantic Monthly I fear. It’s God. Thankfully, in Christ I am fully known and fully loved. He already knows the worst, and He loves me all the same.

Death by Another Name: Not that long ago we graduated to glory. Today people pass, slip away, loose the battle or succumb.

Without Comment: 

• Over the last couple decades, the number of Nones – i.e., those who claim no religious affiliation climbed to twenty percent of the US population. Scholars recently noted that this trend appears to be leveling off. Apparently Generation Z is “more religious” than Millennials.
• According to the Center for the study of Global Christianity, the global number of Christian martyrs fell by half in the last decade – from 1.6M Christians killed in the 2000s to 800,000 killed in the 2100s.
• According to Gallup, eight out of ten Americans say religion is at least fairly important in their daily lives, and among unchurched Americans, one in five reads the Bible every day and seven in ten pray at least once in a typical week.

Quotes Worth ReQuoting: “If you want to summarize the changes in family structure over the past century, the truest thing to say is this: We’ve made life freer for individuals and more unstable for families.” David Brooks

Closing Prayer:  Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, That my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, That my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, That I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, To defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, That I always may be holy. Amen. Saint Augustine (354-430)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and

went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Many of us are good at being busy. And proud of it as well. That is understandable, because business has a certain validating effect. But we might want to rethink things. For starters, being busy takes little skill. What is impressive is not being busy. Secondly, the life we want involves living joyously in the presence of God.  This is harder than being busy, and ifJesus is our model, it may involve getting up early. Most of us would rather sleep in.

What to Say: Last week I passed along advice about what to say when a friend is in crisis. Several of you responded. The comments of a woman who cares for her 41-year-old severely disabled daughter were the most helpful. Over the years she has heard it all, including:  “It’s too bad she lived and doesn’t have much of a life,” and “You should put her in a home, it would be better for her and for you.” And of course the standard, “I know what you’re going through.”  In light of all this she wrote: “Thankfully, right from the beginning God gave me the wisdom to respond respectfully, knowing that those speaking were just uncomfortable with my daughter’s situation and didn’t know what to say.” What she appreciates hearing most is, “I’m sorry for your loss. I’m here if you need anything.”  May we all respond so well, and if we are the one suffering, may we be as kind to those who “are just uncomfortable and do not know how to respond.”

What’s On Deck: As anyone paying attention knows, traditional sexual ethics have been on the wane since the 60s. Not everyone has jettisoned them – and as this article notes, those who adhere to more traditional norms generally fare better than those who do not. But even those with conservative economic values often have liberal sexual views. Which has left me wondering, what’s next? The answer: polyamory. The Utah Senate recently unanimously voted to decriminalize polygamy. And TV shows on the topic –Sister Wives and Big Love, etc. – have become common place.

Judgement: Last weekend I preached on 2 Corinthians 5:10, which reads,“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  As topics go, judgment is less popular than the Coronavirus, so you may not be interested in the message. But if you are, click here. And if you want to watch something related, Pete Briscoe delivers a powerful 1 hour and 45 minute dramatic presentation of judgment. It’s much better than it sounds, and I suspect much better for you than other things you might watch. For Briscoe’s presentation, click here.

What Would Jesus Say?  Speaking of sermons, I got a call this week from someone looking for a sermon I preached back in 2008.  It created a bit of a buzz, giving me my 15 minutes of Warholian fame. The sermon was titled, “What Would Jesus Say When the Dow drops 700 points. You can access it here.

Tragic:  After noting how much rises and falls on leadership, the President of Christianity Today observed that: 1) the evangelical church produces and consumes lots of material on leadership, and yet, 2) many evangelical leaders are failing as leaders. Did I label this, “Tragic”?  Perhaps I should have called it “Ironic”.

Was the Nuclear Family a Mistake?: Last month, New York Times columnist David Brooks published an essay in The Atlantic called, “The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake.” As you might expect, he offers a number of insights, many of which are unsettling.  You can read his piece here, and you can read Bradford Wilcox’s response here. If you read the first, read the second. If you are only going to read one, read the second.

Honor or Humility: Before Jesus elevated humility, what mattered most was power. Consequently, there was no shame in doing whatever was necessary to get it. (Indeed, the only real reason for shame was being weak.) It seems as though those who are moving away from Christ’s call to humility are making increasingly brazen grabs for power.

Allow me to Rant: The other day I was discussing the likelihood that churches will soon lose their tax-exempt status. I acknowledged that this was likely to happen but was arguing that it was a bad idea. The person I was talking to – to whom I may or may not be related – felt that taxing churches is the right thing to do. When I noted that economic studies suggest that a church of 200 adds about $2M in value to a local community and listed the things churches do outside their walls  – e.g., volunteer in public schools, care for the homeless, counsel struggling couples, provide care to shut ins, run free legal clinics, etc. etc. – he said, “Well I didn’t know that churches did any of that.”  I said the only way to not know what churches are doing is to not want to know. I may or may not have called him an idiot.

Thoughts About the Coronavirus: One of the “Monsters Under the Bed” I wrote about in FutureView was pandemics.  Given the scary things I heard about them, what has happened with COVID-19 is mild. In fact, I know one doctor who thinks the hysteria surrounding the virus is our biggest threat. (He fears that the hospitals will end up overrun with healthy patients wanting to be sure they are healthy, making it impossible to provide adequate care to those who are truly sick. Given the Dows recent plunge, others may disagree.  As a pastor, I know little about any of this, but I do recognize unhealthy fear when I see it – and that is ultimately an unhealthy fear of death. No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.

Closing Prayer:  Lord Jesus, our Savior, let us now come to you: Our hearts are cold; Lord, warm them with your selfless love. Our hearts are sinful; cleanse them with your precious blood. Our hearts are weak; strengthen them with your joyful Spirit. Our hearts are empty; fill them with your divine presence. Lord Jesus, our hearts are yours; possess them always and only for yourself. Amen. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

It is fitting for the upright to praise him.

New Hampshire: Every four years, New Hampshire is in the spot light. Lest you think this momentary fame – and spectacular fall colors – is all New Hampshirites have going for them, think again. Their state motto is Live Free or Die. Surely no other state has a motto so cool. I like Land of Lincoln, but I’d rather have Live Free or Die on my license plate any day.

Love Your Enemies: A few years ago, I was moved by a talk Anthony Brooks gave about contempt. His thinking later became a book, Love Your Enemies. Last week it was the substance of his address at the National Prayer Breakfast. If you have not heard these remarks, you need to. They are here.

U2 Meets Gospel Choir:  This pleasant surprise was recently sent my way. Click here to jump back twenty years and hear Bono and the Harlem Gospel Choir join their voices on, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. 

Bonus Time: This past week, Alec Hill – the past president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship – spoke at Christ Church. His topic was living in bonus time, which is the title of his new book on surviving cancer. I recommend listening to the sermon here. BTW, you can order the book here. And you should. Forty percent of people will have cancer, and 100 percent of people will deal with someone they love who has cancer.

An Existential Slap: Alec described his cancer as an Existential Slap – a term coined by Nessa Coyle (a palliative care leader) that is every bit as cool as New Hampshire’s motto. Life ends up divided by Existential Slaps. Have you had one lately? Are you ready if you do?

Without Comment:

• Women have received .01 percent of Best Director nominations in Oscar History.
• There are now more American homes with pets than kids.
• In spite of claims that “religion poisons everything,” Christians give 3.5 times more to charity than their secular peers, volunteer twice as much and are half as likely to engage in domestic violence and 43 other crimes.
• According to a Dartmouth study reported in Psychology Today, the “happiness maximizing number of sexual partners in the past year” was… one.
• Forty-two percent of the 2.06 million jobs created nationally during 2019 were in just 3 states: Texas (343,000), California (310,000) and Florida (212,000).

Keller on the Last Ten Years:  During his first thirty years of ministry, Christians “understood the need to share their faith, but they had to be told to care for the needy (i.e., not just talk about it).” Today, Keller observes that Christians are very involved in helping the poor, but do not often explain that they are doing so because they are following the example of their savior.

Prayer Requests: For various – and obvious – reasons, I have been thinking about the sermons I will preach on Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 – i.e., the Sunday immediately before and immediately after the upcoming Presidential Election.  I am trying to write them now, so I can assure people I am not making any partisan comments. Prayers for insight appreciated.

Matthew Homes: Over the last few years, ReNew Communities – a nonprofit group started by Christ Church – has been mobilizing volunteers to serve in North Chicago. Last week a Chicago TV station reported on the progress growing out of one of the programs. Not everything reported here links directly back to ReNew, but much of it does.

Closing Prayer: O Lord, I do not know what to ask of you. You alone know what are my true needs. You love me more than I myself know how to love. Help me to see my real needs, which are concealed from me. I dare not ask for either a cross or a consolation; I can only wait on you. My heart is open to you. Come to me and help me, for your great mercy’s sake… I put all my trust in you. I have no other desire than to fulfill your will. Teach me how to pray; pray yourself in me. Amen. (The Metropolitan Theodore Philaret of Moscow, 1553 – 1633)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only son.

John 3:16

If these words are a bit shop worn – i.e., if they do not stagger you – you need to slow down and let them do their work. In John 15 we are told that the greatest display of love possible happens when one dies for another. Without suggesting this is not true, I would far rather die than send one of my sons to his death. God the father sent His only son…for you.

Valentine’s Day: Like many “holidays,” Valentine’s Day started as a “holy-day.”
Details are sketchy, but the commemoration seems to pivot around a 3rd century martyr named Valentine, who secretly performed Christian marriage ceremonies for Roman guards. (Emperor Claudius, who opposed Christianity, did not allow his soldiers to marry – believing their entire devotion belonged to Rome). Some think there is more to the story. Perhaps there is. You can read Mike Metzger’s take here. Suffice it to say, discussions about the real meaning of Feb. 14th are more enjoyable if you don’t forget the holiday. Next Friday is Feb. 14th. You’ve been reminded.

Time Will Tell:  Some cultural prognosticators are claiming that Gen Z is pushing back on progressivism. Perhaps. Cultural pendulums swing back and forth. But as a rule, societies start conservative and move left. Serious movement to the right generally only happens because of war or religious revival.

Time Did Tell: Alan Bloom was a prophet. The Closing of the American Mind(1987), his critique of relativism, especially within higher education – was panned when it came out, but now looks prescient. You can read more here.

Speaking of the University: This recent WSJ article notes that identity politics do not wait for college. “The industry that produces baby books, picture books, chapter books and novels read by America’s children and teenagers” is also undergoing ideological capture. Laura Ingalls Wilder (of the Little House on the Prairie fame) is now out of favor with the American Library Association.

Remember your Role: Many approach church as consumers – i.e., as an audience. Kierkegaard reminds us that worshippers are not an audience, nor are pastors entertainers. Instead, “worshippers are performers; pastors are prompters; and God is the audience.”

The State of Men: I was aware that men are confused. Nevertheless, I was surprised by how many are flailing: 1) this chart compares men versus women; 2) this WSJ article notes that – as of last week – women now outnumber men in the US workforce; 3)  and this long article from National Affairs shows how long this trend has been developing.

Without Comment:

• Democratic professors outnumber Republicans nine to one.
• Half of all Americans have two or fewer confidants with whom they can share their deepest desires or fears; 25% report there is no one they could talk to about such things; 47% report having no meaningful in-person human interaction on a daily basis. And, this topic’s most disconcerting stat, emerging generations are the loneliest.
• Prior to Washington State’s decision to legalize recreational marijuana, 8% of drivers involved in fatal crashes tested positive for THC. That rate has since doubled.

Andy Reid for President: Last Sunday – i.e., America’s High Holy Day – the NFL celebrated 100 years and the Super Bowl had 102 million viewers. If you watched you know that the game was better than the commercials – though I liked this one – and the Half Time show was another interesting window into our national norms. Let me join the chorus of those celebrating Andy Reid. The moment I am most likely to remember came late in the fourth quarter. The Chief’s needed a first down to avoid giving SF another shot. On the third down, Damien Williams not only got the first down, he scored a touchdown – sealing the Chief’s win. It was a high drama moment, but as the cameras scanned the Chief’s sideline, the one person not celebrating was Reid. Instead, he was signaling the plan to go for one extra point not two. I love the look of calm leadership. Let everyone else cheer. Someone needs to call the next play.

Coronavirus and the Church: As the infection spreads and the death toll climbs, it’s worth reminding ourselves that the early church grew in part because of the willingness of Christ’s followers to care for the sick. And they did this even when it put them at risk of infection and death. This frustrated Roman Emperor Julian, who lamented how many Roman citizens were being lead away from Roman gods. He wrote: “Atheism [i.e. the Christian faith!] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.” If you want to read more about this, you can read a Christianity Today article here, or a summary of Rodney Stark’s book –The Rise of Christianity – here.

Closing Prayer:  O Lord Jesus Christ, I long to live in your presence, to see your human form and to watch you walking on earth. I do not want to see you through the darkened glass of tradition, nor through the eyes of today’s values and prejudices. I want to see you as you were, as you are, and as you always will be. I want to see you as an offense to human pride, as a man of humility, walking amongst the lowliest of men, and yet as the savior and redeemer of the human race. Amen. (Soren Kierkegaard, 1813 – 1855)

God guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 

Psalm 25:9

Many ask, “How can I know God’s will?” Psalm 25 suggests that humility is critical. The real question may be less, “How does God guide?” but, “Who does God guide?”

Ending Well: Many pastors end poorly. Last Friday I attended a two-hour celebration for one who ended well. Like other organizations, churches take on the personality of long-time leaders. That can be a blessing or a curse. In this case, it’s a blessing: the congregation loves Christ and has an irenic spirit, just like their retiring pastor. In his brief comments at the end of the night, the pastor said, “there is a difference between being famous and being loved. I am so thankful to be loved.” May his tribe increase!

Influence: The departing pastor made another comment worth pondering. He noted that influence is an odd thing. “Someone says or does something, and then forgets about it. The other person is moved by what was said (or done), and reflects on it often. It shapes their path. When the first person hears this, they are humbled. They can hardly take credit for it. They do not even remember saying it.” May we all be mindful of our influence.

Time Races By: It turns out the pace of life has increased, and 2012 was a pivot point. That was the year smartphones became the norm, high-speed internet popped up everywhere and websites started to be designed for mobile devices. So, yes, the pace is now faster. By the way, in case you blinked, we are now one-fifth of the way through the twenty-first century.

Quotes Worth ReQuoting:

• For the essence of sin is a man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. John Stott

• All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring

• Above all else, trust the slow work of God. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Wright on Worship:  N.T. Wright offers some helpful insights on idolatry and worship. “One of the primary laws of human life is that you become like what you worship; what’s more, you reflect what you worship, not only to the object itself but also outward to the world around. Those who worship money increasingly define themselves in terms of it and increasingly treat other people as creditors, debtors, partners, or customers rather than as human beings. Those who worship sex define themselves in terms of it (their preferences, their practices, their past histories) and increasingly treat other people as actual or potential sex objects. Those who worship power define themselves in terms of it and treat other people as either collaborators, competitors, or pawns. These and many other forms of idolatry combine in a thousand ways, all of them damaging to the image-bearing quality of the people concerned and of those whose lives they touch.”

Pain Management:  A surgeon recently noted that today’s patients are less prepared for pain than in the past. “I tell them, ‘I am going to prescribe enough pain meds to make your post-op discomfort manageable.’ But I stress that ‘you will be in some pain.’ Many have virtually no tolerance for any discomfort, and they express their frustration in the post-op patient survey they fill out.” Both our decreasing tolerance of pain and a surgeon’s concern over patients’ post-op surveys are lamentable.

Knuth 2.0: After last week’s entry about Knuth – the computer mastermind who quit email in the 90s “after 15 years of using it” – more than a few of you pinged me. “There is no way this guy quit email in the ‘90s after 15 years of using it. It wasn’t around before the 90s.” Well, email may not have been around for you and me, but it was for bleeding-edge code-jockeys working in Silicon Valley. You can read more about Knuth, his legacy and his other time management hacks in this NYT piece, The Yoda of Silicon Valley.

Without (Much) Comment:

• According to Nielsen, twice as many people watched The Young and the Restless as watched the impeachment trial last week. (There is a joke to be made about competing soap operas, but I am not going to go there).
• When JFK ran for president in 1960, he was criticized for his outlandish spending on the campaign. Humphrey was particularly incensed that Kennedy spent $72K on radio ads in Wisconsin. JFK defended himself by noting that Eisenhower had spent $2.5M on his campaign. In today’s dollars, Eisenhower had spent about $20M. By way of reference: Trump spent $1B in 2016, and Hillary spent $1.5B.
• The percentage of American workers in a union today is 10%, compared to 29% in 1964.
• A study published last year found that just over 42 percent of Democrats and Republicans view the opposition as “downright evil.”
• The average person makes 35,000 decisions a day.

Prayer Requests:  We are approaching the launch of a new campus in Vernon Hills. Starting a new church is a lot of fun, a lot of work and an act of war. Prayers are appreciated.

Changes are Coming: I have been writing these emails for a few years now. They are due for a makeover. In the next few months you can expect some changes. If you have suggestions, send them my way.

Closing Prayer:  My Lord God, my all in all, Life of my life, and Spirit of my spirit, look in mercy on me and so fill me with your Holy Spirit that my heart has no room for love of anything but you. I ask from you no other gift but yourself, for you are the giver of life and all its blessings. From you I ask not for the world or its treasures, neither do I beg for heaven. I desire and long for you alone, and where you are, there is heaven. Amen. Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889 – 1929)

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.

Psalm 136:1

Every verse in Psalm 136 points to a truth listed elsewhere in Scripture. The genius of this meditation is the writer’s commitment to turn these truths into praise. Insight is not enough. Obedience is not enough. Knowing about God is not enough. We are called to worship.

Why: The command to worship raises questions, starting with, “Why?”. C.S. Lewis once worried that the Bible’s instruction to praise God suggested that, “God was a megalomaniac,” who needed adulation to fuel His ego. He later realized that God did not need our affirmation any more than Lewis needed his dog “to bark approval of my books”. We are not instructed to worship God in order to prop Him up. We are instructed to worship God because it is the only sane response to who God is. Also, we are prodded to worship God because in doing so, it helps rightly order our loves – which is a requirement for a life rightly lived.

Email Boycott:  In 1990, celebrated mathematician (and Turing Award winner) Donald Knuth retired from email. A few years ago he celebrated that decision, noting that “15 years of email was plenty for one lifetime.” Knuth went on to add, “Email is wonderful for people whose role is to be on top of things, but my role is to be on the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration.”

Avoiding Quarrels:  According to recent surveys, 93% of Americans believe we have a civility problem, and 63% think the anonymity of social media makes it worse. Reminder: Jesus calls us to go directly to those with whom we disagree (Mt 5:23f; 18:15). Imagine if everyone chose “to speak evil of no one, avoided quarreling, was gentle, and showed perfect courtesy toward all people” (Mt. 5:23f, 18:1 and Titus 3:2).

Quotes Worth ReQuoting:  When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly that evil is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good; a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. C.S. Lewis

RIP: Christopher Tolkien – the youngest son of J.R.R., and the editor of his posthumously published works since his death in 1973 – has died.

Without Comment:

• The percentage of Democrats and Republicans who would be displeased if their child married someone of the opposite party has escalated tenfold since 1960.

• Since Roe v. Wade became law, nearly sixty-two million babies have been aborted in America. Last year’s number of 862K was the lowest number since abortion became legal.

• According to the World Economic Forum, “religious Americans volunteer more, give more and give more often, not only to religious, but secular causes as well. Among Americans who give to any cause, 55 percent claim religious values as an important motivator for giving.”

A Correction: Last week I lamented some changing “morays” – see here.  This led several alert readers to highlight my error. The most clever responded: When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amoré; When you swim in the creek and an eel bites your cheek, that’s a moray. I am not likely to forget it.  BTW, when discussing cultural norms, it’s neither amoré nor moray, it’s morés.

Dr. King’s Legacy: Fifty years after his death, most now view MLK as a political leader fighting for civil rights. Yes, but he was also much more. If you listen to what he said, you hear him calling people to Christ-centered faith as the basis for a “beloved community.”

For more than three centuries American Negroes have been battered by the iron rod of oppression, frustrated by day and bewildered by night by unbearable injustice, and burdened with the ugly weight of discrimination.

Forced to live with these shameful conditions, we are tempted to become bitter and to retaliate with a corresponding hate. But if this happens, the new order we seek will be little more than a duplicate of the old order. We must in strength and humility meet hate with love.

Of course, this is not practical: Life is a matter of getting even, of hitting back, of dog-eat-dog. Am I saying that Jesus commands us to love those who hurt and oppress us? Do I sound like most preachers — idealistic and impractical? You say, “Maybe in some distant Utopia that idea will work, but not in the hard, cold world in which we live.”

My friends, we have followed the so-called practical way for too long a time now, and it has led inexorably to deeper confusion and chaos. Time is cluttered with the wreckage of communities which surrendered to hatred and violence. For the salvation of our nation and the salvation of mankind, we must follow another way. This does not mean that we abandon our righteous efforts. With every ounce of our energy, we must continue to rid this nation of the incubus of segregation. But in the process, we shall not relinquish our privilege and our obligation to love. While abhorring segregation, we shall love the segregationist. This is the only way to create the beloved community.

To our most bitter opponents, we say: “We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you.

Pray for China: Things are deteriorating for Christians in China. Missionaries are leaving (or being kicked out); Sunday School classes are being closed; and in some areas, house meetings (i.e., Bible Studies) with more than five people are being forbidden.

Institutional Focus:  I’ve noticed a growing movement in defense of institutions. Yuval Levin’s recent NYT’s piece – How Did America Lose Faith in Everything? – should be added to that list. I agree with much of what Levin writes, but I think he misses the main point. In Charles Malik’s A Christian Critique of the University, Malik argues that seven institutions shape the world – the family, the church, the state, the marketplace, the professions, the media, and the university. He then argues that the University is the most important because it shapes the other six. Much has changed since A Christian Critique was published, and I am not sure Malik’s thesis holds up. However, the bigger point is, since he wrote the book, two institutions have lost ground – the family and the church – and two have gained – the state and the marketplace. It’s not just that we need strong institutions. We need the right institutions to grow stronger.

Closing Prayer:  Grant me, even me, my dearest Lord, to know you, and love you, and rejoice in you. And, if I cannot do these perfectly in this life, let me at least advance to higher degrees every day, until I can come to do them in perfection. Let the knowledge of you increase in me here, that it may be full hereafter. Let the love of you grow every day more and more here, that it may be perfect hereafter; that my joy may be full in you. I know, O God, that you are a God of truth, O make good your gracious promises to me, that my joy may be full; to your honor and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Augustine)

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The Apostle John

For years, I misunderstood the term Quantum Leap. I thought it meant a big move. Not really. Quantum is a particle physics’ term denoting the smallest move possible. The power of the term comes from the idea that a small move can have a large impact. In a similar manner, I long misunderstood I John 1:9. I thought it meant, “If I confess my sins, God will be merciful and forgive me.” No. What the text says is, “If we confess our sins, God will be just and forgive us.” Justice and mercy are miles apart. The power of this passage lies in realizing that when we confess our sins, Christ pays our debt. And from that point on it would be wrong of God to continue to hold it against us.
Perspective and Courage: There are days when I think I work hard. Really hard. Perhaps not suffering-level hard, but close. And then I regain my perspective. This report on the persecution of Christians around the world, and this passage (2 Cor. 11:23-29) in which Paul recounts his imprisonments, beatings, stonings and more help keep things in perspective. My Mondays can be bad, but seldom are they that bad.

The State of Contradiction: A new report highlights the curious contrast between values we espouse and those we practice. In particular, it notes that many of today’s liberal elite advocate unchecked sexual freedoms yet live in traditional marriages. Normally we call others to a higher standard than we practice. (You need to obey the speed limit, even while I go 10 miles over it.). This is the opposite. Those in this group champion the right of others to drive 100 mph, while they keep it under 55. Those who read Charles Murray (The Bell Curve, Losing Ground, etc.) ten years ago are familiar with some of this. What is new in the most recent report is the observation that both Californians and college professors are among those living far more traditional lives than one would suspect.

Thankful: By the way, I am glad to learn that more people are practicing traditional sexual morays than we might think, because I believe people (especially children) flourish best under God’s plan. I am also thankful I do not live in Europe. As with most cultural issues, they are further down the road than we are. Today, very few of the European Union heads of State ever married or raised children. I find that unsettling. You want a president or prime minister to have a big stake in the future. Nothing makes you think more soberly about the longer-term impact of your decisions than having children and grandchildren.

Did You Want Fries with That?  The Internet recently lit up following Burger Kings’ job offer to Harry and Meghan. “Dear Dukes: If you’re looking for a job, we have a new crown for you.” And “this royal family offers part-time positions.”

It’s Not Necessarily About Less Stuff Either:  Many now embrace Marie Kondo’s practical – and quasi-spiritual – advice for uncluttering their life. I see the attraction of minimalism and suspect many of us would be better off with less stuff. But neither owning more nor owning less is the path to deep joy. We are not able to clean the mess in our hearts by having an organized sock drawer.

Unity has Always Been Hard: Those who know history realize that this cultural moment is not our most toxic. (There was a Civil War after all.) But most think our divisions now run pretty deep and are lamenting as much. It may be helpful to remember that unity has always been hard. In Psalm 133 we read: How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity… It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. In case you are not familiar with Middle East geography, Mount Hermon is in the north and Zion is urban south. For the dew of the first to reach the second would be a miracle.

Quotes Worth ReQuoting:

• Your actions speak louder than your intentions. Carey Nieuwhof

• I was given the impression that Jesus was a gentle creature…Then I looked at the New Testament. There I found an account, not in the least of a person with his hair parted in the middle or his hands clasped in appeal, but an extraordinary being with lips of thunder and acts of lurid decision, casting out devils, passing with the wild secrecy of the wind.… He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell. He said such weak and innocuous things as ‘I’ve come to set the earth on fire.’ The diction used about Christ has been, perhaps wisely, sweet and submissive. But the diction used by Christ is quite curiously gigantesque, it is full of camels leaping through needles and mountains hurled into the sea.” G.K. Chesterton

Please Pray for Puerto Rico. Christ Church just postponed our second work trip to PR because of safety concerns related to the ongoing earth tremors.  It is hard to imagine the ongoing hardships being faced by the people there.

The Baby Dearth: Just before FutureView went to press two years ago, I pulled a chapter on the coming population implosion. Early readers thought it was too dark and controversial and I decided they were right. More is being written about the challenges ahead of us. National Review’s article, “The Global Fertility Crisis,” is worth a quick read.

Closing Prayer:  Lord! Going out from this silence, teach me to be more alert, humble, expectant, than I have been in the past: ever ready to encounter you in quiet, homely ways: in every appeal to my compassion, every act of unselfish love which shows up and humbles my imperfect love, may I recognize you: still walking through the world. Give me that grace of simplicity which alone can receive your mystery. Come and abide with me! Meet me, walk with me! Enlighten my mind! And then, come in! Enter my humble life with its poverty and its limitations as you entered the stable of Bethlehem, the workshop of Nazareth, the cottage of Emmaus. Bless and consecrate the material of that small and ordinary life. Feed and possess my soul. Amen. (Evelyn Underhill, 1875-1941)