Godliness with contentment is great gain.
The Apostle Paul in his first letter to Timothy

In a sermon a few weeks back, I noted that we all want to be content. I also explored how illusive contentment is outside of a deepening relationship with God. In this Atlantic Monthly article, the author notes that Americans have much larger (and nicer homes) than fifty years ago, but “home happiness” is flat. In this article, Gary Thomas reflects on how many blessings we take for granted – such as a bed.  By the way, being thankful isn’t just a good idea, it’s a command: “Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18).

Listening to Our Prayers: What do you pray for? And what does that tell you about your heart? If your deepest desires are not principally for more of God, then what we are asking for is something we esteem more highly than Him. And that is called idolatry.

Caution: One of the easiest times to sin is when we are sinned against – e.g., it is challenging to be around hateful people and not hate and it is hard to be around toxic people and not get angry. (As an aside, toxic people are almost always better at being toxic than we are at being wise and loving). My point is, we never feel more justified doing evil than when we are self-righteously confronting evil.

What is a Father? The joke is, a Dad is a man who carries a pictures of his children in his billfold, right next to where his money used to be. While I am talking about Dads, happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there. And you can click here to read Brad Wilcox’s recent testimony before congress on the importance of Fathers in the lives of their children.

The Prayer of Examen: Soren Kierkegaard once noted that “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” This poses a problem both for those who want to understand things before acting, and also for those who do not take the time to reflect on the past. The historical solution for the second point has been called the Prayer of Examen. It is often practiced at night by recollecting the activities, conversations, encounters, and emotions of the day. By replaying these events in our mind – under the direction of the Holy Spirit – we can grow to understand ourselves more fully, and also to grow. You can click here for a brief article on the Prayer of Examen.

Money or Mammon?:  When does money become more than money? Tim Keller suggests it has an unhealthy grip on our heart if: 1) We cannot give large amounts of it away; 2) we get scared if you might have less than we’re accustomed to having; 3) we see people who are doing better than us — even though we may have worked harder or might be a better person — and it gets under our skin. If any of these are true, money is no longer just a tool; it has become the scorecard.  He also notes that no matter how much money you have — though it’s not intrinsically evil – money has incredible power to keep you from God.

This Year’s Rolling Stones Concert is Sponsored By …:  If you take in a Stones concert this summer, expect to hear commercials about managing your retirement income. The sole sponsor of this year’s tour is The Alliance for Lifetime Income. It makes sense, after all, Mick and Keith are both 75. (It all makes one wonder, will they still be touring when they are 80?)

Character’s Comeback: Leaders across the ideological spectrum agree we need more “character formation.” If you read between the lines you realize that there is less alignment over what constitutes character than we might like, but most everyone agrees that the weakening of traditional institutions and a culture that promotes me > we and pleasure > purpose is not doing a great job of promoting moral wisdom.

Quotes Worth ReQuoting:

• If your conception of God is radically false, the more devout you are, the worse it will be for you, better you be an atheist. William Temple

• It is our option to look to the greatness and goodness of God and what He will do in our lives. Peace is the assurance that things will turn out well. We no longer strive, inwardly or outwardly, to create some outcome. To be at peace with God and others is a great attainment and depends on graces far beyond ourselves and our own efforts. Even in cases where struggle exists between others and me, there does not have to be a struggle within me. I may have to resist others, but I do not have to make things come out right. I do not have to be mad at those whose course of action I resist. Dallas Willard

Closing Prayer: Lord, you know those who are sore stricken and heavy of heart. As their days, so let their strength be. Heal the sick, comfort the weary, succor the tempted, give peace to the dying and light at eventide. Watch over us who are still in our dangerous voyage, and remember such as lie exposed to the rough storms of trouble and temptations. Frail is our vessel, and the ocean is wide; but as in your mercy you have set our course, so steer the vessel of our life toward the everlasting shore of peace, and bring us at length to the quiet haven of our heart’s desire, where you, O our God, are blessed, and live and reign for ever and ever. [Amen.] -Augustine (354-430)

We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.
Daniel

Virtually every prominent character in the Old Testament sinned. Often in spectacular ways. The exception is Daniel, who was not without all sin (only Jesus fits in that camp), but who comes across as a loyal, faithful man. This lack of known sin makes his prayer of confession in Daniel 9 notable. While praying about the sins of the people he includes himself in their wickedness. This makes little sense to hyper-individualistic Americans, but it makes sense given Daniel’s understanding that a relationship with God is not just personal. God calls his people into community. Commenting on all of this, Skye Jethani writes:  “I am very eager to accept the benefits of modern American society even though I am personally responsible for virtually none of them, but I’m incredibly reluctant to own the sins of modern American society. I am quick to point my finger at the ungodliness in American history and the sin which is still present around me—greed, racism, imperialism, dehumanization, etc—because I have not directly engaged in these evils. Yet I am most certainly the beneficiary of them.” Confession, at least in its biblical form, cannot be an individual exercise even when practiced alone. It must always be done with our community in mind.

One More Time: At the risk of being dismissed as a one-note crank, I am including yet another article about the world’s – and the US’s – dropping population rate.  This one is by UVA sociologist, W. Bradford Wilcox.

We are All Theologians: The statement, “I don’t need theology, I just need Jesus,” just means you have bad theology.

Commencement Addresses: I’ve heard little about commencement addresses this Spring. My guess is,  universities chose safe (i.e., bland) speakers. As if commencement addresses were not boring enough!

Millennials: Millennials are no longer 25 year-old-upstarts.  The oldest are about to turn forty. For reference: Boomers are 55-75,Gen Xers are 40-54,Millennials (also Gen Y) are currently between 25 and 39. Gen Z (also called Digital Natives) are up next.

Hooray for Zelensky: Politicians of all stripes tend to be a bit, uh, self-important.  In some countries they go so far as demanding that their picture hang in every room. Ukraine’s new president -Volodymyr  Zelensky – is going in a different direction.In his acceptance speech he said, “And please, I really don’t want you to hang my portraits on your office walls.A president is not an icon or an idol. A president is not a portrait. Hang pictures of your children. And before you make any decision, look into their eyes.” Zelensky in 2020.

The Cross: A few months ago, the Supreme Court heard a case about a World War I memorial that prominently featured a cross.  A group claiming the 83 year old monument violated the separation of the church and state clause wanted it removed. I have not been following this case closely enough to know how it will turn out, but I bring it to your attention because of comments made by two of the court’s liberal justices – Kagan and Sotomayor.  In response to the defense’s claim that the cross should remain because it was mere a “secular symbol,”  Justice Kagan – who is Jewish – said,  “It is the foremost symbol of Christianity, isn’t it? It invokes the central theological claim of Christianity, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for humanity’s sins and that he rose from the dead. This is why Christians use crosses as a way to memorialize the dead.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor, added, “Secularizing the cross is blasphemy. It’s not just non-Christians who could be offended by secularizing the cross, she said, “it could be Christians as well.” For more about this story, click here.

7 Times After: As a college pastor, I was often asked, “How do you know if this person is ‘the one?’” I’d say, “If you have serious doubts, slow down.”  But then I’d try to reframe their understanding of marriage, citing two things: 1) a sociology study that showed that most people fell “in love” seven times before getting married AND seven times after. (That is, after they got married they felt a strong attraction to someone other than their spouse on seven different occasions); and 2) Dieterich Bonhoeffer’s line used at the end of a wedding ceremony: “From now on, it’s not your love that sustains your marriage, but your marriage (vows) that sustains your love.”

The Benediction:  Not every church ends their worship services with a benediction, but those that do, do so because the church – i.e., the people of God – are not beingdismissed, they are being sent out.

Closing Prayer: We beg you, Master, be our help and strength. Save those among us who are oppressed, have pity on the lowly, and lift up the fallen. Heal the sick, bring back the straying, and feed the hungry. Release those in prison, lift up those who falter, and strengthen the faint hearted. Let all nations come to know you the one God, with your Son Jesus Christ, and us your people and the sheep of your pasture. Amen.
Clement of Rome (died around 100)

Happy Friday

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.

Proverbs 4

Solomon’s words are those of a father pleading with his sons. He knew how easy it was to chase the wrong thing. He desperately wanted them to seek wisdom and understanding, regardless of the cost.

Managing Expectations:  M. Scott Peck made a name for himself back in the 80s with The Road Less Traveled. Among the things celebrated about the book was its opening line: “Life is difficult.”  I am tempted to say something snarky, like “apparently that was news for many”, but I will not. Instead I will note how much easier trouble is when you expect it. While preparing for this week’s lament service, I read a scholar who noted: if you do not expect tears, you end up crying over two things: the thing that grieves you and the fact that you are crying.

Without Comment: 1) Forty percent of Americans do not have $400 for an emergency expense. Twenty-seven percent could borrow the money (or sell something to come up with it), but the other twelve percent would not be able to raise the full amount. 2) About one in three students who enroll in college never earn a degree. 3) Americans will consume 818 hot dogs every second from Memorial Day to Labor Day. 4) In 2018, more CEOs were ousted for ethical lapses than poor performance. 5) 51% of Americans between the age of 18 and 35 do not have a steady partner. That is up from 35% in 1986.

Quote Worth Requoting: Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate. Rick Warren

Judgment: Two sports legends died this week. Bart Starr and Richard Buckner. Both had remarkable sports careers, but the first is famous for winning the Ice Bowl, and the second for losing the World Series. It seems unfair when a person’s memory is reduced to a single event.  Perhaps I just worry that I will end up being remembered for one of my more idiotic moments. (Of course, that assumes I am remembered at all.)

Prayer Requests: 1) This weekend we continue a study of the Psalms by focusing on lament.  Religious people distrust their feelings. Secular people defer to them. Lament Psalms model a third way – i.e., to pray them.  Please pray that those who are suffering are able to be honest before God and find strength to move forward.  2) Recent elections in India suggest that the those favoring Hindu nationalism may make life harder for anyone who is not a Hindu nationalist.

Resilience: In last Sunday’s sermon on contentment – which you can access here – I made a reference to the declining emotional resilience among many, especially younger Americans. Among the follow up comments I heard, one directed me to a conversation between Tim Elmore (a long-time friend) and Clay Scroggins about just this topic.  You can click here for my notes of their talk, or here to watch the video.

Closing Prayer:  Keep us, O Lord, from the vain strife of words, and grant to us a constant profession of the truth. Preserve us in the faith, true and undefiled, so that we may ever hold fast that which we professed when we were baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; that we may have you for our Father, that we abide in your Son and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. -Hilary of Poitiers (310-368)

Happy Friday

Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.

Acts 16:25

Acts 16 is a chapter I return to often. It is full of an honest description of how hard it can be to get something to happen. As you may know, what makes the quote above so powerful, is what precedes it: Paul and Silas had been beaten and then thrown in jail. Their response: to sing. I used to think they were just that full of joy. I now think, their singing may have been a form of lament. Or, it may have been an effort to shape their heart. Whatever the case, Paul (and Silas) are among those who intentionally managed their hearts in the midst of big struggles.

Practice Makes Permanent: Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does establish patterns – i.e., make permanent. It’s worth noting that almost anything we do once is easier to do a second time. This is true for both virtues and vices. Where are your habits leading you?

Worth Noting: Most organizations adapt their product line to stay current with culture and trends. Very few remain timeless. AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) appears to be nearly timeless. Their approach (meetings, sponsors, accountability, transparency, etc.) remains essentially unchanged.

Worth Reading: I used to be in a lot of discussions about the effect our culture has on boys. And as anyone living in the 21st century, I am often in discussions about tech. Increasingly, I am in lots of discussions about boys and tech. On the first topic, let me link to Naomi Schaefer Riley’s review of Michael Reichert book, How to Raise a Boy. I think Reichert gets it wrong and Riley gets it right. On boys and tech, let me heartily recommend Andy Crouch’s book, The Tech-Wise Family. It’s as much about family as it is tech, and he has insightful things to say about both. I wish this book had been around 30 years ago.

Loving Fools: One of the things I underlined in Crouch’s book was his observation that good families do at least two things: 1) they expose us all to be fools (it’s impossible to live with someone 24×7 and not have your weaknesses on display); and 2) they show us love even when we are foolish.

A Helpful Formula: Grace + Time = Healing

Socialism: I’m still looking for the kind of defense for socialism that Milton Friedman offers for capitalism. Send it if you have it. While I’m on the topic, this past week Gallup released a study announcing that four in ten Americans now identify as socialists. Click here for their report.

Quotes Worth Requoting:

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. —John Stuart Mill

It is no more narrow to claim that one religion is right than to claim that one way to think about all religions — namely that “all religions are equal” — is right. We are all exclusive in our beliefs about religion, but in different ways. Tim Keller

Marriage > Cohabiting: In last week’s Update, I linked to a sixty second video on some implications of our declining birthrate. Some clicked on the next video and found it helpful as well. It notes the advantages children have when their parents are married over those who are living together. Several years ago I preached a sermon spelling out why I think couples are wise to avoid living together before marriage. It was popular among those who were married. And not so popular among those who were not. If you want to read it, it’s here.

Closing Prayer: O Lord God, in whom we live and move and have our being, open our eyes that we may behold your fatherly presence ever about us. Draw our hearts to you with the power of love. Teach us in nothing to be anxious; and when we have done what you have given us to do, help us, O God our Savior, to leave the issue to your wisdom. Take from us all doubt and mistrust. Lift our thoughts up to you, and make us know that all things are possible to us, in and through your Son our Redeemer, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901)

Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!

Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.
Psalm 34:8-10

We Hear What We Feel: I’ve previously lamented the red getting redder and the blue getting bluer. I’ve also complained about how much time it takes to triangulate news stories to figure out what is really happening. It’s worth marveling at how people holding opposing viewpoints can be so certain that they are right and the other is wrong. How do we explain this?  Last week one of the pastors at Christ Church made a keen observation: we hear what we feel. May we all grow in love, patience and the ability to hear well.

Defining Terms: Though I am trying to pretend otherwise, the Presidential election cycle has begun. Indeed, there are now 23 people running for the Democratic nomination. Because I am confused on a few points – such as the difference between socialism and democratic socialism – I went looking for clarification. Here are a few things I stumbled across.  Click here to read a clever review of the various economic models. Click here to see Milton Friedman explain capitalism (and defend greed) to Phil Donahue.

Democratic Socialism 2.0: I am looking for someone to offer the kind of defense for Democratic Socialism that Friedman offers for capitalism. I know that those who call themselves Democratic Socialists argue that Venezuela is not an example of their policies because they advocate Democracy > Authoritarian Rule; and promote Equal Opportunity > Equal Outcomes. I also know that they argue that capitalism is actually infringing on democracy, claiming it’s only the rich who have their voice heard. But I have yet to find a clear explanation of this view. If you know of one, please send it.

Birth Rates: Shortly before FutureView went to print, I removed the chapter on population trends because it was all focus-group readers wanted to talk (make that “fight”) about. In that chapter I noted; 1) that demographers were far less worried about the “population explosion” than the opposite – i.e., while the roller coaster had climbed pretty high (7 billion), and was still climbing higher (perhaps heading to 9 billion), what they were terrified about was the ride down; 2) our declining birth rate was being masked by how much longer everyone was living; 3) the birth rate of some countries was so far below the 2.1 “replacement rate”,  that there was no historical precedent for them to be able to pull out of their “death spiral”.  I had also collected lots of anecdotal information – such as the fact that Japan was selling more diapers for adults than for children. This week I stumbled across a 60 second video overview of the situation.

Hoshea or Joshua: In Numbers 13, we are told that before Moses sent the 12 spies into Israel, he changed Hoshea (whose name means “he saves”) to Joshua (“Yahweh saves”). Joshua later led the children of Israel in ways honoring God. “Yahweh saves” was the theme of his life and leadership. What is your name? Are you depending moston God or on your own efforts?

Repentance: In preparation for this weekend’s sermon on Psalm 51, I have been reading about repentance. As usual, C.S. Lewis makes some of the more helpful observations on this topic. “Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. . . . this process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance.”  He then adds: “This repentance, this willing submission to humiliation and a kind of death, is not something God demands of you before he will take you back and which he could let you off if he chose: it is simply a description of what going back to him is like. If you ask God to take you back without it, you are really asking him to let you go back without going back. It cannot happen.”

Other Quotes Worth Requoting:

• Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbor, and you must love your neighbor. Tim Keller.
• We are fond of talking about ‘liberty’; but the way we end up actually talking of it is an attempt to avoid discussing what is ‘good’. We are fond of talking about ‘progress’; that is a dodge to avoid discussing what is ‘good’. We are fond of talking about ‘education’; that is a dodge to avoid discussing what is ‘good’.  The modern man says, ‘Let us leave all these arbitrary standards and embrace unadulterated ‘liberty’. This is, logically rendered, ‘Let us not decide what is good, but let it be considered good not to decide it.’ G.K. Chesterton

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, we follow you, but we can only come at your bidding. No one can make the ascent without you, for you are our way, our truth, our life, our strength, our confidence, our reward. Be the way that receives us, the truth that strengthens us, the life that invigorates us. Amen  Ambrose

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 16

The Psalms: I recently began a series on the Psalms. The Hebrew title of the book is Tehillim, which means praises. It is often that. In fact, many of the 150 poems focus on God’s amazing character.  And many others – like Psalm 16 listed above – are calls to thank God for what He has done.  But there is a lot more there, and some of what is there is surprising. As one author noted, if we were to give the Psalms a modern title, it would not be, Your Best Life Now. It would be something closer to, Real Life with God.

Failure:  In his new book, The Second Mountain, David Brooks writes, “There are (at least) two kinds of failure. In the first you are good, but other people can’t grasp how good you are. Melville’s Moby Dick sold only 2,300 copies in its first eighteen months and only 5,500 in is first fifty years. It was savaged by reviewers. Some artists have to create the taste by which they will be judged. In the second kind, you fail because you’re not as good as you thought you were, and other people see it.” He goes on to say – we all want to imagine we are the first kind of failure.  But by his estimate, 95% of failures are the second kind.

Singing the Psalms:  To compliment the Psalm series – Honest Reflections – the musicians at Christ Church have composed original songs for each of the Psalms preached. When finished, they will make a CD available. Here are three short videos. The first explains what they are doing, and the second and third are clips from the songs. BTW, here is last week’s sermon on Psalm 103, in which I focused on the Gospel.

The Frog in Boiling Water: Because I keep hearing the claim about the frog – i.e., a frog dropped into boiling water will hop out, but one placed in water that slowly rises in temperature will grow complacent, relax and end up cooked – let me note two things:

• The sociological principle is true. Though we can raise (or lower) things, such as speed limits, without the slippery slope kicking in, moral standards – once relaxed – tend to relax more over time. In other words, some slippery slope arguments are true.
• The story about the frog is not true. If you drop a frog in boiling water, it dies. If you place one in cold water and then slowly raise the temperature, it will hop out.

Les Mis – PBS:  Amidst the Game of Thrones histrionics (I can be dismissive because I’ve never seen the show), a smaller group of us has been dialed into PBS’s serial release of Les Mis. If you’ve read previous Updates, you know that I’ve pushed the book  – and that I’ve seen every movie version I can (and also attended the musical). So, Sheri and I have been watching the PBS roll out week by week. My reaction? Disappointment. It’s still a great story and perhaps this version will redeem itself in future episodes. But for now I’d say, read the book.

Gratitude:  I have included Matthew Henry’s journal entry before, but like Martin Luther King’s Letter’s from a Birmingham Jail, I think it’s worth reading once a year. As you may remember, Henry’s journal entry comes shortly after he was mugged.  He writes, “Let me be thankful, first, because he never robbed me before; second, because although he took my purse, he did not take my life; third, because although he took all I possessed, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

Quotes Worth Requoting:

• A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential. John C. Maxwell

• It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen. George MacDonald

Closing Prayer:  Grant us, even us, O Lord, to know you, and love you and rejoice in you. And if we cannot do these perfectly in this life, let us, at least, advance to higher degrees every day, till we can come to do them in perfection. Let the knowledge of you increase in us 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 our joy may be great in itself and full in you. We know, O God, that you are a God of truth. O make good your gracious promises to us, that our joy may be full. To your honor and glory, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns one God, world without end. Amen. –Augustine

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:11

There is no word in Hebrew for “infinity,” but the concept is present when the Psalmist announces that God has removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west, and His steadfast love is as high as the heavens.

Declining Life Expectancy: Life expectancy in the US has declined for the past 3 years. Given that: 1) no other industrialized nation is seeing this happen; 2) the two biggest killers – heart disease and cancer – are going down; 3) life expectancy of those 80+ is climbing; and 4) the last time it dropped even two years in a row was over sixty years ago, people are alarmed. What is happening? The spike is being caused by a sharp increase in the number of 25 – 45 year old’s who are ending their life via suicide, opioids, other forms of addictions and liver disease.

Meditation: Last week I preached on Psalm 1, which is an atypical Psalm in that it is not a prayer, but rather a meditation on meditation. I fielded enough questions about Christian meditation this week that I feel the need to say more.  If you want to read (or listen) to the sermon, click here. For a longer exploration of Christian meditation, see Tim Keller’s book, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God.(New York: Dutton, 2014).

Our Influx Capacity: I spent last week at Q – the Christian TED conference. One of the presenters, a former Silicon Valley engineer who now works in R & D at Airbus, started by telling us to stop being impressed with self-driving cars and to start getting ready for flying ones. He also said that in order to survive the Fourth Industrial Revolution we need to be able to embrace an “ever-increasing velocity of change.” I suspect this is a techie impressed with tech, but I also fear there is a bit of truth in what he is hyping.

Julian the Apostate.  The early church was famous for their care of the poor, as we are reminded by the great quote from Julian the Apostate. (Note: Julian was no fan of the church, thus the name.) “Atheism [i.e. 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.” (One more note, Julian calls Christians “atheists” and “godless” because they rejected the polytheism of the time).

The Bible Project: If you are not familiar with the Bible Project – thoughtful, brief, animated explanations of various books and biblical concepts – you need to be. It is one of the more unique and helpful resources to pop up in the last few years. Click here to see for yourself.

Without Comment:

• In 1980, 8.6% of first births were to women over 30.  By 2015 this was 31%.
• There are 315,000 Protestant churches in the US and 25,000 Catholic and Eastern Orthodox ones. Somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000 close each year, with about 4,000 new ones starting. In order to match population growth, church planting in the US needs to double.

Death is Not Changing, But Funerals Are:  Aging Baby Boomers are changing funerals, just as they changed everything else they touched. Cremation and services held anywhere but a church are spiking. One of the more troubling things I see is the way much of what is new seems designed to allow people to avoid facing their own mortality. Count me among those who are shocked at how many people are shocked when they face their own death.

$1.2T:  According to an article recently published in The Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, “religious organizations spend $9.2 billion on social programs annually, and deliver a staggering $1.2 trillion in benefit to the US economy.”

Quotes Worth Requoting:

• We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it. Madeleine L’Engle

• We have not the right to despair because despair is a sin, and we have not the reason to despair quite simply because Christ is risen. Richard John Neuhaus.

Closing Prayer:  O Lord our God, teach us, we ask you, to ask you aright for the right blessings. Steer the vessel of our life toward yourself, you tranquil haven of all storm-tossed souls. Show us the course wherein we should go. Renew a willing spirit within us. Let your Spirit curb our wayward senses, and guide and enable us unto that which is our true good, to keep your laws, and in all our works evermore to rejoice in your glorious and gladdening presence. For yours is the glory and praise from all your saints, for ever and ever. Amen. –Basil the Great (330-379)

Happy Friday

I have set the Lord continually before me — Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

The Value of Scripture Memory: The Gospels contain 1,800 verses of Jesus speaking. Ten percent are quotes from the Old Testament. In other words, ten percent of the things said by the Word of God were already the Word of God. Are ten percent of your comments quotes from the Bible? One percent? Point zero one percent? Point zero, zero one percent? BTW, when Jesus was being tempted by Satan, His responses all came from Deuteronomy.

Partyism: A 2017 Stanford study found that Americans now consider their political identity more important than race, religion, or ethnicity. In fact, 49% of Republicans and 33% of Dems say they would object to one of their children marrying someone from the other party. These percentages are up from 5% of Republicans and 4% of Dems who held similar objections back in 1960.

Rwanda: I had a chance to meet a genocide survivor this past week.  During the massacre, one of her hands was cut off. Additionally, her sister (and her sister’s family) were all killed.  Though unthinkable, she eventually chose to forgive. Fifteen years later she is now friends – and business partners – with those who killed her family. One of the most interesting things she said was that today, no one in Rwanda identifies as Hutu or Tutsi. “We are all just Rwandans.”

Humility: John Zahl at Mockingbird, wrote a Lent piece I am late looking at, but it’s worth quoting from: “Today it seems most voices in the Church (at least the one to which I belong) seek to advocate a message about the human self that aligns almost exactly with the shallow philosophies proffered in any issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. Cue the preacher who interprets loving your neighbor as yourself as being about, well, loving yourself. Under the auspices of ‘Incarnational’ language, the individual is deified. The true self is equated with the divine, and this is assumed to be a profound approach, and not that of every Montessori teacher/college drop-out. God-as-self is the most basic (#Basic) and misleading path in the world. The pursuit of it is the pursuit of self-interest: spirituality without humility. The assumption seems to be: I must increase so that God might increase.”

Millennials: 22% of Millennials are Prodigals (they have left their faith behind); 30% are Nomads (they have kept their faith but walked away from the church); 38% are Habituals (who attend church but are not very active with their faith outside of church); and only 10% are Resilients.  As a side note, Millennials tend to have higher levels of anxiety, but that is not true for Resilients.

Two Shifts: Alpha – the global evangelism program that comes out of Great Britain – reports two big shifts taking place. The first is a move away from proclamation to conversations. The second is people’s desire not to learn about God but to meet Him.

Stats Without Comment:

• The average American adult spends more than 11 hours a day watching, reading, listening or otherwise interacting with media.
• Sixty percent of 65 year old American men say that their wife is their best friend. 29% of 65 year old women report that their husbands are their best friend. This is partly because men tend not to build new friends after 25.  In 1990, the average person had 3.2 very good friends. Today, that has dropped.
• Jesus asked others 307 questions. He was asked 183 questions. He directly answered 8 of them.
• The average duration in a job in ’72 was 26.2 years, today it is less than 4 years.

· 74% of Millennials say they are distracted

· 64% of car accidents are caused by being distracted

· The average time people spend focused on an online topic is 40 seconds.

· The average American checks their phone fifty times per day.

• Congress has a 9 percent approval rating – which some suggest is eight points too high.

Closing Prayer: Rouse us, O Lord, from the sleep of apathy and from tossing to and fro in our thoughts, that we may no longer live as in a troubled dream but as people awake and resolved to finish the work you have given them to do. By your humble birth root out of our hearts all pride and haughtiness, that humble ways may content us, if so be that we may serve the humble. By the life of compassion for those who labor and are heavy laden, teach us to be concerned one for another and to bear one another’s burdens. By your hallowed and most bitter anguish on the cross, make us to fear you, and love you, and follow you, O Christ. Amen. –Brigid of Kildare (451-525)

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull. There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. John 19:16f

Good Friday: Those living in other countries call today Holy Friday, Passion Friday and the Friday of the Lament. Why do Americans call it Good Friday? I do not know. I’ve read that “Good Friday” is an abbreviation of “God’s Friday,” but of course it isn’t. Calling Good Friday, God’s Friday would be an abbreviation, but calling God’s Friday, Good Friday is not. I’ve also been told it has something to do with the positive spin Americans try to put on everything.  All I know is that because it was an unthinkably bad day for Christ, it is a very good day for me.

My favorite Good Friday Video: You may click here to see the scene from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe in which Aslan is bound and his mane is shaved. It is a horrific and riveting depiction of the Crucifixion.

What do Vonnegut, Golding, Tolkien, Lewis and Huxley have in common? The scene from Lewis’s Chronicles reminds me that Lewis shared something with Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughter House Five), William Golding (The Lord of the Flies), J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) and Aldous Huxley (A Brave New World).  Each was seriously wounded in a major war and unable (or unwilling) to write about their experiences directly. Instead, they each explored the nature and reality of evil via fiction.

Question to Spark a Spiritual Conversation: I hear that one of the reasons people do not talk with others about Christ is that they do not know how to start a spiritual conversation. Christ’s example is that it’s almost always best to ask questions. There are many that work. Here is one: if you could ask God one question – and knew He would answer – what question would you ask?

NPR, Empathy and Nietzsche:  NPR ran a depressing piece about the rise of “selective empathy,” which they note is feeding our growing polarization. After reading it, I thought of Nietzsche. As you may remember, when the 19^th century was rolling into the 20^th – and optimism among the Enlightenment elite knew few bounds – Nietzsche was one of the few rightly predicting that the 20^th century would be the blood bath it ended up being.  While the press was giving attention to those celebrating the goodness of humankind and claiming that, “every day and in every way, things are getting better,” the German philosopher said, as people buy into the idea that God is dead, the Christian halo effect will fade, and soon all that will matter is power. The writers of the NPR piece do not seem to appreciate what a radical idea it is to love your enemies. It’s not our natural (i.e., fallen) response.

Quotes Worth Requoting:

• The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances. Elizabeth Elliot
• The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching, but whether or not he rose from the dead. Tim Keller

Happy Faster:  A friend saw this sign on a Covey store in a mall a few years ago. He was not amused, especially given that Covey argued for a thoughtful approach to life – not simply moving more quickly.  Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a Happy Easter sign with the bottom part of the “E” covered by the picture of an Easter Egg.  So, Happy Easter, not Happy Faster.

Learning from Tiger: Much of America was glued to golf coverage again, because the one who typically wears a red shirt and black pants on Sunday –was fighting to end the day in a green jacket. He did. During his descent years ago, I gave a talk to a group of men called “Learning from Tiger”. It’s available here and I think it still applies.

The Beauty of Humility: Speaking of sports legends making a comeback, Alex Rodriguez  – AKA “A-Rod” – is also back.  As you may remember, sometime after signing a $250 million dollar contract and moving from the Seattle Mariners to the New York Yankees, everyone started to hate A Rod. In a recent interview, he says he deserved it. I am not sure if his humility is for real or if he is being expertly coached by someone but reading the articled reminded me of how attractive humility is.

The Church Plant in Ghana: One of the REACH initiatives at Christ Church is helping start six churches overseas. Last weekend the church in Ghana held their grand opening. We had a team there for the celebration. Here is a picture.

Matthew Homes:  A second aspect of REACH involves the housing initiative being done in North Chicago via ReNew Communities, a 501c3 we started a couple years ago.  If all goes well, today we purchase another home – the third in the same block, which is ideal. Also, progress is being made on our first new build. (To date we have been doing remodels exclusively.)
Prayer Requests:  It’s a big weekend. Please pray for worship services all over the globe. This is a weekend when “the fish swim into the net.”  Please pray also for the election in India. We are also helping launch a church in the Tech corridor of Chennai, India.  As you may know, under President Modi, the situation there has changed, and 12,000 Christian ministries have closed. Elections that are certain to have a significant effect on the spiritual climate there are happening now.

Closing Prayer:   I am not worthy, Master and Lord, that you should come beneath the roof of my soul; yet since in your love towards all, you wish to dwell in me, in boldness I come. You command; open the gates, which you alone have made. And you will come in and enlighten my darkened reasoning. I believe that you will do this; for you did not send away the harlot who came to you with tears, nor cast out the repenting tax-collector, nor reject the thief who acknowledged your kingdom. But you counted all of these as members of your band of friends. You are blessed for evermore.  Amen.
John Chrysostom (347 – 407)

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Jesus, John 17:17

Perspective:  My grandparents held views that embarrass me. Yours likely did as well. There is a lot of that going around. The views expressed on the editorial pages of the NYT seventy years ago – and in some cases seven years ago – are anathema to those writing editorials today. Have you thought about what this means? Unless the trends that have been operating for hundreds of years suddenly stop – and this cultural moment is recognized as the be-all and end-all always and forever, your views today will embarrass the you of five years from now. We desperately need a perspective from above and outside our culture. “Thy word is truth.”

Five Years Ago this Wednesday: Five years ago this Wednesday – on Good Friday 2014 – I suffered a Spontaneous Cerebral Arterial Dissection (SCAD) from a swimming injury. It led to a cerebellar and vestibular stroke that put me in nuero – ICU for a week and hospitals and rehab centers after that. I am very thankful for my recovery – giving credit to God, great medical care and a lot of selfless help from many, especially Sheri.  I’m not ready to say that I am happy I had the stroke, but I do think I have profited from it. (BTW, if you are among those who say hi to me while I jog by, please know that though I have made a great recovery, my eyes do not focus very well when I am running. The result is, everyone’s face looks like the faces of humans painted by Thomas Kincaid. I do not mean to be rude, but I can seldom see you well enough to know who you are).

AI & 5G:  Alert companies are preparing for the upcoming marriage of AI and 5G. To that end, Ronald McDonald recently bought an AI company and has started scanning license plates as they pull into his restaraunts. Soon he will triangulate the weather, time of day and your order history to adjust the menu board you see when you walk in – all with the goal of getting you to order more. Beware of red-haired clowns leveraging algorithms.

The Fruit of the Spirit: Alert students of Galatians 5 notice that Paul writes about the fruit (singular) of the Spirit, but then lists fruits (plural).  It’s not a grammatical error. If our growth is Holy Spirit-fueled, it should be  – to use Jonathan Edwards $64 dollar word – concavinated. That means, we are to grow in love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. It’s a package deal. If you lack one or two – say peace and self-control – Edwards would say your good behavior is not a result of the Spirit, just your efforts to behave.

The Re-Read List:  Thanks to those of you who sent me your “I’ve read these more than once” books.  Your lists reminded me of others on my list: Slaughter House Five, To Kill a Mockingbird, All Quiet on the Western Front, Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies.

Record Movie Ticket Sales:  When tickets were made available for an upcoming movie,interest was so great that first day pre-orders not only eclipsed those of the previous record holder (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), they crashed web sites for both AMC Theaters and Fandango. And it wasn’t just first day, first week sales were five times higher than the previous record holder. What movie has generated this kind of interest? Avengers: Endgame.  I have only seen a couple of the 21 movies in the Marvel series that lead up to this one, so I do not understand the appeal. But according to the culture-analysts I read, there is a huge longing for super heroes to save us.

Gen Z and Me:  Speaking of cultural critiquers, one recently suggested that for Gen Z, “the most important thing is not the experience, it’s that other people know that you’ve had that experience.” “Yes, that is true of Gen Z,” says the old guy who sends out an email making sure everyone knows what he is thinking.

The Failure of Liberation: Though you seldom hear about it, studies show that married people are happier than single people, and that frequent church attenders are happier than people who rarely (or never) attend. Liberation from religion and marriage is not as advertised. The Sexual Revolution has some explaining to do.

Quotes Worth Requoting:

• When a willing victim who has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor’s stead, the table will crack and Death itself will start working backwards.  C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

• No life can surpass that of a man who quietly continues to serve God in the place where providence has placed him. Charles Spurgeon

• We should take a lesson from the weather, it pays no attention to criticism. Unknown

Closing Prayer:  Lord, because you have made me, I owe you the whole of my love; because you have redeemed me, I owe you the whole of myself; because you have promised so much, I owe you all of my being. I pray you, Lord, make me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by love what I know by understanding. I owe you more than my whole self, but I have no more, and by myself I cannot render the whole of it to you. Draw me to you, Lord, in the fullness of love. I am wholly yours by creation; make me all yours, too, in love. Amen. Anselm (1033 – 1109)