Happy Friday Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.Psalm 32:6f

As a Friend: Psalm 32 is one of the better known prayers in the Psalter, but I had not thought much about verse 9 until recently. It reads: Do not be like the horse or the mule,which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Translation? God wants to be our friend. He is not interested in us staying on the path because we have to – i.e., like a mule that is being controlled out of fear – but because we want to. May 2019 be a year in which we follow God less from compulsion and more from our love for Him. 

It’s Go Time: The mood swing that sweeps over the country during the next forty-eight hours is unrivaled. During the last week of December – and through most of January first – we are supposed to chill. But on the 2^nd we are expected to be running hard, fast and lean. As they say just prior to the green flag that launches the Indy 500: “Drivers, start your engines.”  

Want to be Happy in 2019? According to the 2014 study conducted by The Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, people who are “actively religious”: live longer, stay healthier, experience stronger relationships, exude a more buoyant outlook, enjoy life more independent of their circumstances and report lower levels of anxiety and stress.  As the Psalmist declares: Those who trust in the Lord will be joyful. 

Virgin Birth: Thirty years ago, I had the privilege of taking two seminar courses with Dr. William Lane Craig. Twenty years ago I brought him to the college campus where I was working to debate a particularly acerbic science professor. Throughout it all, I have read his books and followed his debates – with the likes of Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, et al. All of that notwithstanding, I was still surprised to see that Nikolas Kristof, Pulitzer-prize winning NYT columnist, had interviewed him for his Christmas column. Don’t miss it. I’ve linked it here.  

Christmas Cards: Things have shifted again. First there were Christmas cards; then there were Christmas cards with notes; then there were Christmas cards with notes and pictures; then there were cards that were pictures, and now there are ecards. For someone who didn’t send out anything this year, I am thinking about this too much. (I feel like my life is over-reported. Know that the boys (and our daughter-in-law Hannah, are all well and we are thankful for more things than we can name). On a related note, if you want to read a copy of my most criticized sermon – which made more than a few observations about life based on Christmas cards – you can click here. 

Learning from Lists:  Uber-blogger-and-podcast-professional Tim Ferris, whose musings generated close to 400 million downloads in 2018, is out with his list of this year’s most popular podcasts. I keep a jealous eye on Ferris (The Friday Update is about 400 million downloads behind him), so I was aware of his programming. But I was still quite surprised by how many of his most popular podcasts were on things like: psychedelic drugs, LSD, mushrooms, plant medicine, etc. 

Quotes Worth Requoting: Overworked schedules lead to underwhelmed souls.Anger destroys the container that holds it.  

A Housekeeping Note: As some of you know, I start a two-month sabbatical on January 1, so my normal cadence will be interrupted. I expect to keep The Friday Update going during this break – it pretty much writes itself – but I am making no promises. When I come back I may tweak it a bit, so if you have thoughts on that, send me a note. Also, let me assure all of you who have noted that it is posted at 2 AM – and worry about the hours that I keep – that I send it to proofreaders on Thursday. And after they clean it up, they schedule it to be sent at 2 AM. I haven’t stayed up that late in years. 

Closing Prayer: We give you thanks for the babe born in violence. We give you thanks for the miracle of Bethlehem, born into the Jerusalem heritage. We do not understand why the innocents must be slaughtered; we know that your kingdom comes in violence and travail. Our time would be a good time for your kingdom to come, because we have had enough of violence and travail. So we wait with eager longing, and with enormous fear, because your promises do not coincide with our favorite injustices. We pray for the coming of your kingdom on earth as it is around your heavenly throne. We are a people grown weary of waiting. We dwell in the midst of cynical people, and we have settled for what we can control. We do know that you hold the initiative for our lives, that your love planned our salvation before we saw the light of day. And so we wait for your coming, in your vulnerable baby in whom all things are made new. Amen. Walter Brueggemann (1933 –  )

Happy Friday Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

Be > Do: During the flurry of year-end, it’s worth pondering Ps. 46:10. As Dallas Willard noted, “The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it’s who you become. That’s what you will take into eternity.” Doing often comes at the expense of being. I do hope/pray that your next few days contain some great moments of being. 

A Good Funeral: I didn’t see much of 41’s funeral three weeks ago, but I’ve been thinking about what I did see. Funerals are important, and not just the grand statecraft events held for former presidents. Years ago a retired pastor told me that what he missed most about parish ministry was the funerals. I thought that was odd. Now I get it. Weddings are generally joyous events, but when you are officiating one you are not always sure you’re doing the right thing. And you are quite aware that few are paying much attention to what you are saying. That is not the case in a funeral. 

Merry X-mas: Some years ago, a staff member tore into me for writing Xmas on a meeting agenda. “As a pastor you should see the need to put ‘Christ back into Christmas’.” I apologized and then tried to explain that in the Greek, X is the first letter in Christos and that X has been shorthand for Christ for centuries. I went on to note that I used the Greek letter theta – which is an O with a line across the middle – for God, and no one has attacked me for that. No disrespect is intended. Merry Xmas. 

Eagle? Cougar? No…:  Perhaps you’ve been asked, “If you could be any animal, what would it be?” Assuming you are like most people, you named something powerful, fast and sleek – i.e., something far enough up the food chain that it is more likely to eat than be eaten. Alas, when God was asked what we were most like, he chose the lowly sheep. If you have spent anytime around one, you’ve picked up that: 1) they are not very bright; and 2) they have zero defenses. You do not call a sheep that has escaped its pen a free sheep. You call it lost. And you know that if you do not find it soon, you will call it dead, because someone else called it lunch. 

Post -Truth: A few weeks back I noted that the 2016 word of the year was post truth. In fairness, we have not completely abandoned truth. What we have done is made it less important than our preferences and desires. We are all for truth when we like it. It’s truth we find inconvenient that we ignore. I continue to think the 2019 word of the year will be fake news, but I did hear of another nomination: senior orphan. It refers to the elderly who will spend the holidays alone. (BTW, if you want to better understand the term senior orphan, you can watch this German commercial that went viral a couple years back). 

True: Speaking of truth, it’s also worth noting that we do not believe Christianity is true because it works. We believe it works because it’s true. There is a difference. 

Trending: Everywhere I looked this week I saw articles (and apps) for meditation. Everyone is now into silence and quiet. The WSJ goes so far as to claim that silence is now big business, pegging it’s number at $1.2B in revenue. 

Missing the Point: Hobby Lobby suggests that “Christmas is what you make it.” That’s clever marketing for a craft store, but altogether wrong. Christmas is what God made it.  

Prayer Requests: Like most churches, we have lots going on at the moment – e.g., Christmas Eve services, December giving targets, special programs for those who are hurting, etc. etc. The prayer is that God is honored and pleased with our meager efforts. On a different front, I would covet your prayers as I head into a two month sabbatical. And also for Explore God Chicago. Over 800 churches are now participating, and we have over 250 names of people we are praying will attend. 

Student Prayer: In honor of finals – and in light of my years as a college pastor – I share the student’s prayer: Now I lay me down to rest. A pile of books upon my chest. If I should die before I wake, that’s one less test I have to take. Closing Prayer: [Fourth Sunday in Advent] Open our hearts, O Lord, and enlighten us by the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may seek what is well-pleasing to your will; and so order our doings after your commandments that we may be found meet to enter into your unending joys; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Saint Bede (672-735)

Happy Friday,

Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit….When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. (Luke 1:18ff)  

Joseph as a Case Study: Most Americans think God’s job is to help in times of trouble. But Joseph didn’t have any trouble until God got involved – and then he did. This is just one of many situations that suggest that our comfort is not God’s highest priority for us. If we believe that faith should be comfortable, we will take the easy way out and will likely miss the blessing of walking with God.  

J.I. Packer on Comfort: While I am here, let me share a related J.I. Packer quote: Maintaining a certain level of comfort is the agenda of an enormous amount of American evangelicalism but…. It needs to be said loud and clear that in the kingdom of God there ‘ain’t no comfort zone and never will be. Being in the kingdom of God has to do with self-denial and cross-bearing and living a life in which instability and problems of one sort or another is par for the course. You read the New Testament and that’s actually what you’ve got…. This isn’t comfort-zone stuff. It’s the negation of comfort-zone stuff.” 

Caring for Caretakers: Last week I noted that Christmas is not just a time of high highs, it’s also a time of low lows. Indeed, for many, Christmas reminds them that another 12 months have gone by and still…I am in debt or unemployed or single or sick or estranged from ABC, etc. The belief that everyone else is enjoying a Normal Rockwell/Hallmark holiday makes their (your?) struggles that much more acute. Last week I asked you to be patient with those around you. This week let me ask you to be particularly kind to caretakers. Caring for those who are caring for others is something we often overlook.  

From the Front Lines of Youth Culture: This week I sat in on a presentation by LEAD – an area group that works to help “parents and teens build healthy relationships and find alternatives to using drugs and alcohol.” Every year they extensively – and professionally – survey the local high school and issue a report. This year’s data is in. The Good News? 1) very few kids are misusing prescription drugs; 2) the increase in marijuana usage is less than expected; and 3) students listen to parents more than parents realize. The bad news? 1) 25% of 12^th grade students used marijuana in the last thirty days; 2) nearly fifty percent of high school seniors engaged in binge drinking – i.e., five or more drinks in less than two hours – in the last thirty days; and 3) vaping is up 47% over the last year. (BTW, I learned that 98% of vaping products contain nicotine, even though many users believe they do not). 

Word of Advice: The LEAD staff stated that: when it comes to talking to your kids about important topics, one sixty minute conversation is not as helpful as sixty, one minute conversations. 

Throwing Shoes at the President: Getting mad and kicking the wall is not as bad as getting mad and kicking a dog, which is not as bad as getting mad and kicking the person next to you in the check-out line, which is not as bad as getting mad and kicking the Queen. Indeed, if you do the latter you’re in serious trouble. What’s my point? The wickedness of a deed is measured in part, by whom it is against. Thus, our sin against an infinitely righteous and glorious God is profoundly wicked. I learned this ten years ago today (Dec. 14, 2008) when this happened. 

Quotes Worth Requoting:

• The only thing you can take with you when you get to heaven is what you have given away. C.S. Lewis  
• If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. If Christ is not risen, nothing else matters. Jaroslav Pelikan

UUPG:  At a recent gathering of mission agencies, the Big “C” church crossed a threshold: as of last week, the remaining UUPG – that is “unreached and unengaged people groups” – are now spoken for. (Unengaged means no known missionary has established contact with the group, and unreached means that the known church in that area is less than two percent of the population). Since the Lausanne Consultations began back in the 70s, there has been an effort to engage every people group with the Gospel. The number of UUPG has gone down over time. At the start of last week’s gathering, 343 groups remained. At the end of the gathering, all had been accounted for. This does NOT mean every people group has been engaged or reached, but it does mean a mission agency somewhere has identified plans to do so. Keep praying.

Of Possible Interest:

• In an Atlantic Monthly piece titled, “America’s Epidemic of Empty Churches,” Jonathan Merritt explores what to do with the buildings being vacated by the 6,000 – 10,000 American churches that die each year. He didn’t ask me, but I say, restart them! For starters, once a church property is turned into an apartment building or restaurant – and goes back on the tax roles – it’s unlikely to ever enjoy tax exemption again. But the real reason -as Keller argues here – is because there is nothing like a new church to reach more people. 
• Since the Scopes Trial, fundamentalists have been derided for their rejection of evolution. In a Quiellette article, called “The New Evolution Deniers“, evolutionary behavioral ecologist Colin Wright notes that some liberals are now rejecting the theory. Why? As advocates of “Blank Slate psychology”, they do not like the suggestion that behavioral sex differences are biological.

Without Comment: Life expectancy in the US fell again last year. Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that it dipped by one tenth of a percent – to 78.6. Why? It’s down because: 1) of the dramatic spike in suicides; and 2) because of the rise in deaths related to opioid addiction. 

Word of the Year: Some of you pointed out that I made a mistake in the last Update. I thought we were about to learn the 2018 Word of the Year. It turns out it was chosen at the end of 2017. 2018’s word of the year was toxic. And the odds on favorite for 2019 Word of the Year is… Fake News.  

Closing Prayer: Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.  Third Sunday in Advent, Book of Common Prayer