Happy Friday,

Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.

Psalm 119:164-5

 
Some monastic orders interpret this passage literally, requiring their devotees to read the Bible and pray seven times a day. Most Christians understand the passage to advocate lives shaped by the prayerful study of God’s Word. I’m in the second camp, but I am intrigued by the idea of a more objective measurement. And I am trying to imagine what it would look like to pastor in a setting where people read the Bible and pray seven times a day. I’d be thrilled with twice!  

Lent: This is day 14 of 40, leaving us 26 days to go (Note: Easter is 30 days away, but you do not count Sundays during Lent). I’ve been enjoying re-reading the Les Mis account of Bishop Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel — AKA Bishop Myriel (or Monseigneur Bienvenu) — although his life is very convicting. If you want seven minutes of inspiration, here is Colm Wilkinson’s rendition of Bishop M’s interaction with Jean Valjean. 

Without Comment: 1) Greta Gerwig, the writer/producer of last year’s Barbie, is working on a Narnia series for Netflix — the trailer is here; 2) In this article, Australian academic Alison Lewis documents the East German secret police’s discovery that the fatherless were particularly vulnerable to exploitation by the state; 3) This piece explores Russia’s efforts to develop a space-based nuclear weapon to destroy Western satellites; 4) This study suggests that when donations to political parties go up, donations to charities go down; 5) According to this study, cats have 276 distinct facial expressions (274 more than the contempt and boredom I am familiar with); 6) Though applications to other Ivies are up, they have dropped 17% at Harvard; 7) According to the American Cancer Society, 39.5% of Americans will receive a cancer diagnosis at some point in their life; and 8) Wednesday is the new ‘Monday thru Friday’ — i.e., it’s the day of the week you need to be in the office. 

IS2M: 1) The fact that Law and Order has been a leading TV series for 25 years says something about US society. (Of course, the fact that The Simpsons has been a leading prime-time show for 34 seasons says even more); 2) We are paying a pretty hefty idiot tax for not teaching Civics over the last 30 years; and 3) We are way too quick to assign evil intentions to our ideological foes — and way too slow to see our contribution to current challenges. 

Speed: Juxtaposing this 1956 Buick ad with this 2024 Toyota ad helps us see the accelerating pace of life and/or the decline of our attention span. I count 25 different camera angles in the 135-second-long Buick ad (a shift every 5.2 seconds) and 19 in the 15-second Toyota ad (a shift every .78 seconds).  

Word of the Week: In an effort to help you slide into your weekend, I’m by-passing emotional dysregulation, tooth-fairly inflation (some “fairies” now slide $1K under the pillow), and Generation Sicknote, and I’m selecting apricity instead. It refers to the warmth of the winter sun, and I am praying you will have reasons to use it frequently in the days ahead. (BTW, I can’t help but suspect that some Generation Sicknoters suffer from emotional dysregulation because they expect to find $1K under their pillow every morning. In my day, we not only got up at 4 AM to milk the cows and then walked to school (uphill both ways), we paid the tooth fairy, and we were glad to do it.)

Resources: Click here for a picture of Bridger Walker — the 6-year-old boy who was mauled by a dog saving his sister. He figures prominently in this sermon on Exodus 27, in which I attempt to smuggle some emotional awareness of God’s love for you under your radar.

Quotes Worth Requoting: “Hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does to the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates… You can’t see straight when you hate. You can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case… For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false become true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater… So Jesus says love because hate destroys the hater as well as the hated.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Closing Prayer: We pray you, Lord, purify our hearts that we may be worthy to become your dwelling-place. Let us never fail to find room for you, but come and abide in us, that we also may abide in you, for at this time you were born into the world for us, and live and reign, King of kings and Lord of lords, now and forever. Amen. William Temple (1881-1944)

February 23, 2024

Happy Friday,

Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law.

Psalm 119:29

Some highlight parts of the Bible they cannot accept. As Christ-followers, we should allow the Bible to highlight the parts of our lives that are unacceptable to God.

Lent: Not sure if anyone is joining me, but I am again reading the first 100 pages of Les Miserables, asking myself how I can become more like the priest who gave Jean Valjean the candelabra in an act of transformative grace.

Change: As a management consultant, I frequently shared the equation: F1 > F2 = SQ. Translated, that reads: if the fear of change (F1) is greater than the fear of not changing (F2), the Status Quo will prevail. After citing it, I’d invite management teams to explore ways to defang F1 or elevate F2 (or both). I’ve been thinking about this equation lately, although not in the context of organizations. The question I am asking is in terms of a person’s life. What is F1 (the fear of change) keeping you from doing?

WOTW:  Honorable mention goes to looksmaxxing, the goal of men going under the knife to get a chiseled face; throuple, slang for a polyamorous grouping; boy sober, which is not about alcohol-free males but women choosing to avoid men; and hurkle-durkle — a Scottish word for “lying in bed when you should be up and about.” (FWIW, the book of Proverbs recommends against becoming a hurkle-durkler.) Full honors go to Replication Crisis — a term describing our growing awareness that many reputable science journals have published studies based on data now believed to be faked.

Without Comment: 1) This Hill article notes that fewer than 4% of US marriages now occur between Democrats and Republicans; 2) This Financial Times article graphically displays the “growing global gender divide” — i.e., the boy soberness of the world; 3) This article credits the 70s TV show Love Boat with the popularity of cruises; and 4) This NYT piece claims the newest generation of satellites is powerful enough “to resolve features of individual faces from Earth’s orbit.”

Marriage? Here are 2.5 minutes of a commencement speech given last year by Harrison Butker, the field goal kicker for this year’s Super Bowl-winning KC Chiefs. In it, Butker argues for marriage and parenting. As both marriage and population rates drop in the US, we can expect such comments to become more frequent and more controversial.

Quote Worth Requoting: “Anybody can become angry. Few can be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose.” Aristotle; “God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but he has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.” Augustine.

What’s Actually Happening: Those only casually paying attention to the claims — and counterclaims — about religion are likely to be confused. Why? Because three things are happening at once: 1) the number of Nones (i.e., the Nones, Dones, Exvangelicals, etc.) is growing; 2) the number of orthodox Christ-followers is growing; and 3) the number of people who do not attend Church but identify as evangelical is growing.

Sin 201: If you want to read about sin, you could do worse than reading Ralph Venning’s 18th-century classic The Sinfulness of Sin. Of late, I’m bothered less by my sin’s sinfulness than I am by its stupidity. I was pushed in this direction after learning that the Greek term moros — from which we get the word “moron” — is used to describe our sinful actions. If we had a pure heart and could see what God sees, we would never choose sin.

Resources: Click here to hear (or read) my latest sermon, which explores our access to God, and here to read an article by Glenn Wishnew, the associate director of Lakelight Institute, on the topic of cultural apathy.

Closing Prayer: Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen. (The Worship Sourcebook)

Happy Friday,

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 Are We Commanded to Worship? C.S. Lewis once worried that the Bible’s instruction to praise God suggested God’s ego needed feeding. He later realized God didn’t need his affirmation any more than Lewis needed his dog “to bark approval of my books.” We are not instructed to worship God for God’s sake but for ours. Worshiping Him is the only sane response to who he is, and ordering our hearts to reflect this is necessary to live rightly. 

Your Prince Caspian Moment: When Prince Caspian —the title character in the Narnian Chronicles of the same name — comes face to face with Aslan, the lion king asks him, “Do you feel yourself sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?” Caspian says, “I — I don’t think I do, Sir.” To which Aslan responds, “Good. If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been proof that you were not.” Have you had your Prince Caspian moment?

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to The New Theists — a play on New Atheism’s decline juxtaposed with a recent spike in left-adjacent public intellectuals declaring their admiration for Jesus. I’m also selecting lickspittle, both because it’s fun to say and because it will prove useful between now and November’s election. Full honors go to Yondr Pouches — a product designed to create phone-free schools. I’ve not given WOTW honors to a branded product before, but I’m a fan of their work.

IS2M: 1) There is something both confusing and delicious about hearing 30-somethings whine about the work ethic of 20-somethings; 2) Any objective review of the last ten years makes it clear that more than a few Christian leaders held influence beyond what their character or their competence warranted — i.e., they did not have their own Prince Caspian moment. (I’d say more if I didn’t suspect my name belongs on that list.)

A Quiz: Do you know the leading causes of death in the US? Here are some categories to choose from: accidents, Alzheimer’s, cancer, COVID, diabetes, heart disease, homicide, liver disease, obesity, respiratory disease, strokes, and suicide.

LVIII: I usually comment on the commercials that air during the Super Bowl — AKA, the “Big Game,” “The Festival of Dips,” “People Watching Taylor Swift Watching Travis Kelce” — but this year, I was underwhelmed.  

From Last Week: 1) Several people sent in additional references for humans. Meat puppets, organic data processors, and symbol-manipulating great apes were my favorites; 2) My frustration over the unprecedented use of unprecedented led others to share their language gripes — e.g., very unique, irregardless, and the overuse of multiple. Irregardless of your view, I’m inclined to agree. Already today I’ve heard multiple uses of multiple, and I doubt my experience is very unique.

Without Comment: 1) Half of the US has at least one unused gift card. Collectively, they add up to $21B; 2) Listening to podcasts has become a daily routine for 10% of the US population, the most popular of which are true crime; and 3) After World War II, the US Navy had 7,600 ships. Today, it has less than 300.

Resources:  Click here to learn more about The World of CS Lewis: Oxford, Cambridge, and London Tour that I am leading July 5 – 12, or here to listen to my message on Exodus 25, an overview of the topic that gets more attention than anything else in the first five books of the Bible. (I doubt it’s what you think.)

The Front Lines of Cultural Clashes: Marriage was much in the news this week. This WAPO piece — by NPR’s Rhaina Cohen — argues against it. This Atlantic piece — by UVA’s Bradford Wilcox — argues for it. (Note: Wilcox articulates a point I have been trying to make for years.)

The Answers to the Quiz: According to the CDC, the leading causes of death in the US during 2021 were: 1) Heart disease – 696K, 2) Cancer – 605K (breast cancer is 45K), 3) COVID – 417K, 4) Accidents – 224K, 5) Strokes – 163K, 6) Chronic respiratory disease – 142K, 7) Alzheimer’s – 119K, 8) Diabetes – 103K, and 9) Chronic liver disease – 57K. Based on the news and anecdotal conversations, I expected breast cancer (47K), homicides (21K), and suicides (48K) to be higher. That aside, I did confirm that the mortality rate remains at 100% — which seems to be something not everyone is paying attention to.

Closing Prayer: O Light eternal, surpassing all created brightness, flash forth the lightning from above and enlighten the inmost recesses of my heart. Cleanse, cheer, enlighten, and enliven my spirit with all its powers, that it may cling to you in ecstasies of joy. Oh, when will that happy and wished-for hour come, when you will fill me with your presence and become all in all to me? So long as this is not given me, my joy will not be complete. Amen. (Thomas à Kempis,  1380 – 1471)

Happy Friday,

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

I collect odd references to humans. I’m talking about things like: carbon-based bi-peds, trousered apes, bruised reeds, philosophical primates, homo religious, the temporary pinnacle of the evolutionary process, meat machines, brains on a stick, etc. Given that we are made in the image of God, I take issue with most of them. But lately, I’ve been particularly bothered by the “brains on a stick” slur. I get that our ability to outthink other animals is noteworthy. And I want to be quick to direct people to the biblical instructions to “hold every thought captive” (2 Cor. 10:5) and to direct our thoughts towards things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy (Phil. 4:8). But I am increasingly aware that we are led by our heart more than our head. Men and women, guard your heart.

Ugh: Years ago, a friend told me he was stepping down from pastoring because he was “tired of hearing his own voice.” I get it, although I am worried about not being more tired of hearing my own voice.

Navigating the Moment: At the moment, many are making much of various storm clouds: our coming war with China, our border crisis, the impending AI insurrection, the collapse of our birth rate, the collapse of the US dollar, the collapse of (well, you know the list). How are we to respond to such catastrophizing? I can think of no better answer than to meditate on Paul’s counsel to the Romans: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation and constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to spatial computing device, the term Apple is using for Vision Pro, “the company’s first major release since the Apple Watch debuted in 2015,” and zopa, the anacronym for Zone of Protection Area that seems to have quickly achieved word status. Full honors go to de-accessioning, as in, “libraries are de-accessioning their older books.” I don’t know if I am more scandalized by the clunkiness of the term or the idea that libraries are getting rid of old books. BTW, while I’m whining, I’m growing tired of unprecedented. We are suddenly facing unprecedented threats, experiencing unprecedented rancor, and being buffeted by unprecedented weather. Please do what you can to put an end to the unprecedented use of unprecedented. It’s maddening.

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 forbidden to marry because Emperor Claudius wanted their entire devotion directed to Rome. Some think there is more to the story. Perhaps. 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. It’s next Wednesday — which is also Ash Wednesday. On a related note, the San Antonio Zoo will again sponsor its Cry Me a Cockroach fund-raising event. For a modest donation, you can temporarily name either a roach or the lizard-eating roach that will eat it after your ex. Last year, over 7,000 people participated.

Without Comment: 1) The average price of a 2024 Super Bowl ticket is $12,240, up 38% from last year; 2) Per this report, drug addicts now outnumber high school students in San Francisco; 3) Per this report, undergraduate enrollment fell eight percent between 2019 and 2022; and 4) Per this report, Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” remains the most popular song played at funerals.

Quote Worth Requoting:  “If you want a recipe for unhappiness, spend your time accumulating a lot of money and let your health and relationships deteriorate.” James Clear

Resources / Trips / Options: Click here to get information on a News Rules talk — i.e., News Rules: How and Why the News Has Changed; How these Changes are Changing You; And What to do About It — I am giving at a men’s breakfast event in Bonita Springs, FL on February 22; here to attend a Lewis lecture I’m giving in Naples, FL that same evening; here to sign up for the News Rules talk in Highlands Ranch, CO on Feb. 26, or here to learn more about (or to sign up for) The World of CS Lewis: Oxford, Cambridge and London Tour that I am leading July 5 – 12.

This Week’s Sign that the Apocalypse is Upon Us: Between college athletes making money on their likeness, men competing in women’s sports, the NCAA’s complicity with legalized gambling on college events, the disruption caused by the football portal — and a half dozen other things — I didn’t think college sports could become less appealing. But then the Dartmouth men’s B-ball team got a green light to vote on unionizing.  

More on the Ethical Non-Monogamy: According to this Pew study, 51% of adults under 30 believe that open marriage is a good thing. While there is something more ethical about being open about your non-monogamy, I wish people understood that life (and marriage) is hard enough when you follow the rules. Plans that endorse multiple sexual partners hurt women, hurt children, increase divorce, and cause emotional pain. Furthermore, they are a luxury belief that disproportionately disadvantages the poor. Sin — which is another way to talk about Non-Monogamy — is ultimately self-destructive behavior. We do not break God’s laws; we break ourselves against them.

FWIW: 1) I’ve not seen season four of The Chosen (which will be available via the app on March 1), but I’ve heard good things; 2) Now would be a good time to think about how you are going to walk through Lent.  Christ Church will be hosting Ash Wednesday services at most of the campuses, and I will again be re-reading the first 100 pages of Les Miserables, trying to figure out how I can be more like the priest who gives John Valjean the candelabras.

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. (Patriarch Theodore Philaret of Moscow – 1553 – 1633)

Happy Friday,

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

John 3:16

If these words strike you as shopworn — i.e., if they do not stagger you — slow down and let them do their work. In John 15, we are directed to the unbelievable display of love that happens when someone lays down their life for another. I would like to note that, like most parents, I’d choose to die 10,000 painful deaths rather than send one of my sons to his death. Now, read John 3:16 again. God the Father sent His only Son to die for you.  

Remember Your Role: Many approach church as consumers — i.e., as an audience waiting to be entertained and inspired. But as Kierkegaard noted, worshippers are not an audience; “worshippers are performers; pastors are prompters; and God is the audience.”

IS2M: 1) It doesn’t matter which Western Civ decided to devalue first, the elderly or wisdom. The results are the same, and they are tragic; 2) One of the worst things partisan news sources do is amplify the other side’s lunatic fringe. Many people can spot — and dismiss — the lunatics on their own side but have a harder time doing so with those on the other side; and 3) In this culture, the ability to focus is a big competitive advantage.

Without Comment: 1) According to this Gallup report, trust in most professions is dropping, and the perception of clergy is now at a record low. 2) According to this NPR report, the US Army has missed its recruiting goals for most of the last decade.

RE: Sex: 1) According to this report, syphilis cases in the US have risen to their highest level since the 1950s, up nearly 80% from 2018; 2) In the 1950s, The Yale Review refused to publish sermons from 16th-century Puritan preachers because The Review deemed them “too sexually explicit” and “racy;” 3) According to this Wall Street Journal report, 22% of Americans have engaged in “consensual non-monogamy;” and 4) According to this study, couples who were “sexually inexperienced” prior to marriage and have only had sex with their spouse were the most likely to report a “very satisfied” level of overall marital satisfaction.

WOTW:  Honorable mention goes to 1) “anger entertainment,” which describes much of today’s TV and some of its news, and 2) “BCI,” which stands for brain-computer interface. BCI is a term I learned after hearing that Neuralink has implanted its first device in the brain of a living human subject. (I try not to think about the fact that Neuralink is being brought our way by the guy who runs X.) In an effort to lighten your Friday, I’m giving full WOTW honors to “burrito season,” which I only learned about after reading that Chipotle was hiring an additional 19,000 employees to help meet the heightened demand of March through May’s burrito season.

Three Things To Remember: 1) The things we do, do things to us — i.e., we are formed (or malformed) by the choices we make and the habits we adopt; 2) The sins we can’t forget, God doesn’t remember; and 3) The Bible uses grace, not guilt, to motivate us.

Resources: Click here to listen to the first lecture on C.S. Lewis, which covers his early life and conversion. There is still time to sign up for the class in person or online. Click here to hear what is supposed to happen on Sunday morning and why Exodus 24 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible; here to attend a Lewis lecture in Naples, FL, on Feb. 22; and here to sign up for a News Rules talk in Highlands Ranch, CO, on Feb. 26.

Bonus: In prepping for my class on C.S. Lewis, I ran across this recording of a talk he gave on prayer. I do not believe I’d heard him speak before. FWIW, his voice on tape matches the one in my head.

The Nones: The largest religious story of ’23 was the rise of the Nones — i.e., the 28% of the population who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” According to this Pew report: 1) most Nones believe in God but do not attend religious services; 2) most believe religion does some harm and some good; and 3) most vote and volunteer less than religiously affiliated people, atheists, or agnostics. (BTW, the second largest religious story is the rise of non-denominational churches. For more on that, click here.)

Closing Prayer: O Light eternal, surpassing all created brightness, flash forth the lightning from above and enlighten the inmost recesses of my heart. Cleanse, cheer, enlighten, and enliven my spirit with all its powers, that it may cling to you in ecstasies of joy. Oh, when will that happy and wished-for hour come, when you will fill me with your presence and become all in all to me? So long as this is not given me, my joy will not be complete. Amen. (Thomas à Kempis, 1380 – 1471)

Happy Friday,

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

The term quantum leap is frequently misunderstood. Though many think otherwise, it’s a particle physics term referring to “the smallest move possible.” In like manner, I John 1:9 is frequently misunderstood. Though many think it means, “If I confess my sins, God will be merciful and forgive me,” it actually means something quite different. What John tells us is that if we confess our sins, Jesus will pay our moral debt. And after that happens, it would be unjust of God to bring it up again.

The State of Contradiction: Speaking of getting it backward, this report highlights the curious fact that some hold others to a lower standard than they demand of themselves. The reason this is important is because, while it may feel like an act of generosity to let others slide, it plays out differently in real life. What am I getting at?  The report shows that many liberal elites advocate a progressive lifestyle but live a traditional one.  The reason this is worth noting is because, in many cases, the progressive lifestyle does not work.

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to Poison Ivy (a dig at the East Coast elites caught up in recent scandals) and dry-tripping (which refers to self-medicating with psychedelics rather than alcohol). Honors go to loud budgeting, which has replaced quiet luxury as the new way to manage money. Loud budgeters say things like, “it’s not that I don’t have it, but I am choosing not to spend it.”  Loud budgeters now think it is cooler to save than to have cool stuff. I’d like to quietly say that I have been a loud budgeter for a long time. Tragically, few recognize how cool this makes me. Perhaps I should be LOUD about that as well!)

IS2M: 1) If we see a few more reports like this about what happens when schools ban smartphones, many more will follow; 2) It’s hardly possible to believe we are approaching the fourth anniversary of COVID; and 3) Our inability to agree about the what and the why of COVID suggests we’re even less ready for the next pandemic than we were for that one.

Only OK: Last week, I saw Freud’s Last Session, the new release in which Anthony Hopkins plays the 83-year-old psychoanalyst and Matthew Goode plays a 40-year-old CS Lewis. There is no record that the two ever met, but this imagines that they did so in 1939, several months before Freud ended his life. I’d heard good things about the book that inspired the movie, but I can’t recommend it. Although well-acted — and although it features a few good moments — I found its dialogue heavy without managing to say much. Stay home, make popcorn, and read one of the Narnia Chronicles. 

Without Comment: 1) According to this report, vaping is down; 2) According to this TED talk, though we need 10,000 hours to master a field, 20 hours is enough to gain competence in most things; 3) According to this survey, only 12% of US churches are stable, 54% are declining, and 33% are growing; and 4) Open Door’s annual report notes that while the persecution of Christians was down a bit in ’23; 365M Christians faced some level of persecution, 295K Christians lost their homes, 15K churches were attacked, 4K Christians were abducted, and 5K Christians were martyred. North Korea remains the worst offender, followed by Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran and Afghanistan.

Overheard: 1) You know you’ve been in a moral revolution when: that which was nearly universally condemned is now nearly universally celebrated, that which was celebrated is now condemned, and those who refuse to celebrate are now condemned; 2) Many people no longer look to the news to inform them. They expect the news to affirm them; and 3) Though the 20^th century began with the rejection of the past and an embrace of technology, in recent days, we seem to be doing the opposite. Paleo Diet, anyone?

Resource Re: Lewis:

• Click here to listen to Dr. Jerry Root’s lecture on CS Lewis and the Christian Imagination (which starts with his 30-minute lecture but continues with me asking him questions for the next 40 minutes)
• Click here to sign up for the CS Lewis class I start teaching next Tuesday
• Click here to attend a Lewis lecture in Naples, FL, on Feb. 22

Other Resources:

• Click here to listen to last week’s sermon, which was part two of my effort to explain the water we are swimming in. 
• Click here to sign up for a News Rules talk in CO on Feb. 26

Worth Noting: 1) Jefferson did not initially write that it was “self-evident” that all men were created equal.  He wrote, “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.” Benjamin Franklin revised it; 2) The New Testament does not teach that if we strive to love God and our neighbor, we are Christians. It says that if we are Christians, we will strive to love God and our neighbor. (The equation is not Faith + Works = Salvation but Faith = Salvation + Works.); and 3) though there are arenas in which moderation is a good thing, we must not moderate our love for God and others.

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) “A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.” Winston Churchill; 2) “Sometimes, when it gets dark enough, people begin to see stars.” Ralph Waldo Emerson; and 3) “The game of life is hard, and a lot of us are playing hurt.” Anne Lamott 

Closing Prayer: Loving and tender providence of my God, into your hands I commend my spirit; to you I abandon my hope and fears, my desires and repugnances, my temporal and eternal prospects. Though temptations should assail me, I will hope in you… You are my kind, compassionate, and indulgent Father, and I am your devoted child who casts myself into your arms and begs your blessing. Amen. Claude Le Colombiére, (1641-1682)

Happy Friday,

I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

The Apostle Paul
Philippians 1:23

Paul didn’t desire to depart to go to heaven; he desired to depart to be with Christ. Heaven would not be heaven — and salvation would not be salvation — without Jesus. He is not a means to an end; He is the glorious end itself.

Test-Driving a New Answer: When asked, “How can I know the will of God?” I tell people to: pray, study God’s Word, seek wise counsel, and then make a decision. I also say, “Don’t value the answer more than God” — i.e., don’t use God to get an answer. Use the need for an answer to drive you to God. I share this because recently, I overheard a pastor answer this question a bit differently. He instructed the questioner to “sit quietly and then respond to the ‘wisest and most loving voice’ that conforms with Scripture and engenders the Fruit of the Spirit.” I like his answer a lot. I fear it assumes that people are more conversant with Scripture and more self-aware than they are. But I like this answer.

IS2M: 1) It’s time to call X “X” and not “X (formerly Twitter).” I’ve never tweeted and follow no one, but even I know that Musk changed the company’s name. It’s time he lives with his decision; 2) Phishing schemes are getting better and better. It’s only a matter of time before I get suckered into one and my kids take away my online privileges; 3) It’s not a given that what the young think today will be society’s views tomorrow. Their views today may not even be their views tomorrow. Sixties hippies turned into Eighties yuppies; 4) Though watching the news suggests we should become preppers, the end of the world has been consistently oversubscribed. We are wise to prepare to meet God, but I suspect that is more likely to come from the end of our life, not the end of the world. I say all this because I think John Owen was on to something when he suggested that one of Satan’s greatest successes is making people think they have plenty of time before they die, so there is no rush to consider their eternal welfare.

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to robotophobe (which refers to a particular kind of Luddite) and functional binitarianism (which refers to Christ followers who think too little of — or too infrequently about —- the Holy Spirit). Full honors go to windexing, the practice of social climbers who look over the shoulders of those they are talking to, hoping to spot someone more important or interesting. According to this WSJ article, windexing is a particularly big problem at the World Economic Forum in Davos. I’d like to go on record saying I’ve never windexed anyone at Davos. Not once.

Loved Her Answer: To those whose New Year’s resolutions involved losing weight, here is a fellow traveler. I loved her answer.

Overheard: 1) A college professor told me that students no longer justify late papers by claiming their grandmother died; they now simply say, “I needed a mental health day;” 2) Someone told me that “the return address on many of our problems is now Tehran.” I thought his answer was clever, but it’s not true for me. The return address for a few of my problems may be Satan, but I’m pretty sure most of my problems have their genesis in my sinful heart; 3) It’s not just that hurt people hurt people, hurting communities hurt people; 4) we can do hard stuff for a long time, just not alone.

Worry: It turns out I’ve worried about the wrong things. Take black widow spiders. Growing up, I was pretty sure they’d be a daily threat. Turns out not so much. I haven’t seen one yet today. Or this week. Or, well, ever. I’m glad to have grown older and now be in a place where my current fears are rational, justified, and valid. 

C.S. Lewis: Next Monday — January 22^nd — Lakelight is hosting Dr. Jerry Root, who will speak on the imagination of Lewis. You can register for that free lecture here. The following Tuesday — January 30^th — I begin teaching a five-week Lakelight class on Lewis. It will be both live and online. You can register here.

This Moment: Last Sunday, I called an audible. Rather than review Exodus 1-19 to set up Exodus 20, I leveraged Exodus 20 to set up an overview of this moment. In this sermon – which is one part Exodus 20 and two parts Western Civ — I did my best to highlight our inflection point between the Bible’s claim that there is a universal, moral law and our culture’s claim that we are free to do whatever we choose — i.e., “you do you.” If this sounds interesting, you can listen or download the manuscript here.

On the Road with Lakelight: There are three upcoming Lakelight events: 1) On Thursday morning, Feb 22, in Bonita Springs, FL, I am speaking at a Men’s breakfast on News Rules: How and Why the News Has Changed; How these Changes are Changing You; And What to do About It. The talk —  is free, and all men are invited – is at 7 am at First Presbyterian Church of Bonita Springs, 9751 Bonita Beach Rd, Bonita Springs, FL; 2) On Thursday evening, Feb 22, in Naples, FL, I am giving a talk on C.S. Lewis at 6:30 pm. Click here to register; and 3) On Monday, February 26, at 6:30 pm in Highlands Ranch, CO, I will be giving the News Rules talk at Cherry Hills Community Church.  For more info or to register, click here.

Closing Prayer: I know what must be done. Only now am I beginning to be a disciple. May nothing of powers visible or invisible prevent me, that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Come fire and cross and grappling’s with wild beasts, the rending of my bones and body, come all the torments of the wicked one upon me. Only let it be mine to attain unto Jesus Christ. Amen (Ignatius of Antioch,  35 – 107)

Happy Friday,

I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may approve the things that are excellent.

The Apostle Paul
Philippians 1:9f

Notice the sequence. Paul does not pray that our knowledge will abound so that our love will grow but that our love will grow so that our knowledge will abound. Jesus’ call to follow him is as much about learning to hunger and thirst for the right thing as it is about dogma and right thinking.  

No: In advance of Monday’s focus on MLK, let me alert you to ways his biblical legacy is being dismissed. A while back, the NEA ran an ad saying, “Dr. Martin Luther King taught us to be guided by faith in America’s people and their social conscious. He taught us that the highest principles of justice are not found outside but are found in ourselves.” I’ll spare you the reasons this claim is a philosophical non-starter and simply say, “No.” That is not what King said. That is Orwellian doublespeak. In Letters from a Birmingham Jail, King wrote, “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” There is no “Look inside yourself nonsense.” King said, look at the Word of God. BTW, as I’ve done in years past, let me encourage you to read MLK’s Letters from a Birmingham Jail.

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) “Religion that is captive to public life is of little public use.” Richard John Neuhaus; 2) “The game of life is hard, and a lot of us are playing hurt.” Anne Lamott  

Without Comment: 1) According to this Syracuse Univ. study, 52% of U.S. journalists identify as Independents, 36% as Democrats, and 3% as Republicans; 2) According to this report, there are 1.2M+ Americans in prison, making “inmate” the 9^th most common “residence” on the census form; 3) According to this WAPO piece, there are 14.2M Jews in the world today, still shy of the 16.6M alive before the Holocaust reduced the number by 1/3; 4) Ernest Hemmingway used less than 60 exclamation points in his published works!!!; 5)  CISO — the Chief Information Security Officer — has joined the CEO, COO, CFO, CCO, CIO, CLO, CHRO, CAO, CTO, and EIEIO in the C-Suite of corporate America; 5) Nearly half the babies born in the U.S. are now born to single mothers. (When I was born in 1960, only 5% of births were births to unmarried women. The number rose to 11% by 1970, and by 1990 it had jumped to 28%. Since 2008, it has remained above 40%.); 6) Per this report, 90% of addictions start before the age of 25; and 7) Per this report, 25% of U.S. 40-year-olds have never been married—up from just 6% in 1980.  

FWIW: According to this Brookings Institute report, squirrels cause hundreds of power outages — and have briefly shut down the NASDAQ twice, which is something hackers have been unable to do so far. (We trust your new CISO has a plan to deal with the squirrel threat you are facing.)

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to the suite of plagiarism-adjacent terms currently popping up everywhere: unintended appropriation, duplicative language, appropriate attribution, etc. Given Columbia University linguist John McWhorter’s prediction that we’ll spend the rest of ’24 discussing — and redefining — two words, I am selecting them for WOTW.

Speaking Of…: I was glad to see this NYT piece in which it was finally noted that many who describe themselves as evangelicals attend church one time a year or less. (One time or less?) Attending church once a year doesn’t even qualify you as a Creaster or CEO (Christmas and Easter Only). Those whose statement of faith is “God, guns, and guts made America great. Let’s keep all three,” should not be confused with those who affirm the Apostle’s Creed and are seeking to humbly follow Christ, love their neighbors, and love their enemies.

Ugh: I don’t need to look for reasons to feel inept; they find me. For instance, this one-minute video forces me to realize there are two-year-olds with more musical chops than I’ll ever possess.

AI-Related: 1) Those who think AI will make plagiarism a thing of the past are half right. It will make it easy for those who are intentionally copying others’ work to mask their use of duplicative language. However, Claudine Gay will not be the last to be exposed. The next ten years will be full of revelations that A copied from B — and some of these revelations will be shocking and devastating; 2) BTW, I recently heard that AI made important advances in the development of a new antibiotic. Great. My experiences are more modest. After six months of playing with it, I’ve come to think of ChatGPT as an inexpensive intern with a high IQ, low EQ, and no common sense.

The Wit and Wisdom of C.S. Lewis: Starting Tuesday, January 30, I am teaching a Lakelight Institute class on C.S. Lewis. You can learn more about Lewis — and the class — in this 45-minute podcast, in which I explain why everyone should study Lewis. You can register for the course here.

The Two Words: No, I didn’t leave you hanging. The two words McWhorter says will be much discussed — and ultimately redefined in 2024 — are genocide and antisemitism.

Closing Prayer: We confess that in our lives we do not always choose the way of peace. We spread gossip which fans the flames of hatred. We are ready to make any sacrifice when the world demands, but few when God invites. We worship the false god of security. We hold out one hand in friendship, but keep a weapon in the other behind our back. We have divided your body of people into those we trust and those we do not. Huge problems challenge us in the world, but our greed, fear and selfishness prevent us from uniting to solve them. Lord, we need your help and forgiveness, your reconciling power. Amen. (Taken from the United Society Partners in the Gospel)

Happy Friday,

Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of his being.

Hebrews 1

One of the reasons the Bible thunders against idolatry is because our Father has given us a perfect image of Himself. Jesus is not just a great person, remarkable leader, good teacher, wise mentor, and moral reformer; He is King, Servant, Father, Husband, Judge, Comforter, Shepherd, Lamb, Fortress, Counselor, AND the true icon of God. He is the exact imprint of his being. If you want to know what the Father is like, gaze at the Son.  

WEIRDER: Our World is no longer just Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic — it’s now WEIRDER — i.e., it’s the first five, plus Ex-Christian and Romantic. (The last has nothing to do with Hallmark cards or Valentine’s Day. It is referencing the late 18th-century movement that promoted subjectivity and elevated individualism.)

Without Comment: 1) The oldest members of Generation Alpha — those born between 2010 and 2024 — are about to start high school; 2) Nearly 25% of the United Methodist Church’s 30K churches recently disaffiliated over issues of sexuality and authority; 3) Before Prohibition, the average American male consumed three times more alcohol than today; 4) There are more than 80 different types of Oreo Cookies (including Wasabi in Japan); 5) The US set a record for oil and gas production in 2023; 8) Life expectancy in the US climbed slightly in ’23, but remains below 2020; 6) During the original run of Seinfeld, the show’s costumers had a hard time finding clothing for Kramer because his quirky style became so popular the general public bought up all the vintage clothing that made up his look; 7) According to this Palestinian Center for Policy Survey and Research poll, 72% of Palestinians believe the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel was correct; 8) According to YouVersion, those who read the Bible at least four days a week are: 59% less likely to view pornography; 407% more likely to memorize Scripture; 228% more likely to share their faith with others and 231% more likely to disciple others.

IS2M: 1) Those who say they want more Jesus and less Paul often know little about either. The most disruptive passages in the New Testament — e.g., Matthew 13:41f and 25:31-46 and Luke 14:26f — come from Jesus, not Paul; 2) Society needs thoughtful critics, but the internet has given us too many basement-dwelling laptop jockeys who confuse snarky comments with actually doing something. They should all be forced to memorize Teddy Roosevelt’s comments about critics; 3) If you spend more time reading books from living authors than from dead ones, you are doing it wrong; 4)Claudine Gay’s resignation secures her December 5th hearing a place alongside the McCarthy hearings, the Watergate hearings, Oliver North’s Iran Contra testimony, and the Clarence Thomas/ Anita Hill confirmation hearings; 5) C-SPAN provides little must-see TV, but occasionally it does; and 5) Most effortstomake Christianity relevant only make it less relevant.

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to twalking — a conjunction of walking and texting that has joined slicing bagels as a leading cause of ER visits — and abrosexual, a new sexual preference term used to describe someone whose sexual identity “fluctuates and changes.” Full honors go to duplicative language, previously spelled: p l a g i a r i s m.

Predictions: January was named after the two-faced Roman god, who was able to look into both the past and the future. Humans lack such skills, but that doesn’t keep us from trying. Most of the ’24 predictions I’ve run across have been very ho-hum. (We are going to have a crazy election cycle? You think? We will hear more about AI and cyber security threats? Where do you get this stuff? The one that got me to sit up is the prediction that Beelzebub has overplayed his hand, and we are headed for a revival. May it be so!

BTW: I was aware that New Atheism had fallen off the front page a while ago, but I didn’t know the full story. This podcast may be too much inside baseball for some, but I found the whole series fascinating. 

CS Lewis: Click here to learn more or sign up for the six-week Lewis class I start teaching on January 30th. 

Closing Prayer: Dear Lord, help me keep my eyes on you. You are the incarnation of divine love, you are the expression of God’s infinite compassion, you are the visible manifestation of the Father’s holiness. You are beauty, goodness, gentleness, forgiveness, and mercy. In you all can be found. Outside of you, nothing can be found. Why should I look elsewhere or go elsewhere? You have the words of eternal life, you are food and drink, you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You are the light that shines in the darkness, the lamp on the lampstand, the house on the hilltop. You are the perfect icon of God. In and through you, I can see and find my way to the Heavenly Father. O Holy One, Beautiful One, Glorious One, be my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Guide, my Consoler, my Comforter, my Hope, my Joy, and my Peace. To you, I want to give all that I am. Let me be generous, not stingy or hesitant. Let me give you all—all I have, think, do, and feel. It is yours, O Lord. Please accept it and make it fully your own. Amen. (Henri Nouwen, 1932 – 1996)

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt