Happy Friday,

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

Paul, 2 Corinthians 4

Given that little has felt light or fleeting about recent events, it’s imperative that we remind ourselves of God’s love and our promised future. A Gospel perspective not only empowers us to love and care for others, it brings a sense of peace. Remember, eternity changes everything.

Reign Down Holy Spirit: College pastors are reporting an unexpected spike in student participation in campus fellowships this fall. Given all the buzz about dechurching, deconstructing, the rise of “nones,” and Gen Z being “the least religious ever,” this has been a surprise. Some tie it to the Asbury Revival, some to the loneliness epidemic. Whatever the cause, apparently, “Gen Z is hungry for the very things the empty, desiccated temples of secularism, consumerism, and global digital media cannot provide but which Jesus can.”

How Dare They!: I’ve taken some pleasure in the reports about ethics professors at Harvard and Duke falsifying their data. The irony of people cheating in their reports about people cheating is too rich not to highlight. Thankfully, as a pastor, I can mock them from my privileged perch of perfection. No one in the church has ever been a hypocrite. Certainly not pastors. Certainly not me.

I Was Unlikely to Win: While I am being humble and transparent, I should admit that I probably would not have beaten Kelvin Kiptum in last weekend’s Chicago Marathon even if I had raced. Because the organizers continue to hold the event on Sunday morning — during the two hours a week that I work — the hoped-for head-to-head between Kiptum and me did not happen. However, given that he shaved thirty seconds off the world record — averaging 4:36 per mile — I’m willing to admit that Kiptum probably would have won even if I did compete. (I do continue my appeal to the organizers of the marathon to hold it on a Saturday.)

WOTW: I am not recognizing accidental nonsense or holiday from history as Word of the Week nominees, dismissing the first because I believe some of today’s chaos is “willingly and knowingly” irrational and the second because it’s been quite a while since we were on a geopolitical holiday. I am acknowledging the nomination of VUCA, the Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus coined acronym that stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. After all, this has been a very VUCA week. But given that I selected it three years ago, this week’s honors go to self-censor. High School students should note self-censoring is now a prerequisite for many students at many schools.

Nominations Being Accepted: BTW, so much was unraveling this week that I started collecting metaphors for our broken world. If you are also having one of those weeks, feel free to use any of the following: East of Eden. The Kingdom of Noise. Our Culture of Chaos. Our Anxious Age. This Mad Max Dystopia. (And if you have others, please send them my way. Thanks.) 

IS2M: 1) That it’s been a long time since RR said, “It’s morning again in America,” Bush 41 wanted us to be a “kinder, gentler nation,” Bill Clinton “felt our pain,” and Bush 43 ran as a “compassionate conservative;” 2) The anecdote to cynicism is found in Matthew 18:2; we need to become like children; 3) More people need to realize that the call to “believe in God” is not a call to agree He exists but a call to act as if He does; 4) In a world where people check their smartphones 25x a day, they could check their Bibles at least once or twice; and 5) The Hungarian scientist who recently won the Nobel prize for bucking settled science should remind us that “trusting the science” means trusting the scientific method not walking lock-step with conventional wisdom.

Disruptive: When asked what a pastor’s primary assignments are, the late Eugene Peterson said: to teach people to prayand toprepare them to die. I suspect I am failing at both.

Think Local: Since 2005, 2,200 local newspapers have folded. Among the deleterious effects this is having — i.e., less transparency in local government and more focus on national and international events — it has led to a loss of community awareness and identity. Let me suggest you fight back: host a block party, attend a HS football game, or write a thank you to a local official. If you know the names of more world leaders than you do neighbors, you’re doing something wrong.

Without Comment: 1) Given growing interest, the University of Exeter will begin offering a postgraduate degree in witchcraft and the occult; 2) In September the US economy added 336K jobs, nearly double the number expected; 3) Since 2012, 35 million people — i.e., 10% of the US population — has moved, more from blue states to red than the other way around; 4) According to Nicolas Eberstadt, 50% of Americans now get some sort of government subsidy.

Resources: Click here to listen to last week’s sermon on Exodus 6, which explores the two big misunderstandings people hold about freedom. Click here for the podcast where I field questions about the Book of Exodus.

Closing Prayer: My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen (Thomas Merton, 1915-1968)

Happy Friday,

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God.

King David, Psalm 43

Those who are acquainted only with David’s “wins” — e.g., his victory over Goliath, his musical and literary skills, his ascendancy to the throne, and his successes as a warrior and statesman — cannot understand his prayers. Those who reflect on his entire life — e.g., his years-long struggle with Saul, the leadership trials that dogged him, and the cascading effects sin visited on his family — are not. The Psalms of David are more despair, lament, confession, and pleading than they are praise. And when they are praise, as often as not, the praise comes after David overrides his emotions and directs his heart to gain a heavenly perspective. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God.

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to languish (the mental state between depression and thriving that too many people spend too much time in) and grammable (an adjective designating something worthy of being posted on Instagram — e.g., every picture of our granddaughter is grammable). I’m going with Copilot, which is the name of Microsoft’s recently released A.I.-powered personal assistant. If Satya Nadella is right, Copilot will be to the 2020s what the PC was to the 80s, the Web was to the 90s, mobile was to the mid-2000s, and the cloud was to the 2010s.

Secondhand Smoke: The endemic depression and confusion of today’s young has many parents keeping smartphones out of their kids’ hands. Expect a higher standard to roll out. Twice this week, I heard it suggested that children who are surrounded by parents with a smartphone addiction will suffer the tech equivalent of “secondhand smoke.” 

IS2M (It Seems To Me): 1) If anyone had reason to be cynical, it was Jesus, and he wasn’t; 2) Many Christians spend more time planning their next vacation than they do thinking about heaven; 3) People living in rich countries can keep reality at bay for quite a while before it forces its hand; 4) We demand certainty before embracing things we do not want to be true but accept things we do want to be true on the basis of the scantest evidence; 5) We should neither ignore our emotions nor yield to them. The right approach is “to pray them,” using the Psalms as our guide; and 6) We are not spending enough time thinking about the $33 trillion debt we are passing along to the next generation. 

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) “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.” Teddy Roosevelt; 2)“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!” Upton Sinclair

Without Comment: 1) On an average weekend day, 29% of the workforce is at work; 2) Since 2016, enrollment in undergraduate computer science programs has increased 49%; 3) US children are the most likely in the world to live with only one parent; and 4) 98.2% of college students in a recent survey said they identified as either male or female.

What Say You?: In his book Breaking Bread with the Dead, Alan Jacobs argues that if we hope to navigate the volume and velocity of today’s culture, we are going to need more “depth and density.” If you agree, I’d like to hear what you are doing to that end. Reading? Reflecting? Travel? Service? Suffering? How are you gaining “depth and density?”

My Boys Were Right: I have long maintained that it’s polite and helpful to leave a VM if someone does not answer your call. My boys object. “They will see that I called and know to call back.” I’m suddenly hearing from more who side with them. Apparently, no one who is anyone leaves a voice message anymore. It’s very ‘80s. Let people call you back. Or, text them what you were going to leave in the VM. If you have an opinion, you can call and fill me in. Feel free to leave a VM.

Closing Prayer: I am not worthy, Master and Lord, that you should come beneath the roof of my soul; yet since in your love toward 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)

Happy Friday,

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior – be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Jude 23-24

In Philippians 1:6, Paul states that “He who began a good work within us will complete it.” – i.e., God is committed to our sanctification. In Jude’s doxology, this good news gets better. There, we are told that God delights in doing so. The “great joy” mentioned at the end of verse 23 is His not ours. Be encouraged!

Without Comment: 1) The single best predictor of extramarital sex is premarital sexual permissiveness; 2) Approximately 16,000 books have been written about Abraham Lincoln; 3) According to the 2020 book Fault Lines: Fractured Families and How to Mend Them, one in four Americans are estranged from their parents or another relative; 4) The U.S. has the world’s highest rate of children living in single-parent households; 5) According to Gallup, in 1999, 60% of Ds and 62% of Rs identified as religious. Since then, the percentage of religious Ds has dropped more than 20 points, while the percentage of religious Rs has “not meaningfully changed.”   

Clean Up from Last Week: 1) Your comments about my comments on John Stott — which are here — prompt me to be less cryptic and more clear about our interaction. I now think that he was right — i.e., I believe that his claim that “generalities are the refuge of a weak mind” is true. Yes, I am aware that his statement about generalities is a generality, but to me, that shows how hard we have to work to avoid them; 2) Several people asked me to elaborate on my claim that more people are “talking left but walking right.” The first thing to note is that it is not “my phrase” — I first heard it from UVA sociologist Brad Wilcox. The second thing to say is that it refers to those (generally “liberal elites”) who champion progressive values while living conservative lives. As to the question, “Does the opposite exist?” — i.e., are there those who “talk right but live left” (i.e., those who “advocate conservative values but practice more bohemian ones”)? I think the answer is yes, but it’s quite different. I know one guy who advocates higher moral standards than he keeps, but he’s a bit of a lout who seems unable to consistently do what he knows is right. Those who talk left but live right actually embrace traditional morality more closely than they suggest others need to.

WOTW:  Honorable mention goes to kakistocracy — a Greek term describing “government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state;” generica — which I heard used to belittle suburban America (where I live) and sitrep, which is shorthand for the military term situation report. (Those of you who like to sound cool by using military jargon can add “sitrep” to “MIA,” “SOP,” “AWOL,” “front lines,” and “0-dark-thirty.” Full honors go to noctalgia, which translates as “sky grief.” It was recently coined by astronomers who feel we should be upset that light pollution is blocking the night sky. Here is a picture of what everyone used to see on a cloudless night. You might also commit Psalm 19:1 to memory: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Quote Worth Requoting: When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either. C.S. Lewis.

A Question Worth Pondering: Has Jesus impressed you lately? Has some new insight into his goodness and grace taken your breath away? If not, why not?

TFA: My TFA file (The First Amendment) is past full, and I’m not happy about it. I dislike reading about freedom of speech and freedom of religion issues and only do so because I feel I must. It’s increasingly clear many think that Patrick Henry was a kook. (Reminder: he is the one typically credited with saying, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”  

IS2M: 1) While I like science as much as the next guy — and have no desire to be grouped with conspiracy theorists — those who say, “trust the science” to shut down debates about science do not understand science; 2) Public education is one of the most contentious fronts in the culture war; 3) We need to stop claiming that technology is neutral. Many of our tools fail to read the memo that explains that they are the tool and we are the master. They silently change the way we think and live — and there is nothing neutral about that. Indeed, technological progress without progress in our obedience to God is often a dangerous thing; and 4) The principal purpose of prophecy is to engender repentance. 

Interesting? I think it’s interesting that the ten states that saw the biggest population gains in the last 20 years are red states — which have an average maximum income tax of 3.8%, as compared with the 8% average rate of the ten states with the biggest population loss. I also think it’s worth noting that the parts of the red states that are growing tend to be the bigger cities, which are blue or blueish. 

Trending: As you’ve likely noted, both the Roman Empire and Trust are “having a moment.” The first is not only the subject of viral videos and an avalanche of new books; Panera Bread is now offering a Roman Empire Menu. Alas, the second is making the news because it is going missing. A new Gallup poll measuring trust in major institutions (e.g., the state, the media, science, etc.) reports that it is down in 11 of the 16 institutions that have been tracked since the 1970s. Indeed, trust in these institutions is not just down; it has virtually collapsed. The Media has suffered the most — down from 70+% in the 80s to about 15% today. Only the military and small business are unscathed. 

Resources: 
You can click here to listen to (or read) last week’s sermon on excuses. (Note: it’s not very good because I ran out of time). You can click here to listen to my interview with Christian Miller, who — in addition to leading major studies about character and honesty and writing about the same for Forbes, the WSJ, and Oxford Press— chairs the Department of Philosophy at Wake Forest. (You should know he claims to have evidence that you are not as good as you claim to be.)
You can click here to register for the Lakelight Live events in Nashville, TN (Oct. 3), Bellingham, WA (Oct. 18), Lake Forest, IL (Oct. 29), or Naples, FL (Nov. 2).
You can click here for info on the Oct 14th Good Work Summit. Speakers include David Miller (Director of the Princeton Faith and Work Center), Joanna Meyer (founder of Women, Work, & Calling), Lance Mitchell (CEO of Reynolds Consumer Products), Mike Zafirovski (former CEO of Motorola), and Tom Tropp (Global Chief Ethics Officer for Gallagher).

Closing Prayer: O God of earth and altar, Bow down and hear our cry; Our earthly rulers falter, Our people drift and die; The walls of gold entomb us, The swords of scorn divide; Take not thy thunder from us, But take away our pride. From all that terror teaches, From lies of tongue and pen, From all the easy speeches that comfort cruel men, From sale and profanation of honor and the sword, From sleep and from damnation, Deliver us, good Lord! Amen (G.K. Chesterton, 1874–1936).

Happy Friday,

I will be with you.

The Lord, Exodus 3:12

When Moses claimed he was incapable of leading the Jews out of Egypt, God replied, “I will be with you.” He said the same thing to Joshua after Moses passed away, and the responsibility of getting the Jews across the Jordan and into the Promised Land fell on him. What’s easy to overlook is that he says the same thing to you and me! Just prior to ascending into heaven, Jesus shares a leadership challenge with us: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” And he then ends it with the same promise he gave to Moses and Joshua, “And I will be with you always…”

Faithfulness is Always Possible: We would do well to remember that Christians have faithfully followed Jesus in every cultural and political setting — e.g., under good times and bad, under kings, queens, presidents, dictators, tyrants, and more. There are moments when it is easier to follow Jesus than others, but it is possible to faithfully follow in any setting.

IS2M: 1) People who are insulated from the consequences of their mistakes often keep making the same mistakes; 2) Dr. Jean Twenge — the author of Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future — is right in claiming that technology is currently changing the world more than ideas are. And I fear she is right in claiming that, “When you are born has a larger effect on your personality and attitudes than the family who raised you does.” 3) Large foundations are becoming so large (and significant) that they are assuming a place alongside the big seven — the family, the church, the state, the markets, the media, the military, and higher education — as the institutions shaping modern life; 4) The number of people who “talk left but live right” keeps growing; and 5) Though little reported, articles like this from the WSJ suggest that some in the medical community are rethinking their advocacy of puberty blockers.

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to cognitive infrastructure (which is being bandied about amidst claims that the government wants to police our thoughts), corporate goth (which is apparently a thing somewhere), patronage journalism (which is advocacy, not journalism), and blue zones (areas of the world where people live the longest). Honors go to lawfare, which is a necessary adjective to describe modern life. (Note: in last week’s Word of the Week (WOTW) section, spell check changed wonderlust to wanderlust when I was not paying attention. My apologies.)

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) “Where else shall we go, except to the Bride of Christ, the church. Though she is a harlot at times, she is our mother.” Dorothy Day; 2) “Here is a truth that is incredibly hard to put into practice: the more the world is in apparent crisis, the less benefit you get from the news. In fact, the more you live in a time of apparent crisis, the more you need deep reading — mostly books. Conversely, the more you live in a time of apparent calm, the more you need to be carefully paying attention to ‘the news.'” Andy Crouch

Generalities are the Refuge of…:  Years ago, I interviewed John Stott. But as it turned out, he asked me four questions for every one that I asked him. Me: “Dr. Stott, what is the most significant change you’ve seen in college students over the forty years you’ve been speaking on college campuses?” Dr. Stott: “US campuses or Europe? State schools or private? Christian students or non-Christian students? Left-handed or right-handed?” OK, he didn’t ask the last question, but you get the idea. By the time he finished qualifying his answer, I was no longer interested in what he had to say. We both left that interview frustrated. A couple of weeks later, I added embarrassment to my frustration. Why? I heard him mention to someone that, “generalities are the refuge of a weak mind.” Ouch.

Yes and Yes: Given that it’s easier to see the speck in someone else’s eye than the log in our own, I want to applaud Nicholas Kristof of the NYT for highlighting a blind spot among the left (his tribe). In this article, he notes the inherent advantage that two-parent families provide children, which is something that has been ignored — and even denied — by liberals. FWIW, Kristof is not alone. Many — see here and here — are making note of Melissa Kearney’s book, The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind (Univ. of Chicago Press). I will likely share more after I get a chance to read it.

Without Comment: 1) A Univ. of Penn study suggests that among men and women with congestive heart failure, the state of the patient’s marriage is as good a predictor of their survival as the degree of impairment; 2) Francesco Dino at Harvard and Dan Ariely at Duke (articles here and here) — who both write and teach about ethics and honesty — have been charged with falsifying their data; 3) The US Surgeon General warns that loneliness is as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and more dangerous than obesity; 4) The earlier a child receives a smartphone, the worse their mental health as an adult; 5) For the first time since the advent of television, TVs now account for less than half of American viewing time.

Resources: Click: 1) here for last week’s sermon on Exodus 3; 2) here to hear Robby Angle interview me on his Trueface podcast; 3) here to register for the Lakelight Live events in Nashville, TN (Oct. 3), Bellingham, WA (Oct. 18), Lake Forest, IL (Oct. 29), or Naples, FL (Nov. 2). (BTW, you can get information on the event and topic here.)

Closing Prayer: Almighty and merciful God, you are the strength of the weak, the refreshment of the weary, the comfort of the sad, the help of the tempted, the life of the dying, the God of patience and of all consolation; you know full well the inner weakness of our nature, how we tremble and quiver before pain, and cannot bear the cross without your divine help and support. Help me, then, O eternal and pitying God, help me to possess the soul of patience, to maintain unshaken hope in you, to keep the childlike trust which feels a Father’s heart hidden beneath the cross; so shall I be strengthened with power according to your glorious might, in all patience and long-suffering; I shall be enabled to endure pain and temptation, and, in the very depth of my suffering, to praise you with a joyful heart. Amen (Johann Habermann, 1516 –1590)

Happy Friday,

Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

The Prophet Jeremiah

Though some think otherwise, our assignment is not to lord over the kingdoms of this world. It is to do something much harder: to lovingly and sacrificially advance the kingdom of God. This means being salt and light in this broken, strife-filled, and angry world that God loves.

Students, Plant Now: Covey’s Law of the Farmer concedes that with enough caffeine, students have been known to cram a quarter’s worth of study into the three days before finals. But it notes that 1) Farmers cannot live that way (if they want a crop in the fall, they have to plant in the spring); and 2) What works in your 20s gets old in your 30s, is real trouble in your 40s, and very sad in your 50s. Learn to farm while you are still young.

Without Comment: 1) One hundred years ago, the average US household invested 44 hours per week on food preparation. Today, it is about five; 2) In Turkey, the president of a failed cryptocurrency exchange has been sentenced to 11,196 years in prison; 3) Of the 29 astronauts in the Apollo space program, 22 were firstborns or only children; 4) Research in Sweden contends that children learn better from print copies of books than they do from digital formats; and 5) With four months to go, the US has already set a record for billion-dollar weather disasters in a year.

All Things Football: 1) I’ve been holding a grudge against Deion Sanders (AKA Neon Deion, Prime Time, Coach Prime, etc.) ever since he played both professional baseball and professional football in the same season. (If not for guys like him tying up spots on two teams, I might have made it to the bigs in at least one!) That said, I now watch in awe as he does the seemingly impossible as a coach. Yes, yes, yes, he needs to work on his humility, but wow, is he fun to watch; 2) With the recent sale of the Washington Commanders for over $6B, the average value of an NFL team has risen to over $5B; 3) 73.5 million Americans plan to bet during the NFL season; 4) Every fall the 32 NFL stadiums also hold the honor of hosting the largest worship services on Sunday.

WOTW: Nominations came in for wanderlust (the feeling of those dreaming about the iPhone 15) and catastrophizing (which got several nods but is too close to crisis inflation — which got nominated last week — to win full honors). I am going with New, New Atheism. Apparently, the “old New Atheism” of Harris, Hitchens, and Dawkins has been replaced by a less bombastic form of disbelief. I became aware of the NNAs while reading about atheists who have recently come to faith — e.g., Stephen Bullivant (author of Nonverts), Josh Timonen (once Richard Dawkins’s “right-hand man”), David Brooks (NYT columnist), A.N. Wilson (UK journalist and public intellectual), and Molly Worthen (prominent academic). Referenced in those pieces are the names of those who have stopped short of faith but who speak warmly about Christianity — e.g., Tom Holland (author of Dominion), Jonathan Haidt (author of The Righteous Mind), Jordan Peterson (Canadian podcaster), and Douglas Murray (author of The War on the West). May their move toward Christ continue! 

Confused About the Confusion: According to the CDC, the average American male will live to be 76, while the average female will live to 81. This article explores theories as to why women outlive men. I think some of these popular memes do a better job explaining what is actually going on.

Do Yourself a Favor: If you’ve not read C.S. Lewis’s The Weight of Glory sermon recently, do it this week. It’s better than you remember.

No Such Thing:  BTW, there was a nomination for smart brevity for WOTW, but I ignored it. Axios advertises smart brevity as the way we should get our news, but I think Axios is wrong. Make that WRONG. Indeed, I agree with those who suggest that what we need is “minimal news and maximal context,” which means Scripture. (Think about it. In one sense, even in-depth news reports are superficial if they do not reflect an awareness of God and eternity, which 99.9% leave out.) 

Lakelight Live:  The first Lakelight Live event — which was held in Austin earlier this week — went well. Nashville is next (Oct. 3), followed by Bellingham (Oct. 18), Lake Forest (Oct. 29), and Naples (Nov. 2). The topic is The News: How and Why it is Changing, How These Changes Are Changing Us, and What We Can Do About It. Space is limited. Sign up here. 

Other Resources: 1) Click here for last week’s sermon on Exodus 3 — one of the most important chapters in the Bible; 2) Click here for my interview with Collin Hansen, in which we discussed topics ranging from the value of reading Russian literature to the problems with the news (note: he is more depressed about the latter than I am); and 3) On Oct. 14th, we will be staging The Good Work Summit, an exploration of critical marketplace issues. For more information — or to sign up — click here.

Closing Prayer: I am not worthy, Master and Lord, that you should come beneath the roof of my soul; yet since in your love toward 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)

Happy Friday,

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Proverbs

It’s not uncommon to hear that the command “fear the Lord” — which occurs frequently in the Bible, especially in Proverbs — doesn’t really mean fear the Lord. We are told that it means something closer to revere him or hold him in the highest awe. Sorry, but no. Reverence and awe are fine as far as they go, but they do not go far enough. The Hebrew word yir’ah means more than awe. It’s not a “run-away-scared” fear as much as it is a “fall-on-my-face-because-there-is-no-way-I-can-stand-in-His-presence” fear, but it’s fear. I think C.S. Lewis helpfully captures the gist of yir’ah in the dialogue between Jill and Aslan in The Silver Chair. (It is here). I particularly love the spot where Aslan refuses to promise that he will not eat Jill if she comes forward to drink from the stream. BTW, it’s not just that we misunderstand yir’ah; we also underemphasize it, doing so to our demise. Augustine was right. Our life works better when we rightly order our fears and our loves.

Thanks to All Those Who are Pushing: I annually kick off the fall by saying, “Go Bears!” and then noting that September is when a now-retired pastor friend used to go to the nearby train station “to watch something start moving without me needing to push it.” Thanks to all of you who are helping jump-start programs of all types. Your pushing is appreciated.

Homo Sapiens: I recently added a new definition to my collection of secular definitions of humanity. My previous favorites included: 1) Mankind is the temporary pinnacle of the evolutionary process; 2) Humans are the random collision of space, time, and chance; 3) Man is a mammalian bi-ped; and 4) Humans are nothing more than hairless apes. The new definition describes us as “the purposeless coalescing of stellar dust.” As you might imagine, I prefer the biblical framing of humankind to any of these. Being described as “a child of God,” the “imago Dei,” or as “a little lower than the angels” is more affirming than being called “purposeless stellar dust.” But I appreciate more than the memorable phrasing of these secular definitions; I also appreciate their honesty. Most people who deny (or ignore) God are not so clear-minded. They may say we are nothing more than stellar dust but then claim that we are special, worthy of rights, and entitled to lives of meaning. Richard Dawkins is at least consistent when he says there is no meaning, no design, and no good or evil in the universe, just “blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither cares nor knows. DNA just is and we dance to its music.”

Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” J.R.R. Tolkien; 2) “Social media was catastrophic for happiness. . . . There’s a lot of neuroscience behind this, but everybody knows that when you’re bored or you’re lonely and you start looking at your devices and at your phone, you actually get more bored and you get more lonely. This is a huge problem, especially for young adults.” Arthur Brooks, HBR; 3) “Before I married I had three theories about raising children and no children. Now I have three children and no theories.” John Wilmot

Clean Up: My comments about the Amish in last week’s Updateled several Amish-adjacent individuals to ask me why I thought they did not use cell phones. Apparently, they do. I am told that they do not use them very often and that “they do not mindlessly stare at them or any other screens,” but at least some Amish communities have approved them because of their utility. I stand corrected.

Brush Your Teeth: From time to time, I remind you to cultivate gratitude, often citing a new study documenting its many benefits or talking about how amazed I am that simply rehearsing the things I can be thankful for lifts my mood. Today, I’m going to take a different tack. I just heard that “cultivating gratitude” is a basic life maintenance practice — i.e., that it should be as routine as brushing our teeth. I like that, so brush your teeth already!

Perspective: I’m aware that our country faces serious challenges; however, I wish those channeling Chicken Little would step back from the ledge. I get weary hearing some Christians refer to inconveniences as persecution, some progressives claiming parental objections to certain books as Book Bans, and some on the right claiming our courts are descending into Stalinist Show Trials. No. No. And not even close. Let’s not use big words for small things. It not only puts everyone on edge, it makes it hard to describe big things.  

WOTW: The fact that half the churches I know are in a sermon series on Exodus — coupled with the number of times I heard the “burners” flight out of the Nevada desert described as an exodus — led me to consider exodus as this week’s WOTW. Given that I started reading Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism, I also considered honoring his term digital decluttering. Finally, in light of the earlier entry, I considered making up the term crisis-inflation and selecting that. But in an effort to accentuate the positive, I’m going with steel-manning instead. Steel-manning — which stands opposite straw-manning — is the term used for “ascribing the strongest possible argument to the other side.” We need more of it. When you are describing a position you disagree with, do your best to describe it in such a way that those affirming it would not only recognize it, they’d say, “Yes, that is what I think and why I think it.” Any fool can channel Chicken Little. The world needs a lot more crisis deflators right now.

Listen Closely: Though many argue we are becoming less religious by the day, I not only see people worshiping their sports teams, I hear them praise the game’s star. I also read writers who ascribe biblical significance to political issues and define sexual identity as sacred. And this week, I listened as someone told me how they were purifying their body — which was a divine temple — by engaging in a fast. Chesterton was right. When we cease to worship God, we do not worship nothing; we worship everything.

Without Comment: 1) The size of the average U.S. home has nearly tripled since 1950; 2) Only one in ten Americans give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the U.S.; 3) In “normal times,” 30% of people report being very happy, 15% say they are not happy, and the rest report being in the middle. At the moment, the stats have flipped; 30% are not happy, 15% are very happy, and the rest are in the middle; 4) 4% of Americans are vegetarians, down from 6% in 1999; 1% are vegan, down from 3% in 2018; 5) This story made me smile; 6) According to psychologist Jean Twenge — author of Generations — among high school seniors, 30% of the young women identify as conservative, which is down more than 10% in the last decade; meanwhile, the number of young men who identify as conservative is at an all-time high of 65%.

Resources:

• Lakelight: As I noted last week, Lakelight is hosting two events this fall. 
  • In Austin (on Sept. 12), Nashville (on Oct. 3), Bellingham (on Oct. 18), Lake Forest (on Oct. 29), and Naples (on Nov. 2), we will be hosting Lakelight Live, where I will speak about ways the news has changed, how these changes are changing us, and what we can do about it. Space is limited. Sign up here. 
  • On Oct. 14th, we will be staging The Good Work Summit, an exploration of critical marketplace issues. For more information — or to sign up — click here.

• The Press On Podcast: In this week’s podcast, I interview Jeff Brannon, an NT professor at Belhaven University, the host of BABEL, and the author of The Hope of Life After Death: A Biblical Theology of the Resurrection. Jeff and I talk about the resurrection, the importance of framing life in light of eternity, and how Christians need a more robust — and biblical — view of heaven.

Closing Prayer: Be kind to your little children, Lord. Be a gentle teacher, patient with our weakness and stupidity. And give us the strength and discernment to do what you tell us, and so grow in your likeness. May we all live in the peace that comes from you. May we journey towards your city, sailing through the waters of sin untouched by the waves, borne serenely along by the Holy Spirit. Night and day may we give you praise and thanks, because you have shown us that all things belong to you, and all blessings are gifts from you. To you, the essence of wisdom, the foundation of truth, be glory for evermore. Amen (Clement of Alexandria, c.150–c.215)

Happy Friday,

Count it all joy when you experience trials.

James 1:2

I keep meeting people who assume they’ve cut a deal with God – i.e., in return for believing in Him, He will ensure that their lives will be long, easy, and pleasant. Those who read the Bible should know that no such deals exist. They should also know that it would be a bad thing if they did. Trials provide us with one of our best opportunities for growth. We need to stop viewing suffering as a breakdown in God’s plans and see it as an opportunity to become more like Christ.

Mother Nature Creation: In previous Updates, I’ve cited Psalm 19 — “the heavens declare the glory of God”— before directing you to Hubble’s latest pictures. This time, I’m suggesting you look down, not up. Here are photos highlighting the diversity of ocean life. Gaze at the creatures and marvel at their Creator.

Five Take-A-Ways: Collin Hansen, author of Tim Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation, spoke at a Lakelight lecture this week. You can click here to listen to his talk. (My podcast interview with him will be posted in a couple of weeks.) What follows is Hansen’s list of the five things that he learned writing about Keller’s life: 1) Do not judge potential in a young leader too quickly (Keller got Cs in preaching); 2) You can borrow from sources without buying everything they are selling; 3) Admit your weaknesses and ask for help (on three “crisis occasions” Keller recruited friends to manage his growing staff because he did not view himself as a good leader); 4) Never stop learning; and 5) Keep pressing for a deeper experience of God.

Quotes Worth Juxtaposing: 1) “You can’t win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Obi-Wan Kenobi. And 2) “Death is the last weapon of the tyrant, and the point of the resurrection — despite much misunderstanding — is that death has been defeated.” NT Wright.

Lakelight Related: 

• Lakelight Live: This Fall, we are launching a series of evening lectures called Lakelight Live. In the first, I will be talking about ways the news has changed, how these changes are changing us, and what we can do about it. These events are being held in Austin, TX (Sept. 12), Nashville, TN (Oct. 3), Bellingham, WA (Oct. 18), Lake Forest, IL (Oct. 29), and Naples, FL (Nov. 2). Space is limited. Sign up here.

• The Good Work Summit: As I mentioned in last week’s Update, registration is now open for the Good Work Summit, Lakelight’s Oct. 14th conference exploring critical issues in the marketplace. Since part of Lakelight’s mission is to help us navigate living out our faith in the workplace, in honor of Labor Day, we are offering a two-for-the-price-of-one registration. Sign up by midnight on Labor Day, and you can bring a guest for free.

Overheard: 1) A polarized country needs a peace-making church; 2) You can tell a lot about a culture by what it does not talk about. Americans, for instance, avoid talking about death; 3) Parents today are being too protective when it comes to real-world experiences and not protective enough when it comes to online ones; 4) It turns out that hope is a bit like a set of car keys. If you set it in the wrong place, it’s easy to lose. 5) It’s worth noting that while the Hebrew prophets were often critical of other nations, they reserved their harshest condemnations for God’s own people; 6) The Amish have tough lives, but there are two things they do not have much of: cell phones and depression.

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to policy violence, disaster porn, manosphere, mug shot, and Spamouflage. Full honors go to omerta, the Mafia’s term for organized crime’s moral code. It surfaced after Putin put the hurt on Prigozhin for violating it. BTW, Moscow needs to up its game. Their announcement that the Luna-25 “ceased to exist” after it crashed into the south pole of the moon lacked the panache and memorability of SpaceX’s announcement following the explosion of its Starship Rocket. They did not say, “Our Starship has ceased to exist” (yawn). They reported that the Starship had suffered a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” As I said several months ago when I first mentioned this phrase, I like it a lot. I think that’s because I’ve had some sermons that have suffered “rapid unscheduled disassemblies.”

Without Comment: 1) According to Newsweek, the number of self-reported witches in the US now exceeds 1.5M, up from 8K in 1990, and “far exceeding the membership of the ‘mainline’ Presbyterian Church USA and just about equal the count of Episcopalians;” 2) It is estimated that Taylor Swift’s recent concert tour generated close to $5 billion in consumer spending, which means that if she were an economy, she’d be bigger than 50 countries; 3) Here is another study that shows that religious people are happier and healthier than non-religious; 4) According to this report from poly sci professor Ryan Burge, the most politically active groups per-capita are atheists, Jews, and agnostics; 5) In a 1950s Gallup survey, 80% of the US public reported “high confidence” in the government to do the right thing. Today, that number stands at 15%.

Tell a Friend: BTW, we’ve been slowly trying to raise our game. You likely noticed our new email template; we’ve also added a referral program. When you share the unique link at the bottom of this email, and someone subscribes, your referral count will tick up (or so I’m told; I didn’t set it up). All this is designed to make it easier for you to share the Update with a friend. And, BTW, thanks to those of you who do.

Resources: Here is a link to last week’s Exodus 2 sermon. In it, I explore the birth and moral formation of Moses. (Be forewarned, it ends with some rather unsettling spiritual truths.) Here is a link to my interview with professor and award-winning author Ian Vaillancourt. We discuss his most recent book, The Dawning of Redemption, which I found to be a very accessible overview of the Pentateuch. I am in violent agreement with Dr. Vaillancourt about the fact that: 1) The Bible is a unified work; and 2) In order to understand the big themes, you need to start at the beginning. (Way too many Christians focus exclusively on the NT, which is much like showing up ¾ of the way through a movie.)

Closing Prayer: I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me having nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. Amen (John Wesley, 1703-1791)

Happy Friday,

We are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, it is a gift of God.

Paul, Eph. 2 

God knows the worst about us. Indeed, he is more aware of the darkness of our hearts than we are. And yet… when we stand in Christ, he loves us perfectly and completely. Your goal today is to be shaped by his profoundly scandalous, uncommon, counter-intuitive, subject-generated, and eternally significant grace-based love. To the extent that you do that, you will bless others.

It Doesn’t: Years ago, Sheri persuaded me that those wishing me “good luck” were just being nice and didn’t need (or deserve) my lecture on the sovereignty of God. (Note: It takes three years to go to seminary and at least that long to get over the fact that you went.) I’m writing this to let you know that I’ve extended her advice to other things. For instance, if you ever say to me, “It beats the alternative.” As in, “I may have bad knees, weak eyes, and a diet limited to bran cereal, but I’m still kicking. And being here ‘beats the alternative.’” I will not say, “No it doesn’t. If you are in Christ, you are wrong! This is the land of the dying. We are headed to the Land of the Living.” I will think it, but I will not say it. You can thank her.

The Truth: Millions have watched this TikTok video of a Gen Z woman rejecting a marriage proposal after she imagines what lies ahead. Because not everyone is called to be married—and not everyone who wants to be is—I don’t want to push too hard on this, but young people deserve to hear the truth. Study after study shows that married women with children are happier than their single and childless counterparts.

Utah: On a related front, Utah’s economy ranks #1 in the US, and the state also ranks very high in happiness. In this article, sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox argues that it’s not just the state’s “unique civic, religious, and political endowments” that are driving up happiness. It is “the strength and stability of its families.”

Ironic: It’s ironic: 1) that the Bible is stolen more frequently than any other book, and 2) that the McDonald’s employee manual once warned employees against eating McDonald’s fries. It’s less comic – but no less ironic – 1) that many young wish they were older while many old wish they were younger; 2) and that many who used to complain that single young people were having sex are now complaining that they are not. (FWIW, I am not complaining that they are not, but I am concerned that many seem not to want to.) But perhaps the biggest irony is that the sinful people God extends grace to often balk at extending that grace to others.

Quote Worth Requoting: “There have been societies in which people couldn’t trust what the government told them, couldn’t trust what the newspapers told them, couldn’t trust what the inspectors and police would do with them. Those societies collapsed. There is no higher priority for a healthy society than to have a truthful communications and news media.” – Tim Keller.

Without Comment: 1) If you rank US states by adjusted per capita personal income, Washington DC beats them all; 2) If you look across the pond, you realize that the poorest US State—Mississippi— has a higher PCPI than France; 3) In order to fight climate change, college students are willing to give up having children and eating meat, but they are not willing to give up their cell phones; 4) More than 500K people have now died or been wounded in the Ukraine War; 5) 90% of the sermons preached in the US are based on texts from the New Testament; 6) Shake Shack is looking to hire a CAO— as in “a Chief Avocado Officer.” The ideal candidate will be “obsessed with avocados in every single way.”

Resources and Opportunities: Here are a number of opportunities and resources you might be interested in.

• Lakelight Live: Given your response to the Sept. 12^th event in Austin, TX, we are holding similar events in Bellingham, WA (Oct. 18), Naples, FL (Nov. 2), and Franklin, TN (Oct. 3). Sign up here.
• Conspiracy Theories: Click here to listen to this week’s podcast, in which I interview Jared Stacy, whose doctoral studies are on Conspiracy Theories.
• The Good Work Summit: Registration is now open for our Oct. 14^th conference exploring critical issues in the marketplace. We have an embarrassingly strong lineup of presenters, including Dr. David Miller, who leads the Faith & Work Initiative at Princeton. 
• The Exodus: I am excited to finally be starting a new series on Exodus. The first sermon— in which I list the three reasons you need to dig into this book— is here.

Closing Prayer: O Son of God, perform a miracle for me: change my heart. You, whose crimson blood redeems mankind, whiten my heart. It is you who makes the sun bright and the ice sparkle; you who makes the rivers flow and the salmon leap. Your skilled hand made the nut tree blossom, and the corn turn golden; your spirit composed the songs of the birds and the buzz of the bees. Your creation is a million wondrous miracles, beautiful to behold. I ask of you just one more miracle: beautify my soul. Amen. (A Celtic Prayer, c.450–c.700.)

Happy Friday,

Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Paul, Colossians 3:1

Among the many things Marx was wrong about, Heaven is not the opiate of the masses. It does not lull us into indifference to present injustices; it motivates us to deny ourselves and work for the good of others. It also helps advertise the gracious love of God and the goodness of his kingdom. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world are just those who thought most about the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one. Aim at Heaven, and you’ll get the earth ‘thrown in.’ Aim at earth and you’ll get neither.”

J.I.P. While I’m citing late British theologians, let me remind you that J.I. Packer suggested we start each day rehearsing several truths: 1) God is my Father; 2) Heaven is my home; and 3) every day I’m one day nearer. It is likely that reflecting on these truths will be more spiritually-enabling than reflecting on whatever’s in your Twitter (X) feed.

BTW: As easy as it is to bash social media—and as hesitant as I am to defend it—it should be noted that Twitter doesn’t corrupt the human heart as much as it reveals it.

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to: attention economy, sex recession, epistemological modesty, and digital Babylon—the last being shorthand for our complex, algorithm-driven, always-connected culture. Full honors go to tripledemic, which wins in part because it’s doing double duty. I saw it used to refer to our climate/AI/China challenges and also to the threat of a fall riddled with COVID, the flu, and RSV.

Good Advice: While not a WOTW candidate, I’m giving a shout out to “touch grass,” the snarky advice being directed at those thought to be spending too much time in digital Babylon. Being told to “touch grass” is a not-so-subtle suggestion that you need to reconnect with reality.

FWIW: 1) The Surgeon General remains worried about our “epidemic of loneliness and isolation.” So do I; 2) We should be encouraged by PETBAR—the George-W-era-US-led effort to fight AIDS. Forty million lives have been saved to date; 3) A while ago we traded heroes for celebrities. This has turned out to be a worse move than Boston trading Babe Ruth for $100,000, Charlotte trading Kobe for Vlade Divac, and St. Louis trading Bill Russell for Ed Macauley combined. 

Without Comment: 1) Far more Americans believe in angels than believe in hell; 2) Both sides of Barbenheimer set box office records; 3) It’s now clear that academics plagiarize and falsify research much more than previously thought; 4) The CEO of Zoom has ordered company employees back to the office two days a week; and 5) In 2000, 2/3 of Americans gave to charity; in 2018, fewer than half did.

Resources: In this week’s podcast episode, I talk with Katie Schnack, the author of Everything is Not Fine: Finding Strength When Life Gets Annoyingly Difficult (IVP: Sept. 2023). Through lots of stories (and humor) Katie reflects on the struggles she and her husband faced when their son was born with very serious—and life-long—medical challenges. Here is last week’s sermon, which is best faced after strong coffee. It was based on 1 Cor. 3, in which Paul scolds the Corinthians for failing to gain spiritual maturity.

Lakelight Live: The Sept. 12th Austin reception—at which I am going to talk about how Christ-followers can best manage their relationship with the news media—generated enough interest that we are considering offering similar events in Nashville, Naples, and Bellingham. If you live in one of those areas and would be interested in attending such an event (time and location permitting), let us know here. (BTW, Austin has a bit more room. You can register for it here.)

Ouch: I thought this was funny. It hit too close to home, but it was funny.

Closing Prayer: O God of Love, we pray you to give us love; love in our thinking, love in our speaking, love in our doing, and love in the hidden place of our souls; love of our neighbors, near and far; love of our friends, old and new; love of those whom we find it hard to bear, and love of those who find it hard to bear with us; love of those with whom we work, and love of those with whom we take our ease, love in joy, love in sorrow, love in life and love in death; that so at length we may be worthy to dwell with you, who is eternal Love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen (William Temple, 1881-1944)

Happy Friday,

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 4:1

Though we might learn something about how to face temptation by noting how Jesus faced His, that is not the principal reason the events in the wilderness are recorded. They are there so we will marvel. Jesus marched into enemy territory and did what had not yet been done by a person—he bested the Enemy. The Garden-turned-wilderness marks the spot where the Seed of Woman began to crush the head of the Deceiver. As you reflect on this, remember that He did this for you. As Martin Luther wrote about this event, “But for us fights the proper man, whom God himself hath bidden. Ask ye, Who is this same? Christ Jesus is his name… and He shall win the battle.”

Time to Start Making Plans: 2025 will mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea; 2026 will be the 250th B-day of the United States; and 2033 will be the 2,000th anniversary of Pentecost. (BTW, I know 50th anniversaries are to be celebrated with gold and 75th with diamonds. But I’m in the dark about 250, 1700, and 2000. If you know, please advise.)

WOTW: Honorable mentions go to W.E.I.R.D. (as in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic countries), the ominous-sounding prewar era (which Walter Russell Mead is using to describe today), and the Umms (those who “express a strong commitment to Jesus and a desire to be part of the church, but are not active in a local congregation.” They stand alongside the nones—who do not self-identify with any religious affiliation—and the dones—who are exiting an established religion). Full honors go to IJBOL (pronounced “eej-bowl”), which stands for “I Just Burst Out Laughing” and is being used by everyone who is anyone to replace LOL.

Modernity: I’ve been pondering the interesting—and unnerving—definition I recently heard for Modernity. It stands for the era in which people spend more time with people they are not related to than with those they are.

Israel: Israel’s failure to get around to writing a Constitution has left them with few opportunities to use IJBOL in their emails. As with most things in the Middle East, it’s complicated, and much of the reporting is skewed. This podcast does the best job of explaining my take on what is going on and why. (BTW, the situation there highlights how wise our founders were and how amazing our Constitution is. Three cheers for checks and balances).  

Without Comment: 1) In this Substack article, demographer Ryan Burge notes that those most likely to attend church are well-off, married, and college-educated; 2) US credit card debt now tops $1T; 3) The Secular Humanist Society withdrew the 1996 Humanist of the Year award they had given to prominent atheist Richard Dawkins, after Dawkins described a woman as “an adult human female free of Y chromosomes;” 4) Though most church denominations are shrinking, the Assemblies of God and Presbyterian Church of America are growing; 5) This NYT piece suggests some are replacing the community, personal transformation, purpose and accountability they had at church with group fitness classes; 6) The closer you get to cities, coasts, and campuses the more liberal, secular, and blue things become; 7) Toyota claims that the “overall carbon reduction of 90 of their hybrids is 37x greater than the reduction of a single battery electric vehicle;” 8) Studies note that today’s 20 and 30-year-olds are having less sex than their grandparents did; 9) This piece suggests that up to 80% of dark web traffic is “illegal porn”—i.e., child porn; and 10) It is estimated that in the 2,000 years of the Christian faith, 70M Christians have been martyred.

IS2M:  1) IS2M that we got things mixed up. For the longest time, Westerners argued that human rights flowed out of human dignity, which was grounded on humans being made in the image of God. I might be confused, but it seems as though the new thinking is that human dignity flows out of human rights (not the other way around) and that human rights are grounded on people’s right to have rights; 2) Speaking of confusing, IS2M that we have no idea what to think about China. Some claim it’s about to collapse. Others claim its global ascendancy is certain; 3) Finally, IS2M that “elites” never own their status. Neither Ted Cruz (who graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law, is a two-term US senator, and is married to a Goldman Sachs Managing Director) nor Elizabeth Warren (a former Harvard professor, current US Senator, and one-time Presidential candidate) will admit to being elite. If they are not elite, who is? (I mean, other than Christ Church interns.)

Quote Worth Requoting: “We find time for things that are important to us. Period.” Scott Douglas, Running Times

The Buzz: David Brooks’s Aug. 2 piece—“What If We’re the Bad Guys?”—generated a lot of talk this past week. I appreciate his efforts to articulate the views of those he disagrees with. We need to listen to our adversaries until we can state what they believe (and why they believe it) to their satisfaction. As John Stuart Mill has noted, “He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that.”

Resources: In this week’s edition of The Press On podcast, I have a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Phil Ryken, the President of Wheaton College. In addition to talking about beauty, culture, Higher Ed., and the Chicago Bears, we discuss ways to navigate the challenges of this moment.

Lakelight Live in Austin: I’m extending a trip to Austin to launch Lakelight Live. On Tuesday, September 12th, I’ll be speaking on how Christ-followers can best manage their relationship with the news media. Though tickets are unlikely to rival those for a Taylor Swift concert, seating is limited. If you want to learn more about Lakelight Live in Austin, click here. 

Closing Prayer: Grant me, O Lord, to know what is worth knowing, to love what is worth loving, to praise what delights you most, to value what is precious to you, and to reject whatever is evil in your eyes. Give me true discernment, so that I may judge rightly between things that differ. Above all, may I search out and do what is pleasing to you; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen. (Thomas à Kempis, 1380–1471)