A scientist produced a monogamy study, including us: The most monogamous animal will likely surprise you (six animals rank higher than humans!). But this won’t surprise you, “Overall, less than 10% of mammals are monogamous, according to Dyble.”
Don’t overthink your problems: Wyatt Graham begins, “When we face criticism or feel uncertain about our actions, our natural tendency is to analyze every detail, replay every conversation, and search for what we might have done wrong. But Scripture offers us a surprisingly liberating approach: acknowledge clear sin, but don’t lose yourself in endless rumination over unclear accusations. Instead, trust that God knows your heart better than you do.”
We ask God a lot of questions.
· “Why do bad things happen?”
· “Why is there only one way to heaven?”
· “Why are some people who follow you hypocrites?”
· “Why don’t you make it more obvious that you are God?”
God invites questions. These questions haunt some. For others, the questions create confusion and stall their faith journey. For others, these questions deepen their faith as they wrestle them through with God.
But the line between us and heaven is not one way.
Did you ever consider that God might have questions for you?
How the West became pagan—again: Derek Rishmawy says, “When you think about your average non-Christian today... It’s far more likely to be someone who never went to church, checks her astrology chart, likes nature, takes an interest in breathwork because it connects her to reality, and maybe believes in the simulation theory.
Our sorrows keep getting more sorrowful and joys keep getting more joyful: Christopher Ash says, “ Far from the life of faith, gradually steadying to some calm mid-point between sorrow and joy, the sorrows deepen, and yet are infused with stronger joys. It gets, if I may put it loosely, both worse and better.”
Trauma is everywhere. One in four women and one in six men will be sexually abused. At least one in seven children have experienced abuse or neglect in the past year. More than one in four abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children.
Psychological research continues to demonstrate the tentacle-like nature of the impact of trauma. Effects include dissociation, panic attacks, hyperarousal, loss of sleep, low self-esteem, grief, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse.
We tend to associate trauma with those who were assaulted or were involved in military combat,
Soul is making a comeback: Wyatt Graham begins, “Everything seems to suppress soul. We live to catalyze efficient products. Our labour is counted, quantified, and measured. Human resource departments view us as human resources. They measure our performance by mechanical standards, and our salary relies on whether or not we have added value to a corporation. Work commodifies humans as resources; it is why HR departments exist. You are coal to be mined.”
Gen Z women struggle to find their way in Christian faith and community: A recent Barna study reports, “Currently, young adult women report the lowest rates of Bible reading, prayer and church attendance among their peers.”
Saint Nicholas is our guy: Clarissa Moll interviews Ned Bustard, “There’s a story of Nicholas battling Artemis, the goddess of the city in which he served as bishop. He prayed against the goddess, and her statue fell over, kind of like Dagon in 1 Samuel 5. How much of these stories are true? We don’t know, but we do know that he really did exist and has this reputation for being generous.”
Mama, you don’t have to save Christmas: Staci Eastin says,
Christmas is in the air! I know, I know… Thanksgiving is first. But if you are thinking about a Christmas read or an Advent plan for Christmas, I wanted to get this to you earlier rather than later. One of our favorite things to do for Advent as a family is to use a book to guide our time as preparation. If you haven’t tried it, I encourage you to see if it is a blessing to you.
I asked friends for their favorites and compiled this list for you. I would love for your feedback on some of your favorite Christmas and Advent favorites.
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