The lesbian seagulls that weren’t: Maria Baer reports on when “NPR’s popular Radiolab podcast tries but fails to find homosexuality in nature.”
Multiply your time with this simple framework: Craig Groeschel with some helpful advice. His first piece of advice is to “Schedule your values. Wise time management doesn’t mean you do more. It means you do more of what matters you most, so you need to schedule your values.”
I am not an avid gamer.
I've aspired to be at different intersections of my life, but I just don't have the knack. And so it goes for those who can throw the football nearly a hundred yards right out of the box, versus those who struggle even to catch the thing. Thus, the advent of practice, and training. There have been innumerable stories of nobodies becoming somebodies across history by putting in the effort, by showing up, working hard, day after day until the breakthrough. For this there is no substitution.
“The coach says that he has the talent to play D-1 one day.” A friend’s son had just tried out for an elite club soccer team and they were weighing the decision. The travel club came with a hefty price tag and a commitment to regular out-of-town tournaments. They would say yes to the club. In a few years their son would burn out from playing soccer. But the impact on their family couldn’t be undone. They had built the patterns of their family in their kids’ early years around healthy spiritual rhythms, including regular church attendance. Club soccer changed those patterns.
Relating to a narcissist: Ed Welch with a thoughtful and empathetic treatment of a growing concern, “Diagnostic labels have their benefits and liabilities. They can help you see certain behaviors. They can also blind you by leading you to believe that everything is a result of the diagnoses, which it is not. For the person who wears the label, the word can be meaningless or offensive. It will not help.”
6 kinds of hearers of God’s Word: Brian Najapfour pulls his list straight from scripture. For instance, “She knows that she has blemishes, but she is afraid to face them. Like someone who avoids the doctor for fear of a bad diagnosis, Mrs. Afraid resists the conviction of the Word. She does not want to be confronted with the cost of repentance.”
It was a cool February afternoon three years ago, our family piled in our aptly named Escape heading East on the I-8. We weave our way through Laguna Summit and the Cleveland National Forest, summiting the final miles of California and her Santa Ana Mountains on our way back to our home in the Sonoran Desert.
We just visited Concordia University, Irvine, a Lutheran school where our eldest, Camille, was offered a generous scholarship. Camille fell in love with Concordia’s professors, mission, and solid theological foundation on the trip. We rejoiced at her finding such a perfect fit for her. And we mourned her impending departure.
There are lots of people taking pot shots at religion these days. Everyone seems happy to claim spirituality, with few willing to claim religion. “I’m spiritual but not religious,” is the only “denomination” that appears to be in favor.
Religion isn’t all bad. Our declaration that we are “spiritual but not religious” means that we pave the path of our own experience with God. Can that be done? Do we, the creature, get to dictate to the Creator the structure of our relationship?
1. My Cup Overflows: HB Charles Jr. reflects on a familiar text with fresh insight, “Psalm 23 is not the boast of a spoiled youth. This is not the testimony of a trouble-free life. It is not the memoir of a peacetime king. David was a neglected shepherd boy in his father’s house. David was a fugitive from the murderous ways of Saul. David was a father whose rebellious children broke his heart. David was a wartime king who faced one enemy after another. David was an exile whose own sought to overthrow him, Yet David exclaims, ‘My cup overflows.’”
2. Into the Waves: Andrea Sanborne reflects, “It is tempting to shift our weight a little in an attempt to be more comfortable in the dominant culture. To build our house there, on the soft sands of acceptance. Since childhood we have all struggled to fit in with the group holding power, whether that be the popular girls at the lunch table or the consensus at the board meeting. But when the storm comes, we will regret not building our lives on something more solid.”
3. Not Just Doctrine, but Culture and Friendship Too: Ray Ortlund urges us to not reduce what God invites us into, “I believe that orthodox doctrine, gracious culture and lasting friendships, if widely shared among our churches — by God’s grace, for his glory alone — can accomplish something profound in our generation. Much more could be said, of course. But I don’t see us making progress without these threads wonderfully woven together by us, among us.”
4. Now More Than Ever: Here is cause for encouragement from JK Wall, “For people who are pro-life, there has never been a time as good as this. All Christians should celebrate.”
5. Worst Year Ever: The folks at Radiolab ask the question: what was the worst year ever? You will be surprised by their answer.
“How can I forgive them?” It’s a question spoken out of a yearning to release the one who has inflicted injury. It’s a question that is spoken out of hurt and sometimes anger.
How do we forgive the person who keeps sinning against us? How do we forgive the one who sins against us in a grievous way? How do we forgive the individual who sins against us and isn’t repentant?
Forgiveness is mandatory as a Christian. In his depiction of how we ought to pray, Jesus ties up with our forgiveness with the forgiveness we offer, “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12).
Knowing that we will probably choke on that commandment, Jesus offers an explanation for the stakes of our forgiveness at the end of his prayer, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt 6:14-15). Goodness gracious. There it is, in black and white. We must forgive the one who has offended us.
Now, to be clear, this is no spiritual tit-for-tat. Jesus is not saying that God will withhold forgiveness from us until we grant it to others. Rather, what Jesus is saying is that the forgiveness we receive from him is demonstrated in our forgiveness of others. Those who have received forgiveness will forgive.
What gives you purpose in seasons that feel meaningless or directionless? God does.
When you think of godly leaders, King David is in rarified air. He is, after all, the famed slayer of Goliath, the one who was known as “the man after God’s own heart,” and the greatest king in Israel’s history. But, from a human perspective, the majority of his life seemed directionless and even wasted. And yet every step had an incredible purpose. There is no King David without his journey.
As a young man, Samuel anointed David’s head and “the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.”[i] Within a few years David defeated Goliath and was promised to Saul’s daughter in marriage. Surely David must have thought that his ascension to the throne was near. If I were in David’s shoes I would have anticipated my reign to begin at any moment.
But as things so often are in God’s economy, our expectations are not God’s. It would be many years before David would sit on the throne.[ii] David would go from the rising star of Israel, whom the people sung about in the streets, to fleeing, to exile, wandering with his motley band across the hostile terrain of Palestine. Even after so many years had passed, he twice refused to take the life of the man who not only sought his life, but blocked his anointing.[iii]
What must have sustained David for these long years was not only the presence of God, but also God’s purpose for him. Even as he ran for his life, he speaks of his trust and his purpose, “But the king [referring to himself, who wasn’t yet king] shall rejoice in God.” So it is with the power of a purposeful spiritual life for us. When we know and understand the identity and purposes God has placed on our lives, it sustains us through tremendous difficulty, which is also God’s purpose.
Fewer Americans Identify as Christians: In less than 15 years, a significant shift has occurred, “In 2007, almost eight in 10 U.S. adults (78%) identified as a Christian, according to a new Pew Research study. Since then, the share of Americans identifying with Christianity has steadily fallen, declining to 63% in 2021.The decline of Christians in the U.S. has been matched by a rise in the religiously unaffiliated. Their number has almost doubled since 2007—from 16% to 29%.
Unlock the Power of Family Habits: Justin Whimel Earley offers practical advice for how to form a healthy spiritual life as a family. He says, “Habits are the little things we do over and over without thinking about them. And the tiny and subconscious nature of habits makes them powerful. Why? Because they create our “normal.” Normal life is what stays with you from January through December. Normal life is what shapes your kids, your body, your schedule, and your heart. The habits of the household are the engine of a family’s spiritual formation.”
Please Be Gentle: Al Gooderham begins, “Gentleness is underrated and undervalued in the world and in the church. We prize power and authority and charisma. We want leaders who sound like TED talk speakers and who can capture our attention and hold it, leaders who are magnetic and whom we want to follow, who will impress our friends and family. Leaders who could do any number of jobs well and be recognized as leaders in their field. We also want to be that. We want all that because we have a Corinthian complex.”
The Value of a Secure Identity: Lee Hutchings explains the blessings of having your identity secured in Christ. He begins with this truth, “Our identity in Christ gives us new focus: Regardless of what is happening around us or even to us, as Christians we know that this present world is not our final home.”
Peacock Spiders, Dance for Your Life: Wow! This is wild.
We live in an apology-averse culture.
We are allergic to repentance and equally allergic to forgiveness.
Think about it? When was the last time someone repented to you? I mean, truly repented?
The last time a congregant apologized to me, the email began this way (I’ve tweaked it only to protect the one who sent it), “I might have been a little harsh in my email.. I had a very bad week…” In further communication, the individual referenced their apology. Internally I scratched my head. “When did they apologize?” I dug back through the email thread and saw those phrases. That is what they were referencing.
“I might have…” followed by an excuse is no apology.
I don’t say that to attack the individual I am referencing. In fact, I completely understand why, in our culture, they would think that they had apologized.
In our culture, we learn to apologize with phrases that look like this:
· “Sorry.”
· “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
· “I know I shouldn’t have done that, but you shouldn’t have…”
· “I wouldn’t have done that if…”
· “That wasn’t my best.”
None of those are apologies.
By not learning how to apologize, we miss out on good’s purposes for our hearts and for the possibility of true reconciliation.
A few years ago my wife and I took a hike for my birthday. We enjoyed the beautiful Arizona morning, winding our way up into the foothills of the Catalina Mountains through the lush Sonoran desert. Creosotes, palo verdes, mesquite trees. barrel cacti, cholla, ocotillos, and saguaros sprang out of the mountainous terrain. We went on a well-traveled trail toward our destination: pools tucked into the Catalina foothills, 2.8 miles from the trailhead.
As inexperienced hikers who hadn’t hiked the trail in some 20 years, we overestimated our progress and asked multiple passersby how far away the pools were. It shouldn’t take this long to go 2.8 miles, right? Our legs grew heavy and my wife wondered if we had made a wrong turn. Maybe we should just turn around?
We finally crested a hill and below us lay the still, emerald pools. Our pace quickened with the pools in view and the final 15 minutes sped by. We relaxed on sun-bathed boulders, ate a snack, took some pictures, and then headed back. Knowing the terrain now and having a much better sense of how far the 2.8 mile destination was, there were no moments of confusion or frustration. The trail seemed to melt quickly behind us and we arrived back at the trailhead quickly.
Knowing your destination changes your journey.
This is a series about fixing a spiritual destination, and doing so changes our spiritual journey.
She Wants to Meet the Man Who Killed Her Father: Police Officer Richard Houston was killed when he responded to a domestic disturbance. His 18-year-old daughter spoke profoundly at his funeral. Don’t just read this, make sure you watch the 90 second clip.
Just Preach the Gospel? It’s Complicated: Provocative post by Trevin Wax. I appreciated his thoughts. He says, “At its best, “just preach the gospel” serves as a needed warning to stay tethered to the central message of Christianity. At its worst, it means “don’t touch my idol.”
12 Observations on Spiritual Authority: Samuel James in 12 compact observations considers spiritual authority, its abuse, and the response for those who have been impacted by it (and those who haven’t).
He Gives His Beloved Sleep: Tim Challies begins, “Of all the divine thoughts recorded in the pages of sacred writ, of all the promises God provides to humanity, perhaps none is more moving, none more blessed, none more needful than this: He gives his beloved sleep.”
Previously Unheard Fish Sounds from Restored Coral Reef: The sound of life is beautiful.
When I say the word “church” what do you think of? Most Americans probably think of a single building that they might attend or drive by on the way to work.
If you said “church” to a first-century Christian, they had a very different image pop into their minds. New Testament scholars agree that the way the early church conceived of itself was as a collective city-church. In other words, when Paul writes his letter to the church at Philippi, he writes it to all of the congregations that meet within the city of Philippi. The letter made the circuit through the city and was read by the leaders at various assemblies. In other words, there was such strong unity across local churches that they conceived of themselves as a collective church.
In fact, there appear to be certain leaders in the various cities who held authority over their local church as well as a number of congregations within their respective cities (Titus, Timothy, Peter, John, etc).
Now, this isn’t to diminish the serious challenges and conflict within these city churches. A cursory look at the letters makes it clear that these churches dealt with many of the same problems we still deal with today: sexual misconduct, greed, heresy, gossip, and conflict, to name a few. It’s instructive to see how these issues are dealt with in the context not just of a local church, but of the city-church.
The average church today is an island unto itself. If truth be told, most churches are for their church, not the church.
It’s understandable why any given local congregation would withdraw from a broader commitment to the church. There are a number of challenges to being committed to the church.
What plan do you have for your spiritual life? Where do you want to go spiritually? And how are you going to get there?
My hunch is that most of us don’t have a plan for our spiritual life. Most of us live hoping that we’ll drift into a better spiritual life. But that is a faulty assumption. Have you drifted into losing weight? Or becoming a better father? Or into your Master’s degree?
For some reason, we think that even though we make plans for improvement and we set goals in other areas, it's not necessary or spiritual for us to set out these kinds of plans for our spiritual walk.
Jesus himself lived an incredibly purposeful life. If you pick up the gospel of John, you see that Jesus is very sensitive to discerning and following God’s purpose for his life. His purpose was not about self-fulfillment but self-giving at the cross. In John 17:1, Jesus prays, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.”
How do we live a spiritual life with such purpose and awareness?
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