The Friday Update - 456789

Happy Friday,

In a world where people pay for upgrades and VIP access, it’s worth noting when a king is willing to trade away his perks. But David had good reason to do so. Power and palaces are nothing compared to proximity with the Lord. Better is one day in His courts than a thousand elsewhere.

IS2M

1) Politics and religion have been dancing together for a long time. And every time it happens, politics ends up leading — and stepping all over the feet of religion.

2) If you are more focused on the City of Man than on the City of God, it is hard to have much hope.

3) The wisdom of a decision must be assessed against a time horizon — e.g., the Sermon on the Mount does not make sense if what we see is all there is.

Self-Control

In Titus 2, Paul calls different people to different challenges, but one item is on everyone’s checklist: Self-control. Imagine a world in which everyone had it – i.e. no crippling addictions, no thoughtless speech, no temper tantrums, no appetite for wasteful controversies, etc. Now understand that this is possible. The Spirit of God does not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love and self-control.

Quotes Worth Re-quoting

1) "All death can do to Christians is make our lives infinitely better." — Tim Keller

2) "Christians believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Atheists believe in the virgin birth of the universe. Choose your miracle." — Glen Scrivener

WOTW

Honorable mention goes to the Tocqueville Paradox (named after the 19^th century French diplomat who observed that as societies gain wealth and become more just, the people grow more frustrated by the injustice that remains) and backronym (an acronym formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word – e.g., BISON for Biodiversity Serving Our Nation, FORD for Fix Or Repair Daily and PUSH for Pray Until Something Happens are all examples). Full honors go to the hard discipline of calm. I realize this is phrase not a word, but I’m bending the rules because we need more people to embrace this hard discipline. Anyone can panic. It takes an inner strength to absorb pain and hate. Civility is a discipline.

Without Comment

1) This study suggest that couples that meet in real life are happier than those who meet online.

2) This study suggests that people who de-identify from religion adopt more liberal political views.

3) A recent survey claims that 62% of US 18–29 year olds hold a favorable view of socialism, and 40% believe that “violence against the rich can be justified.”

4) According to this Gallup poll, only 54% of Americans drink – the lowest percentage since the question was first asked in 1939.

5) Rolling Stone is reporting that no rap songs are in the current Top 40 list, for the first time in 35 years.

6) Oregon reports that half the people seeking MAID (Medical Aid In Dying) are not doing so because of pain, but because they're worried about being a burden on others.

7) The most common pin number — and the most commonly hacked pin number — is 123456. In related news, among the most commonly hacked passwords is password. BTW: a) it takes the average identify thief less than five minutes to try those; b) it takes AI less than .001 seconds to do so; and c) the 20 most commonly used pin numbers account for 27% of all PIN codes. (I’m very safe because my pin number is 456789.) 

Overheard

1) Judas heard all of Jesus’s sermons.

2) An immature Christian is hard to please and easy to offend.

3) We should treat people like Jesus died for them.

The Wealth Index

I’ve provided this link before, but in a world where Shohei Ohtani’s $700M contract (and Elon Musk’s quest for a 1T dollar pay package) get bantered about, it’s worth being reminded that a $50K / year salary places you among the world’s wealthy. This tool is hardly perfect. For starters, it focuses exclusively on salary and not on wealth. But it’s directionally helpful.

Resources

Click here for my Lakelight interview with Rusty Reno. We discussed the nature of freedom, the state of our politics and his hopes for the public square.

Click here to hear my sermon on Christ’s letter to the church in Laodicea, from which we can learn several important (but uncomfortable) truths.

Prayer Requests

In addition to reminding you to pray for our local, national and global leaders, I’m requesting prayer for this weekend. I will be preaching on Revelation 4-5, which N.T. Wright lists as two of the most important chapters in the entire Bible. I’m asking that people are powerfully moved by the truth it reveals.

Closing Prayer

“Meet me, O Christ, in this stillness of morning. Move me, O Spirit, to quiet my heart. Mend me, O Father, from yesterday’s harms. From the discords of yesterday, resurrect my peace. From the discouragements of yesterday, resurrect my hope. From the weariness of yesterday, resurrect my strength. From the doubts of yesterday, resurrect my faith. From the wounds of yesterday, resurrect my love. Let me enter this new day, aware of my need, and awake to your grace, O Lord. Amen.” (Every Moment Holy, Vol. 1, pg. 135)