The Friday Update - Gray Rocking

Happy Friday,

The animals are not all that God owns. He owns the forests and the hills as well. And you. And me. And, well, with the exception of sin, it’s all pretty much his. As Kuyper noted a century ago, “There is not one square inch in all the universe of which Christ does not say, ‘Mine!” We are stewards, temporarily entrusted with his stuff. Everything on the asset side of our balance sheets is on loan. One day we will be required to offer an account.  Lord, may I live as a faithful steward today, investing your gifts in ways that please you.

Clean Up

Last week’s Update generated a lot of mail. As always, alert readers noted grammatical and spelling errors. (The most significant error was the misspelling of my wife’s name! It’s Sheri not Sherri. My assistant Glenn decided he didn’t need a raise this year with that mistake.) I also heard from “older” E-bikers demanding not to be grouped with 14-year-olds going 40 mph on the sidewalk. Finally, a number of you shared the habits you’re most thankful for — e.g, Scripture memory and reading through the Gospels once a month were my favorites from among those sent in.

WOTW

Honorable mention goes to digital Fentanyl (slang for Tik Tok), splinternet (a clever description for the way the web has “cyberbalkanized” us), clock botching (Gen Z’s term for employees who are clock watching), and nihilistic violent extremist (an FBI term for those who perpetrate violence without an ideological axe to grind. They simply want to destroy). Full honors go to gray rocking (a strategy for disengaging from an emotionally abusive person by making oneself as boring and uninteresting as a "gray rock"). I may or may not have been accused of gray rocking at a recent party. 

Our Sex Recession

According to the latest General Social Survey, Americans are having record low levels of sex. Just 37% of 18-64 year olds had sex at least once a week in ’24 (down from 55% in ’90). The decline is greatest among the youngest — i.e., 24% of 18-29 year olds said they’d not had sex in the past year (up 2x from ’10). Blame is being assigned to stunted social skills among Gen Z, the decline of marriage, the rise in internet porn, and libido-killing levels of fear and stress, etc. The writer Christine Emba captures our plight well: “We are more unfettered when it comes to sex than ever before: less risk, less stigma, more opportunity, more options. So why are so many of us so dissatisfied?” As a pastor, I’ll just note: the Bible has an answer to that question.

The Anti-Prayer Movement

Quebec made news with legislation outlawing public prayer in order to “strengthen secularism.” There is so much that could (and perhaps should) be said. But given tariff tensions between our two countries, I’ll limit myself to “nice try.” As long as there are exams in public schools, there will be prayer in public spaces. “God, we both know I didn’t study for this exam. But if you’ll help me pass it, I promise to …..”

IS2M

1) The faster the outside world spins, the stronger our inner world needs to be.

2) Articles discussing the rise of AI counseling are not just chilling because it’s growing so fast or because AI therapists (e.g., Replika) promise “judgement-free interaction” and “AI companions that care,” they are also chilling because there is data suggesting that therapy bots are proving quite helpful. 

Overheard

1) Individualism is not hostile to community; it’s hostile to authority.

2) Change your expectations and you change your life. (Many who are miserable are falling short of expectations set by social media.)

3) If anyone had reason to be cynical, it was Jesus, and he wasn’t.

4) Nebraska’s summer tourism campaign “Nebraska. Honestly, it’s not for everyone,” was surprisingly effective.

Without Comment

1) More books have been written about The Revelation of Jesus than any other book of the Bible.

2) Ds believe that 38% of Rs make more than $250K/yr, when only 2.2% do, while Rs believe that 32% of Ds are gay, lesbian or bisexual, when only 6.3% identify as such.

3) According to Zillow’s neighborhood ranking, 7 of the 10 priciest U.S. Zip Codes are now in Florida. 

4) More Christians are martyred in Nigeria than anywhere else. 

5) Nearly one in twenty Canadian deaths is now facilitated by MAID (Medical Assistance In Dying).

6) 38% of Americans report having seen a “miracle” at least once during their lifetime.

7) According to a study conducted by Fuller’s Youth Institute, the most important factor in a high school student’s faith “sticking” through college is a right view of Jesus and the Gospel.

8) Researchers at Northwestern University found that 88% of college students pretend to be more progressive than they are in order to succeed academically or socially.

Quotes Worth Requoting

1) “On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good and not quite all the time.” (George Orwell)  

2) “A very large part of the world’s misery is due to the rampant practice of trying to feed the soul with the body’s food.” (Frank Ferrel) 

Question of the Week

How has Jesus impressed you lately? What is the most important — or surprising — new thing that you learned about Him in the last few years? 

Resources

1) Lakelight is hosting Crawford Loritts on September 15th for a talk about Leadership. You can join us either in person in Lake Forest or online. Sign up here.

2) The 5-6 minute devotions I will be doing on Revelation start in late September. You can sign up here. 

Closing Prayer

“Almighty God, heavenly Father, because we are so weak in ourselves that we cannot stand even for a moment, and moreover, our sworn enemies—the devil, the world, and our own flesh—do not cease to attack us; will you, therefore, keep and strengthen us by the power of your Holy Spirit, so that we may firmly resist them and not go down to defeat in this spiritual war, but remain persistent until we finally obtain the complete victory and reign together with your Son, our Lord and Protector Jesus Christ, in your kingdom forevermore. Amen.” (Zacharias Ursinus - 1534-1583)