The Friday Update - Normal

Happy Friday,

After the cross and resurrection, you'd expect Jesus would spend his time casting vision for the future of the movement. Instead, starting on the road to Emmaus shortly after his resurrection, he spent his time explaining how the Hebrew Scriptures were always pointing to Him. As others have noted, “Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden… He is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, his blood now cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal. He is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and go out into the void to create a new people of God.” (Click here to see how Jesus is the true and better Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, temple, etc., etc.). The point being, at the critical moment of transition, Jesus worked to ensure that everyone saw how all things pivot around him. 

Normal

Today’s average American: consumes 17 teaspoons of sugar/day, is $104K in debt, is 30lbs overweight; spends 90K hrs of their life at work, 70K hours watching TV and 21.6 hrs/day inside. It’s not an inspiring picture.

Without Comment

1) Per Ryan Burge, religious Nones are in a four-year decline in every age demographic.

2) Also per Burge, 43% of Gen Z still have no religious affiliation.

3) Per this Pew study of 42K people in 36 countries, China is now viewed slightly more favorably than the U.S..

4) Nearly 75% of all tornadoes occur in America.

5) Per Karl Pillemer, a Cornell sociologist, nearly 25% of the U.S. population is estranged from a close relative, and 10% is estranged from a child.

6) In a recent poll, Gen Z-ers on average said that in order to feel financially successful they would need to earn nearly $600,000 a year — or roughly what the top 2 percent of Americans make.

Overheard

1) Satan's strategy is to make sin seem normal and righteousness seem weird.

2) Anticipation may be the best single-word definition of leadership.

3) You can tell a lot about a culture by what it does not talk about. (FWIW, Americans do not talk about death.)

4) Hope is a bit like your car keys. If you set it in the wrong place, it’s easy to lose.

5) While the Hebrew prophets were often critical of other nations, they reserved their harshest condemnations for God’s own people. 

A Classic

In Mere Christianity, Lewis writes: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

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.

Quotes Worth Requoting

1) “The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.” — Kierkegaard

2) “The more we hide, the less we heal.” — John Mark Comer

3) "Twenty years from now the only people who will remember that you worked late are your kids." — Sahil Bloom

Welch on Teams

According to Jack Welch, much depends on getting Low Values / High Performance people off the bus. He claimed most leaders know to reward High Values / High Performance people, to dismiss Low Values / Low Performance people and to try coaching High Values / Low Performers. But not all know that the key is to quickly dismiss Low Values / High Performers.

US Wealth Distribution

Per a report by the St. Louis Fed: 1) The top 10% of households had $8.1 million on average and held 67.2% of total household wealth. The bottom 50% had $60,000 on average and held 2.5% of total household wealth; 2) Millennials and Gen Zers owned $1.23 for every $1 of wealth owned by Gen Xers at the same age and $1.35 for every $1 of wealth owned by baby boomers at the same age; 3) Households headed by someone with less than a high school diploma had 9 cents for every $1 of wealth held by households headed by a four-year college graduate; and 4) Despite increased volatility in wealth levels, average wealth grew for all groups over the past five years. 

Closing Prayer

“Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart which no unworthy affection may drag downward. Give me an unconquered heart which no tribulation can wear out. Give me an upright heart which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (Thomas Aquinas — 1225 - 1274)

P.S.

 If TFU has become part of your Friday rhythm—and you’d like to help us out—then send it to a friend. Preferably one who reads. But we’re trying to be hospitable.