The Friday Update - Revelation 22

Happy Friday,

After following Christ for ten years, many fail to see much change. Why? Because all they’ve done is repeat ‘year one’ ten times. Spiritual growth requires more discipline and sacrifice than most expect (or are willing to give). Reading the New Testament – e.g., 1 Cor. 9:27 – suggests that our options are limited. We face the pain of the disciplines we choose (prayer, sacrifice, etc.) or we live in the malaise of spiritual immaturity.

Read Revelation 22 Lately?

Watching the rerun of our team’s come-from-behind win does not change the ending of the game, but it does inspire us. Perhaps it’s time to reread Rev. 22 and relax. God wins. And He is the one who has the last word about your future.  

Saints

The word “saint” does not appear in the New Testament in the singular. We really are in this together. 

WOTW

Honorable mention goes to googsplain (don’t ask me to mansplain it to you), cottagecore (an aesthetic movement that romanticizes traditional rural life) cultural velocity (which I’d estimate at Mach 3 these days) and artificial friendship – which Zuckerberg lauds in this WSJ piece. Full honors go to phono sapiens, a term coined by Byung-Chul Han, the South Korean philosopher and cultural theorist whose writings are suddenly everywhere.

An Eternal Perspective

A tourist meeting a well-known rabbi was surprised by the austerity of the famous scholar’s home. A table, a chair, and a bed comprised the entirety of his furnishings. "Is this all you have?" the tourist asked. “Yes,” said the rabbi, before noting that the tourist also had only a few belongings with him. "But I’m just passing through" the man explained. "So am I," said the rabbi. (BTW, so are you.)

Vibe Shift

The plural of anecdote is not data, but I’m hearing enough about Gen Z’s religious pivot to think something’s up. Some (many?) 29-and-Unders appear to be rejecting the path the Millennials trod before them. In its place, they are embracing tradition, church, early marriage and homes in small towns.

Without Comment

1) Japan – which sells more diapers for adults than for children – closed 450 schools last year.

2) Israel recently celebrated its 77^th B-day, making it older than 86 of the world’s 195 countries.

3) Evangelical church attendance in the UK is 13% higher than pre-pandemic.

4) Per this study, children in intact families are half as likely to be diagnosed with depression (regardless of income).

5) As of January 2024, 34M small businesses provide 45.9% of US jobs.

6) Angel Studios’ The King of Kings – a Charles Dickens’s-inspired animated retelling of the life of Jesus – is doing well. It cost less than $19M to produce and has already grossed $58M.

Tomorrow’s Headlines

In addition to hearing more about AI, we should plan on hearing more about: 1) thorium – the new (and better) uranium; 2) paganism; 3) sex with machines and minors; 4) Class action lawsuits against AI errors.

Let It Be Noted

After being sent an updated list of acronyms — where BFF = best friend fell; DIY = don’t injure yourself; BTW = Bring the Walker and LOL = Little Old Lady — I’d like to note that 69-year-old Pope Leo XIV is being described as young.

Resources

1) Click here to listen to the sermon I preached last week on Psalm 127, which generated much more pushback than normal.

2) You can listen to an interview with Dr. Nathan Hatch, a noted scholar and the past president of Wake Forest, over on my podcast Beneath The Headlines.

3) And click here for more information about Lakelight’s upcoming AI event taking place in Lake Forest, IL on June 5.

Closing Prayer

“Lord, I can see plainly that you are the only and the true source of wisdom, since you alone can restore faith and hope to a doubting and despairing soul. In your Son, Jesus, you have shown me that even the most terrible suffering can be beautiful, if it is in obedience to your will. And so, the knowledge of your Son has enabled me to find joy in my own suffering. Lord, my dear Father, I kneel before you this day, and praise you fervently for my present sufferings, and give thanks for the measureless sufferings of the past. I now realize that all these sufferings are part of your paternal love, in which you chastise and purify me. And through that discipline I now look at you without shame and terror because I know that you are preparing me for your eternal kingdom. Amen.” (Henry Suso - 1295 - 1366)

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