The Friday Update - Schöne Fritig

Schöne Fritig,

Sanctification tends to be a longer, slower slog than expected. But why? How come it takes so long to “get good”? A variety of reasons come to mind. For starters, evil is wilier than we think and we are more deeply broken than we realize. But lately I’ve been alert to this unfortunate truth: information and inspiration without the Holy Spirit and obedience do not lead to transformation. They lead to frustration. What is often holding us back is Vitamin A (Application). 

Schöne Fritig?

This week’s Happy Friday greetings were penned in Geneva, where Lakelight’s Reformation tour ended. (By the time you read this, we’re back.) 

Courage

A big takeaway from our trip—Hus and Havel in the Czech Republic, Luther and Melanchthon in Germany, and Calvin and Zwingli in Switzerland—is how costly and rare courage is. And how important. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”   

WOTW

There were many new-to-me or otherwise interesting words this week. Honorable mentions go to: microblazar (a black hole 12,000 light-years away whose particle jet some think is pointed toward Earth), gruglede (looking forward to an event with a mix of fear and excitement—e.g., holiday travel plans), AuDHD (a form of neurodivergence that combines autism with ADHD), whimsy-maxxing (being fun and spontaneous), and semper reformanda (“always reforming.” Note, reformanda is passive, because the church does not reform herself. She is reformed by the Word.) Full honors go to soulprint—the small, imperfect, unmistakable traces of a text that prove a human was here, e.g., a typo. Having gone back and changed my writing because I thought it sounded AI-ish, I’ve been waiting for this word. 

Gutenberg and AI

Given that Gutenberg’s printing press unexpectedly turned Luther’s 95 Theses into the West’s first viral moment, we visited his museum. Among other things, it was a big reminder of how disruptive tech can be. I was left pondering unintended consequences and our motivations. FWIW, the builders of the Tower of Babel—i.e., an early tech moment that did not end well—are described in Genesis 11 as being those who wished to make a name for themselves. The building of the Tabernacle—a tech-adjacent project that did end well—is described in Exodus 31 as being built by Bezalel (and others) who were working for the glory of God. 

Without Comment

1) Per this report, more than half of U.S. workers now experience the “Sunday scaries.”

2) NASA has confirmed 6,000 planets beyond our solar system.

3) People who buy time rather than things —i.e., who pay others to do tasks they do not enjoy (like cooking or cleaning) — report higher life satisfaction.

4) Per this report, the share of pastors who preach for an hour or more has climbed from 2% in 2019 to 6% in ’26 (I think I’m still among the 0.2% who preach for two.)

5) A record 89% of Americans now claim corruption in government is widespread.

Overheard

1) I’d be further along spiritually if noticing other people’s sins counted.

2) Leave room in your opinion for a fact you haven’t met yet.

3) Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.

4) Spiritual growth can be measured by closing the time-gap between sin and repentance.

Quotes

1) “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” — John Piper

2) “For God’s sake, do something brave.” — Ulrich Zwingli, to the Zurich council, 1529

3) “Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy.” — Henri Nouwen

4) “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” — Dwight Eisenhower

Nothing More, Nothing Less

Before the closing prayer might be a good time to remind you that the gospel suggests that at our best, we’re nothing more than sinners and at our worst, we’re nothing less than saints. P.S. This is also true of all our friends, family, distant relatives, acquaintances, enemies and any other person who claims the name of Jesus, whether easy or difficult to be around. Nothing more than sinner. Nothing less than saint.

Closing Prayer

“Grant, Almighty God, that we may be teachable by you, and never try to corrupt your worship with our own devices. And since you have clearly shown us your will through your only-begotten Son, grant that we may remain obedient to him, and call on you, the Father, in his name, while we are pilgrims in the world, until at length we arrive at that blessed inheritance which is laid up for us in heaven by the same, our Lord. Amen.” (John Calvin — 1509-1564, lightly edited)

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.