The Friday Update - Two Things

Happy Friday,

It’s worth noting what God did not say to Moses while recruiting him to lead the Jews out of Egypt, He did not say: “You graduated from Pharaoh’s Leadership Academy.” “I’ve seen your LinkedIn page, it’s impressive.” Or, “your training in desert survival was noted by the committee.” For that matter, he did not say, “I believe in you.” He said, “I will be with you.”

Two Things

I believe my job as a pastor would be easier if people saw two things that were common 100 years ago but quite hidden today: 1) cemeteries and 2) the night sky. 

Quotes

1) “Anger is never without a reason, but seldom a good one.” — Benjamin Franklin.

2) “When rich and poor stand opposed to each other, Jesus never takes his place with the wealthier. He stands with the poorer.” — Abraham Kuyper

3) “I wish to have as my epitaph: ‘Here lies a man who was wise enough to bring into his service men who knew more than he.’” — Andrew Carnegie

4) “The definition of spiritual growth is going from having a thin skin and a hard heart to having a thick skin and a soft heart.” — John Stott

5) “Most of us approach our time in the Word like the drive through at McDonalds: I've only got a few minutes. Give me something quick and easy to fill me up.” — Jen Wilkin

WOTW

Honorable mentions go to hyperpolitics (when everything becomes political, but political institutions fail to deliver change), spuddle (a 17th-century verb describing work that achieves little) and Omni-crisis (the feeling that the problems of our world won’t be solved by a discrete set of changes, but by the healing of a broken world). Full honors go to the foom-zone. It’s the point of recursive self-improvement where AI gets better at improving itself than we are at understanding what it’s doing. 

Countering the Panic

I don’t know who’s sincere and what’s just performative and self-promotional, but a handful of high-ranking wunderkinds came out last week saying “we’ve lost control,” “the sky is falling” and claiming their employer-until-ten-minutes-ago was in on it — i.e., they have pushed us into the Foom-Zone. How to respond? Remember that human overreach is hardly new, rejoice that the tomb is empty and rest in the knowledge that the One who “laid the earth’s foundation” neither slumbers nor sleeps nor is taken aback by AI advances. Also, re-read C.S. Lewis’s “Learning in Wartime” sermon. If the agents or the bombs get us, let them find us engaged in doing good human things like eating a family meal, caring for a neighbor or reading a book. We will all die, but there is no need to live in fear of death.

Overheard

1) Despair is both a luxury and a sin.

2) It doesn’t matter what’s going on—complainers complain and thankful people give thanks.

3) You can learn a lot about a person by paying attention to how accurately they portray the position of those with whom they disagree.

The Latest

After he realized I’d never play shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, my dad wanted me to be a mechanical engineer. To be clear, a civil, electrical, chemical, sanitation, computer, aerospace, biomedical or nuclear engineer would have sufficed. (Sadly, neither pastoral nor theological were on his list.) This week I noticed the list goes on. A “prompt engineer” is to AI what an SEO specialist was to the internet — i.e., someone who knows how to get the machine to notice you. 

Without Comment

1) In a newly forming group, narcissists are often the most popular. In an established group, they are the least.

2) Nearly one quarter of U.S. households use GLP-1 drugs.

3) For the first time since 1919, the world generated more electricity from renewables than from coal.

4) Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the share of the U.S. economy going to workers hit its lowest level in 75+ years.

5) 86% of Mount Holyoke college students identify as LGBT+.

6) 500K Americans filed for bankruptcy in ‘25, up 50% from ’22.

7) Football remains the U.S.'s favorite sport, but soccer recently made record gains.

8) Yale continues with a nearly 1-to-1 ratio between undergrad students and administrators.

9) After 50+ years of continuous growth, the U.S. immigrant population fell from a record 53.3 million in January 2025 to 51.9 million by June 2025.

What drains you?

A few months ago, I noted that I get depleted by: loneliness, overstimulation, resentment and unfinished tasks. What drains you? 

Any Idea Why I Learned This?

Had Joel Acted Obediently, Jonah Might Never Have Zapped Him, Zechariah Mused. I will not keep you in suspense. It’s the mnemonic I learned—in grad school!—to remember the order of the Minor Prophets (i.e., Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi).

Resources

1) Click here to hear my sermon on Genesis 15—one of the most important passages in the Bible.

2) It’s your last chance to sign up for Monday’s Lakelight event on anxiety featuring psychiatrist and theologian Dr. Warren Kinghorn. Register here for free—online and in-person. See you then.

Closing Prayer

"You are the fountain of life, the fountain of light, and the fountain of all grace and truth. Lover of humanity, lover of the poor, you reconcile yourself to us all. And you draw us all to yourself through the advent of your beloved Son. We beg you: Make us come alive. Give us a spirit of light, that we may “know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Give us the Holy Spirit that we may be able to proclaim your unspeakable mysteries. May the Lord Jesus speak in us and the Holy Spirit, and may we sing praises to you, amen.” (Serapion Scholasticus, 300-360)

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.