The Friday Update - Zero

Happy Friday,

If your faith is more "white-knuckled fight" than "open-handed surrender," you've forgotten the Gospel. Grace is not just the way in, it's the way on. We don't graduate from our need for God’s mercy-fueled love — we grow deeper into it. His power does not replace our weakness; it meets us there — and is made perfect in it.

May Days

May—aka the new December—is here. The calendar is packed, the pace is frantic, and small things start to feel ultimate. Rest in this: you are not what you accomplish. You are not your calendar. In Christ, you are already fully known and fully loved. (BTW, Monday is Star Wars Day. "May the Fourth be with you.")

A Classic 

I was recently reminded of Mark Granovetter's groundbreaking 1973 paper, “The Strength of Weak Ties.” His insight: close friends carry us emotionally, but they tend to know what we know and think how we think. It's our weak ties—casual acquaintances who move in different circles—who most often bring the new job, the new idea, the timely introduction. The church is one of the places in modern life that is rich in both kinds of ties. Don't waste that.

IS2M

1) We don't hear about billions much anymore. It’s all trillions now. T is the new B.

2) We’re not thinking enough about the decline of the family. Fewer children not only means an older society and thinner “kinship networks”—i.e., fewer siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It means “the pool of informal care” is declining at the very moment an aging society needs more of it—which in turn increases our reliance on the state. And the state is a very imperfect—and very expensive—substitute for the family.

On The Horizon

Given that some cities—West Hollywood among them—have passed ordinances recognizing domestic partnerships for poly groups, expect divorce law to get very complicated very quickly.

Zero

When asked to name his patients' biggest regret, a seasoned psychologist said, "Selfishness. People end up asking themselves, Why wasn't I more kind? More generous? More helpful?" When asked how many of his patients had come to him asking for help with selfishness, he said, "Zero."

NFL Draft

Yet another NFL draft has come and gone without a single team expressing interest in me. I'm starting to think it might never happen.

Overheard

1) God is not in a hurry.

2) Enter the room listening.

3) Singing lowers anxiety.

4) Christianity is realistic before it is hopeful.

5) We are not told to pick up our comforters, put on our slippers and take a stroll. We’re told to take up our cross. Leadership demands surrender and sacrifice, and the work is never done.

6) Lord, make me the kind of person my dog thinks I am. 

Without Comment

1) The US has reclassified marijuana as a less dangerous drug—the largest softening of federal cannabis policy since 2012.

2) During Tim Cook's 15-year tenure, Apple's market value grew $682 million per day.

3) Searches for Mahjong clubs grew 4,467% between Sept '24 and Aug '25.

4) Per Pew, Americans over 60 now spend more than half of their daily leisure time in front of a screen.

5) Kenyan Sebastian Sawe won the London marathon with the world’s first sub-2-hour marathon.

6) In 1800, 99% of physical work was done by humans and animals. Today less than 1% is. Today 90% of cognitive work is done by humans. Some now claim 90% of that will go away.

Unhappy Data

1) "The United States was a reasonably happy country for a long time. It is not happy now." — Sam Peltzman, U of Chicago quoted in this article.

2) Worker satisfaction in the latest Federal Reserve study is at its lowest level since the survey began.

3) U Michigan consumer sentiment has fallen to the lowest level in the 70-year history of the survey.

WOTW

Honorable mentions to deadzoning (vacationing somewhere Wi-Fi has yet to reach) and humanoid syntax (AI-prose—now everywhere—that seems fond of “it’s not X, it’s Y,” and verbs like delve and unleash). Full honors go to maxxing (as in Healthmaxxers and Looksmaxxers. I don’t get the appeal, but I’ll delve into it and report back).

Touche

At a party hosted by a billionaire hedge fund manager, Kurt Vonnegut turned to Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, and said, "Joe, our host made more money yesterday than you've earned from your famous book over its entire lifetime." Heller replied, "Yes, but I have something he will never have. Enough."

Resources

It’s impossible to understand pages 2 through 1400 in the Bible without first understanding Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22. Click here to hear last week’s sermon on Revelation 21. 

Closing Prayer

"Lord, Help me to glorify you. I am poor, help me to glorify you by contentment. I am sick, help me to give you honor by patience. I have talents, help me to extol you by spending them for you. I have time, Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve you. I have a heart to feel, Lord, let that heart feel no love but yours, and glow with no flame but affection for you. I have a head to think, Lord, help me to think of you and for you. You have put me in this world for something, Lord; show me what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose. Amen.” (Charles Spurgeon - 1834–1892)