Now that we’ve been going through this mess for almost six months, certain areas have surfaced where – if this is all a big life test – we aren’t exactly getting an “A”. For those who follow Christ, there is one area in particular that deserves attention. It is giving into the temptation to turn inward, to give ourselves over to our emotions and felt needs in ways that aren’t spiritually healthy.
I received a series of text messages from my 33-year-old daughter, Rebecca, who is also the mother of three. I asked her permission to share a lightly-edited version of them: Changing the subject. Have you seen “Cuties” on Netflix yet? It’s the film that has been so controversial. I watched it last night. It was so horrible. I’m still depressed about it.
According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, half of all U.S. Christians say that casual sex (meaning sex outside of a committed romantic relationship) between consenting adults is okay. Take away the “casual” label, but still unmarried, and it climbs another 10 percentage points.
Dictionary.com recently uploaded its largest ever update, defining and redefining thousands of words. It would be understandable if you thought that 2020 must have been marked by an explosion of new words as we sought to explain life in a pandemic world. Yet the massive update only included a few hundred new words as opposed to 15,000 re-definitions.
When the panic or uncertainty of pandemic pressures threaten your focus or faith, here are 10 redemptive prayers.
I’ll never forget sitting in the boardroom of a Christian business leader as he boasted of his company as a Christian enterprise. He spoke of the mission trips taken by employees, investments the company made in select parachurch ventures, their corporate chaplain, and the Bible study offered on campus. All well and good; but throughout his discourse he took more than his fair share of shots at local churches that were not as “alive” as his company was in their faith.
I have been quietly keeping an eye on QAnon for a while, including reading with great interest the recent in-depth article in The Atlantic on its dynamics. But it wasn’t until Katelyn Beaty’s reporting on its spread among Christians that I knew it was time to speak out. The title of her article was telling: “The alternative religion that’s coming to your church.” So what is QAnon?
Is personality awareness spiritual? Or does it just breed a kind of narcissism—a self-centeredness, a preoccupation with ourselves? The Bible’s answer may surprise you. If I had to give the Bible’s headline, it would be, “Apart from knowing who you are, you cannot know who God is.”
This week, I announced to our church that we will not be opening our doors to large-group, indoor events—including worship services—until next year. I doubt this surprised many Meckers, as I have been open in my blogging about the dynamics at play for reopening (see: “Why We Canceled Our Weekend Services,” “The Reopening Challenge” and “About That Reopening”). So, why make this decision now?
I was recently at a farmer’s market, and a particular family stood out to me. In a sea of face masks, they were the only ones not wearing them. Then I glanced down at the woman’s shirt, and emblazoned on the front were the words “Faith Over Fear.” Then I got it. They were apparently among those who feel that wearing a mask displaces trust in God.
