The lesbian seagulls that weren’t: Maria Baer reports on when “NPR’s popular Radiolab podcast tries but fails to find homosexuality in nature.”
Multiply your time with this simple framework: Craig Groeschel with some helpful advice. His first piece of advice is to “Schedule your values. Wise time management doesn’t mean you do more. It means you do more of what matters you most, so you need to schedule your values.”
A Pastoral Reflection on the Israel-Iran Conflict
October 7, 2023 Iranian backed Hamas terrorists waged the deadliest attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The moment I heard, I buried my head in my hands grieving that again great suffering had begun.
From that day, I have prayed anew for peace and justice as this round of tensions between Israel and Iran unfolds. Gaza, Hezbollah in the north, all of it is, at its root, the same conflict.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, like many of you, I read that American B-2 bombers dropped 14 “bunker buster” bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities. We joined the conflict. Some call it a war.
This Week's Recommendations
Afraid of the dark: Chrys Jones says, “For those of us who have seen the Light, Advent is a time of sober remembrance. We are reminded of the darkness that once resided in us. We lived in the valley of the shadow of death without even realizing it. But the goodness and lovingkindness of God showed up!”
Did the Son of God leave heaven when he came to earth: Kevin DeYoung answers, “The key is to understand that the Son of God descended from heaven in such a way as to still be in heaven. Christ’s incarnational descent did not involve a change to the divine nature or a change of location.”
The Temptation of Temptation
In 2023, 46 horror movies were released. 75 million tickets were sold, and the industry made $798 million in domestic revenue alone. It’s been argued that horror movies remain a draw for many in the contemporary West because there is so little actual danger in most of our lives.
Atheist Steven Pinker in The Better Angels of Our Nature argues that we live in the most peaceful era of human existence: wars have decreased, human rights have expanded, and rates of starvation and lifespans have improved. Drawn to conflict, we now have access to global news coverage, which gives us the dopamine hit of feeling like we are in conflict.
Night
What attracts us so much to the dark?
In the story of Swan Lake, a ballet by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette (who has been cursed by the evil magician, Von Rothbart), after happening upon her at the lake one night during a hunting trip. As a result of Von Rothbart's curse, Odette is human only at nightfall, for at daybreak she transforms into a swan. True and faithful love is the only thing that can break the curse, and Siegfried aims to marry Odette, proclaiming such love, at a ball his mother is throwing for his birthday.
Neither Forward Nor Backward
Are you progressive or conservative? It seems like a simple enough question, but let me complicate it for you. The terms are both tethered to time. The term progressive looks forward. Progressives believe that the best is yet to come. We are growing, evolving and our policies ought to reflect our progressive enlightenment. Conservatives, on the other hand, preserve that which is good from the past. It is our job to aspire to and embody the charter set forth by our founding fathers.
Our politics have forced us to two sides of ring: those looking back and those looking forward. These totalizing lenses have robbed us of a fully orbed biblical ethical vision that directs our eyes forward, and backward, and straight down.
Our Rescue Story
“What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” It is not that Thomas doesn’t believe marriage can be a source of joy, but that we ask too much if we ask marriage to bring us our “happily ever after.” Joy will likely trail holiness if we make that the main aim in marriage, but if we aim at happiness, we will miss both happiness and holiness.
Angel and I can testify to how fragile marriage is. In the summer of 2009, our marriage began unraveling after my first three years of pastoral ministry—years I neglected Angel for my mistress, the church.
Exchanging Intrusive Thoughts for God-talk
Intrusive thoughts are unwelcome and hard to control. I can remember having intrusive thoughts from the time I was a child. When we drove, I often felt the compulsion to press one foot down on the floor between the telephone poles (and yes, I also hopped over the cracks in the sidewalk). At other times, when walking alone, I remember the persistent thought, “He’s watching you.” I would search the bushes and trees for the one my mind told me was watching me.
Your Secrets Keep You Sick
We were stuck. “I’m done with the marriage,” she said. Years of subtle neglect had shut her down. She would remain married, but there would be no marriage. He was desperate. He heard his wife’s hurt and confessed his neglect. He was willing to change. In our sessions thereafter, he appeared earnest and his actions seemed to prove his sincerity. But she didn’t trust him and wouldn’t let down her guard.
Deep down, I felt something was amiss, but I didn’t know what it was. Several times she assured us that there was no other man involved.