One Little Word Newsletter - January 30, 2023
A retired football coach, legislating morality, and a church that moves the world
Hello friends,
It’s been a few weeks since I sent a newsletter. I’m in the midst of a full season here—teaching classes at Texas Baptist College, working on Land Center projects, working on final edits and details for a new book launching in May, and getting ready (emotionally and every other way) for my oldest child to graduate high school.
We are really getting settled in here in Texas. Just the other day my 14-year-old son said, “Dad, it doesn’t seem weird anymore. It’s like it’s home now.” That was music to our ears. If you’ve made a major move before, especially with older kids, you know how much the impact of such a sudden transition weighs on your heart as a parent.
I’ve been writing my regular columns for World Magazine, including one here on the importance of the local church for those who feel called to public activism:
There is a temptation, in our voting, our speaking to issues, our work for the common good, to see these necessary political arguments and debates as ultimate while growing bored with the rhythms and rituals of local church life. Posting an opinion, crafting public policy, or protesting seem more exhilarating than listening to a sermon or making a meal for a shut-in or volunteering at Vacation Bible School. The big national issues debated online sometimes seem more important or urgent.
These issues matter, but there can be no question where we believe the locus of God’s activity exists. It’s not the courtroom, the capital, or the classroom that Jesus promised would endure through the ages, but the church, whom he has purchased with his own blood.
It is in our humble weekly gatherings—in cathedrals and caves, storefronts and under steeples—where the Spirit chooses to most fully dwell and God chooses to act. It is the witness of the church, where ordinary sinners are regenerated through the power of the gospel, that most impacts the world.
And this one here on the place of laws in shaping human behavior:
Pro-life activists have always been opposed by facile arguments that “you can’t legislate morality.” Even some well-meaning evangelicals parroted this refrain in response to the Dobbs decision this summer. Of course, this is an argument never made about other social maladies. No one argues that the way to curb human trafficking is to keep it legal while persuading folks not to engage in it.
Laws do work. This is why progressives are mourning the demise of Roe and the passing of abortion restrictions in conservative states. Every piece of legislation reflects someone’s morality, from anti-human trafficking laws to laws against murder and sexual assault. Every law reflects our collective judgment on what is moral and immoral.
I also wrote this piece here for Lifeway Research on the importance of teaching kids about human dignity and this for USA Today on Damar Hamlin and the national urge to pray.
I’m also about to start a new writing cohort for folks interested in learning about the business of getting published and the craft of writing. This with my friend Chad Poe and Through Line Cohort.
Stuff I’m reading
This is a helpful and sobering account by Patrick Miller in Newsweek on an alarming development in his nearby school district.
I appreciated this word by Kathryn Shelton on forgiveness.
I was fascinated by this video from Kite and Key Media on myths around organic farming:
This clip of Senators incorporating Taylor Swift lyrics was pretty funny:
Barton Swaim’s conversation with former Senator Jim Webb was fascinating.
Books:
I’m almost finished with Peacemaker President by William Inboden. It’s a fascinating look at Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy, especially his deft approach to winning the Cold War.
I’m also starting two books: A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer and Andrew Walker’s great new collaborative volume: Social Conservatism for the Common Good, A Protestant Engagement with Robert George.
Two more things I almost forgot:
Latest podcast with Jason Thacker, one of the leading evangelical ethicists on technology issues
My book The Characters of Easter, in time for Lent