One Little Word Newsletter - July 11, 2022
The horrors of a cat room, the plight of Muslim Uyghurs in China, America's crisis of masculinity, and what it's like living without a car
Hello friends. We are getting settled here in Texas, experiencing the summer heat in all of its 100-degree plus glory. Fort Worth is much less humid than Nashville, so that helps. Still, 106 degrees is 106 degrees.
If you missed it, I wrote a short reflection on moving. What I didn’t include was the hiccup we had with our otherwise lovely house. The previous owners, for reasons unknown to us, decided to allocate one of the upstairs bedrooms as the “cat room.” When I say “cat room,” I don’t mean a room where the litter box is kept and tidied when appropriate. I mean a room that essentially functions as a litter box. The smell was so awful in there, and we couldn’t get rid of it. I’ve since learned a lot about cat urine, including that it turns into ammonia and that merely shampooing the new carpet (put in there by the previous owners) doesn’t do the job. This ordeal is already a long paragraph so I’ll just say that we learned how important it is to get to the root of the issue—stripping away the carpet and padding, treating the floorboards with all manner of chemicals, removing two feet of drywall and baseboards, etc. Thankfully it looks like we’ve conquered the smell. This is good, because my long-suffering eldest daughter would like to move in before the start of her senior year.
The silver lining: I may or may not have a nice opening illustration to share at the high-school camp in New Mexico where I’m speaking at the end of the week. A few updates:
As for my projects, I’m wrapping up final edits for my manuscript for Zondervan. I hope to finish as soon as I’m done cranking out this newsletter. It’s the most personal of any book I’ve written, a sort of plea to the church to prioritize Christian unity and love for the church.
I’ve also been doing quite a few radio and podcast interviews for The Characters of Creation. Here is my conversation with Chris Fabry of Moody Radio.
This was also the month a small group Bible study I wrote for Lifeway on the Spiritual Gifts was released. It’s basic teaching on what the Bible says about our calling, our giftedness, and how that works within the local church. I find there is a lot of either ignorance or misunderstandings around spiritual gifts. Hopefully, this helps Christians step into their own callings but appreciate the spiritual gifts of others.
Not sure if you saw my latest column for USA Today on what a post-Roe conservatism might look like: support for abortion restrictions, embracing increased levels of legal immigration (while securing the border), and finding ways to support families.
My World column calls on pastors to continue preaching the sanctity of human life, equipping their congregations, and presenting Jesus as the solution to the evil in this world.
Also don't miss this conversation with George Yancey on The Way Home podcast where we discussed his book Beyond Racial Division: a Unifying Alternative to Colorblindness and Antiracism. I really appreciate George’s work.
What I’m Reading
Nathan Finn shared his thoughts for the Land Center on the importance of Christians’ public witness before a watching world. I read everything Finn writes.
Haley Byrd Wilt has been covering the story of the oppression of the Muslim Uyghurs in China. Here she has a six-part series on how Congress passed a law addressing the issue and limiting products made from that region of China. You can read the entire thing here or listen to the podcast.
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse wrote a terrific piece for World on the history and future of the pro-life movement.
I really appreciate Erika Bachiochi’s work. She writes with eloquence and clarity in her article with The New York Times.
I feel like there’s something we could all learn from Gracy Olmstead’s newsletter about her family’s year without a car in Oxford. Do check out Gracy’s work.
I really appreciated this conversation between Mike Cosper and Tim Keller with reflections on leadership, the troubles with loose networks and fellowships, and the essential need for communion with God.
Ruth Graham’s New York Times column covering the women of the pro-life movement is a must-read. Ruth is one of the very best religion journalists.
My friend David French is writing some really important things on the crisis of masculinity in America. Two weeks ago, he wrote about finding the lost boys of America. This week he writes about the ways our culture confuses definitions of masculinity. This quote is haunting: “Until the lost boys of American life are found by men and women who care enough to intervene before their darkest days, the slow-motion riot will continue, and we’ll endure more terrible tragedies."
Mindy Belz has a beautiful dispatch from Syria for Plough.
Books I’m reading:
I just finished The Venice Sketchbook by Rys Bowen and it was wonderful. I enjoy her fiction. Right now I’m reading My Grandfather’s Son, Justice Clarence Thomas’ autobiography, and Cold Civil War by Jim Belcher.
Lastly, I’d like to leave you with this wonderful rendition of “Not Yet I” by the Southwestern Seminary School of Church Music: