One Little Word Newsletter - October 17, 2022
Pray for Kurchatov Street Baptist Church, the dangers of biblical illiteracy, and a conversation about forgiveness.
Hello friends. I was in lovely New England this week for some meetings. Among the reasons to be there was my meetings as a board member of The Disciple-Making Parent, lead by Chap Bettis. If you have not yet checked out this ministry, which has amazing resources for parents, you really need to. The fall in Rhode Island, where I was, is absolutely stunning.
It has been a really busy season with our family and school schedule going full tilt, teaching, writing and a lot of Land Center stuff, which if you’d like to support the work we are doing, please go here and designate it for “Land Center.”
My work:
A few years ago Bri Stensrud and I had an idea to write a book for kids about creation, the fall, and the imago Dei. The Biggest, Best Light: Shining God’s Love into the World Around You is available for pre-order now and will be available for order at the end of this month.
I wrote this piece for Lifeway Research on the problem of biblical illiteracy in the church and what we can and should do:
"We’ve been given a body of truth, handed down from the apostles, entrusted to our care as pastors and teachers. This is our mission."
And if you missed my podcast with Derwin Gray, pastor of Transformers Church in South Carolina and author of several books, including How to Heal Our Racial Divide.
What I’m Reading:
Sam James has a really good take on the value of long, slow patient work.
In a surprising move, Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse is resigning his seat and is a candidate to be president of The University of Florida. I’ve had the chance to meet Sen Sasse and think he will be a great fit for higher ed and have a chance to really create something down in the swamp, but Jack Butler of NRO is right in saying that the Senate will be worse off without him. He was like a Daniel Patrick Moynihan figure who used his platform to teach civics.
Stop and pray for Kurchatov Street Baptist Church in Ukraine after their Pastor Leonid Ponomaryov and his wife Tatyana were taken from their home and have been missing since September. Here’s an update.
A must read from Oklahoma pastor Mike Keadbone on his celebration of Indigenous People’s Day.
This is a really good piece on US immigration issues and opportunities by Ericka Andersen. There are reforms to be had, if only our leaders would come together to make them happen.
Here is a great conversation between Tim Keller and Collin Hansen on Gospelbound about forgiveness.
This Alex Ward article takes a deeper look into why “Christians should be as concerned with who they are becoming in their education as what they are studying.”
Excellent profile of Bart Barber by Bobby Ross Jr. I'm quoted in here and somehow refrained from bringing up Bart's inexplicable St Louis Cardinals fandom.
Great interview from Lindsey Nicolet with Josh Benton, vice president of North American ministry at Send Relief, on how Send Relief meets the needs of vulnerable children and families.
Books:
My friend Bonnie Kristian is out with a new book, Untrustworthy The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community. I had the privilege of endorsing it and highly recommend it. What I love is that Bonnie navigates our information crisis without condescension, acknowledging the real issues underlying the deep distrust that exists in American society.
I have a rule that I don’t read political books until they are history. I have not read a single book about Trump or Biden. But . . . I’m breaking my own rule to listen to Maggie Haberman’s Confidence Man. It’s interesting so far.
And I'm nearly finished with Biblical Christian Ethics by David Clyde Jones because I’m, well, teaching ethics next year.
Lastly, can I leave you with this. I’m an avid Chicago Bears fan. The Green Bay Packers have tormented us for years and years with their Hall of Fame quarterbacks and our organizational ineptitude. So when you can get some laughs at their expense, you just have to. Here is rookie Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner totally punking the Packers in Lambieu Field.
Sorry, not sorry.