During the pandemic, I developed a weird habit.
I started spending an embarrassing amount of time on real estate sites like Zillow and Redfin. We didn’t need a new house. Ours was fine. Nothing fancy, but it had enough room for our family. And I was relatively happy with it—until I started perusing other houses online. I soon discovered the myriad of ways our house was deficient. For instance, it had no theater room, no library, no home gym, and of course, no swimming pool.
It was Grace who finally snapped me back to reality. One day she leaned over my shoulder as I gawked at houses hundreds of thousands of dollars beyond our budget. “What are you thinking?” she said. “We’ll never have a house like that.”
Not with that attitude, I thought.
But she was right. The habit was making me discontent—and distracting me from the many blessings I already had. I was reminded of my strange obsession while reading the first story below on “ordinary abundance.” Sometimes, finding contentment requires focusing less on what you lack, and more on what you already possess.
A quick recap of what you might have missed this week
“Come, Muse, and sing the dreaded Washing-Day. Ye who beneath the yoke of wedlock bend, With bowed soul, full well ye ken the day.” This line, written by Anna Laetitia Barbauld in 1797, describes the backbreaking task of washing clothes, which would often take an entire day of each week. Today the washing machine has made such toil unimaginable. That’s the point of this interactive digital essay, it takes readers on an immersive tour of a contemporary home, pairing everyday objects with historical quotes to highlight technological progress. It will leave you with a greater appreciation for the many conveniences of modern life that we take for granted.
Evangelicals are uncritically accepting of AI. So says historian Christopher Jones. He believes that a confluence of political, theological, and psychological factors have made evangelicals uniquely vulnerable to reliance on a “Machine God” that risks replacing the slow, embodied work of faith with the superficial help of algorithmic technologies. Are his conclusions accurate? I’ll ask ChatGPT and let you know.
Exorcisms seem to be on the rise. This article analyzes the surging demand for deliverance ministries and examines what’s driving the trend. The author concludes that “our culture, which has largely rejected God, hasn’t stopped believing in the supernatural, but has simply gone looking for it elsewhere. And when people open doors to darkness, they shouldn’t be surprised if darkness answers.”
The latest theological dustup on the world wide web
The topic of this week’s fight? Dinosaurs. It started when the founder of Answers in Genesis' Ken Ham posted on X.com: “The Bible makes it plain that dinosaurs and people must have lived together.” Many disagreed, including Jennifer Greenberg who urged Ham to “stop making weird issues like this into litmus tests to prove that God is real … Sola Christo, not Sola Dinosauria.”
A Florida evangelist was recently kicked off an Alaska Airlines flight for preaching to her fellow passengers during a delay. With the plane stuck on the tarmac, Whitney Lynn popped into the aisle and started preaching … while filming herself for Instagram. She was shocked when she was asked to deplane. “This wasn’t a harsh message at all,” Lynn posted later online. “In fact, it’s probably one of the softest messages I’ve ever shared. That’s why I was so shocked. But the truth is, demons tremble at the name of Jesus. It doesn’t matter whether the message is soft or bold—when you share the gospel, it offends some people.”
Feel-good stories to lift your mood.
Justin Buzzard, a 47-year-old California pastor, is living his athletic dream as a defensive end for the San Jose City College Jaguars. Buzzard says the younger players have welcomed him. “I think they’ve seen that I hold my own out on the field, and I work just as hard as any of them,” he said. Playing football has another benefit for the middle-aged pastor. The physical game is good, he joked, because “in the church I can’t hit anyone.” Go get ‘em, Justin. All the old dudes are cheering for you.
On the Holy Post the team discussed whether progressive pastors will close the political “God Gap.”
On the Esau McCaulley podcast, Esau is joined by Charlie Dates to discuss the ideas of justice and righteousness within the Black church context.
On the SkyePod, Skye and I talked about spiritual puberty, AI sermons, and Deconstruction.
Fresh updates across the religious landscape
Nigeria Rescues More Kidnapping Victims but Struggles to Stop Violence
Televangelist Imprisoned After Declaring He’d Never go to Jail
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