Happy Friday the 13th y’all. Here is a quick list of three things that I’ve either read, been thinking about or have impacted me this week.

#1

Elite Failure Has Brought Americans to the Edge of an Existential Crisis – The Atlantic

Warning…this is a long piece from The Atlantic and one that I am still processing. It does a solid job of making me think about where we are and how we got here. If the church is to reach the younger generations, we need to get a grasp on what it is they think and why.

#2

The Church does not need brilliant personalities but faithful servants of Jesus and each other.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer from Life Together

While brilliance seems to be a fleeting and a hit or miss trait…faithfulness is perpetual and for everyone. To focus on what we can do rather than who we are not is Bonhoeffer’s point in my mind. How do we become more faithful? By listening to God and being obedient which places us in situations ripe for growth of faith. This pattern is repeated over our lifetime and produces consistent and abundant fruit in our lives and the lives of others.

#3

Thanks to my friend Teddy for putting me onto This Cultural Moment podcast this week…or maybe not thanks since I’ve spent so much time when I needed to be working on my dissertation! Anyway, if you have any interest in how the church is viewed by the post-Christian culture and what we can do to make inroads, you’ll want to listen.