Snippet: On Losing Spectacularly

snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Wheaton College New Testament prof and author of Reading While Black, Esau McCaulley, on the Holy Post Podcast (episode 478) discussing his recent column for the NYTimes:

“I really genuinely believe that we need someone to get far enough [in an election] as a Christian to lose spectacularly.”

Reminds me of John Stonestreet’s (Colson Center) call for developing of theology of being fired. A lot of what he says also reminds me of Simon Sinek’s call for living with integrity and playing “infinite games” (see my earlier Snippet post here).

His column is titled “The Dangerous Politics of ‘We Will Not Forgive.’” And in this interview with Phil Vischer he asks why more Christians in politics don’t bring their biblical instincts to the table more often (at least as a starting place and with a goal of winning others over) and about why we are so pragmatic about winning even though we say we believe that God is sovereign.

He has no easy answers in this column and interview, but he is chipping away at our idols.

It’s an excellent interview. Challenging. Inspiring.

Photo by Conor Samuel on Unsplash

Snippet: The Death of Porn

snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Two snippets from Stephen Story’s review of ‘The Death of Porn’ by Ray Ortlund and ‘Pure in Heart’ by Garrett Kell:

“As Ortlund writes, ‘Jesus is building his new kingdom in a surprising way. He gives porn stars their dignity back, and he gives porn consumers their honor back. He loves doing this.’

“The enemy would tell us that ours is a losing battle, that we’ve had to repent one time too many, and that God is ashamed of our repeated failures. But for Christians, Kell reminds us, the future is certain. ‘You are in Christ, and he is in you. You can become like him. You will become like him. . . . As you catch glimpses of his grace in your life, know they are the firstfruits of God’s eternal purpose to make you like his Son.’”

This dovetails with my sermon on shame and forgiveness from this last weekend.

You can read the article here.

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash