What a year! As a whole, I wanted this post to be commemorative, informative, and encouraging going into 2021. I would be remiss, however, not to acknowledge the pain of those who’ve been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and, especially, express my profound sorrow for those who’ve lost loved ones to the virus. Our family lost two friends (one very close to us) and we almost lost my eighty-year-old father. With that in mind, I want to begin with a favorite related to the pandemic.
Favorite FB post:
Favorite movie: Jojo Rabbit—see why here.
Favorite TV show: The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix- this fascinating mini series (appropriate for older teens and adults) looks at complex themes like family dysfunction, foster care, addictions, race, and relationships with uncommon depth. A phenomenally acted period drama with exquisite cinematography, it also somehow manages to use the game of chess to turn each episode into an edge-of-your-seat thriller.
Favorite accomplishment:
Favorite memories:
Favorite Making Life Disciples story:
As many of you know, I work full-time as Executive Director of Church Outreach & Engagement for Care Net to promote a ministry resource called Making Life Disciples (MLD) that trains a team in a church to offer compassion, hope, help, and discipleship to women and men facing pregnancy decisions. It’s important but difficult work as the circumstances that might lead to an abortion tend to be very private and hidden—and thus difficult to address. However, after being at it for over three years, we’re starting to see fruit.
Just a couple months ago we got this story of impact: It was from Michele in LaFayette, GA. She said, “I had one discipler who noticed a pregnant girl at Walmart without a wedding ring. She approached the girl and struck up a conversation to simply ask, ‘How are you doing?’ The girl opened up about her struggles, and our member invited her to have a free ultrasound at the pregnancy center. She also invited her to join our group at church where she was instantly surrounded with love and support. We walked with her through her entire pregnancy! She was divorced when she first came to us, but over the course of the year, her marriage was restored and both joined our church; all direct answers to the many prayers our team had prayed for the mom, dad, and baby.”[1]
Favorite research: From “How Americans Understand Abortion,” a 2020 study from the University of Notre Dame. Here are three of the most important take-aways:
- Americans may not be approaching a culture biased in favor of their political position, but they are approaching a culture that is biased in favor of the pro-life outcome—the birth of a child who is loved. And that bias is manifesting itself in a decades-long shift to a culture that is viewing pregnancy as increasingly purposeful and increasingly precious.
- Your relationships and your local political community are the things over which you have the most influence.
- We can reverse the political intensity through loving, intentional outreach.
Favorite book: Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves
Favorite journalist and cultural analyst: David French, attorney and now Senior Editor of The Dispatch. Further, on November 11th I was surprised but heartened to see that World magazine awarded his Divided We Fall book of the year.
Favorites podcasts or articles:
- On understanding our racial division: See here and here.
- On the illusive nature, dangers, and prevalence of Q’Anon conspiracy theories—see here.
- On the history of Evangelicals—see here.
Favorite political example to think on: the late John McCain—see especially here and here.
Favorite tweet:
“Casualties of the culture war: truth, civility, love of neighbor, integrity, character, empathy, peace, reputation of the Christian faith and maybe democracy. Time to rethink the strategy.” -Rich Stearns, President Emeritus of World Vision
Favorite passage of Scripture: the Beatitudes—especially the poverty of spirit (humility), mercy, and peace-making that should permeate the lives of followers of Christ.
Favorite verse(s)—especially related to our church plant and going into 2021:
“As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed a in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” (Ecclesiates 11:6-7, NIV)
Favorite album (so hard to pick just one!): McCartney III by Paul McCartney—This just came out a couple of weeks ago and it’s interesting, beautiful in places, relaxing, and healing for a year like 2020.
Finally, one of the things that’s stood out to me this year is how many people in their seventies and eighties are still providing national leadership and/or using their gifts to serve the world— Tony Fauci, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, and even Sir Paul above who is 78! These examples and others should remind us all that we’ve still got a seed to sow and we should live 2021 with all the fire that God has given us.
Oh, and with that thought in mind, here’s my favorite song for 2020: I’m Still Alive by David Clements[2] Try to click on the link and listen to this acoustic version if you can.
Happy New Year, Dear Friends!
[1] https://www.care-net.org/churches-blog/the-fruit-of-life
[2] This song actually came out in 2016 but was new to me this year.