In the Margins - 12/17/25
Things I Read
I read this with the elders, their wives, and our church staff. It's a brief article about how a group of elders at a church began to prioritize pastoral visitation - visiting church members in their homes to better know and care for the flock. The elders hope to do more of this in the coming years. Be prepared!
Things I Listened To
I listened to Dr. Mohler engaging with Kirk Cameron's recent dabbling with annihilationism. Mr. Cameron is a brother in Christ, but I believe he is wrong on this significant issue.
Things I Watched
This is cheating a little bit, but watching the church family (and lots of visitors) singing carols at the park last Sunday night was so encouraging. I am thankful to publicly testify to the good news of Christ, and I pray this new tradition establishes an evangelistic witness in our community.
Things I Thought
I'm not sure if you've heard about the fact that people are joining the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches in droves. It's interesting to think about why. It appears that as typical modern evangelicalism is proven to be non-historic, shallow, and boring, people are looking for something that feels real, substantial, historic, and weighty. For many, the Roman Catholic Church is the answer.
But what's interesting is this: more often than not, the decision to turn to Rome is usually an aesthetic one rather than a theological one. In other words, people are turning to Catholicism not because they have studied and understand the theological issues, but because the aesthetics of cathedrals, robes, and incense - the chants and the liturgies - all scratch the human itch for sacred transcendence. It's not a change in theology, it's a change in fashion. In this short but important article (Red recommended it), Carl Trueman writes how while he is encouraged that there seems to be a renewed interest in historic Christianity, "I am concerned that we might conflate an interest in the sacred with an interest in the truth. They are not the same."
Even as the nation seems to be returning to church in a grasp for the holy, "True worship must be rooted in the great dogmas of the faith, which reveal both who God is and who we are in his presence."
Quotes to Ponder
G.K. Chesterton, on reading history:
"The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living."
