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“David’s lamp was sufficient to see a couple of steps ahead, but not much farther than that. It did not illuminate the whole way his feet would have to tread, but only the next few footfalls.” - Challies
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Risk, Uncertainty, and the Lies We Tell Ourselves about the Difference
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“John Kay and Mervyn King seek to resurrect for day-to-day decision-making the significance of distinguishing between risk and uncertainty in Radical Uncertainty. They press the relevance and significance of the older distinction between decision-making under risk and decision-making under uncertainty.” - Law & Liberty
Ups, Downs, and Knowing How It Ends
By Jenna Blumer
Editor’s note: The following is a post from Jenna’s GoFundMe blog on May 18. She has since arrived at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch where she is working this summer as an intern.
Imagine the God of the universe sat down and explained His entire plan for your life—start to finish. Imagine living that life, knowing exactly what was coming next. Imagine knowing that it all comes together in the end for your good and His glory. How exciting every single day would be! Every scary unknown would be exactly like He said it would be. Every joyful success would come exactly when He said it would arrive.
Like Sinking Sand It Falls
That feeling you sense is the unmovable ground—what you thought was unmovable, anyway—shifting beneath your feet.
It will never return to its previous form. It has been, to use a term now in vogue, “transformed.”
Personally, I have never been in an earthquake—until now.
But, you see, this is not merely a terrestrial earthquake, but a medical, economic, political, cultural, societal and spiritual earthquake.
Consider everything you thought you could rely upon in this world as recently as late February. Now, pause, and realize that you can no longer rely upon it. And, what’s more, to quote one of our most loquacious governors, there is no going “back to normal.”
“Perspective isn’t always gained amid suffering. Sometimes it comes much later.”
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“When all you see is disappointment, ruined plans, and heartache, ask God to focus your mind on what you cannot see. Remember, the cross on Friday must have seemed like the end of the world; the disciples couldn’t see its horrific necessity until Sunday.” - TGC
"Gen Z can’t seem to commit to a Christian worldview"
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“Jonathan Morrow of the Impact 360 Institute explains why he believes Gen Z can’t seem to commit to a Christian worldview. He lists two main reasons: the fear of being seen as judgmental and all that it encompasses, and what he calls the ‘crisis of knowledge.’ … the belief that we can only glean knowledge from the hard sciences.” - Christianity Today
Uncertainty vs. Renewed Confidence in the Word of God, Part 2
(Read Part 1)
Where to from Here?
As a result of these past and present influences, the church of Christ is facing an authority crisis. There has been a steady erosion of confidence in Scripture for several decades cumulating in theological and/or practical elimination of the need for the Bible in our lives. After all, in a society infatuated with success—theological understanding, biblical knowledge and even righteous living are no match for fancy buildings, high-powered programs, the finest in entertainment and emotional experiences (no matter what the source).
Very few churches grow numerically today because of solid teaching of the Word. That is because very few Christians today see the importance of the Word. To them the Bible is much like a musical concert, there to produce an experience, not to transform their lives. They see no vital connection between Scripture and life. To know God’s truth is not essential to how they want to live their lives, therefore they have no desire to study the Bible.
Uncertainty vs. Renewed Confidence in the Word of God, Part 1
From Think on These Things; used with permission.
Emergent spokesman Brian McLaren calls for the evangelical community to get over its love affair with certainty. He writes, “Drop any affair you may have with certainty, proof, argument—and replace it with dialogue, conversation, intrigue, and search.”1 Are we to take McLaren seriously? If so, then the best way to get over our love affair with certainty, according to McLaren, would be to replace it with uncertainty, or more commonly, mystery. It is definitely in vogue at this point in church history to make the rather “certain” claim that we cannot be certain about anything. Of course, the irony of such certainty about uncertainty is obvious. But much like impossible political promises, when statements are left unanalyzed and unchallenged they tend to be uncritically absorbed by the minds of some people, often resulting in great harm.
It is important then that we give careful thought to the recent love affair with uncertainty. What are its origins? Is it really something new? Does it line up with the claims of Scripture? How should the people of God respond?
