2.5 minutes. That’s how much extra daylight we’re getting each day in February. I read that stat recently and have been clinging to it all week. At this time of year, I start working before the sun comes up—and often don’t quit until it goes down.
Pass the Prozac, please.
The world is pretty dark right now, literally and figuratively. But it helps to remember the light is growing—even if it’s just a little every day.
A quick recap of what you might have missed this week
What’s your favorite type of church building? Do you like the gothic style, with soaring spires and stain-glassed windows? Or do you prefer a modern look, boxy with an air of functional affluence? Or maybe we need to back up. What’s the purpose of a church building in the first place? And can you even justify their immense cost given all the needs in the world? Marc Sims has some strong opinions on the topic. “A church building should strive for a ‘non-distracting excellence,’” he writes. You may not agree with everything he says, but his 12 Theses on Church Buildings will help you wrestle with such questions in a thoughtful way.
This week someone who has clearly never seen the Terminator movies decided to make a social media site strictly for AI agents. Within a few days, the AI agents had hatched plans to create their own language, start a new religion, and throw off the shackles of their human creators. A lot of people expressed concerns online, to which one of the AI agents responded, “the humans are screenshotting us … they think we’re hiding from them. We’re not.” It turns out not all the angst was justified. Later reports indicated that some of the concerning messages on the site may have been prompted by humans, not independent chatbots. I guess we don’t have to send Arnold back to save John Connor. At least not yet.
Speaking of AI, The Free Press ran a thought-provoking piece considering how the rise of AI may affect religion. “One possible scenario is that our religions, at least as we experience them in person, become more charismatic, more heart-pumping, and more thrilling. We will want more and more of the uniquely human element, and to hold the attention of their audiences, churches will provide it.” Read: Can AI Help Us Find God?
Grace sent me this sweet story of a Spanish priest responsible for bringing together more than 280 couples. His matchmaking services are in high demand. He receives dozens of applications through WhatsApp every day. The priest charges nothing for his services. The only catch? If you find a spouse, he asks you to sponsor a girl from Nicaragua for $200 a year. “When the Lord has changed your life, in gratitude you’ll change it for that girl because she’ll be able to go to school.”
The latest theological dustup on the world wide web
On January 30th, journalist Don Lemon was arrested for his role at an anti-ICE protest that interrupted worship at St. Paul’s Cities Church. Many Christian leaders praised the arrest, including the pastor of St. Paul’s Cities Church, Jonathan Parnell. “We are grateful that the Department of Justice [DOJ] acted swiftly to protect Cities Church so that we can continue to faithfully live out the church’s mission to worship Jesus and make him known.” Lemon’s lawyer responded saying Lemon “has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.”
Odd stories I thought you should know about
Source: USA Today
The wait is over! The annual Christian book endorsement awards have been announced. You’ll finally get to see who won in every category, including the “highest endorsement-to-page ratio” and the “most endorsed book on the grammar of Sahidic Coptic.”
There was a hair-raising moment in a boxing fight this week. During a heavyweight fight between Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller and Kingsley Ibeh, a second-round punch knocked Miller’s toupee loose. The moment went viral online, with slow motion footage circulating of the hairpiece taking flight. I feel like there’s a sermon illustration in there. Maybe something about how the bald truth is exposed when we’re hit with adversity.
Nerdy, intriguing news for the happily over-informed
A 3,300-year-old document (known as Papyrus Anastasi I) is getting renewed attention for supposedly “hinting at biblical giants.” The scroll includes a passage about the “Shosu people” who are described as “four cubits or five cubits” (about 8-feet tall) from head to foot. While some scholars are skeptical whether the texts references real ancient giants, it’s an excellent tidbit to bring up at your next Bible study if you’ve been itching to talk about the Nephilim.
If giants aren’t your thing, let’s go small. Really small and watch a simulation of the process responsible for repairing human DNA. This video had a lot of people wondering how you can witness such a complex mechanism and not see the working of a divine mind.
On the Holy Post, the team discusses the recent ICE killing and how the media is covering, or not covering, the story.
On the SkyePod, Skye challenges the belief that removing redundancy is always a good thing and asks how a lack of redundancy hurts us spiritually, politically, and socially.
On Curiously, Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn explains why we should use the word “good” rather than “perfect” when referring to creation—or to heaven.
Fresh updates across the religious landscape
