All Things Considered 5/2/20

Here is a collection of interesting articles and resources I’ve enjoyed recently.

GCD | When Being Heroic Means Staying Home

Chase Replogle, pastor and host of the PastorWriter podcast, on how the coronavirus is exposing our need for control and the spotlight.

I found this piece to be very well written. You may know Chase from his excellent article at Christianity Today about how Bonhoeffer convinced him to abandon his dream. This article was a good reminder to folks like me that being front and center during difficult times isn’t always the best leadership decision, nor is it the most “heroic.” If you haven’t already, you should also check out his excellent podcast for writers.

The Night is His — Macy Wilson

Almost every night of this quarantine, I’ve crawled into bed, gathered the quilt all the way up to my face, gotten as cozy as possible, and lied awake for hours. I am a new victim of insomnia; I lie awake into the night, and if I do fall asleep, I consistently wake up every hour and have to fall asl

As someone who has struggled with crippling insomnia since childhood, I really resonated with and appreciated this perspective. Since reading this, I have already begun to remind myself as I battle this fleshly thorn: “this night is His.” Such sweet comfort every time.

The Strange Persistence of Guilt

The therapeutic view of guilt seems to offer the guilt-ridden an avenue of escape from its power.

This is a long article, but the payoff is worth it. Anyone interested in how postmodernism has affected us should read this.

Why the Coronavirus Is So Confusing

A guide to making sense of a problem that is now too big for any one person to fully comprehend

Two years ago, Ed Yong predicted that a looming global pandemic was on the horizon. His coverage of COVID-19 over the last few months has proven his earlier prediction eerily prescient. I make sure to follow his thoughts on this whole thing, which, as this article suggests, is very confusing for a lot of us, even the experts.

FBCnl Devotionals

Three times a week, we are sending out devotionals to help us think through how to respond to Jesus and His word during this time.

So I’ve been writing some devotionals for our church during the coronavirus that I’ve affectionately dubbed “Ronavotionals.” I’ve posted a couple of them here, but if you’d like to sign up to receive them in your email you can do so here. They go out every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.