September 30, 2026

Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful!

The True

Better Than Easy

In our world of advanced technology, it seems everything is getting easier.

Need groceries for the week? Click a button and they are delivered to your front door a couple hours later. Easy!

Time to do that work or school research? The vast Internet (and endless convenient ways to use it) awaits. Easy!

Don’t know how to change a flat tire, braid your daughter’s hair, or pronounce the name of the CEO in your next meeting? Just ask your digital assistant and, abracadabra, you’re an expert. Easy!

So many things are rapidly becoming so much easier, and all of the artificial intelligence experts tell us we haven’t seen anything yet. We are told that nearly every human task is in the process of being significantly disrupted and made—you guessed it—easy.

What a time to be alive! With everything getting easier, you might assume life is getting better, and your future life will be even more so. Not so fast! Depression rates have been steadily rising in the United States, and in many other places around the word, for at least a decade. Mental wellbeing indicators suggest more anxiety and less happiness. To put it simply, even though so much in our world is getting easier, our human bodies are reacting as though they are under greater and greater stress.

To be clear, this correlation does not automatically mean causation. There are certainly a great number of factors contributing to this troubling rise in depression and unhappiness. But it is worth taking a moment to consider what God’s Word has to say about the benefits and drawbacks of an easy life:

- Hard work is better than a life of ease – This principle is sprinkled all throughout scripture, but Proverbs 13:4 is particularly relevant: “A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied."

- Feeding the wrong desires doesn’t satisfy – You and I are certainly capable of intaking and consuming more. But Proverbs 30:15-16 is clear that some desires cannot be satiated with more: “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’” Could it be that the things you are more easily acquiring are actually ensnaring you rather than satisfying you?

- The goals worth fulfilling are found on the other side of struggle – It is true for everything from elementary math, to monumental scientific breakthroughs, to record setting athletic achievements: When we are rescued prematurely from struggle, it short circuits both our growth and the potential value of the endeavor. This is Romans 5:3-5: “[B]ut we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

My friend, easy is so very attractive! Two-hour delivery, knowledge without grappling, and instant gratification are so very appealing—seductive even! We want easy!

But there is something far better than easy. You were created and infused with the very likeness of God not to simply lead a life of ease but in fact to join the Creator in His work (1 Cor. 3:9)! You were designed to grapple with the world around you as a means of knowing its Source more deeply and intimately. You were meant to sit in His presence and absorb His spirit more than you were simply to have access to information about Him.

You were designed for the struggle. Not because God doesn’t want you to thrive, but in fact because that struggle ushers you into His presence, instills in you His likeness, and grows in you the perseverance, character, and hope that causes you to transcend all that is around you.

The world around you is getting easier in many ways. But your path is better than easy. The sufferings you encounter as you serve with Christ are not to be avoided. It is, in fact, through them that you will attain your crown of glory!

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (Jam. 1:12).

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer... Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown” (Rev. 2:10).

World

Xi in DC

Chinese President Xi Jinping spent three days in Washington, DC last week as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen diplomatic relations between the United States and China. President Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed many issues, including artificial intelligence (AI), the U.S.-Iran war, and economic relations between the two countries, which are the two largest economies in the world. There were no formal agreements announced, though the leaders pledged to visit again in the coming months.

Analysis and eternal perspective: The diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and China is fascinating to observe, as it is both competitive—sometimes even adversarial—and mutually strategic. As the world’s two leading economies, each country depends a great deal on the other for its needs. At the same time, each is openly angling to lead the world in the decades to come. This dynamic makes a visit like last week’s both important and guarded.

Two issues are worth watching: the extent to which the two nations cooperate on advances and guardrails for AI, and China’s role in the U.S.-Iran war. The first is likely to play a major role both in which nation leads in economic matters, and which sets the standard for safety measures for the technology. The latter has the potential to significantly impede future diplomatic efforts between the two superpowers.

For Jesus followers, this story has the potential to ignite either excitement or angst (and maybe both at the same time). It is typical to consider it primarily through the geopolitical lens of which nation will have the upper hand, and there is a certain amount of utility in that consideration. However, a much more consequential component for us to consider is the state and health of the church in each country. In China, there is a long history of repression of Jesus followers, but as is so often the case, the pressure on God’s people has served to draw more precious souls to Him. In the U.S., there remains more religious freedom in a legal sense than most places in the world. This is a tremendous thing from a legal standpoint but does not automatically mean more people choose a relationship with Jesus.

Luke 21:34 warns, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.” It is easy to notice mainly this passage’s “flashy” warnings against excesses, but note it is the actions enabled by liberties that threaten to add weight to one’s heart. You know this dynamic, and so do I! It could be vices like drunkenness or carousing, or it could simply be allowing the things and cares of this world to become of more consequence to your spirit than the beautiful blessing of salvation.

Your lifetime may find you living in the world’s superpower, or perhaps it will usher in a rise or fall of your country. Either way, the cares of this world are of no consequence compared to the weight of glory!

World

Terror Plot Foiled

A suspected terror plot against the Royal Air Force Fairford (RAF Fairford) military base in the UK was foiled when five suspects were arrested and charged after being stopped in three vans near the base, which is used by U.S. forces. The five suspects face charges related to explosives and terrorism, and officials are investigating whether there is any link to a foreign state, most notably Iran.

Analysis and eternal perspective: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars” (Matt. 24:6). It sounds like a phrase from a fantasy fiction novel or movie, but the words are from the mouth of Jesus in response to the disciples questioning him about the coming end times. Jesus chose to answer within the context of what His disciples (including you) would encounter in the physical world. Jesus warned specifically of many things you see in the world around you today: wars and rumors of war, nations rising against each other, famines, and earthquakes.

Each of the above is cause for worry and concern if your hope is in the physical world, and our takeaway this week is in why Jesus responded in this context. Note the first words in Jesus’s response: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many” (Matt. 24:4-5).

My friend, even in the face of threats of war, famine, earthquake, and all other manner of devastation, Jesus was most concerned about you being deceived! He warned that these crises would in fact be used to deceive many, and His desire for you is that you would see clearly.

A primary reason we gather as The Equipped is because this tactic is being constantly used by the enemy, and we can help each other see through it and decline to be deceived.

Will there be calamity on the Earth? Jesus says yes.

Will those very difficult times be weaponized against you? Jesus says yes. In fact, He says they will be weaponized against you in His name.

You are not to be deceived. It has never been more important to know His name and His character. Events like this terror plot—both plots carried out and those foiled—serve as tallies on the ledger of what is to come. They are composed of evil in their own right. But the primary danger in them comes by way of those who would use them to deceive you. Be wary. Know the Messiah and decline to be taken in by those who come in His name.

U.S.

Access Restored

Access to White House grounds for recently banned media outlets has been temporarily restored by a federal judge who ruled the outlets were likely to prevail in their litigation claiming violations of the First Amendment. The outlets include CNN, MS Now, and Politico, and the restored access is to last 14 days while the litigation runs its course and produces a longer-lasting decision. CNN is part of the revolving White House press pool, and the other members of the pool (ABC, CBS, Fox News, and NBC) had boycotted coverage of the White House and president until the credentials were restored.

Analysis and eternal perspective: This legal development is unsurprising, as the First Amendment is clear that freedom of the press may not be infringed upon based on the content of reporting. While the White House eventually asserted a national security concern as the basis for the ban, President Donald Trump initially posted on social media that it was because the outlets are “fake news.” The White House has complied with the judge’s order to temporarily reinstate the credentials, and the outlets continue to pursue a permanent legal remedy.

Last week, we observed that Jesus followers enjoy both an eternal reality (we can stand on the stable foundation of a single unchanging God and source of Truth – Jam. 1:17; Mal. 3:6) and the blessing of access to numerous earthly viewpoints from which to ascertain and distinguish between fact and narrative. This latter blessing is derived from an environment that by its very nature includes inaccuracies. The alternative would be single-source reporting, which guarantees the shrouding of fact. So even in the temporal sense, we should rejoice in the abundance of information.

Finally, it is a reminder we repeat together often: Most of us are over-informed and under-activated. You and I rarely need more information but are constantly called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. What command or invitation of Jesus is it that you are fully informed to put into motion today?

The Beautiful

Two or More

Tomatillo plants require two or more plants in close proximity in order to bear fruit. Sound familiar? Here’s what Matthew 18:20 says about people:

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Do you want God’s presence? Be with His people!