July 23, 2025

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

The True

Don't Say It

It is a word never to be uttered. It should especially never be mentioned in an e-newsletter or any other subscription-based form of communication. It is in every way taboo, and one every marketing plan will scream for you to steer clear of at all costs. Despite all these realities, it is a word you and I should take seriously and deploy regularly:

Unsubscribe.

You live in a world of endless information. You can access more information in a few seconds than most generations have been able to learn in a lifetime. It is both an immense gift and an enormous risk to the wellbeing of your soul.

There are countless layers to this, but we will confine ourselves to one this week: Your singular ambition must be “to gaze on the beauty of the Lord” (Ps. 27:4). In order to achieve this singular aim with your life, you must become proficient at unsubscribing.

Your world relentlessly offers you “more.” More education, more opportunity, more habits for good health, more wealth, more knowledge, more service, more connectivity, more information, more efficiency, more entertainment, more, more, more.

Plenty of those “mores” are good things—biblical things even (for example, you and I should be seeking out ways to serve our neighbors—Matt. 22:39). But my friend, the truth is as clear as it is difficult to accept and implement: A singular devotion to the voice of God will require the tuning out of competing voices. You cannot always choose more and still be devoted to the One.

Put another way, in order to adequately subscribe to the One you must be able to clearly hear when He whispers, you will have to unsubscribe from anything that is drowning out His voice. There cannot always be more.

This will be counter-cultural in every way, because our world runs on a mantra of “more.” The wares of our time are wrapped in quantity and speed and being perpetually “plugged in.” But the promise you have from your Creator has nothing to do with keeping up with the world into which you were created, but rather everything to do with knowing the One who created you.

So do a candid evaluation today about where you are subscribed. Evaluate even the “good” things—and even those things to which you were once clearly called. How many places and things are you plugged into? Are those commitments amplifying the voice of your Creator and drawing you deeper into relationship with Him? What about the overall volume of those obligations? Does it leave room for you to be still and quiet enough to hear the One who truly matters?

If not, have the courage this week to do the radically counter-cultural thing: Simply unsubscribe.

As you do so, I suspect you will find new appreciation for the words of the familiar hymn:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

U.S.

Rare Cuts

Congress has approved approximately $9 billion in spending recissions requested by the Trump administration. The cuts reclaim funding previously approved by Congress and include approximately $8 billion of foreign aid previously earmarked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and about $1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which has funded National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The recissions are among those recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and it is likely additional recission packages will be considered later in the year.

Analysis and eternal perspective: It is rare indeed for the federal government to approve spending cuts. While recommended cuts are often announced, they are very rarely enacted (to say nothing of the fact that most proposed cuts are really just reductions in the rate of anticipated spending increases). So it is significant news when Congress and the administration agree on spending cuts, even if $9 billion is but a drop in the bucket compared to the $6.75 trillion the federal government spent in fiscal year 2024.

There is significant division in Washington, DC about the merits of foreign aid and publicly funded broadcasting, and there will be continued significant disagreement about the funding priorities debated in the days ahead. The enactment of the recissions package, however, is a reminder that Congress possesses the constitutional authority to approve spending (see Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution) while the President has the duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed” (see Article II, Section 3, Clause 6 of the U.S. Constitution). This shared authority and cooperation is a safeguard against overspending, but it does require those in possession of it to use it.

On a personal level, this story should remind you and me of the importance of stewarding all things—big and small—entrusted to us (Lk. 16:10). The only real way to ensure our heart is inclined toward the eternal is to put our treasure into things that will last forever (Matt. 6:21).

U.S.

Repeat Offender

At least 36 people were injured when a car was driven through a crowded sidewalk in Los Angeles on Saturday. The driver, who was then pulled from the vehicle by witnesses and apparently shot, has a long criminal history including a felony battery conviction. He is expected to be charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon and authorities continue to search for the alleged shooter.

Analysis and eternal perspective: We would do well this week to consider two diametrically opposite components of this story.

First, we should fervently pray for those injured and their families. As we do so, we should be clear-eyed and mindful of the dire consequences of unmitigated devotion to wrongdoing. While the perpetrator in this case was created by and in the image of a loving God, there is a long track record of disregard for authority on display, and the consequences are immense (and borne by both the perpetrator and the victims). The price for unresolved sin can be extraordinarily high.

Next, this story should be a reminder we are all sinners (dare I say even repeat offenders) who have fallen short of the mark (Rom. 3:23). You and I both find ourselves in need of a Savior. In the same breath, there is cause for great rejoicing because the cost of your sin has already been paid in full (Rom. 6:23). Your redemption is a free and finished work, so walk free of your sin and leave it behind today!

Sports

Championship Identity

Scottie Scheffler is the “champion golfer of the year” after winning the Open Championship by four strokes in Northern Ireland this week. It is Scheffler’s fourth career major championship and his second major of the year. Scheffler is the top-ranked player in the world and made news earlier in the week by speaking candidly about the reality that success in golf is “not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.”​

Analysis and eternal perspective: Winning golf tournaments is the reason you know Scottie Scheffler’s name. But as he so clearly articulated earlier this week, winning golf tournaments has nothing to do with his true name and calling, nor yours. Scheffler has often professed a faith in Jesus and a belief that win or lose, his “identity is secure.”​

What a concept this is! The God of the universe not only created you but also named you and claimed you as His own (Is. 43:1)! You have a unique set of skills and giftings that are intended to bring glory to God! The pressure is off, because your purpose is not tied up in your performance but rather fully encapsulated within the identity of the almighty God!

These realities should produce a quiet and holy confidence in you. They should make you as bold as a lion (Pr. 28:1) and instill within you a strength of meekness rather than brashness (Matt. 5:5).

The odds are high you will never be the “champion golfer of the year.” But this year’s champion golfer knows the Truth: Your identity and your fulfillment is found only and wholly in the One who made you and named you!

The Beautiful

Surprising Heights

Have you ever looked around and thought (or even said): “How in the world did I get here?” I sure have, and sometimes the next question is, “And how do I get down?”

God’s path will take you to surprising places and dizzying heights. You may or may not feel you belong there, but that is really the point—you are trusting God with your life’s story! He is in control, so go ahead—soak in the beauty along the way!

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Ps. 16:11).