“Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.”
John
Happy second Friday in Advent,
John’s claim seems simple: Righteous people act righteously. Sinful people act sinfully. Act righteously. So why does it come with a “let-no-one-deceive-you” warning? Because we deceive ourselves. We justify our less-than-righteous behavior because… well… it’s complicated. I mean, I meant well. And I was really good last week. And do you know what she said? And I’m very tired. And…did I mention it’s complicated? John’s having none of it. He states, “The righteous act righteously!” Few of us can look into the mirror honestly. We should assume that we do not.
WOTY
Many dictionaries have weighed in with their Word of the Year. Dictionary.com selected 67. Collins went with vibe coding; Oxford opted for rage bait and Cambridge chose parasocial. A few mags have also announced: e.g., The Economist selected brain rot. To this august list, The Friday Update jumps in with post. I Our panel of global leaders selected post in part because of its ubiquity. (My partial list of post sightings includes: post-pandemic, post-truth, post-structural, post-colonial, post-traumatic, post-liberal, post-Christian, post-racial, post-progressive, post-national, post-Cold-War, post-New Atheism, post-modern and post-post-modern). But mostly I selected post because it feels as though many are aware that our current approaches are tired but few have a go-forward plan.
COTY
But who cares about the WOTY? Especially after Pantone—the self-described “global authority for color communication and inspiration”—selected Cloud Dancer as the 2026 “Color Of The Year.” I’ve already swung into action, ordering both the jet and the entire C-Suite at The Update’s World HQ to be repainted Cloud Dancer. I also dismissed anyone who couldn’t tell Cloud Dancer from Whisper of Moonlight, Porcelain Reverie, Frosted Mist, Winter’s Breath or the dozens of other shades of white.
Overheard
1) Almost no one reads emails long enough to make important points anymore.
2) For every mile of road, there are two miles of ditches. (To which I’d add, one side is full of alligators and the other of nuclear waste.)
3) It should get our attention that companies are fighting over the right to pay $80B+ to buy Warner Bros.—so as to garner more of our attention.
4) There is a cost to knowing things.
I Predict
I’m not a prophet, nor the son of one, but I’m quite confident that ’26 will bring: a blizzard of disinformation, more banter about AI, Chicken-Little comments about the electrical grid, a spike in discussions about MAID, our debt, population collapse, deportations and the World Cup, amid nonstop noise about “the most important midterms of our lifetime.” What we will hear less about—unless we are proactive—is the beauty of Jesus, our need to listen to those we disagree with, and grace’s ability to change a person’s life.
The Best Of — 2025 Edition:
We'd like to know your list of the events, people, ideas and things providing you with hope as we head into 2026. I’m asking both because I want to know, but also because we need to train ourselves to see and celebrate the good, the true and the beautiful.
Greed and Envy
During the last twenty years, extreme poverty has plummeted, and billions have grown richer. Alas, the richer seldom think themselves rich, and the poor don’t marvel at how much better they have it than previous generations. They note that both Musk and Bezos have more than they do. Greed and envy seem recession-proof.
Without Comment
1) For the 4th time in 6 yrs, the most downloaded verse among YouVersion’s 1B users is Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you.”
2) Per this AEI survey, 43% of the Utah residents who receive aid admit to turning down “work, a raise or a promotion” in order to maintain government benefits.
3) In 1987, there were 140 billionaires in the world. Last year, there were 2.7K. Today, there are 3K.
4) Two days ago, Australia banned social media for those <16.
5) 12% of Americans receive their news from Joe Rogan.
6) For the first time in U.S. history, the majority of 18-44 yr old US women are not married.
7) Per CBS News, some young families are now paying more for child care than for their mortgage.
8) About half of those developing AI systems believe there is “at least a 10% chance” that AI will lead to human extinction.
9) Per this WSJ piece, the spike in mental health issues and societal expenses of marijuana legalization has some states reconsidering their recent decisions to legalize it.
Quotes Worth Requoting
1) "There is nothing more confining than the prison we don't know we're in." — Shakespeare
2) "If you want a new idea, read an old book." — Ivan Pavlov
3) "The Bible is so colossal and world-shaping, even the reasons you might object to the Bible have been given to you by the Bible." — Glen Scrivener
4) “There are no solutions, only tradeoffs.” — Thomas Sowell
Resources
1) The link to my sermon on Revelation 9 was missing last week. It’s here.
2) You can click here to listen to my interview with Dr. David Mathewson on the Book of Revelation. (David—a professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary—is the author of four books on Revelation and has two more coming out.)
3) Finally, you can click here for information on High Ground – a men’s ski retreat held in Beaver Creek the last week in February. And here for information on a Colorado spiritual retreat/fly fishing trip and the end of July. I’m not leading either but I’m involved in and attending both.
Closing Prayer
“We ask for your help, Father of Christ, Lord of all that is, Creator of all the created, Maker of all that is made; we stretch out clean hands to you and lay bare our minds, Lord, before you. Have mercy, we pray to you; spare us, be kind to us, improve us; fill us with virtue, faith and knowledge. Look at us, Lord; we bring our weaknesses before you to see. Be kind and merciful to all of us here gathered together; have pity on this people of yours and show them your favor, make them equitable, temperate and pure; send out angelic powers to make this your people—all that compose it—holy and noble. Amen.” (Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis - c. 360 A.D.)
Lakelight Monthly
Curated resources, delivered on the last Saturday of the month.
By subscribing you agree to with our Privacy Policy and provide consent to receive updates from our company.
.png)
