Happy new year! May 2023 bring you many of God’s richest blessings.

My sincere gratitude goes to the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors for naming Seasons of Sorrow their counseling book of the year.
There’s quite a large bundle of Kindle deals to go through today.
(Yesterday on the blog: All Is Shadow Here Below!)
Pope Benedict XVI (1927–2022): His Life and Legacy
Leonardo De Chirico is perhaps the foremost Evangelical scholar of Roman Catholicism, so he’s just the man to reflect on the life, death, and legacy of Pope Benedict XVI.
Signs of Life
“Here’s an encouragement for your new year: yours and my inefficient, unremarkable, non-streamable existences are not problems to be fixed. The things that make us late, or bored, or stressed are often the signs of life. Even our pain and suffering are, in their way, reminders that the valley of the shadow of death is not the only thing that’s real. So are his rod and his staff.”
The Turning of the Calendar
Doug Eaton: “God’s mercies are new every morning, and they are also new every year. However, sometimes, we can expect too much from the turning of the calendar.”
Good News for 2023: It’s Not About You
Chris Hutchison offers up a couple of important lessons from the life of Elijah, one of which is for everyone and the other of which is geared toward parents.
God’s Faithfulness in the Past Assures Our Happy Future
Randy Alcorn: “The human race is homesick for Eden, which only two humans have ever known. We spend our lives chasing peaceful delight, following dead ends or cul-de-sacs in pursuit of home. We know intuitively that we’ve wandered. What we don’t know is how to return. Our lives are largely the story of the often wrong and occasionally right turns we take in our attempts to get home to Happiness with a capital H—God Himself.”
No Longer Slaves to Sin
”In all the CA State Prison chapels where I work, the current passage before us is the sixth chapter of Romans, in which are the words, “sin will have no dominion over you”.  And there, among men who have a keen and intense familiarity with what it means to not be free, we’ve been exploring the fundamental release from bondage inherent in the nature of our salvation, release not only from transgression’s final penalty but from sin’s cruel dominion now.”
Flashback: The Best Way to Begin a New Year
There is no better way to begin a new year than with the knowledge of your freedom and the desire to live for the glory of the one who has extended such grace. Christian, you are free and clear.

God wants us to worship him because we become like what we worship. If we worship God in spirit and truth, we’ll become more spiritual and truthful. —David Murray

Many years ago, Aileen and I made the decision to enroll our children in the local public school. This was a decision we made as carefully and thoughtfully as we knew how to at the time (which was way back in the early 2000s). We decided we would take the approach of “a child at a time, a year at a time, a school at a time.” But even as we kept options open, we never felt the need to change course. Neither did our kids. A lot of time has gone by and two of our children have graduated those public schools while the third has completed as far as tenth grade.

After Nick wrapped up his high school education, I did a little interview with him. I wanted to hear about this experience, whether he felt public schooling had been good or bad, wise or foolish, and what he intended to do if the Lord granted him children. You can read that here. I recently asked Abby the same questions because I wanted to her take on it as well. In both cases I really encouraged them to be as honest as possible without any fear of offending their parents. Here are Abby’s unedited answers.
What do you think were the benefits of being in public school?
I think that one of the main benefits to public schooling is that I learned very early in my life about the brokenness of the world and about the people who are living apart from the Lord. I was still young enough that I saw what was going on around me and I could return home and talk to my parents and older brother about it who would explain the brokenness to me and point me back to Christ. As I explain a bit later on, seeing this brokenness is a large part of my testimony. 
Another benefit is that I learned how to be friends with non-believers very early on in my life. I started public school in junior kindergarten and continued all the way until I graduated high school. I was around unbelievers constantly, and most of my friends were not Christians. While this also proved to be a challenge, it allowed me to learn how to be a loving friend to them, and also provided me opportunities to share my beliefs (looking back I wish I had taken more of these opportunities). Now that I have graduated high school and moved out of the area, I still have some of those friendships and can still minister to my unbelieving friends as we continue to get older. 
Are there ways in which you think public school may have harmed you or otherwise been a negative force or influence?
I don’t think public school harmed me. However, I do think there were negatives to my experience. The negative influence of public school came more from the people I was around than public schooling itself. I knew what I believed and by God’s grace I was not swayed. However, being in the world and being around so many people who were living unrepentantly in sin weighed heavily on my heart. By the time I graduated highschool I was ready to be in a Christian environment, surrounded by believers. However, through this I learned how to pray for, serve and love those unbelievers in my life. 
Did you find it hard to be a Christian in public school?
Yes and no. For the most part I did not find it terribly difficult, especially when I was younger. Most of my peers did not care about my religion. I grew up in a very multicultural area so a lot of people identified themselves with one religion or another and I was just another one of the religious kids. However, I think it was more difficult as I got older. There was the pressure to be and live like everyone else. Being around unbelievers constantly and hearing about their sin weighed heavily on my heart. It was also hard when I was expected to complete assignments or read material that I did not agree with. I found that most of the difficulty came from teachers and the pressure to agree with what they were teaching even when I knew I did not. 
Did you feel pressure to conform to a non-Christian standard?
Yes. I think that the pressure I felt came the most often from the teachers I had throughout the years and less from my peers (although I did experience this as well). When I was younger (young elementary school age) this pressure was less intense. The older I got the more of this pressure I felt. Multiple times there were assignments I was expected to complete, books I was supposed to read or movies I was told to watch that were thoroughly against what I believed. Specifically in classes like Canadian Law and English class. I was expected to debate or write papers defending subjects that I disagreed with. I was expected to agree. This is where I found the most pressure to conform to a non-Christian standard. Not agreeing could have serious consequences and I felt the pressure to conform heavily. 
In terms of my peers, I found that they for the most part, did not care much about what I believed. I did have to choose my friends carefully however, and I lost a lot of them as we continued to get older and found we had less and less in common. While they did not understand, they did not pressure me to do things that went against what I believed. However, as I started to get older and my opinions and beliefs on major issues (abortion and discussions of sexuality) differed so fundamentally from many of my friends, these pressured increased. I found myself avoiding the subjects more often than not. Avoiding subjects like this is where I think I found myself succumbing to pressure the most amongst my peers. 
Do you feel like your faith would be stronger if you had been homeschooled or Christian schooled?
No. I think that the Lord used public schooling and the experiences I had during my time there to show me the brokenness of the world. A large part of my testimony includes seeing the way that the Christians in my life were living their lives dependent on the Lord, and in contrast, watching the non-Christians that I had grown up with fall deeper and deeper into sin while at the same time becoming more and more miserable. I think that seeing this contrast first hand every day strengthened my faith, and it made me realize that I wanted no part of the world that my friends were living in. I also had to learn how to trust the Lord with my friends. 
Are there ways in which you think homeschooling or Christian schooling would have been a more positive experience for you?
I do not feel like public schooling was an overall negative experience for me. However, had I been homeschooled or Christian schooled it could have potentially saved me from being influenced by some friends who I should not have been influenced by. It could have also allowed me to avoid some of the heaviness on my heart from being around and hearing about unrepentant sin so constantly. I do not think that the negatives I experienced in the public school system outweighed the positives I walked away with. 
As much as you can put yourself in our shoes, would you have made the same decision?
I think that I would have made the same decision as you. I do not feel as though public school was an overall negative experience for me. The world has changed since I first started my education. Through public school, I learned a lot and it is a huge part of my testimony. In his kindness the Lord used it to show me my own sinfulness and His grace. He also used it to show me the sinfulness of the world. As I said earlier I think the positives I walked away with far outweigh the negatives I experienced and I’m glad I went through the public school system. 
As much as you can project into an uncertain future, how do you think you’re likely to educate your own children? 
I think that in answering this question it is important to know just how much the world has changed since I started my public school education. Schools have become much more liberal and much less tolerant than they were when I was in them. If I could have my children repeat the experience I had in public school I believe I would send them into the public school system. However, with the way the world seems to be moving and what I know of that’s being taught in schools now, I would be more hesitant to send my children, especially little ones into them as I believe they would have a much different experience than my own. I think I would be more comfortable sending my older kids into public schools however. I believe I would lean more toward a Christian school education where I could be more confident in the teaching they were receiving and the peers they would have.
OK, back to Tim so I can wrap up as I did last time. I guess the big question at the end is this: If Aileen and I had to begin again, would we choose the public schools or would we instead go with one of the alternatives? To be honest, we just don’t know and we can’t put ourselves back in that situation. But we agree with what Abby said at the end—some key cultural factors have changed between then and now. Regardless, we gratefully acknowledge God’s hand of blessing on the decision we did make while also acknowledging that same hand of blessing would have been upon us whichever path we chose. We’re so deeply grateful to Him.

It was twenty years ago this week that I made the decision to try to post something to my blog every day for a year. At that time the site was suffering from a lack of attention. I would write occasional articles and often get positive feedback on them, but I lacked any real commitment and dedication. The time between posting articles had stretched from days to weeks, so I decided I’d give it one more shot by making the commitment to post something new every day for a year. If I failed, I’d just give up and find a new hobby.

But it worked. From November 1, 2003 to October 31, 2004 I posted something every day. At the end of the year I decided I enjoyed holding myself to that kind of discipline so renewed the commitment. And somewhere along the way, it became a habit that stuck—and a habit that has remained two decades later. Tomorrow I’ll round out twenty years of daily blogging.
That’s not to say that I have always posted something of the highest quality—though I do try to ensure it is always worth reading and that it will benefit people in some way. And that’s certainly not to say I write every day or am even involved in posting it every day—there are people and automation tools that can do that for me when I am on vacation or taking a weekly day of rest. But it is to say that I’ve maintained the habit and enjoyed doing so.
So as I hit that 20-year mark, I want to express my gratitude to you, the readers. None of this would be possible if you didn’t commit to reading it. The fact that you continue to read this site is a blessing and encouragement to me. I’d say “Here’s to another 20 years” but I kind of doubt I’ll maintain the habit that long.
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And now, turning to a completely different subject, I thought I’d share a few thoughts and articles that may be of interest to you. While I link to several good pieces of writing each day in my A La Carte column, I focus almost exclusively on Christian material. Sometimes, though, I read other material and feel like commenting on it. That’s some of what you will find below—interesting articles from mainstream sources that are accompanied by some brief commentary.
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Happy birthday to Abby who turns 21 today!
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The Verge has an article that makes me chuckle: Apple’s new video reactions are making therapy incredibly awkward. If you have upgraded to the most recent versions of Apple’s operating systems, you may have noticed that they now include “video reactions.” When using FaceTime or another video app, you can use gestures to trigger certain reactions in your conversations. Some of these gestures are relatively common like a thumbs up or a thumbs down, but they can trigger uncommon on-screen reactions like a heart emoji or a fireworks display.
With that in mind, “SimplePractice, a company that offers a telehealth platform, is warning patients about Apple’s new video reactions feature that might let people unintentionally add heart emoji or virtual fireworks during a telehealth video call. Awkward.” Awkward indeed! The warning extends to other uses of video such as business meetings or litigation—times when an unexpected heart emoji or laser show may slightly disrupt what was otherwise a very serious conversation. Thankfully, it is possible to disable the feature—something you may wish to consider. And thankfully this feature came along well after that strange stretch of time during the pandemic when we seemed to be on video calls all day and every day.
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I was recently pondering the parable of the Good Samaritan and wondering this: if Jesus were to speak the parable today, who would play the role of the Samaritan in our modern Western context? If Jesus was attempting to challenge the kind of pious religious folk who are convinced of their own spiritual superiority, who would be the person who so revolts them that they would be infuriated to learn he was actually the one who had behaved righteously—the one who represented the sharpest cultural division of that day?
I was thinking the other day of the Modern Parable films that were released about 12 years ago. They provided a modern adaptation of the parable and, as I recall, the Samaritan was played by a devout Muslim. But that was not too long after 9/11 and what might have resonated in that day probably wouldn’t today. I know there is a lot of historical context that divided first-century Jews from Samaritans, but I’d be interested in knowing your thoughts on the closest comparison in our day.  Who is our modern Samaritan? (Facebook is probably the best place to leave a comment since I removed the commenting function on my blog a very long time ago.)
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“Something feels a bit off with Airbnb these days.” The Atlantic recently wrote about Airbnb and the way it has changed over the years. I remember the early years when every home or cottage we rented made us feel like we had been invited in as the guest of the homeowner. They would often be there to greet us and would leave a little welcome gift behind. There was something charming about it. But that was then and this is now. Today’s Airbnbs are often owned or at least managed by professional companies who want the experience to be very professional, bland, and sterile.
The author says, “You risk ending up, like I did in Vermont, in one of multiple cookie-cutter units listed by the same host, units that lean less ‘cozy ski lodge’ and more ‘IKEA display room that has never known human touch.’” And that’s exactly it. We recently rented one that had four chairs around the table and in the cupboards were four plain white IKEA mugs, four plain white IKEA plates, and four plain white IKEA bowls. Nearby were exactly 4 IKEA knives, forks, and spoons. The walls were stark and bare and there was no more furniture than absolutely necessary. It was a home devoid of warmth, character, or anything beyond the absolute necessities. I guess that’s fine as far as it goes, but I still find myself looking for listings that have a bit more of the older feel.
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Fast Company wrote about the note-taking app Obsidian. Whether it’s Obsidian, Roam Research (which I prefer), or one of several imitators, this new generation of note-taking apps offers features and power that previous generations did not. Their purpose is not just to help you write notes, but to help you figure out how to create ideas and bring meaning from those notes. So if Evernote or even your computer’s built-in notes app is meant to simply record information, these apps are meant to record information and then help you do something with it. I have found them invaluable and would say that if your work is in the realm of ideas, you may find they really benefit you as well. I continue to use Roam (as I’ve outlined here), though if I was starting over I’d definitely consider Obsidian as well.