This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Zondervan Reflective, who also sponsored the blog this week. They are giving away FIVE copies of Michael Horton’s new book, Recovering Our Sanity.

Here’s more about the book:
How cultivating a healthy fear of God liberates us from our fear of others, our fear of the future, and even our fear of death itself.
At times the world feels like it’s losing its mind. From politics to the pandemic, we live with an ever-increasing uncertainty, and many of us have grown to fear the rapid disintegration of our society and our own lives.
Recovering Our Sanity is not another self-help book about how to beat your daily fears for a better life. It’s a book that will show you the gravity and glory of a God who’s worthy of our fear. It’s a book that will reveal how these two biblical phrases—Fear God and Do Not Be Afraid—are not contradictory but actually one coherent message.
Michael Horton—Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary—shows us that we cannot fight our fears by seeking the absence of fear altogether, but by living with a fear of God that drives out the fear of everything else. Horton will walk you through the case for the fear of God by:

Developing what it means to fear God, biblically and theologically, and what this kind of fear looks like in practice.
Categorizing different types of fears—from cultural anxiety to pain and hardship—and what they stem from.
Focusing on how to confront our earthly fears with our hope in Christ, rooted in the gospel.
Reminding us that God does not exist for us; we exist for God.

Humbling, thought-provoking, and hope-igniting, Recovering Our Sanity delivers a timely message that will help you shift your focus from a human-centered obsession with self-preservation to a fixation on Christ and his salvation.
Rather than clinging to false securities and promises of immediate gratification, you can gain the lasting joy of knowing the One who has given himself to save us and who says to us, “Do not be afraid.”
Enter Here
Again, there are five books to win. And all you need to do to enter the draw is to drop your name and email address in the form below.
Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. As soon as the winners have been chosen, all names and addresses will be immediately and permanently erased. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes Saturday at noon. If you are viewing this through email, click to visit my site and enter there.

I have been meaning to write a review of the latest book by my friend Leonardo De Chirico: Same Words, Different Worlds: Do Roman Catholics and Evangelicals Believe the Same Gospel? Leonardo is a pastor and scholar in Rome whose primary area of expertise is a Protestant perspective on Roman Catholicism. In this review, written by missionary Glenn Ainsley, you will learn why this book is interesting, informative, and helpful.

Like most evangelical Christians who were raised under the influence of the American “Bible Belt,” Catholicism has always been near, but never influential. It has always been known, but never understood. To me, and many other American evangelicals, the idea of Catholic doctrine has always been limited to a fuzzy concept of confessional booths, prayers to the saints, transubstantiation, purgatory, and some sort of global connection to a man in white on the other side of the world. This “segmented” understanding of Catholic theology fosters an indifferent and unprepared approach towards sharing the gospel with our Roman Catholic friends. In the unlikely event that we do arrive at the gospel in conversation, it will likely avoid all of the assumed “secondary” doctrines mentioned above to focus on our friend’s most self-damning belief of salvation by works. Unfortunately, our poor understanding of Catholicism will render our witness ineffective when we learn that our friend does, in fact, profess “salvation by grace”. At best, we walk away confused. At worst, we will never engage our Catholic friends again.
In Same Words, Different Worlds, Leonardo De Chirico addresses the underlying misconceptions that cripple so many American evangelicals’ understanding of and interaction with Catholic theology. The book shows “why the Roman Catholic words are similar to those of the gospel and yet the Roman Catholic language is different from the gospel’s language” (2). To rephrase the purpose, this book will help evangelical believers to understand why their Catholic friends confess the same gospel as us in words, but live it so differently in practice. We are using the same words to describe dramatically different worldviews. De Chirico demonstrates that a correct understanding of Catholic theology, and therefore an effective gospel conversation with our Catholic friends, requires a “holistic” understanding of Catholic doctrine based on a clear definition of the words they use to build that doctrine. The author effectively does this in the following ways:
The first chapter of this book is dedicated to an honest evaluation and response to many common arguments meant to minimize the differences between evangelicals and Catholics. These arguments are propagated in the name of ecumenical unity based on a common history and / or future. As the reader will see, however, much of the assumed history only looks the same on paper and does not reflect a common theology in practice.
The second chapter begins a thorough investigation into the definitions of many common theological words used by both evangelicals and catholics. It is not enough to base ecumenical unity on the fact that both traditions use phrases like “the word of God” or “the sacrifice of Christ.” Salvation, justification, grace, and mission are all words embraced by both traditions, but they express and invoke totally different meanings of theological importance between the two. If one wishes to communicate clearly with his or her Roman Catholic friends, it is of utmost importance to understand how our common vocabulary has been twisted into unbiblical mutations by the Catholic church.
Most evangelical Americans will find the third chapter extremely helpful as De Chirico helps to remove the ambiguity behind distinctly Catholic concepts like the papacy, mariology, and indulgences. These terms, while mysterious to the majority of evangelical Americans, encompass a large part of the identity of Roman Catholics. In a very brief but efficient manner, De Chirico offers a historical and biblical assessment of these distinctly Catholic traditions and how they influence the church’s understanding of key doctrines.
Although moving beyond the definition of ambiguous words, I found chapter four to be the most enlightening section of the book. After establishing the historical and theological differences hidden under shared vocabulary, De Chirico introduces two different axes that hold together the unity of Roman Catholic theology. It is in this chapter that one begins to truly understand how all the ambiguous and fringe practices we recognize as distinctly Catholic, along with the distorted meanings of shared vocabulary, work together holistically within the Catholic worldview.
These two axes, defined as 1) a nature-grace interdependence and 2) as a Christ-church interconnection help to frame where and how the extra-biblical doctrines and devotions that seem so foreign to evangelicals have developed over time. Once one comprehends the Catholic understanding of grace existing within nature, rather than as something that comes to us from outside our nature, their salvific doctrines and their devotion to the sacraments begin to make sense to us. Once we understand the intrinsic relations Catholics have made between the physical presence of Christ in the church, practices such as their veneration of the Eucharist and their confessions and prayers become better understood. Both of these axes are built on biblical terms that have either been redefined or misinterpreted in a way that liberates Catholic theologians from the orthodox confines of the authority of Scripture. If the evangelical church fails to recognize this, it runs a grave risk of seeing unity where discord exists. It runs a great risk of affirming orthodoxy in Catholic theology that is intrinsically unorthodox.
As an American, now living in a distinctly Roman Catholic and southern European context, this book has been instrumental in helping me to form a mental framework for the culture and the worldview around me. This book represents 10 years of research and discussion around vast and complex amounts of theological material. It has been organized and presented in a manner that delivers clarity to scholars, pastors, and laypeople alike. Regardless of the reader’s current interest in, interaction with, or proximity to the Roman Catholic church, this book should be highly recommended as a means to better understand and dialogue with those who claim we are all brothers.
Same Words, Different Worlds is available for purchase at Amazon. Glenn Ainsley is a missionary with IMB and worships at Chiesa evangelica battista riformata in Ferrara, Italy.

Buy from Amazon

The Lord be with you and bless you today.

Westminster Books has a deal on the new book by Mark Jones, Knowing Sin.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Family Update and a Some Thoughts on Those Canadian Truckers)
The Necessity and Danger of Mercy Ministry
Mez McConnell: “While a church may do a lot of different things in the service of [its] mission, everything that it does should be aimed at those final goals: proclaiming the gospel and helping people to grow in their obedience to God. Starbucks sells coffee, Listerine makes mouthwash, and the church holds out the gospel and trains people to obey by doing the work of ministry. If we don’t do it, no one will. If we do anything else, we are getting off track.”
The Remedy for the Church’s Post-COVID Malaise
Trevin Wax offers some thoughts about remedying the church’s post-COVID malaise. “It’s been almost two years since COVID altered our lives. I hear pastors and church leaders talk about surviving the pandemic spiritually and emotionally, and then enduring the fallout in their congregations. Many harbor grave concerns about ministry right now and about the long-term sustainability of those who have been tasked with leading the church.”
Why We Need the Local Church
Speaking of the local church, “the culture continues to be hostile to the Christian worldview. Social media outlets are becoming more aggressive towards us, and cancelations by the culture of confusion continue to increase. Where do we turn? The answer isn’t clever or new. We turn to the local church. Here’s why.”
The Necessity of Sound Doctrine
“Sound doctrine is fundamental ‘so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes’ (Eph. 4:14). Paul isn’t mincing words here but distinctly points out that without sound doctrine, the church is susceptible to being carried away by cultural ideologies, false teaching, and deceptive methodologies.”
The Nearness of God is Not Always Good News
“A good portion of modern Christian praise songs emphasize nearness to God.” Well and good, but God’s nearness isn’t always good news…
Should I or Shouldn’t I?
Here’s a bit of a guide to determining whether or not to engage in a conversation.

He never began to love us for anything in ourselves, nor will he cease to love us because of what he discovers us to be. The love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord, is unassailable by change or shock. —F.B. Meyer

It has been a little while since I have provided anything like a family or personal update, so I thought I would do so today. Also, I have received quite a number of questions about the Canadian truckers and their Freedom Convoy, so wanted to offer a few observations on that.

I am under some very heavy writing deadlines just now. I’m also in the season of pastoral ministry when I arrange personal visits with a good many members of the church so I can learn how they are doing, how the pastors can better serve them, and so on. It has been busy but blessed days!
I wrote a lot of blog articles over the past month or so and got those all queued up so I could then spend a couple of weeks focused entirely on books—one that is in the final stages of editing, one that needs to be completed in the next few weeks, and one that has suffered various delays but is now finally getting underway. The first of them will be released in September of this year with the others coming in 2023. This has kept me from being able to dedicate the time necessary to organize my thoughts and find something helpful to say about the truckers and their Freedom Convoy. So today I’ll offer just a few brief observations and then direct you to some articles that you may find interesting.
It’s my assessment that most Canadians, and especially Christian Canadians, are at least somewhat sympathetic to the core concern of the truckers—the mandate that keeps unvaccinated truckers from entering Canada without a mandatory two-week quarantine. Not only that, but it seems that a growing number of Canadians—generally a very cautious and compliant people—are ready to be released from nearly all the pandemic mandates and restrictions. The various provinces are steadily ditching the provincial measures and this makes the federal ones appear more out-of-step by contrast. (Note: the United States has recently begun to forbid unvaccinated Canadians from entering at all, so even if the Canadian government cedes to the demands, I don’t think it will fully resolve the situation.)
All that said, there are still many Canadians who are extremely concerned about COVID-19 and many others who fear anything that smacks of protest or rebellion, and for that reason this has become a very polarizing issue in families, churches, and broader society. That’s especially the case as the protests have stretched into weeks and have extended to actions that have much lower levels of popular support, such as blockading border crossings. Some people see tyranny in the government, some see anarchy in the protestors, and some see a combination of the two. If you know Canadians who are not speaking loudly and publicly about their convictions, it may be that they are being discreet lest they alienate family members, offend friends, hinder witnessing opportunities, and so on. It would be unwise to take silence as either support or condemnation.
Whatever else this situation has done, it has almost universally convinced people of the weakness of our government, especially on the federal level. The various minority political parties are united in their condemnation of the way Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party of Canada have handled it. The fact that a relatively small number of people has been able to essentially take over the core of our nation’s capital—and that no one has been able to do anything about it—is making our leaders a laughing stock. The Prime Minister’s insulting statements about these people and his unwillingness to show any compassion toward their plight has only increased their tenacity. It is probably accurate to see the truckers as especially representing the working class in a kind of non-violent uprising against the elite political class, for while the politicians (and the civil servants they oversee) quickly pivoted to working from home and saw their pay cheques unaffected throughout the pandemic (and, indeed, often saw substantial increases), much of the working class was laid off, had their hours reduced, and so on. This explains the symbolic significance of transport trucks dominating streets that are usually trod by only the political elite.
This situation has already cost a police chief his job and the head of the opposition party his leadership. There is much conjecture that it may also cost the Prime Minister his position. His recent decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, a move few people deem wise, necessary, or legitimate under the circumstances, is being widely perceived as a sign of weakness rather than strength—possibly the action of a man who is in his political death throes. Then again, he has survived plenty of scandals in the past and it’s not implausible that he will survive this one.
If you are concerned for Canada, please do pray for peace and justice within the nation. You might pray also for peace and unity within the church. If Canadians have all their freedoms restored or even increased while the church crumbles, there will have been no great victory. If people who lean toward one side or the other have their view vindicated, but along the way become alienated from their fellow Christians, the cause of Christ will still have suffered. If you’d like to pray for more than that, perhaps pray for the truckers and residents of Ottawa who are Christians and for the various groups and individuals who are deliberately going wherever the crowds are gathered to preach the gospel. And why not pray that the first response of Canadian Christians, no matter the situation, would be to get on our knees and plead for wisdom, love, and divine help.
For some helpful reading consider:

Tristan Hopper’s primer on Canadian politics which helps explain some of the ways in which our political system is different from that of the United States. For example, “we have a regularly scheduled event known as Question Period where the prime minister takes his usual seat in the House of Commons and is assailed with abuse by members of the opposition.”
Raymond J. de Souza on Justin Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act.
Jonathon Van Maren on “Let Freedom Honk.”
Clint Humfrey & Yanick Ethier on the Freedom Convoy as a form of lament.

Phew! There’s so much more I want to say, but I hear my book projects calling me again. So just briefly, let me turn to family news.
Abby’s wedding is coming up in just three months and much of her attention, as well as Aileen’s, is focused on that occasion. It’s my understanding that the planning is going well, but also my understanding that it’s best if I don’t get too involved! Abby and Nathan will both have school to finish up, so intend to remain settled in the Louisville area for at least another couple of years before re-evaluating. I expect this means I will continue to have good reason to shuttle back and forth on a regular basis. Abby asked Michaela to be her maid of honor, so she is getting ready to fulfill all of the duties that come with it. Meanwhile, she’s pressing on in high school while anticipating the day she can follow in the footsteps of her siblings and attend Boyce College. Nick’s fiancée Ryn remains part of our family, of course. She will graduate from Boyce in May and, the very next day, be one of Abby’s bridesmaids. What a day that will be!
Thanks for reading the blog, and thanks for reading to the end of this rather long article!

Grace and peace to you on this fine day.

(Yesterday on the blog: A Message for Young Women)
Faith Like A Beach House
You may identify with this. “I had foolishly thought that time would be the vehicle of sanctification, that being an older Christian would automatically make me a more Christ-like Christian. But it hasn’t.”
The Only Topic More Controversial Than Religion or Politics
“We are all dependent on parenting to wean us off of immature thinking. The world we are looking at right now, however, is in large degree a reflection of a major shift in parenting.” Interesting…
Does God love me just the way I am?
Ligon Duncan provides a really good answer to this question.
Discipled by Everyone and No One
“Round the turn of the century, some 20 years ago, well-informed citizens might claim 20 sources of news. They’d watch a national and local TV news program, pick up a newspaper delivery or two each morning, wait each week or month on a few magazine subscriptions, forward some emails with bizarre threats, and tune in during morning and evening commutes to a talk radio station or two.” How different it is today!
God Makes Himself Known as Trinity
This is a good little reminder of the fact that God makes himself known as Trinity, and why this matters so much.
Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp’s Example of Boldly Acknowledging Christ
“His team, the Los Angeles Rams, ended up winning the Super Bowl, and Kupp was named Most Valuable Player. But regardless of that, even if they’d lost and Kupp had not played well, everything he says would still be true.” Randy Alcorn has assembled some resources about Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp who is very outspoken about his Christian faith.
Flashback: Thy Word Is Not a MagLite
He was never without guidance, never without help, because he was never without the Word.

Life is not measured by the number of its years but by what one puts into the years. —J.R. Miller

I recently shared a message for young men. Having done that, I asked my friend Melissa Edgington if she would write an equivalent letter for young women. She kindly did so and allowed me to share it here.

Somewhere out there in the great, wide world, someone is praying for you. She probably doesn’t know you and you probably don’t know her. You may not meet one another for many more years. But she’s praying for you nonetheless and has been for a very long time. 
She is the mother of a son. She is a mother who once cradled a swaddled baby boy in her arms, bleary-eyed and sleep deprived, yet electric with the knowledge that this chubby-cheeked wonder was her own. She is a mother who thrilled at the sight of freshly plucked flowers clutched in a little boy’s outstretched hand. By day she laughed and groaned her way through his original knock-knock jokes, and by night she dreamt of what kind of man he would become, praying ceaselessly first for his salvation and then for his spiritual strength. She is a mother who implored the Creator of the Universe to make him into a man after God’s own heart.
From the time that she first laid eyes on this boy, she knew that he would one day fall in love with a woman. She has always understood that she is building a boy, body and heart and soul, to give away, both to the Lord’s service and to you. One part of her mission as a mother is the learning to let go a little bit, milestone by milestone, year by year, helping him stand on his own, helping him depend on Christ, and helping him become a man who will lead a family in devotion to the Lord and love his wife as Christ loves the church.
This mother has cooperated with Christ in bringing up a boy, training him, loving him, disciplining him, discipling him, and she has poured out everything that her heart can hold that might bless this child, her son, her treasure. In all of this she has prayed for you and is praying for you still.
She prayed for you in your childhood, for your safety and nurturing. She prayed that you would come to know Christ and that you would grow in your understanding of who He is and your role in His kingdom. She prayed that the Lord would protect you from the evil intentions of others, that He would rescue you from those would might seek to do you harm. 
And she prays for you still. For your heart, that it would beat for Christ alone. For your spirit, that it would be refreshed by the truth of God’s word. For your mind, that it would be filled with the goodness of God and thoughts that are true, right, noble, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. She prays that you are developing spiritual disciplines that bring you to thankfulness in difficult circumstances, to reliance on the One who has the answers, and to peace that passes all understanding. She prays that you are growing into a woman who has a passion for God’s people and a desire to serve the Lord. She prays that you will love her son, unconditionally, unendingly, and with tenderness and grace. And she asks the Lord to allow you and her precious child, her boy, to live a long and beautiful life of sacrifice and service, side by side, arm in arm.
She prays for you now. You will one day meet and fall in love with her cherished one, and all of these years, perhaps you never imagined that you have been carried on the wings of his mother’s prayers. Take comfort in knowing that somewhere, a mother is praying for you. Seek the Lord, dear girl, and grow in your love for Him so that you may become God’s good answer to a mother’s prayers.

The Lord bless you and keep you today.

Westminster Books has some good books specially discounted.
Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of solid titles.
What Does ‘Deconstruction’ Even Mean?
“‘Deconstruction’ is a term that has increasingly been used in evangelical circles, especially over the past decade. But it is a confusing term, because there’s no single or simple definition for ‘deconstruction.’ It has different meanings in different contexts. It has technical meanings in certain academic contexts and various informal meanings when current and former evangelicals use it to describe their (or others’) faith experiences.”
The Great Lament
Clint Humfrey and Yanick Ethier team up on a timely article. “To understand why Canadians have given their time and trucks to a convoy and to a protest, we need to look past the politics to something deeper—to the cries of the heart.”
The Prayers of Big Data
“These days it’s hard to surprise anybody with revelations about our compromised privacy in the Internet age. Nonetheless, I was still taken aback by a recent BuzzFeed investigation into the data harvesting practices of some of the Internet’s biggest prayer and spirituality apps.” Samuel James explains why it’s a big deal.
You Can’t Hack Your Way to a Faithful Ministry
Darryl Dash: “Here’s what every pastor needs to know: you can’t hack your way to a faithful ministry. You can’t learn pastoral ministry from blogs (including this one) or conferences. Avoid anything that looks like a ministry hack, because they simply don’t exist, and anyone who peddles hacks can’t be trusted.”
God’s Anger Can Open the Door to Experiencing His Mercy
“The Bible clearly teaches that God is both infinitely good and in control of all creation—even the evil in the world. Though He is not the author of evil, He is Ruler over it, as the book of Job illustrates. And because God is in control of all things, we can have hope and turn to Him for mercy and grace in the face of overwhelming circumstances.”
Can the Devil Read My Mind?
Adriel Sanchez: “The Bible clearly teaches that God is both infinitely good and in control of all creation—even the evil in the world. Though He is not the author of evil, He is Ruler over it, as the book of Job illustrates. And because God is in control of all things, we can have hope and turn to Him for mercy and grace in the face of overwhelming circumstances.”
Flashback: Your Calling: Bring Order from Chaos
Our lives are never less than bringing order from chaos. It is our constant task, our God-given calling. It is difficult, it is repetitive, it is frustrating. But it is good.

God never built a Christian strong enough to carry today’s duties and tomorrow’s anxieties piled on top of them. —Theodore Cuyler

May the God of love and peace be with you today, my friends.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Music of Heaven)
When Activists Do History
This is really interesting: “There exists today a growing trend among historians that represents a significant departure from the traditional scholarly approach to writing and teaching history. This trend involves the merging of history and activism to form essentially an entirely new genre which is part historical narrative and part advocacy. As a genre, it might be referred to as ‘pop history,’ but perhaps a more technical title would be activist historiography.”
Can We Speak with Angels?
John Piper answers.
Sending Love
This is a sweet article about Christian encouragement. “The most potent acts and words of encouragement spring from the well of love found in Christ. And the most satisfying and soul-quenching examples of love, big and small, also point back to Him.”
A Common Face
“One of the best things my church’s women’s ministry does is to have someone share their testimony at our events. I am often stunned at what I hear from the ordinary women around me – women who quietly go about their everyday lives while harboring beautiful, compelling stories of God’s mercy. Why do we pander and scramble to hear the famous, successful and beautiful people speak, when God’s glory is just waiting to be displayed by the sisters and brothers around us?”
How to Argue Against Gender-Transition Interventions for Children
Joe Carter offers one way to argue against gender-transition interventions for children.
Mansions for Homeless Souls
“The closer we follow Jesus, the more we realize this world is not our home.” That’s so simple, but so true.
Flashback: Has the Bible Been Preserved For Us Today?
Though the Scriptures have passed through countless scribes and many forms— from papyrus to paper to phone— you can be confident that the Word you read today is the very Word that was breathed out by God and written by the prophets and apostles.

The horror of a guilty conscience is in itself the beginning of hell’s torments. —William Perkins

This Q&A with Michael Horton comes from Zondervan Reflective. Learn more about Horton’s new book at RecoveringOurSanity.com.

What prompted you to write Recovering Our Sanity? 
Michael Horton: The replication of America’s “civil war” in the body of Christ. It’s one thing to be hated by the world because of the gospel; it’s another thing for Christians to hate each other because of politics. But then it seemed like, with the last couple of years, a lot of other fears presented themselves in bolder relief. It’s deeper than whether you wear a face mask.
What’s the #1 moral and spiritual problem in America today? Take a minute and think about it.
If you’re like me, the top 10 get filled in pretty quickly—the sins of “the others” (or my own that I keep secret). Now, what’s the #1 sin in the whole of biblical history? “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Gen 20:11; Dt. 25:18; Ps 36:1; Rom 3:17, etc.). We try to domesticate it: “Fear doesn’t really mean fear; it means respect.” Well, it includes respect, but it’s being super scared—phobos in Greek, as in “phobia.” Why do we think that people shouldn’t be afraid of God? That’s where our problems begin. 
So, inspired by Daniel 4, I began to think of how we’re all little Nebuchadnezzars prancing on the roof of our personal palace boasting in our heart, “Is this not the great Babylon I have built by my power and for my glory?” Humbled—actually, humiliated—by God, the king realized the hard way that God is sovereign not just in general but in particular, over him. “I raised my eyes to heaven,” he said, “and my sanity was restored.” 
If I never leave my house because I’m jumpy about panthers lying in wait, that’s a little crazy. But it’s no saner to pretend a panther doesn’t exist if I meet one in the wild. It’s just the opposite for us right now. We’re terrified of losing power, security, elections, prosperity, health, a job, and so forth, while the fear of God is often the last thing we take seriously. I’m not just talking about “Others” but “Us.”

So what is the sanity that you would like to see us recover?
Horton: Sanity is just living with the grain of reality. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Prov 9:10). It’s the fear of the Lord that drives us to God’s mercy in Christ. “But with you, there is forgiveness, that you may be feared” (Ps 130:4). What a paradox, right? There’s a terrifying, unsettling fear of God that’s just sane. Then there’s a new kind of fear—with the anxiety removed—that results from the gospel. It’s sane too, but a total surprise. Two different sorts of fear: one from Mount Sinai, the other from Mount Calvary. And we need both. 

How has “cancel culture” exacerbated our fears? Should Christians be concerned with being on the “right side of history?”
Horton: I’m a 56-year-old guy raising teens. I have fears, believe me. In no other period have social convictions about right and wrong changed dramatically in such a short period of time. But that includes insulting people’s dignity by “canceling” them. That used to not be ok. But now many Christians think it’s fine because we’re good and they’re bad—really bad. 
When we get to the place of canceling, we’ve closed our hearts and turned off our minds. Now it’s just emotional blackmail, manipulation to get what we want. We sort of started this with boycotting Disney and then others back in the 1980s. 
Peter tells us, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.” That’s well-placed fear. Next sentence: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” It’s been said that a quarrel kills a good argument. If I can’t listen and formulate a good argument, I’ll just toss verbal grenades and slogans at people. “Well, you’re just a homophobe” or “You’re a Social Justice Warrior.” We throw out epithets like “Critical Race Theory” (or just “CRT”) or “Christian Nationalist” as if the person we’re talking to can be dismissed with a label. And there’s one more sentence in 1 Peter 3:15: “But do this with gentleness and respect.” I can do that when I fear God instead of my neighbor.
The Bible gives us a story in which the stories of the daily news can be interpreted properly. Instead, we often interpret the Bible in light of the daily news. The church reflects the same worldly divisions. There are “FOX” churches and “CNN” churches. We’re certainly not getting the fear of God from those outlets. They’re just stoking our other fears—and making a lot of money in the process.
Jesus is the “right side of history.” He went to the cross but was raised on the third day and is glorified at the right hand of the Father, interceding for sinners, until he returns to establish final justice, righteousness, peace, and life. We’re called to care about the common good of our neighbors in this life—indeed, more than expecting the world to treat us well. But we’re longing ultimately for their salvation and incorporation into Christ’s body. When we see our neighbors through his eyes, through the lens of his love and mercy, we begin to honor them as created in his image and in need of Christ just like us. We don’t cancel fellow image-bearers of God. 
What the world needs to see are not fearful, angry, and proud Christians making the same stand that Republicans and Democrats make. The world doesn’t need the church to make a statement by wearing or not wearing masks. The world needs to hear good news, good arguments, and see Christians on their knees with the tax collector instead of in the peanut gallery with the Pharisee, confessing their sins and being forgiven. Because let’s face it, Christians have done some pretty bad stuff in Jesus’ name. “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law,” Paul indicts. “For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Rom 2:23-24).
Precisely because we live in Jesus’ story, we take justice and righteousness seriously but know that it won’t ever be established perfectly and finally until Jesus does it in person. Not just “Others” but “We” will be praying, “Have mercy on me, a sinner,” until Jesus returns. 

You say that “death is the ultimate source of our anxieties and that fear of it can make us do some crazy things.” Can you tell us more about this?
Horton: As Christians, we say we believe in “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” But often we live as if death and its symptoms—loneliness, job loss, moral decay and injustice, climate change, health, and politics—are in charge. That’s what I mean by “we worship what we fear.” If I’m most afraid of losing my job, then I’m finding my security in someone or something other than Christ. If I’m afraid of not being happy, I’ll make my wife and kids bear the burden of ultimate satisfaction—and maybe ditch them or ignore them when they don’t. If I’m afraid of all the social, political, economic, and moral changes, I’ll blame “Them”—whoever they are—for my unhappiness.
But when we raise our eyes to heaven like Nebuchadnezzar, our sanity is restored. That’s just living with the grain of reality. When we imagine we’re in charge, that we can transform ourselves or our world, or that the government or entertainment or a political figure can do this for us, it’s literally insane. It’s living against the grain of reality.
Reality is defined by the Triune God—the Father, in the Son, by the Spirit. First, God created us. We belong to him. He’s not there for our happiness. We exist for his glory and we’re made to enjoy him. When we enjoy someone or something else in that way, we make them our “creator.” Second, we belong to him by right of redemption. He chose us, redeemed us, regenerated, adopted, and justified us; incorporated us into Christ’s body. Praise the Lord that he has the whole world—and us—in his hands and he knows where history is going and in fact is already up ahead of us, leading us there by his word and Spirit.

Why is regular involvement in a local church essential?
Horton: Actual institutions mediating between the state and the individual are disintegrating. This is where the kingdom of Christ really stands out—or should, at least. When Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it,” he wasn’t talking about a Platonic idea. He meant concrete, local, embodied branches of himself as the Vine. 
In a world of soundbites and surrogates, we go to church to actually encounter the God who made and redeemed us. We’re not just hearing the story again but being re-casted by the Holy Spirit from the dead-end stories of this fading age into the greatest story ever told: reality. Here, God makes a real promise with real words from the lips of another sinner, uses real water to seal that promise, and keeps pledging with real wine and bread. It’s where we hear, sing, and pray God’s word together, confess our sins together and confess our common faith in the Triune God, hear God’s absolution. We become what the word says. CNN and FOX won’t be covering that, but it’s the “breaking news.” And we’re no longer afraid.

How does Christian nationalism violate the doctrine of “one holy, catholic, and apostolic church?”
Horton: There is one Christian nation made up of “people from every tribe and people and nation and tongue” (Rev 5:9). Christ is the head with many members, the Vine with many branches. And a lot of those members or branches are people we see as “Them,” not “Us.” The world can’t unite people of different ethnic, socio-economic, and political backgrounds. In fact, big government, big entertainment media, and big business thrive on our divisions. But Christ promises to incorporate our divided social communities and our own divided selves into himself as the head. 
America has had a lot of Christian influence, a lot of it for the common good. But white Christians have done terrible things in the name of Christ throughout our history. We’ve used Jesus and the Bible for our sinful agendas. We have to own up to that. “Christian America” means something different to an African-American brother or sister than it does to a white Christian school teacher.
America doesn’t pick up the story where Israel left off. Often, the Black church has also appealed to these narratives as if they applied to the America envisioned by Dr. King rather than by white nationalists. Jesus is the fulfillment of that story, not America. He is the true Israel. The United States is not God’s chosen people. 
Once we accept that, we can truly secularize the narrative—not in the sense that God hasn’t blessed America providentially with a lot of blessings, but in the sense that the sacred isn’t allowed to migrate from Christ’s kingdom to the kingdoms of this age. To identify Christ’s kingdom with any kingdom of this age is to reject “one holy, catholic [worldwide] and apostolic church.”
All of this to say that all empires of this age are corrupt and destined to crumble. The founding fathers gave us a great Constitution—in my view, the best in history, but it’s not inspired and inerrant and it is the New Testament that provides the constitution for the new covenant people of God. All the other kingdoms will be shaken, leaving at the end only one left standing (Heb 12:28). 

What is your hope for the readers of this book?
Horton: If we recover a fear of God, we’ll recover sanity. I’m not writing for the general public. The main reader I have in mind is someone like me who believes that Jesus is the only way, the Bible is the only reliable revelation of God’s saving purposes, and yet feels anxious about life right now. It’s not a jeremiad. I’m not indicting. Rather, my hope is that we can all return to “the solid joys and lasting treasures that none but Zion’s children know.” And that starts with the fear of God that is the beginning of sanity.
Learn more at RecoveringOurSanity.com.

One quiet evening many years ago, I was sitting on the screened-in porch of our old family cottage when I heard the music of bagpipes. Curious, I followed the sound, which me led as far as I could go, down to the shore of the lake.  Somewhere across the water, I could hear the piper playing. The evening was quiet and the lake was still, and the sound carried so well that I could hear every haunting note with perfect clarity. Though I could not see him, it was as if he was playing right beside me.

I sat for a time to listen, quietly singing along from time to time as he played songs that told of the great deeds of Scotland the Brave, songs that yearned for The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond and, inevitably, songs that recounted God’s Amazing Grace. That night was only the first of many times he provided us with impromptu concerts, and the more I heard him play the more I grew curious to know who and where he was. One evening I finally decided to find this mysterious piper, so I got into my canoe and began paddling across the lake. I had assumed that because of the volume and clarity of the music he must be close by, but no matter how far I went, he was still just a little further ahead. The music, it seemed, was carried almost endlessly across the placid surface of the lake.
In the past year, no place has been more on my heart and no subject more on my mind than heaven. I have known about heaven since my youngest days and believed in it for as long as I have believed in anything. But my knowledge has always been abstract and my interest has always been distant. Heaven was for later, not for now, a subject that should concern me only when I was older, only when I myself was near to dying. And that was true until a single moment made heaven so very real and so very urgent.
It still shocks me to write the words: I have a son in heaven. There is much that is mysterious about heaven, much that remains opaque as we study the scriptures with clouded eyes and weakened minds. But one thing we can know with absolute certainty is that heaven is a place of music, a place of singing, a place of great orchestras and mighty choirs. In John’s revelation of what is and what is to be, he sees musicians and describes their music. He listens as choirs of men and angels sing out their praises to God. He marvels as the nations gather to fall on their faces and cry out in worship. He rejoices hearing the voice of a vast multitude singing “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.” Whatever else is true of heaven, it is most certainly a place of music.
Of all the “normal” things I found difficult to return to in the aftermath of Nick’s death, singing was near the forefront, and particularly singing with the local church. There is something about joining voices and joining hearts with other Christians that is so very moving. I still often find a lump growing in my throat and tears springing to my eyes when we sing together. It is rare that I can get through the songs without being nearly overcome by my emotions. And I can’t help but think the reason is that the singing we do in our little congregation is not merely a foretaste of our worship in that great heavenly congregation, but a real participation in it. There is a  sense in which our worship extends far beyond the four walls of our little building and reaches to the very gates of heaven.
Christians have long affirmed what we call “the communion of the saints.” We profess that God has one people, not two. And though for a time his church exists partially triumphant in heaven and partially militant on earth, it is truly undivided, for we have all been permanently joined together through our living Savior. We profess this reality in some of our best-loved songs. In “For All the Saints,” for example, we who are on earth tell of the unity we have with those who are in heaven:
Oh, bless’d communion, fellowship divine!We feebly struggle, they in glory shine,yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.Alleluia, alleluia!
In “The Church’s One Foundation” we sing of the mysterious but still real fellowship we enjoy.
Yet she on earth hath unionWith God the Three in One,And mystic sweet communionWith those whose rest is won:O happy ones and holy!Lord, give us grace that we,Like them, the meek and lowly,In love may dwell with Thee.
And in “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” we express the truth that even through the pain of separation our unity remains undisrupted.
When we are called to part,it gives us inward pain;but we shall still be joined in heart,and hope to meet again.
Because we are joined to Christ, we are joined to one another and can have a sure and steady confidence that we shall meet again. And oh, I long to meet my boy again. I long to see him, long to hug him, long to hear his voice. I long to worship with him as we did so many times over so many years. I repent of ever thinking little of the privilege it was to stand as a family—a complete family—to worship our God together.
But I rejoice that in a very real sense we still do worship together, for we are bound together by the “blest tie” of our shared love for Christ. I have heard it said that when we sing today we are preparing ourselves to take our place in that heavenly choir. While that’s true, it’s not entirely true, for there is a sense that when we sing today we are really and truly taking our place in that great assembly. We are joining our voices together as Christ’s one people, Christ’s one church, Christ’s one choir.
And so, when I stand with God’s people to sing God’s praises, I have a new awareness that I do not sing alone. We as a church do not sing alone. Rather, when we lift our voices, we join them with the singing voices of the saints of all the ages. The earthly and the heavenly, the militant and the triumphant, the ones longing for Christ’s presence and the ones basking in it sing as one, for we are one. And as I sing I listen, for I am sure that in my heart I am beginning to hear my voice joining with Nick’s as we each take up our place in the very same choir. As the piper’s music once carried across the lake and reached my ear, the strains of heaven’s music carry across time and space to touch my heart and give me hope.