Breakpoint

Many of our favorite stories culminate with a conversion experience. C.S. Lewis' autobiography, Surprised by Joy is like this, with Lewis fighting God every step of the way until he finally recognizes that Christ is the source of true joy. Another example is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with Ebenezer Scrooge realizing the error of his ways and becoming a new man. It's a Wonderful Life also features personal redemption, when George Bailey realizes his life has incredible value. In other tales, however, personal redemption is not the end of the story but only the middle, a turning point that sets up all that comes afterward. Think of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which Edmund was redeemed, but Narnia still needed saving. Or Pilgrim's Progress, in which Christian is released from the burden of his sin, but still must complete a journey to the Celestial City. Or consider real-life examples, such as the Apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus or St. Augustine's conversion, as described in his Confessions. In both cases, an incredible amount of life and influence came after and because of personal conversion. Chuck Colson's personal transformation, in the midst of the Watergate scandal, was just the beginning of a life far more accomplished, influential, and significant after than before. These kind of stories, in which personal redemption creates a wake of redemption that impacts families, churches, communities, and even entire cultures, are the ones that better reflect the biblical story. Often, Christians tell a truncated version of this story. It's not a false Gospel, just incomplete, a "two chapter" story of sin and salvation. However, Scripture has four chapters. It begins before sin and the fall, with a very good world that God created and designed with a purpose. It ends with His creation restored, a New Heavens and New Earth. Sin and salvation are crucial parts of the story to understand and embrace, but not the whole story. Something incredible happens when we realize that our salvation is about more than getting to Heaven. We aren't merely saved from sin and death and to eternal life that begins when we die. We are saved for an abundant life in which, to borrow Jesus' own words, all things are being made new. In just a couple weeks, at the Wilberforce Weekend in Orlando, Florida, we'll be looking at "Life Redeemed" from as many angles as we can. Together with dozens of speakers, discussions, film sessions, and panels, we will explore the full scope of Christ's redemption. Along the way, we will celebrate amazing stories of personal redemption, such as Lewis and Chuck Colson and Harriett Tubman and others, before looking at how their personal redemptions led to the world being changed around them. This year's speakers include Os Guinness, Monique Duson, Max McLean, Jim Daly, Jennifer Patterson, and many more. We'll also be honoring the faith and courage of cake artist Jack Phillips and florist Barronelle Stutzman, two people whose redeemed lives meant taking a stand, paying a steep price, and inspiring thousands. I hope you'll join us May 13 through 15 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando for the Wilberforce Weekend. And, if you are coming or live in the Florida area, please join us Thursday night, May 12, for a special training session to prepare for "A Post-Roe Future." That event will better equip us to stand for life and against abortion, and features Stephanie Grey Connors, Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life, Jim Daly of Focus on the Family, and the one and only Tim Tebow. Space is limited, and there are just a few days left to register. Visit wilberforceweekend.org to get tickets.

Recently, The New York Times asked six teens to describe what cancel culture "is really like." Their responses show just how normal the term has become. For many, it's "basically a joke," a word thrown around about anything and everything. That's not surprising for a generation so plugged in and coming of age just as the term has reached critical mass. For others, "it's a way to take away someone's power and call [them] out for being problematic in a situation," as one girl put it. But that power element makes cancel culture dangerous. Canceling someone is less about holding convictions with integrity, than it is convincing a mob of peers to forever isolate someone else. And, who decides what's canceled if not the powerful, which itself is subject to the changing whims of a moment's majority? This isn't about enduring truths or standing for what's right. These students have inherited a world with troubling public figures, celebrities, causes, and past sins, but no example of what to do. This is an opportunity for Christians to show a better way forward.

Is there hope for Hong Kong? That's the question the city's citizens, including nearly 1 million Protestant and Catholic Christians, are being forced to ask daily. Under more than 150 years of British rule, Hong Kong established itself as a bridge from East to West, and an economic powerhouse that protected the basic freedoms of speech, religion, and assembly. In 1997, when the British government relinquished control to Beijing, a 50-year transitional period was established under a principle known as "one country, two systems." The idea that China would respect the agreement and Hong Kong's liberties might have been tenuous, but it wasn't completely irrational. In terms of economic prosperity and a tolerance for democratic norms, some even hoped Beijing's own system would evolve to mirror Hong Kong's. That hasn't happened. In fact, as The Atlantic's Timothy McLaughlin wrote in April, "[T]hese hopes have now all but been extinguished." In 2014, China announced that, though Hong Kong voters could choose their chief executive, candidates first had to be screened by a Beijing committee. The response in Hong Kong was explosive. Over 1.2 million people took to the streets in peaceful protest, occupying the central commercial district and famously using yellow umbrellas to deflect tear gas. In 2019, protests were renewed over a proposed extradition bill that would grant authorities the ability to transport anyone accused of a crime, including political dissidents, to mainland China. Again, the backlash was massive. In a city of 7.5 million people, an estimated 2 million took to the streets, many pushing children in strollers or elderly in wheelchairs. Even when Chief Executive Carrie Lam eventually scrapped the extradition bill, it did little to stop the momentum. But COVID-19 did. And, like all authoritarian regimes, China did not let a good crisis go to waste. As the city locked down, key protesters were arrested and momentum stalled. China bypassed Hong Kong's government and implemented a draconian national security bill of its own. Now, the city's future seems especially dire. While some embers of protest still smolder, two of Hong Kong's last British judges resigned this April. By some estimates, nearly 50% of European firms are planning to leave the city. Though an economic blow like that should make Beijing think twice about Hong Kong's fate, economics has never been the primary driver behind the actions of the Chinese Communist Party or Xi Jinping. Christian concern goes beyond our commitment to human rights, or the tragedy of watching such a vibrant, beautiful place fall under oppression. Our brothers and sisters in Christ have long played a dramatic part in Hong Kong's non-violent resistance. From the beginning, in fact, Hong Kong's Christians have formed the backbone of its pro-democracy movement. A powerful example is retired pastor Chu Yiu-Ming who, along with eight others, was sentenced to prison for his role in the 2014 and 2019 protests. While his sentence was lightened due to his age, Pastor Chu was fully ready to bear the cost of following Christ and articulate why. Chu's speech, in which he described why he was compelled to act, should be required reading for all of us: I am a Christian minister committed to the service of God, and yet, at this very moment, my heart tells me that with this defendant's dock, I have found the most honorable pulpit of my ministerial career. The valley of the shadow of death leads to spiritual heights. … To those who are naked or hungry, the Christian minister has no business responding with greetings of Peace, Peace. I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs. What good are such greetings? [A]sk the Bible. … This is our conviction based on the faith we hold: Every person is created according to God's image. As such, every person should be respected and safeguarded. We strive for democracy, because democracy strives for freedom, equality and universal love. Human rights [are] a God-given gift, never to be arbitrarily taken away by any political regime. … We have opted for a peaceful, non-violent way. Although the power of injustice before us is immense and those holding power capricious, we are not afraid, nor will we run away. … We have no regrets, We hold no grudges, No anger, No grievances. We do not give up. In the words of Jesus, "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; The Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!" (Matthew 5:10) Please pray for Hong Kong, for Pastor Chu, and for the other courageous Christians .

John and Shane are asked how a student should respond to his college requesting him to identify his preferred pronouns. John explains how using one's name is unique from a person's preferred pronoun. He also shares how choosing a pronoun says something distinct about what male and female are. Along with emphasizing the importance of understanding the issue, John emphasizes the way in which a person engages the issue of pronouns. He encourages the listener to respond with light, not heat. For another listener's question on the topic of "white fragility," John explains what white fragility is, where it originated, and how it's become a theory of everything. He notes that it isn't helpful to be reactive whenever a conversation on race presents itself, giving some helpful tips to guide conversation to a constructive end. To close, John and Shane respond to a listener about what young people can do now to prepare for the future. John encourages them to read books, find a mentor, and critique habits. Resources' Dr. Meriweather Stand on Pronouns John Stonestreet and Maria Baer | Breakpoint This Week | 2022 A Rebel's Manifesto: Choosing Truth, Real Justice, and Love amid the Noise of Today's World Sean McDowell | Tyndale | 2022 Same-Sex Marriage: A Thoughtful Approach to God's Design for Marriage John Stonestreet and Sean McDowell | Baker | 2014 -- White Fragility Robin DiAngelo | Beacon Press | 2018 -- Cultivate Jeff Myers | Summit Miracles C.S. Lewis | Harperone | 2001 The Four Loves C.S. Lewis | Harperone | 2017 Perelandra C.S. Lewis | Scribner | 2011 Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis | Harperone | 2001 The Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis | Harperone | 2001 Knowing God J.I. Packer | Intervarsity | 1993 The Holiness of God R.C. Sproul | Tyndale | 1998 Dancing with Max Emily and Charles Colson | Zondervan | 2012 Through the Gates of Splendor Elisabeth Elliot | Living Books | 1981 The Journals of Jim Elliot, repackaged ed.: Missionary, Martyr, Man of God Jim and Elisabeth Elliot | Revell | 2020 Confessions Augustine | Moody | 2007 The Way of the Modern World Craig Gay | Wm. Eerdmans | 1998

In one of the most annoying tech moves since Microsoft's "Clippy," Google Docs now offers unsolicited advice about how to avoid using non-inclusive language. Terms like "landlord" or "motherboard" trigger a pop-up warning that reads "these words may not be inclusive to all readers." The folks at TechRadar were overly generous when they said that this was "a good idea, poorly executed." In reality, it's a bad idea, poorly executed. It's more than annoying for Google to thought police our words in this way. It simply doesn't correspond with reality. Sure, not all "police officers" are "policemen," but connecting "landlord" with slavery or class warfare misses the full history of the word. And questioning the word "motherboard"? That's just silly. Google has never been a neutral facilitator of communication, but this move demonstrates a misunderstanding of language itself. Words are more than social constructs. They reflect reality. Denying that certain realities exist with language doesn't change reality. As a friend used to say, "sloppy words make sloppy thought possible." Misusing language damages our ability to think.

According to Theodoret of Cyrrhus, on January 1, A.D. 404, an ascetic monk named Telemachus jumped to the floor of the arena during a gladiatorial match, and begged the competitors to stop. The crowd was so angry at the interruption that they stoned him to death. When Christian Emperor Honorius heard about Telemachus' act of bravery, he ordered an end to gladiatorial combat. Telemachus' stand led to martyrdom, but it changed a culture. Throughout history, similar stands made in Jesus' name yielded similar results. Though they often came at great cost, and transformation was not instantaneous, in the end, a culture was left better. Telemachus' brave act occurred 91 years after Christianity was legalized by Constantine, and 24 years after it was made the state religion of Rome by Emperor Theodosius I. Earlier Christians denounced other evils, such as abusive sexual mores. They insisted that sex be limited to marriage and, following the Jews, rejected abortion and infanticide. They treated women and slaves as the spiritual equals of men. As a result, woman and slaves became leaders in the church. Pliny the Younger, in a letter dated about 111, mentions deaconesses, and a slave was made a bishop of Ephesus in the early second century. Christians didn't kill baby girls, a practice common among the pagans. Nor did they pressure girls into early marriage, or Christian widows into remarriage. As a result, Christian churches had a higher percentage of women than did society at large. In fact, Christianity was held in contempt by the Romans as "a religion of women and slaves." The Church's response to slavery is more complex. Though the early Church did not outright oppose slavery, they opposed the abusive conduct normal to the slave trade, and often purchased slaves in order to free them. Eventually, as the implications of the Gospel's insistence on the spiritual and moral equality of all people sank in, medieval theologians such as Thomas Aquinas declared slavery a sin. Nonetheless, many Christians continued the horrible practice, particularly with the discovery of the Americas. Other Christians, most notably William Wilberforce and the Clapham Circle, actively sought the abolition of the slave trade. After decades of persistent effort in the face of opposition from cultural elites and an apathetic public, slavery was brought to an end in the British Empire. Similar examples can be found in other cultures. Christian missionaries led the fight against sati, the practice of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands, against the opposition of the Hindu elites in India. Native Chinese Christians fought against foot binding, the breaking of bones to compress the feet of girls, a trait considered desirable among the Chinese people. Christian diplomats saved Jews from the Holocaust, often bucking instructions from their home government and direct superiors. Many leaders and activists in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement faced beatings, dogs, lynchings, and fire hoses. Though these courageous actions led to the renewal of various aspects of those cultures, change was not immediate. Christians had to oppose cultures before change took place. Of course, they had no way of knowing whether or not their actions would bring change. Telemachus did not live to see the redemptive consequences of his courage. They acted because they had to, not because they knew their actions would work. As T.S. Eliot said, "For us there is only the trying. The rest is none of our business." Christians today must oppose cultural evils, such as the taking of preborn life, the buying and selling of preborn lives, the ideological sexual abuse of children, and the persecution of religious minorities. Though the rapid changes in our society are confusing and distressing, we must understand them if we are to know when, where, and how we must take a stand. So that we can join in the long history of Christian redemptive influence, the Colson Center is offering an in-depth study of our culture, particularly recent shifts in sex, gender, and identity, with the help of Dr. Carl Trueman's new book, Strange New World. For a donation of any amount to the Colson Center, we'll send you a copy of Dr. Trueman's book, an accompanying study guide, access to a four-week course with Dr. Trueman and Colson Center theologian-in-residence Dr. Tim Padgett, and access to Dr. Trueman's powerful presentation at last year's Wilberforce Weekend. To sign-up for this offer, simply make a donation of any amount to the Colson Center at www.breakpoint.org/april.

Big marijuana promised not to market to children. They are. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stonestreet with The Point. Legal recreational marijuana sales officially began this week in New Jersey. That's the same state where, on Christmas Day in 2020, a 3-year-old was admitted to a hospital ICU after he ate a dangerous amount of cannabis edibles. They were in a bag that looked like a package of Nerds candy. According to CNN, knockoff candy bags that actually contain THC edibles are a big problem. The New Jersey Poison Control Center reported that the number of kids poisoned with cannabis was six times higher in 2020 than just two years earlier. There are similar reports across the country. Marijuana lobbyists promise they don't market to kids, and that it's just a few bad apples selling edibles in kid-friendly packages. But making THC edible at all is a step towards marketing to kids, a genie that can't be out back into the bottle. As the nationwide march toward legalizing marijuana continues, the consequences of our culture's worst ideas will be paid by the most common victim: the kids.

Teens are not all right, and there's an underlying cause—the loss of meaning. At a recent gathering, Dr. Ryan M. Burkhart, Associate Dean of the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Colorado Christian University, noted that he and other counselors are seeing "treatment-resistant depression and anxiety." These counselors are seeing more young clients but are not seeing typical therapies bring the same results as in the past. One mark of this kind of despair is suicide. In the U.S., suicide increased by 30% between 2000 and 2018 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's pre-COVID-19. By 2020, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, suicide was the runner-up cause of death for ages 10-14. As I stated yesterday, teens who claim they have "persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness" have increased from 26% percent to 44%. It's such a concern that last fall the American Academy of Pediatrics deemed the mental health of youth a "national emergency." In his "The Parable of the Madman," Friedrich Nietzsche famously declared, "God is dead." He was not making an ontological claim, in the sense that God once lived but was now dead. Rather, the parable is full of observations of the consequences of a culture losing its divine reference point. We have killed him—you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Nietzsche's remarkable description of meaninglessness echoes James 1:6: "The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." In Nietzsche's parable, when those secular intellectuals who were gathered about the madman are shocked at his words, the madman proclaims, "I have come too early... my time is not yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time; the light of the stars requires time; deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than most distant stars—and yet they have done it themselves. Nietzsche penned "The Parable of the Madman" in 1882. Almost a decade earlier, in his "On Truth and Lies in a Non-Moral Sense," he pointed out that humans, deceived by pride, are limited by language in their ability to know. Decades later, postmodern theorists embraced these ideas and cast a deeper doubt on the ability to know at all. Their ideas first infected higher education, and then most of our society. Without God, there is no external reference point outside of ourselves. Nietzsche's description of a world untethered is now a picture of youth untethered. In his words, they've been "unchained from the sun," desperate for meaning, truth, identity, and ultimately, God. Of course, devout Christians can also struggle with despair, experiencing what John of the Cross described, in the 16th century, as a Dark Night of the Soul. Still, even when God feels distant, it matters that He is there. Where can young people turn in a society that treats God as, at best, an inward feeling and, at worst, not there at all? Apologists and Christian philosophers have discussed the cosmic and personal ramifications of a world without God. They warned that such a world affords no source for meaning. Now, for many, those predictions have become an existential reality. Behavior modification can treat symptoms, but not the underlying despair. In a Pew Research Center study released last November, only 15% of Americans mentioned faith as a "source of meaning"; outside of the U.S., the percentage drops to 5%. Members of the mental health community are recognizing the connection between meaningful faith and effective therapy. Last June in Scientific American, David Rosemarin wrote an opinion piece provocatively entitled "Psychiatry Needs to Get Right with God." In it, he argued that psychiatrists, the least religious of medical doctors, need to integrate spirituality into their treatment. As he put it, "The only group to see improvements in mental health during the past year were those who attended religious services at least weekly (virtually or in-person): 46 percent report 'excellent' mental health today versus 42 percent one year ago." According to the protocols of the mental health community, secular counselors are not to point clients to a particular faith. Still, they must begin to point clients to meaning. Dr. Ryan Burkhart and his student apply Victor Frankl's approach to psychology—a theory that encourages clients to search for meaning. Frankl, after surviving a Nazi concentration camp, went on to write Man's Search for Meaning. In it, he explained that the heart hungers for meaning more than for pleasure. Although Burkhart and his students' assessment is anecdotal, they are seeing results: clients are responding to Frankl's approach. Our culture is reflecting many consequences of the "death of God." A Christian worldview has something powerful to offer in such a time and place, a God who is not only very much alive but Who beat death. Because He did, there is meaning. Dr. Burkhart will speak at the September Lighthouse Voices Series about how we can speak meaning into lives suffering from meaninglessness.

Maria Baer visits with Ryan Bomberger about his upcoming presentation at the Wilberforce Weekend, May 10-13. Ryan has a rather unique perspective of the innate nature of Purpose. His biological mother was raped yet courageously gave him a chance to live and the beautiful gift of adoption. He was adopted at 6 weeks of age and grew up in a loving, multi-"racial" Christian family of 15. With siblings of varying ethnicities, he grew up with a great appreciation for diversity. Ten of the thirteen children were adopted in this remarkable family. His life defies the myth of the "unwanted" child as he was adopted, loved and has flourished. Today, he is an Emmy® Award-winning Creative Professional who founded The Radiance Foundation (TRF), a life-affirming 501c3, along with his wife, Bethany. He is a factivist, international public speaker, columnist, educator, broadcast media designer, producer and author of the powerful book, Not Equal: Civil Rights Gone Wrong. For more on the Wilberforce Weekend visit www.wilberforceweekend.org

In the warp-speed cycle of digital news, caring for our souls requires time in God's Word, time away from our devices, and a reminder that we're called to faithfulness, not success. In his book Every Moment Holy, Douglas Kaine McKelvey offers "A Liturgy For Those Flooded by Too Much Information." "We are daily aware of more grief, O Lord," he writes, "than we can rightly consider, of more suffering and scandal than we can respond to, of more hostility, hatred, horror, and injustice than we can engage with compassion. ".... remind us that we are but small and finite creatures, never designed to carry the vast abstractions of great burdens, for our arms are too short and our strength is too small. Justice and mercy, healing and redemption, are your great labors. "…. Give us discernment, to know when to pray, when to speak out, when to act, and when to simply shut off our screens and our devices, and to sit quietly in your presence, casting the burdens of this world upon the strong shoulders of the one who alone is able to bear them up. Amen."