BIBLE ENRICHED SPIRITUAL TRUTHS: December 2020

Thursday, 31 December 2020

My Favorite ‘Quick to Listen’ Podcasts of 2020

Why someone you love might join QAnon, where the black church is in the Black Lives Matter movement, and why we can’t stop talking about hipster pastors.

As a journalist, if I summed up 2020 in one word, it would be disinformation. Part of this year, of course, has been defined by its lack of information. How does COVID-19 spread? How long are people contagious? Is it safe to sing at church? But much of my and my fellow reporters’ efforts have been contending with false claims about billionaires influencing the virus, election hacking schemes, an agenda behind mask mandates, and a little conspiracy theory known as QAnon.

Each week on Quick to Listen, I consider the volume of information that we present. Our episodes on Belarus and Armenia this year took me into parts of the world I knew little about and introduced me to geopolitical spaces I’ve never really had to consider. I realize that the fields of knowledge we bring listeners into are vast and complex, and I’m humbled that so many of you are open to learning this much.

My hope for the show is that we are giving you not only more information but also the tools to fight disinformation, and that you would feel shaped in your ability to ask questions, think critically, and dive into the Bible when you encounter complexity. I aspire to produce a podcast that forms and informs. With that in mind, below are some of my favorite episodes that I believe do both. They are arranged in chronological order from the start of the year forward.

Morgan Lee, Quick to Listen co-host and producer

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No Zoom Fatigue for Revived Baptist Church in Gaza

COVID-19 provides a silver lining for dwindling community of Palestinian evangelicals, whose now-electronic fellowship brought 100 together for Christmas.

Zoom fatigue is real. But so is Zoom revival.

While thankful for video technology, many congregations worldwide have grown weary of COVID-19 lockdowns as they worship from their screens instead of in their sanctuaries.

But under political lockdown since 2007, Gaza Baptist Church in the Palestinian territories has used Zoom to experience reunion.

“Nothing is humorous about Corona, but we see God’s sense of humor,” said Hanna Massad, the former pastor now residing in Connecticut.

“This painful virus gave us fellowship.”

Christians have been an integral part of Gaza for almost two millennia, declining slowly over the past century due to political and economic difficulties. But emigration increased rapidly since Hamas took power—followed by a joint Israel-Egypt blockade—and today less than 1,000 Christians remain in the 25-mile coastal strip.

It comes as little surprise, then, that Gaza Baptist—which drew about 200 weekly participants in the early 2000s—has now been reduced to about a dozen.

But like the rest of the world accommodating coronavirus disruptions in 2020, Gazans jumped on Zoom—for school, for work, for just about everything. Massad, the former pastor who left Gaza in 2007, started organizing Zoom services in June as a way to encourage the community.

The small congregation welcomed the initiative, since they had been without a pastor since last February. Once everyone was accustomed to the new format, Massad began sharing the Zoom link with the diaspora. Now Gazan Christians, and others with meaningful links to the community, join in from Europe, America, the Middle East, and as far as Australia.

Virtual church is what one might expect: a few songs, prayer requests, ...

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The Gift of 2020: Perspective

What have you learned in 2020 that you're bringing into 2021?

I’ve said it, and I’ve heard countless other people say it as well, “2020 has been a very trying and difficult year.” I’m sure all of us cannot wait for the ball to drop and usher in 2021.

However, before we leave 2020 and enter into 2021, I want to challenge us to think deeply about 2020.

When I think about 2020, I’m reminded of Joseph in Genesis 50. In his exchange with his brothers (who had sold him into slavery years earlier) Joseph shares, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen 50:19–20).

As Joseph contemplated his life, God gave him the gift of perspective. What the brothers saw through their eyes, Joseph saw through the eyes of God. Similarly, looking back over 2020, I would say God brought the same gift this year, perspective. [There may be some irony in this, given the year—20/20.]

In looking through the eyes of God, here are five areas from 2020 that God has given me a deeper more divine perspective.

The year of loss.

2020 was filled with loss—loss of jobs, businesses, sports, entertainment, daily/yearly rhythms, and the death of loved ones.

The loss of livelihoods and people we love affect us deeply. Loss brings about grief and sorrow, and if not dealt with in a healthy manner can lead to a host of unhealthy manifestations—some including anger, resentment, and depression.

Jesus declared when tempted by Satan that “man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). Jesus directs man’s attention to the most important facet of life—God. Job also did ...

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15 CT News Stories That Made Us Happy in 2020

Remembering the good news headlines from a difficult year.

With the coronavirus pandemic dominating the news in 2020—and straining churches and Christian ministries—we could use some reminders of the hopeful and encouraging developments that unfolded this year.

Here are 15 headlines that actually made us happy, listed in chronological order.

For the most important news stories CT covered in 2020, see our list of top headlines.

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Wednesday, 30 December 2020

Biblical Archaeology’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2020

Evidence of idol worship, evil kings, and Christian churches add to our understanding of the world of the Bible.

There was no shortage of biblical archaeology news in 2020, despite COVID-19 restrictions that canceled almost all of Israel’s scheduled excavations. Some limited digs still took place in Israel and surrounding countries, and research on previous excavations continued, resulting in some major announcements.

Here are 2020’s biggest stories about archaeology connecting us with the biblical world:

10. Assyrian god carvings

Italian and Kurdish archaeologists uncovered 15-foot rock carvings depicting an Assyrian king and seven Assyrian gods standing on the backs of sacred animals. The artwork was carved in relief in a cliff along a canal in the northern Kurdistan region of Iraq. The king is believed to be Sargon II, who ruled from 722 to 705 B.C. and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:6). It is possible that the canal where the relief was found was dug by Israelites enslaved by Sargon II.

9. Church built on a solid rock

A dig in Banias in northern Israel has revealed the remains of a fourth-century church built, as was a common practice, atop a shrine to another god. Banias was a cultic center of worship of the god Pan, and the shrine was likely for worship of the Greek deity associated with sex and spring.

Christians in the fourth century, however, would have recognized the location as the biblical Caesarea Philippi, near the location where Peter told Jesus, “You are the Christ” and Jesus replied, “On this rock, I will build my church” (Matt. 16:13–19). One stone in the ruin is marked with cross etchings left by pilgrims who visited the church shortly after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

8. Fort allied with King David

Archaeologists uncovered ...

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The Unaffiliated Are Not the Unreachable: Understanding and Reaching the Nones

The religiously unaffiliated are the fastest growing group in the U.S.—How do we reach them?

The group known as the "nones" have fairly quickly become the predominant religious story in America. Nones—not to be confused with nuns—are the fastest growing religious group in America. The term refers to people who select "none of the above" when they're asking a question on a religious questionnaire, they're not necessarily atheists; in fact, most aren't. They're not necessarily anti-religious; some of them believe in God.

A more precise term would be the "religiously unaffiliated." Depending upon which study you look at, as many as one-third of the nones plan to go back to church one day. They're generally not all anti-God, though some are.

To summarize:

Nones are people who identify as religiously unaffiliated
They represent a rapidly growing section of the U.S. population:
- They are the fastest-growing religious category in the U.S.
- They are the second-largest religious category in U.S.

As the charts below demonstrate, a smaller share of adults identify as Christian over the past several years, while the nones have grown.

The Pew Research Center also notes:

The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.

That's a pretty staggering uptick in the numbers of religiously unaffiliated people. What do we ...

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Christianity Today’s Top Testimonies of 2020

The Christian conversion stories that CT readers shared most.

In each print issue, Christianity Today devotes the back page to stories of Christian conversion—from the quiet to the highly dramatic. If you missed any, here are CT’s top testimonies of 2020, including some online exclusives, ranked in reverse order of what people read most.

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Check out the rest of our 2020 year-end lists here.

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