In 1956 Humphrey Bogart starred in one of quirkier movies, a comedy titled We’re No Angels. The year is 1895, it’s Christmas morning, and Bogart and two others are convicts on Devil’s Island, the notorious French penal colony. They escape that awful place and make their way to a coastal city in French Guiana and plot their next move.

“the decisive actions by Engelbert and Collazo may offer a ‘textbook’ lesson as police train to limit the carnage of America’s seemingly inevitable next mass shooting” - CNN

“… people in the Henan province register [must] before attending worship services. They’re supposed to use a ‘Smart Religion’ app, which records each person’s name, address, date of birth, occupation, and government ID number.” - TGC

“The American Principles Project, a socially conservative organization, celebrated the bill’s passage, noting that it makes Kentucky the 13th state to pass such measures.” - C.Post

“Trump called the indictment ‘Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.’” - N.Review

“41% of those with jobs that can be done remotely are working a hybrid schedule… working from home some days and from the office, workplace or job site other days. This is up from 35% in January 2022.” - Pew

As we enter into Palm Sunday and Passion Week, it is appropriate that we focus our attention on the discourse that Jesus gave His disciples in the Upper Room—most of it after Judas left (John 13:30)—on the night before His death.

I asserted in the previous installment that Jesus took this opportunity to reveal many new truths associated with the church age to His apostles.

After all, it was these men who would become “the foundation” (Eph. 2:20) for the church. He was giving them advanced and intensive training in a realm that was brand new to them and, amazingly, He was doing it at the most difficult time they had ever experienced in their lives.

“The resignation is effective at the end of the current academic year. In a release from the university on March 30, Pettit thanked the students and staff and called his time as president ‘one of the greatest privileges of my life.’” - Post & Courier

“We cannot continue to lament that our communities are becoming more secular while assuming a ministry model designed for a predominantly Christian culture will effectively reach them.” - Lifeway

“53 percent of [U.S.] adults strongly agree there is more to generosity than giving money. This number jumps to 80 percent when we factor in those who agree somewhat.” - Barna

“in three and a half years, the latest poll indicates, America seemed to change more drastically than it did in the prior 21 years. Of course, what happened in 2020, 2021, and 2022 was immense. Government-mandated shutdowns of schools and private businesses and forced mask-wearing….” - CPost

“Many megachurches are doing large-scale events. But some relatively smaller congregations, like Beaverdam Baptist Church in central Virginia, also have a chopper booked to fly overhead during Easter weekend—the church’s first egg drop event.” - Roys Report

“One pastor had a group of people circulate a petition to get him fired. They tried to get signatures in the foyer as members walked into church for Sunday services. Another pastor experienced the creation of a Facebook page dedicated to criticizing every aspect of his preaching and leadership.” - Church Answers

I was describing the emotional toll that ministry takes on pastors while they are encouraging and counseling people who experience especially difficult times. The person I was speaking to had received training for this very thing as an emergency medical technician. He said, “That’s compassion fatigue.”

Reposted with permission from Dean Taylor’s blog.

“Be thankful that America has a written Constitution…. Israel’s elected parliament, the Knesset, is currently trying to stave off an anti-democratic coup by its judiciary.” - N.Review

“1. The trajectory of Tocqueville… ‘expressive individualism’….2. The segmentation of the body from the soul…. 3. The perception that historical Christianity is bigoted…. 4. The omni-channel reality… the implications of technology” - Eric Geiger

“So many people I love in Nashville today are without strength. The pastor’s wife at Covenant Presbyterian who once shared a weekly prayer group with my wife, now going home to face and empty room, a gaping hole in their family portrait.” - Daniel Darling

Related:

“Today’s arrest demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to vigorously pursue those responsible for this dangerous attack and others across the country, and to hold them accountable for their criminal actions.” - DOJ

“Jesus predicted in Matthew 12:39–40 that he would be in the grave for three days and three nights….Culturally, for Jews, it means part of one day, a full day, and part of the third day.” - Word by Word

“The greatest threat to the future of the SBC today is… growing unwillingness to cooperate in missions with churches and fellow believers unless they are in near-unanimous agreement on tertiary issues.” - SBC Voices

“Here’s John 13:2: ‘During supper… the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him.’” - John Piper

“Like with any crisis, the situation in higher education also presents opportunities. One of our mottos at the Colson Center is that ‘outrage is not a strategy,’ and that’s just as true here as it is elsewhere.” - Breakpoint

“The former president no longer bothers to even pretend that he disavows the thuggish behavior he encourages.” - National Review

“…The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade. Police said the shooter appeared to be in her teens [age 28] and was armed with two assault-type rifles and a pistol.” - C.Index

Also…

Read Part 1.

A Look of Mercy

Let me offer two reasons why I believe mercy was the primary message communicated through Jesus’ gaze:

“PRRI’s researchers found that about 10% of Americans overall — almost half (46%) of them under the age of 30 — identify as LGBTQ: 3% as gay or lesbian, 4% as bisexual and 2% as something else. Nearly one-quarter of Americans under 30 identify as LGBTQ (23%).” - C.Leaders

“According to the ADL, the rise in antisemitism represents a 36% increase from the 2,717 incidents tabulated in 2021 and the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.” - RNS

8 Scriptural Personal Accountability Questions to Ask this Week - Chuck Lawless

“I have no idea if or when we will see something no generation of Americans has ever witnessed: a mug shot of a former president of the United States. What I do know is that the entire country is waiting with a sense of unease about just that possibility and about what happens next.” - Russell Moore