The recent shut down of a pipeline by a Russian gang of ransomware criminals has been an inconvenience. Imagine what would happen, for example, if all power plants across the U.S. went offline. There are, of course, many other possible scenarios.

Will we stay ahead of the game? Will we ever get to the point when everything has a manual override? And, if so, will it be in time?

What are your thoughts?

Poll Results

Do you think America’s economy will be shut down or very severely hurt by cyber-attacks within the next five to ten years?

“Mainline pastors (43 percent) are also more likely to believe marijuana should be legalized for any purpose than evangelical pastors (10 percent). Denominationally, Methodist (37 percent) and Presbyterian Reformed (35 percent) pastors are more likely to back legalization than Restorationist movement pastors [Christian/Church of Christ] (21 percent), Lutherans (15 percent), Pentecostals (10 percent) and Baptists (7 percent).” - LifeWay

“Jews in the United States are on the whole less religious than the overall public, at least by standard measures used in surveys. But Jewish Americans participate in a wide range of culturally Jewish activities as well as traditional religious practices.” - Pew

Related:

RNS: Five takeaways from Pew’s massive study of American Jews

“So, if pointing out the lack of logic behind a conspiracy theory won’t work, what will? By God’s grace, what can we do? Here are a few thoughts that have emerged from wise friends who I have discussed this with” - Eric Geiger

“In the introduction, Piper opens the door to see God and his world anew, offering four invitations to study God’s providence. These are invitations to worship and know the God who ‘did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all,’ and to find assurance that through his providence he will ‘graciously give us all things,’ very much including Christ himself (Rom. 8:32).” - C. Today

“House Bill 220, ‘No Public Funds For Abortion Act,’ was signed into law Monday by Gov. Brad Little, a Republican. The measure defunds outfits such as Planned Parenthood but excepts publicly-funded hospitals and abortions funded with Medicaid.” - C.Post

“Carson is so evenhanded. He is a complementarian who nonetheless takes an unpopular position among his fellow conservatives. He critiques the work of friends and former students graciously but clearly. He also is willing to side with the critics on individual rendering choices in specific passages.” - Mark Ward

“1. They think it’s the pastors’ fault. It is difficult to help these churches. There is none so blind as he or she who will not see. The church I noted had not even considered that losing six pastors in nine years might point to the problems with the church.” - Thom Rainer

“Charles Spurgeon is known as one of the greatest preachers in history. Not everyone knows about his ongoing battle with depression. Even fewer people know about his advocacy for people who lived with the same—or a similar—condition.” - Ref21

“Much of the critique of ‘Christendom’ is really about the temptation of worldliness, which is an important teaching that has been much neglected. But I don’t think ‘institutions,’ as such, are necessarily to blame.” - Veith

“When Welch canceled FBC’s longtime Christmas pageant, an event that drew thousands of attendees annually, local press began covering the internal drama. Church member Deanna Weilhouwer, who sold pageant tickets for 24 years, told the Sun Sentinel those sales funded about one-third of FBC’s annual budget.” - C. Leaders

It is interesting that verse 20 refers to John as “the one who had been reclining at table close to him” right after Jesus gives Peter a chance to retract his threefold denial of Jesus with a threefold affirmation of his love. We could easily surmise that Peter the Denier is going to suffer martyrdom while John the Beloved will escape such a fate, and each will do so based on their faithlessness or faithfulness. Yet, there is no hint in the text that this is so. Their differing fates were the result of the good pleasure of God—“if it is my will.”

“Advocates say more subtle approaches and one-on-one engagement may actually do more to inform the unvaccinated without further dividing the faithful.” - C. Today

“The IAA researchers believe the bronze lamp, shaped like a grotesque face cut in half and estimated to be from the late first century or the early second century CE, was put in the foundation of the building in Jerusalem’s City of David for good fortune” - C.Post

“What this ‘greatest threat’ trope ignores is the clear teaching of Jesus that He will build His church and not even the gates of hell will prevail against it (Matthew 16:17-19). The gospel is never threatened because it is the Savior who ensures His kingdom will advance.” - LifeWay

“The Rev. Megan Rohrer was elected bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Sierra Pacific synod on Saturday (May 8), becoming the first transgender person to serve as bishop in the denomination or in any of the U.S.’ major Christian faiths.” - RNS

“Overall, a majority of Americans consider seven of these outlets to be part of the mainstream media. That includes the one national network news outlet included in the analysis (ABC News), all three major cable news outlets asked about (MSNBC, Fox News and CNN) and three legacy print publications: the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.” - Pew

Economics for Church Leaders: Unemployment Is a Spiritual Problem

“Saddleback Church, the California-based megachurch headed by Pastor Rick Warren, announced that they ordained their first three female pastors, despite being affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, which prohibits female ordination.” - C.Post

Beth Allison Barr’s book The Making of Biblical Womanhood released on 20 April 2021. It provides a historical argument for egalitarianism and it has taken the evangelical world by storm. Many are not pleased. On 30 April 2021, one Twitter user who sports an avatar of John Calvin in a suit asked, “Why do all the anti-patriarchy chicks seem to cut their own hair?” James White liked the tweet.

“It is easy to criticise and sniff at popular psychology. Self-help psychology writers in particular can rub us readers the wrong way with their simplistic claims, pat answers to difficult problems, jargon-encrusted pronouncements and relentless positivity.” - The Conversation

“New research nuances the American church’s ‘persecution complex.’” - C. Today

“The cable-news host has misinterpreted data to support a dangerous strain of vaccine skepticism.” - National Review

“Scripture shows that well-instructed believers develop a determination to rejoice. They will rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk exemplified this in difficult days (see Hab. 3:17–18).” - Sinclair Ferguson

“I think this excerpt is perhaps the most helpful. It’s from an interview between Sarah Zylstra and Alex Harris, younger brother of Joshua (well known for kissing dating, and then Christianity, goodbye), and if you’ve been wrestling with the subject yourself, these few paragraphs in particular are worth your time.” - Think Theology

By Paul Golden

Do Christians realize that adoption is truly a special opportunity for believers to affirm and demonstrate the sanctity of life to an unsaved world? Sadly, and for a variety of reasons, many Christians do not seriously consider adopting. Churches can and should play a crucial role in encouraging their members to “look after orphans … in their distress” (James 1:27, NIV).

Here are some specific ideas on how to become an adoption-friendly church.

“People are not as familiar with the past. Frankly, we don’t know our history like we once did—biblical history, family history, and our nation’s history. Preaching always has elements of teaching. Good teaching should include regular doses of history.” - Sam Rainer

“According to Elizabeth Nash and Lauren Cross of the [Pro-abortion] Guttmacher Institute, ‘2021 is on track to become the most devastating antiabortion state legislative session in decades.’” - C.Post

“The announcement quoted LifeSiteNews marketing director Rebekah Roberts, who framed Facebook’s decision as ‘another case of Big Tech silencing free speech on their platform.’” - RNS

“Americans assume that people will make the right choices and believe the right things for them given the right conditions. Human nature is sufficient to guide us into personal truth. Thus, at the salad bar of beliefs, objective claims about God or morality violate the fundamental principle that life is a salad bar, and you are the rightful creator of your plate.” - LifeWay