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Most readers have likely heard about individuals having a crisis of faith. We’ve learned terms such as “exvangelical” and “deconstruction.” We are sometimes familiar with entire churches, even denominations, who have lost their faith. But while it is not the first to do so, a poll released last week should serve as a dramatic wake up call to evangelical churches and their pastors.

Dead people don’t come back and tell us what they’ve experienced. But we can know some things based on the Bible’s explanations. We don’t just disappear after we die. We live on in another location.

In my dialogues with lifelong evangelicals, I’ve found that a surprisingly large number apparently believe they will spend eternity as disembodied spirits. I sometimes ask, “You do believe in the resurrection, right?” 

People are unhappy because they listen to the thousands of unhappy voices clamoring for attention. Joy comes from listening to and believing words of joy from the source of joy. 

Late one rainy night years ago, my wife and I were leaving a movie the­ater when Nanci noticed an older man in the parking lot leaning on a walker, struggling. I helped him get into his car. Since he was so exhausted, I asked if I could drive him home.

Isn’t it likely that a kind, all-powerful, and very compassionate God routinely prevents terrible tragedies in ways that we do not see and therefore do not credit as miracles? Perhaps one day we’ll hear those stories and marvel at how often God intervened when we imagined Him uninvolved in our world.

This week Nanci’s sister Donna initiated a conversation between my daughters Karina and Angela and me about the first weekend of NFL football. She rightly discerned how big last weekend would’ve been in Nanci’s life and how challenging it would be for our family. It was a tough weekend, tougher than I anticipated.

Scripture says Christ must become greater, and we must become less. Does our becoming less make Him greater? Of course not. Can our becoming less show Him to be greater? Yes. Hope you enjoy these profound thoughts on humility from J.I. Packer, one of my favorite writers and people.