joescheets

From Howard Thurman yesterday, from a whole lotta yesterdays —

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

— What work does the Holy Spirit need to be doing in us today?

Let’s not wander too far away from this —

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

–— Howard Thurman‘s  The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations 

Stop listening to their words and start watching their actions.

Words are free but behaviors cost something.

— an online friend

Online friend and colleague Dennis Miller wrote this not long ago, and you and I can learn a lot here —-

As I begin 2026, once again, I share my “Social Media Philosophy”:

I post on Facebook nearly every day. I think some people wish their pastor would sound angrier, like other clergy and church friends on here, because anger is so common right now. Honestly, that grieves me.

Yes, I have grave concerns about our world. But on this social media platform, I choose life. Every post is a choice, to encourage or to discourage. With our words, we can grow bitter or become better. Words can wound, or they can heal.

Here are three ways I try to use social media well

• To encourage faith and point people toward Christ and the life of the church.
• To share fun personal stories, often through photos, of family, friendships, travel, history, and everyday life and love. (Yes, I know I share too much about motorcycles and Rachel. Forgive me and scroll on by.)
• To offer hope, gratitude, and reminders that God is still at work among us.

And here are three things I choose not to use this platform for:

• Venting about politics or government. (Trump, Biden, etc.)
• Broadcasting anger or outrage at injustices around me..
• Naming what is broken without offering light.

This is NOT me putting my “head-in-the-sand or wearing rose colored glasses.” I know the world is broken, going back to Genesis 3. This is me simply choosing joy and being different than the world right now. The early church did not flourish by fixating on the Roman government, but by living a countercultural life shaped by love and faithfulness. And the world took notice. “See how they love one another.” I encourage my friends to do the same.

Stop listening to their words and start watching their actions.

— to be continued tomorrow.

Courtney Carver. Brilliance. Much needed but little heeded.

In her own words —

The guilt of your past

The pressure to prove yourself

The weight of other people’s expectations and judgements

— I’m thinking we’re gonna get back to this list, aren’t you?

Rebekah Lyons mentions Rhythms vs. Resolutions…what grabs you about that?

And to rip a Bible verse outa context, see Ephesians 5:16.

Now: Rhythms vs. Resolutions, what say you?

Shane Burcaw says that he’s a Pessimistic Optimist.

You and I’ve known people like that!

Wait…maybe we ourselves…

Courtney Carver says —

I’ve been simplifying my life since 2010.

I remove the things that remove me from life.

Things like clutter, debt, alcohol, busyness and drama.

Now I have time for the good stuff like peace, ease, creativity, laughter and love.

— Not bad, eh?

And so for what are you making room for in your life today and moving forward in your 2026?

WARNING: this is a very long read that’s COPIED from an ad but is not my endorsement of any publication or product, nor am I having a influencer moment…just sharing some sobering reality…and asking you what what are you doing about this going into 2026? —

My pastor’s son just told him he’s an atheist – and suddenly I looked at my 12-year-old and realized he can quote scripture but can’t answer a single “why” question.

It was 10:32 PM on a Wednesday when Pastor Mike told our small group.

His son Daniel.

Homeschooled through high school.

Memorized entire books of the Bible.

Now a sophomore at a Christian college, telling his dad that “faith is intellectually dishonest.”

Pastor Mike’s voice cracked when he said it.

“He said I taught him what to believe but never taught him why any of it is true.”

I drove home in silence, my hands gripping the steering wheel too tight.

When I got home, my son Caleb was at the kitchen table finishing his AWANA homework – filling in blanks about the twelve disciples.

I sat down across from him.

“Caleb, why do you believe the Bible is true?”

He looked up, confused.

“Because… it’s God’s Word?”

“But how do you know it’s God’s Word?”

Blank stare.

“Because the Bible says so?”

My stomach dropped.

“And how do we know the Bible is right when it says that?”

His face went red.

“I don’t know, Dad. That’s just what we believe.”

Just what we believe.

Circular reasoning.

The exact trap that destroyed Daniel’s faith the moment a professor questioned it.

I sat there watching my son – this kid who could recite Romans 8 from memory – completely unable to defend the most basic claim of Christianity.

The next morning, I tested him again.

“Why did Jesus have to die? Why couldn’t God just forgive us?”

“Because… we needed Jesus to save us?”

“But WHY? What would happen if God just said ‘you’re forgiven’ without the cross?”

Silence.

He had no idea.

He knew the story. He didn’t understand the theology.

That Friday at men’s breakfast, I brought it up.

Four other dads had the same story.

Kids who aced Sunday School.

Kids who got baptized.

Kids who couldn’t explain why they believed a single word of it.

We were building a generation of Bible experts who would crumble the first time someone asked “why?”

I spent that weekend obsessed.

1:47 AM Saturday night, I was reading articles about Gen Z and deconstruction.

The pattern was everywhere.

Christian kids getting to college, meeting their first atheist professor, and having zero answers.

Not because they were rebellious.

Because they’d been taught WHAT to believe but never WHY it’s true.

3:22 AM, I found myself on Daniel’s Instagram.

Scrolling back three years.

Bible verse posts.

Youth group photos.

“Blessed beyond measure ” everywhere.

Then freshman year of college, the posts changed.

Philosophy quotes.

Richard Dawkins references.

Then nothing about faith at all.

I could see the exact moment it happened.

Week 3 of his Intro to Philosophy class.

A post that said: “Turns out I can’t answer basic questions about what I claim to believe. Maybe I never really believed it.”

Sunday morning, I couldn’t focus during the sermon.

I kept watching Caleb in the pew next to me, coloring his bulletin.

He looked so confident.

So sure.

But it was a house built on sand.

One good professor. One smart atheist friend. One hard question.

And it would all collapse.

That afternoon, I did something I’d never done before.

I asked Caleb to explain the Trinity.

He knew it was “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

But when I asked HOW that works, he had nothing.

When I asked WHY it matters that Jesus is God and not just a good teacher, he guessed.

When I asked how we know the Bible wasn’t just written by men and changed over time, he said, “I think someone checked?”

My twelve-year-old had spent eight years in Sunday School and couldn’t defend his faith for sixty seconds.

Two weeks later, I was at Books-A-Million, standing in front of a wall of apologetics books.

William Lane Craig. Lee Strobel. Ravi Zacharias.

All way too advanced for a twelve-year-old.

I needed something that would teach him to THINK theologically, not just memorize better.

…I don’t know how much longer we can keep building faith on sand and expecting it to survive the storm.

But I know this: every week you wait is another week your child practices circular reasoning instead of building a defensible worldview.

Don’t let them become another Daniel.

Not when there’s still time.

— And it’s not just 12 year olds.

Maybe it’s a remnant of my Lab School years, or my Division of Local Church Education work, or who knows what…but…how do you answer my question way back at the start of this one today? RSVP

As always, I look forward to hearing from you.