The Church celebrates the Ascension of our Lord today. Since most churches do not have Thursday services, many traditionally celebrate Ascension on Sunday.

But today, the Ascension of Jesus is barely mentioned in the evangelical vocabulary. We make room for his birth, death, and resurrection, but we tend to put a period where God puts a comma.

Theologically, however, If the resurrection was the beginning of Jesus’ enthronement, then the ascension is the establishment of his enthronement. The Ascension activates Christ’s victory in history. The Great Commission is only relevant because of the Ascension. Without the Ascension, the call to baptize and disciple the nations would be meaningless. The Great Commission is rooted in Jesus’ enthronement at the right hand of the Father. Christ has all authority in heaven and earth, and image-bearers imitate our Lord’s reign by de-throning rulers through the power and authority of our Great Ruler, Jesus Christ.

The Ascension is a festive day because it vindicates the Church’s triumph over the world and defines us as a people of glory and power, not weakness and shame.

As Jesus ascended, we too entered into his ascension glory (Col. 3:1). This glory leads us to full joy. As Alexander Schmemann once wrote:

“The Church was victorious over the world through joy…and she will lose the world when she loses its joy… Of all accusations against Christians, the most terrible one was uttered by Nietzsche when he said that Christians had no joy.”

A joyless Christian faith is a faith that has not ascended. Where Christ is, we are. And we know that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. He is ruling and reigning from his heavenly throne. The Father has given him the kingdom (Psalm 2), and now he is preserving, progressing, and perfecting his kingdom. He is bringing all things under subjection (I Cor. 15:24-26).

Jesus died a bodily death, was raised bodily, and ever reigns bodily at the Father’s right hand. As one author observed:

“Jesus has gone before us in a way we may follow through the Holy Spirit whom he has sent, because the way is in his flesh, in his humanity.”

When the Church worships her Lord, we are worshipping the God/Man, One who descended in human flesh and ascended in human flesh. He is not a disembodied spirit. He is truly God and truly man.

As we consider and celebrate the Ascension of our blessed Lord, remember that you are worshiping the One who understands your needs because he has a body just like you, and he rejoices with you now because he has a body just like you

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While the United Methodists continued on their jolly path toward self-annihilation, lesbianizing their way toward childlessness and queerizing its worship with the decorum of three-cord guitar aficionados, The House of Representatives did not want to miss the opportunity to get some attention.

They passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act (320-91). In the old days, we would call that a bipartisan landslide. This was a fairly sped-up bill to stop the kerfuffles on university campuses. In the old days, the kids called this an “overreaction of epic proportions.” At least, that’s what I called it when I was a kid.

As you all know, there is plenty of anti-Jewish sentiment that deserves public flogging. And I do think that what we have witnessed at Columbia and Chapel Hill would provide us with some candidates for this trial period.

However, the problem with this bill—apart from making parts of the Scriptures impossible to interpret evangelically—is that everything happening on college campuses was actually headed toward sanity.

We were having fun seeing stupidity humiliated on public television. We were watching leftism expose itself in real-time in exchange for humanitarian aid in the form of gluten-free cookies. The PR team was on our side, and we even got some CREC attention (thanks, Rory!) on national television. I guess you win some, and our representatives get jealous and help us lose some. They do not want us to relish too much winning.

Even public opinion was favorable towards those opposing the Marxist lollipop guild. But this level of immaturity will only make us Christian Nationalism harder. Let the Senate understand.

Instead of bringing common sense, this bill will reanimate the Fuentes lobbyists on X, exacerbating the already-difficult pastoral task of keeping the kooks out of our churches and the Neo-Nazi sympathizers away from our kids.

I don’t say this too often, but I wholeheartedly agree with the UFO Catholic provocateur Matt Walsh when he concludes:

“This is honestly one of the most insane pieces of legislation I’ve ever seen.”

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I have received a few inquiries about the Brazilian political climate. This example helps illustrate my point.

We planted a church in southern Brazil several years ago, pastored by Evandro Rosa. At that time, I had separated myself from the Brazilian political discourse, spending most of my attention on American dialogues.

But going back to minister to that little flock resurrected my interests. This was before Bolsonaro came into the scene. We were enjoying local beer at a men’s gathering when I naively inquired which political parties in Brazil favored a small government. I remembered everyone’s faces. I had asked something that did not compute. I had been used to seeing republican politicians at least propose the idea of limited government. Still, Brazil had been heavily under the control of socialistic leadership for decades, and the contrast wasn’t between big and small but between Big and Bigger governments.

That trajectory has undoubtedly changed in the last 5-7 years. The rise of Bolsonaro (the tropical Trump) brought a new fervor for conservative politics. The American investment in libertarian and conservative work in Brazil was finally paying off, and a more patriotic brand emerged, one that showed concern for the well-being of its own people and who saw that governments work best when they show restraint and promote the good of the people by unshackling itself from leftist ideologies and pursuing freer societies.

One of the most inspiring aspects of this political transformation is the rise of young politicians like Nikolas (see the viral view in the comment section). These dynamic individuals are not just taking over various seats once occupied by career statists but also challenging the status quo with their fresh perspectives and innovative approaches. Their immense support from the Brazilian people is a testament to the growing appetite for change and a brighter future in Brazilian politics.

As we witness this exciting transformation in Brazilian politics, let us stand in solidarity with these young politicians and their tribes. May their numbers increase, and may their efforts continue to shape a future that aligns with our shared conservative values.

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We are now encountering what Jonathan Haidt calls the “anxious generation.” Emergency room visits for self-harm rose by 48% among boys. Among adolescent boys, the suicide rate rose by 91%. These astronomical numbers reveal something about our time. This radical shift took place only in the last decade.

We cannot doubt that lockdowns paralyzed much of the manly impulse to have adventures. That isolated existence- which many of us refused to accept- also gave young men the sense that the world needed to function according to their desires and passions. Yes, that season impels young men to create reality according to their image and likeness. So, what happens when the world does not reply affirming you or your existence? What happens when the first negative Instagram comment about your looks depletes you of any wish to live? Is that normal? Does it explain the psychology of anxiety?

Another piece of this anxious generation manifests through various forms of animosity, which has become a common thread in a disenchanted world. When people lose their sense of the holy, they make sociological determinations about places and people. In other words, they disenchant them to feel enchanted. People shift their woes to systems and people groups to validate their existence and purpose. If you can do this successfully, you don’t have to analyze your role in the babelic nature of the anxious environment you have created for yourself.

Of course, I am not saying that evildoers get a pass. They don’t and shouldn’t. But I am saying that this perpetual blame-shifting ritual quickly becomes an addictive cycle. The more one views the world’s woes through this lens, the easier it is to find massive scapegoats to alleviate our people’s political and social sins or our own. There will always be culprits to soothe our anxious hearts.

In this paradigm, we can live reactionarily, passing out guilt cards to everyone else and every people group but ourselves. This absolves us of our mistakes, allowing us to continue without responsibility. Then, our mistakes can be atoned for and absolved by those who regurgitate the same priestly language. “It’s their fault” is not a 21st slogan. It is as old as midday in the Garden of Eden, and it’s time we break this cycle.

This model chooses a seatbelt society specializing in safety but never giving heed to the adventure of responsibility. It’s a self-sabotage that endangers our ways and our capacity to make sense of the world around us. We are an anxious generation, and only placing our sins at the feet of the cross will heal our heavy hearts.

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Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

Today, the Christian Church celebrates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The alliances between political and religious powers in the first-century could not maintain the body of the Lord imprisoned in a tomb. He trampled down death, and death’s sting was a victim of its own poison.

Christians affirm that there is no greater turning point in history than Jesus’s bodily resurrection and vindication. He is the alpha and omega of time; in him, we live, move, and have our being. Human beings can only exist in harmony with the created order with the explicit acknowledgment that the risen Lord of Glory embeds himself in history to redeem history and incorporate his historical imager-bearers into a renewed heavens and earth. This eschatological vision is true because the tomb of Jesus required no permanent guardians after the third day.

Since the resurrection, both political and religious figures have sought to undermine this truth by de-historicizing the empty tomb, psychologizing the victory of our Lord, and spiritualizing the bodily vindication of the Messiah. Due to their rejection, they have placed their faith in false resurrections meant to minimize their distortions of reality. These twisted assertions (Rom. 1) come from pagan rulers in all spheres of society, and it has come once more from the sitting president of our nation in a proclamation made on Easter morn. Whereas such blasphemous statements have been made in the past, they take on an even more gruesome status on Easter Sunday. Such symbolic action intends to take away the Christian imperative to feast before the risen Lamb of God and to provoke God’s people on its most jubilant day,

“NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility,” President Biden wrote in a Friday statement. “I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.”

While there is much to consider, I would like to make two observations on the travesty of this proclamation:

First, much is required of those in authority. The President of the United States has consistently articulated a vision contrary to God’s purposes for the American people. He is, by definition, an apostate who must receive all the ensuing sanctions unless he repents. God gives his authority, and the failure to promote the good will manifest itself in his own judgment on the last day.

Second, Biden’s use of language calls on Americans to “lift up the lives” of transgender people. The language of “lifting up” is a co-opting of Christian vocabulary. It is used for the crucifixion of Jesus (Jn. 8:28) and later for his ascension (Acts 1:9). The President uses distinct language to communicate a substitutionary theory. Instead of Jesus living and dying and rising for us, the transgender community functions as substitute lambs for his political cause. In Biden’s world, we need false victims to redeem us from our sins.

Christians, therefore, rightly reject any political proclamation that defames the Lordship of the Risen King and demand with greater boldness that the nations of the earth submit to his rule and laws.

We affirm that one authority overrides all earthly authorities and that only one was lifted up for our salvation and risen for our justification—the man Christ Jesus.

Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

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We need to begin moving our liturgical efforts into the realm of hospitality. What I mean by this may appear obvious, but it isn’t very easy on a large scale. Some congregations may want to move into that arena but are paralyzed by self-inflicted wounds. They are more interested in showing their distinctiveness than proving their distinctives through tangible actions.

We use a saying in our inquirer’s class that goes something like this: “We need to bathe our weirdness with a deep sense of commonness.” Internally and behind the scenes, we don’t view ourselves as weird, but we are quite aware that the perception exists in a thoroughly de-liturgized culture.

This came across in an observation from a mother who raised her daughter in a Reformed context and saw her daughter go into a different tradition altogether. Now, mind you, the daughter was not antagonistic towards Reformed Theology, but she found the practices of this broadly evangelical environment more friendly and inviting. For the record, I am the last person to give much credence to an impressionable young adult. Still, I do want to take the opportunity to offer some general thoughts on the art of commonness and why black coffee Calvinists like myself think our churches need more than mere liturgism.

The first observation is that our Reformational theology/liturgy should be inviting. However worship is communicated–paraments or stripped tables–it must carry on the gravitas of joy from beginning to end. We live in a culture that craves the normalcy of joy. If we invite younger generations to taste and see Geneva’s God, we must also ensure that we don’t portray Geneva as some ogre attempting to tyrannize conscience. Geneva needs to show up with smiles and greetings, not five points of inquiry.

The second note is that the sweetness of worship ought to give folks a sense of the holy. We need liturgical worship that brings people to see the sovereignty of God resting in every element of worship in every line and every response.

Once, a visitor told one of our congregants that even though the liturgy was foreign to her, it was incredibly joyful. But even if the impression is oppositional–and it has happened–we should still communicate a culture where the holy is a common ritual of the people. You cannot control reactions, but you can manage interactions. You can control a sweet disposition towards a visitor. You can sit next to them when they walk in alone and guide them through the order of worship.

Third, and finally, if the liturgy is a living liturgy–contrary to modernistic ritualization experiences in mainline churches with alternating “Mother God” lines–then that liturgy must breathe life into the home. It needs to be perpetuated with food and drink for those strangers who visit. If they are not invited to see your lived-out liturgy, it is unlikely they will find pleasure in your acted-out liturgy on Sunday mornings. It will continue to be strange and foreign rather than warm and inviting.

Our liturgical efforts must move into hospitable efforts. In fact, liturgy necessarily moves into homes. Ultimately, we may still appear strange, and our songs may still give a Victorian vibe, but at the very least, we will have given visitors a sense of the holy and an invitation to joy.

Our Reformed churches should contemplate that model in our day.

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