I hate the headlines. I feel an instinct to fear and fret when I see more evidence for how our world rejects God. I want to do something to protect the people and places and beliefs I cherish.

So I need to be reminded of good news in the fading of civil religion. And that’s just what I get in this new book review by Jen Pollock Michel. I want to live in the light of this hope she describes: “Instead of fretting about increasing social isolation and mental illness, social fracturing and polarization, Christians can celebrate the luminous hope of the gospel for our historical moment. In other words, the cultural glass may be half-full, but the gospel has never brimmed with greater power.”

We worship the same Jesus yesterday, today, and forever. Let’s join in prayer that he would revive his church and heal our land!