“The Weekend Wanderer” is a weekly curated selection of news, stories, resources, and media on the intersection of faith and culture for you to explore through your weekend. Wander through these links however you like and in any order you like. Disclaimer: I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within these articles but have found them thought-provoking.
“The Dangers of Advent” – J. B. Phillips at Plough: “By far the most important and significant event in the whole course of human history will be celebrated, with or without understanding, at the end of this season, Advent. The towering miracle of God’s visit to this planet on which we live will be glossed over, brushed aside or rendered impotent by over-familiarity. Even by the believer the full weight of the event is not always appreciated. His faith is in Jesus Christ – he believes with all his heart that this man, who lived and died and rose again in Palestine, was truly the Son of God. He may have, in addition, some working experience that the man Jesus is still alive, and yet be largely unaware of the intense meaning of what he believes. Does he, for instance, as he daily treads the surface of this planet, reflect with confidence that ‘my God has been here, here on this earth’? Does he keep his faith wrapped in a napkin as a precious thing and apart; or does he allow every discovery of the truth to enlarge his conception of the God behind this immensely complex universe? And does he then marvel and adore the infinite wisdom and power, which so humbly descends to human stature? We rejoice in the fact that God has actually been here – and that is one half of the meaning of Advent. But there is another half.”
“Decline of religion remains stalled, says new Pew report. But there’s no revival yet“ – Bob Smietana in Religion News Service: “Religion in America might be best described in the words of rap artist LL Cool J: Don’t call it a comeback. At least not yet. Despite claims of a revival of religion in the United States, a new report from Pew Research Center finds young Americans remain less religious than their parents or grandparents, with just over half (55%) claiming a religion. ‘On average, young adults remain much less religious than older Americans,’ reads the report released Monday (Dec. 8). ‘Today’s young adults also are less religious than young people were a decade ago.’ However, the decades-long religious decline remains stalled for now, according to the report, which was based on data from two Pew surveys: the National Public Opinion Reference Survey and the 2023-24 U.S. Religious Landscape Study. Since 2020, about 70% of Americans have identified with a religion, according to Pew, a period of relative stability.”
“Young adults are waiting in line to worship at this fast-growing Atlanta church” – Charlotte Kramon in AP News: “After Atlanta pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell stopped dwelling on growing his congregation about three years ago, its attendance surged. Now, lines packed with young adults snake outside 2819 Church, some arriving as early as 5:30 a.m. to secure a spot for Sunday worship. Christian rap and contemporary music blast like a block party as volunteers cheer into megaphones for around 6,000 weekly churchgoers — up from less than 200 in 2023, the church reports. Inside the sanctuary, the atmosphere turns serious. Many drawn to 2819’s riveting worship are hungry for Mitchell’s animated intensity and signature preaching: No sugarcoating the Bible. After spirited prayers and songs leave many crying, Mitchell ambles onstage in his all-black uniform, sometimes in quiet contemplation or tears, before launching into a fiery sermon. His messages, unpolished and laden with challenges to revere God and live better, often spread quickly online. A recent prayer event drew far more people than State Farm Arena could handle, with many flying in.”
“When Things Break Down: An Advent Reflection for a World that Keeps Falling Apart” – W. David O. Taylor at The Diary of an Arts Pastor: “I once lived in a neighborhood where the pecan trees rose a hundred feet high into the burning Texas sky. With two in the backyard and one in the front, they towered over our home with a kind of regal elegance. In 2005, they turned strange, however. All summer long, they began losing limbs, in some instances at a wild, feverish pace. Thick, scaly branches ripped away, cracking the air with a screeching sound, then plummeted noiselessly to the ground. All down my block, branches crashed on top of cars and roofs and lawns, yielding a great whine of chainsaws. Good things that should have been strong and enduring were falling apart.”
“The Christianity Today Book Awards 2026” – From the Editors at Christianity Today: “One of the great pleasures of our work at Christianity Today is getting to spend so much time with books—with the scholarly discoveries, impassioned arguments, and pastoral encouragements shaping evangelical intellectual life today. Every year, we honor a small subset of these books in our annual CT Book Awards. Publishers submit books for consideration in one or several of our categories. Top contenders are reviewed and ranked by dozens of expert judges, including theologians, pastors, novelists, and other influential thinkers. A select group of our editors considers a handful of books for the Book of the Year and Award of Merit winners, reading in full a few titles that speak particularly to our moment. This year, two books rose to the top in their responses to wider cultural narratives that threaten the truth, peace, and purity of God’s people. In a Western culture where institutions generally and the church particularly have fallen out of favor, we’re delighted to award the Book of the Year spot to Brad Edwards’s debut book, The Reason for Church: Why the Body of Christ Still Matters in an Age of Anxiety, Division, and Radical Individualism. Our Award of Merit goes to Robert S. Smith’s The Body God Gives: A Biblical Response to Transgender Theory. Smith critiques the central claim of transgender theory—that the sexed body is separate from the gendered self—and lucidly points readers to the truth that we receive the bodies God gives as gifts. May the books you encounter below prove valuable resources in your own life of the mind.”
“Here is Your God: An Advent Meditation” – Brian Zahnd at his Substack: “When Isaiah penned his ‘Rivers In the Desert’ poem, Judah was in a bad way—internally Judah was corrupt and externally it was under threat of foreign invasion. But the poet of audacious hope does not despair; instead he proclaims that God will come, and in that day it will be said, ‘Here is your God!’ And what happens when God comes? Isaiah first paints a picture of a dry and barren desert flourishing, then switches the image from the environment being healed to people being healed. On the day that God comes the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dumb will speak, and the lame will leap. At the end of the poem Isaiah employs a zoomorphic literary device and speaks of a highway that runs through the now flourishing desert where there will be no beastly tyrants to disturb the peace and safety of the righteous who are traveling to Zion singing their songs of salvation. The healing wrought by the arrival of God is so complete that even sorrow and sighing flee away. Someday it will be said, ‘Here is your God’ and on that day all that is wrong will be set right. But for now, all we can do is wait.”
Music: Andrew Peterson, “Behold the Lamb of God,” from Behold the Lamb of God
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