“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 the articles linked from this page, but I have read them myself in order to make me think more deeply.

“Christianity Today’s 2021 Book Awards” – I always enjoy looking at end-of-the-year book lists, regardless of the source. Christianity Today‘s annual book awards are always worth reading and this year Matt Reynolds, the books editor, offers some commentary on the distinct challenge of staying focused for this year’s selections: “I was determined to preserve a degree of principled detachment from the rush of daily headlines. Our books coverage will always stay attentive to the news cycle—after all, we’re called Christianity Today, not Christianity in General. But even in moments of crisis, we won’t allow a myopic sense of What’s Happening Now to govern our priorities, as though books not speaking directly to the danger at hand are luxuries worth indulging in only after the danger has passed.” You may also enjoy browsing through LitHub’s “https://lithub.com/the-award-winning-novels-of-2020/Award-Winning Novels of 2020.”

“What NIH chief Francis Collins wants religious leaders to know about the coronavirus vaccines” – “Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, is a physician-geneticist who talks openly about his Christian faith and its compatibility with science. Now he’s on a mission to talk to people of faith about the coronavirus vaccines that are expected to become widely available in 2021. Since the early days of the pandemic, Collins, who watches McLean Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia services online, has urged churches to avoid holding services indoors and done interviews with religious leaders like theologian N.T. Wright and pastor Timothy Keller on how people can protect themselves. Most recently he spoke with pastor Rick Warren and Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore about the vaccines.”

“With Faith Like a Child” – From Sally Lloyd-Jones at Comment: “I have the best bosses in all the world and the best possible job. I hate to boast, but it’s true. I work for children. And my job is to write them the best stories I can. One of the perks of the job is the hugs I get from my bosses. And the other great perk? The profound truths they teach me. Here are some of them.”

“A canvas that brings together Heaven and Earth: Henry Ossawa Tanner’s ‘Annunciation'” – From Joynel Fernandez at Aleteia: “Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), the first African-American painter ever to gain international acclaim, treats the classic Annunciation motif in a rather unconventional manner: he reckons the simplicity of the scene, rather than its theatrical recreation. In the intimacy of a chamber, Mary is portrayed as a dark haired Jewish peasant girl, seated at the edge of her couch in a striped crumpled attire. The orderly arrangement of the room, in contrast to her bed, suggests that Mary has suddenly been awakened in the middle of the night.”

“Facebook Is a Doomsday Machine: The architecture of the modern web poses grave threats to humanity. It’s not too late to save ourselves” – I quit Facebook and Instagram several years ago after significant reflection, occasional stoppages from social media, and some people close to me leading me to reconsider my online life. I continue to believe that is one of the best decisions I have made in the past several years, not only because of algorithmic manipulation and information privacy, but because I came to see I was becoming someone I didn’t want to be. Here is Adrienne LaFrance at The Atlantic making a slightly similar but more forceful argument not for personal disengagement, but for a widespread awareness and recalibration about the damage caused by the megascale at any cost mindset of social media.

“At 90, renowned Elmbrook pastor Stuart Briscoe is still living for God — while living with cancer” – Here’s a little local color from Milwaukee, where Stuart Briscoe, evangelist and Pastor Emeritus at Elmbrook Church, recently celebrated 90 years. This is a wonderful article in the Journal-Sentinel about Stuart and his wife, Jill, reflecting on their ministry over many years, with quite a bit of input from family, friends, and congregants. Eastbrook, where I serve as Senior Pastor, was the first of Elmbrook’s church plants just over forty years ago.

Music: Andrew Peterson, “Matthew’s Begats,” from Behold the Lamb of God