Author: kevingdrendel

I am sixtiesh, an English Literature major in college and an attorney by profession. Faith informs my life, and this blog is about my faith journey.

The Top Ten Articles on this Blog in 2024

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I have written and posted fewer articles this year than any year since the first full year of this blog (2013). In fact, I posted only one more article in 2023 than I did in 2013. I have focused more on my work, operating a legal clinic, involvement in the nonprofit, Administer Justice, locally and nationally, and I have been distracted by personal circumstances in my life that have made 2023 difficult for me.

Though I have published only 52 articles this year (not counting this one), more than 29,500 people viewed articles on the blog this year. In 2022, I posted 73 articles to 30,614 viewers, and I posted 107 articles for 30,751 viewers in 2021. Thus, people have continued to visit Navigating By Faith in similar numbers though I published less than half the number of articles in 2023 as I did in 2021.

Though I had one third fewer views in 2020 (20,084), a foursome of article I wrote in 2020 led the way in most viewed articles this year. 2020, of course, was the dreadful year of COVID. COVID gave us all the time and cause to reflect.

The most viewed articles on NBF in 2023 reflect what was going through my head in 2020. The two most read articles in 2023 came out of my daily Bible reading in 2023. One article, which has become the most read article ever on NBF, was inspired by politics, conspiracy theories, Donald Trump, and the Evangelical preoccupation with end times eschatology. The other, which is the most read article in 2023, was simply inspired by Scripture.  

Perhaps, the popularity of The Redemption of Korah: the Sons of Korah (with 3645 views) is a positive reflection on where we are now compared to 2020.  It is a story of the great theme of redemption that permeates the Bible from beginning to end. It is a story of hope and of God’s loving kindness and our appropriate response in gratitude for the faithfulness of God and His mercy, which new every morning.

The article, Who Were the Sons of Issachar? And What Might They Mean for Us Today?, dominated the blog when I wrote it in 2020. It quickly became the most read article, outpacing every other article written since I started NBF in 2012. It continued as the top article in 2021 and 2022, but it comes in second (which 3014 views) in 2023.

I wrote this article in my angst and internal conflict over the enthusiastic support Evangelicals were giving Donald Trump (including good friends of mine) in the months leading up to the last presidential election. My friends were sending me “inside” information, podcasts, and “prophetic words” celebrating the inevitability of a Trump reelection.

I grew up spiritually in Charismatic circles. Though I saw some things there that trouble me, like a sometimes hyper focus on spiritual gifts and what I would now label errant theologies (like the prosperity Gospel), I am keenly aware of Paul’s admonition not to despise prophecy.

When my best friend from 40 years ago cautioned me lovingly to “understand the times” like the sons of Issachar, I was even more troubled. I dug into the passage in 1 Chronicles where men from every tribe of Israel risked their livres to join David in the wilderness as he hid from paranoid King Saul, including “the sons of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel should do”.

Did I misperceive what God is doing in the world today through Donald Trump? Was I on the verge of being left behind in my reticence to be uncritical of him? Had I grown insensitive to the Holy Spirit? Was I living in apostasy? Was I fooling myself to be so critical of the “Christian” support for Trump?

When my very good friend seemed to suggest that I was missing the boat, I took it to heart. “Understanding the times” has been become a Christian buzzword for being in tune with the Holy Spirit in the assessment of culture, politics, and what is happening in society. Writing is my way of working through what I believe God is saying to me, and this article, more even than most, is “prophetic” in that way. I can only pray and remain open and humble with hope that God is working in and through me in my writing.

The next two most read articles in 2023 also grew out of the solitude and reflection that characterized 2020. They relate to the last article to the extent that Evangelical flirtation with the power and influence promised by Donald Trump threatened (and did, I believe) damage the credibility of Evangelicals in the world.

What is an Evangelical if not a proclaimer of the Gospel? My criticism of enthusiastic Evangelical support for Donald Trump was carried by my concern for our witness for Christ to a wayward world he came to save. Our uncritical support of the brash, uncaring, pompous, and insensitive blusterer in Chief focused my mind and heart on how we should present ourselves to the world and seek lost sheep as Jesus did.

God Meets Us Where We Are (with 2126 views) comes out of reflection on my own past where God found me on a journey for truth and meaning. I was not so jaded by the world (and Christians in the world) that God was unable to use them to propel me along the path to Him. For this reason, I believe we must ever be sensitive enough to “where people are” and meet them “there.

In this vein, Paul became a Jew to the Jews, and he became a Greek to the Greeks. He quoted pagan poets and philosophers to pagans. If we divorce ourselves from the world in which we live, we lose our connection to people and our ability to connect with them. Just as God “met me” where I was in my early 20’s, He is “there” meeting people where they are today, and He invites us to join Him.

Fourth on the list (with 952 views) is Apologetics: What It Means for Our Speech to Be Seasoned with Salt. I don’t think I need to explain the obvious connection to how we conduct ourselves in the world – not the least of which is our speech! How we say things is as important as what we say. “Let your speech always be gracious.” (Eph. 4:6)

Fifth on the list of most read articles (with 557 views) is a throwback to a favorite subject: CS Lewis on the “True Myth”. I am a longtime Lewis fan, and I have long contemplated his conception of the “true myth” (which really comes from Tolkien). For Lewis, who was steeped in ancient myths, the redemption story in the Bible is the true “myth” as to which all other mythic stories in the world are only shadowy echoes.

Tuning In To God’s Frequency (497 views) and The Message in the Earliest Creeds in the New Testament (463 views) are the oldest articles in the top ten most read articles for 2023. Both were written in 2016. Tuning into God’s Frequency is an exercise in fleshing out how nature (in the form of a tuning fork) resonates a lesson in how we relate to God: we must “tune” ourselves to God’s frequency God to know Him. (It doesn’t work the other way around.)

The Message in the Earliest Creeds lays to rest a trope that was popular once in the academic world: that the message of the resurrection of Jesus arose as legend in the second or even third centuries. The academics who developed this thesis, claimed that early followers of Jesus didn’t claim that he rose from the dead; the resurrection idea developed generations later. Sadly (for them), modern scholars can point to many creeds throughout the New Testament that date back to the generation followers of Jesus who knew him, and they all focus on one thing: resurrection.

The article, Is Saul Among the Prophets? On Prophecy and a Heart for God (333 views), continues the theme of modern prophecy in light of the Old Testament. Saul was not known for his piety, or his ability to prophecy. Thus, the rhetorical saying developed in ancient Israel, “Is Saul among the prophets?” No, Saul was not a prophet, but he did prophecy (twice), and the instruction I see in that is what I develop in this article.

The ninth most read article in 2023 (312 views) is the only one written in 2023: Joe Rogan Interviews Stephen Meyer on Intelligent Design. Joe Rogan, who seems to be flirting reticently with Christianity, interviewed Stephen C. Meyer, who wrote the best book I read this year, Return of the God Hypothesis”, in one of the most intriguing and poignant discussions I encountered all year.

Is God a Hard Taskmaster? (with 301 views) rounds out the ten most read articles on Navigating By Faith in 2023. It deals with God’s character and our relationship to Him in the gifts each one of us has been given by God. How we use those gifts (and whether we use them at all) is a measure of our relationship to God.

I am amazed that so many people are reading Navigating By Faith, even though my article output has waned. I enter 2024 with some uncertainty and the loss of motivation that accompanies interruption and uncertainty. I hope to return to some stability in the coming year and to find my balance again.

I have found it increasingly difficult to write as I have in the past. I look forward to finding new motivation and inspiration to allow me to pull on threads that I continue to see in my daily Scripture reading and meditation as I try to live intentionally in this modern world.

I am thankful for the people who read, comment on, and share articles that I have written. I would like to think that I would write them whether anyone reads them or not. I began writing out of obedience to God (and to respect the abilities God has given me), but I realize I do not write in a vacuum. I am ever thinking about who might be reading what I write, and I endeavor to be true to what God has laid on my heart as I seek and explore the truth of God’s world the best that I can.

If anything I write resonates with you, please like what you read, share it, and leave your comments. If what I write doesn’t resonate or seems off to you, please feel free to comment also. I am certain that I don’t always get it right, and I don’t always communicate as well as I would like. Your comment challenge me to rethink sometimes and do communicate better.

Finally, I pray that God’s light will shine ever brighter in this dark world in 2024 and that I can be a vessel of that light. God equates Himself with one thing, and only one thing in Scripture, and that is love. Faith and hope are great, but the greatest of all is love. May we all learn to love God and to love our neighbors more in 2024!

The Minimalest, Non-Factual, Argument for the Resurrection

Perhaps, the minimalest, non-factual argument in favor of the resurrection isn’t a factual argument at all, but a philosophical one.

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Thought to be the place of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem Israel

The title of this piece is tongue-in-cheek, a play on the “minimal facts” evidence for the resurrection made famous by Gary Habermas. I don’t really have a killer piece of evidence that uses fewer facts (or no facts) that trumps all other arguments. But, maybe I got your attention!

As often is the case, my inspiration comes from what someone said or wrote. In the podcast interview linked below, Mason Jones describes how he he decided to read through the Gospel accounts as an atheist who knew next to nothing about Christianity. He quickly caught on that the resurrection is the centerpiece of Christianity, so he focused his attention on that.

He researched the evidence for the resurrection. He googled arguments for the resurrection and arguments against the resurrection. Though he was an atheist at that time, he was willing to give the evidence that exists a chance. (Whether there was any, he didn’t know.)

As he considered the arguments and counterarguments, he found that the arguments against the resurrection didn’t address very well the arguments for the resurrection. They didn’t take them seriously.

Then he realized that the arguments against the resurrection only work if you start with the presupposition that the resurrection didn’t happen. Because it is impossible. Because people don’t come back to life. Ever.

If you take that presupposition out of the equation, thought Jones, the evidence favors the conclusion that the resurrection occurred, and the arguments against the resurrection loose their luster. If you want to hear the rest of Mason Jones’s thought journey from atheism to theism to Christianity in his own words, you can listen here.

Meanwhile, I want to spend a little time considering the presuppositions people make about the resurrection.

Continue reading “The Minimalest, Non-Factual, Argument for the Resurrection” →

What Good Is Apologetics?

If we do apologetics only to win arguments, we are missing something.

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I recently heard someone say that apologetics is not good for anything because it is just about proving to other people that you are right. The statement was made by a Christian who is vocal about sharing his faith. So, this was not an excuse from someone who is ashamed to defend the reasons for his hope in Jesus Christ.

Indeed, some people approach apologetics as a kind of intellectual game of one-upmanship. Some people seem to think that apologetics is a kind of silver bullet or kryptonite to combat skepticism and atheism.

I have been drawn to apologetics over the last 12 to 15 years as I have gone through a renewal of my faith. I became a Christian in the academic setting of college, so apologetics was attractive to me. The intellectual exercise is invigorating and stimulating.

Along the way, I developed expectations similar to the ones criticized by my friend on social media – that apologetics has all the answers and engaging in apologetics will turn skeptics and atheists into believers, but it doesn’t necessarily work that way.

Just watch a debate and listen to the responses of the people who observed it. Most skeptics are going to walk away skeptical, thinking that the atheist won, and most believers are going to walk away believing, thinking that the Christian won.

We might call this confirmation bias. It’s human nature. We are naturally inclined to identify with the things we already believe in and to find the arguments that align with our beliefs to be compelling.

Debates tend to promote the kind of one-upmanship that my friend criticized. After all, that is traditionally the point of debate. For me, this seemed to be the wrong format for sharing the Gospel.

Therefore, I dismissed debating as an effective apologetics “tool”. It seemed to me that debates were not an effective way of delivering truth. Therefore, I gravitated toward platforms like the Unbelievable? Podcast hosted by Premiere Christian Radio in Great Britain where dialogues between theists and atheists are carried on civilly (usually) in a dialogue format.

But, I am not sure how much more effective dialogue is than debate in convincing people of the truth of Christianity. Most people remain convinced of their own views most of the time. Human beings are stubborn that way.

Many modern people see themselves primarily as rational beings, so we think apologetics reaches them where (they think) they live. I am skeptical that so many people are such rational beings. I have to question my own rationality sometimes. We are motivated by many things other than reason, and we use reason to cover up ulterior motives.

This is the thesis (more or less) of Jonathan Haidt in his book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. He argues that we reach our fundamental moral judgments about right and wrong at a gut level – not at a rational level. We turn to reason to defend our positions, but our positions are formed at an intuitive level.

I have not read the whole book, and I don’t recall his data and evidential support for the conclusions he reaches, but the general proposition rings true to my own experience and observation, limited as it is. What good is apologetics, then?

If Jonathan Haidt is right, then apologetics is not going to reach people where they actually live – in their gut. If we are aiming at the head, we are missing the mark, perhaps.

Continue reading “What Good Is Apologetics?” →

The Curious, Mysterious Nature of the Kingdom of God, Its Effects in the World, and Our Place In It

The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed

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“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” 

Luke‬ ‭17:20‭-‬21‬ ‭NIV‬

I have been continually impressed by the countercultural and otherworldly nature of the kingdom of God. In response to the question by the Pharisees, Jesus plainly said that the coming of the kingdom of God is nothing we can observe, but it is in our midst.

As I think about his response, I am reminded that the Holy Spirit is like that as well. The Spirit is like the wind: we can’t see it, but we can see the effects of the wind.

The wind, of course, is a bit less of a mystery than the Holy Spirit or the kingdom of God. We can measure the wind, and we can (somewhat) predict the direction and velocity of the wind. (However, imprecise our predictions may be!)

The wind is a natural phenomenon driven by natural forces (no matter how difficult it may be to predict those forces). Natural forces are different than the forces of personal agency. The Holy Spirit (and the kingdom of God) are forces driven by agency – God’s agency. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and the kingdom of God is, presumably, advanced by God in the “form” of the Holy Spirit (and by the agency of believers as well).

We don’t confuse the wind with other effects in nature, though we might be apt to confuse the effects of the kingdom of God with other effects, such as political, cultural, and other worldview effects.

I suspect that volumes could be written on this!

What are the effects of the kingdom of God? We can’t see the kingdom coming, but I assume we can the see effects of the kingdom of God coming just like we can see the effects of the wind (or the Holy Spirit). It seems that we have some confusion about these things, just as the Pharisees were confused in the 1st Century. However, we do have some guidance from Jesus to help us.

Continue reading “The Curious, Mysterious Nature of the Kingdom of God, Its Effects in the World, and Our Place In It” →

What Business Do We Have Judging the World?

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The title to this blog article is a question that doesn’t come from me. It comes from Paul, the Apostle. The question is rhetorical, meaning that Paul assumed his audience would know the answer, though he doesn’t leave them guessing. He provides the answer.

His audience was the Corinthian church in the 50’s AD. The larger context in which Paul asked this rhetorical question is also instructive. This is that context in which Paul asks the question:

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

1 Corintihans 5:9-11 (emphasis added)

Then Paul asks the question,

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.  

1 Corinthians 5:12 (emphasis added)

I am reminded of this passage today because of a comment posted by someone on Facebook about how we should treat people who seem to be “acting against God.” The poster expressed the opinion that something should be done by Christians about the “open immorality … being accepted in society.”

I don’t want to suggest that biblical morality should not instruct how Christians vote and engage politically in the world, but Paul’s question about judging the world should affect how we interact with the world in politics and other ways. At the same time, we need to know how to model Paul’s instruction not to judge those outside the church.

Christians are often accused of “forcing their religion” or morality on others. Simply voting and engaging politically based on biblical values is not forcing religion or morality on others any more than others voting and engaging politically based on their own values is forcing their views on us. We can vote our consciences without judging.

This is where we may need some nuance, however, as some Christians seem to think they have a biblical obligation or mandate to make the world conform to a biblical morality. I have to admit that I have shared this confusion in my past until I began to take seriously what Paul said to the Corinthians in the passage quoted above.

Judging by Paul’s words, I used to view this exactly backward! I judged the world by biblical morality, but I often gave myself and fellow Christians a pass when it came to strict adherence to righteous behavior. After all, we are saved by our faith and not be works, right? If I mess up, I can confess it and be forgiven – even as I demand that the world acknowledge and follow the law.

As I meditate on Paul’s words, I see that Paul’s instruction aligns with what Jesus said about judging. I think you will see that as I unpack what Paul and Jesus said and try to work out why they said it and what it might mean for us in the way we conduct ourselves in the world.

Continue reading “What Business Do We Have Judging the World?” →