What happened this week at Denison Forum?

If you watched the news for even a minute, you noticed that Texas suffered massive and long-lasting power outages affecting millions across the state during an unprecedented winter storm.

Since Denison Forum is headquartered in Dallas, many people on our team endured the same outages, which made working difficult if not impossible. But, as Dr. Denison wrote, “I think things are hard until I check the news and find that so many people are dealing with much worse.” Our prayers are with everyone still enduring the effects of these brutal winter storms.

As for what we were still able to do this week, we published our latest book, Biblical Insight to Tough Questions, Vol. 7, where Dr. Denison covers ten tough questions like: “If my church shifts in an unbiblical direction, what should I do?”

Dr. Denison (despite multiple power outages) still published The Daily Article every weekday morning and recorded multiple interviews.

And we released our latest YouVersion devotional, “Begin Lent in Jesus’ footsteps.”

However, earlier this week, one of our staff members said what many of us may have thought lately: “I’m tired of living in unprecedented times.”

Yet here we all are, constantly enduring frustrations and fear and daily navigating uncertainties and unknowns. 

In times like these, we all need faith—but it matters in whom you place that faith.

Here’s to praying that the only thing that’s unprecedented in the days ahead is your closeness to the Father.

This Week in The Daily Article

In our most-visited article of the week, Dr. Denison responded to the Ravi Zacharias scandal with three biblical lessons we must learn so that his story does not become our own.

We celebrated pastor Tim Keller’s good news regarding his cancer, then considered what we can learn from the pain of others.

Dr. Denison recounted a miraculous story of conversion in Nepal, then encouraged us to finish well the race set before us.

And conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh died on Wednesday. As Dr. Denison wrote, “Whether you considered him a vital voice for freedom or a danger to our liberties depended entirely on your perspective. . . . What no one can question is that he used his influence to advance his vision for our country.” 

Lastly, Dr. Denison discussed both the bad news and the good news of Texas’ power failure in this once-in-a-lifetime weather event (God willing), acknowledging that “one way God redeems suffering is by using it to inspire gratitude for that which suffering threatens.” 

Hear Dr. Denison

In a busy week for interviews, Dr. Denison spoke on multiple radio and podcast interviews. Many of them used his Daily Article as a launching point for their discussion. 

• Predicting the Future for Evangelicals in American Society, Mornings with Eric & Brigitte (Hour 2)
• When Leaders Fall, Equipped with Chris Brooks
• What does the future for evangelicals look like in tomorrow’s American Society?, Bill Martinez LIVE
• Thinking biblically through the news headlines, Mornings with Carmen LaBerge
• Predicting the Future for Evangelicals in American Society, Dawn and Steve Mornings (Hour 3)

As always, you can find Dr. Denison’s archive of interviews here.

What you may have missed

NYT bestselling author Jemar Tisby provided us with an excerpt from his latest book, How to Fight Racism. If you missed it, we encourage you to read “How the Bible Talks about Race and Ethnicity.”

Steve Yount watched a new two-part, four-hour documentary on PBS, The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This is Our Song, and noted that it enlightens and inspires while also facing its “bitterness and biases that make up the Black experience in America,” as Barack Obama once said.

And Minni Elkins introduced us to 112-year-old “Grandma Kwong,” whose “deep and life-long devotion to Jesus and his Kingdom was steadfast.”

Notable Quotables

• “From beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation, God has planned for a racially and ethnically diverse church. This heterogeneity is not a mistake or a backup plan. Diversity is God’s ‘plan A’ for the church.” —Jemar Tisby
• “Under the snow we can see is a sheet of ice we cannot see. When we walk or drive on the snow, the ice it is hiding can be dangerous and even deadly. When ice is under your feet, the safest thing you can do is get on your knees and crawl to safety. Do it now.” —Dr. Jim Denison 
• “You have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry, and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: ‘These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting embrace.’” —Henri Nouwen

What you’re saying

Our readers email us, leave feedback on our website, and share their thoughts on our social media sites. Here’s what you’ve been saying lately:

• “Thank you for your well-written article. I have really been grieving these past few days over this. Your analogies are right on, sin is always crouching at the door, and we can never allow ourselves to become numb to either the culture, our behavior, or what we choose to think about.” —L. B.

Parting thought

If you didn’t know that Ash Wednesday occurred this past week, you may want to read this article.