Well, if there ever was a good time for good news, it’s Christmas time. Now is the time for everyone to remember that our biggest problem – our separation from God problem – has already been solved, because God stepped into history. And if you live in a country that is going in the wrong direction – like the UK – then it can be a very good thing to remember. And that’s exactly what 60% of young people in Britain are planning to do.

Here’s the story from GB News.

It says:

Young Britons are increasingly turning to Christianity as they are “crying out or cultural and moral confidence”, Quentin Letts has told GB News.

Reacting to staggering new data, the parliamentary sketchwriter said UK leaders are “shying away from the Church” and Britain “doesn’t stand for anything anymore”.

New polling by Tearfund has shown that 60 per cent of Gen Z Britons (born between 1997 and 2012) are intending on attending a church service this Christmas.

The data also found that 45 per cent of British adults are planning to attend church this Christmas, which is a sharp rise from recent years.

The article notes that that 60% number is DOUBLE the number of people going to church who are from older generations – boomers and up. As I blogged about previously, it’s mostly young boys who are becoming more conservative and returning to church. Surveys show that young women are becoming more leftist, and less religious.

The article states that the youngsters are interested in two things: 1) formal church services with “smells and bells” and / or 2) conservative preaching with truth and condemnation, i.e. – “fire and brimstone”. I think this is exactly what’s lacking in the UK these days. But I don’t want this to be a political post.

I’ve now hit the time that I was thinking about for early retirement, and it’s caused me to make a few adjustments myself. And part of that is making sure that I get steady doses of conservative preaching and theology. Sometimes, when you are working full-time and fussing about investments and house repairs and chores, it is hard to find time to read the Bible and listen to sermons and Sunday school. So, I am trying to redeem my weights and cardio time with Bible teaching.

For this, I have turned to Mike Winger, and his wonderful YouTube channel. So far, I have been working my way through his playlist on Calvinism, and when he explains the meaning of all the texts, and makes a very strong case, I just get very excited to understand what the Bible is saying.

Here are the three parts that made me say “WOW!”:

• Calvinism, Arminianism, Election & Predestination: Romans 8:29-30, 33
• Non-Calvinist Interpretation of Romans 9
• Why God Hardens Hearts: Romans 9:17-24

And today (Monday), I watched this one:

• Unbiblical stuff the Catholic Church teaches: Mary, Indulgences, Eucharist, Priests, 7 Sacraments

Now, my point in posting 3 lectures critical of Calvinism, and one 1 lecture critical of Catholicism is not to offend everyone. It’s just because this is how I think boys like to approach religion, with lots of Bible teaching and thinking about history and what the meaning of texts are. Boys aren’t think about the social aspects of “religion” – the family gatherings and the getting along and the social aspects. Boys are thinking about truth and disagreements, and why people disagree. And that’s why I picked these to watch myself! To understand why people disagree. To find out who is right.

I’ll just say that I learned a lot of things that I just did not know before when I watched this 4 lectures, and it just made me think that the Bible is really clever, and well worth reading. It kind of re-captured the feelings I had when I was reading the Bible as a young man, and gathering up all the answers from the text, and trying to put them into practice.

If there is one thing that comes out of these Mike Winger lectures, it’s that Christianity is not something that you should take passively, as a spectator sport. It’s not something to accept uncritically from others. But it’s also not something you should do without considering the study of others. I guess I would say that each person has to investigate for themselves, and part of being a good investigator is listening to the reasoning of other people.

I guess as Christians, we often want to make things simple for people, maybe because we don’t want simple people to feel dumb. I think that’s a mistake when we are dealing with young people. Young people want to know if these things are true, and they want to understand the meaning of the text. It can be tempting to brush aside their questions. But a much better idea is to enourage them to dig into the meaning of the text and have reasons for their beliefs.

Everyone is falling over themselves to say “everyone is equally right” these days – especially in the UK.  Feelings are seen by many as more important than truth. I think Christians need to study harder, debate and disagree instead.