The following articles have been selected because they are informative, instructive, entertaining, or simply interesting. Articles appearing in Your Friday Five do not represent an endorsement.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
Died: Joyce Lin, Missionary Pilot Transporting Coronavirus Supplies, Christianity Today
Joyce Lin, a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), was transporting rapid test kits and school supplies to a village in Papua, the easternmost province in the far-flung island chain. She took off from the city of Sentani at 6:27 a.m. and made a distress call two minutes later, MAF spokesman Brad Hoagland said. A search-and-rescue team found her Kodiak 100 airplane crashed into nearby Lake Sentani and recovered her body from about 40 feet under the water, according to local police.
This one is obvious.
Why Planned Parenthood doesn’t fit on Mother’s Day, Josh Wester
All of us know why we don’t want to hear from Planned Parenthood on Mother’s Day. For those on both sides of the abortion debate, abortion itself is something we would prefer not to think about, especially on a day like Mother’s Day. If not for that tweet, I might not have. But I did. And my heart was grieved. How many women are mourning the loss of their children this week because of the work of Planned Parenthood? How many families gathered around a dinner table on Sunday were pierced by the awareness of an absent son or daughter? Honestly, I do not know. But I know there were too many.
It’s the sin many don’t want to acknowledge.
Three Strange Things about Racism, Daryl Crouch
The basis of conservatism is the belief that all Scripture is inspired by God, or more accurately stated, God-breathed. Every word of the Bible, in its original autographs, are exactly as God intended, and are therefore, sufficient for a daily life and worthy of our study.
So when I talk about the ugliness of jealousy, anger, or lust, for example, there is a unified, widespread disdain for these sins. When I preach against greed, no one wonders, “Is he coveting my new car?” or “Is he unhappy with his salary package?”
But when I mention the evils of racism, something changes. It’s palpable—as if someone turned the thermostat down to low and the fan up to high.
Why fear what can only destroy the body?
Confidence in God, Prayer & Leaving Shelter, Dave Harvey
As we break free from the shelter of our homes, God wants to create a category for our COVID-19 trials. While it’s impossible to know the entirety of God’s plan, Paul tells us that the experience of emotional death presses us toward a deeper embodiment of resurrection hope. In fact, dead situations are God’s specialty–he wants you to bank your life on that truth. In those barren times—when affliction comes, when devotions bore rather than inspire, when your kids have no spiritual life. Yes, even when a pandemic is rocking the globe—there is still wonderful news. We can entrust ourselves to one who raises the dead.
The state-by-state breakdown is interesting.
America’s Most Common Religions By State (Besides Christianity), Boston.com
The Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies(ASARB), which sponsors the US Religon Census every 10 years, mapped out the religions Americans adhere to across the country. ASARB also looked at the second largest religions across each state based on census data. The results of that data show that Islam is the second largest religion in 20 states, mainly across the South and Midwest, while Buddhism is the second largest religion in 13 states, mostly in the West. Judaism is the second largest religion in the District of Columbia and 14 states, mostly located in the Northeast. Hindu and Baha’i are also represented as the second largest religions in Arizona and South Carolina respectively.