7/7/2026 Tuesday
Joel Penton, LifeWise Academy used 1952 Supreme Court ruling Zorach v. Clauson to uphold the legality of "release time" religious instruction for public schools. This way they could target students at high school level and below, rather than college students which are targeted by more Christian ministries. Thanks to Allie Beth Stuckey's interview:
This is not about banning Bible (ABS got the title wrong - click bait much?). This is also not about Bible reading or prayer in public schools which like J. Gresham Machen, I oppose to (threats to liberty, sterilizing the Gospel, despising parental/Christian institutions). This is just about working with the community (parents) and schools to allow students an extracurricular religious study time by an organization (LifeWise) that is private but legitimately recognized in public eyes. However, this started in only a few states (Ohio & Indiana, etc.) and other states may reject this (not agreeing to students leaving campus during school hours).
As for after school hours, there's another landmark Supreme Court case 2001: Good News Club v. Milford Central School, which ruled that local authorities and schools have very little say in stopping the students from joining an after-school religious program.
However, I think since this still needs to be done by an organized institution, there's still plenty of harvest done by individuals in evangelizing to high schoolers in public space. Which is something I am still looking into.
7/6/2026 Monday
Crossroads church took on my offer of astronomy 101 for this coming weekend's retreat, which Nadia and I shall join for the first time at Kutztown PA by this church. I spoke to them casually a couple of months ago but have only gotten the email about their decision today. I thought they gave up on the idea. However, the weather and the sky do not seem to be doing well in those days. Cloudy, possible rain. As for celestial objects, the Moon being the only attraction, Mars is there but who wants to see just a red dot as an introduction to astronomy. I told them I could try do a slideshow workshop on astronomy. They liked the idea, but due to the logistic on campus (projector, etc.) and the fact that I'm going in this blind (no idea of what this retreat is going to be like as it's my first time), we'll decide on this the last minute. I also realized that I can't find my old astronomy 101 material for CCCNY back then, there goes with my slides for the younger Sunday School on apologetics, Bible survey, etc. I can't believe this! I think I was wiser back then, so it's is sort of like a lost of ancient wisdom - even if I am to rebuild these materials from scratch now.
7/5/2026 Sunday
Pastor Dan preached on Numbers 15: Freed to Worship. He brought up the fact that Caleb wasn't really Jewish - Because of his Kenizzite designation (Joshua 14:6, Numbers 32:12). Though Scripture isn't quite clear on this. Caleb is presented as part of the tribe of Judah (Number 13:6), AI Overview:
- Adopted or Assimilated Foreigner: Many scholars interpret his "Kenizzite" title as proof that he was originally a non-Israelite (often linked to the descendants of Esau/Edom) who was grafted or adopted into the Tribe of Judah over time.
- Judahite Family Name: Other traditional commentators argue that "Kenizzite" does not refer to a foreign tribe but rather to an ancient family lineage directly within the Tribe of Judah, pointing to the name Kenaz appearing in subsequent Judean genealogies.
- Mixed Lineage: As with many groups traveling during the Exodus ("a mixed multitude"), some interpretations suggest the Calebite clan represented a blend of Judean and Edomite elements that lived in the southern hills of Hebron.
On the way back, we (Nadia, Willy and I) had an interesting discussion on friendship. It would appear that Willy has no discernment of the difference between friendship and neighbor (waking up at 4am for someone). Being neighborly is the responsibility of all human: Help the truly needy, warn the misleading, and do not enable the exploiting (the latter part is probably not in Willy's vocabulary either, and possibly the reason he, and others like him, couldn't discern the two). Though being neighborly can be costly/sacrificial, which Jesus placed as greatest love in laying down one's life for a friend (John 15:13-15), friendship is neither the same as neighborly nor mutually exclusive from it. In friendship, there's something shared mutually: life, time, interest, etc.
Neighbor is a moral category. Friend is a relational category.