News From the Frontlines: October 31st, 2026
As image-bearers caught up in God’s perfect story, we long for truly good stories that echo this far grander tale and the glorious conclusion toward which all of history is heading. In anticipation of Christ’s final victory over death and sin at the end of the age, we look for shadows of this victory everywhere—in the good, the true, and the beautiful. We ache for expertly crafted twists and turns, for suspense, mystery, romance, retribution, and maybe most of all, stories with a proper resolution. We long for endings where good really does triumph over evil once and for all. And so, when the stories around us—whether in our own lives, in novels, movies, or television series—fall short, we undoubtedly feel disappointed, cheated, and perhaps even betrayed. What a joy it is, then, that Christ is risen indeed. History—His story—has reached a climax in the first coming of Christ, and is barreling toward its epic conclusion in His return. Indeed, far, far better things are ahead than anything which lies behind. For though we do battle day by day here on the frontlines, take heart: “They say Aslan is on the move—perhaps has already landed.”
—News From the Frontlines—
Recommended Reading, Listening, & Watching
A C.S. Lewis scholar considers the upcoming Netflix adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew: “The announcement that Greta Gerwig has cast Meryl Streep to provide the voice of Aslan in the upcoming film adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew has generated no small amount of controversy. Not surprisingly, heated discussions are running on religious, cultural, and ethical lines. There are also conversations about artistic integrity, fairness, limitations in appropriating and adapting literature, and honouring the original intention of authors. This controversy is not likely to dissipate any time soon and will probably reach a peak of intensity once the movie is released early in 2027.”
This just might be my favorite video that Gavin Ortlund has put out—not because it’s his most thorough or even his most original, but because it feels like the culmination of what he does best in his apologetics ministry.
“On a trip to Ukraine in 1991, my pastor friend and I spent the evening with a large family, feasting, singing hymns, laughing, and exalting Jesus together. We felt guilty when we learned our hosts had served an entire month’s ration of butter at the meal, but they assured us there was nothing they would rather have done to serve their brothers in Christ.”
This is a sobering—and encouraging!—article on repentance. Indeed, God is supremely good and kind to demand repentance of us—for no matter how hard it might be, and no matter the cost, it is the very best thing for our souls. “In almost every area of life, if we do not intentionally cultivate what is good and deliberately drive back the chaos, disorder will inevitably and eventually creep in. Whatever God has given us to govern will soon be governing us if we refuse to take dominion over it. This is simply how life in a post-fall world works, and the only way around it is to be diligent in our labors.”
Indeed, time flies and death comes speedily. “As we lose our loved ones, the Lord becomes in a deeper way our Friend, our Brother, and our Father. And for those loved ones who are believers, it sweetens our hope of heaven as we spend our remaining years on this earth without them in the happy confidence that we will be reunited with them for unending years after our own walk across the river.”
Costi Hinn has some practical advice and encouragement for those believers who find themselves in particularly dark workplaces.
“Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905) drew a direct line from sixteenth-century Reformed theology to modern free-market Capitalism—which has been blamed for everything from massive wealth-inequality to the epidemic of workplace burnout, and the rise in mental illness among today’s youth. Weber argued that the Calvinist doctrine of predestination created intense psychological dread, forcing believers to channel their anxiety into relentless hard work, frugality, and commercial success to prove their divine election. While his analysis contained elements of truth, it attributed to John Calvin ideas that he would have fiercely condemned. Far from inventing the soul-crushing modern work-ethic, Calvin offered a sophisticated understanding of labor that liberates believers from the very anxieties that define our work-obsessed culture today.”
—Flashback Friday—
(October 30th, 2026)
“The dark night of the soul—have you tasted those bitter waters, believer? Have you wandered those dark, starless paths wherein your faith seems to hang by a lone thread? It is a dreadful thing to fall under the shadow of such a night, when the hand of the Lord seems so very heavy, and His face ever so far away. In these dreary moments, it is as though a great veil is drawn over the Son, obscuring from our souls for a time the warmth and comfort of His light.”
The cover image for The Magician’s Nephew belongs to, and is the property of, Netflix.
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