Skip to content ↓

Headlines & Happenings: What Christians Talked About This Week

Here is a brief roundup of headlines and happenings there were topics of discussion and reflection among Christians this week. It was a relatively quiet week on the cusp of the holiday season, but a few common threads still rose to the top.

R.C. Sproul’s Memorial Service

It was a tremendous honor to be among the hundreds or even thousands attending R.C. Sproul’s memorial service. It was a fitting event to honor the legacy of our generation’s great reformer. His friends, including John MacArthur, paid tribute and shared memories while a veritable who’s who of Christian leaders filled the pews. The service was recorded and is available at rcsproul.com. Renewing Your Mind dedicated this week’s broadcasts to special broadcasts in which friends reflected on his life and legacy. James Faris wrote about the service’s ultra-appropriate opening words, while The Gospel Coalition included him in their article on faithful theologians and authors who died in 2017 after having helped shape evangelicals both in America and throughout the world.

The New Tax Laws

Most people take changes to the tax code in stride since they won’t really know what has changed until they file their 2018 income taxes in early 2019. Still, lots of people wrote and talked about it. Christianity Today said big families may get bigger tax bills under the new plan while pointing out that many Evangelicals are lauding the higher child tax credit and the preserved adoption credit. Retirement Stewardship took a look at the implications for those already retired or nearing retirement, saying, “Having some level of understanding about taxes and how they may affect you in retirement is part of wise retirement stewardship. Tax laws have always been notoriously complex, hence our heavy reliance on pricey software or tax professionals and preparers. Even if you use a professional, it’s a good idea to at least understand the basics.” Meanwhile, Gene Veith nicely rounded up some of the praise and critiques of the changes. The Babylon Bee took a swipe at the whole thing with this headline: Nation Furious Over Giving Government Less Of Their Money.

Christmas Is Coming

And, of course, Christmas is coming, so everyone was talking about the incarnation of the Son of God, and rightly so! Crossway offered 10 Things You Should Know about St. Nicholas while The Gospel Coalition offered 9 Things You Should Know about Christmas Traditions. Ligonier went with some classic R.C. Sproul in The Glory of Christmas while Desiring God shared God’s Indescribable Gift from John Piper. Reformation21 mined the origins and Christology of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” Once again, the Bee also got in on the action with Santa Claus Converts To Calvinism, Moves Everybody To Naughty List.


  • New and Notable

    New and Notable Christian Books for April 2025

    It is surprisingly difficult to find a list of Christian books that have been released in any given month—especially if you want that list to be filtered by books released through particular publishers. That’s one of the reasons why I close each month by coming up with my list of New and Notable books. I…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (April 26)

    A La Carte: Every pinch of pain has purpose / China closed Christian bookstores / Watch for the thing after the thing / For everything there is a time / Showers of blessing / What Pope Francis can teach us about preaching / and more.

  • What Makes You Beautiful

    What Makes You Beautiful

    I have often thought of a conversation that took place when my girls were little. Abby was perhaps 5 or 6 at the time and Michaela just working her way through the “terrible twos” (which for our kids always happened when they were three or four). A stranger saw me interacting with them one day…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 25)

    A La Carte: John Piper and ChatGPT / Who’s praying for your wife and kids? / When your dreams include sin / Are you called to ministry? / Our feet shall tread this place again / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 24)

    A La Carte: He cares for us / Will the pope to go heaven? / An easy Christian faith / The good we cannot see / Chickens, elephants, and freedom / When we skip the prophets / Kindle and book deals / and more.