Earlier this year I wrote about four legends of American Christianity who passed away between January 8th and June 8th — pastors Jack Hayford, Charles Stanley, Tim Keller — and the religious broadcaster, Rev. Pat Robertson, who shared the gospel with millions each weekday.

But on December 7th of this year, we lost perhaps the last major religious leader to die in 2023: television producer Norman Lear.

Why include him among this list of religious personalities?

That’s because Lear was indeed a religious figure in America. He did not espouse the faith of Jesus or Moses, but instead, he promoted and preached a secular religion, the religion that God was not needed in our daily discourse, that one should look for fulfillment through the culture.

He even founded a “ministry” of sorts called People for the American Way. PFAW, as it was known, seemed to be at odds with whichever ministry I was associated during my career.

Lear died at 101 and was dedicated to the end. He was lauded as a television pioneer who broke down barriers. However, the primary barriers he removed were those of propriety, the portrayal of happy families, and a disdain for sin. We become desensitized to what we laugh at, and when we can laugh at sin, we are far more willing and likely to accept it.

Lear first burst on the scene in 1969 with his landmark TV program known as All in the Family, which featured subjects and language never before discussed in American homes.

It is difficult to come up with a new angle on the significance of Christmas for believers as we strive to faithfully live out our lives in the modern age, but here is an important one.

Advent, the season where we look toward the first and second coming of our Savior, reminds us of a very important and inherent truth in our Christian worldview if we just dig deep enough.

That truth is that the Christian faith and story is inherently gendered and binary. In an age where both of these fundamental truths are under vicious attack today, being reminded of this fact is critical to Christian fidelity.

The First Coming

Let us look at the first coming of Jesus, fully God/fully man, at Christmas. We are told in John 1:14:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

In the telling of God becoming flesh, Scripture also tells us unmistakably that this happened in a gendered way.

A Son came from the Father. Maleness is inherently part of this divine story. Christianity is often criticized for being a patriarchal, male-centric faith. But this conclusion can only be arrived at through a superficial and short-sighted understanding of God’s incarnation.

We must ask, “How did God, the Word, become flesh?”

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed an anti-discrimination executive order prohibiting the use of taxpayer funds for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in higher education and state agencies.

The state now joins others, such as Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, that are working to keep tax dollars from promoting DEI’s Marxist and racist dogma.

In a statement the governor said:

“In Oklahoma, we’re going to encourage equal opportunity, rather than promising equal outcomes. Encouraging our workforce, economy, and education systems to flourish means shifting focus away from exclusivity and discrimination, and toward opportunity and merit.

“We’re taking politics out of education and focusing on preparing students for the workforce.”

The executive order says that “state agencies and institutions for higher education shall not utilize state funds, property, or resources” to fund DEI “positions, departments, activities, procedures, or programs” that “grant preferential treatment” based on “race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin.”

It forbids programs mandating training and education that treat people preferentially based on “race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.”

DEI has its roots in “neo-Marxist identity theories like critical race theory,” explains James Lindsay in a series of videos, “The Marxist Roots of DEI,” from New Discourses.

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh proclaimed the “Good News” of Jesus Christ following his team’s 37-31 victory over the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday. The Ravens lead the American Football Conference (AFC) with a winning 11-3 record this season.

Harbaugh made the remarks in a press conference following the win; he shared with the media the devotional he had given to his team earlier in the day: the importance of the Advent season.

“This is your moment in life and this is your time. Five hundred years from now, none of us are going to be around,” Harbaugh told his team.

“Five hundred years [ago], none of us were here, so we’re given this time with these people in this place for a purpose.”

“December football has a meaning to it. It’s preparation for great events to come. You have to put yourself in position with December football for what’s to come,” Harbaugh said, adding,

“It’s also the Advent season. Advent comes from the Latin ‘adventus,’ which means anticipation and preparation for an amazing event, which is the coming of our Savior and celebrating the Christ — the Good News that changes the world and changes it for all eternity.”

Harbaugh, 61, was raised as a Catholic.

While he went to church “every now and then” as a teenager, he now regularly attends mass. He also has strong ties to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.