Jordan Branch

Suffering dispels the illusion that we have the strength and competence to rule our own lives. Timothy Keller

All the love that ever was in any parents towards their children, is but as one drop of the infinite ocean of fatherly love that there is in God unto His people. Jeremiah Burroughs

There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing it's worth. It sounds like music in my ear, the sweetest name on earth. O, how I love Jesus. Frederick Whitfield

A Pakistani Christian was imprisoned for more than 18 months after being falsely accused of blasphemy. Her accusers are Muslim men offended that she had a Christian cross on the outside of her home. icommittopray.com/request/2928/p…

The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures; he will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures. -John Newton

We’re incredibly proud of Jonathan Parnell, Send City missionary and lead pastor of Cities Church in Minnesota. He consistently points people to Jesus with boldness and grace. Don’t miss this message. youtu.be/2HIJpAGxPBk

All beauty is a breadcrumb path that leads us to Christ. -Steve DeWitt

Grace flows downhill.

And prepare Your church now—resources, leaders, and foundations—so that when Iran opens, they are ready to respond swiftly and faithfully. Amen.

Father, we lift up Iran. Strengthen and steady Your church—give believers courage to remain faithful, wisdom to know what is wise, and deliverance from evil. Fill them with holy boldness so the light of the gospel continues to advance, bringing hope, healing, and salvation. #Iran

Father, please minister to Renee Good’s family as they grieve this bitter loss. Give ICE agents and local law enforcement peace to carry out their duties with faithfulness and integrity. Quiet anxiety, anger, and fear across the country.

5 ways to pray for the Church in Iran right now: globalchristianrelief.org/stories/pray-c…

Pray for Iran. Prayfor those brave men and women who are taking to the streets. Pray that they may choose their leaders. Pray that Iranians may see what it looks like when peace and prosperity grow from the courage of a people rather than the terror of a state.

If you should ask me the ways of God, I would tell you the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is still humility. -Augustine of Hippo

Friends- This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die. Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do. I’m blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, “Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.” Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all. Still, I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad. I can’t begin to describe how great my people are. During the past year, as we’d temporarily stepped back from public life and built new family rhythms, Melissa and I have grown even closer — and that on top of three decades of the best friend a man could ever have. Seven months ago, Corrie was commissioned into the Air Force and she’s off at instrument and multi-engine rounds of flight school. Last week, Alex kicked butt graduating from college a semester early even while teaching gen chem, organic, and physics (she’s a freak). This summer, 14-year-old Breck started learning to drive. (Okay, we’ve been driving off-book for six years — but now we’ve got paper to make it street-legal.) I couldn’t be more grateful to constantly get to bear-hug this motley crew of sinners and saints. There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come. Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle I once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say “hope” when what we mean is “optimism.” To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son. A well-lived life demands more reality — stiffer stuff. That’s why, during advent, even while still walking in darkness, we shout our hope — often properly with a gravelly voice soldiering through tears. Such is the calling of the pilgrim. Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment. That is, we hope in a real Deliverer — a rescuing God, born at a real time, in a real place. But the eternal city — with foundations and without cancer — is not yet. Remembering Isaiah’s prophecies of what’s to come doesn’t dull the pain of current sufferings. But it does put it in eternity’s perspective: “When we've been there 10,000 years…We've no less days to sing God's praise.” I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape. But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatments, but more importantly as we celebrate Christmas, we wish you peace: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned….For to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9). With great gratitude, and with gravelly-but-hopeful voices, Ben — and the Sasses

@MLB It’s time!

JUST IN: the new ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2026! 12 first-time candidates join 15 holdovers. A player must receive 75% of votes from the BBWAA for election. Results will be announced Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.

We went to an active conflict zone in Nigeria, and it's worse than we thought.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer