WC Group Stage begins today! Plus: reading Romans with Dylan, Screwtape, and the Didache
Friends,
Today the best part of the greatest sporting event in the world begins, as the World Cup enters the knockout stage. No more ties, no more dead rubber matches. One nation moves on and another nation packs their bags after every single match.
Before the tournament, I was pulling for the following Nations in order. The US of A plus two motherlands, along with nations in which people we love live or for whom players we admire play.
The list is now updated after the Group Stage.
🇺🇸 United States
🏴 England
🇩🇪 Germany
🇸🇳 Senegal
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇰🇷 South Korea (eliminated in the Group Stage)
Quick Knockout Stage orientation for those new to the game: In the knockout stages you play the full 90 minutes plus stoppage time. If the match is tied, then two additional 15-minute halves will be played in full (no golden goal). If the match is still tied then it will be settled by penalty kicks. I find PKs to be the best worst way to end a match. Thrilling, for sure, but it sure hurts to lose that way.
(Also today: we enter the time of year in which Viv and I are the same age for a brief window. A little over two months from now she returns to being a “cradle robber.” I feel comfortable commenting on my wife’s age in this email because everyone who has ever met us knows that she looks the same as she did the day we first met and I … do not.)
Pre-orders continue for Rhythms of Habit!
Reading St. Paul with Dylan, Screwtape, and the Didache
Notes from my sermon on Romans 6:12-23 this morning can be found here. Bob Dylan, Uncle Scretape, and the Didache all had something to contribute.
Two notes to my Canadian readers.
First, big day today as Canada plays in their first ever knockout stage at the World Cup! Moments of glory or pain await.
Second, once Rhtyms of Habit is published on August 1st, you can save on shipping by ordering from CiRCE’s Canadian distribution partner here. This won’t work for pre-orders, but will be your best bet come August 1st unless you want to wait until the book reaches other distributors (Amazon, etc.)