Last week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on X that New Yorkers should set their thermostats to 78 degrees during the coming heat wave. Because it’s so hot outside, he wrote that “the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool.” So any easing of the demand for power puts less pressure on New York’s grid. He ended his post: “A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved.”

Yet his suggestion of “78 degrees” sparked considerable backlash.

Various Republican pundits took to social media to comment on his plea, linking the request to raise the temperature while it’s hot outside to socialism, communism, and third-world country behavior.

Between the lines, the chief complaint seemed to be that asking an individual to sacrifice for the sake of the collective represents overarching government principles often opposed by conservatives. It was painted as if Mamdani had committed a great evil by suggesting that we inconvenience ourselves to support the needs of the masses.

Continue reading Denison Forum – The Christian Case for Being Uncomfortably Hot →

I don’t often write on political campaigns lest I appear to contradict the nonpartisan mission of our ministry. However, Graham Platner’s suspension of his Senate campaign in Maine last night illustrates principles that transcend his party and this political moment.

His story, in brief:

Graham Cunningham Platner was born and raised in coastal Maine. He enlisted in the Marine Corps following high school and served eight years, including three combat tours in Iraq as a Marine and one in Afghanistan with the Maryland Army National Guard.

He then worked as a security contractor in Afghanistan before returning to Maine, where he entered the oyster farming business. He became active in local government, then announced his candidacy for the US Senate in August 2025.

He has campaigned on housing affordability, universal health care, strengthening labor unions, and ending government involvement in what he calls “pointless” wars. He won the June Democratic primary with 72 percent of the vote. His victory in the fall election would have been vital for Democrats as they seek to retake the Senate since the incumbent, Susan Collins, is the only Republican running in a state won by Kamala Harris.

Why Platner suspended his campaign

Platner’s campaign has been extremely controversial, however. Among his many issues have been a Nazi-era tattoo on his chest, a history of sexting women during his marriage, and antisemitic statements and actions.

In June 2026, the New York Times reported allegations that Platner engaged in physically threatening behavior toward women he had dated. A former girlfriend, described by the Times as a “Virginia conservative,” alleged that he had abused her physically. He denied her allegations, calling them “politically motivated.”

Then, on July 6, came an allegation by a woman he had dated that he raped her while he was drunk nearly five years prior. The accuser agrees with Platner’s political beliefs but said she felt compelled to come forward due to the charges made against him the month before.

Platner denies her allegation, but high-profile Democrats and the Maine Democratic Party withdrew their support. A variety of national leaders called on him to exit the campaign as well. He complied with their request Wednesday night.

You cannot unring a bell

My response has nothing to do with Platner’s party affiliation. I would offer the same observations if he were a Republican or an Independent, and even if he were not a politician at all.

When I saw the story of his resignation, I thought immediately of the biblical warning, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). It would be easy to use Graham Platner as Exhibit A. Whether he is innocent or guilty of the latest charges against him, he admittedly committed sins in his past that now directly affect his future. At the time, he had no apparent idea he would be a candidate for political office or that his personal behavior would be subjected to national scrutiny.

His story reminds us that what we do today echoes tomorrow, often in ways we cannot imagine and cannot change. You cannot unring a bell. Words spoken and actions taken cannot be unspoken or untaken.

God will forgive all we confess to him (1 John 1:9) and forget all he forgives (Isaiah 43:25), but the consequences of our actions often remain. David is known to history as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), but he is also remembered for his sin with Bathsheba and all the sins he committed to cover it up.

If everybody knew everything about everyone

Here’s the part of the story that doesn’t often get attention: For every Graham Platner whose personal failings are eventually exposed to public scrutiny, there must be many who don’t get found out. If Platner had not run for office, I wonder how much of his past would be in the news today. How many other people have done what he did without the consequences he is facing?

In this sense, it doesn’t always seem that “your sin will find you out” in ways we expect it to. You and I have sins in our past that no one knows about, mistakes and failures that we are grateful not to see the light of day. If everybody knew everything about everyone, no one would be unscathed or unashamed.

Consequently, we might think this warning doesn’t really apply to us, that our sins are somehow exempt from such repercussions. So long as we confess them to God, we are forgiven and our sins are made “white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). If we don’t run for office or otherwise expose ourselves to public scrutiny, we can evade the consequences of our actions. Or so we think.

Here are two reasons we’re wrong.

One: We have no way to guarantee that our past, no matter how secret, will never be discovered. For example, in one of the churches I pastored, I asked our tech support to implement a pornography filter on all our computers. That same day, they caught one of our ministers watching pornography in his office. He resigned and we were able to provide counseling that saved their marriage. He thought for years that his porn addiction was secret, until it wasn’t.

Two: The consequences of private sin go far deeper than public knowledge. They hinder our prayers (Isaiah 59:2) and grieve and quench the Spirit, keeping him from empowering and using us fully (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). Scripture therefore warns, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper” (Proverbs 28:13a).

Here’s the good news: the verse continues, “but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (v. 13b).

Do you need such mercy today?

Quote for the day:

“God is against my sin because he is for me.” —James Bryan Smith

Our latest website resources:

• CS Lewis, Robert Sloan, and Rahab: Faithful obedience and the providence of place
• How the World Cup inspires awe: What is the most powerful emotion?
• Best Of: John Stonestreet on “Truth Rising” and courage in today’s culture
• Empty words or real change from NATO, Russia, and Hamas?
• Choosing between two revolutions: a final call to decide what kind of nation—and what kind of people—we will be

Denison Forum

What is the most powerful emotion?

When humans move together with passion in one direction, we are like so many droplets of water in a tsunami. Nowhere is this clearer than the World Cup.

Though I’m from Texas, my wife and I currently live in Edinburgh, Scotland. This was the first time in 28 years that Scotland qualified for the World Cup. We witnessed great energy and excitement at a watch party when the first match kicked off at 2 a.m., UK time. The match was on Saturday night—Sunday morning, technically—but Scotland made Monday a temporary national holiday. That tells you how seriously the Scotts took the game. The match was electric and close. Sadly, Scotland didn’t make the playoffs by a kilt’s fringe.

It was also fun to watch the Scottish fans, called the Tartan Army, go viral in the US. The Tartan Army wore kilts, marched up and down downtown streets to bagpipes, and sang and chanted with gusto. Not to mention their head-scratching prank: putting cones on the heads of statues. Reportedly, in a more negative light, many pubs and bars ran out of beer in Boston. Good and questionable, the Tartan Army has made a name for itself.

Or take Norway. They’ve been making the rounds on social media for their chants and rowing in unison—like the Vikings of old in longboats. That might not sound impressive until you witness tens of thousands of fans yelling gutturally, “row, row, row!”

As any CEO, pastor, or manager knows, getting multiple people on the same page feels like wading through sand. Why do some ideas, events, and visions create such passion and others fade into obscurity? Put another way, how do crowds form—and stay? The answer is worth billions. FIFA’s revenue from 2022 to 2026 is projected to come to around $13 billion.

The answer lies in the sense of being a part.

The power of belonging

The feeling of being a part is perhaps the most powerful human experience. But no one really belongs for belonging’s sake. As my Dad, Chris Legg, likes to say, no one pursues diversity for diversity’s sake. Instead, diversity is an effect. It’s downstream of a shared value. This is true of the Christian faith, as well as all religions, sports teams, and national cultures.

These shared values are like a magnetic force. They pull us in and together.

So, what inspires us toward a value that brings us together? In soccer, there’s a sense of belonging amid the highs and lows, a sense of national identity, participation in a sport you might play yourself, and shared admiration for raw human skill. There’s also an undeniable sense of awe.

The anatomy of awe

The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that awe is a spiritual, or “self-transcendent” emotion. Haidt defends religion as an important pillar of society and human flourishing while being a secular Jew himself. Awe is a “moral emotion” and a transcendent experience—but it is not merely religious. It is about feeling small in the face of grandness and the opening up of possibilities.

For example, a large military parade might inspire awe. So might a mountain. Or a professional hitting a ball hard with their foot. Watching a 6’5” man leap five feet into the air and bicycle kick a ball between defenders into a goal, to the celebration of millions of people across the world, certainly inspires me with awe.

In these cases, I think awe is not a sin. But after awe, devotion and worship closely follow. Awe is spiritually treacherous. At the same time, it’s necessary for human society to flourish. Awe, for a Christian, is something that can be channeled into the fear of the Lord. When we are in awe of Yahweh, we are inspired to devotion and worship—to glorify.

Perhaps we can glorify God through awe at an object by directing it toward its creator. The mountain inspires awe in us, but we glorify God because of it. We can proverbially “honor the emperor,” but cannot glorify or worship him (1 Peter 2:17). The same is true of America, or any nation, and its identity. Particularly politically, it’s very, very easy to substitute the created for the creator (Romans 1:25).

Directing our awe toward God

Although the markers of different teams might be different—whether they wear kilts, jerseys, or funny t-shirts—these are merely outward signs of inner commitment. These things do unite us, but the value, appreciation, and other emotional connections, like awe, are the essential components. The uniforms, the chants, the emotional connections, and the commitments are all electrical charges toward forming an energetic crowd revolving around some shared pursuit. Humans are designed for this connection, centered chiefly on our Creator.

And so it is that we can achieve shared meaning, purpose, and value. We order our lives through devotion, honor, and worship toward the central object of awe and glory—God. Emotional experiences help this orienting process along. This is part of why church services include sung worship, sacraments like baptism, liturgies, the reading of Scripture, and prayer; in some traditions, this includes majestic artwork, architecture, and incense.

Of course, this unification is a matter of identity. You’re either a part of Christ’s universal church or not. But these orthopraxies point us to the eternal truth of our belonging. Paul uses the metaphor of being parts of a body:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (1 Corinthians 12:12–14)

If you are baptized into this one body of Christ, how then should you live? Is your awe directed toward creation—even a person or movement—or its Creator? And does your worship flow in the same direction?

Our relationships and community are of vital importance. Where do you feel like you belong, and where are you unified with others? Where does their awe and worship flow?

Most of us know that we should glorify God, and God alone. But in practice, as we could all attest to, it’s much, much harder to live this truth out. So, take the time with me to reflect on where your awe, devotion, worship, and glorification are directed.

Denison Forum