Bouncing Down the Road (Friday Devotional)

 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

- Psalm 46:13

A couple days ago, I was driving up Centerville Road when I spotted something out of the ordinary in front of me. It was a large, red, inflatable ball—the kind you see for $5 in a cage at Walmart—bouncing down the road. Maybe it had been in the bed of somebody’s pickup truck and had bounced out, maybe it had been thrown out the window of a passing car like litter, who knows? But there it went, bouncing down the 6-lane road.

It was never a hazard for me—I was in the left lane and it was in the right—but I watched the ball from the moment it caught my attention until long after I drove past it. I was waiting for something—for the moment a car hit the ball head-on and popped it. But as far as I know, that ball just kept bouncing down the street. The last I saw, it was still bouncing down Centerville Road.

Something about that bouncing red ball felt metaphorical to me, felt like life. All of us are, in a sense, like that ball. Every day we do the basic things we know how to do—we go to work, we spend time with friends, we do our chores, we eat, we sleep. We bounce down the road.

But for most of us, there is a persistent feeling of insecurity. What if I get laid off? What if my friends move away? What if the doctor tells me I have cancer? All it takes is one big event, one head-on collision, and life as you know it could come to an end. We need something to make us feel safe, something to make us feel less afraid in a fearful world.

In Psalm 46, the writer speaks of God as a “refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” The psalmist doesn’t live in some pie-in-the-sky fiction where bad things never happen to good people; he has seen enough life to know that things can get dangerous quickly.

But “though the earth should change”—whether through natural disaster, manmade crisis, or any sort of peril—the psalmist says he will not fear. He knows the Lord is with him, so ultimately he is secure.

Life can make you feel like you’re a fragile inflatable ball bouncing down a busy road, just moments away from being run down. But the Bible tells you who to trust in your fear and insecurity—not your own strength and wisdom, but the Lord’s. Keep bouncing, and trust God to get you where you need to be.

All's Fair (Friday Devotional)

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 

- 1 Corinthians 12:14-15

This weekend marks the conclusion of a favorite annual tradition for families across our region, including mine: the State Fair of Texas. Every year, more than 2 million Texans—and, at least for one weekend, visitors north of the Red River—make their way to Dallas’ Fair Park to eat, play games, eat, ride rides, eat, see shows, and eat some more.

There are probably certain parts of the fair you enjoy every time you go—for us, no trip is complete without a Fletcher’s corny dog, a stroll through the livestock barn, and a quick perusal of the new cars in the Automobile Building. Then again, there are other aspects of the fair you may have never tried. Maybe you skip the games at the midway, or steer clear of the Ferris wheel. Maybe—<shudder>—you pack your own lunch so you won’t have to pay for fair food.

But whether you do it all or simply grab your corny dog and go, I think you’ll agree, the State Fair is more than just the activities you partake in. It’s crowds gathering around Big Tex for selfies, even if you don’t take any yourself. It’s live music playing on the main stage, even if you don’t know the band’s name. It’s the thousands of sights, sounds, smells, and tastes—the ones for you and the ones for others. Some parts appeal to you more than others, but every bit of it matters.

So it is with the church, where individual differences and distinctions come together in the unity of the Spirit. The Bible teaches us that all believers are empowered with different spiritual gifts—everything from wisdom to hospitality to teaching—for the common good. Similarly, the church has always been made up of both men and women, young and old, rich and poor.

Such diversity can be challenging, and so the temptation is to divide ourselves into more homogenous groupings in the name of ‘relatability.’ But the danger in doing so—in always surrounding believers with people just like them—is that you rob people of the kind of church Jesus created.

The truth is that every person has something to contribute to the church; every individual member matters to the body. Your brother in Christ possesses gifts you don’t have, and you have something to offer that your sister in Christ doesn’t. We need everyone to carry out the mission our Lord has given us.

Like the offerings at the fair, you don’t have to appreciate or even understand every ministry of your church. Some will appeal to you and others won’t resonate. But praise God for all those using their gifts to make your church a vibrant, multifaceted family of faith.

Made New (Friday Devotional)

 

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

- Romans 6:4

Netflix used to be best known for sending DVDs through the mail. Amazon once exclusively sold books. YouTube originally started as a dating website. And before it was marketed as modeling clay for children, Play-Doh was initially sold as a cleaner to remove coal residue from wallpaper.

All these companies, for various reasons, reinvented themselves over time. They found new purpose, a new way to exist in the world—and because of their imagination and their willingness to change, they saw growth they had never imagined.

When the Bible describes life in Christ, it explains it as just such a conversion—not a slight modification of behavior, but a total transformation. Believers in Jesus are baptized in water, and that immersion symbolizes a spiritual death and resurrection—when we emerge from the waters of baptism, we do so as new creations. Even as Jesus was raised from the dead, we are raised to new life in Christ.

Longtime disciples of Jesus need that reminder: there is supposed to be a marked difference between your life before you were saved and your life after you come to faith. Salvation is not something you tack onto an existing lifestyle, but something that changes everything.

If secular corporations can be transformed, surely the same can be true for God’s children. May we be known not for minor modifications, but for total transformation.

Christlike Compassion (Friday Devotional)

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

- Matthew 9:36

The other day, something upset my daughter Katherine. I don’t remember if she’d hurt herself, if somebody had made her mad, or if she’d just been told she needed to do her chores—but whatever the case, she had collapsed into a heap on the floor, sobbing.

What made me remember that moment was what happened next. As she wailed, our son Isaac, not yet 2 years old, curiously walked up to her. Even as she screamed, he cupped her face in his hands—the same way he does to me and his mom when he wants us to pay attention to him—and quietly questioned, “Hi, KaKa?”

There’s a reason why that little moment has been rolling around my brain all week—as adults, we almost never do that. When we see a stranger in need, it makes us uncomfortable and we look away.  When a loved one is struggling, we silently wonder how long it will take for things to go back to normal. Our immediate reaction is not to enter into someone else’s suffering, but to flee from it.

Jesus never ran away from people in need, he ran toward them. Whether to heal, to teach, or simply to console, Jesus’ instinct was to reach out to the suffering, to put their face in his hands. Because he knew—and he was teaching us—that love is not just something you feel, but something you demonstrate.

Christlike compassion requires more than good intentions, it requires stepping outside your comfort zone. It means showing people, not just telling them, about the love of Jesus. May you not respond to tears by turning away, but by stepping up.

September Reading Log

 

Not a lot of entries in this month's log, but believe me, I read a LOT. In fact, this was probably my most disciplined month of reading all year. Take a look below to see what held my attention this month!

BECOMING THE PASTOR'S WIFE by Beth Allison Barr

In 2021, one of the biggest books in evangelicalism was Beth Allison Barr's The Making of Biblical Womanhood, a book that was part history and part polemic, all focused on how the modern concept of complementarianism was not, as often said, "what the Bible has always taught," but was really just a new spin on sanctified patriarchy. She wrote that it was time for women to go and be free, aided by examples in both the Bible and church history which prove women's calling by God.

Becoming the Pastor's Wife has a narrower focus but a similar theme. In this book, Barr keys in on the role of the pastor's wife, showing how for generations that role has been both elevated and inherently limited within the church. Her argument is that this has been done less as a sign of respect for ministerial spouses than as a way to enforce complementarianism—the only leadership role a woman can hold in the church is an unofficial one that is directly tied to her relationship to a man. In other words, little girls are taught that God wouldn't call them to be ministers, he would call them to marry ministers.

Barr approaches this argument from a number of different angles, showing how pastor's wives have blessed their churches and communities even as they are kept in the shadows. Her historical examples range from medieval saints to 20th century women in the Southern Baptist Convention. And sprinkled throughout is her own testimony as a pastor's wife—the ways she has fit within the mold of what is expected of her and the ways she has not.

This book does not necessarily have the broad appeal of The Making of Biblical Womanhood, but is nevertheless a fascinating and, at times, provocative read. There is plenty to learn from Becoming the Pastor's Wife, and Beth Allison Barr has once again blessed the church with her research and writing.

GOD'S COACH by Skip Bayless

THE BOYS by Skip Bayless

HELL-BENT by Skip Bayless

Before his forays on First Take or Undisputed made him a household name among sports fans, Skip Bayless was a columnist for the dearly departed Dallas Times-Herald, where his takes on the city's sports teams—especially the omnipresent Dallas Cowboys—made him a local celebrity in the 1980s and 1990s. Along the way, he wrote three infamous books about the Cowboys, filled with both both insight and conjecture, reporting and sensationalism. You know, classic Skip.

God's Coach is, at its heart, a hit job. Bayless became a columnist at the low point of the Tom Landry years, when the coach was clearly past his prime and struggling to hang on. So Bayless' take in this book is that Landry was never actually the genius he was portrayed to be—merely a good man and a sincere Christian whose image outpaced his skill. On the plus side, this book highlights the players who made the Cowboys into America's Team, showing that they—not the the trinity of Landry, president and general manager Tex Schramm, and chief scout Gil Brandt—were most responsible for Dallas' consistent success. But ultimately, Skip doth protest too much—while never quite coming off as vindictive, his criticism of Landry ultimately seems more about the author's contrarianism than about telling the truth.

The Boys is the most conventional of the three books, a beginning-to-end account of the Cowboy's 1992 season, when Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson's dreams became reality and Dallas inaugurated a dynasty with its first Super Bowl win since the glory days of Landry, Schramm, and Brandt. In one sense, this is the best of Bayless' three books because it is the least spectacular—this is Skip the sportswriter, not Skip the provocateur. There's some behind-the-scenes drama along the way—including, presciently, tension between Jimmy and Jerry—but mostly this is just a chronicle of how that season played out. Its biggest weakness is that you can really tell which players and assistants gave Bayless a lot of access and which didn't want to talk to him—from reading this book, you'd think defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt was the glue that held the team together and that offensive coordinator Norv Turner barely showed up to work. Give Skip the time of day and he'll make you a star.

Hell-Bent is the wildest of the three books, as Skip shifts back into let's-make-some-headlines mode, most infamously by speculating (absent any evidence whatsoever) that Troy Aikman might be gay and that he once called a teammate the N-word. The central drama of the book is the very real conflict between Aikman and head coach Barry Switzer, who took over after the firing of Jimmy Johnson and brought a far more laid-back, boys-will-be-boys attitude to the enterprise. Bayless takes Switzer's side—since that's the opposite of what the rest of the Dallas media was doing—portraying him as misunderstood and Aikman as whiney and petty. The book culminates in the Cowboys' 1995 Super Bowl victory, which comes more as a relief than a triumph and which Bayless ominously (and, as it turns out, correctly) predicts may be the beginning of the end for the Cowboys dynasty.

Look, these books were pretty popular because Skip Bayless has always had a knack for getting attention and turning a phrase. They're also trashy, over-the-top, and full of a lot more style than substance. So, in a way, they are the perfect books for the Jerry Jones-era Cowboys—they're not good, but you can't look away.

 

THOR BY JASON AARON: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION VOL. 1-5

From 2012 to 2019, Marvel handed the keys to Asgard over to Jason Aaron, and the result was 100+ issues of arguably the best comics Thor has ever seen—only the great Walt Simonson has a case for topping Aaron's run. At a rate of more than 3 issues per day, I immersed myself in the whole run this past month, gobbling up all the thunder I could withstand.

The run is bookended by stories about a brand new character who immediately landed on the Mount Rushmore of Thor villains: Gorr the God Butcher, an ordinary mortal whose life of tragedy and unanswered prayers, combined with the fortuitous discovery of the ultrapowerful Necrosword, give him the motivation and the means to hunt down and destroy all the gods in the Marvel Universe. Menacing, creepy, and seemingly omnipotent, Gorr is a worthy antagonist for the God of Thunder, and the battles against him cross space and time—it is only by enlisting the aid of a younger version of himself and his future self (the truly awesome King Thor the All-Father) that Thor is able to stand a chance against the God Butcher.

The rest of the run is dominated by two stories: the War of the Realms and the replacement of the Odinson with Jane Foster, his onetime lover, who becomes the new Thor when the old one is rendered unworthy by his own self-doubt. The War of the Realms is plotted and led by longtime Thor antagonist Malekith, a dark elf who I'd never cared much about but who makes an incredible villain in this story, as he seeks to take over or destroy all ten of the realms, from Asgard to Midgard (Earth) to Svartalheim, Niffleheim, and all the other lands of Norse mythology. It all culminates in an event that brings the rest of the Marvel Universe into the fray to defend Earth and take down Malekith, led by Thor.

The story of "lady Thor" is really the heart of the run though. Jane Foster, wracked by cancer, is imbued with the powers of the God of Thunder every time she picks up Thor's hammer, but doing so accelerates her disease—being Thor is killing her, but the realms need her. While the story was divisive among misogynists, it is beautifully told, so much so that I was actually disappointed when the "real Thor" was once again worthy enough to pick up Mjolnir.

All of these stories are aided by incredible art, first from Esad Ribic and then Russell Dauterman (and then Mike del Mundo, though he places a distant third). Ribic brings a painterly quality that makes the Gorr stories feel appropriately mythological and high-concept. Dauterman, in contrast, is pure metal, superhero comics at their best. Both are perfect for the stories they are telling, and writer Jason Aaron couldn't be more fortunate to have them as co-creators.

If all you know of the Jason Aaron run is its adaptation in the much-maligned film Thor: Love and Thunder, you owe it to yourself to read the FAR superior source material. It's the most fun I've ever had reading Thor.

Bow Your Heads, Close Your Eyes (Friday Devotional)

 

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 

- Psalm 46:10

When teaching children how to pray, there are usually three instructions I give: Put your hands together, bow your head, and close your eyes. Before we ever get into “Dear God,” before I ever explain the different kinds of prayer, and long before the final “amen,” we start with that simple posture: put your hands together, bow your head, and close your eyes.

But have you ever wondered why we do those things when we pray? Why is that posture—one never explicitly demanded by Scripture—so automatic for believers around the world and throughout the ages?

I think it comes down to one word: still. When you clasp your hands together, you render them incapable of doing anything else—they can’t make anything or break anything, they can’t move at all. When you bow your head, you fix your gaze in one direction, limiting the scope of what you can see. And when you close your eyes, you block out your vision altogether, shutting out the world around you. For the time you are praying, you cease moving and observing. You’re simply still.

In our overstimulated world, there is something powerfully humble about making yourself still for the sake of prayer. Ours is a society where focus is fragmented, where we are bombarded by ceaseless alerts and notifications, where taking a 5-minute bathroom break without your phone in hand is borderline incomprehensible. We live in a state of constant distraction.

But when you pray, you declare that time with God is worthy of your focus. When you bow your head and close your eyes, you choose to shut out the noise. You are still.

So let me encourage you now, whether you are reading this on your phone while waiting in line, on your desktop computer in between tasks, or on your iPad while you bounce between emails and social media—stop what you’re doing for a couple minutes. Turn it all off and set it to the side. Just for a few minutes, be still and know that the Lord is God. Listen to what God has to tell you when you pray—because when you don’t move and you can’t see, you’ll be amazed by what you hear.

Trivial Pursuit (Friday Devotional)

 

Who is wise and knowledgeable among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 

- James 3:13

 

Ok, it’s pop quiz time. Let’s see how well you know your Bible.

 

Q1: What was the name of Aaron’s wife?

A: Elisheba (see Exodus 6:23)

 

Q2: Upon what mountain was Israel cursed for disobedience?

A: Mount Ebal (Deuteronomy 27:13)

 

Q3: What was the name of the cave where David sought refuge when fleeing from King Saul?

A: The Cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1)

 

Q4: What does Jehovah Shammah mean translated from Hebrew to English?

A: The Lord is there (Ezekiel 48:35

Q5: What Athenian judge was converted under Paul’s preaching?

A: Dionysius (Acts 17:34)

 

How’d you do? If you got any of those right off the top of your head, you did better than me…and I went to school for this stuff!

I suspect for most of you, those questions were tough, a reminder that there’s plenty of Bible knowledge you don’t have right on the tip of your tongue. Whether you’ve been reading the Bible for 80 seconds or 80 years, there’s always more to know.

But Scripture reminds us that, even as we should continually read and learn, wisdom doesn’t come from accumulating mountains of trivia. Rather, wisdom is found when we apply God’s Word to our lives, practicing faith in gentleness and care.

In the end, people don’t think you know God because you can pass a quiz like the one above. Godly wisdom is displayed through Christlike behavior, by living for Jesus instead of just knowing about him. So read your Bible, memorize verses, study up—but not so you’ll win at trivia night. Do it so you can show people the gospel by how you live.