Rebirth (Friday Devotional)

“Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

John 3:3-6

In just a few days, the baton will be passed from 2017 to 2018 and, arbitrarily but indisputably, people around the globe will seek rebirth. Whether with formal resolutions or not, most everyone enters the New Year reflecting upon the past year and hoping for something better in the days to come. We set new goals, we make promises to ourselves and others, we begin new programs—for many, January 1^st marks the beginning of “a whole new me.”

The New Year is a hopeful holiday for so many because we all fundamentally understand that we need rebirth, that transformation is necessary for us to become the best we can be. Whether physically, intellectually, vocationally, or relationally, each of us has gaps in our lives that need to be filled and weaknesses that need to be shored up. The New Year is the starting point for addressing those flaws by throwing all our efforts and plans and energy into the task of rebirth.

But Scripture reminds us that spiritual rebirth is not something we can accomplish ourselves. It is only by the grace of God in Jesus Christ that we can be “born from above,” only by “water and Spirit” that we can know God. Becoming a new, redeemed creation is something neither our words nor our works, neither our plans nor our programs can bring about. Only Jesus bring the hope, peace, joy, and love that our hearts cry out for.

If spiritual rebirth is something you long for in 2018, personally or corporately, you must first remember who bring it about. Individual rebirth doesn’t come from a reading plan or a prayer program. Church rebirth doesn’t come from a staff change or an infusion of new programs. National rebirth doesn’t come from elections or legislation. Ultimately, spiritual rebirth at every level comes not by your efforts, but by God’s grace. So in 2018, don’t pursue spiritual rebirth—rather, pursue the God who offers it.

Have To vs. Want To (Friday Devotional)

“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

- Isaiah 9:6-7

There’s a big difference in how I approach cleaning the toilet versus cleaning my car. When I approach the toilet bowl, brush in one hand and Clorox in the other, I do so with a wrinkled nose and a question guiding the process: how quickly can I do this and it still be considered acceptable? Finishing the job brings no satisfaction or pride, only relief. If I never had to clean the toilet again, I’d be a happy man.

But when I clean my car, the process is much more deliberate—and much more fun. I take the time to organize my glove box and console, I vacuum out every nook and cranny, and I even wipe off any smudges on the hubcaps. When the job is done, I can’t help but admire how shiny and new the car looks. For that moment of satisfaction alone, I’d wash my car once a week if time and money allowed it.

Though ultimately the two tasks boil down to the same principle—cleaning something dirty—my attitude is distinctly different depending on whether I’m cleaning my toilet or my car. The reason is simple: one is something I have to do and the other is something I want to do.

During Advent, we celebrate a different kind of cleanup job, the redemptive sending of Christ into our fallen world to establish God’s kingdom. Isaiah 9 offers us a prophetic vision of that kingdom, a reign in which there will be “endless peace,” upheld with justice and righteousness forever by the one who is called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

It is a vision full of hope, but perhaps the most encouraging note of all comes at the end of verse 7: “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” This tells us that God sent His Son not out of a begrudging sense of obligation, nor because someone twisted His arm to do so. God sent us salvation because He wanted to see us rescued, because He wanted us to know Him and love Him. When the Word became flesh and lived among us, it was not because He had to, but because He wanted to.

As you seek to live in obedience to the God of your salvation, it is worth considering how zealous your discipleship is. Forgiving those who wrong you, caring for those in need, giving of yourself for the benefit of others—are these things you do because you think you have to, or because you want to? Are you truly loving God and loving people, or just going through the spiritual motions? This season is full of opportunities to give, serve, and rejoice—may you do so in the spirit of the Savior, loving not because you have to, but because you want to. 

Cleaning Up Messes (Friday Devotional)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

- Matthew 5:9

I never have to wonder when my one-year-old son is finished eating. We’re working on teaching him sign language for “all done,” but in the mean time he’s come up with his own sign: he starts throwing his food on the ground. There’s no malice to it, but I’ll admit that it never ceases to annoy me—after all, once he’s gotten his message across that he’s finished, he gets to crawl around and play. As the responsible adult, I’m left to pick up his crumbs and scrub the floor. And the sticky mess that took him just a few seconds to create usually takes me several minutes to wipe away.

No doubt about it, it’s faster, more immediately gratifying, and more entertaining to make a mess than to clean one up, a truth that applies to far more than throwing food. As much as we claim to desire peace in our lives, conflict just comes more naturally. There’s an instant enjoyment that comes from lobbing bombs at your opposition and putting them in their place. Given the choice between stoking conflict or seeking reconciliation, between waging war and pursuing peace, there’s no question which is easier.

But easier isn’t always better. Shouting down an opponent may shut them up, but it also eliminates any chance at constructive dialogue. Punches and counterpunches win fights, but never friends. Even when retaliation is just, it’s never healing. So Jesus commends those who pursue the harder road of forgiveness and reconciliation, saying that peacemakers will be blessed as “children of God.”

In this Advent season, we are reminded that Jesus came not only preaching peace, but embodying it, from Bethlehem to Calvary. Every time that violence or vengeance seemed to provide a clear path to an earthly kingdom, Jesus insisted on the narrow path to God’s kingdom. Even when it cost him his life, Jesus refused to hate and hurt the lost—because his mission was to seek and to save them.

So as you rejoice with the angel chorus, praising God and praying for “peace on earth and goodwill toward men,” may you do your part to make such peace a reality, even when doing so is difficult. It takes far more strength to bear a cross than to bear arms—but those who dare to find that strength are truly children of God.

The Perfect Christmas (Friday Devotional)

“As it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one.””

- Romans 3:10

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

- Romans 3:23

My Advent wreath, as you can see, isn’t perfect.

That’s not for lack of effort, you understand. Since our son was born ten days before Christmas last year, this month marks the first opportunity for Lindsey and me to celebrate Advent with him, to introduce the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love that accompany the birth of Christ. And we want to do it right, so we decided we needed an Advent wreath so that we could light the candles at home just like we do on Sunday mornings with our church family.

After making the rounds at Mardel, Hobby Lobby, and Michael’s, I learned that Advent wreaths apparently aren’t something you buy ready-made (at least not in Waco). So we resolved to make our own. Easy enough, I assumed—you get a wreath, some candles, and voila…instant Advent wreath.

I ran into my first snag when, after returning to the aforementioned stores, I learned that purple candles (the ones used for the first, second, and fourth weeks Sundays of Advent) are apparently pretty rare. Had I wanted pink, green, blue, white, brown, or even black candles, I’d have had no problem, but purple candles eluded my grasp. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself not to be legalistic about this tradition and settled for red candles.

But when I got home, wreath and candles in tow, Lindsey asked what my plan was for mounting those candles. “We’ll just stick them in the wreath, right?” I asked. Her raised eyebrow told me all I need to know about that plan’s viability.

So Monday night (already almost two days into the Advent season by now), I came home from Hobby Lobby with four glass candle holders and triumphantly plunged one of the red candles into its holder…only to discover that it didn’t fit, at least not perfectly. The candle was in no danger of falling over, but neither would it stand straight up. It just sort of lazily leaned against the holder like a worker on a smoke break.

But with Advent already in full swing (and with me refusing to walk through Hobby Lobby’s doors for a fourth time), we decided our slapdash wreath would have to work. And so it rests on our bookshelf, each candle doing its best impression of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Our wobbly, discolored wreath is far from perfect—but it occurs to me that its flaws may actually help tell the story of why God sent His Son in the first place.

After all, Jesus did not come to save perfect people. Jesus came to bind up the wounded, to restore the broken, and to forgive the sinners—as he once put it, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. None of us, on our own merits, is worthy to even stand in the presence of Almighty God.

Yet at this time of year, perfection seems to be the goal in so many areas. We want to get the perfect gifts for our family members, friends, and coworkers. We want to have perfectly decorated homes. We want to host perfect holiday parties. We want, in general, the perfect Christmas. But take a lesson from my Advent wreath: Christmas is not about your perfection, it’s about His.

November Reading Log

Not as much reading this month due to some busy weekends and more responsibilities at church, but I still managed to get through a couple of big books, a couple of smaller ones, and some interesting articles. Take a look!

4 Articles I Like This Month

Roger Goodell Has a Jerry Jones Problem and Nobody Knows How It Will End by Don Van Natta, Jr. and Seth Wickersham, ESPN the Magazine. 23 minutes.

An investigative piece about the conflict (still brewing) between two of my least favorite people in professional sports. For any NFL fan wondering what drove one of the most powerful owners in pro sports to take on the commish, here are your answers.

I Want to Persuade You to Care About Other People by Danielle Tcholakian, Longreads. 23 minutes.

A thoughtful response to a Huffington Post thinkpiece, "I Don't Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People," that went viral after the 2016 presidential election. In a nation frighteningly divided along partisan lines, is there room for listening, honest debate, and persuasion? The author of this article makes her case for trying, even when so many refuse to. Written from the perspective of a liberal, but absolutely applicable for readers on either side of the aisle.

Pearls Before Breakfast: Can One of the Nation's Greatest Musicians Cut Through the Fog of a D.C. Rush Hour? Let's Find Out. by Gene Weingarten, The Washington Post Magazine. 30 minutes.

A fascinating article I ran across from 2007 in which the Post conducted an experiment: they took a world-class violinist playing world-class music on a world-class violin, put him in a crowded Metro station, and waited to see who would stop to pay attention. The results, analyzed from every angle imaginable, may surprise you, and will definitely make you ask this question: in your busy life, are you willing to let beauty stop you in your tracks?

Hall of Fame articles by Jay Jaffe, Si.com. Average 15 minutes

Ok, I cheated on this one; this is a series of articles, not just one. Every year, baseball writers across the country spill plenty of ink (whether real or digital) over the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, debating which candidates deserve induction. For my money, no one does it better than Sports Illustrated's Jay Jaffe, inventor of the JAWS system which statistically compares candidates to current Hall of Famers in an effort to determine whether a given candidate would raise or lower the Hall's standard. Jaffe writes a detailed article about every single player on the ballot, from the shoo-ins (Chipper Jones) to the guys who will fall off the ballot without receiving a vote (Kevin Millwood). Can't recommend his analysis enough for those, like me, who get irrationally worked up about the Hall of Fame.

ANYWAY ANYTIME ANYWHERE: THIRTY YEARS OF TEXAS BAPTIST MEN MINISTRY by Ken Camp and Orville Scott

When a tornado devastated Moore, Oklahoma in 2013, NBC was one of the numerous media organizations that sent its journalists to chronicle the destruction. During a broadcast of NBC Nightly News, reporter Harry Smith made a remarkable observation to anchor Brian Williams: "As you and I have seen in so many different places in this country, if you’re waiting for the government, you’re going to be in for an awful long wait. The Baptist men, they’re going to get it done tomorrow."

Anyway Anytime Anywhere celebrates and describes the first 30 years of ministry by those Baptist men, specifically the Texas Baptist Men, a nonprofit organization most famous for its disaster relief ministries. Whether prompted by earthquakes in Mexico, hurricanes in Florida, or famine in North Korea--yes, North Korea--Texas Baptist Men has gone all over the globe since 1968 to purify water, cook meals, clear rubble, build homes and churches, and share the gospel. And both the world and the kingdom of God are richer for their efforts.

Anyway Anytime Anywhere shows how much the organization grew in its first 30 years and how many different areas of ministry Texas Baptist Men was and is involved in. While most notable for its disaster relief efforts, I learned from the book that TBM is also involved in water ministry, church renewal, prison ministry, and many other areas. Where other nonprofit organizations and denominational entities have bogged down in politics (institutional or national), financial quagmires, and all sorts of other troubles, TBM has been a shining light in the Baptist world, beloved by virtually everyone for their commitment to being the hands and feet of Christ.

As for the book itself, well, you should definitely buy a copy and read it. Why? 1) Proceeds go to support the ministries of TBM. 2) It's interesting to track the progression of TBM from a small, well-meaning group of retirees to the well-oiled task force it is now. 3) The author's a pretty great guy. Like, really, really great.

I'm making an effort to learn more about Texas Baptists this year, and reading Anyway Anytime Anywhere was an excellent part of that education. I'd recommend it to fellow pastors and laypeople who respect and are interested in TBM.

RADICAL: TAKING BACK YOUR FAITH FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM by David Platt

One of the more influential evangelical books of the last decade, Radical makes the case that the American Dream has watered down, distorted, and choked out the gospel in the hearts of many Christians, and that the American church must change if it is going to make an impact on the world. While flawed, it's a book worth checking out for any Bible Belt Christian.

First, the good. David Platt, a megachurch pastor and now the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, writes with prophetic zeal about America's culture of consumerism and how it is slowly killing the church. Echoing the arguments of people like Shane Claiborne and Brennan Manning, Platt argues that a Christian who drives a fancy car, attends a fancy megachurch like his, and has a healthy retirement fund, yet devotes no time, attention, or money to the poor and the lost is not being obedient to the call of the gospel. Evangelical culture makes faith all about you even though Jesus brought a gospel all about others, and Platt is not afraid to call out this hypocrisy. In reading his critique of American culture, especially American evangelical culture, I found myself nodding along with virtually everything he said.

His solution, however, needs work. Essentially, he wants to see every Christian become an international missionary. I'm oversimplifying, but not by a lot. Platt wants to see every Christian foster children, sell their possessions, go overseas annually, etc.—and while these are admirable things to which every Christian should give serious consideration, he doesn't have much grace for the legitimate reasons some people cannot do these things. His assumption, essentially, is that every Christian reading his book is the Rich Young Ruler— and while many probably are (more than would admit it), his solutions only apply to this group.

Overall, Radical paints with a broad brush, something that works when he's hammering the problem but becomes problematic when he's crafting a solution. This book is a good rallying cry to those in a spiritual stupor, but it's not a universal prescription to snap them out of that haze. I recommend it, but as always when reading or hearing someone's interpretation of the Bible, pray for the Holy Spirit to help you discern what's truth and what's opinion.

THE BULLY PULPIT: THEODORE ROOSEVELT, WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF JOURNALISM by Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Progressive Era that began the 20th century was an important period in American history, a time in which the federal government adapted itself to the needs of a suddenly industrial nation by busting trusts which had become monopolies, regulating industries in the name of public safety, and codifying workers' rights into law. This era had many catalysts, but Doris Kearns Goodwin pinpoints three in particular: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the "muckraking" journalists at McClure's magazine. The result is an interesting, if occasionally disconnected, look at the rise and fall of a movement.

Goodwin's treatment of the relationship between Roosevelt and Taft is its most fascinating narrative. Unbeknownst to me, the two shared a close friendship before Roosevelt was ever thrust into the White House, one that ultimately culminated in Taft becoming his Secretary of War and then handpicked successor to the presidency. The relationship ultimately soured during Taft's presidency, however, as Roosevelt grew disappointed by what he regarded as Taft's failure to carry on the Progressive legacy. In the end, Roosevelt ran against his former friend in the 1912 election, first in the Republican primary and then the general election, thereby essentially handing the presidency to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt and Taft's relationship is almost Shakespearean in its highs and lows, and Goodwin writes about it compellingly.

Similarly, her account of the "muckraking" journalists of the era is an interesting and underrated story. Giving attention almost exclusively to the cadre of journalists at McClure's magazine, she explains their importance and tells their personal stories in a way that makes you, the reader, feel like you knew them personally. Especially interesting is Sam McClure, the magazine publisher with a genius eye for talent and the eccentricities to match. By the time you finish the book, you have no doubt of their importance to the Progressive Era.

The book's only failure is in connecting all the dots. Is it a book about the history of the Progressive Era? About Roosevelt and Taft's relationship? About groundbreaking writers in a "golden age of journalism?" Yes to all three, and as you might imagine, connecting all those dots is a herculean task. Sometimes Goodwin succeeds, but not quite often enough. Nevertheless, if you regard it as three different stories with loose ties to one another (instead of demanding it be one narrative), those stories are well told. This isn't her best book, but you can't really go wrong with the Notorious D.K.G.

ESSENTIAL MARVEL HORROR VOL. 1 by Various

Sometimes I wonder who at Marvel was responsible for determining what stories were "essential" when they starting putting these compilations out. The earliest adventures of Spider-Man? Yeah. The X-Men stories of the late-1970s and early 1980s? Of course. Even some of the weaker Silver Age stories, like the early adventures of Ant-Man, Iron Man, and the Human Torch, deserved to be preserved simply because of the importance of those characters and the need to preserve some of their earliest appearances. But somebody really missed the boat when they decided we needed Essential Marvel Horror Vol. 1.

This large, black-and-white volume contains all of the Bronze Age stories of two sibling characters, Daimon Hellstrom and Satana, both children of Satan himself. In the case of Daimon, the Son of Satan, his patronage makes him a Dr. Jekyll-like figure, an exorcist struggling with the demonic side of himself, which fills him with both great power and great rage. Satana, on the other hand, is a succubus, a mostly evil devil-human hybrid who consumes people's souls like a vampire does blood.

If my descriptions make those characters sound terrifying or compelling, don't worry—they're neither. Daimon's adventures follow the Dr. Strange model; he's basically a superhero whose powers come from the supernatural realm instead of the scientific. Unlike Dr. Strange, however, he is not a very interesting character—he's cold, his supporting cast is boring, and other than his famous dad, his villains aren't particularly interesting. Satana yields better results (partly because her stories came in a Marvel adults-only horror magazine instead of a traditional comic book), but was equally doomed by weak characterization, bad writing, and boring villains.

In the end, both of these characters are pretty clear efforts by Marvel to capitalize on the 1970s occult fad, and as usual when companies start with an eye on the money instead of the idea, the characters never go anywhere particularly interesting. My dad never would have allowed me to buy this book as a child, and while I would have whined about it then, now I would thank him for it—not because the stories are offensive (they couldn't be more banal), but because they're bad. Far from Essential reading.

Truth That Abides (Friday Devotional)

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

- Mark 13:31

Just over two months ago, ground broke on Globe Life Field, the roofed, air-conditioned, publicly funded baseball palace that will serve as the home of the Texas Rangers beginning in 2020. The groundbreaking was celebrated by many, from players to front office staff to, especially, fans, all of whom excitedly anticipated the day when Globe Life Park, the Rangers’ home for the past 23 years, would be replaced with a shinier new model.

I was not and am not one of those excited fans. For one thing, I don’t think Globe Life Park has reached its expiration date yet—it may not measure up to some of the newest ballparks in the majors, but it’s still in fine condition, nowhere near the decrepitude of Tampa Bay or Oakland’s pitiful stadiums. Secondly, count me out of the group celebrating the roof and air conditioning. Baseball is the one professional sport still played outside by the majority of teams, and, while it may make me old-fashioned, I like it that way. Playing indoors is certainly more comfortable, but it’s also more sterile and commercial, and for me that takes away from the pastoral magic of America’s oldest game. (Note: I’m fully aware that I’ll probably change my mind on this point the first time I go to a July game in the new ballpark.) Finally, while I know the Houston Astros are the toast of the state right now, this Rangers fan can’t help but be annoyed by how similar our new stadium will look to the home our cross-state rivals.

But the truth is that none of these reasons are really why I’m disappointed about the new ballpark. The real reason is nostalgia. I grew up going to games at the current ballpark, with its red brick exterior, bad parking, gigantic escalators, and right field Jumbotron. It’s where I learned the rules of the sport, where I saw my favorite players make their mark, and, yes, where I sweated profusely in the Texas sun, summer after summer. I always assumed my kids would grow up watching games in the same place. I knew “The Ballpark” (as I’ve called it since childhood) wouldn’t last forever…but I always sort of hoped it would.

There are certain fundamental things we take for granted in this world, things we assume will always be there, from the air we breathe to the ground we walk on to, sure, the ballparks we frequent every summer. We rely upon these things for some sort of continuity from day to day; we depend on them to anchor us in a world rife with unreliability and inconsistency. But the truth is that everything, from buildings to institutions to people, passes away eventually; nothing is forever. Nothing, that is, except the Word of God. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” Jesus said (a point echoed in the final chapters of Revelation), “but my words will not pass away.”

Every day, consciously or unconsciously, you choose what foundations you will build your life upon. Are you building on the shifting sands of career, or family, or health? Or is your life governed by the only thing that will remain when everything else fades away? In a world that changes daily, a world where the one thing that is truly dependable is undependability, only the words of Christ—his commands, his warnings and his encouragements—abide eternally. Don’t rely upon the unreliable or depend on the temporary—place your faith in that which endures forever.

Extravagant Worship (Friday Devotional)

“And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight.”

- Philippians 1:9

Yesterday, in homes across the country, family dinner tables overflowed with food. People were forced to choose between five different kinds of potatoes and three different kinds of dressing (or just try them all), some who normally abstained from dessert sampled three different kinds of pie, and turkeys intended to feed twenty people were set in front of families of four. Even the most spartan of cooks gave their best effort to make sure that the Thanksgiving meal was nothing short of extravagant.

This morning, as we shift from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season, some people braved freezing temperatures to wait in line for hours outside Wal-Mart, Target, or their local electronics store. Whether pursuing a television marked down by 40%, a phone with a discounted data plan, or the season’s hottest toy, people go to great lengths on Black Friday to make sure they afford the most extravagant gifts for their loved ones.

It can hardly be disputed—this is a season of great extravagance, a time when people do their best to materially show how much Thanksgiving and Christmas mean to them. But with so much to cook, prepare, and buy in pursuit of an extravagant holiday season, sometimes the spiritual aspect of these holidays can get short shrift, relegated to an afterthought—a two-minute blessing before the Thanksgiving meal or a speedy Bible reading on Christmas morning.

In a season when our refrigerators overflow with leftovers and our fireplaces are covered with beautifully wrapped gifts, surely our hearts should be filled with love for the God from whom all blessings flow. May your worship be as bountiful as your Thanksgiving table and your devotion as meaningful as your Christmas traditions—in a season of abundance, may your love for God truly be extravagant.

Timeless (Friday Devotional)

“The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.”

- Isaiah 40:7-8

Driving around my hometown is weird for me nowadays. In some places, it’s as though nothing has changed since I moved to Waco—the façade of my high school looks exactly like it did when I graduated 9 years ago, the bushes in my parents’ front yard are right where they always were, and the Sonic where I bought dozens (hundreds?) of Dr Peppers is right where I left it. In some spots, it’s like time has stood still.

But then, without warning, I’ll drive past a strip mall and see three new businesses, or onto a road that’s added two lanes since I last used it, or through a neighborhood development that used to just be an empty field. In these moments my hometown reveals itself to be, at least in some ways, a different place than the version I left in 2008. Just as I have changed since then, so too has the city where I was raised—for though my memory remains frozen in time, reality has moved on.

On my nostalgic drives though my hometown, its changes are jarring. That’s because as a general rule, people are uncomfortable with changes outside our control. We want things to remain as they are; we want a stable equilibrium that we can understand and manage. In a world that sometimes seems to be in constant state of flux, we long for something that remains steady and unchanging.

That is just one way in which God blesses us: “the grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.” For all the mixed messages that the world puts out, God’s message remains true, a foundation we can build our lives upon. Whether it comes to us through the written word of Scripture, the gentle sighing of the Spirit, or the teachings and example of the Word made flesh, God’s word remains an eternal source of comfort, strength, wisdom, and power.

There are a million things to which you can devote your time, attention, and energy, from work to family to entertainment to the day’s headlines. But each of these, if you make them your foundation, will crack and crumble with time. Only the word of the Lord will endure when they fade and wither like the flowers of the field. So may you place your faith in a message that is truly timeless.

A Daily Decision (Friday Devotional)

“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

- Joshua 24:14-15

I’ve been jogging on a regular basis for four years now—first to train for a half marathon, then for a full marathon, then just for fun and exercise—and in many ways it has gotten easier with time. My legs don’t tire out nearly as quickly. It takes a lot longer for me to run out of breath. I know what pace to set.

But there’s one aspect of running which is just as hard today as it was when I first laced up my shoes four years ago: deciding to do it. Whether because it’s too hot outside or too cold, because I’ve had too much coffee or too little, because I don’t have the energy or the time or the desire, whatever my excuse is, every day it’s an interior battle—do I stay inside and enjoy lazy comfort or go outside and get some much-needed exercise? The actual running has gotten easier with time, but making the choice to do it remains something I must recommit to every single day.

That same principle applies to serving the Lord. While placing your faith in Christ for salvation is tied to a singular moment or period in your life, choosing to then follow Jesus in obedience is a daily decision. No one is drafted into the Lord’s army; you must choose to answer the call to service.

That’s why Joshua, Moses’s successor as the leader of the ancient Israelites, took a moment after the conquest of Canaan to make God’s people decide whom they would serve. They had seen miraculous wonders in their lives and the lives of their parents and grandparents: deliverance from Egyptian slavery, safe passage through the parted waters of the sea, provision in the desert, and now entrance into the land God had promised them. There could be no doubt that God was with them.

Yet Joshua recognized what the people had been proving for years, what we continue to prove today: no matter how evident God’s grace is in our lives, we have a wandering eye for something better to come along. We are always searching, whether passively or actively, for an idol which will answer to us, a false god we can craft in our own image.

So in their moment of victorious celebration, when God’s power was self-evident, Joshua called the people to decide once again who they would faithfully serve. They had desperately needed God’s power in Egypt and in the desert, so they had eagerly committed to follow Him then. But now, as a more comfortable life beckoned, Joshua recognized the people needed to decide once again who their God was.

You must make the same decision every day. If Christ lives in you, are you faithfully and regularly serving him? Are you daily lacing up your shoes to go to work for the Lord? Some days it’s easier than others; some days your head fills with reasons why you can’t, shouldn’t, or simply don’t want to. On those days, may you seek God in prayer, and may your heart ultimately echo Joshua’s: “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

A No-Proxy Gospel (Friday Devotional)

“So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.”

- 1 Thessalonians 2:8

One of our nation’s most enduring political traditions is the State of the Union address. Every year, upon receiving his invitation from the Speaker of the House, the president comes before a joint session of Congress to thunderous applause and delivers a speech full of statistics, anecdotes about “everyday hardworking Americans,” and inevitably declares that “the state of our Union is strong.” With every big name in the federal government assembled in one room and with millions of people watching on television, the president reflects upon the successes of the past year and sets the agenda for the future, to cheers from his party and mostly silence from the opposition. No matter who the president is, no matter what party they belong to, that is basically always how the State of the Union works.

But it hasn’t always been that way. For more than a hundred years, the president did not appear before a joint session of Congress, nor did he deliver a speech. Starting with Thomas Jefferson, presidents simply wrote a letter to Congress, which was then read by proxy. Not until Woodrow Wilson came before Congress with his speech in 1913 did presidents once again appear in person to deliver their addresses. For more than a hundred years, the delivery of the State of the Union wasn’t an event, just another dreary day in Congress—no pomp, no ceremony, and no presidential appearance.

You can imagine the outcry is a president tried that today.  For better or for worse, the State of the Union address is more than a message now; it is a televised spectacle, a chance for the president to not only address Congress, but the American people. It’s not even about the content of the speech necessarily—we all understand that presidents don’t write these speeches themselves, that they are crafted primarily by paid speechwriters in consultation with various agencies, cabinet offices, and congresspeople—nevertheless, we demand that the president himself say the words. The message is important, but so too is the messenger.

That principle is one God validated when He gave us the gospel—not as a set of principles or a path to salvation, but as a person. “The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth,” says John 1:14. When the time came for God to unveil his plan for the salvation of the world, He didn’t send a proxy, He came in the flesh. Christ didn’t just talk about the kingdom of God, he showed it to us with his miracles, his ministry, and ultimately his death and resurrection. The gospel is not a sermon or a book, it is Christ himself.

So it’s no wonder that the apostle Paul, seeking to imitate his Lord, tells his beloved church in Thessalonica that “we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves.” Jesus taught him—and us—that ministry is supposed to be incarnational, not distant, that your presence is as important as your preaching. People are not just listening for the gospel, they are watching for it too. The message matters, but so too does the messenger.

As you go into the world, may you share the gospel not only with your words, but with your whole self, preaching and practicing compassion, forgiveness, grace, and love. Give more than a speech, give yourself—because from the manger to the cross, that’s what our Lord did.

October Reading Log

Buckle your seat belts, it's a long one this month! Lots of different genres, 9 total reviews, and a new feature at the beginning: since, in addition to books, I also read plenty of excellent online journalism and opinion pieces every month, I thought I'd let you know the 5 articles which I enjoyed most in the last month. Expect lots of politics and sports, since that's the easiest way to get me to click. I'll also let you know roughly how long it takes to read the article (according to Instapaper, my go-to app for saving online articles) in case you want to read these for yourself.

Without further ado, here's what I've been reading this month!

5 Articles I Like This Month

Our Minds Can Be Hijacked: The Tech Insiders Who Fear a Smartphone Dystopia by Paul Lewis, The Guardian. 19 minutes.

A compelling look at how smartphones and social media shape our attention spans, social interactions, and even our democracy...and how the architects of our most addictive technology are retreating from the monsters they've created.

How America Lost Its Mind by Kurt Andersen, The Atlantic. 51 minutes.

Hundreds of articles have been written since the 2016 election about the breakdown of truth in American political life. This article separates itself from the pack by going broader, looking not just at politics but culture in general to see how we came to a place where, to paraphrase Daniel Patrick Moynihan, people feel entitled to not only their own opinions, but their own facts.

The First White President by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic. 34 minutes.

You probably heard about this one--when a Ta-Nehisi Coates piece drops, the media lights up for a few days. And this one doesn't disappoint. As usual, I didn't agree with everything Coates said. But as usual, he made me think, and he did so with brilliant, compelling writing.

How Essential Oils Became the Cure for Our Age of Anxiety by Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker. 22 minutes.

A fascinating look at the origins of the direct marketing scheme that has made your unfriend at least a dozen people on Facebook. If you think Young Living and doTERRA are modern snake oil salesmen, you'll like the implications of this article and be mildly interested (count me in this camp.) If you think essential oils are superior to a lot of Western medicine and that you can make a living selling them, you'll probably be offended by parts of this article, but you should read it anyway.

When Politics Becomes Your Idol by David Brooks, The New York Times. 3 minutes.

Sneaking onto this list on the last day of the month, this may be my favorite op-ed of 2017. Brooks argues that in the age of Trump, politics have become elevated above what they should be, one aspect of life, and become all-encompassing, affecting everything from your family to your faith. The word for that is idolatry, and making politics your idol isn't just bad for your soul, it's bad for the nation's. Read this.

A CRY FOR MERCY: PRAYERS FROM THE GENESEE by Henri Nouwen

One of the great devotional gifts I've discovered the last few years is the written prayer. Having been raised in a tradition where prayers were almost exclusively extemporaneous, the idea of journaling your conversations with God was a pretty foreign one to me at first, and even now it takes some getting used to. Nevertheless, there is tremendous wisdom to be found when you stop and listen to (or read) someone else's prayers; doing so offers new perspectives on God you'd never considered before.

That was my experience the last month and a half as I read through Henri Nouwen's A Cry for Mercy, a collection of prayers written during his time among the Trappist monks of the Genesee in upstate New York. Nouwen, a Catholic priest and professor, was widely regarded as one of the 20th century's greatest spiritual writers, so it's no surprise that there are some golden quotes to be found in this book's 98 pages. What is surprising is how personal the book is, full of not only his joys but his doubts and fears.

Reading these prayers was often the highlight of my daily devotionals. While you could theoretically burn through this book in one sitting, I'd recommend taking it at that pace, one prayer per day. Doing so gave me the opportunity to let Nouwen's words sink in and to piggyback on his words with my own prayers. As I said above, written prayers are a gift, and this collection of them is one worth opening.

THE PIETIST OPTION: HOPE FOR THE RENEWAL OF CHRISTIANITY by Christopher Gehrz and Mark Pattie III

*I wrote a brief review of this book for the Baptist Standard. So as to neither plagiarize nor repeat myself, allow me to simply link to that review here.*

THE JESUS WAY: A CONVERSATION ON THE WAYS THAT JESUS IS THE WAY by Eugene Peterson

In my ongoing mission to reread all the books I bought for seminary (or in some cases, read for the first time!), there have been hits and misses, some books where I stand by my initial decision to skim them for the good parts and others where I'm grateful I now have the time to savor what I had no choice to gobble up back then. The Jesus Way, part three in Eugene Peterson's series on spiritual theology, definitely falls into the latter category--this has instantly become one of my favorite books on discipleship.

A favorite verse of most Christians is John 14:6, in which Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Peterson argues in his introduction that, while believers are quick to claim Jesus as the Truth and the Life, we tend to be much slower to embrace him as the Way. Being a disciple of Jesus, he argues, means more than accepting a series of propositions or claiming an eternal reward, it means shifting your entire worldview. As he has argued in the previous books, following Jesus means that not only your do ends change, but so do your means.

To illustrate this central point, and to elaborate on what the Way of Jesus is, Peterson uses six Old Testament characters (Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah of Jerusalem, and Isaiah of the exile) as witnesses to the different aspects of the way of Jesus, then three other characters (Herod, Caiaphas, and Josephus) as witnesses to the ways of the world, which are antithetical to Jesus. This clever construction suits Peterson's inductive writing style and helps bring in the whole of Scripture to illustrate what you might otherwise assume was a purely New Testament message.

In the end, Peterson successfully and creatively makes the argument that following Jesus "has everything to do with this world, but almost nothing in common with this world." The ever-present temptation is to make the way of Jesus more accessible and relatable by tying it to power, wealth, and popularity, but this is a siren call that must be resisted. Following the way of Jesus (loving your enemies, giving freely of yourself, valuing spiritual wealth over material wealth, etc.) is counterintuitive, difficult, and sacrificial, but then again, so was the cross.

HIGH FIDELITY by Nick Hornby

The sneaky secret that guys don't want to admit is that we like romantic comedies. Not all of them, mind you...some are just mind-numbing as we claim. But the archetypal story of attraction, love, heartbreak, and (hopefully) reconciliation is not one reserved for the fairer sex. Tell a romantic story with believable characters, some humor, and a happy ending, and even the most cynical of men will probably have a good time.

High Fidelity is just such a romantic comedy, the story of a failing record story owner, fresh off a bad breakup, looking for some mixture of personal meaning and human connection in a life stuck in neutral. By thinking through (and ranking) every romantic relationship he's been in, relating his love life to the pop songs which have misshaped his perceptions of love, and negotiating the aftermath of his breakup, the main character ultimately achieves some kind of forward momentum.

This book is unique for two reasons. One, the main character manages to simultaneously be deeply unlikable and painfully relatable. Nick Hornby skillfully walks this tightrope throughout the book, giving the reader a protagonist who makes poor decisions, treats everyone around him with disdain and disrespect, and wallows in self-pity...yet does all of those things in a way and with a voice that has you rooting for him nonetheless. Two, Hornby makes sure this romantic comedy is actually funny. Writing for laughs is a lot harder than it appears, and he made me chuckle numerous times while reading.

Is this book going to change your life? Nah. But I imagine it'd be a great beach read. Books should be fun, romantic comedies should be funny, and love stories should leave you smiling--so with those as my rubric, I'd say High Fidelity was a success.

HEAVIER THAN HEAVEN by Charles P. Cross

Finishing High Fidelity put me in the mood for another book about music, so I turned to a classic in the rock lit genre, Heavier Than Heaven, the biography of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. If you know much about Cobain, you will not be surprised to hear that I laughed a lot less reading this book than I did reading High Fidelity.

Heavier Than Heaven traces Cobain's life from his humble beginnings in Aberdeen, Washington to his troubled adolescence (following his parents' divorce, he bounced around from family to family and was even homeless for a while) to the formation and rapid rise of Nirvana, all the way to his tragic death by suicide. A fan of Nirvana's music, I nevertheless went into this book knowing only the basics about Cobain, and even what I knew was general impressions, not facts. Author Charles Cross, a Seattle-based music journalist, does an able job debunking some of those impressions and myths and providing the facts based on his 4 years of research, including 400+ interviews with bandmates family members, and friends.

What emerges from all that research is a picture of a sad, brilliant, disturbed (and often disturbing) individual. Reading about Cobain's dreams, artwork, and poetry, the dark, complex lyrics of Nirvana's songs make sense--their lead singer was the epitome of the tortured artist. This inner turmoil, along with the physical agony of a stomach condition he struggled with his entire adult life, ultimately drove him to mind-boggling drug abuse. In fact, much of the second half of the book is a seemingly endless recounting of Cobain's heroin addiction, a narrative that is as exhausting and repetitive as it surely was for his friends and family.

The book's title, which comes from an early concert poster advertising Nirvana's sound, is well earned. This was not a particularly fun read, because Kurt Cobain was not a particularly fun person. His heavy, raw, tortured music came from a heavy, raw, tortured soul, and that's the story Charles Cross tells. I can't say I'd heartily recommend this book unless you're a big Nirvana fan--the writing is so-so, and it tends to focus on the tabloid stuff to the exclusion of the music--but it did teach me a lot about one of the last true rock stars.

THE SUNSET LIMITED by Cormac McCarthy

When an atheist and a Christian talk about faith in the context of entertainment (whether a book, movie, or TV show), it's almost always insulting. Sometimes it's insulting to atheists, portraying them as cold-hearted, arrogant jerks who delight in nothing more than belittling people of faith, a la God's Not Dead. Other times it's insulting to Christians, making them look like backwoods fundamentalists with no critical thinking skills and no desire to look at other people's perspectives, a la Religulous. And just about every time it's insulting to the audience, since the conversation is almost never an honest one, but rather an excuse for one side to preach at the other and score points.

So what a relief to read The Sunset Limited, Cormac McCarthy's 2006 one-act play (or, as the publisher somewhat pretentiously calls it, 'a novel in dramatic form.') The play is one long conversation between Black, a kind, faithful ex-con living in a New York tenement building, and White, a cultured professor whose existential crisis led him to nearly throw himself in front of a train, only to be intercepted by Black. Their conversation back at Black's apartment after the aborted suicide attempt, in which White calmly explains why he has nothing to live for and Black tries to convince him otherwise, covers everything from life and death to faith and unbelief to hope and despair. You know, the small stuff.

Those looking for a happy ending that ties everything in a bow have obviously never read anything by Cormac McCarthy. But what you will get is a deep, thoughtful conversation about the meaning of life, told both from the perspective of simple, sincere faith and worldly (but equally sincere) unbelief. The play is beautiful, insightful, and, despite the subject matter, funny. And while the ending is ambiguous, it manages to leave both the atheist and the Christian reader feeling as though their perspective has been fairly represented--and rooting for the opposing character to see the light not because you want a convert, but because you've grown to love him.

I read this in an hour and couldn't put it down. In a month with plenty of books, this was probably my favorite. Highly recommended for any friends who want to see faith debated without smugness, something I wish was easier to find, in entertainment and in life.

SUPERMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE VOL. 1 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Before there was a Justice League, a Fortress of Solitude, or kryptonite, there was still a Superman. Superman: The Golden Age, an affordable series of paperback volumes, collects the earliest adventures of the Man of Tomorrow, and the amazing thing about reading the stories from volume 1 is how much has changed about the character, as well as to see what still endures.

Beginning with Action Comics #1, the first superhero comic book, we are given the foundation of the Superman mythology: a scientist from an alien planet "destroyed by old age" sends his infant son to Earth, where he grows up with incredible abilities: "leaping over skyscrapers, running faster than an express train, springing great distances and heights, lifting and smashing tremendous weights, [and] possessing an impenetrable skin." That's all in the first page. Gifted with these abilities, Superman devotes himself to the cause of justice, using his secret identity as mild-mannered Daily Star reporter Clark Kent to uncover villainous schemes which only Superman can smash.

All of that probably sounds familiar. So too is Lois Lane, there from the first issue as a fellow reporter who is fascinated by Superman and repulsed by her meek coworker, Clark Kent. And as Superman settles into a monthly segment of Action Comics, critical readers will probably also recognize that the Ultra-Humanite (or Ultra, as his henchmen call him), a bald super-genius bent on world domination, would later serve as the inspiration for Lex Luthor.

But there is a lot that has changed about Superman since his earliest adventures. Instead of fighting supervillains (with Ultra being the notable exception), Superman almost exclusively takes on villains guilty of social injustice in these earliest stories: mine owners who don't enforce safety regulations, evil orphanage superintendents, slumlords, even reckless drivers. There is zero concern from the reader that Superman will be unable to combat these forces; the fun is in seeing how he will do it. Superman walks the earth not as the greatest superhuman among dozens of such characters, but as a walking, talking deus ex machina, an exemplar of good in a world full of bad.

Golden Age comics always take some getting used to, simply because of how compact the storytelling is compared to the modern style, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much more I enjoyed these stories than other 1940s comics I've read. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster are automatic national treasures simply for inventing the Man of Steel, but it turns out they were a good storytelling team too. For anyone interested in reading Superman's earliest adventures, I can heartily recommend this book, which is only $20 retail for almost 400 pages of color comics, an absolute steal. I fully intend to buy and read volumes 2 and 3 soon.

SILVER SURFER VOL. 1-3 by Dan Slott and Michael Allred

I wasn't sure what to think of this series at first. When issue #1 came out in March of 2014, I picked up a copy, swayed by rave reviews and an affinity for the character. By issue #3, I'd reached my verdict. The writing was inconsistent, seemingly unsure whether it was telling an action-adventure story or a comedy. The lighthearted tone felt out of character for the traditionally operatic Silver Surfer. And Mike Allred's art, sort of a cross between a Silver Age-retro style and Darwyn Cooke-ish cartooning, just wasn't working for me. I dropped the book from my pull list and never looked back. Until, that is, my brother got me the first three trades (15 issues) as a birthday present. Nathan has excellent taste in comics, so I decided to try the series again and see if I'd changed my mind in the last 3 years. 

Revised verdict: this is a darn good series (though, in defense of my original opinion, the first three issues are the shakiest part of the run.) The breezy style which initially gave me pause actually winds up being a fitting choice for a character who, let's face it, is kind of ridiculous to begin with. The comedic notes are toned down as the series goes on, and when there are jokes, they land better. Most importantly, regarding Allred's art, I was just flat out wrong. While an acquired taste, his style is beautiful, colorful, and adaptable for goofy moments (such as a stop at an intergalactic ice cream shop) and dramatic ones (like the literal end of the universe) alike. It took me a few issues to get used to what he had to offer, but he won me over--anything Mike Allred is drawing from here on out, I'm interested in.

In terms of plot, there's too much to cover in a few sentences, but suffice it to say that the series follows the sentinel of the spaceways as he explores the universe with a new human companion, a woman named Dawn Greenwood who fate thrusts into his life. If that sounds like a Doctor Who rip-off, well, it is (which Slott is not shy about admitting.) Together, Dawn and the Surfer take on Galactus, save the Never Queen, escape a time loop, and outrun the end of the universe, among other things. Like I said, these issues cover a lot of ground.

But the plot's secondary, really. The star of this book, despite my initial druthers, is its happy-go-lucky style, present in everything from the script to the coloring. If you think comics should not only be good, but should also be fun, this is a great place to start.

ULYSSES by James Joyce

On almost any list of the greatest literature of all time, you'll find Ulysses in the top ten. James Joyce was long ago declared a genius and Ulysses is his opus, an expansive work that uses Homer's Odyssey as a template, Joyce's beloved Dublin as a setting, and an average day as a canvas on which to illustrate the variety, debauchery, and power of humanity. Readers willing to engage with Joyce's difficult but brilliant stream-of-consciousness prose are rewarded with insights and beauty such as literature rarely achieves.

That's what they say, anyway. I'm just glad I finally finished the stupid thing.

I started Ulysses in May as a vanity project. I knew it was an undisputed literary classic and also that it's often considered one of the most difficult books out there, and I wanted to cross it off my list. That was the primary motivation--not to enjoy it, but to be able to say I'd read it. it's a good thing that's what I was wanting, or I'd have never gotten past page 20.

As I mentioned, Joyce writes in a stream-of-consciousness style favored by other greats from William Faulkner to Samuel Beckett. No doubt, this style is not an easy one to understand at first blush, but this wasn't my first experience with it, so I thought I could power through. But Joyce's use of stream-of-consciousness, instead of putting me in the characters' heads, just baffled me and had me running for the Cliff Notes. After reading 782 pages about them, I still can't tell you more than 3 bullet points about Leopold Bloom, Stephen Dedalus, and the rest of the cast, because I found so much of the book incomprehensible.

Joyce draws on everything from the Western canon to Irish history and politics to Greek philosophy to tell his story, and this only makes reading it harder. In the rare moments when I thought I was starting to grasp what was happening, he'd drop a reference I was unfamiliar with, and back to the Cliff Notes I went. It's illustrative of how difficult I found this book that there were times when I'd read the Cliff Notes summary of a section after finishing the section itself and truly feel like there was no connection between the two.

Having finally conquered Ulysses (I read five pages every day, all I could stomach, with periodic breaks for sanity's sake), I'm not here to tell you that the lists are wrong, that Joyce is an impostor, or that the professors who proclaim Ulysses to be the greatest piece of literature ever written are wrong. I'm not so arrogant as to presume that I'm smarter than the thousands of legitimate geniuses who love it. But I will say this: if your book needs a decoder ring just to be comprehensible, that's not entirely the fault of the reader. For me, Ulysses wasn't difficult, it was impossible, and when I closed it for the final time, my only satisfaction was in having finished it--I got nothing out of the experience but bragging rights. My youngest brother, who suffered through Joyce's shorter but equally inscrutable A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, put it best: "life's too short to read Ulysses."