Share It, Don't Store It (Friday Devotional)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

- 1 Peter 1:3-4

This past Sunday night, Lindsey and I spent half an hour cracking open the Easter eggs our son had accumulated at three different hunts throughout the week. We sorted through the candy and, yes, sampled some pieces along the way, and when we reached the end of the pile, we turned to the plastic refuse of opened eggs and Lindsey asked me, “What do we do with these now?” The choice, as best we could tell, was stark: we could save them for next Easter or we could throw them away. Either way, we knew we weren’t going to need those eggs until this time next year.

That’s true of a lot of the familiar elements of Easter. I doubt you’ll see lilies in your church’s sanctuary until next spring, despite their beauty, because those are Easter flowers. I suspect you won’t find yourself singing “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” until a sunrise service on April 12, 2020, no matter how much you love that hymn, because it’s an Easter song.

And unfortunately, you may not think much about the Easter message that Christ is risen until next spring either. Jesus’s earthly ministry and atoning death occupy our minds throughout the year, and rightly so, but the best part of the good news all too often is resigned to one day of the year. The hope that ought to propel us into faithful ministry is too often shoved into the attic for next Easter along with the plastic eggs.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ offers us living hope—living, present tense. Jesus is alive, and that is something which should cause us all to rejoice every day, not just one morning per year. When you are afraid, the empty tomb shows that God is sovereign over all. When you doubt, the empty tomb proves that with God all things are possible. When you feel alone, the empty tomb is your reminder that the Lord is with you always, even to the end of the age.

Easter is the day we set aside to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it must not be the only day we do so. So as your Easter eggs collect dust in a plastic bin or sink to the bottom of a landfill, don’t let the hope of the resurrection lay dormant with them. News this good needs to be shared more than just once per year.

Where Do You Stand? (Friday Devotional)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

- Romans 1:16

With good reason, most of the attention on Good Friday goes to Jesus—his seven sayings from the cross, his grace in the midst of suffering, and ultimately his atoning death. In a way unique to the occasion, we fix our eyes on Jesus with renewed focus today. But as you do so, widen your lens enough to take in the bystanders to the cross, the other actors in the drama of the cross.

On the one hand, you have the crowd, those who shouted, “Crucify him!” and willingly gave the dangerous Barabbas freedom to ensure Jesus would lose his. The crowd mocked Jesus, spat on him, and rejoiced at his death. Feeling betrayed by Jesus, they violently rejected him.

Away from Golgotha, you have the twelve disciples. One, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Jesus outright, turning him over to those who wanted him dead. Another, Simon Peter, the ostensible leader of the group, refused to acknowledge any association with Jesus when asked—three times he denied the man he’d called Lord. As for the rest of the disciples, every one had fled when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, taking off into the night instead of taking up their cross. Feeling uncertain about Jesus, they abandoned him.

And finally, at the foot of the cross, you have the women: Mary Magdalene, Jesus’s mother, another woman named Mary, Salome, and others whom Scripture leaves unnamed. Where all other Christ-followers had given up on Jesus, these women stayed near him to the end and then beyond, with several accompanying his body to the tomb and then becoming the first to find that tomb empty on Sunday morning.  Feeling loved by Jesus, they humbly remained with him.

More than 2,000 years after the crucifixion, the three responses to Jesus and his gospel still resonate. Today there are still those who prefer mockery to grace, who believe that worldly power is worthier than sacrificial love. Like the crowd at Golgotha, they see little more than hypocrisy and unfulfilled promises in the gospel, and so they reject it. Similarly, there are those today who know and believe the gospel, but fall by the wayside when tested. Unwilling to stand with Christ, they follow the whims of the times, more concerned with what will keep them secure than with what will glorify God.

But praise God, there are also those today who stand with the women at the foot of the cross, refusing to leave the Lord even in the darkest of hours. Even when they are surrounded by detractors, they stand like fortresses in the storm as witnesses to the Word of God. Even when the Peters of the world shrink back when threatened, they remain by Jesus’s side. In the face of fear, doubt, and hatred, these faithful disciples stay true to a gospel of truth, righteousness, and love.

Today is a day to remember the sacrificial, atoning death of Jesus Christ and to praise God for the salvation He brings. But as you look to the cross, take a moment to look around it as well. Where are you standing?

Never-ending (Friday Devotional)

“Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.”

- 2 Thessalonians 3:13

It never fails. My son and I will be walking toward the car, and suddenly he’ll tug on my hand and point to something 20 feet away. When I look, I’ll inevitably see a paper cup or a plastic bag lying on the ground. “Daddy!” he’ll exclaim. “That’s trash! It needs to go in the trash can!”

Sometimes we’ll walk over and discard the litter, but I admit that other times I hustle him toward the car so we can get where we’re going. After all, I reason, there’s trash everywhere—what are we supposed to do, stop every time we see some litter on the ground?

This is just one small example of something every adult experiences: the conscious decision not to help. Whether it comes when you see an elderly woman struggling to load her groceries into her car, when you see a panhandler at the intersection, or when a friend asks you to babysit on your first free Saturday in months, everyone’s experienced that moment when you realize you could do something, weigh the pros and cons, and opt to mind your own business.

These moments betray a world-weariness within us, a belief that we can’t really make a difference or even that we shouldn’t have to. But Scripture consistently teaches that you are your brothers’ keeper, that loving your neighbor means serving them even and especially when it’s inconvenient, that compassion is not something you schedule or compartmentalize. Doing what is right can be exhausting work, but we must not grow so weary that we stop.

With his child-like faith, my son has something to teach me, and perhaps you: when you have the ability to help, you have the responsibility to help. The work never ends, true…but neither does the grace of God.

I Do It My Own Self (Friday Devotional)

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.

- Romans 12:4-5

“I do it my own self!”

I’m hearing that exclamation a lot these days from my two-year old son. Tasks that I’ve been doing for him his entire life—putting his pants on, buckling his seatbelt, washing his dishes—are suddenly within his capabilities, and when we’re in a rush and I try to do them for him anyway, he doesn’t take kindly to it. Now that he has the skills he needs to take care of himself (in a few areas, anyway) he’s ready to exert some independence.

But if he’s anything like most of us, that refrain—"I do it my own self”—is one he’ll continue espousing into adulthood…even when he’d be better off accepting some help. Too many people go through life with a go-it-alone attitude, convinced that asking for help is a sign of weakness or incompetence. Wary of being judged by others, they value independence more than community, convinced that they can bear their own burdens.

Unfortunately, that attitude even penetrates the church, where it should be foreign territory. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul consistently describes the church as the body of Christ, with individual members performing different functions in service of the whole. The message in the metaphor is plain: while our individual roles are different, we are in this together.

When you are struggling, it is not your responsibility to ‘buck up’ or ‘deal with it,’ to shoulder your pain alone; you have brothers and sisters in Christ whom you can lean on. When you have cause to celebrate, there should be a cloud of witnesses to join in your triumph. In the kingdom of God, “I do it my own self” just doesn’t fly.

While the world often demands stoicism and rugged individualism, the gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to brotherhood and community. So if you are trying to go through life alone, attempting to “do it your own self,” remember this: you are but one member of a glorious body, and that body needs all the members working together.

March Reading Log

Buckle up; I did a lot of reading in March...take a look!

3 Articles I Like This Month

"Holding the Note" by David Remnick, The New Yorker. 30 minutes.

An excellent profile of the last of the blues legends, Buddy Guy.

"Trump TV" by Jane Mayer, The New Yorker. 45 minutes.

A fascinating, in-depth look at the relationship between the president and Fox News, written by America's best investigative reporter. 

"On the temple, on her last first day" by Levi Weaver, The Athletic. 5 minutes.

An ode to The Ballpark in Arlington (as I'll always call it) on its last Opening Day. Poetic, romantic stuff in the finest tradition of baseball writing.

CRAZY LOVE: OVERWHELMED BY A RELENTLESS GOD by Francis Chan

I liked this book fine. I just liked it more the first time and it was called The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

I kid...kind of. Francis Chan does good work for a mainstream audience with Crazy Love, which he wrote in 2008 out of a conviction that evangelical Christianity had become watered down, so focused on winning converts that it had lost its message of discipleship. In Crazy Love, he seeks to return to the full truth of the gospel, of the promise of a new life in Christ, a life that begins with your acceptance of God's grace through Christ and doesn't have to wait until you die. In short, Chan is trying to revive Jesus's message about the kingdom of God, a message sometimes overshadowed by the church's emphasis on justification, sacrificial atonement, etc.

Chan is a gifted, sincere preacher whom I admire, and this book (along with Radical by David Platt) has proven to be influential in the evangelical community, sparking a renewed interest in social justice and worldwide humanitarianism. That being said, I thought the book was just ok, retreading ground that already been covered with more depth and better writing by Bonhoeffer and others. It's easy to read, but (like a lot of popular Christian bestsellers) relies too heavily on anecdotes and proof texts for my liking, and would probably work better as a sermon series than a book. The message of Crazy Love is one I totally endorse, the book itself I have mixed feelings about. Nothing objectionable, but nothing particularly memorable either in my opinion.

GOD IS NOT GREAT: HOW RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING by Christopher Hitchens

In the mid-2000s, atheism was having a moment. Spurred on by books by intellectuals Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens as well as a movie by comedian Bill Maher, Religulous, unbelief was suddenly in vogue in popular culture, and the church found itself having to reckon with apologetics in a new way. This "New Atheism" (basically a more militant and evangelistic style of atheism) eventually faded, but its impact is still felt today in a culture where belief in God is no longer a given.

Of the different books that came out during the New Atheism's heyday, God Is Not Great was generally considered the best, and the late Hitchens was considered to be the best standard-bearer for the movement. Indeed, while I (obviously) agreed with little of what he had to say in God Is Not Great, I did find him to be an engaging, brilliant writer and a relatively fair if polemical thinker.

Hitchens' argument is basically found in the book's subtitle: he does not see religion as something good for the world or even neutral, but a net negative on society, a backwards mentality best left behind post-Enlightenment. He prays at the altar of reason and evidence, choosing to exalt philosophy and science over faith. While acknowledging some of religion's positive impacts on the world (charitable giving, advances in medicine, etc.), he believes these positives are outweighed by religion's harms (holy wars, valuing faith over reason, etc.)

For a person of faith, what you get out of God Is Not Great is going to depend largely on how easily you are offended. Hitchens was a polemicist, not an honest broker in the theism vs. atheism debate, so he delighted in provocation. But he also makes some points that believers (especially Christians) are often too quick to ignore or dismiss out of hand. We do need an answer for questions about some of the Bible's more undesirable passages. We do need to repent of the sins of the church. We do need to reckon with what role faith has to play in a postmodern world. Shouting down atheists or refusing to engage with them gets people of faith nowhere, but reading books like this one and grappling with its arguments can sharpen the faith of a mature believer and start some important dialogues, both within the church and with the world. 

THE GLORY OF THEIR TIMES: THE STORY OF THE EARLY DAY OF BASEBALL TOLD BY THE MEN WHO PLAYED IT by Lawrence S. Ritter

In 1961, Ty Cobb died. Lawrence Ritter, reading about Cobb's death in the newspaper, came to a sudden realization: the first generation of major leaguers wasn't going to be around much longer. So, tape recorder in hand, he traveled across the country interviewing ballplayers from Rube Marquad to Hank Greenberg, traveling more than 75,000 miles total in pursuit of their recollections. Upon completion of the project, those stories were put in print, with very little editing, and the result was The Glory of Their Times, a classic among baseball books.

I've always found the pre-Babe Ruth era of baseball to be sort of a tedious subject, since in so many ways it barely resembles the modern game. This book thoroughly convinced me I'd been wrong to think that way—while the game was obviously different, it was no less fascinating. Reading the stories about Honus Wagner, Cy Young, and Ty Cobb, to say nothing of lesser known figures like Fred Snodgrass and Chief Meyers, I was captivated by the personalities and passions of the early ballplayers. An era that I thought of strictly in terms of black-and-white still photographs came alive through the stories of the men who were there.

The Glory of Their Times wound up being hugely influential, with several of its interviewees crediting the book for their subsequent elections to the Hall of Fame. As for me, it gave me a new appreciation for tales from baseball's distant past, a past I'd relegated to obscurity and irrelevance. I highly recommend it for any baseball fan.

POPS: FATHERHOOD IN PIECES by Michael Chabon
BOOKENDS: COLLECTED INTROS AND OUTROS by Michael Chabon

Two books of essays by my favorite author, one about fatherhood and the other about his favorite books. You tell me, doesn't that sound like something I would like?

Bookends take an interesting approach, with Chabon writing a series of forewords for some of his favorite books, and eventually for a few of his own earlier works too. The essays about other people's work are ok, but admittedly suffer if you haven't read those books—no matter how good the writing or how deep the appreciation, it's hard to follow a reflection on a book you've never read. The essay about his own books, on the other hand, were outstanding glimpses into what inspired Chabon to write (and in the case of his never completed second novel Fountain City, fail to write) books I know and love.

Pops, however is the superior of two books, a collection of seven essays which I read in one sitting and will certainly return to again. All of the essays deal in some way with parenting, and all —I laughed, I thought, and I teared up a little. My favorite of the set was "Against Dickitude," a story about the way his preteen son was performatively ignoring an obviously interested girl which turns into a deep, loving, wise reflection on raising boys who respect women. It's an essay that, as the father of a boy, I will read again and again as Andrew gets older.

BOTTOM OF THE 33RD: HOPE, REDEMPTION, AND BASEBALL'S LONGEST GAME by Dan Barry

On April 18, 1981, the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings did something that had never been done before or since, playing 33 innings in a single game before a victor emerged. It was a feat of endurance, stamina, and out-and-out stubbornness that made national headlines at the time, a game that featured two future Hall of Famers and has had an outsized impact on baseball history.

In Bottom of the 33rd, columnist Dan Barry chronicles the game through the eyes of the players, fans, coaches, umpires, management, and anybody else he could get a hold of, telling not only the story of the game, but the town in which it was played and the people who made it happen. The result is a charming glimpse at minor league life, a love letter to the sport, and a 'triumph of the human spirit' story that you can't help but love.

Admittedly overwritten, Barry traffics in Field of Dreams-style prose that I'm a sucker for but may turn off others. What no one would disagree about is his skill in evoking the lives, motivations, and stories of players like Dave Koza, a lifelong minor leaguer who knocked the game-winning hit. If you've ever read a Dan Barry column in the New York Times, you know what to expect, for good and ill. Bottom of the 33rd was a quick, enjoyable read about an event in baseball history with which I was unfamiliar, a great book to read on a sunny afternoon while a game plays on the radio.

THANOS WINS by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw

"Ask the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe how they fear the universe will end, and in their most honest moment, they will answer with two words: "Thanos wins.""

Thus begins this wonderful, zany, self-contained story for any fan of Marvel's Mad Titan. Over six issues, up-and-coming writer Donny Cates writes a love letter to Marvel's cosmic universe in a story that has everything from the Silver Surfer wielding Thor's hammer to...Cosmic Ghost Rider? That's right, in about ten pages Cates tells the story of how (in an alternate timeline) Frank Castle, the Punisher, becomes first the Spirit of Vengeance, then the herald of Galactus, and finally the Black Right Hand of Thanos. It's as wacky—and delightful—as it sounds. 

The overall plot of Thanos Wins centers around the Mad Titan being kidnapped by Cosmic Ghost Rider and dragged into an alternate future where he has completed his lifelong mission and successfully wiped out nearly all life in the universe in his effort to win the affections of his true love, Death. Ostensibly brought there by the future Thanos to help him defeat one final enemy, things are revealed to be slightly more complicated as the story unfurls. In the end, the two Thanoses go head-to-head, and the conclusion of their battle shows a fascinating contradiction for the character: the only way for Thanos to be with Death is to die.

This book manages to be a comedy and a tragedy, an epic and a silly, over-the-top romp. In short, this books is comics in the best way. Most unabashed fun I've had reading in a while.

MISTER MIRACLE by Tom King and Mitch Gerards

Complex, witty, heartfelt, enigmatic, and powerful,Mister Miracle is, simply put, one of the best comic books I've ever read.

Plot-wise, Mister Miracle is the story of Scott Free, the eponymous Mister Miracle, an escape artist and one of DC's New Gods, and his life after a failed suicide attempt. Over the course of twelve issues he goes to war, is crowned king ("highfather") of his homeworld, becomes a father, and confronts the ultimate villain, his adoptive father Darkseid. There is action, comic book mythology, and appearances by some of DC's most beloved Jack Kirby creations.

But, as they say, it's not really about the plot. This is a book whose style is so elevated that it becomes substance, a book that is more than willing to spend nine panels on a gag and that cares as much about small moments as big ones (if not more.) While it deals with an epic cosmic war, the story's heart and soul is what happens in Scott and Barda's Los Angeles condo, where they struggle with marriage, children, love, and loss. It's a superhero story, but it's really a family story.

As you may be noticing, it's a hard book to describe. And honestly, it's not the easiest book to read. I read it in single issues when it was coming out before ever buying the trade and rereading it from beginning to end, and I remember telling my brother after 5 issues, "I'm still not exactly sure what's going on, but it's so good." After rereading it, I have a much better idea of what happened (though I'm still not 100% sure), but like my favorite TV show, Lost, I'm also convinced it doesn't ultimately matter. It's not about the plot or the mysteries or "what it all meant" plot-wise—what matters is the characters and how they grew.

If you want a good, honest reflection on family and don't mind getting it in the form of an often hilarious, always enigmatic superhero story, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Possibly my book of the year, and comic of the decade.

ESSENTIAL MARVEL HORROR VOL. 2

Well, they can't all be essential.

Essential Marvel Horror Vol. 2 is, as the title indicates, a second look at Marvel's various horror titles from the 1970s, this one focusing on 5 different characters who never quite caught on with the public. For the sake of brevity, let me give you a quick summary for each:

First, the Living Mummy. Born to the Swarili tribe of Northern Africa, N'Kantu and his tribe were slaves in Egypt until the day that they plotted a rebellion against their overlords. This rebellion was put down by the Pharaoh's chief priest, Nephrus, who paralyzes and embalms N'Kantu (y'know, as you do), mummifying him until the day, 3,000 years later, when he is discovered and revived by a team of archaeologists led by one of Nephrus's descendants. This character and his story start off pretty cool, but it becomes apparent almost immediately that Marvel's ideas for the character stopped with his origin story.

Second is Brother Voodoo, who is cringe-worthy in countless ways (including his name) but manages to be a pretty cool character nevertheless, even being revived in the last decade. Jericho Drumm was a sophisticated psychologist who, upon returning to his native Haiti, found trouble when his brother Daniel, the native houngan (i.e. voodoo priest) was killed by a rival sorcerer. Upon his death, Jericho vowed to train with Daniel's mentor, Papa Jambo (yeah, I know), and becomes a voodoo master himself, learning that he is also able to call upon Daniel's spirit in times of need. This is a character with a lot going for him (and beautiful art by Gene Colan), but once again Marvel was out of ideas once the origin story was told.

Gabriel the Devil Hunter only appeared in Marvel's horror magazines, comics intended for adults instead of children. This can be seen in both the black-and-white, sketchy art that was favored by such magazines and the content, which is straight out of The Exorcist. Gabriel is a former priest turned exorcist with a female sidekick, Desadia, who predictably becomes his wife by the end of their arc. Gabriel's stories are relatively interesting, but never progress beyond the typical tropes of the exorcism genre.

The Golem, a hulking figure out of Jewish legend, shows up after being discovered by a team of archaeologists and silently pledging to protect them from harm. Of the five characters, this was the one that seemed to have a chance of sticking around as a long-term character but for one serious flaw: he couldn't think or talk. Hard to build much rapport with fans when you're literally just a walking lump of clay.

Finally, the Scarecrow (not the Batman villain). Another silent character, this one has an interesting initial premise—he emerges from a painting to wreak havoc and protect Earth from a demon horde—but never goes anywhere after his first appearance. Three issues and he was done, and I doubt anyone's missed him since. The same can be said for most of these inessential characters and their stories, I'm afraid.