Starts and Stops (Friday Devotional)

 

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.

- Psalm 107:1

When my family drove to Memphis a few weeks ago, one of the things we found there was an unexpected treat: fall weather. The mornings and evenings were brisk but pleasant, not yet accompanied by the bite of a winter chill. The afternoons were positively Californian—highs in the mid-70s and sunny, neither too hot nor too cold. And most impressive of all, everywhere we looked the leaves were a canvas of colors, falling to the ground in shades of orange and red and yellow.

In Texas, we famously don’t see much of a fall (or a spring). Summer weather stretches into October—it’s not unusual to see someone sipping on Starbucks’ famed pumpkin spice latte while sweating through a 90 degree day—and then, seemingly without warning, one morning it’s 40 degrees and we collectively realize that winter is upon us. Similarly, the beautiful spring which other states enjoy often eludes us—we move from cold and rainy February to warm and humid March to dry, hot April. For Texans, our seasons don’t change through periods of steady transition, but in starts and stops.

This year of COVID-19 has been like Texas weather in that respect. In March, one day we were dining in restaurants and going to basketball games, and the next we were leaving home only to brave the toilet paper hoarders at the grocery store. A few months later, the pandemic seemed to be taking a back seat to other concerns, only for a fresh surge in cases to send us back inside. And now we find ourselves in the middle of yet another devastating wave of cases, one that has people cancelling holiday plans and wondering how much more we can endure. Just when we think we have a handle on things, a new crisis emerges; trouble doesn’t come steadily but in starts and stops.

In these jarring times, we can be thankful that heaven’s business remains unchanged. Even as governmental policies and mandates change based on circumstances, God’s Word stands the test of time. Even when the headlines announce yesterday’s tragedies and hope for tomorrow’s triumphs, the gospel remains Good News every day. Even when we, in our weakness, bounce between caring for our neighbors one moment and ignoring them the next, God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Seasons come and go, whether in orderly transition or in starts and stops. This pandemic, even as it continues to rage today, will also someday come to an end—and may that day come quickly, Lord Jesus! But through all the starts and stops, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob is also the God of 2020. So in a year in which consistency has been hard to come by, may we give thanks to the one who has been with us through it all.

Move the Sun (Friday Devotional)

 

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

- Colossians 3:12-13

On Monday, Lindsey and the kids spent all morning going to a pair of doctor appointments. Both kids did well, but by the end they were tired and getting cranky. So when they were driving home and the sun shone through the window into Andrew’s eyes, his reaction was to yell out, “Mommy! I need you to move the sun!”

Lindsey chuckled and replied, “Buddy, that’s not something Mommy can do.”

But Andrew was unmoved. “You can!” he insisted. “I know you can!”

In this pandemic season of renewed fears, fresh anxieties, and continued fatigue, a lot of us feel just like Andrew. We’re tired. We’re frustrated. We want things to be different.

And so, just like him, our expectations of each other start to become unreasonable. We need more than ever, so we demand more than ever. We feel blinded, and so we want our friends, our families, and our leaders to move the sun.

Difficult times are nothing new for disciples of Jesus Christ, and so Scripture offers us a reminder for how gospel-minded people navigate these times: with patience, forgiveness, and grace. The apostle Paul urges the church to “clothes yourselves” with the same kind of compassionate love that Christ shows, to put on a mindset of mercy even when your flesh pushes you toward contempt.

Now more than ever, showing kindness instead of contempt is a countercultural witness to the love of Jesus Christ. When you practice forgiveness in the face of frustration, you are living out the gospel. So when you want to demand that somebody else move the sun, may you instead move toward the Son.

Beyond the Legend (Friday Devotional)

 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell

- Colossians 1:15-19

The hardest throwing pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball isn’t in the Hall of Fame. His jersey number isn’t retired by any of the teams he played for. In fact, chances are you’ve never even heard of him. But those who saw him throw insist that no one—not Bob Feller, not Sandy Koufax, not Nolan Ryan—could match Steve Dalkowski’s fastball.

Dalkowski signed with the Baltimore Orioles out of high school in 1957, and it quickly became apparent that he could blow by hitters any time he wanted—if he could get the ball over the plate. Unfortunately, he was up front about the fact that he rarely knew where the ball was going when he released it, and he often walked more batters than he struck out. Eventually, after nine seasons spent entirely in the minor leagues, Dalkowski hung up his spikes for good, never able to find the necessary control to pair with his power. But that power was more enough to make his mark.

In the days since, the legend of Steve Dalkowski has only grown. Interviews have been conducted with his former coaches and teammates, countless anecdotes have been shared, and researchers have pored over the inconclusive results of a test he participated in to determine how fast he was throwing. But remarkably, no video footage exists of him pitching—not even a few seconds of grainy black-and-white tape. People continue to speculate to this day about how fast he threw—100 mph? 105 mph? 110 mph? For all the stories, we’ll probably never know.

Many people think of God in similar terms, as a sort of mythic figure who is great but unknowable. They don’t necessarily dispute his existence, but wonder if the stories are overblown. They just wish we had some footage of God at work.

In Christ, God gave us just that—Jesus is the Word made flesh, the image of the invisible God. Through Christ we learn the character and priorities and power of God; by knowing Jesus we know God. For those who want to know what God is like, they need only look to Jesus.

There is much about God that is beyond our understanding, but the Lord is not so distant as we have been led to believe. We don’t have to settle for stories and rumors—He gave us His Son.

When the Answer Is "I Don't Know" (Friday Devotional)

 

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.

- Job 19:25

As predicted by journalists and political analysts, we all woke up Wednesday morning uncertain who won the presidential election. After months of campaigning, gallons of ink spilled by prognosticators and pundits, and weeks of voting, the only honest answer to the question, “Who will be the president on January 20?” was, “I don’t know.”

At the same time, we remain in the middle of a pandemic which is once again surging throughout the nation. We all long for normalcy, we all wish we could go out in public without a face mask, we are all eagerly awaiting the announcement of a vaccine that will usher this virus out of the present and into the past. When will that day come? I don’t know.

More questions abound. How will these events affect the economy? What is all this unrest doing to our children? What is the path forward? I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.

The only certainty, it seems, is uncertainty. Just as that feels true today, so it must have for Job, that famous biblical character who saw his wealth, health, and family taken away from him without warning. Having been prosperous, he was suddenly destitute; having been blessed, he was suddenly cursed. Everything he thought he could count on was here one minute and gone the next.

But when Job’s world was turned upside down and everything seemed uncertain, he turned to what he knew to be true: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.” Even as his friends sought explanations for his turmoil and theorized solutions for his problems, Job looked with faith to the God who holds tomorrow. While Job’s future was uncertain, he knew God’s was not.

It’s a frustrating thing not to know the answers, to be unable to forecast or plan for the future. But in uncertain times God draws us away from earthly sureties and into eternal truths. So may today’s uncertainties not stir up your anxieties, but renew your faith.

October Reading Log

It was a light reading month for me...between a busy month at church and a general feeling of fatigue, I didn't seem to have it in me to do much extra reading this go-around. Nevertheless, there was time to reread some familiar favorites and tackle a couple of new books when I felt up to it. Take a look!

4 Articles I Like This Month

"He Thought We'd Be 'Better Off'" by Jennifer Calder, Medium. 18 minutes.

The harrowing account of writer Jennifer Calder's discovery that her husband had committed suicide, leaving her without her husband and her three boys fatherless. Heartbreaking, honest, and powerful.

"Will Christianity Have Another Reformation?" by Benjamin J. Dueholm, The Dallas Morning News. 3 minutes.

In this op-ed, the author, a Lutheran pastor, explores the reasons the American church needs a new Reformation—and why we're unlikely to see one.

"A Grief Unobserved: Why Aren't We Talking About This at Church?" by Tamice Namae Spencer, Baptist News Global. 8 minutes.

A stirring, convicting piece about the evangelical church's seeming refusal to talk about our nation's epidemic of police violence against African-Americans. Even if you don't care for the writer's politics, don't lose sight of her overall point.

"My Mustache, My Self" by Rembert Browne, The New York Times. 25 minutes.

On black power, respectability, and...mustaches? Trust me.

THE PASTOR by Eugene Peterson

In 21st America, pastors wear a number of hats: CEO, fundraiser, writer, PR specialist, and public speaker, just to name a few. On some days, it can be enough to make a pastor wonder when he's supposed to find time to pray and read the Bible.

So Eugene Peterson's memoir The Pastor, which I reread this month, came as a breath of fresh air. With a calm, spiritual voice, he confronts the corporate idea of what a pastor should be by telling about his life as a different kind of pastor, one who sought to know and disciple his congregation rather than "fix them" or "grow the church." Peterson's memoir is an effective advocate for a pastoral life marked not by busyness, but intentionality.

Peterson traces his life from his upbringing in Montana through his education in university and seminary, explores his calling to pastoral ministry, and concludes with his writing of The Message, the project for which he is best known. What is remarkable in reading his life story is that, while he does not portray life as a pastor with rose-colored glasses, his account is devoid of bitterness. Peterson writes as a man who loved his work, loved his congregation, and loves his Lord.

In pastoral life, it is easy to adapt to the culture around you and try to professionalize your work, to become a part of the rat race. Reading The Pastor is an effective, powerful way to remind you of what matters most in your work: not the organizational and administrative duties, but your relationships with God and people.

NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLAS AND OTHER WORKS by Frederick Douglas

Over the past few months, I've done a lot of thinking about how I was taught American history in my Texas public schools, especially as it relates to race. I've thought about how much slavery, our nation's original sin, was downplayed when we learned about everything from the drafting of the Constitution to the Civil War. I've thought about how few non-white historical figures every occupied the center stage in what we were learning (basically, Martin Luther King, Jr. then... <crickets>.) And I've thought about who I wished I'd heard more about in those years.

So when my dad gave me this collection of Frederick Douglas's most notable works for my birthday, it's seemed a propitious time to dive right in and read what this abolitionist and former slave had to say. And after reading it, all I could do was shake my head that this had not been required reading in my high school history classes.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, a slim volume and Douglas's most famous book, is exactly what the title indicates, a brief autobiography of the man, beginning with his birth into slavery and concluding with the story of how he found freedom. Primarily, it serves as a description of what American slavery was like above the Mason-Dixon line, and in doing so, rebuts the understandable but mistaken belief that slavery was a solely Southern evil. With an eye for detail and a mastery for prose, Douglas reflects upon his own story and offers interesting asides, such as how religious slaveowners were almost always harsher to their slaves than were atheistic ones. Given what it teaches about our nation's original sin, this book, less than 100 pages long in my copy, should be required reading for every American citizen.

My Bondage and My Freedom, the second account in this collection, serves as essentially an amplified version of Narrative, and thus made for a somewhat tedious read immediately following the preceding book. Nevertheless, it offers more detail and goes later into Douglas's life post-slavery. The collection concludes with a series of important speeches and letters by Douglas, such as his famous "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" These brief essays give readers an idea of what Douglas was such a successful public intellectual in his day, and effectively summarize and synthesize the abolitionist point of view.

I couldn't be gladder that I finally read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas and these other works, and I learned a great deal. I just wish somewhere in my 12 years of public education I'd been asked to read them sooner.

MY LIFE WITH BOB: FLAWED HEROINE KEEPS BOOK OF BOOKS, PLOT ENSUES by Pamela Paul

I keep a handwritten list of every book I own—every time I buy a new book I dutifully add it to the list, and every time I finish one I neatly cross it off in pencil. Every now and then, I’ll flip through the list and remember where and when I read some of those crossed-off books—I read David McCullough’s Truman almost exclusively on the balcony of our 2-bedroom Waco apartment while Andrew napped during my 2-year stint as a stay-at-home dad; I read Robert Caro’s Working from beginning to end on planes and trains during a family vacation to Europe. So when I learned that Pamela Paul, editor of the New York Times Book Review, keeps a similar “Book of Books,” or Bob for short, and that she’d written a memoir about it, I knew I needed to check it out.

 My Life with Bob ends up being an amalgam of traditional memoir and reading list, as Paul narrates the story of her life through the lens of which books she was reading at the time. The result is sort of a love letter to reading, something for which I’m always on board. Artfully connecting her life with the lives of her books’ protagonists, she shows how books have guided her through life’s peaks and valleys, and how her Book of Books has been as autobiographical as an diary.

 Paul is a good memoirist, reflective without navel gazing, and she does a good job dividing her time between her life’s events and what books have taught her. This was an easy, enjoyable read that made me want to dive into my next book. Any reader will enjoy My Life with Bob.

MISTER MIRACLE by Tom King and Mitch Gerards

This was my third time reading this story, and it won't be my last. I'm now comfortable saying this is my all-time favorite limited series; every time I read it, it hits me on multiple levels. Here's my review from last March if you want to hear what I said then.

ESSENTIAL TALES OF THE ZOMBIE by Steve Gerber, Doug Moench, Pablo Marcos, Tony Isabella, et al.

If you've been reading these logs for the last few years, then you know I've been slowly but surely working my way through the canon of 1970s Marvel horror comics, with decidedly mixed results. While Tomb of Dracula was an absolute joy, Werewolf By Night was boring; where Monster of Frankenstein offered some thrills, Son of Satan and Brother Voodoo didn't do much for me. So it was with trepidation that I opened up Essential Tales of the Zombie, the last Essential volume in this genre. Would this be a dud or a delight?

The answer, it turns out, was a microcosm of the entire line of Marvel horror comics: a mixed bag. Tales of the Zombie was a black-and-white magazine for "mature readers", different from the four-color mainstream Spider-Man issues you'd find on the newsstand. Within each issue you'd find at least one full-length story about Simon Garth, the titular zombie, at least one prose essay about zombies and voodoo (often drawing on their history in film), and a couple of short stories. This Essential, unlike others that drew from such black-and-white magazines, doesn't pick and choose which content to reprint; it gives you everything but the ads. 

As a result, it became pretty easy to tell what was going to be great and what was not as I made my way through the book. The stories about Simon Garth, a former coffee baron who is killed by his disgruntled gardener only to be revived as a mostly mindless zombie by his secretary, a voodoo priestess (because comics!), are excellent. Steve Gerber is an excellent storyteller within the genre, and Pablo Marcos is a revelation on art, illustrating with fine lines and shadow in a way that suits the material exquisitely. Given that the main character never speaks and is essentially without a personality, it's remarkable how compelling these stories prove to be over the course of the book.

The short stories are hit and miss, sometimes reprinting 1950s horror stories (including one by Stan Lee), but more often drawing on reliable writers around the Marvel bullpen to throw something together. And the essays, quite frankly, are tedious; I wish I had just skipped them. All in all, these extra features come across as filler designed to make what could have been a good comic book into a mediocre (but higher priced) magazine.

But thanks to the Simon Garth stories, I'm glad I took the time to finish off my journey through 1970s Marvel horror with this volume. Now back to the superheroes!