The More Things Change... (Friday Devotional)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

- Joshua 1:9

I spent the first part of this week in my old stomping grounds of Waco for the Texas Baptists Annual Meeting. As excited as I was for the worship services, workshops, and meetups with ministry friends, one thing I was particularly looking forward to was spending some extended time in the city that I called home for 10 years. And so, on the occasions when I had a gap in my schedule, I did some wandering through Waco, driving with no discernible destination in mind just to see what the city looked like 5 years after I moved.

From the interstate, Waco looks like a completely different place than I remembered. The expansion of I-35, which had just begun when we moved to Garland, has long since been completed. Baylor’s new basketball arena towers over an area where there was once little more than an office building, just as its new welcome center looms large over a patch of land which used to have nothing but grass and an IHOP.

Similarly, when I drove through parts of downtown—the area close to the famed silos of Magnolia Market—it was unrecognizable from what I remembered. Once-dilapidated houses are now shiny new AirBnbs. Boutiques and restaurants litter the streets that once struggled to find tenants for their buildings. The closer I was to Magnolia or Baylor, the clearer it was how much had changed in 5 years’ time.

But then I drove a little further, to the parts of Waco where tourists don’t go. I drove through the neighborhood where Lindsey and I lived when we were young and poor, past the old strip malls with their payday lenders and laundromats. I drove through the industrial area, where tire shops and supply stores were plentiful and hotels were not. I drove to the edge of Waco, where the city starts to give way to the neighboring rural towns, and found the same old shabby HEB, Subway, and Bush’s Chicken that had always been there, overshadowed by their bigger, cleaner counterparts on the other side of town. In these areas, it seems, time had stood still for the last 5 years.

As the old saying goes, the more things change, the more things stay the same. Newness brings the excitement of novelty even as it also creates the anxiety of uncertainty. Sameness brings a feeling of comfort to some, even as it signals stagnation to others. We don’t want to see constant change in our lives—that would be terrifying and unwieldly—but neither do we want nothing tomorrow to always look like yesterday. We accept and even desire good change, but we want the important things to stay the same.

When God’s people entered the Promised Land after spending decades in the wilderness, they knew things were about to change, and largely for the better. They were going to have their own land now. They were going to establish their own nation. They were going to receive their reward. No more manna; it was time for milk and honey!

But their excitement was tempered by fear. The land was occupied by fearsome enemies they would need to overcome. Their leader, Moses, had died and passed the mantle down to Joshua. The future, though exciting, was uncertain.

So as the people prepared to enter the Promised Land, Joshua reminded them what had not changed: God was with them. While their situation had changed, their Lord had not. While they were undergoing a time of transition, God was the same today as he had been yesterday. Their future was necessarily going to be different than their past, but they had a solid rock to build upon.

The same is true for God’s people today. Like the Israelites of old, we need not fear the future or rebel against changes so long as we recognize what has not changed. Methods are modified, but the gospel is not. Circumstances shift, but our salvation never wavers. Kingdoms rise and fall, but the kingdom of God is eternal.

Be strong and courageous, God’s man told his people, for the Lord is with you wherever you go. So wherever you go, and however different things may look from what you once knew, know that God won’t leave your side. Don’t place your hope in days gone by or in the fortunes of the future—place your hope in the steadfast love of God.

Helping Where You Can (Friday Devotional)

 

He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

- Matthew 22:37-39

Tuesday night, my intention was to stay up late watching the election returns like most of the country. I had done my civic duty by voting early that morning, so all that was left to do was watch, wait, and pray.

But my plans were rudely disturbed when I got home from an evening committee meeting and learned that one of my kids had vomited twice since I’d been gone and still wasn’t feeling good. When I went to bed, the election results still uncertain, Lindsey and I were awakened by the news that he’d gotten sick again. Just a couple hours later, our daughter joined the fun, announcing in imitable fashion to us—and our bathroom floor—that she was sick too.

In total, we were awakened four times over the course of that long Tuesday night, and election anxiety (mostly) gave way to the tangible work of cleaning floors and soothing children. By the time the sun rose on Wednesday morning, I had learned two things: Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States and two of my kids were sick.

There’s an old expression that all politics is local, meaning that real change starts at city hall, not in Washington D.C. That proverb has seemed to fall by the wayside over the last decade, as partisanship reached a fever pitch and the culture wars became a fire threatening to consume everything from the school board to the church house. Lately it seems more like all politics is national, like you can’t do any good without first passing a partisan purity test.

But my kids offered me a visceral reminder on Tuesday night—as important as national issues are, your most immediate opportunities to make the country a better place are right in front of you. They’re in your neighborhood, not the capital. They’re in the halls of your local elementary school, not the halls of power. They’re in your house, not the White House.

Voting is important. Campaigns and elections and legislation matter; representative democracy is something we ought to hold dear and take seriously. But even more important is the simple, divine command to love your neighbor as yourself.

So do the small, important things to show people the love of God. Bake the casserole for your new neighbor. Call the elderly widow down the street. Offer free babysitting for the single mom in your church. For when you do these things—the kind, neighborly, Christlike things—you’re making the country a better place.

October Reading Log

 

I had a reading slump this month after a pretty strong August and September, but did my best to finish strong. Lots of shorter books this month...take a look!

HOW NOT TO WASTE A CRISIS by Tod Bolsinger
THE MISSION ALWAYS WINS by Tod Bolsinger
LEADING THROUGH RESISTANCE by Tod Bolsinger
INVEST IN TRANSFORMATION by Tod Bolsinger

How do you lead an organization to change?

That's the perennial question for leaders of all stripes, be they CEOs, educational administrators, or pastors. Especially in times of instability, leaders can usually pinpoint the problems and even imagine potential solutions. But how do they then point their followers—from staff to customers to congregants—toward change without alienating them?

To answer this question, author and consultant Tod Bolsinger has written four slim books (each is about 100 pages), all of which build upon each other but each of which tells its own story. Having worked with a variety of different kinds of leaders, Bolsinger is well equipped as a coach, and offers both practical advice and useful case studies to make his arguments.

For ministry leaders in particular, Bolsinger knows how churches work, something that isn't always true when you try to apply business world principles to a church environment. I first encountered his work at a seminary-sponsored conference, and his familiarity with and love for the church shines through these books.

For fellow pastors, these are useful leadership books, and were helpful to me as I start launching our church's strategic planning process. Simple, readable, and applicable—exactly what you want from a leadership text.

CUJO by Stephen King

The scariest books are the ones where you can imagine yourself in the protagonist's shoes, where the premise is understandable and relatable. By that measure, Cujo is one of horror master Stephen King's most terrifying novels, as he sets aside the supernatural in favor of a frighteningly realistic situation: what if you and your child were trapped in your car by a rabid dog?

King wrote this novel in the throes of alcohol addiction and has admitted he remembers almost nothing about writing it, which is a shame, because it's pretty good. With uncharacteristic restraint—the book is barely 300 pages long—he establishes all the major characters, puts the pieces on the board, and unleashes the monster, the titular St. Bernard. In a manner reminiscent of his later novel Misery, he does a great job capturing the claustrophobia and panicked mindset of someone who's trapped with no way out. His depiction of the rabid Cujo, including some slightly clumsy narrations from the dog's point of view, effectively makes the dog a terrifying force of nature.

While some dislike the book's ending—I won't spoil it for you, but it's not a happy one—I actually thought it was fitting, both for the characters and for the story being told. Equal parts ironic and tragic, it worked for me, even if some would have preferred a tidier conclusion.

This isn't King's finest work by any measure, but it's a good thriller and worthy of your time. He may not remember writing it, but I'll remember reading it.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX by Roald Dahl

As the kids and I slowly but surely make our way through the works of Roald Dahl, I thought this slim story would take just a couple weeks to get through. While it wound up taking longer—book time tends to get sacrificed on busy nights when the kids are already going to bed late—this was a serviceable bedtime story, one that felt more like a dragged out picture book than a novel.

The simple story is about the Foxes and their nemeses, a trio of farmers name Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. The Foxes, who live underground on the farmers’ land, routinely eat their chickens, much to the farmers’ chagrin. After one particular confrontation, Boggis and Bunce and Bean decide to get rid of the Foxes once and for all, attempting to dig up their home. So the family, led by the clever Mr. Fox, must evade the farmers and then, having done so, find some way to get food before they starve. When Mr. Fox stumbles upon a way to get into the storehouses of Boggis and Bunce and Bean without their knowledge, the reader knows a happy ending is assured.

This book is less imaginative than the previous Dahl books we read—no wondrous chocolate factories or magic glass elevators or giant peaches to be found—and much simpler. Even at a mere 80 pages, it felt a little long-winded for the amount of plot within. Nevertheless, it's a fun little story, and one the kids enjoyed.

DUBLINERS by James Joyce

When I travel, I try to pair my trip with a book. So in preparation for a trip to Scotland and Ireland, I turned to my old nemesis James Joyce, who got his literary start with the short stories collection Dubliners.

The good news: these stories precede Joyce's more experimental writing in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake. The stories are all told in a straight narrative style, with none of the frills that would later make him an icon with the literati and a curse word to rubes like me. Anyone looking for accessible writing from James Joyce should absolutely start with Dubliners.

The bad news: I still don't get James Joyce. While there are isolated moments of brilliant prose—for example, the last line of "The Dead" is a beautiful bit of writing—there is little contained within Dubliners that makes me think Joyce is the greatest writer to ever pick up a pen. When confined to a normal style and structure, Joyce's mundane tales of ordinary Dubliners are mostly just boring. I often found myself in the middle of a story having to turn back a few pages, having realized that my mind had wandered off even as my eyes had continued traveling across the page.

Dubliners is a collection that narrates the pettiness, the loneliness, and the quiet desperation of ordinary people. It is beloved by students of Joyce, who see it as a comprehensible starting point for ordinary readers. I just wish I understood why this author has such a stranglehold on the literary community. Sadly, Dubliners did not give me the answer.

WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING by Haruki Murakami

I read most of this book on the Ireland trip in an effort to motivate myself to start running again when we got back. Whether it's successful in that regard remains to be seen, but I did enjoy the book. This was my third time reading it; here's what I had to say about it back in 2018:

Haruki Murakami, though renowned as one of the world's greatest living writers, was a name I knew only by reputation, so I couldn't imagine a better springboard into his writing than a book about his experiences running. As a lover of both writing and running, this memoir instantly appealed to me, and a recommendation from my friend and fellow pastor (and reader and runner) Jeff Gravens was enough to convince me.

The book is less a narrative than a collection of essays/journal entries, all about Murakami's love of running and experiences doing so. Every year for more than two decades, Murakami has run at least one marathon, as well as one ultramarathon and a series of triathlons along the way. The chapters in this book describe how he became a runner, how he trains, and what compels him to spend so much time and energy running.

But, as you might suspect from a novelist, it's about more than that. Using running as a filter, Murakami also talks about his life and the craft of writing. Running, he makes clear, is more than a hobby for him, it is a metaphor for his sense of self, and even a source of meaning. Without ever stretching the metaphor beyond comprehension, Murakami convincingly shows how important the solitary exercise of running has been to him over the years.

For runners, I'd say this a must-read (and a pretty quick one). For non-runners, I'm not so sure. For all the insights into his life and his craft, you've got to read a lot about breathing, muscle soreness, etc. For a runner, this is familiar, comfortable territory; for others it may be a little like listening to someone talk about their fantasy football team—more fun for the speaker than the listener. As for me, I left the book with my first itch to run another marathon since birth of my son—stay tuned to see whether I decide to scratch it anytime soon.

THE GRANDEST STAGE: A HISTORY OF THE WORLD SERIES by Tyler Kepner

One of my favorite weeks of the year comes every October, when the champions of the American and National Leagues face off in the World Series. Since 1903, the Fall Classic has been an annual tradition, and an occasion that has sparked big moments, from Snodgrass' Muff in 1912 to Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956 to Freddie Freeman's walkoff grand slam last week. So this year, even as I tuned in every night to watch Yankees-Dodgers, I also walked through the history of the World Series with Tyler Kepner's delightful chronicle, The Grandest Stage.

Each of the seven chapters tackles a different celebrated element of the series: clutch moments, managerial decisions, goats, unlikely heroes, etc. With that framework, the book is basically a loosely connected collection of anecdotes, tale after tale from baseball's past. In other words, catnip for baseball history buffs like me.

Never overstaying his welcome with any given story, Kepner does a good job of digging deeper into the narratives everyone knows and uncovering those we don't. Yes, you get Bill Mazeroski and Kirk Gibson and Joe Carter, but you also get Bill Wambsganss and Mickey Owen and Tony Womack. The result is exactly what anyone is looking for from an overarching sports history book: you get to revel in the moments you know well and learn about those you don't, basking in nostalgia and soaking up new stories. For any baseball fan, The Grandest Stage is a worthy addition to your bookshelf.

ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL. 5 by Chris Claremont, Paul Smith, John Romita, Jr., et al.

Chris Claremont is unquestionably the most influential X-Men writer of all time, thanks to his unparalleled run as the writer on Uncanny X-Men from 1977-1991. Nevertheless, he is not necessarily every X-fan's favorite writer, because, for every "Days of Future Past" and "Dark Phoenix Saga," there are also plenty of stinkers. Essential X-Men Vol. 5 is where, after years of gold, things start to dip a little.

Covering Uncanny X-Men #180-198, as well as an annual issue and a crossover limited series with Alpha Flight, this volume is held back by a reliance—common in this period of Marvel Comics—on readers picking up other books adjacent to this one. By 1984, the New Mutants book had kicked off, with Professor X now teaching a new class of young mutants. Wolverine seemed to be starring in a new miniseries every other month. And other characters (especially Cyclops and Storm) would leave the book, with fans wondering what they were up to. The result is that, from issue to issue, you're not sure where the team stands—there were points where I couldn't tell you who was actually on the X-Men.

Furthermore, the stories told in this volume are far muddier than the tales which put Claremont on the map. Some of this may be due to a disconnect between Claremont and artist John Romita, Jr.  (a legend whose work here is not his finest); some of it may just be a slump on Claremont's part. Whatever the case, there were entire issues where I was skimming more than reading, because the conflict wasn't entirely clear anyway.

If you're looking for highlights, you'd have to point to the introduction of characters like Nimrod and Forge, as well as the double-sized "Lifedeath" issues drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, which focus on Storm's romance with Forge. But for the most part, this is a forgettable, albeit bestselling, period of X-Men lore before everything turned upside down with issue 200. I know it'll get good again, but this stretch was a drag.

Babbled Prayer (Friday Devotional)

 

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

- Romans 8:26

My son Isaac, 10 months old, has turned into quite the little chatterbox over the last few weeks. When he’s happy, he squeals. When he’s upset or impatient, he whines. When he’s hurt, he cries.

And lately, he’s started adding new sounds to his arsenal: babbling. With a little encouragement from his big brother, he’ll gladly say “Bubbubbubba!” On more than one occasion I’ve coaxed a “Dada” out of him. To the chagrin of the ladies in the house, no “mama” or “sissy” yet, but give him time.

What he can’t do yet is say, “I’m hungry.” Or “I’d like to go to bed now.” Or “Bubba and Sissy, you’re the coolest.” Can he communicate? Certainly. But he doesn’t yet have the words.

In prayer, there are times when we are no better than babies, unable to put words to our needs. Some pain is too profound—and some joy too transcendent—for language to suffice. But in those times, Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, going to the Father on our behalf with groaning deeper than any prayer we could produce.

What a blessing to know that, when we are too weak even to pray, God does not leave us shorthanded. You may not have the words—but you have a Helper. Praise God for his provision in all things!

Sweater Weather (Friday Devotional)

 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

- Hebrews 11:1

As I type these words, I’m wearing a T-shirt, gym shorts, and flip flops, perfectly appropriate attire for the weather. Today’s forecast calls for a high near 90 degrees. When I pick up my kids from school this afternoon, we’ll be sweating by the time we get back to the car. It still feels like summer.

Nevertheless, time marches on. Tonight, Major League Baseball begins its World Series, the so-called “Fall Classic.” Our church will host its fall festival tomorrow. Starbucks has been selling pumpkin spice lattes for weeks. It may still feel like summer, but our habits and traditions persevere—whatever the weather says, we stubbornly insist that autumn has arrived.

In some ways, it feels silly to carry on this way in defiance of our senses. Why should we pretend we need to have a jacket handy when it’s so obviously unnecessary? Saying the seasons have changed when we remain so obviously mired in the same one we’ve been in since May feels like an act of cognitive dissonance, a willful act of mass delusion.

Yet I can’t help but feel there’s something hopeful about it. Cooler weather may be delayed, but our rhythms endure, because we trust that change will be here soon. We refuse to cancel our annual traditions because we don’t need it to feel like fall to know that it is fall.

It’s not hard to believe in something when you can see it. But biblical faith is trusting God when faith is all you have to lean on, going all in on hope instead of hedging your bets. There will always be those who call such faith naïve, even silly—but there is something profoundly brave about persevering in faith when cold, hard rationality says you should just give up.

Our world is a cynical, pessimistic place, and if you listen to it too closely, you’ll be ready to throw in the towel at any moment. But if you listen to God’s Word, you’ll hear a different refrain: hope. The tomb is empty, and Jesus is returning soon. The Holy Spirit is at work. God is making all things new.

It’s hot down here, no doubt about it. But don’t throw away your sweater quite yet. Persevere in hope, looking forward to the day when your faith will become sight.

Getting Where You're Going (Friday Devotional)

 

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 4:4-7

As you read this devotional, my family and I are overseas on a trip to Scotland and Ireland, seeing the  sights and enjoying the time together. You may have already seen some of the photos that Lindsey’s uploaded on Facebook or the daily diaries I’ve posted. Travel’s an important thing for our family, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to do so.

But of course, before the fun of overseas travel comes the stress of making the necessary arrangements. How are we going to get around once we’re there? Where are we going to stay? How much money should we change, and where will we change it? Do we have the right kinds of adaptor plugs to charge various electronic devices? When do we call the credit card and phone companies? And for goodness’ sake, what all should we pack?

There are a million little details to attend to before a trip like this one, all of which matter, all of which need to be dealt with before you get on an airplane. It’s enough to make you jittery and anxious when the trip begins, worried you’ve missed something along the way. But then, inevitably, something wonderful happens when you arrive at your destination—the worries largely melt away, overcome by the fun of vacation. The anxiety of the preparation gives way to the joy of the experience.

Life in Christ is a lot like that. The world will pile on burden after burden, a million different things it insists you need to stress over. From the practical—do we have enough saved for retirement?—to the petty—is our car the oldest on the block?—your mind can constantly fixate on different points of anxiety.

But for those who are in Christ, there is freedom from such concerns, or at least a bigger perspective about what ultimately matters. Because we can turn our worries over to the Lord, because we can trust his providence more than our plans, we can rejoice when others fret. What brings fear to an unbeliever is the first step towards joy for a believer. For where there is reason to worry, there is also reason to pray—and in turning our fears over to God, there is peace.

Today, don’t let fear win out over joy. In Christ, you’ve got what you need—so get where you’re going and enjoy the experience!

What Do You Sound Like? (Friday Devotional)

 

Do everything without grumbling or arguing…So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

- Philippians 2:14, 18

Buzz. Click. Clang. Fizz. Groan. Hiccup. Hiss. Rattle. Rip. Sputter.

All these words have something in common: they are onomatopoeias, words whose names sound like the noises they describe. English has more than 100 such words—from argh to ugh, boom to zoom. Some make us smile just to see them in print—think achoo or belch—while others have a more unpleasant feel in our mouths, like blurt or snarl.

To this latter category you can add the word ‘grumble.’ One of its definitions, “to make a low rumbling sound,” the way thunder does when a storm is gathering, fits the word’s sound perfectly. But so too does its primary definition, “to complain about something in a bad-tempered way.” While complaining can sometimes be louder and higher-pitched—think of that other onomatopoeia, ‘whine’—often it’s more like an undercurrent, something soft and in the background, inescapable and unpleasant.

There should always be a place for constructive criticism in our lives—if we don’t want to stagnate, then we need to be seeking ways to do better. But while we ought to welcome helpful suggestions offered in the pursuit of sanctification, the Bible tells us we need not tolerate and should not engage in the kind of complaining that tears down without building back up, that finds nothing but problems and doesn’t bother to seek solutions. That’s just grumbling—and far from helping, it’s just downright unpleasant.

One of the characteristics that set the early Christians apart from the world was the joy they constantly exhibited, even in the face of tremendous difficulty. Their hope was not found in worldly figures—not in financial statements or attendance figures or election results—but in the good news that Christ is risen, the knowledge that by grace and through faith their eternal future was assured. Whatever this world threw at them, their attitude was always the same: Jesus is Lord, so what do I have to complain about?

The world isn’t any simpler today than it was then—some aspects of life are easier, others far harder. So if you’re looking to the world for your hope, you’ll find plenty to worry and stress and complain about. But if Jesus is your Lord, you can rejoice and be glad, for you have a hope that will endure far longer than any of life’s cares and concerns. With every word you speak, whether an expression of joy or a grumble, you are bearing witness to what you believe—so what do you sound like?

All-Around Players (Friday Devotional)

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

- 1 Corinthians 12:7-10

In 1974, Oakland Athletics owner Charles O. Finley signed Herb Washington to his first major league contract. The signing raised eyebrows around the league for a simple reason: Washington hadn’t played baseball since his junior year of high school.

You see, Finley had a hunch that it might be worth a roster spot to invent a new position, a “designated runner.” Such a player would rarely take at-bats or play defense, but would replace slower runners on the basepaths in key spots. Washington, a world-class sprinter who’d narrowly missed the 1972 Olympic track and field team, was the perfect fit—even if he wasn’t, strictly speaking, a baseball player.

Upon signing his designated runner, Finley predicted he would be “personally responsible for winning ten games this year.” But while Washington—whose Topps baseball card simply listed his position as “pinch runner,” the only player in the company’s history with that distinction—stole 31 bases and scored 33 times, the experiment was widely considered a dud by 1975. “Finley’s Folly,” as it was labelled, came down to one central issue: to be successful, you have to do more than one thing well.

Churches operate under the same principle—while every congregation is going to be better at some things than others, they can’t give 100% of their energy and focus to one area of ministry to the exclusion of all others. A healthy church can’t exist solely to worship but willfully neglect service to the community, any more than it can have a vibrant teaching ministry for adults but ignore children’s discipleship.

That’s because God gifts his children differently, empowering each of us for different works of the Spirit. The idea is not for all of us to be uniform in our giftings, but instead united in our diversity. Put us all together and you have a whole mess of strengths and weaknesses, bound together not by shared methodology but by shared love for the Lord.

Ask yourself, what gifts has the Spirit given you? How are you using them to glorify God and serve others? Don’t let your spiritual gifts go to waste—the church needs to do more than one thing at a time, and it needs you to make that happen! 

September Reading Log

 

This was a month spent with books that required some extra time and concentration, which meant fewer pages read and more days where laziness had me drifting away from books and toward the siren song of TikTok and YouTube. Nevertheless, there's a sense of accomplishment that comes with this month's log...two classics checked off the list, 40+ comics read, a favorite kids' book, and a new pastoral favorite. Take a look! 

DIARY OF A PASTOR'S SOUL by M. Craig Barnes

I picked this up on a whim from the clearance section at Half Price Books, enticed by the title and vaguely aware that I'd heard of it from somewhere (thanks Jeff Gravens!) What I didn't know then would become clear within the first 20 pages: that this would become one of my favorite books I've ever read.

Written as a fictional memoir, Diary of a Pastor's Soul contains first-person snippets from the final year of a pastor's congregational ministry. As this imaginary pastor chronicles that year, when he is simultaneously doing the daily work of church ministry while also tying up his career, the reader gets tremendous insight into the joys and trials of life for a minister.

An overused phrase these days is, "I feel seen," something you say when it seems like someone has peered right into your soul, when you've been truly noticed after a lengthy time toiling in obscurity. Reading Diary of a Pastor's Soul, I felt seen by the author, who truly speaks the language of pastors. He narrates not only the pragmatic realities of the profession—the committee meetings, the budgetary concerns, the ins and outs of event planning—but also the deep, spiritual toll it takes, the divine calling that draws people into ministry and keeps them awake at night.

I don't know whether laypeople will appreciate this book to the degree I did, but it is absolutely required reading for clergy, a book that supplants even Eugene Peterson's masterful The Pastor in my estimation. The 15 minutes I spent in my office every morning reading Diary of a Pastor's Soul were sometimes the best part of my day. It is a book I will return to again and again for as long as the Lord lets me remain in his service.

THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS by John Bunyan

The Pilgrim's Progress is often regarded as the most important work of theological literature ever written. It has been translated into more than 200 languages, has never fallen out of print since its initial publication in 1678, and shaped the thoughts and works of writers from Charles Dickens to Herman Melville to C.S. Lewis. So given its reputation and influence, I've always been a little surprised that it was never required reading for my undergraduate degree or in seminary.

I owe those professors a thank you letter.

Now, there can be no disputing the importance of The Pilgrim's Progress in sharing the gospel. Written as an allegorical tale of the path to salvation,  the novel brought Scripture to life by turning systematic theology into a quest narrative. It tells the story of an everyman named Christian and his journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, followed by a similar journey undertaken by his wife and children. Accompanied by friends with names like Faithful and Hopfeul and assailed by everyone from Ignorance to Hypocrisy, Christian encounters all manner of temptations and difficulties before finally making it through the Narrow Gate and into the Land of Beulah.

As you might imagine, anyone who thought The Chronicles of Narnia were a little on the nose would find utterly Bunyan exhausting, and you can count me in that group. It doesn't take long before you stop reading this as a story and start immediately translating every line through a theological filter, which then naturally makes you lose track of the plot. And as for those who find this more readable than the New Testament...how??? I'll take Paul at his wordiest over Bunyan, whose style I found dry as a Phoenix afternoon.

I don't question the value of The Pilgrim's Progress to the kingdom, and maybe I'd have had more appreciation for it if I'd read it in the context of a class, where study and discussion would accompany the reading. But as it is, my experience was a lot like running a marathon: glad to cross it off my bucket list, but I have no intention of ever doing it again.

THE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES: THE FINCA VIGIA EDITION by Ernest Hemingway

One of my quirks is that, for better and for worse, I am a completist. I don't want a band's greatest hits, I want their whole discography. I don't want to watch the most popular Marvel movies, I want to watch all the Marvel movies. And I don't want to read an author's selected works, I want to read their complete works. So when I decided to spend the month with arguably America's greatest short stories writer, I went whole hog: The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition.

This edition, first published in 1987, contains 70 stories in total—49 which were initially published in 1938's First Forty-Nine Stories, 14 more which were published subsequently, and 7 which were seeing the light of day for the first time with the Finca Vigia edition. Some run as little as 3 pages; the longest is more of a novella at 50 pages. And, as you might expect from a complete collection, it's a mixed bag in terms of quality.

In spots, this is Hemingway at its finest. Often associated with the "iceberg theory" of writing, Hemingway's sparse, unadorned style gives you little on the surface while containing a wealth of meaning and pathos beneath. My favorite story of his, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is a classic example of this—a simple story about a man in an empty bar that leaves the reader aching with melancholy. Similarly, "The Battler," "Snows of Kilimanjaro," and "Hills Like White Elephants" are masterful tales that highlight Hemingway's brilliance.

When you work your way through all 70 of these stories, the stories can start to feel repetitive, even ponderous—another war story? Another bullfighting story? And, not surprisingly, the best stuff is almost exclusively found in the the first 49 stories he and his editor has seen fit to publish in his lifetime, making the last third of the book a bit of a slog at times. But throughout the book, readers like me who aren't naturally drawn to short stories over novels will marvel at Hemingway's ability to create well-rounded characters, interesting scenarios, and resonant themes in just a few pages.

It's a cliché among literary critics that Hemingway was a better short story writer than a novelist. You probably don't need to read all 70 of his stories to decide whether you agree—but I'm happy to give you my top 10!

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl

More bedtime magic, courtesy of legendary children's author Roald Dahl. This beloved story tells the story of James Henry Trotter, a mistreated orphan boy who, after being given some magical crystals by a mysterious stranger, accidentally spills them close to a nearby fruit tree and awakes to find a peach the size of a house. Upon entering the giant peach, he encounters a host of friendly, life-sized insects, and the peach rolls (and eventually is carried by seagulls) to a series of zany adventures.

If you didn't read this as a child and that summary didn't reel you in, I question your sense of wonder. This book is a pure delight, one that my kids loved even more than the Charlie Bucket books last month. And indeed, while Charlie and the Choclate Factory has thus far had the most and best adaptations to film, I think James and the Giant Peach may be a superior book, quicker to get moving and with a more vivid cast of characters. I loved every moment reading this story, and was as sad to finish it as my kids were. A classic, and for good reason.

ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL. 3-4 by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Paul Smith, John Romita, Jr., et al.

These were actually rereads for me—coming off of the excitement from Deadpool & Wolverine, I decided it was time to dive back into my <gulp> 11 volumes of Essential X-Men and I needed a refresher on where I left off with America's favorite mutants. So below is my review from September 2020, the first time I read these books:

In the 1980s, no comic was bigger than Uncanny X-Men. Propelled by soap operatic melodrama, cool costumes and powers, and Chris Claremont's world-building, mutants carved out their own corner of the Marvel Universe, one to which readers swarmed in droves. Essential X-Men Vol. 3-4 lays the foundation for that popularity, building upon stories like The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past even as it moves boldly into the future.

The highlight of this period is the graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills, printed in its entirety in vol. 4. The story tells of a televangelist who uses his platform to advocate for the elimination of all mutants .While X-Men titles had flirted with social commentary dating back to the 1960s, this is the story that most clearly establishes the mutants-as-oppressed-minorities metaphor that would come to define the book. And, while dated in some respects, the story holds up pretty well.

These books also see the introduction of Rogue, the power-stealing mutant who makes her debut as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants only to eventually switch sides and join the X-Men; the Morlocks, a society of mutant outcasts living underground; and Madelynn Pryor, a mysterious Jean Grey lookalike whom Cyclops impulsively marries (with consequences in future issues.) Other story developments include Storm's metamorphosis from innocent fish out of water to battle-hardened killer, Magneto's shift from villain to antihero, and the maturation of Kitty Pryde from novice to full-fledged X-Man.

These stories are not as crucial to X-Men lore as the ones told by Claremont and John Byrne in Essential X-Men Vol. 2, but they're still plenty of fun, and more imaginative than much of what was coming out in the same time period. For X-Men fans wanting to see the expansion of the mutant world before that mythology became convoluted and overwhelming, these are key issues.

A Bottle of Kindness (Friday Devotional)

 

And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

- Matthew 10:42

A few days ago, I was out for an early morning run around the block. I had earbuds in and, with the sun not yet up, didn’t expect to see anybody else before I was finished. So I was a little startled when I faintly heard somebody calling out to me over the sound of the podcast I was listening to.

Taking my earbuds out and turning around, I saw a teenager sitting across the street by a stop sign waiting for the school bus. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a water bottle and held it out.

“’Scuse me,” he said. “Need some?”

At the time, I politely declined and carried on with my run. But I’ve got to tell you, that little gesture from a kid I’d never met before and haven’t seen since has stuck with me for a week now. He didn’t know me. I didn’t ask him for help. I didn’t even initially pay any attention to him. But he thought he had something to offer, and he didn’t hesitate to reach out with the little he had to give.

I wonder what the world would be like if more of us made our way through life that way. What kind of witness to the gospel could we offer if we operated out of a spirit of generosity instead of anxiety, if we saw every interaction as a chance to do some good? Imagine the impact believers could make if, instead of hesitantly keeping our distance, we dove headfirst into lives of kindness.

A bottle of water isn’t much. But offered in the right spirit, it can make all the difference.

Being Bitten and Bearing Burdens (Friday Devotional)

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

 

- Galatians 6:2

 

At a church fellowship this past weekend, I took a bunch of the kids outside to run off some energy with a game of baseball. Before long, my son hit the ball into a line of bushes along the side of the building. So, dutifully, I got down on my hands and knees to retrieve the ball.

 

…and stuck my left hand directly in a fire ant pile.

 

As you might expect, it took all of 2 seconds for me to realize what I’d done. I frantically started swatting at the one hand with the other, trying to brush all the ants off as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, by the time I was all clear, I’d acquired 18 ant bites, most under my watch band and wedding ring. The damage is done—all that’s left to do now is periodically apply some hydrocortisone cream and wait for the itching to stop.

 

That experience got me thinking about the way problems typically crop up in life—problems far more severe than a few bug bites. When you are hit with a crisis, there is usually a moment of intensity—the appointment when the doctor tells you the cancer is spreading, the meeting when you find out you’ve been laid off, the day you are handed divorce papers. And when we think of hard times, we usually think of those intense moments, when your hand is wrist deep in the ant pile.

 

But in truth, life’s greatest trials last longer than those instances of peak intensity. As shocking as those singular moments are, they are inevitably followed by much longer periods of adjustment, treatment, and, hopefully, healing. After the funeral comes the grieving, after the break-up comes the loneliness, after the car accident comes the endless calls with insurance adjustors. Reminder after reminder of what you’ve experienced, a constant itching.

 

Pain in this world, sadly, is far from momentary—it ebbs and flows, but is never absent for long. So in the face of this sobering reality, it is incumbent upon God’s people to shoulder each other’s loads, to bear one another’s burdens. God called his children to come together as the church so that, as we await Christ’s return, we would not be overwhelmed by the brokenness of the world in the meantime. Your brothers and sisters in faith are here to lift you up when you struggle, even as you are called to do the same for them.

 

Trying to pursue faith as a solo endeavor is a fool’s errand, not to mention an act of disobedience. Your church family needs you, and you need them—not just when life is biting you, but to help you heal when you’ve been bitten. Life is too long and suffering too real to persevere alone—turn to those God has given you to help and to be helped.

The Spiritual Slide (Friday Devotional)

 

Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord.

- Romans 12:11

At my son’s weekly baseball practice, the coach always starts with the same drill, a “diamond run” around the bases. The drill ends, as you might imagine, with the players running back to home plate from third base—once you touch home, you’re done with the drill and you get to the back of the line.

Inevitably, Andrew always ends the drill the same way—while simply stepping on home plate would satisfy the coach, he insists on sliding every time. I always know 10 minutes into practice that his uniform will need to be washed, because he ends every diamond drill with a cloud of dust. His enthusiasm just can’t be contained.

Even as adults, there are times when we feel that same kind of excitement, such that we just can’t contain ourselves—go to a sports bar on a Sunday afternoon if you don’t believe me. Grown-ups can be enthusiastic too, and sometimes we set aside our polite restraint in the name of passion.

The Bible calls us to that same kind of enthusiasm about our faith. While culturally the church often aims for dignity and decorum, there ought to also be room for unfiltered joy. Jesus has given us salvation in him, the promise of eternal life, the hope of glory. You have reason to celebrate, reason to praise—so don’t muzzle yourself!

It’s fine to just step on home plate every now and then; the run still counts the same. But you should see the smiles all around when you slide.

Not My Job? (Friday Devotional)

 

But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”

Luke 10:29-32

On August 8, 1982, the Boston Red Sox were playing an afternoon game at Fenway Park. Suddenly a foul ball screamed past the first base dugout and left fielder Jim Rice heard a sickening crunch. Looking around the corner of the dugout into the stands, Rice saw 4-year-old Jonathan Keane bleeding profusely from his head. Realizing that it would take several minutes for park EMTs to get to the scene, the ballplayer sprang into action. Rice leaped over the railing into the stands, cradled the young fan into his arms, and carried the boy into the dugout, where he received immediate attention from the team's medical staff.

Within just a few minutes, Jonathan was rushed to the hospital, where doctors credited Rice with saving the boy’s life. Jim Rice played the rest of the game in a blood-stained uniform, a reminder of the turn the day had taken. His job may have been to play left field for the Red Sox, but his calling that day was far higher.

When you see someone who needs help, it’s far too easy to default to the priest and the Levite’s position in the story of the Good Samaritan—to ignore the need. Whether because you’re in a rush to do something else, because you’re concerned about your own well-being, or simply because your heart is hardened in that moment to your neighbor’s need, the easiest thing in the world is to pass by. After all, it’s not your job to help.

But what Jesus reminds us—what Jim Rice displayed that day in 1982—is that sometimes your calling is more important than your job. Sometimes God puts you right in the path of someone in need, not so you can pass but so you can step in. Because sometimes the person best suited to help is not the one with all the education and training—sometimes it’s the person who’s right there.

Helping your neighbor may not be your job at any given moment. But according to Jesus, it’s always your calling.

August Reading Log

Y'all, I read The Power Broker this month, all 1,169 pages of it (that's of actual reading material; there's another 100+ pages of bibliography and index). 50 pages a day every day but Sundays, with only 3 days all month when I gave myself a break. All so I could have this log ready by Labor Day.

So yeah, it's a short log this go-'round, just three entries. But make no mistake, I did a LOT of reading last month. Take a look!

THE POWER BROKER by Robert Caro

During his presidency, Donald Trump popularized the idea of the "deep state," a cadre of unelected bureaucrats who do all the real governing and stymie any attempts by elected leaders to subvert their efforts. Some embraced the idea, others dismissed it as a conspiracy theory, still others believed the truth was probably somewhere in between.

In New York City, from 1927 to 1968, Robert Moses was the Deep State personified. Never once elected to office—not for lack of trying—Moses acquired and consolidated power through a host of appointed positions until he was the de facto czar of the city. Nothing was built in NYC for 4 decades without his approval, and the success of every mayor largely depended on their relationship with him. Ostensibly an urban planner and parks commissioner, Moses ruled the city with an iron fist.

The Power Broker is Robert Caro's now-legendary biography of Moses, an exhaustive account of the man's rise and fall and an explanation of why New York City is laid out the way it is. Told with both a writer's flair for the dramatic and a journalist's thirst for evidence, The Power Broker did more than anything to make the general public aware of Moses, forever shaping his legacy.

The verdict? In Caro's telling, Moses must be admired for his ability to Get Things Done, building at a rate unmatched before or since. But his methods, his narrow-minded vision (for example, he was so fixated on building highways that he essentially ruined the city's public transportation), and his disregard for the poor ultimately make him feel like a supervillain as you read The Power Broker. Year after year, Moses wielded incomparable power in the city, and year after year people suffered so that another bridge, another highway, and another park could go up.

Plowing through The Power Broker is a herculean feat for a reader—not only is it long, but in places it's pretty dense, especially for those (like me) who are not native New Yorkers. But admiration for Caro's airtight research typically overpowers any threat of boredom or overwhelm, and Caro has a gift for balancing the more tedious sections of the book with juicy conflicts, such as Moses' Dickensian relationship with his brother Paul. This book not only won Caro the Pulitzer Prize, it gave him the credibility to write his multivolume biography of Lyndon B. Johnson, arguably the finest historical writing of the last 50 years. Any student of history owes it to themselves to read The Power Broker—it lives up to the hype.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY by Roald Dahl
CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR by Roald Dahl

My big kids have officially hit the ages where we've moved from picture books to chapter books for bedtime reading. So this month, following a successful showing of 1971's Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I decided to introduce them to the classic book it's based on. And then after they liked it, it was on to the sequel!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the whimsical story of a poor boy's tour through the most magical candy factory imaginable. When the factory's owner, the enigmatic Willie Wonka, issues invitations for a few lucky individuals to tour his heretofore secret abode, the destitute Charlie Bucket is one of the lucky winners. But when the tour begins, he sees that Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory is more than anyone bargained for, a "world of pure imagination," as the movie puts it—and, for children with hearts less pure than his, danger.

If you've seen the original film (the less said about the 2005 Johnny Depp version, the better), you've got a good idea of the story beats; the movie's a pretty faithful adaptation. Like all Roald Dahl books, this one is brimming with imagination, along with just a hint of menace. It's a classic for a reason.

I wish I could say the same of the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, an ill-conceived, tedious story that only occasionally hints at the magic of its predecessor. Picking up right where the previous book left off, it hurtles Charlie, Wonka, and the entire Bucket family into space aboard Wonka's magical glass elevator, where they encounter everything from aliens to a a giant space hotel to the President of the United States (via telephone). Where the first book is silly in a charming way, this one is just kind of dumb, aiming for laughs and usually falling short. Things get better when they finally return to the chocolate factory for a few chapters of aging and de-aging the grandparents with Wonka-Vite and Vita-Wonk, but by that point I was mostly just counting down to the end.

While one of these books was much better than the other, both proved that Roald Dahl remains a read-aloud favorite for good reason. The kids were begging for "more Charlie" every night, and that did their reader dad's heart good!

EAST OF WEST VOL. 1-10 by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta

While I read most of this series back in 2017, it hadn't reached its conclusion yet at that point, and I'd always wondered how Hickman and Dragotta managed to tie up the loose ends in those last dozen issues. So, at a rate of 2 issues per day, I spent most of the month in the dystopian world of the Chosen, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the dystopian sci-fi Western version of America they inhabit.

Here comes the summary, and buckle up— as usual for a Jonathan Hickman project, it's a lot. The world we are given is one in which the United States is divided into 6 dueling nations: the Union, the Confederacy, the Republic of Texas, the PRA (a Maoist nation of Chinese exiles), the Endless Nation (Native Americans), and the Kingdom of New Orleans. Each of these nations has a representative who believes in the Message, an apocryphal text building upon the Book of Revelation that prophesies how the end of the world will come. The Chosen serve the Horsemen of the Apocalypse...or at least three of them. The problem is that Death, one of those Horsemen, long ago married and had a child with one of the Chosen and is now at odds with the followers of the Message, including his fellow Horsemen. He and his son, the Beast of the Apocalypse, now seek to avert the end of the world that everyone else is seeking to bring about.

If that was a lot to take in, know that it was equally hard to summarize. But here's what matters: East of West mixes the aesthetic of a spaghetti western with sci-fi, adds in some Game of Thrones-style palace intrigue, and tosses in biblical prophecy for a ride as thrilling as it is complex. The cast of characters is large and compelling, the twists are unexpected and exciting, and the dynamic art is a perfect match for the story.

East of West is the kind of story independent comics ought to be telling, one so visual that it wouldn't work in prose but so driven by words that it would lose something onscreen. If you miss watching Game of Thrones, this would make a great replacement.

SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW by Tom King and Bilquis Evely

When a young girl's father is murdered, she vows revenge on the killer and dedicates her life to that pursuit. When Kara Zor-El's dog Krypto is kidnapped by that same murderer, she joins the girl in her quest. And as the two make their way across the universe together, they both learn a little something about trauma, purpose, and hope.

Longtime readers of this log will not be surprised to hear that I liked a Tom King series; in my opinion he's the best writer in comics today (and when he's on his A game, I don't think it's particularly close.) But this story is notable for the way King moves away from certain devices that, by his own admission, had started to become crutches—there are no 9-panel grids here, no art by Mitch Gerards, no confessionals to camera. Indeed, at a surface level this is a pretty straightforward action-adventure story, a simple revenge quest.

But beneath the surface, King is doing some of the best character work of his career, sharing a story that effectively differentiates Kara from her famous cousin, showing her to be a tougher, more traumatized, less pristine hero than Kal without diminishing her in any way. With young Ruthye as the tale's narrator, the reader is kept at a remove from Kara, meaning we pick up on these things through story rather than inner monologue. And Ruthye herself evolves as the story progresses, with Supergirl's heroic influence building on her issue by issue.

As great as King is, a word must also be said about Bilquis Evely's art, which is gorgeous throughout. Vaguely recalling the kind of fantasy artwork you might see in a Tor paperback, it's intricate, colorful, and dynamic, ensuring that the story always comes first, with the character work happening under the surface. I look forward to seeing what Evely will work on next; she's got to be in high demand after the success of this series.

By the end of the book, this was probably my second favorite Tom King series ever (Mister Miracle, my favorite miniseries of all time, has a lock on #1). Word is that DC Studios is looking to adapt this into a feature film, and I can see why. Highly recommended.