December Reading Log

December is always a short reading month for me, since the week of Christmas is too full of family and church festivities for much solitary downtime. Nevertheless, I did plenty of reading in the three weeks available for it. Take a look!

3 Articles I Like This Month

"Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?" by Kate Julian, The Atlantic. 51 minutes.

Statistics show that my generation and those younger than me are marrying less, dating less, and, yes, having less sex than previous generations were at our age. The reasons are legion and are explored in this fascinating article, but all boil down to a truly terrifying reality: as a society, we're losing the ability to be intimate with other human beings. Note: this is an article about sex. So, while it is a professional and research-based article, expect some mature content.

"We Asked 12 Mass Killers: 'What Would Have Stopped You?'" by Alex Hannaford, GQ UK. 34 minutes.

Every time there's a mass shooting, we ask "could anything have been done to prevent this?" The left looks to gun control and the right looks to mental health, but the truth is that we're all speculating—the only way to really know what could stop a mass shooting is to ask a mass shooter. So this reporter did, interviewing a dozen convicted mass shooters to learn what measures they think could have prevented their crimes.

"The Redemption of MS-13" by Danny Gold, Longreads. 23 minutes.

In gang-ridden El Salvador, there is one surefire way for young men to escape the clutches of MS-13: become a born again Christian. A fascinating look at the strange respect the feared gang has for the Church, the relationship between pastors and gang leaders, and the twofold salvation pastors offer young men whose only other choice is joining MS-13.

SEARCHING FOR SUNDAY: LOVING, LEAVING, AND FINDING THE CHURCH by Rachel Held Evans

Every Christian has a story to tell about their relationship with the church—for some, it is a story of gentle nurturing, acts of kindness, and boundless grace; for others, it is a story of judgments, hypocrisies, and bullies. And if you stick with the church long enough, chances are you'll experience both kinds of stories.

Such has been the case for Rachel Held Evans, who documents her church journey in Searching for Sunday. Raised in evangelicalism, she finds herself both grateful for its gifts to her and unable to identify any longer with its theological, social, and political constraints. So in the book, she talks about why she left the church, when and where and why she went looking for it again, and what she found. It makes for a lovely, honest, ultimately redemptive story.

This is the book I'd point you toward if you've heard of Rachel Held Evans but never read her work before. You won't agree with her on everything, but you also won't be able to deny the honesty behind her writing—whether you like her answers or not, she's sincerely asking the right questions. Furthermore, the way she asks those questions, the spirit in which she takes up this church journey, is gracious. Though she has plenty of criticisms for the church, especially the evangelical church which is her heritage, this book never descends into a gripe session. Try as she might, she can't quit the church, and she doesn't want to.

I've said before that Evans is one of my favorite Christian authors, and this book only solidifies that for me. She and I would have disagreements if we were in the same local church, and we'd approach certain issues differently, but I'd rejoice in the conversations. At turns witty and thoughtful, prophetic and pastoral, Rachel Held Evans has something to say about the church as it has been, the church as it is, and the church as it should be (and will be.) I urge you to listen. 

ANGELS by Billy Graham

When Billy Graham died earlier this year, his reputation had already been cemented as one of the most successful preachers in the history of the Christian faith. In addition to preaching countless sermons and organizing the crusades at which they were given, he also wrote more than 30 books, including this primer on angels—who they are, what they do, and how they relate to God and humanity. Unfortunately, Graham was not nearly as compelling a spiritual writer as he was a preacher.

Let's start with the positive. Graham, true to his evangelical reputation, grounds everything he writes in Scripture, relying upon verse after verse from the Old and New Testaments to make his claims. He is never firing off the cuff or speculating (at least not without admitting to doing so), merely pointing the reader to the Bible's teachings on angels. Furthermore, even in a book ostensibly about angels, Graham is ever the evangelist, taking time for multiple written "altar calls" in the book on the off chance that it is being read by someone who doesn't know Christ. Finally, the writing is understandable and to the point.

Unfortunately, even at less than 150 pages, it's also a drag to read. Graham's writing has the plainspoken simplicity of his sermons, but lacks the charm and panache he brought to the pulpit—the book is dry and often dull, and I constantly caught myself skimming instead of really reading. Furthermore, the sense of certainty that helped bring authority to his preaching rubbed me the wrong way numerous times when reading this book—on more than one occasion he postulated a principle based on his interpretation of a single verse, stating that principle as unquestionable fact. There is no shame in saying, "we can't really be sure about this," and that is a phrase I wish he'd employed a lot more often in this book, especially given the subject matter.

For anyone interested in angels, this book is a basic primer, albeit one with a few claims I found questionable due to strained interpretations of the biblical text. It is not, as Graham was quick to point out, a scholarly work, and approaching the subject matter for general audiences has pros and cons. For me, in this case, the cons simply outweighed the pros. If you want to borrow Angels, you're welcome to it—I won't hunt you down to get my copy back.

THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON by Henri J.M. Nouwen

The nature of a parable is that it doesn't need to be explained—the preacher who begins a sermon on one of Jesus's parables with, "This is what he meant," robs the story of its punch. But that doesn't mean some parables aren't worth exploring in depth to see what themes and messages lurk beneath the surface. By exploring every character, every angle, and every word, sometimes the Big Idea of the story comes alive in a whole new way.

That's exactly what happens in The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen's examination of arguably Jesus's most beloved parable. Using Rembrandt's famous painting of the story as a framing device, Nouwen looks at both brothers in the story as well as the father, explaining how he has seen himself in each character at different times in his life. With poetic precision, Nouwen brings new eyes to a story I thought I'd seen every side of (incidentally, there's a lot of good material in here for future sermons on the parable.)

At 139 pages, it's a quick read, and a worthwhile one. If you know the parable well, expect to be made to think about it in at least one new way. Nouwen is a gifted writer and a deep thinker, and you'll be blessed by his thoughts on the story.

RAISING PEANUTS IN A GOLD FIELD by Paul W. Powell

The late Paul Powell, longtime pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler and the third dean of Truett Seminary, spent a lifetime preaching relatable, homespun sermons. Some of these messages have been preserved in short collections frequently distributed for free at the seminary. With a few days to myself before Christmas, I spent some time in one of these collections, Raising Peanuts in a Gold Field.

These sermons are gems in the genre of deductive, expository sermons—there are almost always three to five points, those points are often alliterative, and they all tie back to one Big Idea. Furthermore, they are a goldmine for preachers looking for memorable quotes and sermon illustrations. With messages on everything ranging from church growth to the family to money, readers will find something to grab onto.

The sermons are concise, memorable, and Bible-based. While my preaching style doesn't match Powell's to a T, I'm appreciative of the chance to learn from him by reading these messages. For Truett students and alumni, don't miss the chance to pick up Raising Peanuts in a Gold Field and the other sermon collections on the third floor of Truett. They're free; what do you have to lose?!

THE PASSAGE OF POWER by Robert A. Caro

What more can I say about Robert Caro and his multi-volume biography of Lyndon B. Johnson? The research is still astounding, the writing is still thrilling, and the details still jump off the page in The Passage of Power, Caro's fourth and penultimate (at least that's what he's saying for now) book in the series.

This book, after 2,500 pages of buildup in the previous volumes, finally sees LBJ ascend to the presidency, elevated not by an election but an assassin's bullet. The Passage of Power spends its pages telling the story of how, in a single moment, Johnson went from the virtual powerlessness of the Vice Presidency to becoming the most powerful man on earth. The detailed account of what LBJ did on November 22, 1963 and the immediate days that followed shows how deliberate LBJ was in reassuring the federal government, the American people, and the world that, despite the murder of a beloved president, someone was in charge. While that transition was mostly overlooked, then and now, in the wake of questions about the assassination, Caro shows that it was far from automatic, and that Johnson's handling of it was as deft as it was careful.

Other highlights in the book include anecdotes about the relationship between Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy (they absolutely hated each other) and the story of how Johnson used his legislative prowess to propel some of JFK's stalled bills to passage, specifically his tax cut and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Much like in Master of the Senate, Caro's attention to detail is unparalleled, and his writing skill keeps chapters about the legislative process from getting bogged down in minutia.

The next and presumably final volume of the series will deal with LBJ's second term as president, focusing on his handling of the Vietnam War and its disintegration of his domestic policies. After four books watching Johnson rise to power, I'm eager to see what light Caro will shed on his fall. When book five is released, I'll be first in line to buy it.

ESSENTIAL MAN-THING VOL. 1-2 by Steve Gerber, Chris Claremont, Mike Ploog, Jim Mooney, et. al

"Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!" It's a good line. Turns out, it's a pretty good series too.

Essential Man-Thing Vol. 1-2 collects the titular character's appearances from the 1970s and early 1980s, whether in Marvel's horror magazines, team-up comics, or his own eponymous title. Shortly after his debut, the Man-Thing became a vehicle for all kinds of weird, wacky stories, especially in the hands of writer Steve Gerber. Crossing genres, from horror to fantasy to crime noir, Gerber managed to tell remarkably compelling stories, all with a character unable to speak.

The Man-Thing, for those unfamiliar with him, is a scientist-turned-swamp monster, the result of a nasty encounter with the famous Super Soldier Serum. Dwelling in the swamps of the Florida Everglades, he keeps to himself and is devoid of any semblance of intelligence. With that being said, he is also empathic, able to intuitively sense the emotions of those around him. And there is no emotion he despises so much as fear—to be afraid in the presence of the Man-Thing is a threat to your very life.

Such a character naturally lends himself to the horror genre, but Gerber (and later writers) managed to find other kinds of stories to tell with the Man-Thing. Pirates, demons, construction barons, and book burners all make appearances in these stories, with some making not-so-subtle sociopolitical statements (the aforementioned money-hungry construction baron is named F.A. Schist) and others just taking the reader on a wild romp. It makes for a ride that is quintessential Bronze Age comics—zany, over-the-top, and fun.

My only exposure to the Man-Thing prior to reading these volumes was guest appearances, and frankly, I'd never been too impressed. However, these books won me over. Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch—and whoever appreciates a good story will enjoy the Man-Thing's adventures.

My Resolutions for 2019

Last year, I spent much more time than usual thinking about resolutions for the New Year, ultimately compiling a list of 13 goals (of varying difficulty) that I mostly took pretty seriously. It was a fun exercise, so here we go again...here are my resolutions for 2019!

1. Spend 30 minutes per day in personal Bible study

Sometimes people seem to assume pastors are walking Bible encyclopedias, that we've got the answer to any theological or biblical question at our fingertips. We don't. As it turns out, even really really good seminaries can't teach you all the secrets of heaven and earth in 3 years.

So it's my job to be a lifetime learner...I don't mind at all telling someone "I don't know" when they ask me a Bible question, but I'd like to be doing it less in 50 years than I am now. For that matter, I'd like to be doing it less in one year than I am now.

So resolution #1 is to spend 30 minutes every weekday studying some area of the Bible where my knowledge needs a refresher. The prophets, biblical geography, and Paul's missionary journeys will get a lot of attention.

2. Develop and stick to a prayer plan

I hope you won't be surprised to hear that I'm a regular prayer, but I admit the objects of my prayers are pretty scattershot...it just depends on who and what are on my mind at the moment. So for 2019, I want to be more intentional about the prayers with which I start my day. Here's the plan, which I reserve the right to change as the year goes on:

Sunday- Pray for the local and universal church.
Monday- Pray for the hurting, hopeless, and lost.
Tuesday- Pray for governmental leaders at the local, state, and national levels.
Wednesday- Pray for my friends.
Thursday- Pray for victims of poverty, oppression, war, and injustice.
Friday- Pray for people I don't like (to use Jesus's words, my "enemies".)
Saturday- Pray for my family.

3. Memorize one Bible verse per day

I am admittedly terrible at Scripture memory, particularly at being able to cite where a verse is found. Frankly, it's embarrassing. So here goes. One verse per day will give me 365 plus all the ones that a lifetime in church did manage it imprint upon me.

4. Run the Dallas Marathon

After I ran Waco's marathon in 2015, I was satisfied to cross "run a marathon" off my bucket list and stick to 5Ks and half-marathons from then on.

...well, it took 4 years, but I've got the itch again. So I'm setting a goal to run in the 2019 BMW Dallas Marathon, held on (of all days) Andrew's birthday. I hope and expect to beat my time from 2015, but I'll be satisfied just to finish.

5. Volunteer one hour per week (outside of church)

I'm a big believer in being involved in the community, but I need to do a better job of proving it, and doing so outside of the friendly environment of church activities. After all, those activities can't really be considered "volunteering" in my case, since my paychecks have the church's name on them. So whether at the library, parks and recreation department, nursing home, or elsewhere, I'm making it a priority this year to spend at least one hour per week volunteering, not as Pastor Daniel but as Citizen Daniel.

6. Listen to 3 songs every day

Since college, my commuting playlist has gone from 'whatever CDs are in the car' (boy, that's a dated phrase) to exclusively podcasts. I listen to podcasts when I'm running, driving around town, and sometimes even just when I'm doing chores around the house. In fact, I listen to podcasts so often that I felt like I need to give them up for Lent last year.

The problem is that means I sometimes go days without listening to any music. For me, that's a huge problem. So I'm committing to stopping at some point every day this year, plopping down in a chair with a pair of headphones, closing my eyes, and listening to at least three songs. It's not much, but it's something. My iTunes library of nearly 7000 songs deserves at least that much.

7. Get organized

Organization is something I want to be good at. I know it's important. But it's not something I'm naturally gifted at, as my wife/full-time, unpaid secretary can tell you.

So my goal in 2019 is to take some steps to improve in that department. Simple stuff. Buy a planner and then use it. Write down dates instead of assuming I'll remember them (I never do) or hoping Lindsey will (thankfully, she almost always does.) You know, the kind of stuff I should have nailed down at age 16 or so.

8. Be mindful of my screen time

I'll admit it: I'm as addicted to my smart phone as any millennial. It's the first thing I check in the morning and almost always the last thing I look at before bed.

So my admittedly ambiguous goal is to be more mindful of my screen time in 2019: to check Facebook and Twitter twice a day instead of every time there's a lull, to read a magazine or a book instead of scrolling through a news feed, to make room for silence and even boredom in a world that offers constant stimulation. No concrete plan of action yet on this one, but I'll let you know how it goes.

9. Watch all the Marvel Studios movies prior to seeing Avengers: Endgame

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love the Marvel movies. However, to the dismay of my brother Nathan, I've only seen most of them once. So before Avengers: Endgame comes out at the end of April, Lindsey and I are committing to rewatch every Marvel Studios offering since 2008's Iron Man. I can't wait.

10. Watch 50 movies in 2019

I love movies, but it's pretty typical for me to make it through the year having seen less than 10. So by December 31, 2019 I want to have a list of 50 movies I watched over the course of the year, whether in the theater, on Blu-Ray, or on Netflix.

Resolution #9 will help considerably with this one, since I will have to watch 23 Marvel movies (counting the yet-to-be-released Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home) just to pull that resolution off.

11. Throw away fewer leftovers

The thing about growing up in a family of five is that there weren't a lot of leftovers. What we didn't eat at dinner was usually just enough for Dad to take to work for lunch the next day, and so we almost always got something fresh for dinner. So when Lindsey and I got married, she was frustrated to learn that my tolerance for eating leftovers was pretty low.

I've improved over the years in that respect, but there's room to grow. So in the name of 1) not wasting food 2) saving money and 3) being less spoiled, I'm committing in 2019 to eating whatever leftovers are in the fridge before making something new or defaulting to eating out.

12. Write a book

After making this one of my resolutions last year and failing to write a word, I'm re-upping on the goal this year. I've got a book idea and a rough outline, so don't count me out this time around!

13. Learn Spanish

The Duolingo app has been re-downloaded and a Spanish verb book has been purchased. I won't be fluent by the end of the year, but if I can make it to "passable in basic conversation," I'll be thrilled.

2018 New Year's Resolution Scorecard

2018 has come to a close, which means it's time to make resolutions for the new year. Tune in tomorrow to see what I've come up with in that regard.

But before that, I wanted to take one last look at the resolutions I set for 2018 and see how I measured up. As you may remember, I had a lengthy list of resolutions, some easy and some wildly ambitious. The good news is, I took (almost) all of them seriously over the course of the year. So here's my scorecard for 2018.

*Note: As you'll see, in keeping score here, I'm not a legalist. They're my resolutions and it's my scorecard, so I'm awarding myself points based on whether I kept the resolution in spirit more than whether I fulfilled it according to the exact wording.*

1. Blog once per week

Midway through the year, I realized I was failing spectacularly at this one. The problem was not so much a lack of will as a lack of ideas—there simply weren't as many things that I cared to blog about as I'd thought when the year began. So in addition to occasional blog posts when I had something to say, I started regularly writing music reviews for a website called The Daily Vault (which I previously wrote for as a high school and college student). It served the original purpose of this resolution—an outlet for personal writing—and meant, since I have over 400 albums in my iTunes library, that my idea well would never run dry.

That being said, I had some catching up to do when I adjusted this resolution, and I didn't quite make it to the 52 I'd set as my goal. 44 ain't bad, but it's not close enough to give myself full credit here. Since I stuck with the resolution and took it seriously, but I didn't quite pull it off, I'll give myself half credit on this one.

Score: 0.5 out of 1

2. Talk to every member of my family once a week

Another one that was adjusted midway through the year. I mentioned in an update earlier this year that I had misread this resolution, thinking my responsibility was to talk to a member of my family on a daily basis, rather than talking to every member of my family over the course of the week. After discovering my error, I decided to just go with it (while still making an effort to talk to all my family members regularly.)

Thanks to technology, it's easier than ever to stay in touch with people you love...but since you're already seeing their updates online, it's also easier than ever to forego that contact. All it took was the will and a daily iPhone reminder to make this happen, and I'm glad I did. This is a good example of the purpose of New Year's resolution—once a goal, this is now a habit, and one I intend to stick with going forward.

Score: 1.5 out of 2

3. Read the Bible in a year

Check. Every morning, once my coffee kicked in but before Andrew woke up, I'd read a few chapters from Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Scripture, The Message. Tomorrow morning I'll be able to say that, for the third time in my life, I've read the Bible all the way through.

In the coming year I have a different plan on how to spend my devotional time. Stay tuned.

Score: 2.5 out of 3

4. Drink more water

This was one I'd forgotten about until my update a few months ago, but since then I've done very well with it. I bring my plastic water bottle with me almost everywhere I go, I keep it filled, and I shoot for about 100 oz per day.

Took me half the year to get on this one, but the habit has formed.

Score: 3.5 out of 4

5. Complete the Navy SEAL workout (minus the swimming portion)

Nope. Total failure on this one after trying to take it seriously for roughly one week. It turns out that I just really really really hate upper body workouts.

I learned several years ago that I like to run and I've got the body type for it. So in 2019, instead of trying to make myself something I'm not, I'm going to lean into the exercise I enjoy.

Score: 3.5 out of 5

6. Give half my entertainment money to charity

Done. I mentioned in my initial post that I wanted to give based on the people groups listed in Matthew 25—the hungry/thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned—so I chose these organizations and causes:

• For the hungry and thirsty, the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering, which helps fund over 130 hunger relief and development programs across the state and around the world.
• For the stranger, Buckner International, which (among other amazing programs) is deeply involved in foster care and adoption for children in need of safe, loving homes.
• For the naked, Mission Waco, which, quoting their mission statement, provides "Christian-based, holistic, relationship-based programs that empower the poor and marginalized" of my city.
• For the sick, a Baylor medical missions trip to Pignon, Haiti that occurred March 2-9.
• For the imprisoned, Hospitality House in Huntsville, a free home-away-from-home for families visiting prisoners at the federal penitentiary.

These are all fabulous organizations and causes; please consider giving to them yourself.

Score: 4.5 out of 6

7. Learn sabermetric terms better

First I read Smart Baseball by Keith Law, which is essentially a takedown of outdated traditional statistics and a primer on sabermetrics. Then I made flashcards of 30 basic sabermetrics stats I thought were important to learn. Then I studied those flashcards. So...yeah. Check.

Score: 5.5 out of 7

8. Construct the perfect baseball scorecard

Boom. Cost me about 15 hours and $20.

Score: 6.5 out of 8

9. Learn to cook 50 meals

This is the resolution I took most seriously, (and the one that was most appreciated by my family.) Between vacations and super busy weeks where we never ate at home, there's a good chance I didn't get to exactly 50, but Lindsey will be the first to tell you that I cooked at least once per week when possible. Do I like cooking any more than I did this time last year? No. I still pretty much hate it. But at least now I've got a decent collection of recipes.

My top 5 dishes:

1) Pot roast with homemade meat rub
2) Shrimp and chicken gumbo
3) Chili
4) Pulled pork pizza
5) Swedish meatballs

Score: 7.5 out of 9

10. Finish all my comic books/graphic novels

Everything is read except a few books I just got for Christmas. So, you know, time to read those and then buy more! (That's how it works, right?)

Score: 8.5 out of 10

11. Write a book

Aaaaand now we're to the ambitious ones. Nope, no book. However, I do have an idea for a book now (something I didn't have this time last year), and even a rough outline for it. So expect to see me renew this resolution in 2019.

Score: 8.5 out of 11

12. Learn biblical Greek, biblical Hebrew, Latin, and German

Nah. I studied flashcards off and on for a few months, but this was the Everest of the list, and I never got past base camp.

Score: 8.5 out of 12

13. Learn Spanish

Never made a serious effort here, which I'm ashamed of. I said this in January: "I've become convicted that any Texas pastor who isn't at least trying to learn Spanish isn't thinking ahead." I still believe that, so this will be on 2019's list. Hopefully without 4 other languages on the list vying for my attention I'll take it more seriously.

Score: 8.5 out of 13

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So for those of you keeping score at home, I wound up completing 65% of my resolutions. Not bad.

Making a large list of resolutions instead of just choosing one was an exercise in seeing how many different ways I could seek self-improvement and determining along the way which I would take seriously. It was a good experiment and a good year, and I'm excited to share 2019's resolutions with you tomorrow. So long, 2018!

The Ministry Bowl (Friday Devotional)

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

- 1 Corinthians 12:12, 14-18

As all the Longhorns, Aggies, Bears, Horned Frogs, Cougars, and Mean Green reading this already know, it is officially college football bowl season. Players, coaches, cheerleaders, and band members, to say nothing of students and alumni, are traveling to locations as exotic as Honolulu and as—let’s just say ‘not exotic’—as Albuquerque and El Paso for these games. Players will be lavished with gifts from bowl committees, schools normally relegated to obscurity will get their moment on national TV, and in the end, the winning schools will bring home trophies to proudly display for years to come.

When you think of these games, your mind probably goes immediately to the biggest bowls, the ones played on New Year’s weekend like the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl.  But in the days prior to those big games with national championship implications, there are smaller bowls for the teams who squeaked in with winning records but no illusions of title contention. These games lack the grandeur and tradition of the bigger bowls, and it shows in their sometimes hilariously corporate names: the Redbox Bowl, the Belk Bowl, and the Camping World Bowl, to name a few.

The thing about these smaller bowls is that, despite their insignificance relative to the national title, they can mean everything to the participants. For example, while Alabama and Ohio State would sneer at an invitation to the Arizona Bowl, New Mexico State could not have been happier to play in it last year—it was their first appearance in a bowl game since 1960. Their matchup against Utah State wasn’t one seen by millions; it wasn’t the kind of game you’d put at the top of the marquee. But when New Mexico State triumphed in overtime, guaranteeing them their first bowl victory in 57 years, Arizona Bowl executive director Alan Young said, “You’d have thought they won the national championship or the Super Bowl.”

Ministry reminds me of bowl season in that sense. It can be easy to think that the only ministry that matters is the high-profile stuff: preaching before thousands, missionary work in the Third World, giving millions of dollars to nonprofits and missions organizations, and the like. But effective ministry cannot be measured by worldly measures of success like audience size or dollars raised. For the widow living alone, a visit at home by her Sunday School teacher is more meaningful than anything a megachurch pastor might tell her on TV. For the single mother struggling to get by, your offer of free babysitting is a more visible manifestation of Christ’s love than anything she’ll read about in a missions pamphlet.

Scripture reminds us that the body of Christ, i.e. the church, is made of many members, and needs each one in order to function as intended—so don’t let anyone, including your own doubts and insecurities, tell you that your contributions to the kingdom of God are insignificant. Low-profile, unacknowledged, “small” ministry is anything but meaningless—for those you serve, it can mean everything.

Rushing Through Christmas (Friday Devotional)

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

- Luke 2:10-14

‘Tis the season for hurrying: hurrying to buy last-minute presents, hurrying from one Christmas party to the next, hurrying from family gathering to family gathering. For every child whose eyes light up with the joy of the holiday, there is a parent whose eyes are bleary with exhaustion. Christmas is the season of hope, peace, love, and joy—but also of long lines, bumper-to-bumper traffic, torn wrapping paper, and ‘some assembly required.’ It is, simply put, a stressful time.

In a sense, that’s fitting, because so was the first Christmas. Jesus was born in an unfamiliar town because of a government order, was placed in a makeshift crib because no suitable place would host his parents, and was visited first by strangers from a nearby field then by foreigners carrying strange gifts. His first years of life were spent in hiding from a powerful king who wanted him dead.

Without even meaning to, we tend to idealize that first Christmas, picturing a serene Mary, a strong Joseph, gentle shepherds, and a silent night. But the truth is messier, louder, and less picturesque. The first Christmas was stressful, a night of fears and doubts, blood and tears.

But out of all that stress came Jesus. Though that first Christmas was hardly a peaceful one, peace ultimately came, not because the noise stopped or the activity ceased but because Christ was born. In that tiny baby laying in the manger came our reconciliation with the Father, redemption from the Son, and restoration in the Spirit. All around him may have been chaos, but in him there was peace.

As you rush through the next week, don’t look for peace in the events and traditions, however meaningful. Don’t look for peace in the gifts you give or receive, however beautiful. Don’t look to Christmas for peace—look to Christ.

From Sickness to Wellness (Friday Devotional)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.

- Hebrews 4:15

It’s been a rough week in the Camp household—Andrew decided to ring in his second birthday with a nasty case of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Our normally happy-go-lucky toddler was reduced to a pitiful shell of himself, content only when being held by me or Lindsey. We in turn found ourselves exhausted trying to take good care of him without neglecting our other responsibilities.

As the week went on, something kept coming to my mind whenever I’d dry a tear or draw up another dosage of Motrin, something I’d never really considered in quite these terms: Jesus got sick too. As an infant in Bethlehem, the King of Kings spat up when he ate too quickly, squalled when he filled his diaper, and snuggled close to his mother’s breast when he had a fever. As a toddler in Egypt, the Lord of Lords sobbed and flailed when he didn’t feel good, wanting to be held one moment and then feeling smothered the next. Even as an adolescent and a man, making his way from Nazareth to Galilee and ultimately to Jerusalem, there were undoubtedly mornings when the Son of God woke up with sniffles and coughs and headaches.

I know this to be true because Jesus was not only fully divine, but fully human; he was not only the Son of God, but the son of Mary. Every year at this time we celebrate this miracle called the Incarnation—the Word becoming flesh and living among us, the Son of God emptying himself by taking the form of a slave and being born in human likeness. But I wonder if we fail to recognize all the earthy implications of Jesus’s humanity.

In our rightful desire to exalt Jesus as Lord, we imagine him as a teacher who always had the right answer ready, a worker who never grew weary with his task, and a leader who was always in control. Real life, human life, isn’t that easy. Being human means dealing with aches and pains, it means battling fatigue and depression, it means having to deal with people who can’t or won’t understand what you’re trying to tell them. Human life is a never-ending series of both triumphs and trials, flashes of transcendence accompanied by long spells of temptation.

The amazing blessing of the Incarnation is we know Christ experienced all of that. He was not born impervious to the struggles we face; no angels protected him from scraped knees or hurt feelings. The physical, emotional, social, and spiritual tests we face every day are all familiar to him, because he faced them too.

What set Christ apart is that, facing the same challenges which send us stumbling into sin, he stayed true to the Father, obedient even in the face of anguish, humiliation, and death. And so today if you will place your faith in him, repenting of your weakness and trusting in his strength, by the grace of God you can inherit his reward: resurrection.

Life is hard—but Christmas reminds us that Christ knows that as well as we do. He didn’t study hardship from a distance, he experienced it firsthand. Jesus got sick so that we could be made well. Jesus wept so that we could rejoice. Jesus died so that we could live. So as you celebrate the truth that on a Bethlehem night the Word became flesh and lived among us, may it be more than just doctrine to you—may it give you strength for today and hope for tomorrow.

First Impressions (Friday Devotional)

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.”

- Matthew 7:1

You never get a second chance, goes the cliché, to make a first impression. It’s practical, albeit pessimistic, advice—people make snap judgments the moment they meet you, so you owe it to yourself to put your best foot forward. How you look, what you say, and who you’re with determines what people will think of you upon introduction. And once the judgment is made, it’s hard to change it.

As pragmatic as that advice is when you think of yourself as the one being judged, it’s poisonous when you start to position yourself as the judge. No matter how good you think your intuition about people is, no matter what gifts of discernment you possess, people can surprise you. Indeed, God constantly works through the most surprising people.

Christmas is an annual reminder of this. If someone from Bethlehem had wandered into the nativity scene the night Jesus was born and made a snap judgment, they would have seen a teenaged mother and her cuckolded husband welcoming their baby into the world with no one to celebrate with but some rough-necked day laborers. They would have seen a couple so unprepared for parenthood that they hadn’t even gotten found a place to stay that night, much less a crib or a going home outfit. They would have pitied this poor child and assumed he was destined for a life of little value.

Armed with information and perspective, we know better than our Bethlehem bystander—we know that Jesus’s humble birth was God’s signal that He is with us, no matter our social station. We know that God chose people of humble obedience to raise the Son of God, that He welcomed shepherds to greet the birth of the Good Shepherd, and that both the goodness and the greatness of God were on display that holy night. But none of that comes across in a first impression.

In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus cautioned us not to judge lest we be judged. God makes a habit of working with lowly, messy, unexpected people to accomplish His purposes, and those who let their personal judgments determine people’s worthiness are liable to miss out on the chance to see grace at work. You may never get a second chance to make a first impression with some people—but Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection remind us that we do not worship the God of first impressions, but the God of second chances.