Your Worst Day Ever (Friday Devotional)

 

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

- Psalm 34:18

“THIS IS MY WORST DAY EVER!!!!”

Lately that’s become something of a refrain for one of my kids (I won’t disclose which one in case they read this somewhere down the road). When things don’t go their way—whether it’s because we say no to chocolate milk or because we tell them it’s time to practice piano or because they get scolded for misbehaving—we can count on that exclamation, sometimes accompanied by the slam of a door. THIS, we are assured, is the worst day ever.

As adults, we have a little more perspective in those kinds of moments. Hurt feelings really do hurt and disappointments really do disappoint, but we know better than to believe those kinds of moments are rock bottom. Life has a way of showing you what true tragedy looks like—your real worst day ever inevitably arrives someday, and you probably know it when it comes.

The good news is that when it does, you don’t face it alone. The Bible promises us that our God is not distant and removed from our pain, but rather that he sits with us in it. Indeed, the life and death of Jesus is the ultimate proof of how divine love functions—the Lord is not “God beyond us”, but “God with us.” He is the baby laid in a humble manger, the friend who weeps at Lazarus’ tomb, the Savior who suffers and dies for our sins.

For both the pouting child in my home and the devastated parent in the Hill Country, God is near, not far. And when you come to your own worst day ever, be assured that he will not leave your side.

God and Country (Friday Devotional)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 

- 1 Peter 2:9

Today we honor the 249^th birthday of the United States, celebrating our national independence with fireworks and parades and all sorts of revelry. It’s a day when Americans of all stripes take pride in our country, giving thanks to God for the freedoms we enjoy. We say the pledge of allegiance, we sing the national anthem, and we salute the flag.

And for believers in Jesus Christ, we do all this even as we remember something important: our primary citizenship is not in this country, but in heaven. In talking about the Lord’s church, the Bible describes us as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation”—terms which once exclusively described Israel and now refer to all who profess faith in Jesus. With those words, Scripture reframes our understanding of belonging and identity.

The New Testament makes clear that, while we have secondary allegiances—to family, to workplace, to nation—our primary allegiance is to our Savior. We serve our communities, but first we serve our God. We pay honor to those in authority, just as the apostles command, but we worship our Lord.

We have much to be thankful for as Americans—first and foremost that freedom of religious expression is a constitutional guaranteed right. So as we celebrate our national heritage today, may we do so with our spiritual heritage top of mind. Love for country is worthwhile—and love for God is supreme.

June Reading Log

 

As I post this, I'm at youth camp, but the log waits for no one (plus I finished writing it on Saturday). Here's what was on the docket for the month of June!

RISE by Carly Parkinson with Nancy Scammacca Lewis

If you've been reading these logs for a while, you'll know that I'm picky when it comes to church health/growth books. A well-written book in this genre is a blend of the spiritual and the practical, incorporating both biblical principles and modern applications of those principles. Some miss the mark by veering too far in the spiritual direction, offering a sermon that inspires but leaves you with little in the way of pragmatic strategies. Others lean too far the other way, offering lots of corporate jargon, charts, and marketplace techniques, but doing so to the point that you wonder if the authors remember that a church is different from a business.

Rise, unfortunately, falls into that latter bucket, to the point that I almost DNF'ed it. The bulk of the book is chapters looking at different church archetypes, from the "troubled church" all the way to the "vibrant church," analyzing how churches get to where they are, what pros and cons exist in each archetype, and how to then get where they need to be. For a researcher this is probably fascinating, but for a pastor looking for a hand, I quickly identified the archetype that matched my church and then found reading about the others to be largely a waste of my time.

The last 40 pages or so offer the strategies promised in the book's subtitle, several of which, unfortunately, seem to be more about selling particular programs than anything else. What's more, these strategies commit the cardinal sin of church growth books: assuming every church has the resources and structure of a megachurch, when in fact few pastors reading a church growth book are in that situation.

As you've probably gathered, this is not a book I plan to keep on my shelf for long. I appreciate the research done by the authors, but just didn't find the conclusions satisfying.

I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL by Kate Baer

Following last month's review of The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats, when I declared that "I still don't get poetry," my friend Kelley showed up to church the next Sunday with two books in hand, confident that the problem is neither me nor poetry in general, just my selection. And so far, maybe she's on to something!

I Hope This Finds You Well is a slim, clever collection of erasure poetry, in which the poet takes a selection of found text, then removes words, leaving behind the remaining words to form a new poem. In this case, Kate Baer takes as her initial text the comments left on her  blog—most critical, a few complimentary, all personal—and transforms them into beautiful words of affirmation, especially for women. The result is poetry that takes the ugliness of the Internet and redeems it into something uplifting. Recommended, unless you're prone to tell feminist authors why they're wrong online.

FOREVER WORDS by Johnny Cash

The second poetry book Kelley loaned me is a collection of previously unpublished poems and song lyrics by American music icon Johnny Cash. These are easy reading (especially after 5 months of W.B. Yeats), and you can't help hear Cash's voice as you read. Admittedly, some work better than others as reading material—song lyrics are meant to be sung, after all, not read silently—but nevertheless this was a fun, breezy collection.

I'll share my favorite snippet, from the undated "I Have Been Around":

I have been around

I have tasted rapture that could not again be found

I felt the power filling up

And I felt the power gone

I've been full but hungry

And abandoned to the bone

In the end I knew one thing to pull me through

I always come back around to you

'SALEM'S LOT by Stephen King

Hot on the heels of his debut novel Carrie, 1975's 'Salem's Lot was Stephen King's foray into a more traditional horror story. It tells the story of a small New England town—this is Stephen King, after all—which is infested by vampires and about the small group of brave townspeople who take them on. Borrowing heavily from Dracula—both Bram Stoker's novel and the subsequent film adaptations—the novel starts slow, steadily builds up steam, then erupts into a final 100 pages of nearly nonstop action.

While beloved by King fans, who often put this book in their top 10 of the author's works, I kind of had a hard time sticking with this one. It's hard to put my finger on the reason why, and it may have had more to do with my busy month than the book itself, but I wasn't sucked into this novel the way I was with Carrie, Misery, and other King classics. For me, this was a perfectly serviceable horror story, but one I wasn't sad to finish. It's also, incidentally, the first of King's novels to deserve the oft-level criticism that he's not good at writing endings.

I have yet to read any bad Stephen King books, and I know they're out there, but so far I would put this in the bottom half of what I've read. You've got to read it if you love King, but don't expect it to be your favorite.

CIVILWARLAND IN BAD DECLINE by George Saunders

My experience here mirrored that of reading 'Salem's Lot—this was an early work by an author I normally love, yet who in this case left me cold. The author in question this time was George Saunders, often regarded as America's best living writer of short stories. CivilWarLand in Bad Decline is his first collection, made up of tales published in the early 1990s in magazines like The New Yorker and Harper's, including a novella, "Bounty."

Saunders is now well known for stories that blend satirical, comic prose with horrifying, dystopian situations. Sure enough, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline sees him trying his hand at that formula in virtually every story. But where his stories now routinely grab me from the get-go, these are harder to get into, with protagonists you never feel attached to and worlds that he's too slow to build out.

In short, this reads like a writer still finding his voice. By the time he published Tenth of December, he'd found it, and has been richly rewarded ever since. But these stories are rough drafts compared to those—he'd make it the mountaintop, but this collection represents him still climbing.

GOING SOLO by Roald Dahl

It took every bit of a month to get through this one, the second half of Roald Dahl's two-volume autobiography. Where the first volume dealt with his boyhood, Going Solo tackles his early adulthood, particularly his experiences in Africa working for Shell Oil and then his time flying with the Royal Air Force during World War II.

While that sounds exciting, I have to be honest—this one was a drag to get through. Dahl has an engineer's enthusiasm for aircraft, so you get lots of lengthy descriptions of planes, aerial maneuvers, etc. While that may interest some, I could see Katherine's eyes glazing over as I read the descriptions aloud (and I was as bored as she was!) Additionally, this book has longer chapters than most of his work and is nearly twice the length of his children's novels, making it a rough bedtime read. Andrew stuck with it the whole time, but he was the only one of the three of us who I think really enjoyed the experience.

Dahl's adventures overseas are interesting, but his storytelling in Going Solo is lackluster, something you'd never expect of the writer of James and the Giant Peach. I'd file this one (and, for that matter, Boy too) as "for completists only."

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 1-11 by Mark Millar, Warren Ellis, Mike Carey, Adam Kubert, Greg Land, Pasqual Ferry, et al.

In 2000, Marvel debuted Ultimate Spider-Man, a reimagined, modern take on their most popular character, which sought to keep all the core elements of the character but without the burden of 40 years of continuity. Ultimate Spider-Man—and subsequent versions of the X-Men, Avengers ("Ultimates" in this universe), etc.—aimed to bring in new readers by shaking off the dust of characters who had started to feel, well, old. The trick was to match the original characters' ethos while updating it for the 21st century.

Ultimate Fantastic Four, unfortunately, failed to do that. The FF has always been about family, with Reed and Sue acting as mom and dad, Ben and Johnny as the lovable uncles, and eventually Franklin and Valeria as the bright young kids. Secondarily, it's about wacky science fiction adventures, superheroes as "imaginauts," to borrow Mark Waid's memorable term.

The Ultimate version of the characters manages to get this secondary theme, with the team traveling to the so-called "N-Zone" (an alternate dimension known as the Negative Zone in Marvel's primary universe), being visited by zombie versions of themselves from another world, and fighting off alien invaders that include Ultimate Thanos. The heroes themselves are part of a think tank for young prodigies, and the accident that gave them their powers, it is explained, is actually stretching Reed's brain in such a way that he is literally getting smarter every day. So if all you want is superheroes with a heaping spoonful of science fiction, Ultimate Fantastic Four has you covered.

But the book's core mistake—which was then borrowed in the universally reviled 2015 Fantastic Four film—is in making all the characters young adults. Instead of being parents, here Reed and Sue have just started dating. Instead of feeling like close friends and family with decades of history, here the four feel like the more traditional superhero team forced together by circumstance. And instead of the rivalry between Reed and former labmate Victor Van Damme—the Ultimate universe's Doctor Doom— carrying the weight of decades of stories, it feels more like an immature grudge match.

The Ultimate Universe was all about putting a fresh coat of paint on characters weighed down by the baggage of their history. But the problem is, the Fantastic Four are Marvel's First Family—their history is what makes them appealing. So in this case, reinventing the wheel winds up making it worse. Ultimate Fantastic Four, which continued until the entire Ultimate universe met an ignominious end, was one of the line's misfires—it's not bad, but it's not right.

Making Peace (Friday Devotional)

 

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

- Romans 12:18

Headlines this week have been filled with what the Bible promised we would see repeatedly until the Lord’s return: “wars and rumors of wars.” Rockets have been fired, bombs have been dropped, military bases have been attacked, and now the world holds its breath to see if a fragile ceasefire will hold. Global peace feels like an impossible dream at the moment.

And indeed, in a world rife with division, disagreements, and discord, even interpersonal peace is elusive. “Can’t we all just get along?” is a sentiment most consider naïve rather than desirable. Realists understand that people are too different, too stubborn, and too sinful to ever coexist in perfect harmony.

The truth is, you can’t control how other people deal with you—but you can control how you deal with them. When your spouse is 99% to blame for the argument you had this morning, you can apologize for your 1%. When you and a coworker are butting heads, you can be the one to lay down your sword and pursue reconciliation. When you’ve been wronged, you can forgive unconditionally instead of waiting for the apology and the penance you feel you deserve.

Peace, in other words, is possible on your end—but only if you value it more than pride. It requires the kind of humility Christ exhibited on the cross, the willingness to put others above yourself. It means valuing love more than getting your way.

The world will not know that kind of peace, not fully, until Christ returns. But you, in your little pocket of influence, can give people a preview of the kingdom to come. You can’t fix the world—but in Jesus’ name, you can bring peace to your corner of it.

Such a Time as This (Friday Devotional)

 

“Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

- Esther 4:14

All week long, the church has been abuzz with activity due to one of our biggest events of the year, the weeklong day camp known as Summer Musical Activities for Kids, or S.M.A.K. In addition to the usual features of such a camp—snacks, trips to the swimming pool, etc.—the kids have been learning a biblically based musical, “Malice in the Palace,” which they’ll present to their families and the church on Sunday night at 6:00 pm in our sanctuary (tell your friends!) Through songs and drama, the kids have been learning the story of Esther, the girl who became queen and saved her people.

The turning point of that story comes when Mordecai, Queen Esther’s cousin, comes to her with the news that the evil Haman is plotting to destroy their people. Only Esther, Mordecai explains, has the power to stop the plot through her proximity to the king. In making his plea, Mordecai muses to the new queen, “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

We don’t always understand or even know what God is doing in between the lines of our lives. We wish he’d spell it out for us, that he’d reveal why things are going the way they’re going. We don’t just want to be participants in God’s plans, we want to be the architects of those plans—or at least sneak a peek at the blueprints.

But more often than not, we can only speculate about God’s purposes for us. Like Mordecai, the best we can offer in any moment is ‘perhaps.’

But even when we don’t understand, even when we’re just guessing what the grand plan is, we can be obedient. Esther didn’t know at first why God allowed her to become queen, but she knew she had to make the most of the opportunity. She didn’t know why the responsibility fell to her to save her people, but she knew she needed to be courageous and do what no one else could do.

“For such a time as this” has become a sort of evangelical shibboleth for so-called turning point moments in life, like the one Esther faced. But the truth is, faithfulness to God doesn’t require a dramatic moment of crisis, the kind that a stage play revolves around. Every time is a time to be faithful. And that includes such a time as this.

Fairness vs. Grace (Friday Devotional)

 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

- Romans 12:17-18

Retaliation is, by its very nature, fair. You hit me, I hit you back. You scream at me, I respond in kind. Everyone is treated the same.

That inherent fairness is probably why nobody has to teach children to retaliate when they’re provoked. When one of my kids yells at their sibling, it becomes a shouting match almost immediately. When somebody gets hit with a toy, it doesn’t take long for them to pick up that toy and strike back. Nobody taught them to respond like this—it’s just what feels right.

But while it may feel that way, I’ve observed something from my parental perspective: the fairness of retaliation leads to twice the tears. Nobody wins in a back-and-forth; everybody loses.

That’s why the gospel points us to a different response in times of conflict: not the fairness of retaliation, but the grace of peace. When believers are wronged, God calls us to look to a broader perspective than the one to which our sinful flesh defaults—instead of thinking about what’s best for you, the Holy Spirit compels you to think about what’s best for everyone.

It’s not an easy thing to turn the other cheek in a world where lashing out is rewarded. But the crucified Christ is our model and the risen Christ is our hope. In a world of anger, escalation, and violence, may Christians be reminded of Jesus’s words: blessed are the peacemakers.

Whistle While You Work? (Friday Devotional)

 

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

- 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

I can’t whistle.

It’s not for lack of trying. In fact, I’ve always been a little embarrassed by it. But no matter how hard I try, all that comes out when I try to make that sharp, distinctive sound is a soft, anticlimactic hiss. There are first graders out there who can whistle, but at age 35, I cannot.

Obviously I wish I could whistle, just like I wish I could drive an 18-wheeler or dunk a basketball. But those aren’t skills I was born with, nor ones I’ve acquired. So I just have to content myself with the things I can do, leaving those abilities for others. After all, I can’t do everything.

We understand that principle at a basic level, but forget it sometimes when it comes to spiritual matters—we want to be able to do everything (or perhaps want certain people to be able to do everything!) But the truth is, God doesn’t set up his church like the Avengers, a small team of superheroes swooping in to save all the ordinary bystanders. Rather, he empowers each believer, ensuring that all of us have a role to play.

You can’t do everything, no matter how much you want to. But you can do your part. And God has given you his Spirit to make sure you have what you need.