Timeless (Friday Devotional)

 

Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

- 1 Peter 1:23-25

R.C. Buckner, the famed Baptist minister and founder of Buckner Children’s Home, probably officiated more weddings than he could count in his decades of ministry. But there was surely one that stood out in his memory—one which, in a manner of speaking, really stood the test of time.

That wedding was special because of its unique timetable. At the request of the bride and groom, the vows were read beginning at 11:59 PM on December 31, 1899 and weren’t concluded until after the clock struck midnight. In other words, their wedding started in the 19th century and ended in the 20th century. Talk about timeless!

Chronological trickery aside, there aren’t many things in this life that last for centuries. There’s a reason people travel from thousands of miles away to see things like the Parthenon or the Egyptian pyramids—something that perseveres that long is a rare wonder.

The Bible reminds us that the gospel is just such a wonder, good news which not only has endured for thousands of years, but will remain forever. Even as the world around us changes at lightning speed, God’s word persists, bringing hope to generation after generation. Everything around it may crumble, but the gospel isn’t going anywhere.

Words which have converted nonbelievers, encouraged Christians, and spoken truth to all for two millennia are just as relevant today as they ever were. So be sure to spend some time in God’s Word today, for in a unique way, it has stood—and will continue to stand—the test of time.

No-Name Faith (Friday Devotional)

 

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

- Matthew 6:1

When Major League Baseball announced in 1977 that its newest franchise would go to the city of Seattle, the team’s ownership group chose a democratic way of picking the mascot: a “Name the Team” contest which anyone could enter and win. The prize would be a pair of season tickets and one all-expenses-paid trip to see the team play on the road during its inaugural season.

Roger Szmodis, a presumed fan from Bellevue, Washington, was the winner—in a short essay, he said the team should be called the Mariners “because of the natural association between the sea and Seattle and her people, who have been challenged and rewarded by it.” The team has kept that name for more than 40 years, with stars from Ken Griffey, Jr. to Ichiro Suzuki carrying on the legacy that Roger Szmodis set in motion.

But one mystery endures to this day—no one knows who Roger Szmodis is. He never came to claim his prize. He never picked up the phone when the Mariners’ front office called. No one answered the door when representatives came to his apartment. To this day, his achievement has endured even as his identity has remained clouded in mystery—for Roger Szmodis, it seems, it was never about the attention.

In Jesus’ famed Sermon on the Mount, he pointed out the human tendency, which he labeled hypocrisy, to carry out works of righteousness for the sake of attention. He talked about how easy it was to see people in the temple praying, fasting, and giving alms purely so others would notice them and fawn over their piety.

But Jesus said that true followers of God were more like Roger Szmodis, carrying out their work privately, not for the sake of attention but for the sake of the work itself—praying for the sake of praying, fasting for the sake of fasting, and giving for the sake of giving. For such disciples, faith is not about glorifying themselves, but about glorifying God.

In a world which says your worth is determined by your fame, the Bible calls us to anonymous righteousness, a faith where the only name that matters is Christ’s. May the work you do glorify him—and him alone.

Offense and Defense (Friday Devotional)

 

Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.

- Romans 16:19

The objectives of dodgeball are twofold and they are simple. First, you want to try and hit as many people on the other team as possible with one of the big red playground balls that are flying around you. Hit somebody with a ball and they’re out—that’s the offensive part of the game. Second, you want to avoid getting hit by any balls yourself—that’s the defensive part of the game.

To be successful at dodgeball, especially in the late rounds when all the lesser players are already out, you can’t neglect the offensive or defensive sides of the game. If you’ve got amazing aim when throwing a dodgeball but aren’t quick enough to get out of the way when one comes flying at you, you won’t last long. On the other hand, if you can escape danger with the wizardry of Houdini but can’t hit the broad side of a barn when throwing, the best you can hope for is a stalemate. To succeed in dodgeball, you need offense and defense.

The same, it turns out, is true in our walk with Christ. At the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he exhorts them to do two things: “be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.” Wisdom about the good speaks to what you might call taking faith on offense—displaying Christlikness in a world that does not know the Lord, shining light in the darkness. Innocence about what is evil speaks to avoiding or eschewing those things which are worldly, eluding those traps the enemy places in your path—it’s the defensive side of faith.

A mature relationship with the Lord requires both of these elements, offense and defense, so that you can be a redeeming force in the world without being corrupted by it. Faithfulness requires us to know how to throw and dodge, to proclaim the gospel boldly and take refuge in the Lord. So may you have the courage to go on offense and the humility to go on defense—all for the glory of God.

Awe and Wonder (Friday Devotional)

 

“Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?”

- Exodus 15:11

This week, most of us stayed home as much as possible. With snow falling, a solid layer of ice on the roads, and temperatures below freezing, nobody wanted to get out unless it was absolutely necessary. Well, no adult, anyway.

My kids, on the other hand—like a lot of kids, based on local news footage—were ready to head outside the moment they woke up on Tuesday morning. Undeterred by the temperatures, impatient with the need to bundle up, and oblivious to parental caution, they raced outdoors as soon as we let them, eager to explore the backyard that had become a winter wonderland overnight. The same weather that was an inconvenience for us adults was a wonder for them.

It seems to me that as we get older, we lose our capacity for awe. Things that once made us gasp with glee illicit shrugs now that we’re grown. The willingness to be amazed—or at least to show our amazement—fades, overwhelmed by the perceived need to look unflappable.

But in the presence of almighty God, awe is the only appropriate response. The holiness of the Lord is unlike anything we can imagine; his power is beyond all measure. And to think that such an awesome God would deign to love us—how can we fail to worship?

For a child, creation never ceases to amaze. For everyone, the same ought to be true for the Creator.

January Reading Log

  

After a couple months when my morning reading routine kind of went to pot, I came in January ready to turn over a new leaf (or, rather, turn back to my old leaf) and get back to more regular reading. Here are the books my nose was buried in over the last month!

Reading Through the Fantastic Four- #60 (v. 3 numbering)—532 (vo.1 numbering)

My FF reading for January consisted almost exclusively of the Mark Waid-Mike Weiringo run, a period beloved by fans for its imagination, heart, and irreverence. In their hands, the book resembles a Saturday morning superhero cartoon in the all the right ways—there's action, there's comedy, there's drama, and you never forget that the point is to have fun.

In Waid's hands, the FF literally travel from heaven to hell. In one of his first arcs as the book's writer, Doctor Doom makes a deal with a demon lord to increase his powers as a sorcerer and manages to psychologically and physically torture Marvel's First Family before Reed Richards, his archnemesis, finally manages to topple Doom with the aid of Doctor Strange. In the wake of that arc, an angry, psychologically battered Reed takes the team to Latveria, where Doom had reigned as absolute monarch, and essentially takes over the country himself. It's a way-too-on-the-nose commentary on the Iraq War that ends in tragedy, with Ben Grimm, the Thing, perishing. So from there Reed devises a machine that winds up taking the FF to the literal gates of heaven, where God (drawn, in a stroke of genius, as FF co-creator Jack "the King" Kirby) serves a literal deus ex machina and resurrects Ben.

Weiringo is the perfect artist for Waid's stories, with a colorful, cartoony style that makes the comedy sing but still manages to work in the stories' darker moments. While hard to explain, his style is all heart, which is what this book is truly about in its best moments. He and Waid make the perfect team, arguably the best this book had seen since Lee and Kirby. After a long creative lull, this is the run that made the FF relevant again—can't recommend it highly enough.

HOW TO REVIVE EVANGELISM by Craig Springer

Evangelism is tricky business these days. Some view it unfavorably because of its historic ties to colonization in the 'glory days' of Christendom, when conversion often came about at the end of a spear. Others hear the word and think of street preachers and panhandlers holding carboard signs proclaiming the end is near. And still others simply view it as unethical—it's fine to believe what you want, but trying to persuade others to believe it too is pushy to the point of manipulative.

And yet for Christians, we can't get away from the Great Commission: Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations, he gave us a mission to proclaim his Good News to the world. So how do we do that in 2023?

In this slim volume, Craig Springer seeks to offer effective evangelism strategies for our day and time, ways of sharing Jesus that honor the honest concerns about evangelism without being ashamed of the mission. He advocates for a patient, sincere, community-oriented approach where you listen more than you talk and allow space for questions without condemnation. It's an approach that intuitively makes sense in a post-Christian society.

One thing readers will have to understand about such an approach (which I find persuasive) is that yields a lot more depth than width—you'll get a lot fewer converts this way than with the old days of Billy Graham crusades and tent revivals. But those who do come to faith are much more likely to stay, to be actual disciples instead of one-day converts who walked an aisle in a swell of emotion only to wake up with a spiritual hangover the next day.

Most of the information in this book was stuff I'd read elsewhere, but it was helpful to have it all laid out here so clearly and concisely. If some of these concepts are new to you, this is a good place to start.

MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK by David McCullough

What turned Theodore Roosevelt, an asthmatic patrician's son, into the Rough Rider who would change the American presidency forever? In Mornings on Horseback, David McCullough's award winning biography of Roosevelt, the answer comes less from Roosevelt's experiences or inner drive than from his family and friends, the people who inspired, taught, confounded, and drove him to greatness.

McCullough, it is clear, is not so interested in Roosevelt's accomplishments as his origin story—the book ends with his engagement to Edith Carrow, 15 years before he became president. As such, a tremendous amount of time is spent on the stories of people like Roosevelt's grandfather, Cornelius Van Schaack (C.V.S) Roosevelt; his father, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.; his mother, Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch; and his brother, Elliot Roosevelt. Indeed, at times T.R. seems like a side character in his own story. For those interested in family systems, it is fascinating to see how Theodore's upbringing shaped who he became—what he accepted from his upbringing and what he cast aside.

This book surprised me a bit; I expected a standard biography and got something different. Nevertheless, McCullough's reputation as one of America's preeminent historians is based on books like this one. Well written and carefully researched, this book sets out to explain how Theodore Roosevelt's early years shaped him, and it does just that.

THE RIVER OF DOUBT by Candice Millard

There are times when history is so compelling it might as well be an action-adventure novel. Those times happened a lot where Theodore Roosevelt was concerned. Having read about his early years in Mornings on Horseback, I turned next to his life post-presidency, specifically to a journey he took following his unsuccessful "Bull Moose" third-party campaign for president. Accompanied by an experienced crew and his son Kermit, Roosevelt descended an unmapped portion of the Amazon River, a region so treacherous some believed it was impossible.

The trip almost killed Roosevelt; indeed, he contemplated suicide at one point. Everything from shipwreck to malaria to a murder within the crew threatened to make this journey one without a happy ending. But in Millard's telling, the trip instead became Roosevelt's final, most dangerous adventure.

Candace Millard presents the story with an eye for detail and an ear for storytelling that ensure it never presents as dry history. Instead, she tells the story so cinematically you can easily imagine seeing it on the big screen. For those wanting a survival story that just so happens to be about somebody on Mount Rushmore, this is a great beach read!

LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL by Martin Luther King, Jr.

I make a point to read this American epistle every MLK Day, and this year was no exception. Addressed to a collection of white, moderate pastors who were concerned with Dr. King's protest-centered approach to social change, its central theme can be summarized by its most famous quote: "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Drawing from Scripture, American history, and outright common sense, King systematically dismantles the concerns of his fellow pastors, showing how both his faith and his heritage demand that he remain outspoken on the subject of civil rights, and how the methodology of the movement is not only effective, but moral. Furthermore, King respectfully but forcefully decries the caution of his fellow pastors, convincingly arguing that there are times when God calls his children to boldness, not moderation.

For someone who proudly identifies as a moderate on social and political issues, Letter from Birmingham Jail challenges me on an annual basis. I consider it to be right up there with the Gettysburg Address among the greatest works of American political writing—if you've never taken the time to read it in its entirety, do it now.

THE FLAG, THE CROSS, AND THE STATION WAGON by Bill McKibben

Part memoir, part sociology text, part political manifesto, The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon is environmentalist Bill McKibben's take on how the 1970s, the decade in which he grew up, represented the moment when America shifted from patriotic idealism to nationalistic nihilism. A Baby Boomer himself, McKibben is firmly of the opinion that Boomers abdicated their responsibility to leave the nation better than they found it, and this book is his attempt to diagnose the problems and advocate for solutions.

As the title suggests, McKibben frames our national decline around three things: the partisan sclerosis of our government, the gradual decline of faith (specifically, the mainline church), and the rise of the suburbs, which effectively reversed the tide of integration the Civil Rights Movement had begun. Mixing personal experience with historical fact with sociological analysis, McKibben makes an occasionally compelling, albeit predictable case that basically boils down to, "Liberal ideas good, conservative and moderate ideas bad."

This book was one I grabbed impulsively at the library one day; it's the sort of thing I typically read online or in magazines, not as a full book. I liked it fine, but can't say I learned much that I didn't already know. If you're politically plugged in, you've probably heard these arguments before, but if you're a more casual watcher of the news, this book makes some arguments worth considering.

From Ugliness to Artistry (Friday Devotional)

 

Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

- Titus 2:14

If you’ve ever walked through a rough neighborhood or driven past an abandoned railcar, you’ve seen it. Always colorful, often cryptic, and occasionally vulgar, graffiti has been a staple of the American cityscape since the 1970s. Sometimes sprayed on by bored teenagers, other times by gangs looking to mark their territory, graffiti has normally been seen as a telltale sign of urban blight, an ugly indicator of decline.

But something interesting has started happening over the last few years—what was once considered destruction of property is being newly recognized as art. Graffiti that city officials used to decry as vandalism is now beginning to be appreciated as creativity at work, artists looking for an outlet. Indeed, inspired by figures like the elusive Banksy, some major cities have even actually enlisted those they once would have arrested, commissioning street artists to spray paint graffiti-style murals. Rather than condemning graffiti, they’ve found a way to redeem it.

That’s exactly what Jesus does for those who place their faith in him: he turns ugliness into artistry, sinners into saints. By the grace of God, his death on the cross has ensured that anyone can be cleansed of unrighteousness and given new life.

All of us are born into iniquity, sinners incapable of fellowship with God. But Jesus gave himself on the cross so that we could be more, so that we could know the kind of life God always intended for us. The blood of Jesus made it possible for us to be redeemed from vulgarity to beauty. In Christ, transformation is always possible.

The next time you see graffiti, you’re most likely to dismiss it as petty vandalism. But my encouragement to you is to take a closer look—at what’s on the wall and what’s in your heart. You never know what a good artist will do with some misplaced paint.

Always Ready (Friday Devotional)

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

- 1 Peter 3:15

In show business, most theaters are equipped with an area offstage known as the green room. For guest performers, this room is usually stocked with snacks, comfortable furniture, and a television to watch what’s happening onstage. It’s in the green room that performers—from late show guests to rock bands—have the time and the space to mentally prepare themselves before they walk out into the spotlight.

Life isn’t showbiz, but in this respect, you might wish the two had more in common. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could always have time in a green room before life’s biggest moments? What a luxury it would be to know exactly what was coming and have the space to prepare yourself for it!

Unfortunately, life’s biggest moments aren’t usually advertised on a marquee beforehand. You aren’t given a green room in which to get ready. Instead, readiness needs to be your automatic posture.

That’s what 1 Peter 3:15 is getting at when it calls believers to “be prepared to give an answer” on behalf of Christ. It’s not about apologetics, not about ‘defending the faith’ so much as understanding that your opportunities to share the gospel aren’t always—or even often—planned in advance. Your best occasions for witnessing don’t necessarily come at the end of a church service; more often they come in the flow of everyday life.

You might wish life and ministry came equipped with green rooms so you’d never be caught unawares. But until then, best to keep the command of Scripture in mind—know where your hope comes from, and always be ready to tell people about it.