2013 MLB Preview: AL Central

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Jason

This is probably the easiest division to handicap. The Tigers look to be one of the top two or three clubs in the AL. I think the Royals are good enough to contend for a wild card spot and the ChiSox should be competitive. Here are the team-by-team breakdowns:

1st place: Detroit Tigers

The bullpen is somewhat unsettled right now; Leyland likes a bona fide closer, and right now it looks like Phil Coke and Joaquin Benoit will split duties. And the defense is average. Otherwise, this is a very strong club. Offensively, Detroit boasts the best 3-4 combo in the game in Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. Victor Martinez looks like he’s fully recovered and Austin Jackson is coming into his own as a leadoff hitter. But the rotation might be the best in baseball. Of course, Justin Verlander is vintage, but Max Scherzer has developed into an ace in his own right. Anibal Sanchez, Doug Fister, and Rick Porcello round out a young, deep rotation. This team can cruise to the division crown.

2nd place: Kansas City Royals

GM Dayton Moore might regret trading uber-prospect Wil Myers in a few years. (Heck, he might regret it by next month.) But the haul coming back from Tampa (James Shields, Wade Davis) is part of a comprehensive overhaul of the 2012 starting rotation. Only Jeremy Guthrie remains from last season, and he was only a midseason addition to the ’12 team. Shields gives the club a legit #1; Davis pitched well out of the ‘pen last year and still has plenty of upside; Guthrie and free agent import Ervin Santana should provide plenty of quality innings. The offense will be led by a core of homegrown talent: Billy Butler, Salvador Perez, Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer. The bullpen is filled with power arms and the farm system is still stocked. These Royals could be here to stay for the next several seasons.

3rd place: Chicago White Sox

Not to brag, but I predicted last year’s turnaround on the South Side and many of the same pieces return this season. Chris Sale emerged as an ace and Jake Peavy recovered his pre-injury form. The offense will miss A.J. Pierzynski’s bat, but Alex Rios, Adam Dunn, and Paul Konerko will keep the scoreboard operator quite busy. But there are question marks. Will Robin Ventura’s motivational magic continue? Can Tyler Flowers hold down an everyday spot in the lineup? How much will John Danks be able to contribute? Will Sale suffer any setbacks after last year’s increased workload? Expect the Sox to hover around .500 all year. Better than the worst clubs in the division, but not quite elite.

4th place: Cleveland Indians

I actually like their offseason quite a bit. Michael Bourn changes the complexion of this club, giving them the dynamic leadoff batter they haven’t enjoyed since Kenny Lofton’s heyday in the mid-90s. They probably overpaid for Nick Swisher, but I expect him to thrive as the big fish in this small pond. And the addition of manager Terry Francona might be the most important piece. Tito is a proven winner and he’s a player’s manager. I’m rooting for him. The rotation is still a bit of an enigma. Justin Masterson is maddeningly inconsistent…and he’s supposed to be the ace? And you never know what you’re going to get with Ubaldo Jimenez. Two years from now when Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco are anchoring the rotation, Cleveland might be able to contend for the division crown. But not until then.

5th place: Minnesota Twins

I really like Ron Gardenhire and I hope he’s able to pull a rabbit out of his hat here. But I have a feeling this is his swan song in the Twin Cities. This team is simply bereft of pitching. Scott Diamond was a nice little story last year, but come on. When Vance Worley is your offseason headliner, you know you’re in for a long summer. Mauer will probably contend for another batting title and Justin Morneau looks to be healthy (finally). He and Josh Willingham make a formidable middle of the order. But I just don’t see how this team can contend with the other teams in this division. It ain’t happening.

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The Greatest Day

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Jason

Last Friday, I took the boys camping. Ever since our Disney camping trip back in the fall, they’ve been begging to go again. Of course, it’s been much too cold to seriously consider it, but with spring time weather finally here, we were finally able to make it happen.

We packed up our gear: a tent, sleeping bags, a cooler full of Cherry Cokes and Sunny D, some charcoal for grilling, and bikes and scooters for riding. On our way to the campsite, we stopped by a local grocery store and bought some hot dogs and a bundle of firewood. We got the campsite set up just before dark, so we didn’t have any time for riding bikes or hiking, so we decided to fire up the grill. After feasting on hot dogs and Doritos, we made ourselves a campfire and spent some time talking before delving into the massive chocolate bar my mother in law sent home with me to give to the boys. All three of us must’ve been exhausted because we all fell asleep in the tent around 10PM.

We slept great until about 3AM. I woke to the sound of one of our neighbors walking his dog…and that’s when I was struck with just how cold it was outside. I checked the weather app on my phone and it gave a temperature in the 30s! I threw another blanket on top of the boys and slept pretty fitfully until morning. But there were absolutely no regrets, despite the colder weather. The morning made it all worth it.

After eating breakfast and drinking my morning coffee, we went over to the playground area at the campsite. Jackson had fun playing on the slide & swing; he even made a new friend. Joshua and I threw baseball before he joined his brother for some play time on the massive play set. After an hour or so on the playground, we got out our walking sticks and took a long walk through a couple of the trails. One trail in particular took us along a fairly high bluff. Jackson continually wanted to lead the way on our walk. I’m so impressed with his fearless nature, although I have to admit, I had to rein him in a few times when he’d get dangerously close to the edge.

We hiked for about 2 hours or so before little legs finally gave out. On our walk back to my truck, Jackson looked up at me with a little bit of dirt and sweat caked onto his face. He said, “Dad, this is the greatest day.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“It’s the greatest day of my life.”

I immediately thought of that old George Strait song, “The Best Day”. It’s a song that follows the relationship of a father and son throughout the years. The opening verse describes a camping trip, similar to this one, wherein the boy tells his Dad, after spending the weekend together, “Dad, this could be the best day of my life.”

I’d have to agree with Jackson; it ranks as one of my favorites, too.

The Bybee boys camping trip, Spring 2013

The Bybee boys camping trip, Spring 2013

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The Story: The Threshing Floor

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Jason

At this point in Israel’s history, power is decentralized. Rather than replace Joshua with another national leader, a series of local, tribal leaders emerge throughout the land. But Israel also deals with the repercussions that come from failing to drive the pagan peoples out of the land. In fact, Judges 1:28 says, “When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.” The former slave people are now guilty of the crimes of Pharaoh a few generations earlier.

And it’s precisely this kind of moral drift that characterizes Israel during the period of the judges. Repeatedly, this phrase comes up in Judges: And the people did what was right in their own eyes. Sad commentary on this period of Israel’s history.

And so this cycle begins: Israel does evil in the sight of the Lord; God punishes Israel by allowing an enemy to oppress them; Israel cries out to the Lord; God raises up a judge to deliver them; the land has peace for a period of years. This cycle is repeated throughout the book of Judges.

In one of these cycles, the Midianites rise up to oppose Israel. In response to Israel’s cry, God calls Gideon as he is threshing wheat in a winepress.

An ancient winepress...Gideon's "hide out"

An ancient winepress…Gideon’s “hide out”

Judges 6:11, Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

Threshing wheat normally takes place in a large, open space. The thresher tosses the grain in the air, letting the wind blow away the chaff. The picture of Gideon threshing out the wheat in a small, enclosed winepress conveys his fear of the Midianites.

An ancient threshing floor...a "wide open" space

An ancient threshing floor…a “wide open” space

What do people do when they’re afraid? They do things they’re not supposed to do. Like thresh wheat in a winepress. Winepresses are for crushing grapes. Threshing floors are for threshing wheat. But Gideon is so afraid, he’s doing things he’s not supposed to do. God never wanted it to be this way. Gideon is not supposed to be afraid of the Midianites; he and his people are supposed to drive them out. But his fear has taken hold of him. Maybe you can relate to that.

Are there things in your life that have taken hold of you, things that God never intended for you to be afraid of? If so, then I think you’ll relate to Gideon.

If anybody else were to walk up to Gideon in this moment, they’d see a scared little man trying not to draw attention to himself. Yet, the angel of the Lord addresses Gideon with a different title: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior,” (6:12).

When others look at Gideon they see a fearful man, trembling in the winepress. But God looks at Gideon and sees a mighty warrior, fearless because of his trust in God.

But Gideon objects initially. Like Moses before him, he’s reluctant at first to accept God’s call.

V13 -“If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? The Lord has abandoned us.” God counters his objection.

V14 – “Go in the strength you have and save Israel…” But Gideon is reluctant.

V15 – “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (6:15). But God has been down this road before.

V16 – “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” 

From Gideon’s story, I want to point out three themes that are recurring themes from our study of The Story so far this year. The first is this: God offers His presence to His people for His purpose. 

Gideon fails to see himself as God sees him. When he looks in the mirror, he sees something insignificant. But he fails to see the most important thing: God is on his side! And that means Gideon doesn’t need to cower in the winepress; with the presence of God, he can become a mighty warrior. God is offering His presence to Gideon for His purposes.

If you ask Gideon, “What’s wrong with the world today?” he has an answer. “Well, it’s the Midianites. That and the fact that God has abandoned us.” But if you ask Gideon, “What are you doing to rectify the situation?” his response is, “What, little ol’ me? Nothing. I can do nothing because I am nothing. I’m an insignificant man from an insignificant tribe. I can’t solve this problem. It’s too big for me.”

Well, Gideon’s right…he isn’t much if you go by some of the common worldly barometers. But that’s exactly the point: God doesn’t call Gideon because he’s the sharpest, the strongest, the most heroic. I believe God calls him precisely because he isn’t any of those things.

But with God on his side, Gideon becomes someone else entirely. This weak little milquetoast of a man threshing his wheat in secret is going to become the leader of one of the greatest underdog stories the world has ever seen. March Madness has nothing on this story.

God offers His presence to His people for His purposes. Gideon is about to learn this lesson; and I hope the same can be said of us.

That leads to the second recurring theme that we’re encountering. In our reading of The Story this year, have you noticed that God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called? Have you picked up on that?

  • Abraham and Sarah: “Are you sure we’re the right ones for the job? We’re old enough to be grandparents!” God: “I’ve got it under control.”
  • Moses: “I’m not a public speaker.” God says, “I know a guy who is.”
  • Gideon: “I’m a little bitty nothing of a man.” And God says: “I know. That’s why I picked you.”

God doesn’t choose any of these individuals on the basis of merit or strength or talent. I believe He chooses them precisely because they aren’t any of those things.

Paul talks about this very thing over in 1 Cor. 1:27, But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

God tells Gideon: I’m the only credential you’ll need. You may be insignificant, but with me by your side, you’re a mighty warrior! What would it do for you if you heard these words from God? What would it do for your confidence, your self-esteem, if you heard God address you as “a mighty warrior”? God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. If He’s the one who calls you to be a mighty warrior, you can rest assured He’s the one who’s going to qualify you for the job.

You see, God sees so much more than our weaknesses, our lack of resources, our lack of courage. He sees the strength we have, scant as it might be. And this is the third of these recurring themes that Gideon’s story reminds us of: God sees our possibilities through the lens of His power; He does not limit them by the breadth of our weakness. The smidgeon of strength that Gideon has, coupled with God’s presence beside him, is sufficient to rout the entire Midianite army.

But Gideon needs some assurances, needs to be convinced God is really with him to make him a mighty warrior. And God graciously provides a demonstration of His power, consuming the meat and unleavened bread Gideon had prepared in miraculous fashion (6:21). This leads Gideon to act courageously to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and Asherah, a victory over the idolatrous forces in the land.

And yet, Gideon asks for further confirmation as his task grows. Tearing down his father’s altar is one thing; opposing the mighty forces of the Midianite & Amalekite armies is another altogether.

You see, Gideon is a lot like us. He has moments of incredible faith sandwiched around moments of doubt and fear. Does that sound familiar?

The place where all this comes to a head is the threshing floor. The Canaanite forces number 135,000 (8:10). God is asking Gideon to trust him that these enemies will fall to them. But even though we’ve seen him grow in courage and strength, Gideon asks for a few more signs.

  • I’ll put the fleece out on the threshing floor; since you send the dew each morning, if the ground is dry but the fleece is wet, I’ll know you’re really in this for me.
  • So God says, “Okay.” The next morning, the fleece is like a Sham Wow; he wrings out a bowl full of water from it, the ground is dry as a bone.
  • But Gideon wavers again. He asks God for one more sign. And God says okay. This time, Gideon reverses it: If the ground is wet and the fleece is dry, then I’ll believe. And God grants him this final request. By putting out the fleece, Gideon receives assurance yet again that God is on his side.

What happens next is really interesting. The roles reverse and God is now the one asking for something. As we said, the Midianite and Amalekite army is about 135,000 strong. Gideon’s army is 32,000. That’s 4.2 Canaanites for every Israelite. Not great odds to begin with.

But as the story progresses, God is the one who takes Gideon to the threshing floor, to separate the chaff of doubt from the wheat of his faith.

God says, You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, “Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back.” (Judges 7:2-3)

And so Gideon says to the army, “Those of you who are afraid, your services aren’t required. Go home to your wife or your mommy. Only those who possess courage are allowed to remain.”

22,000 men turn and head home.

That leaves Gideon with an army of 10,000. Now the ratio is 13.5 Canaanites for every Israelite. Odds just got a lot worse. But God says, “Nope, still too big. We’re going to separate it out a little more.” And based on…of all things…how the men drink their water, God winnows down the Israelite forces to a mere 300 men.

Now our ratio is an outlandish 450 Canaanites for every Israelite warrior.

God says, “There’s one little part missing from your equation. You forgot to factor in that I’m on your side.” And, as always, that makes all the difference.

All of this begins at the Threshing Floor.

The Threshing Floor is that out-in-the-open space to which God might be calling you, a place where the chaff of fear and doubt is separated from the wheat of your faith.

The Threshing Floor is the place where you go to meet God, the place where you can be honest with Him and seek discernment on His will for your life.

The Threshing Floor is the place where you are assured of the presence and power of God.

Will you walk out in the open to that same threshing floor today?

Or will you continue to hunker down in your winepress, ravaged by fear, refusing the call of your God to become a mighty warrior?

Posted in Devotional, Faith, God, No Fear, Scripture, The Story, Theology | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

My card

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Jason

Here is the card I found on my desk this morning from my kids.

20130404-093233.jpg

20130404-093244.jpg

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2013 MLB Preview: AL East

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Jason

Every year I like to take a stab at forecasting the upcoming MLB Season. I’ll start with the AL East.

A decade ago, this was baseball’s glamour division. There was a time you could pencil the Yankees and Red Sox in for nearly 100 wins and an October showdown in the ALCS. Now, these clubs could be fighting for last place in the division. Honestly, this is one of the more wide open divisions in baseball.

1st place: Toronto Blue Jays

I’ll admit: this pick scares me. The Blue Jays certainly won the offseason, emptying the cupboard of their upper-level prospects for the chance to acquire plenty of premium MLB talent in return. But as we’ve seen recently, these super-team scenarios rarely work out well (see the 2012 Marlins; the 2012-13 Lakers; the 2011 “Dream Team” Philadelphia Eagles). So I’m not entirely comfortable with this pick, since recent history says to bet against it.

But the talent here is undeniable. The bold moves of GM Alex Anthopoulos could radically improve what was a 73-win ballclub in 2012. For starters, there’s the mega-deal with the Marlins: SS Jose Reyes, 2B Emilio Bonifacio, SPs Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle. Then there’s free agent addition OF Melky Cabrera, a batting crown contender prior to his suspension for PEDs last season. And if that weren’t enough, Anthopoulos plucked NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey from the Mets to complete the offseason haul. The starting rotation should be one of the best in baseball. An already dangerous lineup becomes even more formidable with Reyes and Cabrera serving as tablesetters for Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Not since the days of Robbie Alomar and Joe Carter has the Jays lineup been this deep.

But there are still questions: Will Brett Lawrie be able to stay healthy and hold down 3B? Will Colby Rasmus stay motivated enough to tap into his vast potential? Can the bullpen coalesce despite a brand name closer & setup guy? Will Darren Oliver pitch into his 60s? Still, with this much talent, you gotta think they’ll be in the hunt.

Right?

2nd place: Tampa Bay Rays

The division’s best pitching staff and the division’s worst offense. Consider this pick a nod to the old adage that pitching is 75% of the game. With David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore, Alex Cobb, Fernando Rodney, Jake McGee, Joel Peralta and Juan Carlos Oviedo, the Rays are loaded with power arms. And that’s not even counting Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Alex Colome, and Tyler Guerrieri who are waiting in the wings in the minors. Expect to see wunderkind Wil Myers up sometime soon to help with the offense. Until then, it’ll be up to Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, and Desmond Jennings to put up some runs. No other manager gets more out of his 25 man roster than Joe Maddon, so I expect them to be competitive. If pitching is 75%, in this division, it looks like staying healthy might account for the other 25%.

3rd place: Baltimore Orioles

If the Yankees weren’t so dinged up, I might pick the O’s to finish fourth. But you have to acknowledge what Buck Showalter has done in his short tenure in Baltimore. After a string of 90-loss seasons, the Orioles vaulted to 93 wins in 2012 and came within a hair of knocking off the Yankees in the ALDS. I think they’ll regress a bit; no way does the bullpen repeat their otherworldly success from a year ago and for a team that relies so much on the long ball, losing Mark Reynolds will hurt. But you have to think Adam Jones is coming into his own after his breakout last season. Ditto for Matt Wieters. Manny Machado’s best baseball is ahead of him and the same could be said for many of the young pitchers. Jason Hammel was on his way to a stellar year before he was felled by injury. And Dylan Bundy should make an impact at some point this season, too.

After last season, it’d be foolish to count these Birds out, but I expect them to come back to the pack a bit. I’m predicting they’ll win 85 games in 2013.

4th place: New York Yankees

Boy, what a mess. ARod. Teixiera. Granderson. Jeter. Pinieda. Hughes. And we still have 161 games to go. The lineup is a far cry from last year’s edition, a squad that scored over 800 runs on the year. Having Brett Gardner healthy for the entire season would be nice, but nothing is given on this club, especially considering all the greybeards in the clubhouse. Ichiro and Jeter are 39. ARod and Hiroki Kuroda are 38. Andy Pettitte is 40. Mariano Rivera is 43. I can think of no reason why any team would give Robinson Cano anything to hit this year. Sure, things will be different when Granderson and Tex get back, but that could be June or July. By that point, it might not matter.

Here are the bright spots: CC is still an ace. Cano is one of the best hitters around. Eduardo Nunez is a dynamic young infielder. David Robertson throws gas.

And the Red Sox are awful.

So, chin up Yankee fan. Chin up.

5th place: Boston Red Sox

I have no idea what this team is doing. You wouldn’t think a team could lose it’s identity so completely when a change is made in the front office, but it’s happened here. I suppose you could ignore last season’s Bobby Valentine debacle; last spring I was going on and on about how that was a trainwreck waiting to happen. But after last summer’s firesale, the BoSox offseason moves are simply baffling. Why does a rebuilding team go out and sign past-their-prime vets like Ryan Dempster, Shane Victorino, and Jonny Gomes? Why go out and sign Mike Napoli with his significantly high injury risk? How does the Stephen Drew acquisition help this team in either the short or long term?

As it is, this team has an ordinary nucleus of hitters outside of Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, and David Ortiz. Even with those three, Ortiz is already banged up and Ellsbury has played a full season once in the last three years. Jon Lester is probably glad to see John Farrell return to town, but the rest of the rotation is ordinary. And the bullpen is nothing to write home about either.

I have to admit, I’m kind of relishing the Red Sox misery, especially after all the exposure they’ve received on ESPN over the years. Where are all you bandwagon fans now, eh?

So there you have it, my AL East predictions. I’ll be back later in the week with more divisional previews.

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Sunday

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Jason

Sunday is the day of glory.

The world changed at daybreak. I doubt anyone understood it in the moment of it’s occurrence. In fact, most of the world was asleep, completely unaware that God was on the move. Consider it a stealth attack on our expectations. We’ve been playing catch up ever since.

How could we miss it? Haven’t we witnessed the power of the sunrise to recreate our world, to banish the darkness and the demons and all that we find fearful? There it is, on full display each morning, his mercies made new. We are the new creation; we are made new by the glory at daybreak. The shadows may recede and the fog may lift, but no greater transformation occurs than the one within our hearts. How could we miss it?

They arrive bewildered. What horror is this? Has someone desecrated the grave? But the word comes to them: He is not here, for he has risen. He has shed the fetters of death and now he is loose, free out there in the world doing God knows what. We approach the tomb filled with the same mixture of fear and amazement. We depart much like Peter, wondering what it all could mean.

And we live in the wake of Sunday’s promise, an answer to our prayer for “Someday.”

I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

The Kingdom of God is in your midst.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

This is the glory of Sunday.

This is the power of God.

This is the Life which is the light of men.

And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

Amen.

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Saturday

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Jason

Saturday is the day of grief.

The mourners sit in silence, an unwelcome new reality sitting in hard upon them. “Is this really happening?” they ask one another. Friday came and went quickly and now we find ourselves picking up the pieces, scratching our heads, licking our wounds. Tears unbidden gush forth as an aching void engulfs us. We pinch ourselves, hoping to wake from the nightmare. But slowly we are overtaken by the cold truth of circumstance: there is no waking up and there is no going back. All that is left to do is breathe in, breathe out, and pray for the strength to carry on.

What must it have been like, that Saturday when all seemed lost? What consolation was there to be found? To what hope could they cling? You get the impression the fear paralyzed them; with each knock of the door they wondered, “Have they come to take us away as well?” I suppose I’m inclined to think of them in this way because fear and sorrow have been familiar bedfellows in my own life. Friday’s gruesome blitz is often over before you realize what’s happened; no, Saturday’s monotonously bleak recognition is what we find most agonizing, hope slowly ebbing from our pores as disillusionment claims us.

This is my story now.

And we grieve the loss of the story we had lived in, the story to which we can never return.

Saturday is also the day of regret, Friday’s finality a permanent shackle to the stocks of remorse. We become prisoners to our minds, the thoughts that play in a constant loop as we sort through our grief.

“I never had the chance to say goodbye.”

“I wish I’d told her how much I loved her.”

“We stopped talking a few years ago. I can’t even remember why.”

“I thought we’d have more time.”

As the Saturday sun sets, we find ourselves further removed from Friday’s ridicule and violence. But time does not heal all wounds. Far from it. Time helps us return to a level of functionality, but we must always bear our scars. The aftermath of Friday’s trauma is played out in a thousand ways in the Saturdays of our lives.

But even as the Saturday sun sets, a prayer escapes our lips:

“Someday.”

You see, we’re just foolish enough to believe in the dawn, to long for the possibility of healing. We know better, and yet we can’t seem to help ourselves. After all we’ve been through, after all we’ve seen, aren’t we naive to think that tomorrow will have something glorious in store? Probably so, we tell ourselves. And yet, we return to our prayer, hoping against hope, clinging to what is possible over against what is probable.

And we close our eyes to the dusk around us, unaware of just how soon our prayer will be answered.

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Friday

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Jason

Friday is the day of ridicule.

The taunts and insults flow effortlessly, piling up in rapid succession, one after another. These men take great joy in the expert turn of a phrase, slicing ever-so-carefully through the layers of the human heart. These barbs worm their way into us and we carry them with us always. “Stupid.” “Idiot.” “Moron.” “Worthless.” We can still see their faces, the expression of pure delight our revilement is bringing them. We know this expression because we have worn it ourselves. We have seen it in the eyes of those who would mock us and we have seen it in ourselves more than we’d like to admit. Two thousand years later, it might be easy for us to miss the slanderous tone of the phrase “King of the Jews” which was nailed above his head. Friday is a grim reminder of who we are at our worst: racial slurs, homophobic slander, gossip, hate-mongering, and the curses we so readily cast on our neighbors for (gasp) cutting us off in traffic.

But Friday is more than this. Friday is also a day of gruesome violence. These venomous insults are matched by bruising blows as hardened fists come crashing down all around us. He is thrashed, flogged, pierced. Once again, we see the expression of delight in their faces, as their bloodlust is sated by our wounds. It is a moment of willful victimization, all the offenses of history’s aggrieved and oppressed finding expression in his body. We see every abuse at the hands of those more powerful, every violation of innocence, every breach of trust. As spittle runs down his face, we see all the violence committed against us and all the violence we have committed against others. We are reminded that the world is a place of grisly horror and cruelty. We are reminded that we are both victim and oppressor.

As Friday draws to a close, there is no resolution. There is no turn toward hope, no “Yes, but…”. There is only the grim reality of our brokenness, expressed in the broken body, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.

Friday is the day of pain and agony.

This we remember today.

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Nineteen

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Jason

Myrna JasonOver the years, I’ve written quite a few tributes to my mother on this blog, most of them on Mother’s Day or on this date, the anniversary of her death.

Nineteen years ago, my mother journeyed from one life to another, bearing the promise of Jesus that death never has the final word for people of faith.

I wrote this 7 years ago on Mother’s Day. It is a truthful reflection of where my heart and mind are today.

When I was 15 years old, my mother and I signed up to work the nursery at church on Sunday mornings during the summer. It was a job she and I had done together several times. She enjoyed it more than I did, but I think it helped her to stay busy, especially after my father died.

I remember one Sunday morning in particular. A lady in the church came to pick up her child and as I handed their diaper bag to her, she looked at me and said, “Jason, you’re looking just like your mother.”

I turned red with embarrassment. There are fewer things a 15-year-old boy wants to hear than how much he resembles his mother. Since my father’s death 5 years earlier, I desperately wanted people to see him in me. As much as I loved my mother, I fiercely clung to my father’s image. He was the one I wanted to look like, talk like, act like. Being told I looked like my mother was terrible. I considered the comment an affront to my manhood. The truth is I didn’t want to look like my mother.

Fast forward another 15 years to my niece’s baptism. Sunny and I returned to Lebanon to be there as Hope, my sister’s daughter, was baptized. Afterward, as we were standing around talking with people, a dear sweet lady approached me, a friend of the family I’d not seen in years. After introducing her to Sunny and the kids, she looked right at me and said, “Jason, you look just like your mother.“

Her comment caught me off-guard. It’s been over 12 years since my mother passed away. I don’t live in my home town anymore and I’m very rarely around anyone who even knew my mother. I can’t remember the last time someone mentioned either of my parents in conversation with me. But her comment nearly brought me to tears. It’s not so much that I think she’s right (I actually don’t think I look much like my mother at all). I guess it just meant a lot to me to hear someone remember my mother. Today, I consider it a supreme compliment to be compared to my mother.

She taught me about compassion and faith, love for God and love for others.

She said, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” a pithy saying when spoken tritely…a powerful testimony when lived out through adversity.

She saw the potential in me when others only saw an angry young man.

If she were still here, there are so many things I would say to her on this Mother’s Day.

Mom, because of you, I know how to love other people.

Because of you, I know how to deal with adversity with strength and dignity.

Because of you, I have great respect for those who would be mothers.

Because of you, I know Jesus.

On this Mother’s Day, know that you are remembered. I cherish the person you were; I cherish who you are even now to me.

If I bear any semblance to you, Mom, I’m the lucky one. I love you.
Jason

Posted in Blessings, Family, Mom | 1 Comment

The Story: Deborah and Jael

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Jason

A few weeks ago, we looked at the beginning of Moses’ life and I told you that every heroic act that occurs in the first few chapters of Exodus is committed by a woman. Well, Judges 4 is a similar passage. Two women emerge in this period of Israel’s history: Deborah, the closest thing in the Bible to a female Moses; and Jael, the housewife who saved Israel.

Let’s look at the account of these faithful women and the three lessons we can learn from them.

V1 – After Ehud, the Israelites once again did evil in the sight of the Lord. This is the familiar refrain throughout the book of Judges, a reminder of human nature. Each generation must choose for themselves whom they will serve. As we mentioned in our study of Joshua 24 last week, each generation faces that same question that Joshua posed to the people. “Whom will you serve?”

Israel has made a choice to pursue evil, despite God’s direct command.

But here’s what we need to remember: God reserves the right to make certain choices, too. Israel chooses the way of evil and rebellion. So God turns them over to the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan (v2).

Judges 5 is Deborah’s poetic rendition of the history recorded in ch4. Judges 5:8 says When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among 40,000 in Israel. This doesn’t happen by accident. Israel had been given God’s Law but they chose to ignore it.

So here is the first lesson we can learn from Judges 4: When you abandon the source of your strength, you’re vulnerable to attack.

God didn’t leave Israel; they left Him. So in Israel’s case, they’re now threatened by Sisera’s army of 900 iron chariots, a fearsome fighting unit back then. Chariots were the ancient equivalents of modern tanks. But we must remember, God never intended for Israel to be plagued by the Canaanite peoples. But through their disobedience to His command to wipe the people out, Israel has cut themselves off from their source of strength, thereby opening themselves up to attack.

This is also the story of Samson. The source of His strength was God and Samson’s obedience to the Nazirite vow not to cut his hair. He tells this to Delilah and it’s his undoing.

But is the same true of us? When we abandon the source of our strength, we immediately become susceptible to attack.

  • When we neglect our time in the Word, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to keep our mind from conforming any longer to the pattern of this world (Rom. 12:1).
  • When you go for long periods of time without praying regularly, it becomes hard to set your minds on things above.
  • I had a friend once who slowly started shutting herself off to every godly influence that was in her life. Began with her church family, friends, even her own family members. It wasn’t long before she found herself in seriously dire straits. I was talking with her through one of these difficult periods, and it was just so obvious to me: when you abandon the source of your spiritual strength, your susceptible to spiritual attack.

This is the situation in Israel at the time. Predictably, the Israelites cry out for deliverance and God raises up Deborah to save the people.

But this can also be a problem, as we’ll see.

God raises up Deborah, a powerhouse figure in the book of Judges. Whereas many of the other judges are represented as deeply flawed individuals, Deborah’s character is impeccable. She is called a prophetess, one of five such women in the OT (Miriam, Huldah, Isaiah’s wife, and Noadiah — the false prophetess — are the others.) A prophetess doesn’t come around very often. There are far more prophets than prophetesses in Israel.

And Deborah functions as more than just a religious leader. She also rules as a civil leader and a judge over the people, deciding cases in Ephraim. When you add all this up, her role sounds a lot like Moses’.

But this dynamic figure can also become something of a crutch, at least for Barak.

And this is the second lesson we learn here: Our strength rests in the Giver, not in the gifts.

Barak receives a command to take 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun to oppose Sisera. But he says something troubling in v8:

If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.

In this moment, Barak wavers, even threatens to blatantly disregard the direct command of God, unless Deborah goes with him. Barak has mis-prioritized the blessing of God. Barak should obey because God has told him to do so. Barak should rally these troops because he refuses to be fearful, trusting instead in the promises God has already made to His people. But instead, he treats Deborah like a rabbit’s foot, a good luck charm.

If you go with me, then I’ll go. His failure is in focusing too much of the gift of God — in this case, Deborah — and not enough on the Giver, the One who has issued this command, the One who promised to give this land to His people in the first place.

And this is a theme that repeats itself in Scripture:

Psalm 20:7 – Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. In later years, Israel would sing this as a wartime Psalm, always wanting to remind themselves that success was not contingent upon their technology or their weaponry; instead, success is directly correlated to faith. Let’s not let the blessings usurp the Blesser.

Barak finally gets it in gear here; routs the Canaanite armies, just as the Lord had said. Judges 5:20-21 tells us that a massive storm blew in and swept away the chariots in the river Kishon. But Barak doesn’t enjoy the glory that comes from catching Sisera. If this were a Hollywood movie, Barak & Sisera would have a final showdown in the movie’s last scene; just when you think Sisera is going to win, Barak shows an incredible dose of strength to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.

But they say truth is stranger than fiction.

Instead of a climactic shootout with Barak, Sisera is done in by a housewife with a carton of milk. And a tent peg and a hammer! You can’t make this stuff up!

Sisera, without his chariot, runs off on foot and he just happens to ring the doorbell of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. Now, Heber is friendly with Jabin, king of Canaan. But the text also tells us that his clan is also distantly related to Moses. So Heber’s allegiance sways toward Israel.

Jael invites Sisera in and offers him sanctuary. With a belly full of milk, Sisera says in v20, “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say ‘No.’” The Hebrew word for someone is actually “a man”, which makes this even more ironic: Sisera thought that he had to fear a male, but it was a woman who took his life when he least expected it!

Our final lesson is this: No one is insignificant in the eyes of God.

God transforms this stay-at-home-Mom into a mighty warrior; prelude of what He’s going to do with Gideon. The question is: what will He do with you and me? Or better yet, what will we let Him do with us? The decision is ours.

Posted in Devotional, Faith, Scripture, The Story | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment