My Scriptures: Ephesians 2

Posted on May 3, 2008 by Jason

Tonight in my reading, I came across Ephesians 2:13-18. I know I’ve read this plenty of times, but I was struck by how Paul chooses to frame the Gospel story:

13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Reconciliation, specifically the reconciliatory work of Christ, is the lens for understanding this passage. Christ has reconciled us to God by becoming our peace. Our access to God now comes through Christ, by the Spirit. Now we participate in this work by becoming peacemakers ourselves (“Blessed are the peacemakers,” Matt. 5:9). This makes peace a central issue in my quest to affect reconciliation.

I met with a sweet lady on Thursday, Marian Behrens. Marian has been diagnosed with colon cancer and her prognosis is not good. She doesn’t have long to live. She came in and wanted to talk to me about baptism. We’d spoken for about 10 seconds before she broke down in tears. She just wanted to be reconciled to God. She wanted peace. So we took her to the baptistery and baptized her into Christ. And we trust in the truth of this Word. May Christ be Marian’s peace.

Posted in 2 Corinthians 5, Scripture | Leave a comment

Move Over Tony LaRussa

Posted on May 3, 2008 by Jason

The Cardinals have a new skipper, baby. Here he is, coachin’ ’em up.

Look at that form! A chip off the ol’ block…


Run, Joshua, run! Vince Coleman would be proud.

Posted in Baseball, Kids | 2 Comments

Mastering Divinity

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Jason

So this Saturday I graduate as a “Master of Divinity”, which quite possibly may be the most ludicrous title ever conferred upon someone in academics. I mean, just think about it: how can you ever really achieve mastery in things pertaining to the Divine? Richard Foster, speaking about prayer, once said it’s impossible to master that which is intended to master you. I can’t help but think about that as I’m getting ready to graduate.

I took my first graduate class the week after the terrorist attacks of September 11th. I began my graduate studies at the behest of my elders at the Northeast Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. One of them in particular was adamant that grad school would be good for me. I countered by saying that spinach was probably good for me too, but there’s no way I’d eat it. But he wouldn’t relent and I eventually decided to take a class, Rodney Cloud’s “Minor Prophets” course. After that, there was no looking back. Thank you, Calvin. You were right. 81 course hours later, I have to admit that this process was indeed good for me. (But I still hate spinach.)

I also find myself full of gratitude for the many sacrifices my wife has made. She’s spent far too many nights and weeks alone while I’ve been away for class. Even when I’ve been home, she’s had to spend too much time by herself while I hole up in the study to work on papers and other assignments. Sunny, I know full well the sacrifices you’ve made along the way and I appreciate your loving support. When I take you to Europe someday, you’ll know it was all worth it!

Now I just have to hold out hope that the promise of a European vacation will sustain you through my doctoral studies!

Posted in Grad School, Sunny | 11 Comments

American Idol: Top 5

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Jason

All right, first of all, I have no idea what Paula was talking about. I don’t know how you get so mixed up that you think Jason sang twice.

Neil Diamond? Who comes up with these themes? Could we find a less relevant star to showcase? I’m waiting with bated breath for the Captain & Tennille mentoring episode. I actually miss the genre weeks (country, pop, etc). Wish they’d bring those back.

As for the episode, I felt like the whole thing was too rushed. And the whole “save the judges comments to the end” thing…yeah, that really worked well. I thought most of the first performances were pretty weak and pretty much all of the second performances were much stronger. Here are my thoughts:

Jason: I thought his first performance was very recordable; when he does his guitar, Jack Johnson thing, I think it works. But his second song was just brutal. No personality, no vocal richness. He might be in trouble and I can’t say it’s undeserved.

David C: I wasn’t overwhelmed by his first performance. It was, as Randy would say, just a’ight. But song #2 proved why he’s the most creative and ambitious of these performers. Hands down, he’s the total package. No way he beats the Archuleta machine, but I wish he would.

Brooke: How’d I know she’d sing “I’m A Believer”? (Which was, by the way, maybe the most wooden, joyless performance of the season.) Her second song was just beautiful, but I hope it was enough to make people forget that clunker of a first song. I find myself rooting for her, despite my early remarks about her vocal range. What can I say? I’m going soft.

David A: Neither of his performances blew me away. But it doesn’t matter. The only way he doesn’t win this whole thing is if he has a severe acne outbreak the night of the finals. Even then, he’ll probably squeak by. Why bother commenting on his performances?

Syesha: I was secretly rooting that this would be the week she would go home. But I think she demonstrated the most consistency tonight. I didn’t just LOVE either song she did, but they were both really good. I don’t think it’d be fair for her to go home because she had two good outings tonight.

If I had to guess as to the Bottom Two, I’d say Syesha and Jason. I really think it ought to be Jason; he’s had two poor weeks in a row. And Syesha just doesn’t have any quit in her. So I’m saying Jason goes home in another “shocking” results show.

FYI, I won’t be doing an American Idol post next week, but I trust that you’ll somehow find the strength to get by without my biting commentary. Lane, maybe you can pick up the slack for me.

Posted in Music, Television | 6 Comments

Chosen

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Jason

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you…

— Deuteronomy 7:6-8
I love coming home from work in the evening because Abby Kate and Joshua are at that age where they come running up to me and give me huge bear hugs as soon as I walk in the door. One of their favorite things to do is to tell what they were chosen for at school. Their teacher, Miss Karen, has several little responsibilities that she assigns to her students each day. One student gets to be the line leader; another says the prayer; another gets to lead the class as they sing the “Weather Song”; and so on. Each day (usually from Abby Kate), I get the complete run-down of who was chosen to do what: “Jackson was the line leader and Lindsey said the prayer and I GOT TO DO THE WEATHER!”
Believe me, it’s incredibly cute.
The notion of being chosen becomes a bit more knotty when it’s put in a theological context. Paul’s election language, for instance, has long perplexed scads of people, leaving honest seekers to wonder whether or not they were among the number predestined for heaven. If it’s already been decided, the argument goes, what difference does it make how I live? (Good point.) Still worse has been the unhelpfully literal translation of Revelation that claims heaven is reserved for 144,000 uber-righteous souls. Let’s face it; if it comes down to being one of the 144,000 best people who ever lived, we’re all pretty much in trouble. The “chosen” language has created myriad problems for Christians for centuries. As a result, I usually avoid the whole conversation completely.
But there’s something to this that I find incredibly important: God’s election of Israel, per the Deuteronomy account, is not conditioned by Israel’s size or strength. Israel hasn’t done anything to merit this special status. Moses reminds Israel that their status as God’s “chosen people” is rooted solely in Divine Love. Out of his great love, God chose Israel to accomplish His purposes in history. This is the same thread that Peter picks up on in 1 Peter 2:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
— 1 Peter 2:9
Like Israel, we have been chosen to carry out the purposes of the Divine. Christ’s church functions as the in-breaking of the Kingdom here on earth. We were not chosen because of our size or our strength; we were not chosen for our uber-righteousness. In his translation of the troublesome Ephesians 1:4-5, Eugene Peterson says, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.” Like Israel, our chosen status comes through no merit of our own; it is the gift of God.
We have been chosen, called out, for this purpose: to proclaim the excellencies of the One who brought us out of darkness.
With childlike joy, may we relish our status as the chosen people of God.
Posted in Devotional, Kids, Scripture, Theology | Leave a comment

Joshua at the Stars Game

Posted on April 27, 2008 by Jason

Saturday was a great day. We took the whole family over to Joe Davis Stadium to see the Huntsville Stars (the local AA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers) take on the Jacksonville Suns (the Dodgers’ AA club). It was Children’s Hospital Day at the park; since we took Joshua to the Children’s Hospital in Birmingham last year, we were given 5 free tickets to the game. In addition, Joshua’s name was drawn as one of 9 or 10 children to get to go out on the field during the singing of the national anthem. Needless to say, our little baseball fan was absolutely ecstatic when we told him the good news.

Here’s the video, but I’m warning you: have the Dramamine ready. Sunny drew the short straw and had to stay back with Abby Kate and Jackson while also trying to video tape. As you can tell, Jackson gets a little jumpy at times. (You’ll have to ask her what was so hilarious that she started laughing uncontrollably!) Still, it was a cool to see Joshua’s excitement and awe when he got to stand next to the “big ball players”. His new favorite Huntsville Star is #22, 1B Chris Errecart, who Joshua got to stand beside. (In case you’re wondering, that’s Jacksonville Suns manager John Shoemaker giving Joshua a high-five as he’s running off the field.)

Posted in Baseball, Kids, Video | 4 Comments

Reading List Round-Up

Posted on April 24, 2008 by Jason

As of tomorrow, I’ll be done with my course work for this semester and I’ll be free to begin working through the titles that have been on my reading list for the past several months. Here are just a few of the titles I’m hoping to dive into:

  • Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. Wright seems to churn out theology books like Ryan Adams puts out albums. But this looks to be one of his best. The tag line probably says it all: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. This one definitely tops the list right now.
  • Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. I picked up a copy earlier this spring. I hear good things, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Looks Blue Like Jazz-esque.
  • Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. This will be my first Lincoln read for the summer. Lucy, you were telling me about this book, like, three years ago. I’m counting on it being a good one!
  • Everything Must Change by Brian McLaren. I’m not the uber-McLaren fan most people my age are, but this treatise on social justice looks pretty tasty.

As you can tell, my reading list is totally devoid of any fiction. Anything you’ve read recently that you’d recommend? As a rule, I generally don’t read Christian fiction or sappy, Nicolas Sparks stuff, but I’m game for pretty much anything else. Let me know what you’ve been reading lately.

Posted in Books | 10 Comments

Commanded to Love

Posted on April 23, 2008 by Jason

Here’s a question for the theologically astute:

I’m teaching tonight on Deut. 6, the Shema: Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Moses delivers this word from God to the children of Israel as a reminder for them as they enter the promised land. My question is this: how are we to make sense of God’s command that we love Him? If love is demanded, is it really love? I think I have an answer to this, but I wanted to get your thoughts on this. I always appreciate the times you all help collaborate on a passage with me. Help me out here.

Posted in Collaborations, Scripture | 2 Comments

American Idol: Top 6

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Jason

Tonight I’m going to do a little live-blogging experiment with my AI post. Here goes:

I don’t think I’m going to like Andrew Lloyd Weber night. Not my kind of stuff. I’m betting I’m not alone on this.

Syesha: She’ll probably do a good job with this one since she’s always so dramatic. Ugh, I hate the way this sounds. I think she’s really losing it here toward the end. Uh, what are the judges talking about? Did they hear the same performance I did? Wow, she might have another week in her. I hope not.

(I just laughed out loud at that Burger King commercial.)

Jason: What is he thinking? Memory? Seriously? Bad idea, dude. Sunny doesn’t like it either. I think this song exposes his vocal limitations. Very weak ending. Judges will probably love it. Randy hates it. Paula is crazy. Simon hit the nail on the head. This was miserable. He might be going home.

Brooke: Oh no…she just botched the beginning. I don’t think she’s going to be able to recover from that. It’ll be inconsistent if the judges rip her for that, though; they praised her last time she did it. Said it proved that she was a great performer or something. She sounds good, but I’m still distracted by the faux pas. You just can’t forget the lyrics. I can’t believe Randy and Simon aren’t being harder on her.

Archuleta: This theme is in his wheelhouse. Cool arrangement. Nice beginning. Is there anything this kid can’t sing? Millions of adoring teenage girls can’t be wrong: he’s awesome.

Carly: This proves how unfamiliar I am with this stuff: I’ve never heard Jesus Christ Superstar. This is definitely the kind of song for her. She’s a better performer when she’s having fun, as opposed to some of her “angrier” performances. The “Simon Loves Me (This Week)” shirt…nice.

David Cook: I’m worried that this theme will hurt him. Through the first verse, it sounds good, though. Maybe somebody will pop up with an electric guitar and he can just wail. Wow, this is really different than anything he’s done so far. I don’t really like this style of music, but dude can definitely pull it off. He’s showing nice vulnerability here. I hope he wins.

Bottom three prediction: Jason, Syesha, Brooke.
Who I think will go home: Syesha
Who I hope goes home: Brooke’s body of work might save her here, but I think it’s inexcusable to forget the lyrics at this stage in the competition. I think she deserves to go.

Your thoughts?

Posted in Blogging, Music, Television | 10 Comments

A Confession of Idolatry

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Jason

I realized something today. I’ve turned into a pretty good idolater. Out of a deep desire to love the LORD God with my mind, I’ve spent a good part of the last few years with my nose in a book. I don’t regret this completely, because my time in study has been a tremendous blessing to my life in many ways. But I was struck today at how much time I spend in study vs. how much time I spend in prayer. I’ll block off hours at a time to study Deuteronomy or George Whitefield or Systematic Theology, but it’s a rare day when I spend more than a few seconds in prayer. I guess my proclivity for loving God with my mind has led me to neglect loving Him with my whole heart.

I’m not sure what to do about this. I thought about something dramatic, like swearing off commentaries and religious books for the remainder of the year, but that’s probably not practical. I’m not sure that swinging the pendulum to the other extreme would be any better (although maybe it would). I think the real issue here is my resistance to true, authentic relationship. I can contain what’s on the page; I can’t contain the One I find in prayer. And that scares me. So I simply retreat to the world of academics where I can learn more about God, where my skills of comprehension can grow, but where I won’t actually have to interact with Him. It’s the objectification of God, which I think is pretty dangerous. I’ve learned enough to know to approach Him not as object, but as subject.

Lord, I’m repenting of this right here and now. I don’t know what to do about this, but I know it needs to change. I want to know You, I really do; it’s the being known that terrifies me. But God, today I ask that you help me to put to death the god of study and books and knowledge. I want my prayer life back. Actually, I don’t. I want an entirely new prayer life, built around the fearful and vulnerable position of drawing into Your presence. God, give me the faith to know you and to be known.

Posted in Deuteronomy 6 (The Shema), Faith, Prayer | 1 Comment