Wineskins Magazine: Balancing Grace and Truth

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Jason

I recently wrote an article for Wineskins magazine entitled “Balancing Grace and Truth.” Here is a link to the article if you’d like to check it out.

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Loud Double

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Jason

Joshua was recently clear to start swinging the bat again following a major injury earlier this spring. He’s finishing up the season with some great swings, including this loud double to deep right-center in the JV tournament. Proud of him for putting in a ton of work to get back to this level. So much fun watching him compete.

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Albums of the Year: 2021 Update

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Jason

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed using this blog as an outlet to write about some of my favorite music. And lately, this has been a great conversation with my youngest son, Jackson (who has his own blog here; it seems he loves to write about music, too).

So he and I have been talking about the music of the past few years — he’s an indie / pop fan, while my tastes run more along the indie / Americana / rock direction. But there’s still quite a bit of overlap. Anyway, it got me to thinking about my album rankings. My picks for the 90s are pretty much locked in (I’ve been living with this music most of my life), but I’ve revised my rankings somewhat from the last twenty years.

Here are my top three albums for each year from 2000-2020:

2000:

  1. Third Day, Offerings: A Worship Album
  2. Radiohead, Kid A
  3. U2, All That You Can’t Leave Behind

The last time I wrote about my favorite albums, I had Kid A in this spot; and I still think it’s a great album. But I gave Offerings a listen a couple of months ago and I was reminded of its greatness. I probably listened to this record more than anything else in the year 2000. “King of Glory” holds up as one of my favorite songs of the past 20 years.

2001:

  1. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
  2. Ryan Adams, Gold
  3. The Strokes, Is This It

I can’t get away from the masterful Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I had Adams in the top spot for a while, but Wilco’s masterpiece is the superior recording. I’m putting it here because it was recorded and initially released in 2001.

2002:

  1. Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head
  2. The Chicks, Home
  3. Bruce Springsteen, The Rising

For a long time, I really struggled to identify a winner for 2002. I’ve finally settled on A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay (a.k.a., the one with all the hits). But Home is also a fantastic record. This may have been The Chicks at the peak of their commercial success, but this is great music.

2003:

  1. Explosions in the Sky, The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
  2. Third Day, Offerings II: All I Have to Give
  3. The Jayhawks, Rainy Day Music

Explosions in the Sky is a staple of my study music playlist.

2004:

  1. Johnny Cash, My Mother’s Hymn Book
  2. U2, How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
  3. Arcade Fire, Funeral

My favorite of Cash’s American Recordings era.

2005:

  1. David Crowder Band, A Collision Or (3 + 4 = 7)
  2. Doves, Some Cities
  3. Calexico and Iron & Wine, In The Reins

The first year I ever selected an Album of the Year on this blog was 2005 and Crowder was the winner. This album still holds up as my favorite recording from that year.

2006:

  1. Michael Giacchino, LOST: Season One
  2. Josh Ritter, The Animal Years
  3. Johnny Cash, American V: A Hundred Highways

Giacchino’s score is transcendent. One of the best things about my favorite show.

2007:

  1. The Avett Brothers, Emotionalism
  2. Radiohead, In Rainbows
  3. The National, Boxer

These are three killer albums. It’s almost unfair to have to pick just one. But in the end, Emotionalism is the music I was listening to the most during this time of my life. One of my all-time albums from a band that, for a moment, was my favorite.

2008:

  1. The Gabe Dixon Band, The Gabe Dixon Band
  2. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
  3. Coldplay, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

I think I found Gabe Dixon on eMusic back in the day. This remains one of my favorites, although I’ll always remember the way my kids danced around to Vampire Weekend’s “Mansard Roof” when they were little.

2009:

  1. Tie: Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More and U2, No Line on the Horizon
  2. M.Ward, Hold Time

For now, I’m splitting the 2009 award, kind of like the 1979 N.L. MVP award. I simply can’t choose between Mumford’s debut and U2’s No Line. I may be the only person who considers No Line to be a classic, but it’s so strong. For now, I’m good with this one being a tie. Maybe by the next revision, I’ll have settled on an official winner.

2010:

  1. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
  2. The National, High Violet
  3. Vampire Weekend, Contra

I’ve been listening to High Violet quite a bit lately, but the top spot for the year still belongs to Arcade Fire.

2011:

  1. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
  2. The Head and the Heart, The Head and the Heart
  3. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues

In recent months, Jackson has really gotten into Bon Iver. Justin Vernon’s collab with Taylor Swift put the band on Jackson’s radar and it’s given us a chance to talk about how Bon Iver pretty much just makes classics. Although I’m not quite as fond of 22 A Million and For Emma, it’s pretty undeniable that i, i and this sophomore self-titled album are near perfect.

2012:

  1. Bill Fay, Life is People
  2. Mumford & Sons, Babel
  3. Beach House, Bloom

I’ve probably had a half dozen different records tabbed for 2012 over the years. I’ve just struggled to find the definitive music for that particular year. Until now. I’ve recently come across Bill Fay’s masterpiece, Life Is People. 41 years after his previous album, the London singer-songwriter bursts back onto the scene with a collection of songs that are resplendently hopeful without being naive. I absolutely love this recording.

2013:

  1. Jason Isbell, Southeastern
  2. The National, Trouble Will Find Me
  3. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City

The National and Vampire Weekend are constant bridesmaids, never brides on these lists. Southeastern is still my favorite album ever.

2014:

  1. The War on Drugs, Lost in the Dream
  2. Augustines, Augustines
  3. Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

I know I’ll look back on this period as “the golden age.” So much of my favorite music was recorded from 2013-2017. This Augustines record is probably my favorite one NOT to win AOTY.

2015:

  1. Chris Stapleton, Traveller
  2. Adele, 25
  3. James McMurtry, Complicated Game

Can you believe it’s been six years since Adele put out new music? She and George R.R. Martin are in the world’s worst race to put out new content for their fans. This was the year I was introduced to Stapleton.

2016:

  1. Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
  2. Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
  3. Michael McDermott, Willow Springs

Radiohead’s second AOTY win for me, although I would consider this their fourth masterpiece (OK Computer, Kid A, In Rainbows).

2017:

  1. The War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding
  2. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound
  3. Chris Stapleton, From A Room, Volumes 1 & 2

A Deeper Understanding is the only record that rivals Southeastern as my all-time favorite. It is so sonically rich; I could literally listen to it all day long. (In fact, I’ve done that on a couple of occasions.) The Nashville Sound remains Isbell’s finest 400 Unit record to date. And I know I’ve combined both Stapleton records into one here, but I simply can’t pick between the two. Three of my all-time favorites put out all-timers in 2017. What a year.

2018:

  1. Khruangbin, Con Todo El Mundo
  2. Lauren Daigle, Look Up Child
  3. Leon Bridges, Good Thing

As great as 2017 was, I also struggled to identify my favorite album in 2018. But I eventually found Khruangbin’s Con Todo El Mundo, a great jazz fusion record. Another study music essential.

2019:

  1. Bon Iver, i, i
  2. Daniel Norgren, Wooh Dang
  3. Peter Brutnell, King of Madrid

I found Brutnell earlier this year. Really like his sound.

2020:

  1. Bruce Springsteen, Letter to You
  2. Taylor Swift, folklore
  3. Chris Stapleton, Starting Over

Jackson has been trying to convince me that Taylor Swift’s folklore is the better record, and he may be right. I’ll admit, it has a lot of staying power. But for now, I’m not ready to negotiate off of my Springsteen pick. But Taylor is closing the gap. I’m sure Jackson will keep trying to persuade me. 🙂

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A New Day: Garland Instead of Ashes, Part 4

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Jason

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

Mark 16:1

Sabbath restrictions officially ended on Saturday evening around 6pm — technically it was after the sun set and three stars were visible in the sky. At this point, shops often opened up for business, signaling the start of the “first day of the week” in the Jewish mindset. So some of the women who were following Jesus likely went out and purchased some spices so they could finish anointing the body of Jesus once the sun came up. This shows that they didn’t go to the tomb expecting to find it empty. They expected ashes, the oil of mourning, a faint spirit.

But instead, they found new life. The tomb was empty; the angels declared, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He is risen!” The women rushed to share this news with the other disciples, but Luke says that they thought the women were speaking nonsense. Simon Peter and John ran to the tomb and they found the same thing. No body, only the linen clothes Jesus had been wrapped in. And the Bible says that Simon Peter walked away from the tomb wondering what had happened. “Could it be true? It can’t be true. That’s impossible.” And maybe the words of Jesus came ringing back to him: With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

And that evening, the disciples were together, no doubt confused and fearful — as evidenced by the fact that they had the doors locked and the window shades pulled down. And the Bible says that Jesus stood among them and said, Peace be with you. And John says the disciples were OVERJOYED when they saw Jesus! Instead of confusion and fear, they were filled with peace and hope and joy.

And this Good News about the resurrection of Jesus has reshaped the world.

All of the best “insteads” we can imagine are found in Jesus.

For a few weeks now, we’ve been saying that everything about the ministry of Jesus reflects the Kingdom of God. His healing ministry reflects the idea that the Kingdom of God is the place of ultimate restoration. His ministry of feeding the poor and the hungry reflects the concept that the Kingdom of God is the place of true satisfaction and sustenance. His teaching ministry is based upon the truthfulness of God’s Word, which is foundational to the Kingdom of God. Last week, we noted that His crucifixion reflects the kind of self-giving, sacrificial love that is a hallmark of God’s Kingdom.

And what about His resurrection? The resurrection of Jesus Christ reveals that the Kingdom of God is the place of new life. This is reflected in the fact that the very breath of God entered into His lifeless corpse and filled His lungs once again. His heart started beating again on that Resurrection Sunday and it’s not skipped a beat ever since. The blood that brought us salvation began coursing through His veins once more. He walked out of that tomb fully alive again — because the Kingdom of God is the place of the great “instead.” He exchanged the ashes of death for the garland of victory.

The tomb was found empty because He lives — to this very day, He lives.

And He declares, “I am making all things new.” Because His is the Kingdom of new life.

God took public execution and transformed it into the vehicle for salvation. If God can transform something as reprehensible as crucifixion into an element of the Good News, do you really think there’s any part of your life that He couldn’t similarly transform?

Two thousand years ago, God exchanged the ashes of death, crowning His son with the garland of resurrection. This is the Good News! Today you can experience this great exchange.

With God, all things are possible.

All things are possible for the One who makes all things new.

All of the best “insteads” we can imagine are found in Jesus.

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Lord who makes all things new, He who has ears, let him hear.

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A New Day: Garland Instead of Ashes, Part 3

Posted on April 7, 2021 by Jason

Because Jesus died on the day of Preparation, some of His followers had to hustle to bury Him before the Sabbath began. His body was turned over to Joseph of Arimathaea, a wealthy disciple who arranged for Jesus to be buried in a new tomb that had never been used. John uses an interesting word when He tells us about the burial, a word that catches our attention:

The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before.

John 19:41

As readers of the Bible, we’ve been here before. The garden was God’s original design, a place teeming with life. It was the place where God met with us to commune, to walk and talk as good friends should and do. But that same garden became the scene of the crime, the place where it all went wrong. It’s where we exchanged a garland for ashes, communion for estrangement, life for death.

And so here we find the story of Jesus intersecting with the garden of death, with the tomb. He is buried and it seems for a moment that His story will end the same way every human story ends: in death.

But God had other plans.

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A New Day: Garland Instead of Ashes, Part 2

Posted on April 6, 2021 by Jason

The Gospel writers make it very clear: Jesus died when He gave up His spirit. He was unjustly tried and beaten, as we discussed last week; but He died in the precise manner and at the precise moment that aligned with the will of God the Father. And at His death, the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matt. 27:50-51).

The curtain was about sixty feet high and it separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The fact that it was torn from top to bottom signifies that this was the initiative of God. The writer of Hebrews helps us understand what all of this means. He says we now have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh (Heb. 10:19-20). Sin has become the dividing wall between God and man. But Jesus absorbed sin into His flesh on the cross. For our sake God made Him to be sin who knew no sin. In the tearing of His flesh, the partition between God and man has been removed. Before this, only one man (the Jewish high priest) had access to God’s presence on one day of the year (the Day of Atonement). But the tearing of the curtain signals that now, instead of this system, the Kingdom of God is available to everyone.

We don’t know the precise year Jesus was crucified, but we have good reason to believe it was the year AD30. If that’s the case, it’s interesting to note that several Jewish writings describe some unusual events that took place that year — forty years before the destruction of the Temple. One writing notes that during this year, the western light kept going out in the Temple. The western light refers to the center lamp of the menorah standing in the first room of the Temple. In the rabbinic tradition, this light symbolized God’s presence in the Temple. But instead of shining like it always had, in the year AD30, this light mysteriously kept going out. Josephus notes that in the same year, the heavy doors at the temple kept swinging open, too.

Most significantly, some of the Jewish writings record an odd occurrence concerning the scapegoats on the Day of Atonement. On that day, two goats were typically presented to the high priest; one was chosen to die, the other was chosen to live. The goat who was chosen to die was killed at the altar; the high priest would take its blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle it on the mercy seat (the lid of the ark of the covenant). After this, the priest would come out and put his hands on the second goat, which symbolically transferred Israel’s sins to the goat. Then the priest would chase the animal out into the wilderness.

Before chasing the animal out into the wilderness, a red ribbon was tied on the horn or the neck of the goat. And according to the rabbinic account, year after year the red ribbon miraculously turned white, showing that God had forgiven the sins of Israel for that year. But in AD30, the rabbis said that the ribbon stopped turning white. Instead, there had been a change in this whole system of forgiveness and atonement.

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A New Day: Garland Instead of Ashes, Part 1

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Jason

Police officers in Oregon recently responded after a woman reported that a burglar was locked in her bathroom. She had come home and heard some strange sounds coming from her bathroom. As she cautiously approached the bathroom, she could see shadows moving back and forth underneath the door. She was so scared that she ran out of the house and called 911. In a matter of minutes, the Washington Country Sheriff’s Department had the house surrounded. They issued several verbal commands to the burglar, telling him to come out of the house with his hands raised. When the burglar didn’t respond, the sheriff’s department brought in the K-9 unit for backup. The officers entered the house with their guns drawn and dogs by their side. “This is your last chance,” they yelled. “Come out with your hands up!” Finally, after they had exhausted every other possibility, the officers knocked down the bathroom door to encounter the suspect — who turned out to be an automated robot vacuum cleaner.

A Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy included the following note in his incident report: “We entered the bathroom and saw a very thorough vacuuming job being done by a Roomba vacuum cleaner.” The suspect was not taken into custody.

The word “instead” can be a word of good news. It’s really good news when you think there’s a burglar in your bathroom and it turns out to be a Roomba instead. The author Eugene Peterson points out that the word “instead” is a word of exchange, a word of radical contrast. That makes “instead” one of our most hopeful words.

It is fitting, then, that we find this word being used whenever the Good News is announced in the Scriptures. Instead of being enslaved to sin, God promises a new life of freedom and joy. All of the best “insteads” we can imagine are found in Jesus.

This week we conclude our New Day series by returning to a text we’ve already looked at: Isaiah 61. But we return to this text because the word “instead” is repeated three times as a declaration of the kind of exchange that takes place in the Good News about Jesus.

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion – to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit…

Isaiah 61:1-3

A few weeks ago, we noted that Jesus takes Isaiah’s prophecy and says these verses are fulfilled in His ministry. Isaiah 61 provides a template for His ministry to the poor and the marginalized. But we also see in Isaiah’s prophecy three kinds of exchanges and these are also fulfilled in Jesus:

  • In Jesus, we receive a garland instead of ashes.
  • He anoints us with the oil of gladness instead of mourning.
  • He clothes His people with the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

Ashes were the sign of mourning in the ancient world. To symbolize destruction and despair, you would literally take burned out debris and apply it to your forehead as a way of showing that your hope had burned out. But a garland, on the other hand, is made of beautiful flowers woven in the shape of a crown. It celebrates victory, honor, and glory. In the Olympics, a garland was presented to the winners. So Isaiah pictures the Messiah bringing victory in place of death.

The Messiah also anoints us with the oil of gladness instead of mourning. Tears of grief can leave us feeling dried out but oil restores and moisturizes, making the skin soft once again. And the makeover is complete as the Messiah clothes us with the mantle of praise to replace the faint spirit. A faint spirit is listless and lifeless but the mantle is the garment of life, the outer robe worn when leaving the house.

All of the best “insteads” we can imagine are found in Jesus.

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The Best Part of My Easter

Posted on April 4, 2021 by Jason

The best part of my Easter was receiving this handwritten note from my five-year-old friend Kaylee. Kaylee loves Jesus and she loves her church and she couldn’t wait to give me this note. I love it!

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Quick Comeback

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Jason

Lefty has been working hard doing his PT and he was cleared to pitch this week. So good to see him back out there on the mound. Not sure when he’ll be able to swing a bat (probably off the table for the rest of the spring school season) but we’re just grateful he’s been able to heal as quickly as he has. Looking good, JB.

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A New Day: The Suffering Servant, Part 5

Posted on April 1, 2021 by Jason

While hanging on the cross, fully naked, Jesus was mocked by people heading into the city — for the site of the crucifixion was beside a main road leading into Jerusalem. The chief priests, scribes, the Roman soldiers, His fellow convicts, and people passing by — they all mocked Him. And one thing they kept saying was, Come down off the cross! You saved others. Can you not save yourself? Prove that you’re the Messiah! We have to wonder if this was Satan’s last attack on Jesus, tempting Him to use His Messianic power to save Himself.

Luke tells us that darkness covered the entire land for three full hours from noon to 3pm. These hours of darkness represented the cup that Jesus had prayed would pass from Him. But in the end He prayed, Not my will, but yours be done. Jesus willfully chose to enter into our suffering.

He cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He quotes from Psalm 22, a lament Psalm from David who cries out in a moment of anguish. And this experience must have been unlike anything anyone else has ever experienced, for Jesus absorbed into Himself the full weight of our sin. And yet, as with Psalm 22, there is a faithfulness embedded in this cry. Even claiming forsakenness can be done faithfully when one’s cry is directed heavenward toward God the Father. And this is what Jesus does. Even in His last moments, with His life ebbing away, He shows us the way of faithfulness.

Jesus said, It is finished. The language carries the meaning of “paid in full.” Last week we noted that everything about the ministry of Jesus reflects the Kingdom of God. So how does His death on the cross reflect the Kingdom? His death is an act of self-giving sacrificial love. And this kind of love is the hallmark of the Kingdom of God.

The New Testament makes it clear that the death of Jesus corresponds to the death of the Passover Lamb. There are two parts to this: the shedding of the blood and the application of the blood. If the Jewish people had merely shed the blood of the lamb, they would not have been delivered from Egyptian bondage. This work was effected through the application of the blood. The Jewish people were commanded to apply the blood on the doorposts as an act of faith. And in this trusting action, they experienced salvation.

Jesus died a similar death — the death of the Lamb of God. With the shedding of His blood, He has made salvation possible. This is why He said It is finished. But just as with the lamb in Egypt, the mere shedding of blood is only one part. There must also be the application of the blood. Only those who personally apply the blood will receive the salvation it secures. The way the blood is applied is through an act of faith — through putting one’s trust in Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior. It comes through believing that He died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again. This act of faith culminates in baptism — where we bodily identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as we are immersed into His story.

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Lord who makes all things new, he who has ears, let him hear.

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