token lines

Hitting nothing every time

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:58:00 +0000

This principle hit me hard in the gut. After recovering and seeing how I could improve, I also thought it was applicable in many American churches as well. But that's neither here nor there.

"As we bring up children, we should descend to their level in one sense (humility) in order to lead them to our level (maturity). This is not the same as descending to their level (immaturity) in order to lead them to our level (pride). We must be servants to our children; we must not cater to them. One of the central problems with bringing up children in our day is the constant temptation to underestimate their capacities. We teach them profane and irreverent little ditties, not psalms and hymns. We give them moralistic little stories, not biblical doctrine and ethics. We expect them to act as though they have no brains or souls until they have graduated from college. We aim at nothing, and we hit it every time."

-Doug Wilson in Standing on the Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing (Canon Press, 1997), p. 15

Urgent messages and dying words

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"Great theology is always a kind of giant and intricate poetry, like epic or saga. It is written for those who know the tale already, the urgent messages and the dying words, and who attend to its retelling with a special alertness, because the story has a claim on them and they on it. Theology is also close to the spoken voice. It evokes sermon, sacrament, and liturgy, and, of course, Scripture itself, with all its echoes of song and legend and prayer. It earns its authority by winning assent and recognition, in the manner of poetry but with the difference that the assent seems to be to ultimate truth, however oblique or fragmentary the suggestion of it. Theology is written for the small community of those who would think of reading it. So it need not define freighted words like 'faith' or 'grace' but may instead reveal what they contain. To the degree that it does them any justice, its community of readers will say yes, enjoying the insight as their own and affirming it in that way...Theology is never finally anything but theology, words about God, proceeding from the assumptions that God exists and that we know about him in a way that allows us to speak about him."

-Marilynne Robinson in "Dietrich Bonhoeffer" in The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought, (Picador, 1998), p. 117

Harshness or compromise leads to caricature

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"The Christian really has a double task. He has to practice both God's holiness and God's love. The Christian is to exhibit that God exists as the infinite-personal God; and then he is to exhibit simultaneously God's character of holiness and love. Not His holiness without His love: this is only harshness. Not His love without His holiness: that is only compromise. Anything that an individual Christian or Christian group does that fails to show the simultaneous balance of the holiness of God and the love of God presents to a watching world not a demonstration of the God who exists but a caricature of the God who exists."

-Francis Schaeffer quoted by John Piper in Contending for Our All: Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, Owen, and Machen (Crossway, 2006), concluding chapter

Book review: The call to wonder

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

If you have ever been accused of having a cold, overly rational, analytical faith; or if you have ever accused someone of the same, R.C. Sproul, Jr.'s recent book The Call to Wonder: Loving God Like a Child would be a helpful antidote. An easy-to-read but not-so-easy-to-apply book, R.C. Jr. explores Jesus' command to become like little children: "Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 18:3).

In his typical personal, biblical, and (dare I say) winsome way, R.C. Jr. challenges the reader to stop reading commands like this as cynical adults, and take Jesus at His word - fear God and believe his Word:

"Fearing God begins when we believe what He says. When He speaks, we shouldn't seek to wiggle out from under His Word. We shouldn't analyze away the clarity of what He has said." (p. 12)

So with this principle in mind, Matthew 18:3 simply means that "we had better learn to be like children. We'd better not study how this text can't mean what it actually says" (p. 12). What does it really mean to become like little children? R.C. writes that becoming like children in the sense that Jesus means involves cultivating virtues of innocence, joy, trust, wonder, and eagerness to please. With these virtues in mind, R.C. Jr. asks: "Why would anyone not want to become like a child? Why wouldn't we want to squeal with delight at simple pleasures? to rest completely in God and trust Him with our futures?" (p. 24).

Having eight children (some of which are adopted) and a stalwart theologian father provides plenty of enjoyable anecdotes. R.C. Jr. liberally employs these illustrations, making the book enjoyable to read. However, the points he makes are anything but easy to apply. Perhaps most convicting for me is his exhortation against cynicism. Children are mostly trusting and innocent. But I tend to take the Ecclesiastes principle of "there is nothing new under the sun" too far down the road of cynicism. R.C. Jr. says, "Unfortunately, this cynical attitude also infects our reading of Scripture. We no longer express wonder at the God who has brought the universe into existence or split seas in two. We've heard those things before - and they no longer inspire our awe" (p. 20). The call to childlikeness is a call for fresh eyes and hearts: "Children are quick to gasp, swift to ooh, and eager to ahh. They see the world for what it is - a dance, not a machine" (p. 21).

Related to being cynical is viewing Scripture and the world too analytically - too much like an engineer, too much like a scholar. Acknowledging that these approaches are often beneficial, a cold-hearted faith should be buoyed up by joy and wonder at the Creator and creation. Take, for example, a rose:

"As a modern man, I, too, am tempted to think that by taking a thing and breaking it down into its constituent parts, I will grow closer to understanding what it is. But if you take a rose and carefully take it apart, if you slice its petals razor thin and put them on a slide under a microscope, you are getting further from understanding the rose, not closer to it. The 'roseness' of the rose it not found in its DNA but in its beauty. The same is true of the whole of the universe. Of course there is a place for scientific study. But it is not the only place." (p. 59)

While the main thrust of the book is to consider what it means to become like children, R.C. Jr. rightly points out that calls to child-likeness can easily be exploited. In this regard, he is balanced in his arguments. For example, he devotes an entire chapter to maturity, and he frequently mentions the balance between Scripture's commands of becoming like children while also being as wise as serpents and filled with the knowledge of God. But even maturity in Scripture is not just knowing everything or reading everything: "Ironically, maturity of understanding may well be remembering, and resting in, the simplest things" (p. 111).

The most potent, enjoyable chapters for me were the ones on being eager to please God the Father, the call to maturity, and the necessity of joy. While it is an easy read, the outline isn't the best. R.C. Jr. meanders through the outline, taking diversions along the way. Perhaps this is a purposeful reflection of the book's subject matter, though I have found this to be a characteristic of his other writings as well. A meandering style notwithstanding, this is a very helpful and encouraging book, if you enjoy being convicted. The related and fantastic Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl is also recommended reading on this topic.

Note: I received a copy of this book from Tyndale in exchange for an objective review.

Hardening of the spiritual life

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"Over the years words begin to come easy, and we find we can speak of mysteries without standing in awe; we can speak of purity without feeling pure; we can speak of zeal without spiritual passion; we can speak of God's holiness without trembling; we can speak of sin without sorrow; we can speak of heaven without eagerness. And the result is an increasing hardening of the spiritual life."

-John Piper in Contending for Our All: Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, Owen, and Machen (Crossway, 2006), chapter on John Owen

Face washed and pants on

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"I took to studying the ones of my teachers who were also preachers, and also the preachers who came to speak in chapel and at various exercises. In most of them I saw the old division of body and soul that I had known at The Good Shepherd. The same rift ran through everything at Pigeonville College; the only difference was that I was able to see it more clearly, and to wonder at it. Everything bad was laid on the body, and everything good was credited to the soul. It scared me a little when I realized that I saw it the other way around. if the soul and body really were divided, then it seemed to me that all the worst sins - hatred and anger and self-righteousness and even greed and lust - came from the soul. But these preachers I'm talking about all thought that the soul could do no wrong, but always had its face washed and its pants on and was in agony over having to associate with the flesh and the world. And yet these same people believed in the resurrection of the body."

-Wendell Berry in Jayber Crow: A Novel (Counterpoint, 2000), p.49

Five year blog anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I find it hard to believe, but today marks my five year anniversary of blogging. From my first post in 2007, I've had the pleasure of blogging on books, worship, sports, music, technology, and the mundane. One miscarriage, two kids, three moves, four jobs, five blog designs, almost six years of marriage, and immeasurable grace later, here we are. I've written nearly 650 posts, the vast majority of which which are forgettable. But I'm glad to have written them, and have enjoyed going back and reading some of them. I've had posts that I (pridefully) thought were excellent but were barely viewed, and controversial posts that made me hang my head in shame. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to take a stroll through some interesting facts, figures, and anecdotes in the short life of token lines.

First, the less interesting: stats. In five years, there have been nearly 19,000 page views from at least 10 countries (though many foreign hits are spam sites). Google is by far the best site referrer, though the Shomo blog is the highest direct URL referrer, with my wife's blog a close second.

If you'll ask any blogger who keeps stats, they will most likely say that they are surprised which posts garner the most traffic. That holds true for me. My post about Robinson Crusoe back in 2008 has more than triple the views of any other posts, with a whopping 1,650! It helps that in a Google image search, the graphic on my post is the first result. The second most popular post also comes from 2008, on Scattergories Categories. People apparently enjoy searching for creative lists, though the ones searching for "dirty Scattergories lists" are surely disappointed when they click through to my post. Three of the top ten keyword searches people use to find my blog are Scattergories related, with dirty lists ranking 7th overall. We're still pretty proud of coming up with the category "Something you would do for a Klondike bar." Rounding out the top five most viewed posts are: A Prayer for the Broken Hearted, Matt Redman Pew Review, and Reading the Bible in a year.

I've had my share of foot-in-the-mouth moments, which tend to correspond with the most vigorous discussions by you. I read all comments even if I don't respond to them, and am grateful for what I've learned through them. Here is a list of the top eight most-commented posts. Consider it a display of my foolishness and a lesson to think before you blog.

Up for grabs: college football allegiance (18 comments, 2010) I'm still a Michigan fan.
Preservething thy language - (16, 2011) Very insightful comments.
Mission trip recap - (15, 2007) Yikes. All comments were deleted.
Providence in the ordinary - (10, 2009) Highlight: My mother in law wonders if she is "lusty."
Predominant Psalm singing - (10, 2009) One of my dad's few comments, and he lays the smack down!
Nursery to the golden oldies - (9, 2011) Decent discussion.
Here I am to Worship Pew Review - (8, 2009) I never did finish those Pew Reviews, eh?
Christianese buzzwords - (8, 2011) One of my favorite posts to write.

It's no secret that I'm a bibliophile, and my most-used tag is books, with 130. Hymns (74), family (64), sports (61), and Scripture (60) round out the top five tags. I've also reviewed over 20 books, many of which I've received for free from publishers' blog programs. Over the last five years, I've read almost 200 books and undergone three year-long reading goals (Institutes, 50 books, and the Bible). More recently, my blogging has relied heavily on the books I read, not least because the authors of good books say things much better than I can.

Overall, I think I have benefited greatly from blogging. I've learned a lot about pride and humility and being slow to speak (and write). I have learned more about brevity and clarity in writing, honed my own style more, and figured out which writers I want to emulate. I have gleaned much from my readers, the books I've read (alone and with others), and the things I've blogged about. I've also learned that as much as I have been tempted to switch to Wordpress, Blogger just has more customizable options and add-ons. I've thought about stopping blogging too many times to count, but have always persisted - even if my output isn't what it used to be. After all, if I stop, how would I get free books through Westminster, Amazon, or publisher's programs?

So thanks for sticking with me. Thank you especially for your patience, your insightful contributions, your encouragement, your challenges, and your clicks on links that get me free swag. Will I be blogging in another five years? Will there even be blogs in another five years?

Knowing Jesus through Scripture and bread

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"Strikingly, Jesus' presence and the teaching of the Word are not enough. Jesus walks with the disciples [on the road to Emmaus, specifically], He teaches them everything concerning Himself from all the Scriptures, and still their eyes are closed. Still they are abandoning the mission that Jesus started, the mission to proclaim the gospel to the poor. Their eyes are opened only later, after Jesus sits to break bread with them. The Word without the bread is not enough to open our eyes to the living, risen Jesus. The Word without bread is detached from real life; the bread without the Word turns into a magic act. But when the Scriptures are taught and the bread is broken, then Jesus can be known."

-Peter Leithart in The Four: A Survey of the Gospels, (Canon Press, 2010), p. 205

Fat, happy, and well-filled

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Say what you want about Peter Leithart, his The Four: A Survey of the Gospels is stunning. He brings together the Old Testament, biblical history, typology, literature, and the New Testament in a way that is so clear to the reader while showcasing the immense richness and depth of the gospels and the life and teachings of Christ. He starts with an introduction of the start of the new covenant, the inter-testamental period, and the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies before moving into a brilliant survey of each of the four gospels. It's a book I will return to many times throughout the years while reading the gospels. It's full of quotable material, but because of his tightly-woven arguments, it's probably not in my best interest to wrench them out of context. But throwing caution to the wind, here's one, with another to follow soon.

"Like Adam, Jesus is tempted to test His Father's word, and to seize authority. Jesus is at a disadvantage. Adam had not been fasting. In fact, he had been encouraged to eat from the tree of life, and from all the other trees of the garden. Adam is tempted when he was fat and happy and well-filled, with no need to eat from another tree. Jesus has been fasting for forty days and nights. Adam is in a garden, but Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. The Son enters combat with Satan in the midst of a fallen world, a world under the curse of death; and yet He still triumphed.

"Of course, Jesus is wholly unlike Adam where it counts: unlike Adam, He resists the temptation and keeps the fast that Adam broke. Instead of listening to the word of Satan, Jesus quotes the words of His Father back in Satan's face. Instead of obeying the serpent and worshiping and serving the creature, Jesus is faithful in serving and worshiping the Creator. Jesus' combat with Satan is a part of the accomplishment of redemption. As much as the cross and the resurrection, this is a once-for-all event. With this combat, Jesus, the true Seed and Son, begins to crush the serpent's head."

-Peter Leithart in The Four: A Survey of the Gospels, (Canon Press, 2010), pp. 180-181

Horses and church membership

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:55:00 +0000

We live in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch land, the home of the most Amish in the world, and the "purest" form of them. The Amish here in Lancaster look down on the Amish in Ohio and Indiana as progressives and even liberals. Watch out for those buttons! Since I apparently like to post about the Amish and buggies, I've been thinking lately about their specific application to non-Amish church membership and the seriousness of membership vows. This thinking was started by Carl Trueman's excellent, provocative article on cars and the loss of the seriousness of church membership.

Trueman, with his usual wit and precision, comments on church (s)hopping, discipline, commitment to one's congregation, and cars:

"In the olden days, mobility was limited. If you crossed the local priest or minister, you could be in trouble because there might be no way you could go to the next town or village for worship on the Lord's Day. So church discipline could actually mean something: sooner or later you had no choice but to face up to your responsibilities to the church officers...church shopping is one of the things that is weakening Christianity; but that is not simply a function of general human weakness or even consumerism; it is the result of the opportunity provided by the automobile. The thing that allows many of us to attend church is also that which is eroding the power of our membership vows.

"Of course, membership vows are as solemn and as binding as ordination vows. The average member is no less bound by them to the church than I am as a minister. But the car makes them seem so much more negotiable. We have come to believe that even God can be dodged when we are behind the wheel."

Church membership vows are actually serious, even with what the automobile has done. Taking membership vows means something even if those doing the vowing don't mean anything by them. We are thankful to have numerous examples over the years of people who take their church membership seriously. One of the first things we've learned from them is that there are no perfect churches. When the reality of being in an imperfect church sinks in, that doesn't mean it's time to find a new closer-to-perfect church, but to invest even more heavily in your own church and their people (granted, there are biblical times to leave churches, but that's not the point). And the kicker in all this is that churches aren't perfect because of you and me. As long as the church is made of sinners like us, there will be imperfect churches. Our tendency is to retreat when we are hurt by others or by the church. But we must fight our insular instincts, and instead force ourselves out of our comfort zones. After all, Jesus said that when you are insultingly slapped, turn the other cheek, not just accept the hurt and pout.

Anyways, check out Trueman's article. And then while you're thinking about this, check out my friend Bruce's photo blog of Lancaster County, including many great shots of the agrarian life.

Come downstairs and say hello

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:30:00 +0000

"Spiritual truth has come 'downstairs.' The resurrection concerns time and space and things that can be scrutinized. A man known as Jesus of Nazareth walked on this earth. Today, Jews believe he was not their Messiah: he lived and died, but did not rise again. Muslims believe Jesus to be one of the great prophets, but no more than a prophet, and certainly not the greatest. They believe he lived, but that, as an esteemed man of God, Jesus could not have been crucified. It just seemed to some that he was. Christians believe - and the Bible claims - that Jesus lived, died, and rose again from the dead. These three claims - Jewish, Muslim, and Christian - are more than different. They are contradictory. They cannot all be correct...This is about history and reality as we know it. It is about someone's physical body, and whether it lies decomposed in the soil of Palestine or is exalted in heaven today. The resurrection intrudes into the world of 'downstairs' - here, where we live - and makes claims. It pulls the claims of these three religions on this point down into the world of the verifiable...

"Christianity is concerned with history. It claims that God not only controls history, but that in the person of Jesus he has stepped into history and acted within it. Christians claims about Jesus are not beyond scrutiny. Christian faith is based on what God has done 'downstairs.' His actions don't belong in the world of ethereal, nobody-can-really-know abstractions. Someone is right and someone is wrong. The resurrection overturns relativism."

-Sam Allberry in Lifted: Experiencing the Resurrection Life (P&R, 2010), pp. 115-116

Winged babies in nightdresses

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"This is our hope. Our future is very much physical. Contrary to the view most people have of heaven, our ultimate destiny is physical. We will not be floating around disembodied in the middle of some cloudy vista. We will have bodies, risen, transformed glorious bodies...

"Virtually none of my mental imagery of heaven had come from the Bible, but from medieval artists and modern-day cartoonists: clouds, harps, and winged babies floating around in nightdresses. In fact, part of the blame lies in calling it 'heaven' to start with. It is the new earth. It will be no less physical than the present earth...

"God says, 'I will make all things new,' not 'I will make all new things.' The new earth will not be completely unrecognizable. It will still be this world - a renewed version of it, not a replacement for it."

-Sam Allberry in Lifted: Experiencing the Resurrection Life (P&R, 2010), pp.100, 106, 107

An unwelcome intruder

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"Death is, when we think about it, one of the most normal things about life in this world: it is finite and it ends. This happens to everyone. It's not unusual, and when it happens to people sufficiently far removed from us we can even manage to be indifferent to it. But for all its commonality, close up, death never seems natural. It seems wrong, something that shouldn't really belong to the human experience - an unwelcome intruder in our world. And as much as we cover it with euphemisms - a loved one has 'passed away,' or 'moved on,' or 'left us' - it is deeply uncomfortable for us even to think about. And so we don't. The best we can do is not think about it, pretend it isn't there, live as though it's not going to happen. We don't welcome being reminded that we will all have to face it one day.

"Our unease with death is a reflection that we know more than we realize. Death, like sin, does not belong here. Sin leads to death. The existence of death proves the reality of sin. It is the consequence and demonstration that we have sinned against God. It is something we were never intended to experience. As we grasp the significance of death we can begin to see the significance of resurrection."

-Sam Allberry in Lifted: Experiencing the Resurrection Life (P&R, 2010), pp. 41-42

No mere mega-miracle or trump card

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"The resurrection demonstrates who Jesus is. It is not meant to be just some mega-miracle, or trump card for the existence of God. It speaks powerfully of the identity of Jesus. We can be assured that he is exactly who he claimed to be. And because of that same resurrection, we can also be assured that he achieved in his death exactly what he said he would - we can be assured of our salvation. The resurrection compels us to see something of who Jesus is. It also compels us to see something of what he has done."

-Sam Allberry in Lifted: Experiencing the Resurrection Life (P&R, 2010), pp. 34

No local boy coming good

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Being Passion Week in the church calendar, I thought it would be appropriate throughout the week to post snippets from Sam Allberry's pastoral book on the resurrection: Lifted: Experiencing the Resurrection Life. It is an excellent little book, and makes for a great Lenten devotional or post-Resurrection Sunday meditation.

"'God raised him.' This is the definitive reversal. It is so much more than another story of a local boy coming good in the end. The so-called blasphemer is in fact the Son of God. The one charged with sedition is the true Ruler. The one under the curse of God is saving others from it. The one buried in a tomb has the power to create life. The resurrection is an open challenge to how people see Jesus. He cannot be anything less than the Son of God, the Christ, the Saviour, and the Author of life. God has overturned the verdict of humanity on this man, and calls on us to do the same if we haven't already. The resurrection lifts Jesus conclusively out of any merely human category. It defies us to declare our allegiance to him and worship him. Jesus is vindicated."

-Sam Allberry in Lifted: Experiencing the Resurrection Life (P&R, 2010), pp. 30-31

Digital junkies

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:21:00 +0000

Did you know:

You are most likely not as good of a multitasker as you think you are
Many people would rather clean their toilet than clean up their email inboxes
The average person in the Western world consumes the equivalent of 200 single-spaced pages of text per day, but only remembers about 10 percent (if that)

Check out this well-done student video for more:

No, the irony of posting this video on my blog is not lost on me. And no, it's not a perfect video, with several assertions and statistics that need to be verified or contextualized, but it is at least excellent food for thought. After watching, turn off, tune out, unplug.

Winter books

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I was blessed this winter with extra reading time, thanks to graduating (no more homework!) and landing a full time job (no more job searching and a long lunch break!). Here's what I dug into this winter, including my first foray into audiobooks and Kindle books.

Finally Alive - John Piper (2009) // My second audiobook. Good book on regeneration and what it means for the Christian life. Saturated in Scripture and biblical exposition, with the section on the reality of sin after the new birth being most helpful. But Piper is rarely one for brevity or conciseness, and by halfway through the book, the repetitiveness and lack of a ruthless editor got burdensome.

Fyodor Dostoevsky - Peter Leithart (2011) // Full review here. Enjoyable, short, and selective. A good introduction to Dostoevsky's life and work.

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (1861) // Never really connected with Dickens in the past, but at the urging of my dad, brother, and friends, tried him again. I surprisingly really enjoyed him this time, and already am looking forward to my next Dickens book next winter (he's a winter-only read for me).

Growing Up Amish: A Memoir- Ira Wagler (2011) // Very interesting look into the Old Order Amish communities in Ohio from the perspective of one of their "lost" sons. Equal parts heart wrenching and heartwarming.

History of the World in 6 Glasses - Tom Standage (2006) // Recommended by a friend, and didn't disappoint. A whirlwind tour of world history framed around the rise of six beverages: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coke. More educational than I expected, but still a fun read.

The Intolerance of Tolerance - D.A. Carson (2012) // Full review here. Really good work on the conundrum of, well, the intolerance of the current dominant ideology of tolerance. Intelligent, concise, and persuasive.

Joy in the Morning - P.G. Wodehouse (1946) // Best Wodehouse I've read yet. A full length novel rather than a collection of short stories, it is a comical Jeeves and Wooster tale of epic proportions.

The Longer Poems - T.S. Eliot (various) // Included Ash Wednesday, Four Quartets, and The Wasteland. The third quartet, "The Dry Salvages," was my favorite, and it is a profound work of art. I didn't understand what the hubbub is over The Wasteland, other than its incomprehensibility.

Odes to Common Things - Pablo Neruda (1994) // Gift from my brother, and a very enjoyable collection of poems from a Nobel Prize winning poet. "Ode to the Dictionary" was easily the highlight for me (surprised?). Odes to the artichoke, cat, and socks were also among my favorites. Wish I was fluent in Spanish, so I could get the full effect.

Parenting by God's Promises: How to Raise Children in the Covenant of Grace - Joel Beeke (2011) // First part on parenting in light of the covenant was very good, as was the later chapter on sibling relationships and the appendix on children in church. The in between parts were decent but often seemed too idealistic and law-driven. By that, I mean that I kept thinking that Beeke must have perfect children (I know he doesn't). As with any Beeke work, he leans heavily on the Puritans, for better or worse.

The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850) // The current, inaccurate stereotype of hard, joyless Puritans largely comes from this book. But the caricatured Puritans in Hawthorne's work are mistakenly taken for the real thing. He didn't intend to paint a realistic picture of them, but rather used the caricature as a foil, merely a literary technique. An amazing work of literature that was so much better than I remembered.

Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports are Played and Games are Won - Tobias Moskowitz & L. John Wertheim (2011) // What do you get when an economics professor writes a book with a Sports Illustrated journalist? A fantastic book debunking and confirming sports mantras and cliches. Does defense win championships? Is home field advantage real? Why is a .299 hitter more valuable than a .300 hitter? Well worth reading just to find out the answers to those three questions.

The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis (1942) // My first audiobook, and a great one to start with. Screwtape's letters on pleasure as the ultimate realm and creation of God, and on the peaks and troughs of the Christian life were especially pertinent and enjoyable. If you listen to it, make sure it's a British reader.

Walden - Henry David Thoreau (1854) // Brilliant and prescient at times, but not often enough for me to enjoy the whole work. It reads like the work of a narcissistic guy who spent too many years by himself in the woods. I wonder why.

Welcome to a Reformed Church: A Guide for Pilgrims - Daniel Hyde (2010) // A very good introduction to Reformed faith and practice. Scripture and the Three Forms of Unity run through Hyde's veins onto the page. He also leans heavily on the Westminster Standards, which makes this appropriate for Presbyterians as well.

Shaken, not stirred

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

What comes out when you are shaken? Not literally, but figuratively. My wife likes to give the analogy of a water bottle. Shake it up, and what spills out? Water. Similarly, in a sermon we listened to last week while home with our new family of four, Doug Wilson used a similar analogy with a glass of milk. When shaken, orange juice doesn't come out - milk does.

The analogy was within an excellent sermon on Ephesians 5, in which Paul exhorts the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit. When we (the glass) are filled with the Spirit, when trying times come along (big or small), if we are truly Spirit filled Christians, orange juice shouldn't be the result. Anger, frustration, and impatience shouldn't come spilling out. Instead, the fruit of the Spirit should be evident even in hard times. Looking at Ephesians 5, there are three main things that characterize those who are filled with the Spirit (i.e. Christians). These are:

1. Overflowing with music and singing
2. Thanksgiving for everything, in everything
3. Mutual deference and submission

This plays out in our families, churches, friendships, vocations, and everywhere. Are our lives characterized by such things? If not, heed the Apostle's admonition to be who you already are in Christ. As Wilson taught, it's not a "got to" but a "get to." That is, being a Spirit filled Christian and having music, thanksgiving, and deference isn't a joyless drudgery or a bland to-do list, but is our joyful life's privilege. Live like it!

Isaac Victor

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

We are humbled, excited, proud, and any other positive adjective you choose to introduce our second child, Isaac Victor Pearce. He was born on March 8, at 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 20 inches long. Some more pictures can be viewed here.

"Isaac" means laughter, which characterizes our lives for the last several months. From finding out we were expecting him just six months after Mikayla's birth after many struggles, to the Lord's gracious provision to our family and perfect, providential timing, laughter has been a staple in our household. Victor is my middle name, and was my maternal grandfather's name. He was a humble, hard working family man, and I'm honored to pass his name on to Isaac.

As with Mikayla, and inspired from my older brother's family and his two kids, we've chosen a "theme Psalm" for Isaac. We chose Psalm 113 for Mikayla, as her name means "who is like God?" We chose Psalm 103 for Isaac, which is a wonderful psalm of God's goodness, mercy, and faithfulness to His children:

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
   and all that is within me,
   bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
   and forget not all his benefits,
   who forgives all your iniquity,
   who heals all your diseases,
   who redeems your life from the pit,
   who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
   who satisfies you with good
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD works righteousness
   and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
   his acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
   nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
   nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
   so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
   as far as the east is from the west,
   so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
   so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
   he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;
   he flourishes like a flower of the field;
   for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
   and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
   and his righteousness to children's children,
   to those who keep his covenant
   and remember to do his commandments.
The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
   and his kingdom rules over all.

Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
   you mighty ones who do his word,
   obeying the voice of his word!
Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
   his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the LORD, all his works,
   in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

On why I have designers as friends

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The inspiration from this post comes thanks to my new blog header, designed by our good friend Jimmey James, a talented and good-looking graphic/web designer. Pretty good, eh? He asked me about my former grey, drab (my word) header, and that got us talking about a more jazzed up graphic to grace my blog. Since the title of my blog drew its inspiration from a Grateful Dead song, something a little more colorful than grey was in order. Thus, the new header.

The colorful and appealing header two headers ago was designed by none other than the lovely and talented Ryan Saul. But since I decided to shorten my blog title from "Token Lines Suggesting Rhythm" to just "Token Lines" (update your blog rolls accordingly!), that header had run its course. So Jimmey sent along a file he whipped up, and there you have it. There might be new ones in the future if he makes good on his promise to send the other ideas he had if he gets time to lay them out.

All that said, I am wondering why there are so many graphic artist-types in my life. I am by no means a graphic artist, two Photoshop CS3 courses notwithstanding. I neither have the creativity nor program expertise to remotely consider myself a graphic artist. Yet I have made it a habit to gravitate toward the graphic designers as friends whenever we start something new in life - namely work or church. Maybe I try to gain some of their talent through osmosis? Or maybe it's because I'm not cool, and they are? Or because secretly, deep down, I want to be a hipster? Probably a combination of all three.

That said, for my several other graphic artist friends reading this, I always welcome new, unsolicited header designs. But you'll have to beat Jimmey's first.

The father in the second edition

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

"The Puritans used to stress that a child is as warm wax: he will bear a seal that is impressed on him throughout his life. Children tend to enjoy the things their parents enjoy. That which makes parents weep tends to make their children weep. Our children absorb the pathos, ethos, emphases, and realities of who we are, by the grace of God; those impressions are imprinted upon them, often without our being aware of it. Thomas Watson said: 'Love will command honor: and how can a parent but love the child who is his living picture, nay part of himself? The child is the father in the second edition.'"

-Joel Beeke in Parenting By God's Promises (2011), pp. 57-58

Book review: Carson's Intolerance of Tolerance

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

"Tolerance" has taken on an idolatrous golden calf status in our culture as of late, being the predominant ideology in nearly all areas of life. In his recent (January, 2012) book The Intolerance of Tolerance, D.A. Carson tackles the elephant in the room, arguing against the current form of tolerance, which ironically is no tolerance at all.

Birthed out of a series of lectures Carson has given across the Western world, the main argument of the book is that tolerance has come to be the prevailing mantra of our time. However, tolerance no longer means what it used to, and the new form of tolerance is not very tolerant at all; at its best it is veiled intolerance and at its worst it borders on the absurd. Carson describes the old tolerance as a stance that acknowledges the existence of both right and wrong, and discoverable, defensible truth. This tolerance accepts "that a different or opposing position exists and deserves the right to exist" (p. 3). This tolerance respectfully engages in debates and criticisms. However, as Carson deftly argues, a new tolerance has taken over that is intolerant of the old tolerance.

The new tolerance, Carson argues, is tolerant of all things on the surface, so long as no dogmatic, absolute, judgmental, critical, or disparaging remarks are made. This new tolerance has become part of the unquestioned plausibility structure; it accepts all opinions and renders them all equally valid. But under this new tolerance, right and wrong cease to have any meaning. It does not acknowledge any specific truth, and labels any religion or system of thought that claims to be true as intolerant. Thus, any disagreement - let alone claims to exclusive truth - is demonized as intolerant, leaving no room for anything but a spineless, tyrannical tolerance. The irony, not lost in the title of the book, is that the new tolerance is actually quite vehemently intolerant of anything that isn't tolerant of the new tolerance: "no absolutism is permitted, except for the absolute prohibition of absolutism" (p. 13).

Of course, tolerance is not really an abstract, personified ideal, but is the dominant thinking of the Western world, and that's not to our credit:

"Cultures in other parts of the world often see in Western (new) tolerance, not a mature and civilized culture worth emulating, but a childish and manipulative culture that refuses to engage with serious moral issues...Far from bringing peace, the new tolerance is progressively becoming more intolerant, fostering moral myopia, proving unable to engage in serious and competent discussions about truth, letting personal and social evils fester, and remaining blind to the political and international perceptions of our tolerant cultural profile." (p. 139)

Well researched, engagingly written, and utterly reasonable, Carson provides myriad examples of how this new tolerance has influenced all areas of life. Copious examples of the absurd and maddening new tolerance are given in the religious, educational, political, academic, and news media spheres. But Carson isn't a paranoid alarmist decrying the loss of the modern age or the takeover of secular humanism. Instead, he firmly engages with popular and academic sources, building his case throughout the book that the old tolerance is necessary for a truly free society, while the new tolerance spirals into inconsistency and even tyranny.

The final chapter offers some practical reflections on what to do about the new tolerance, which was helpful. On a personal note, I especially enjoyed his section on the demise of postmodernity, as well as his discussion of the rampant narcissism in our world and in the church. On a more minor note, it was also refreshing to read an "outsider" lamenting the "moralistic therapeutic deism" that Michael Horton, Christian Smith, and others have been drawing attention to.

Though it is a shorter book, Carson's argument is so tight and his argument so cogently intertwined throughout the book, I find it difficult to review. The only blemish in it is his minor digression on democracy and his reflections on the separation of church and state. He lost me a little bit with his church/state discussion.

I really enjoyed it, as it is intellectually stimulating without being stuffy or overly academic. It is also written from a Christian perspective without being overtly so. It reads like how his lectures would be: given to a mixed audience of academics and the public, Christians and skeptics. Carson is a gifted writer with deep insight. I'd heartily recommend it to Christians and non-Christians alike.

Note: I received an advance copy of this book from Eerdmans in exchange for an objective, but not necessarily positive, review.

Increasing craving for diminishing pleasure

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

It took me 27+ years, but I'm finally reading C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters (1942). It's a little off-putting to be reading something from the perspective of a demon, but there are some masterful passages, like this one on pleasure. For those unfamiliar with it, it's written from the perspective of a senior demon Screwtape to his younger nephew, Wormwood. Thus, the "Enemy" here is God and "Our Father" is the devil.

"Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. It is more certain and it’s better style. To get a man’s soul and give him nothing in return—that’s what really gladdens Our Father’s heart." (pp. 44-45)

The emperor's lack of clothes

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Fortunately, postmodernism is on its way out. But much like the devil being bound in Revelation and destroying half the stars with his tail on his way down, postmodernism is still exerting influence even as it draws its final breaths. It knows its defeat is imminent, and it is raging to wreak as much havoc as possible before its demise. What will arise in the vacuum it leaves might be equally as vacuous, absurd, or annoying; but one victory at a time. As we are still picking spoiled remnants of the Enlightenment out of our beards, we will be straining out postmodern influence for many years to come. This is especially true in the church at large, as the church always lags a few years behind academic and cultural thought.

In his recent book The Intolerance of Tolerance, D.A. Carson explains that though postmodernism as a movement is dead, its influence is still widespread. The premise of his book is that "tolerance" has come to be the dominant idiom of our time, even as its definition has changed over the centuries. The old meaning of tolerance is defined as holding to the truth while acknowledging the reality of other people holding to other truth claims, with room for respectful disagreement and criticism. The newer definition of tolerance is that of claiming that all truths are equally valid except for those that are intolerant. In more extreme cases, the new tolerance does not acknowledge any truth, and labels any religion or system of thought claiming truth as intolerant. Thus, voicing any disagreement, criticism, or claims to exclusivity is ironically demonized as intolerant, leaving no room for anything but "tolerance," which is no truth at all. Full speed ahead to the absurd. The following quotation is worth reading, and Carson uses "tolerance" here in the newer way.

"Regardless of the widespread inability to agree on what it is, postmodernism has exerted incalculable influence in much of the world. Disagreement over the essence of postmodernism cannot blind us to its effect. Almost all sides agree that as a movement postmodernism is dead. Except in some American undergraduate programs, its luminaries are no longer read - certainly not in Europe, whence most of them sprang. Yet the effluents of postmodernism, however defined, are still very much with us, shaping our thoughts and cultural values. What cannot be denied is that, in its wake, countless millions of people find it difficult, at least on some subjects, to think in terms of truth and error, much preferring to think in terms of differences of opinion, of varying perspectives. The dawning of postmodernism coincided, at least in part, with the increasing diversification of the populations of many of the world's metropolises. The impact of this increasing empirical pluralism is multiplied many times over by the digital revolution: with minimal effort we find ourselves exposed to an incredibly broad diversity of cultures, opinions, interpretations of history, languages, and so forth. Moreover, in the virtual world we can create our own realities. All of this conspires to push questions of truth to the margins while magnifying the importance of tolerance...Regardless of the terminology pragmatism now commonly eclipses both nature and religion as cultural authority. But if in its most aggressive forms postmodernism has declined, it has left a residue of subjective eclecticism that fosters the elevation of tolerance to the enthroned status of supreme virtue." (pp. 73-74)

Further, to borrow a C.S. Lewis-ism, postmodernism is built on ladders in the air. The postmodern emperor has no clothes, to mix metaphors. The absurdity of postmodernism has been staring us right in the face, and it is finally starting to show. As leftist scholar Terry Eagleton writes:

"For all its vaunted openness to the Other, postmodernism can be quite as exclusive and censorious as the orthodoxies it opposes. One may, by and large, speak of human culture but not human nature, gender but not class, the body but not biology, jouissance but not justice, post-colonialism but not the petty bourgeoisie. It is a thoroughly orthodox heterodoxy, which like any imaginary form of identity needs its bogeyman and straw targets to stay in business." (qtd. in Carson, pp. 82-83)

We must keep fighting to expose the bogeymen and straw targets of postmodernism for what they are. The best ammunition against such absurdities is the gospel, and especially the "foolishness" of the forgiveness of sins and the incredible triumph of the resurrection.

Laying a musical foundation

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I was raised on the Doobie Brothers and CSNY, Gershwin and Handel. While I may not have understood or appreciated such music growing up, it stuck with me. Perhaps overt or perhaps unbeknownst to them, my parents laid a good musical foundation for me. They gave me a head start in my musical understandings and tastes from exposing me to good music. My high school musical tastes notwithstanding, I attribute much of my love for music throughout my life to my parents. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

I've been thinking about this more recently now that Mikayla is old enough to recognize that there is music playing, and dance to it. This is my attempt at a representative list of albums across genres that I hope to play for her many times over the next 18 years, in order to unashamedly influence her musical appreciation - if not her actual musical tastes. I know I have omitted some great albums, and by no means is this all that Mikayla will hear from our speakers. But it's a discussion starter at the least. A whole other related post could be what music I want Mikayla to associate with me, much like how I associate America with my Mom or Beethoven with my Dad. In alphabetical order...

1. The Allman Brothers - The Fillmore Concerts. One of the most brilliant live recordings of all time, by one of the greatest classic rock-era bands (and arguably my favorite). The epic 56-minute Whipping Post --> Mountain Jam gives me goosebumps every time. Pink Floyd was a close runner up in the classic rock category, but their live Pulse pales in comparison.

2. Bach's Mass in B Minor. Though this magnum opus stands or falls on its own, it contains two of the most sublime pieces of music in history: "Cum Sancto Spiritu" and "Et Resurrexit."

3. The Decemberists - The King is Dead. Not my favorite Decemberists album (Picaresque takes that title), but this is a more accessible album (and still very good). It also contains Mikayla's favorite song to dance to: "Calamity Song," as well as several guest appearances by another artist on this list, Gillian Welch.

4. Derek Webb - She Must and Shall Go Free. It was hard for us to choose between Webb, Sandra McCracken, Matthew Perryman Jones, or one of the Indelible Grace albums, but this has three of our all-time favorite songs on it: the title track, Lover, and The Church.

5. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis. The sheer amount of musical talent on this album is easy to overlook thanks to the sheer delight of listening to these two paragons of jazz.

6. Gillian Welch - Revival. I really hope Mikayla loves Welch's music more than I do. Listening to her sounds you've known her all your life.

7. Grateful Dead - American Beauty. I could easily have put Workingman's Dead or Europe '72 here instead, but this is the closest to my heart, and has received the most plays over the years.

8. Handel's Messiah. Not much needs to be said for this. Our version of choice is Christopher Hogwood's masterful recording, introduced to me by my brilliant college roommate.

9. Leo Kottke - 6 & 12 String Guitar. Incredible musicianship on this 1969 gem, and so much fun to listen to. I always find myself wanting more after the ~35 minutes are over. One of the preeminent guitar virtuosos of our age, whose enormous influence is difficult to measure.

10. Railroad Earth - Elko - Another great live recording by another favorite band. Americana, bluegrass, improv, rock. Great songwriting, tight musicianship, and deep passion are all on display here.