day no. 15,500: to enjoy is to glorify

Again, while reading Piper's The Dangerous Duty of Delight, I came across a great quote,

“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . . The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”
― C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms

Complimenting something complements its enjoyment. It is not as enjoyable to love something if you don't have the opportunity to tell someone else how much you love it. Expressing your delight in something only increases the delight. Sharing something good only increases how good you think it is.

"Christ is praised by being prized." -- John Piper, The Dangerous Duty of Delight

day no. 15,499 continued... weary, unwise and unmanly

Some mornings Scripture speaks to you right where you are. This morning was one of those mornings for me...

Proverbs 30:1-2

The man declares, I am weary, O God;

I am weary, O God, and worn out. 

Surely I am too stupid to be a man.

I have not the understanding of a man.

God have mercy on me: the weary and unwise and be for me strength and wisdom enough for today's troubles and to resist the temptation to waste time worrying about tomorrow's. 

Make me man enough.

Amen.

day no. 15,499: cheerful obedience

I came across the following quote while reading John Piper's The Dangerous Duty of Delight

“It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can.” 
-- C. S. Lewis in Sheldon Vanauken's A Severe Mercy

Some days prove harder to be happier than others, but it it nevertheless a Christian's duty to be as happy as they are able to be. Some days may be so hard that to be any happy at all will have been a hard fought victory. Working hard at being happy doesn't mean that Christians aren't allowed to be sad or that they are required to fake felecity for the sake of others. It simply means that joy is a command of God, not a suggestion. It is something we must feed, not something we merely consume. Something toward which we must aim ourselves, not merely wish to find ourselves.

day no. 15,498: one cannot live on capital forever

"Many people today who are atheist or agnostic in religion, are governed in their conduct by a code of Christian ethics which is so rooted in their unconscious assumptions that it never occurs to them to question it. But one cannot live on capital forever. A tradition, however firmly rooted, if it is never watered, though it dies hard, yet in the end it dies." -- Dorothy Sayers, The Lost Tools of Learning

Much of today's anarchy is benefactors of yesterday's order. But anything that can't go on forever... won't and insanity cannot sustain itself. Chaos can make hay with yesterday's sowing, but eventually it destroys everything and there's nothing left. To borrow a phrase they are so fond of, "it's not sustainable." You cannot pluck up everything someone else planted and expect there to be anything left if you don't plant any more. Insanity devours itself. Much of the freedom the United States enjoys was canned decades ago and the pantry is beginning to be sparse. You can only live off of yesterday's diligence so long before it becomes tomorrow's poverty. 

day no. 15,497: how to think

"We let our young men and women go out unarmed, in a day when armor was never so necessary. By teaching them all to read, we have left them at the mercy of the printed word... they are prey to words in their emotions instead of being masters of them in their intellect." — Dorothy Sayers, The Lost Tools of Learning

"It has been the great tragedy of our time that people were taught  to read and not taught to reason.” — G.K. Chesterton

If we will not do the difficult work of learning how to think, we will fall into the easy habit of feeling how to think.

day no. 15,496: in all respects a sinner

I was comforted while reading Clement's second letter the other day, when I read this,

2 Clement 18:1-2
Let us, therefore, be of those who give thanks, of those who have served God, and not of the ungodly who are judged. For I myself, being in all respects a sinner, and not having yet escaped temptation, but being still in the midst of the snares of the devil, yet endeavour to follow after righteousness, that I may be able, at any rate, to be near it, fearing the judgment to come.

In the confession of the saints, I see camaraderie. They too, were sinners, but sinners striving to live in light of their salvation. They were not complacent with their sin, but striving against it, yet confident in Christ to believe themselves saved while still sinning. And it's not as though Clement here is merely confessing to a particular character flaw of some insignificant manner, but rather to the fact that he is a sinner in all respects. In word, thought and deed he falls short and by grace strives in gratitude to honor Christ for having saved a sinner like himself. Amen, brother.

day no. 15,495: my wife at 35

Happy Birthday, Paige Van Voorst!

Thirty-five times you have been at this place. You were born at this very spot in the universe. The mile marker of your point of entry is right here waiting for you. This is where the world was when your lungs took in its air for the very first time.

While this birthday puts you on the fence of forty, I still think of you as a young woman. You have a perpetual youthfulness about you even as you age. You have the best of both. You are maturing and growing and are in many ways not at all like the young woman I first met in the Cornerstone Church foyer circa 2005 and in other ways you are still just as playful and sharp as I've always known you to be.

You have always been, in many respects, the older women of Titus 2, only now you have the age and experience to back it up. You like to teach and have much to offer and as your chronological age begins to better match your maturity, you are finding more opportunities to naturally flex that gift set. I'm excited to see how God will continue to use you to bless and shape others in teaching another generation to love their husbands and children, beginning with the generation that lives under our roof.

I love the home that you have made for us: the food we eat, the decorations we see, the scents we smell, the colors that surround us, etc... You make our home somewhere we all want to be and then you go the next mile and invite others hospitably into it. We entertain and educate. We disciple over dinner because of all your hard work. Thank you! I love being your husband and having you be the mother to my children. I am blessed because of you. We all are. 

Happy birthday.

Proverbs 31:27-31

She looketh well to the ways of her household, 

and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; 

her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Many daughters have done virtuously, 

but thou excellest them all.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: 

but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands; 

and let her own works praise her in the gates.

day no. 15,494: the finality of being fired

Clement, in his second letter, makes a great point regarding our opportunity in the here and now to repent which will expire when the refining fire of judgment descends upon the earth

2 Clement 8:1-3
While, therefore, we are upon the earth, let us repent. For we are as clay in the hands of the workman. In like manner as the potter, if while he be making a vessel, it turn amiss in his hands, or be crushed, can mould it again, but if he have once cast it into the fiery furnace can no longer amend it; so let us, so long as we are in this world repent with all our hearts of the wickedness that we have committed in the flesh, that we may be saved of the Lord while as yet we have time for repentance. For after that we are departed out of this world, we are no longer able there to confess or repent.

The Potter is free to rework the clay until it is fired. Once it is tested by flame, it hardens into the shape it was and remains that. God in His grace can remake our entire lives if they are placed into His capable hands. But God has put in motion a principle of hardening that will occur upon His return or the end of one's earthly life. At that point, the tree stays where it fell and the soul is hardened in the state it departed. This same principle works in favor for those found in the form of God's Son, Jesus at His return or their departure. If by God's grace you are in good shape when you die or He returns, you will remain in good shape as the fire will fix your eternal place in His good graces.

day no. 15,493: called to be, called to become

In reading Clement's second letter, I came across this beautifully expressed sentiment.

2 Clement 1:8
For He hath called us when as yet we were not,
and hath willed us to be when we were nothing.

While we were still dead, He made us alive. Though we had done nothing to attract any positive attention, He positively beckoned us to come near. Our salvation is as our creation. We did not ask to be here. We did not plead to be composed. We did not beg to be born. And yet, here we are. By the grace of God, we are here. And our rebirth is like that. We were not searching for Him or seeking Him, but by His grace called and is continues to call us to seek Him.

day no. 15,492: word without end, amen!

In completing Clement's first epistle to the Corinthians, I came across a phrase he repeats ten times,

1 Clement 32:4, 38:4, 43:6, 45:7, 45:8, 50:7, 58:2, 61:3, 64:1, 65:2
World without end. Amen.

When God made the world, He introduced a second world into existence. Prior to the world, there was nothing... but God. There was Him and nothing else. Once He made something, He introduced a new world. There was now God and not God. There were now two realities and into the second one, He sent His Son. Jesus became incarnate as He took on flesh and became part of the second reality, the second world, while retaining all the qualities of the first within Him. So during His lifetime, the two worlds kissed. He came to introduce eternal life into the world of death, eternal reality into the land of surreality, and the ancient world into the one eroding. He introduced resurrection power into the land of rust and decay.

Gloria Patri
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, and now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

The world of the Triune God is without end. And by His grace He has infused into ours a hope of redemption. By His grace in His power and for His glory, the erosion will not eradicate it all, but will merely refine what is left for what God establishes eternally for us. This world is very much in one sense, passing away, but in another sense, it is only just begun.

day no. 15,491: provided the rich were less rich

On her last day in parliament, Margaret Thatcher was questioned on the widening gap between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% during her Prime Ministership. Here was her response,

"All levels of income are better off than they were in 1979. But what the honorable member is saying is that he would rather the poor were poorer provided the rich were less rich. That way you will never create the wealth for better social services as we have. And what a policy. Yes. He would rather have the poor poorer provided the rich were less rich. That is the Liberal policy. Yes it came out. He didn’t intend it to but it did."

Envy does not care for the poor, it hates the rich. It masks itself in compassion, but is driven by bitterness. It expects the praise of charity while employing the means of malice. In reading Clement's letter to the Corinthians, I discovered another example of how this kind of play has been practiced for thousands of years.

1 Clement 38:2
Let not the strong man despise the weak, and let the weak pay regard to the strong. Let him that is rich minister to him that is poor. Let him that is poor praise God that he hath given unto him one by whom his want may be supplied. 

Clement acknowledges a temptation of the poor to withhold gratitude for their benefactors. He also points out that God provides for them through their provision. It is a grace of God to be surrounded by diligent, hard-working, producers. They alone make it possible to provide for the poor. Granted, there is also a temptation in being a maker to believe oneself self-made. This temptation is also addressed here by Clement, but as Thatcher points out, some would prefer that the poor be poorer so long as the consolation prize was that the rich became less rich. 

When that is the move, it is not the love of the poor which is in view, but the hatred of the rich. When you enjoy watching the stock market crash because you don't have any stock in it, you can rest assured it is envy that is driving your delight, not your love of the destitute.

day no. 15,490: resurrection in its seed form

Clement in his letter to the Corinthians reveals that nature itself is illustrating for us the glory of resurrection in ways that largely go unnoticed.

1 Clement 24:2-5

Let us look, beloved, at the resurrection that is ever taking place. Day and night show to us the resurrection; the night is lulled to rest, the day ariseth; the day departeth, the night cometh on. Let us consider the fruits, in what way a grain of corn is sown. The sower goeth forth and casteth it into the ground, and when the seeds are cast into the ground, they that fell into the ground dry and naked are dissolved; then after their dissolution, the mighty power of the providence of the Lord raiseth them up, and from one seed many grow up and bring forth fruits.

Every day provides a symbol of resurrection. Each day dies. It ends in darkness. It lays itself down to rest. We, in concert, lay ourselves down in sleep, which is itself a kind of death. The day ends in darkness and our bodies go down in slumber. And then, glorious day, the sun rises anew and our bodies from their slumber awake. Each day in the setting of the sun and its rising, in our laying ourselves down and our waking, we see witness of the power of resurrection. 

The sown seeds dissolve when they’re stamped into the earth, but rise in glory to produce fruit and more seed. The solitary seed multiplies through resurrection what it divided in dying. 

And so a day is coming when our souls shall depart from our bodies, when we will be buried into the earth from which we came. But from that dirt, we shall rise by the grace of God, greater and more glorious than ever before to the ever present, never-ending day where the sun never sets, the days never end, the fruit never fails, and death is no more.

day no. 15,489: waxed fat and kicked

I was reading some of the letters of the early church fathers today and came across this

1 Clement 3:1
All honour and enlargement was given to you, and then was fulfilled that which is written: -- The beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and grew fat and kicked.

This language comes directly from the Old Testament...

Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

One of the dangers of growing comfortable is forgetting where the comfort came from in the first place. Ease can begin to feel like a birthright, not a blessing from above. Comfort can make one blind to the hand of providence.

“Faithfulness begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother.” -- Cotton Mather

It is good to eat and drink provided it is with gratitude. Thanksgiving makes all the difference. It looks up when looking over the feast. It is satisfied before it takes a bite. And once full, it does not kick. Feeding gratitude leads to an increase of peace while feeding ingratitude leads to an increase in kicking. Give impatience more and it grows more impatience. Give patience more and it grows more patient. The heart that is already full is easily pleased, but the heart that is bent on continuous consumption is never satisfied.

day no. 15,488: parent commissioning

When asked what was the most important command, Jesus responded by saying,

Matthew 22:37-40
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

Of all the 613 commands in the Old Testament, Jesus picked this one as greatest and best summary of all of them: love God with everything you have -- make Him your greatest thought, give Him your best energy, love Him with your greatest affection, and pursue Him as your highest aim. And when you do this, it will overflow to other people. Our theology always comes out our fingertips. 

But Jesus did not pick this commandment out of thin air or invent it on the spot. He wasn't riffing or summarizing per se. He picked a particular verse already on record. He pointed out a principle already revealed and He located it in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The command is to worship the one God with everything you have. Give everything you have to Him because there is only one. There is no reason to diversify your worship portfolio. There is only one God. So give all glory and honor and praise to Him alone. And who is the first neighbor identified as the beginning point in applying this theology and putting it into practice? The one sleeping at the same address, under the same roof, with your last name, with your wife's eyes and your smile. Our first neighbors are not those living across the street, but across the hall. Our neighbor is the one in front of us and your family is the training ground where this principle is first played out. 

Matthew's Gospel includes the greatest commandment, but it ends with the greatest commission.

Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The first disciples you need to make are the ones with your last name. You should not disciple other people's children before you disciple your own. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Everything is under His authority, so we should live like it and receive His gifts with gratitude and responsibility. So if He has given us children, we should take it upon ourselves to make disciples of them. We do this by saturating them in the things of God. Immersing them into a home where God is glorified, sin is repented of and grace and forgiveness are freely given. We teach them what they do not know and we show them how to obey what we've taught them. We don't only teach them to memorize God's Word, but to memorialize it in our budgets, on our calendars, in our hearts, with our hands, through our talents, in our treasures. And we can know for a matter of fact, that when we do this -- devote our lives to making disciples -- that He is with us. You never need to wonder. When the diapers pile up, when you're spanking your child for the sixth time today for the same lesson, when the dishes accumulate and the night is robbed of sleep, know that He is with you. He promised and He will keep His Word. His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, world without end. Amen.

day no. 15,487: revelation by degrees

"Nature is only God's back, but Scripture is God's mouth, and Jesus is God's face."
-- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

Nature reveals that there is a God; however, it does not show you what kind of expression He is wearing on His face. It shows you that there is a Man in another room., but it doesn't inform you as to His disposition towards those in your room. Is He over there because He doesn't like this room? Would He accept an invitation? Would He receive visitors? Would He answer the door if we knocked? Would He ever knock at our door?

The world makes visible some of God's invisible character qualities, but not all of them. The general revelation of the skies gets us somewhere, but it can't take us there and it can't tell us much about the somewhere it gets us. It's better than nothing, but it's nothing if not begging some questions.

What we need is special revelation and the Bible is just that. It is more pointed, more specific. It is not merely the sound of God's voice, like the sun in the sky, but the words and the accent in which He speaks. The Bible reveals the character of God in more detail. It puts into specific words what nature can only imply by illustration. It communicates with more detail the way the evening news anchor uses words instead of pantomime to review the day's events.

But Jesus is the face of God. He is revelation incarnate. Nothing communicates His invisible attributes better than the tangible, physical, incarnate face of God in Christ Jesus. He is the ultimate revelation of Who God is and what He is like.

John 14:8-9
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Hebrews 1:1-3
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

day no. 15,486: Jude: a poetic verse commentary of the Authorized text

Jude, slave of Jesus,

the Messiah and Master,

and brother of James

by blood bonded both ways,

To those set aside

by divine intervention,

stained white by His blood,

secured by His selection:

Your debts have been paid;

may that truce produce fruit

bearing love in like kind

multiplied unto you.

Before need arose

the epistle proposed

confirmed our salvation

as same and supposed

But news of confusion

amended intentions,

refocused the locus,

required contention

For once was delivered

and that all sufficient

the ratified faith

exhausted, efficient

Yet certain sly sinners

have slid past securely

claiming grace as a ticket

that admits their tomfoolery

The credentials produced

permit sin like a privilege

turning grace into gross

and promote into pillage

So remember the Lord

who saved sinners through water

sentenced some all the same

on dry land that came after

For the hungry He led

left their hearts back in Egypt

and once they’d been fed

left their God and His edicts

And just like the angels

that fled far from home

are now doomed to dangle

where they’ll soon be bound

Or similarly cities

who supped on the strange

drank draughts full of danger

and suffered the same

So these nasty nightmares,

debauching undaunted,

despise the divine

living lives like the wanton

Yet not all the angels

abandoned their borders

by blighting their bodies

or betraying their orders

Most stayed in their places

remained in formation

refused to presume

on the Lord’s provocation

Yet these boast and brag

like the beasts bray and bellow

knowing not what they speak

still they shriek while they farrow

A plague and a curse

on the way Cain contrived,

on the pay Balaam gained,

on the sway Core conspired

These spots spoil your spreads

grazing brazen and bold,

foreshadowing showers

yet rain they withhold

Dead leaves off a tree

by the breeze bidden blown,

foul fruit off a shoot

of an uprooted throne

Tides tossed, ebb and flow,

bawdy foam-billowed brackish,

suns strutting to and fro,

darkened souls, swart and caddish

Yet Adam’s seventh saw

a great throng and the Throne,

and angels alighting

on benighted bones

To convict and convince

all ungodly contentions,

e’ery godless endeavor,

any godless intention

Of these slow-bellied ingrates,

these quick-tongued imposters,

this blaspheming species

of malcontent braggarts

But, beloved, remember

the words which were spoken

by apostles before

in the Lord still unbroken:

How mockers and mongers

would soon manifest

out of dark into darker

as a roach in darkness

It is these who despise

what the Lord has united,

and combine by desire

what the Lord has divided

  

Yet, beloved, keep building

beholding your God;

to your full height aspire

as you bow down in awe

Set your love on the Lord,

save your gaze for His Son,

give your days to your God,

raise your ways in His love

Be kind and compassionate

reflect on this thought:

remember your rescue,

consider those caught

And go as God went

staying anchored in faith

descending to save

yet remaining unstained

For God is owed praise

keeping saints when they slip

clearing sins from their lists

'til they stand in His bliss

Now to Him whom is wise

reckon honor and power,

glory, dominion,

both now and forever! Amen.

day no. 15,485: initiative or initiation?

"Once we are self-aware, we must choose purposes and principles to live by; otherwise the vacuum will be filled, and we will lose our self-awareness and become like groveling animals who live primarily for survival and propagation. People who exist on that level aren't living; they are, "being lived." -- Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

The apostle Paul charges Christians to put off sin and put on righteousness (Eph 4, Col 3) and Jesus Himself said that a clean, empty house is not necessarily an improvement on a dirty, occupied house. spiritually speaking (Lk 11:25). There is no such thing as having no purpose. If you don't proactively initiate, you will reactively be initiated. As C.S. Lewis points out in The Abolition of Man,

"Man’s conquest of Nature turns out, in the moment of its consummation, to be Nature’s conquest of Man. Every victory we seemed to win has led us, step by step, to this conclusion. All Nature’s apparent reverses have been but tactical withdrawals. We thought we were beating her back when she was luring us on. What looked to us like hands held up in surrender was really the opening of arms to enfold us for ever."

Life does not happen to the man of God; the man of God happens to life.

day no. 15,484: time is not on our side... ides of March

"Time is a river that takes from us everything it gives us. Nothing remains; time ravages the very stars... We experience only time, yet we desire eternity, timelessness. Why, for Heaven's sake? Where did we ever learn of this thing called eternity, to desire it? Why, if our existence is totally environed by time, do we not feel at home in it? 'Do fish complain of the sea for being wet?' Yet we complain of time. There is never enough time for anything. Time, our natural environment, is our enemy." -- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

Time, as it turns out, is not on my side. No, it isn't. It does make my life possible, but it also takes my life away. What it gives with one hand, it takes away with the other. Our lives are lived inside of time and yet our hearts desire to live outside of it. We are born into a sea of seconds and yet our hearts aspire to a land of limitlessness. There is never enough of the thing we need to stay alive. There is never enough of it for those we love. There is no way to save it or take it with you. Sixty seconds a minute, sixty minutes an hour, tick by in perfect time and won't pause for anyone: rich, poor, man, woman, adult, child, black, white, yellow, red, sick, healthy, innocent, guilty, true, false, important or insignificant -- it is a respecter of none. It is the ultimate egalitarian. It will be the end of everyone it began. Every lifetime is merely a dash between two dates and while giving some longer dashes than others, it never fails to bookend a story with a final date. It is observed on the tombs of those who have gone before us and the living should take note of the dead knowing this will be their end as well.

Ecclesiastes 7:2
It is better to go to the house of mourning,
than to go to the house of feasting:
for that is the end of all men;
and the living will lay it to his heart.

The dashes on our tombstones will be short straight lines, but the days they represent will certainly have had their ups and downs. Everything is going somewhere and sooner or later it’s going to get there. The ups and downs are included in the short straight line between when we got here and where we’re going. May our ups and downs all add up to great God stories for our short dashes.

day no. 15,483: looming

"Death is the most inconvenient thing in life, but also the most obvious -- like an elephant in your kitchen...Underneath our temporary life-clothing, we are all death-naked. As an argument takes it point from its conclusion, so a story takes its point from its ending. If death is, as it seems to be, the final end, then life's story is vanity with a vengeance." -- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

There is nothing larger looming than death. It never goes away and it never shrinks. it only grows larger and more looming with every approaching day. Every tomorrow is another step closer to the frightful giant. It doesn't budge. It doesn't flinch or blink or bat an eye. It stands resolute, determined and indifferent. It waits patiently and never loses focus. We can wear signs of life on the outside, but inside the gears are grinding down. The final note of the song does not relieve the tension. It ends on a sour note. Every story ends.

Ecclesiastes 9:4
A living dog is better than a dead lion.

day no. 15,482: glory fades and flowers fall

"We make value judgments. We prefer one thing to another: life to death, beauty to ugliness, good to evil. Nature does not. Nature is indifferent." -- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

A man said to  the universe,
Sir, I exist!
Nevertheless, replied the universe,
That fact has not created in me
The slightest feeling of obligation.
-- Stephen Crane, A Man Said to the Universe

We feel a deep-rooted sense of judgment welled up inside us. We desire beauty over ugliness. We may differ over what we define as beauty, but we always argue that what we perceive as beautiful ought to be preferred. We don’t argue for the ugly. We may call ugly things “beautiful” and beautiful things “ugly,” but we know which label is ideal. We desire goodness over evil. Again, we may differ over what we define as good, but we always argue in favor of what we believe is best. We never argue that ugliness or badness is better. We argue that our idea of beauty or goodness is superior to someone else's or that our idea of the good is better than theirs.

Yet, we live in a universe of indifference. Whatever we believe to be best still dies. Whatever we desire to be praised still fades. What we see as beautiful is subject to the same blind, relentless grinding rule of rust and decay. Glory fades, flowers fall, wine fails, beauty wanes, strength decays, and nothing lasts forever except the perpetual cycle of indifference that destroys everything we delighted in, whatever that may have been.

That is the world under the sun. That is the universe if the universe is all there is -- a crapshoot of perspectives, swallowed in the teeth of time, marching on oblivious.

day no. 15,481: no side outs for sovereignty

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
He shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise His heel.

There is opposition between good and evil. It is placed there by God. But it is not a ying and yang type opposition with the powers being equally matched and occupying exactly half of the one circle of life. It is not a zero sum opposition. It is also not a situation in which good is in danger of losing. Evil is pushing against good, but evil cannot win.

John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

It is easy to imagine good and evil across the line of scrimmage pushing each other back and forth. Both running plays and attempting to gain yardage and score points. The game is a matter of field position, but only for the sake of scoring points. You don't play merely for the best position on the field. If the position does not produce fruit in the form of points, "better" field position becomes a meaningless proposition. There is no benefit to being in a better position if that position doesn't manifest itself on the scoreboard. That said, in football, if you score, the other team gets the ball back. Or if you gain yards, but go out on downs, the other team gets the ball. This metaphor fits in part, but not perfectly.

Volleyball would be, perhaps, a better image. In volleyball, a team serves and the other team volleys the ball back, attempting to damage the adversary. But it is not rally scoring, it is side out. In rally scoring, every play is an opportunity for either team to score. But that is not the game God has designed. The game is side out and God is serving. He is the sovereign and is always serving up something. In other words, the opposition may do their best to hit the ball back and may put us on our heels on occasion with a smashing blow, but we always are able to recover and continue the play. In the meantime, the only points possible are ours. Since our side is serving, ours is the only one capable of capturing points. So evil can volley the ball back at best, but it cannot score. It can fight back, but it cannot win. It cannot even score because it can never side out God and control the possession. It is always reacting and always trying to do damage, but it cannot register on the scoreboard.

God cannot be sided out. He is always in charge. He will always be serving. He is the initiator. He acts. He is in control and always will be. God never fails. His kingdom come, His will be done... on earth as it is in heaven. Forever and ever. World without end. Amen!

day no. 15,480: the reward of rest

Ecclesiastes 5:12
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer

This morning (3/15/20) while making coffee before church, Finneas came upstairs to the sound of the grinder and asked, "If you drink coffee, you're not going to be able to nap later today." I replied, "I make coffee every Sunday morning and I nap every Sunday afternoon."

I then went on to explain what the Bible says in the verse cited above. The person who works hard is in no danger of enjoying his rest. One of the rewards of hard work is sweet sleep. Only the hard worker fully appreciates rest and sometimes the sluggard, in his leisure, is robbed of the pleasure of relaxation.

Proverbs 26:14
As a door turns on its hinges,
so does a sluggard on his bed.

The lazy person cannot even enjoy their extra hours in bed. Their body won't let them. Their late nights and snooze buttons cannot provide what a few hours of hard work would easily accomplish.

Hebrews 4:11
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest

If you are having trouble resting, work harder when you're supposed to be awake and you will find rest, relaxation and sleep a hospitable friend.

Psalm 127:2
He gives to His beloved sleep

day no. 15,479: putting yourself on blast

"Be on your guard. When a man carries a bomb-shell in his hand, he should mind that he does not go near a candle; and you too must take care that you enter not into temptation." 

-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

If you had a fuse dangling off of you connected to an explosive on your back, you would be diligent to avoid open flames. But if you denied its existence or ignored its presence, it wouldn't be long before you'd yourself blown to pieces.

Jesus warned us to take heed lest we enter into temptation and one surefire way to avoid opening a particular door is to distance yourself from it. You are less likely to eat a forbidden snack if it isn't already in your pantry. You're less likely to catch hell if you don't go out looking for it.

day no. 15,478: on earth as it is in heaven

Matthew 13:44
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The man in question had probably walked over this treasure a hundred other times unaware of it even though it was always there. He lived his life oblivious to it. But one day, he discovered it. He saw what he had never seen before. And upon finding it, immediately recognized it as the one thing worth pursuing. Whatever he had been doing with his life, whatever he had been aiming it, wherever he had been going or pursuing when he had passed over it before was now replaced with this one thing. This took precedent and immediately became his highest priority. All other initiatives, desires, passions and plans were subjected to this one thing. And it wasn't done reluctantly, but with pure, ecstatic, overflowing joy. He gladly emptied himself of every other thing. The reordering of his affections was itself a joyful process. He was happy to prioritize what made him happy. And so he sold everything he had. He subjected it all for this one thing. And with everything he had, he purchased the field. He did not merely purchase the treasure, he bought the whole field. He gave everything in order to make that one thing his primary thing and ended up receiving much more along with it. He not only got the treasure, but he got the entire field. 

Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth 'thrown in': aim at Earth and you will get neither.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Joyful Christian

day no. 15,477: as the dove

"Then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark." 
Genesis 8:9

"Wearied out with her wanderings, the dove returns at length to the ark as her only resting place. How heavily she flies--she will drop--she will never reach the ark! But she struggles on. Noah has been looking out for his dove all day long, and is ready to receive her. She has just strength to reach the edge of the ark, she can hardly alight upon it, and is ready to drop, when Noah puts forth his hand and pulls her in unto him. Mark that: 'pulled her in unto him.' She did not fly right in herself, but was too fearful, or too weary to do so. She flew as far as she could, and then he put forth his hand and pulled her in unto him. This act of mercy was shown to the wandering dove, and she was not chidden for her wanderings. Just as she was she was pulled into the ark. So you, seeking sinner, with all your sin, will be received. 'Only return'--those are God's two gracious words--'only return.' What! nothing else? No, 'only return.' She had no olive branch in her mouth this time, nothing at all but just herself and her wanderings; but it is 'only return,' and she does return, and Noah pulls her in. Fly, thou wanderer; fly thou fainting one, dove as thou art, though thou thinkest thyself to be black as the raven with the mire of sin, back, back to the Saviour. Every moment thou waitest does but increase thy misery; thine attempts to plume thyself and make thyself fit for Jesus are all vanity. Come thou to him just as thou art." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

As the dove wandered about, Noah looked longingly for her. As the dove returned to the ark, empty-handed for all its efforts, she was received. As the dove fell short either out of exasperation or exhaustion, she was pulled into her master and into safety. As the dove only increased anxiety in wandering about looking for anywhere else to alight, she was received into the rest of the ark which floated calmly, steadily above the fray. As the dove brought nothing back, she was received. 

day no. 15,476: a place for choirs and for quiet

"Music and silence — how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since our Father entered Hell — though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could express — no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise — Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile — Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end. But I admit we are not yet loud enough, or anything like it." 
-- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

God is the source of music and the mute button, of beautiful sound and peaceful silence. There is majesty in music and there is solemnity in silence. The chords which are struck are measured and weighed by fixed principles and order infused into the world as an overflow of our God, Who is not of chaos, but of peace. Peace can produce music or it can enjoy silence and Heaven is filled with intermittent periods of both.

Revelation 14:2-3
And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders.

Revelation 8:1
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Heaven is full of choirs and quiet. It has room for both. But the darkness desires neither. It aims at noise. Noise that breaks the silence. Noise that destroys the melody. Discord that beats to a different drum. Hell is noise, noise, NOISE!!! It cannot come together and it cannot cease.

Noise is chaos incarnate.

day no. 15,475: Finneas is 9!!!

Finneas Haddon Foxe is 9 years old today!

I love being your dad. It is so much fun getting to spend so much time with you and watching you grow in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with both God and people.

You've recently adopted a pair of fingerless gloves that you never leave behind. I don't know when you came across them or how exactly, but now that you have, they are your right (and left) hand men. You have to be reminded to take them off during meals or when washing your hands. You love those gloves like a fat kid love cake. And I love that you love them.

You got a new pair of glasses recently and you took some getting used to them. They look good on your face and you wear them well. You are a handsome kid. 

In addition to your fingerless gloves, you almost always wear a hat. You usually wear a marine cap you got from Josiah, but sometimes you rock your Davey Crockett coon skin cap as well. You're quite the dapper Dan. I love watching you develop likes and dislikes that are distinctly yours. For the longest time, you've been kind of the caboose to whatever Atticus or Penelope were into. You were happy to join in on whatever they were into, so it was hard to answer the question, "What does Finneas like?" You were happy to go along to get along and I loved that about you as well. It is fun watching you begin to develop and pursue your own interests as you are growing older as well.

You are a really good illustrator. You have always had a great attention to detail. You always notice when one of mom's friends gets her haircut or something in the house changes. You notice things. And so it does not surprise me to observe that you are really developing your ability to draw. You have a great style to go along with your good eye for detail. You spend time and energy getting it just right and get frustrated when you can't get your head effectively on to the paper. I appreciate your diligence in that regard. I like watching you care and using that to hone your craft. 

You are a great big brother. You love Juniper and often spend time playing one on one with her and often look for opportunities to take responsibility for her in bringing her downstairs. Callista also really looks up to you and you like being involved in their games around the house. 

You like coffee and on Saturday morning Coffee and Cash time, you often ask for seconds. You have begun taking showers by yourself and doing a great job with then. The other day you even took a cold shower because you said you wanted to try to be a man like me. That was really sweet. I love you and like that you want to be like me. You are often the last one to give me a hug before I leave for my walks in the morning or afternoon. You always watch me walk down the hill from the front window and wave good-bye to me whenever I have to leave the house.

I can't believe this is your last year in the single digits. Next year, Deo volente, you will be 10! Time flies when you're having fun and having you around is a blast. You make everything awesomer. I often say that you have an eleven and we are all blessed by getting to have it at our dinner table.

I love you, Finneas. I always have and I always will. No matter what. Forever and ever. 

Happy Birthday! May you always know how loved you are and may that always produce gratitude and assurance in you to be the man God is calling you to be. You're doing great and it's only getting started. Can't wait to watch God grow you another year.

Love,

Dad

day no. 15,474: waxpheme

On my walk this morning (3/11/20) I invented a new word, "waxpheme."

The Greek word blaspheme is made up of two words: blax (slow) + pheme (to utter, make famous). So the essence of blaspheming is a reluctance to utterance, a slowness to ascribe worth and/or value to something, or an unwillingness to acknowledge another's fame or glory. 

The opposite then, I propose, should be to waxpheme.

Wax meaning to grow and increase as opposed to wane. The chief end of man is to bring glory to God (waxpheme) and enjoy Him forever. We were made to waxpheme. I invented this word in thinking about several people in my life who I feel compelled to advertise. I want them to be famous. I want their influence to grow. I want to waxpheme their name and reputation in order to point more people in their direction. God made me to waxpheme His Name above all other names (Php 2:9) and to make others who love Him famous along the way. I never feel quite as fulfilled as when I am focusing my efforts on gaining influence for someone worthy of greater following than myself. I'm never more confident in being followed than when I am eagerly encouraging others to follow what I'm already following.

1 Corinthians 11:1

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.