day no. 17,041: body counts

Buddha’s body is buried in his grave in Pingliang.
Confucius’ body is buried in his grave in Qufu.
Muhammad’s body is buried in his grave in Medina.
Marx’s body is buried in his grave in London.
Nietzsche’s body is buried in his grave in Lutzen.
Darwin’s body is buried in his grave in London.

Jesus’ body is sitting at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; and from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

"The graveyards are full of indispensable men." — Charles De Gaulle

Many men have claimed to have cornered the market only to go out of stock. Some said we could not go on without them, but we are their great grandchildren and we barely remember them.

God, however, has no grave marker. He isn't buried under history, He reigns over it. His body of work is not dead and has not decayed. He did borrow a tomb once for three days, but He checked out at the crack of dawn and never looked back.

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

The future is Christian.

day no. 17,040: the end of Christianity

Nero: this is the end of Christianity,

Diocletian: this is the end of Christianity,

Muhammed: this is the end of Christianity,

Voltaire: this is the end of Christianity,

Nietzsche: this is the end of Christianity,

Darwin: this is the end of Christianity,

Marx: this is the end of Christianity,

Freud: this is the end of Christianity,

Liberalism: this is the end of Christianity,

Feminism: this is the end of Christianity.

Communism: this is the end of Christianity,

Secularism: this is the end of Christianity,

“Men have spoken too soon in claiming that the world has now entered a post-Christian era and we have been fools to believe them.” — Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope

Christianity cannot end because the Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Because He is, Christianity ever will be. The gates of Hell will not prevail in keeping back the Kingdom's advance. They cant. He is alive. The future is Christian.

“Strictly speaking, there will never be a post-Christian era, because there will never be an era post-Christ.“ — Toby Sumpter

Christianity will never end and there will never be anything after Christianity. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father patiently destroying all of His enemies save death. Once every last enemy has been rallied under His feet, He shall stand again and come to judge the quick and the dead and put an end to that last enemy when death itself is thrown into the lake of fire.

“Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.” — G.K. Chesterton

Resurrection rules the world. He is seated, but His seeds keep growing. As they die to themselves, falling like grains of wheat to the ground in faith, they are by grace regenerated. The Lord is landscaping and the leaven continues to conquers the lump. 

“Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.” — G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

Christendom can die, but it cannot stay dead. If it dies for its faith, it rises against because of it. You cannot kill the resurrection. You cannot end Christianity. It is the defeat of defeat and the death of death. It is the end of the end.

“The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church." — Tertullian

Faithful death is like fertilizer. The Church is antifragile. If you kill it, you multiply it. If you strike it down like the reaper, you only serve to sow it like a farmer.

day no. 17,039: edom and gomorrah

“Any nation that defends herself with women in combat is not worth defending.” — Douglas Wilson, A Christian View of War

When it has come to the point where men are insisting on being saved by women, it has come to the point of no return. The edge of the cliff in that scenario was twenty seconds ago and the next stop is the bottom and it is approaching at an alarming rate.

“A nation that sends its women to fight its wars is not worth defending.” — Pat Buchanan

You should not defend the indefensible. It is unconscionable to send women and children to die in order to save the men. That should not be and soon won't be if it is allowed to continue.

Obadiah 1:1, 12

The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

When you rejoice over the end of men, you are either Edom or Gomorrah. You are either excited to watch men burn or you are burning after other men. Either way, it is the end of men and you are rejoicing over the ashes.

Jeremiah 51:30

The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.

If you win the men, you win the war.  But if you send your women our into harm's way, your homes are already forfeit. If you've lost the men, you've lost the war and someone else's men are soon to be your masters.

day no. 17,038: there are no off the rack jacks

Acts 17:26

God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.

Our Father in Heaven picked the time and place for you to be born, including your family and father. Your Father in Heaven did not randomly say, “eenie-meenie-minie-Joe.” No, He is a good Father and He handpicked your particulars just for you. There are no off the rack Jacks. Everyone is made to order and designed to fit the place that God has assigned to them. No one is a generic knock-off.

Why did He do it like that? The next verse tells us,

Acts 17:27a

That they should seek God.

You were born to seek God from where you are: in your place, in your people, in your gender, in your family, and in your father. You could have been born anywhere at any time to anyone… but you weren’t. You were born somewhere… at sometime… to someone. So, do not forget to see God in your circumstances; for as the verse goes on to say,

Acts 17:27b

He is not far from each one of us.

day no. 17,037: paternity and Trinity

Habakkuk 2:14

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Malachi 4:6

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Matthew 28:19

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

The scriptures teach us that the hearts of fathers will be turned back to their children and that the hearts of children will be turned back to their fathers. The scriptures also teach us that the world will be covered with the knowledge of the Lord like the water covers the seas and that the nations will be baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Our cultural calendar marks today as Father’s Day and our church calendar marks today as Trinity Sunday. This is a double blessing. As sons, we honor our Father in Heaven when we honor the fathers He gave us. As fathers, we glorify God when we raise our children in the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ; the love of God, our Father; and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

So, Happy Father’s Day and Happy Trinity Sunday.

Thanks be to God for so much to celebrate.

day no. 17,036: eggs are expensive and sperm is cheap

“Eggs are expensive, sperm is cheap.” — Greg Krehbiel, Eggs Are Expensive, Sperm Is Cheap: 50 Politically Incorrect Thoughts for Men

Men may be made of dirt, but they should not be treated like dirt. That said, if there is a bump in the night, the man should rise to the occasion. He is called to provide and protect his people. Part of that reveals that it would be better for him to perish in protecting his people than for his people to perish in order to protect him. Simply put, masculine virtue is not worth protecting if it cannot protect itself. That is not masculine virtue. If you protect that, what you are curating is not masculine or virtuous. 

Masculinity was made to sacrifice itself in order to save its people. Love lays down its life for the beloved and men are made in the image of the Man of God who did just that. Femininity was made to sacrifice itself in order to produce more people. Love is hospitable and welcomes new life into its womb and spends itself nurturing that life from its own body. 

Men and women were made differently. Men produce seeds faster than eggs can be fertilized. Men make more seeds than women can make eggs. One egg a month for a limited number of decades is a scarcer resource than a lifetime supply of daily sperm. 

Women are the weaker sex and must be treasured accordingly. You do not use the fancy plates for lunch on Wednesday. You save those for special occasions and keep them stored in a safe place in the meantime. You do not display normal dishes. The delicate ones, however, sometimes are put on display, but even then, they are kept safe and sound by being stored out of reach of others. Men are not disposal paper plates, but neither are they fine china... nor should they desire to be. Men are the standard issue ceramic white plates that get food on them often, get washed, dried, and put back into service.

Eggs are expensive; sperm is cheap.

Thanks be to God.

day no. 17,035: the unity of diversity and the clarity of disparity

Genesis 1:27

God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Creation is distinction.

First and foremost, all creation is distinct from its Creator. He is distinct from what He has made. What is made cannot be separated from its Creator, but it is distinctly not its own Creator. It is with God, but it is not God, nor was it from the beginning.

Secondly, all creation contains internal distinctions. God made the night distinct from the day, the land distinct from the water, the waters above distinct from the waters below, the creatures of the air distinct from the creatures of the water, etc... It should come as no surprise then that the crown of His creation, the image bearers of God, should contain the internal distinction of male and female.

Diversity is best blessed when its distinctions are received as blessings.

God separates things in order to bring them back together better than they were before they were broken apart. The man is broken in order to make the woman. God then brings the woman back to the man in order to join them together. This is more than the man merely getting his rib back. He does get it back, but in a much better union. His new unity is better than his previous one. Man and wife is better than man before he lost his rib.

The unity of diversity is best achieved by the clarity of disparity.

If I set the sun beside the moon,

And if I set the land beside the sea,

And if I set the town beside the country,

And if I set the man beside the woman,

I suppose some fool would talk about one being better.

by G. K. Chesterton

day no. 17,034: win the men, win the war

1 Corinthians 11:3

I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.

Win the man, win the war.

Christ has won.

We are Christ's.

We have won. 

Revelation 1:6

He hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Christ is our Head.

Under Him we serve.

Christ is King.

In His train we conquer.

Revelation 5:10

He hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Win the men, win the war.

Win the man, his people will follow.

With the King comes the Kingdom.

Ephesians 4:8

When He ascended on high, He led a train of captives and gave gifts to people.

If you win the man, you win his people.

Christ has won and we are His people.

day no. 17,033: pacifism is the war on war

“If I tried to become [a pacifist], I should find a very doubtful factual basis, an obscure train of reasoning, a weight of authority both human and divine against me, and strong grounds for suspecting that my wishes had directed my decision.” — C.S. Lewis, Why I Am Not a Pacifist

Pacifism is the war on war.

1 Timothy 6:12

Fight the good fight of the faith. 

Pacifism is faithless because it refuses to fight.

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought the good fight

Pacifism cannot persevere because it refuses to fight.

“There are no pacifist traditions left. All worthy traditions must be militant in order to survive this time of upheaval.” — Douglas Wilson

Refusing to fight is accepting your enemy's position.

"If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism." — Thomas Sowell 

Law and order is imposition. Someone's values will be imposed upon someone else. You cannot have a society without someone's morality being imposed upon another's.

"Christianity is a fighting religion." — C.S, Lewis, Mere Christianity

The good fight will require some fighting.

"As we reject the myth of neutrality, we must remember that we are not rejecting neutrality as a bad thing, but rather as an impossible thing." — Douglas Wilson, Excused Absence

Pacifism is self-defeating... even before it is actually defeated.

day no. 17,032: slander

Psalms 101:5

Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off:

him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

Slander is confessing the sins of others, imagined or otherwise.

Proverbs 19:1

The discretion of a man deferreth his anger;

and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

If it is the glory of a man to overlook an offense, and it is, how much more is it the depravity of a man to point out an invented offense?

Colossians 3:13

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

When we confess the sins of others, we are not looking for those sins to be covered and forgiven, we are looking for them to be highlighted and punished.  When we invent accusations, we reveal our allegiance to the satanic impulse. In Christ, we are forgiven for real, solid sins. In satan, we are hounded by fabricated accusations. 

Impatient false witness crucified Christ. 

Longsuffering innocent sacrifice saved us.

Don't jump on the slandwagon.

Ride the truth train.

day no. 17,031: subjects and citizens

“Laws multiply when the lawgivers want to have subjects instead of citizens. When laws swarm like the frogs of Egypt, the reason for it is to increase guilt. This guilt means two things—one is that when there are multitudinous regulations, they can always get you for something. Second, it turns everyone into a lawbreaker.” — Douglas Wilson, Mere Christendom

When you imagine yourself a god, you must demonstrate your claim, if only to prove to  yourself that you may have a point. So, it begins by speaking authoritatively about everything. If you are the author, you must prove it by flexing some editorial privilege. You determine what is canon and what is fan fiction. 

In God's case, nothing would exist if He did not speak it authoritatively into existence. In the state's case, everything is under its authority because it reserves the right to redefine anything, like marriage. It does not make rights, it guards the ones God gave. It does not create the earth, it protects the borders of its nation that God sustains. It does not generate income, it collects taxes from the labor of the people that God permits to prosper. The only thing the state makes is laws. And so they do... a lot.

If you're not God and you want to make a case that might be, you must drum up as much legislation as you possibly can. This gives the appearance of omnipotence by extending its sway into every nook and cranny. It provides the illusion of omniscience by getting into everyone's business. It supports the suspicion of its omnipresence by being involved in everything you do everywhere you go.

"If men will not be governed by the Ten Commandments, they shall be governed by the ten thousand commandments." — G..K. Chesterton

God is the Author of the universe and gave us ten good laws. The state is a petty despot over a sliver of the land and cannot stop itself from printing new commands (or currency). When you don't have real gravitas, you have to fabricate your own. When you're not the Designer, you have to concoct a designer knock off. Those who lack gravity often attempt to make up for it by producing as much fakakta force as they can. The end result is mountains of legal code and the opportunity to catch you out if you should consider leaving a comment regarding the Emperor's new clothes (or lack thereof).

day no. 17,030: a spoonful of sugar substitute

“Empathy is the delivery platform of radical relativism.” — Douglas Wilson, Keep Your Kids

Post-modern goo often requires a spoonful of sugar substitute to help the poison go down. That little pink packet is called "empathy." In order to discredit the truth (that they do not like), they have insisted on "their truths" (which they do). In order to make a new heavens and a new earth, they have made a new truth, which is to say, they have started believing that old lie that one can reign in Hell to avoid having to serve in Heaven. But God provides no place where vain conceit is permitted to reign. Radical relativism and unhinged individualism cannot reinvent reality. They can fabricate a surreality, but they cannot impose it upon the real thing. In other words, the chaos cannot win. It can, unfortunately, burn some things down, but only by lighting itself on fire.

day no. 17,029: neuteronomy

Matthew 5:17

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, not the word of God.

1 John 3:8

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father destroying all of His enemies. The law and the prophets are not listed among them.

"Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law, not abolish it; so, whatever 'fulfill' means, it cannot mean 'abolish.'" — K.J. Behler

Fulfilling the law may transform it, but it does not abolish it. Jesus may take the law into His arms, but He will not abandon it. The law and the prophets carry on in the Gospel of God and the conquest of Christendom.

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

The Word of God will be fulfilled. Every word of it shall come to pass, but none of it shall merely pass away. It will not return to void, but will accomplish everything it prophesied.

1 Peter 1:24-25

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Do not emasculate the law of the Lord. Do not Neuteronomy. The end of the world is not the abolition of law Word of the Lord. It is the fruition of it.

day no. 17,028: like minded

“What the heart liketh best, the mind studieth most.” — Richard Sibbes

We think a lot about the things we love a bunch. It is easy. It comes naturally. When you like something, you like thinking about it. You even like thinking about how much you like it. 

God has put this principle into place primarily for the purpose of man meditating upon the Word of God as a result of his intense love for God. Since there is only one God, you do not have to divvy up your mind or your heart. This frees a man up to love the Lord God with all of his heart and all of his mind. When he does so, he finds himself thinking about God a lot. He who is forgiven much, loves much; and he who loves much, meditates often and at length about his Savior and his salvation.

As a secondary benefit of this principle, God gives us the joy of enjoying things. When those things are ordered correctly, they really are enjoyed for what they are with proportion to what they are. We can think about them as gifts and enjoy them as His grace. We like thinking about them because we are grateful for them. Thanks be to God!

day no. 17,027: asked and answered

“You can’t ask someone if you have a short temper and then blow up (or stop talking to them for six months) if they say, 'yes.'” — Douglas Wilson, Keep Your Kids

Well, you can, but you've answered your own question.

Proverbs 27:5-6

Open rebuke is better than secret love.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; 

but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Other people can sometimes make good mirrors.

If you do not like the face looking back at you, perhaps it's not always their problem.

Ephesians 4:26

Be angry, but do not sin.

A short temper is a sin.

Longsuffering is a sanctification.

Choose wisely.

day no. 17,026: middle-class fancy

“It may sound odd, but many Christians have not learned contentment with their blessings in the middle. They have not leaned middle class contentment. I like to think that if God gave me a boatload of money, I could do an enormous amount of good for the kingdom. This is has been a point of disagreement between me and the Lord for some years now. So be content with what you have (Heb. 13:5)” — Douglas Wilson, Calibrated Wealth Preferences

Too much or too little is not too good. Too much and hubris seeps in. Too little and scruples leak out. The Goldilocks zone is good enough and enough, that sense, is as good as a feast. Better to be middle-class and a welcomed as a friend at Bag End than to be honored among the upper crusties in the land of Mordor. 

1 Timothy 6:6-8

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Contentment is better than riches. The greedy never have enough even when it is ten times more than most.

Hebrews 13:5

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

The one who has God and nothing else has more than he who has everything except God.

day no. 17,025: Christianity is a fighting religion

“Christianity is a fighting religion. It thinks God made the world — that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colours and tastes, and all the animals and vegetables, are things that God “made up out of His head” as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again.” — C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Truth claims are combative. To say that you believe in the one, true God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth is to say that you don't believe in other gods or origin stories: i.e. Allah, Vishnu, or Darwinian evolution, et al. Whatever claims they are making, you are saying that you don't believe them. In other words, you are calling them all liars. And dems be fightin' words.

But Christianity is not merely belligerent in its assertion that Christ is King, it is militant in its mission to push that claim to every corner or every inch of existence. Christ is King on earth and in Heaven and we pray for His kingdom to come, not go. We strive to bring His kingdom to bear here as it is there. Again, this puts us back onto the battlefield as the darkness dos not always go quietly into that good night. No, it rages against the growing of the light. 

So, the greater the diameter of light, the greater the circumference of the darkness. The points of contact become more frequent as they become more thin. So, expect more bumps in the night, but also expect the lumps to be leavened as the day extinguishes the darkness.

day no. 17,024: tyrannitos

“One of the reasons God makes them so small is so that they won’t kill you. And one of the reasons he makes them so cute is so that you won’t kill them.” — Voddie Baucham

Murder is bound up in the heart of an infant, but by the grace of God, they lack the requisite competencies needed to pull off their plots. Rest assured, if they could burn the world to the ground over their unmet expectations, they would, but they can't, so it keeps on chugging along. God loves us and He wants us to be happy.

Toddlers are tiny tyrants. Let's call them tyrannitos. They would "off with their heads" every hand that feeds them if they had the ability to do it. They rail at any one in between what they want and when they want it. They are all impulse and no implication. They would blow up the kitchen one minute and be mad that dinner was delayed the next.

Their sin is not cute, but they are. As Voddie points out, if they were as ugly as their sin, it would not go well for most babies. But more often than not, they are so cute that their sin gets excused as cute as well. This is not an improvement. Parents who make this accommodation end up with teens who want to burn the world down, but by that point they actually could, and it is no longer cute.

Proverbs 23:13-14

Withhold not correction from the child: For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from hell.

Correct sin when the kids are cute. If you wait, the child you raise will be as ugly as the sin always has been. Love your son enough to give him the gift of knowing how to be under authority and he will walk with God, following His footsteps, as a grown man.

day no. 17,023: poor and wise over rich and stupid

“The wisdom of Solomon tests us. It is only possible to be wealthy and wise if such a person would rather be poor and wise than rich and stupid.” — Douglas Wilson, Calibrated Wealth Preferences

It is better to be poor and wise than rich and stupid, but it is best to be rich and wise. The worst, of course, is to be poor and stupid. Proverbial wisdom always pushes us to order our affections by pitting two good things against each other. It is better to have thin soup with good friends than fat steaks with fatheads who are plotting your downfall. It is better to be rebuked by a good friend than to be flattered by fakes. It is better to be served cold, hard truth than soft, warm treacle. It is better to be socked in the face by love than to be sucked up to by sycophants.

You cannot be wealthy and wise unless you would pick pious poverty over luxurious lunacy. If you really would, you could gain riches without losing your mind. If you know enough to say that you would, but don't have the resolve, you may dabble in decadence, but it won't be long before you are back to drowning in destitution.