day no. 17,264: church discipline is good medicine

“A church that does not practice church discipline is a church with an immune system collapse.” — Douglas Wilson, Mines of Difficulty

Sin is a given. You must budget for it. The way it ought to be dealt with it Biblically and quickly so that accounts are kept short and up to date. 

Romans 13:8

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:

for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Keeping the law by loving one another is the best way to stay healthy. No one should owe anyone anything except to love one another. That means no apologies should be outstanding and no forgiveness should be withheld. 

Proverbs 3:27

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, 

when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

Everyone is giving and receiving what they owe one another. This will keep the sniffles away.

Church discipline is good medicine. If you get sick, it's not the end of the world if you address it. If you tolerate viruses, you could die. If you eliminate them, you can live to fight another day.

Song of Solomon 2:15

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

Good fences make good neighbors. Do your best to keep the foxes out of the garden. If they get in, chase them out. Little things can ruin everything. Do not sleep on small sins. Set up good guard rails and keep the good well protected inside and the bad well defended against.

A fruitful vineyard is an attractive target for sly foxes, so the better the fruit, the more attacks you can expect, but the better the defense, the safer the garden. Do as Adam ought to have done and protect the garden. Do not allow snakes to slither about and do not force your people to face them alone or allow them to think that they aren't as dangerous as they really are. 

day no. 17,258: the danger of love and the danger of lust

“Fighting for a thing without loving it is not even fighting; it can only be called a kind of horse-play that is occasionally fatal." — G.K. Chesterton

Love is the desire to put oneself between the beloved and the danger.

Lust is the danger of putting one's desires before the other.

James 4:1-2

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

We fight for things we love.

We fight with things we lust after.

Most modern warfare is not about loving what is behind us but hating what is in front of us. It involve a lot of horsing around online and most of the time people merely get their feelings hurt, but sometimes it escalates out onto the streets of Minneapolis where someone dies.

day no. 17,256: our on the way to church liturgy

We have officially added to our standard “get in the van and going to church” liturgy based on a sermon we all sat under at our home church, Christ Church Leavenworth.

For many years, we have been in the habit of saying:

Q: where are we going?

A: to church! (Ps 122:1)

Q: and why do we go to church?

A: to worship our God with our people (Ps 95:7)

Now, in addition to that, we are adding the following:

Q: and where are we going when we get there?

A: to Heaven! (Eph 2:6)

Q: and what are we gonna do when we get there?

A: storm the gates of Hell! (Matt 16:18, Rom. 16:20)

Psalm 122:1

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.

Psalm 95:7

For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Ephesians 2:6

He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 16:!8

I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Romans 16:20

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

day no. 17,248: more the images of Caesar or more images of God?

“Fellow citizens, why do you turn and scrape every stone to gather wealth and take so little care of your children to whom you must one day relinquish it all?” — Socrates

Most Christians know that children are a blessing and that money is a trap, yet most Christians also have more imagination for more money than they do for more kids. If you asked a random Christian man or woman what they would do with a million dollars, they could immediately begin naming off things they would do. They would find the exercise invigorating. While the whole thing remained hypothetical, they would find themselves listing off ideas and then revising them as they developed a full scale chronology and prioritization of what those dollars would do for them. Those same people, however, if asked, "What would you do with a million descendants?" would not have a clue. They would likely not even understand the question or the premise behind it. It would probably be the first (and last) time they ever considered the notion. 

All that to say, most Christians who confess that children are a blessing would still choose a thousand dollars over a thousand descendants. They would probably take $5 over five children. A joke about making five bucks instead of paying $5 million to raise them all would likely be made. The problem is that most Christians see people as a consumer instead of a producer. The more people, the more mouths to feed. And as far as the observation goes, well enough. Point granted. But they do not see image bearers as a force multiplier. They children and grandchildren as compound interest that is working against them instead of compound interest that is working for them. Children are good stock that returns more on investment than vacations and fast cars. Children are a better and more faithful retirement plan than your 401k. You can either save up enough $ to pay someone else's kid to take care of you when you are older or you can invest in your own children so that they are there to take care of you as you were there to take care of them.

The image of God is worth more than the image of Caesar, but most people, including Christians, get more excited about the idea of more coins in their pockets than they do about more children in their homes. 

day no. 17.247: domestic warfare and homework

"To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour tends, and of which every desire prompts the prosecution.” — Samuel Johnson

Life is what you come home to and if everything is right there, everything can be wrong out in the world and a man will still feel blessed. Conversely, if everything out in the world is going well, but a man's home is a cesspool of bitterness and belligerence, nothing will feel quite right. 

Women were made to make home. A foolish woman tears down her own house, but a wise woman builds it up and it becomes the kind of place everyone wants to be and look s forward to coming back to. It also prepares those within it well for the work they must do outside its walls. The home is not jealous of the work that needs to be done outside its walls, it is zealous to help those called to the fields.

“I think I can understand that feeling about a housewife’s work being like that of Sisyphus (who was the stone rolling gentleman). But it is surely, in reality, the most important work in the world. What do ships, railways, mines, cars, government etc exist for except that people may be fed, warmed, and safe in their own homes? As Dr. Johnson said, ‘To be happy at home is the end of all human endeavour’. (1st to be happy, to prepare for being happy in our own real Home hereafter: 2nd, in the meantime, to be happy in our houses.) We wage war in order to have peace, we work in order to have leisure, we produce food in order to eat it. So your job is the one for which all others exist.” — C.S. Lewis

Men go out to fight for their homes. They risk the discomfort of trenches for the comfort of family table. They go out into the cold for the love of the warmth they leave behind to defend. A man will lay his life down on a foreign field in order to give his people a fighting chance to survive back in the homeland.

Nehemiah 4:14

And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

The home is the building block of society.  If you want to fight the darkness, the place is to begin at home. Love your wife. Teach your children. Build a life together. Make something so precious that you would be willing to fight for it if it came to that. The home is the first battle front. If you lose that, the only motivation you have to go out to war is the hatred of your enemies and as Chesterton reminded us, "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."

The home, then, is the domestic theater of the war. Do not go AWOL. Get to work.

day no. 17,238: alphabetical areas of interest January 2026

"There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people."

— G.K. Chesterton

Interested people are interesting people.

Be interested... stay interesting.

AI funk covers (been having fun listening to some of these)

Almost Impossible Game Show (been watching together as a family)

AMVs (watching during Saturday breakfast)

Ave Marias (sweet cigars I got from member for Christmas gift)

Bathtub (has been dripping, need to fix)

Beer n Books (Finneas asked to begin attending)

BIG cigar (got as a gift from Kevin Lucas - it was really good)

Black Jack Cola (Finneas likes this for 3rd Fridays)

Boylei Hobby Time (fun diorama making channel on YouTube)

Canon+ (approved by session for officers)

Christmas gift (got a nice gift from my parents for our family)

Cigars (Drew Estates Factory Smoke Sweets: Robustos are my new jam)

Couch (kids broke downstairs couch while playing)

Custer (house was under contract, but fell through, may get another chance to see it)

Dark Country (interesting covers of popular songs)

Date night (song from Bob's Burgers)

Doorknobs (kids have broken garage doorknob and dining room doorknob)

Drama (so much church drama since joining session as elder candidate)

Duck eggs (been getting these from Behlers)

Eggnog (most kids really liked it this year)

Emporia (made first trip to preach there in August)

Family Reunion (Paige's Dad's family in Washington, IA)

Field Trip (scheduled tentatively for week before Thanksgiving)

Fire Cider (Paige made a batch - sooo good!)

Fires (trying to do them most Sundays, weather permitting)

Goodwill (found some new church clothes on date night with Paige)

Holiday Cheer (beer by Shiner Bock that we liked)

Ice cream (Lolo likes yellow vanilla with a fork)

Jazz (fun date night destination for cajun food)

Kent (new neighbor kid who has been coming over to play)

Kingdom Core (fun IG page culling great Christian metal)

Liturgical ties (Paige got me a red one and I picked out a green, gold, and purple one)

Losers (Russell Moore called Canon Press people losers, got a coffee cup from KJ)

Milk (now up to 9 gallons a week)

Money (neighbor left card with $200 for Christmas)

Mopping (new nightly routine with sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping)

Nate Bargatze (enjoying his comedy with kids, Christmas special)

Night driving (Atticus working on night time hours)

Ninjago (kids have become HUGE Ninj-nerds)

Oatmeal (Paige had some instant stuff sitting around that I liked)

Penelope (been having a rough season of weakness and dizziness)

Postmillitant (passed 150k followers on IG and nearing 400 on YouTube)

Psych (Paige and I at end of last season of this show)

Quince (Paige started getting clothes from this online retailer)

Raise (getting a Jan 1st salary adjustment at work)

Red light (Paige put this up on her side of the bed)

Red Pill Reformation (fun new channel on YouTube we've been watching)

Red Postmillitant shirt (finally opened and wore for the first time)

Roller Skating (kids have been using garage for skating rink)

Sermon prep (my favorite is outside with a cigars surrounded by my sons)

Sherlock Hound (kids watching on Canon+)

Smash-Ups (been having fun finding smashups of songs during clean up)

Sonic the Hedgehog (waching the movies)

South Dakota (made a trip out to Custer for possibly the last time)

Studio C (continues to be a family favorite for comedy)

Tee Hee Hee Tuesday (fun Michael Knowles videos we've been watching)

Thai food (Sila Thai, new restaurant in LV, which is awesome!)

Trolls (kids have enjoyed these movies and soundtracks)

United States are (not is - this was the cause of the War of Northern Aggression)

Vacation (SD in September to see parents in Custer - maybe last time???)

Warrior Poet (enjoying his YouTube with kids)

Wipe Out (finished Australia, then watched through Canada)

Wipe Out (kids made makeshift course in backyard to simulate playing)

X (still not on Twitter, no X; not opposed, just an hours in the day thing)

Yellowcard (their version of Coldplay's "Christmas Lights" is epic)

Zzzs (Paige going to bed earlier, first time we've been going to be at diff times on the regs)

day no. 17,220: ophelia is four

Ophelia is FOUR! She is O-four-lia. Nope. Nevermind. Sorry.

Oey, you are so much fun. You are full of energy, attitude, and personality. You like to tell jokes and you love being funny. The other day you were at the table singing, "The stu word, the stu word!" You are at that fun age where you say silly things, most of the time unintentionally, but every once in a while on purpose. Another time I overhead you singing, "I like marshmallows. They are good for my teeth." 

You like to say, "I'm scared" before bed so that I will respond by saying, "I will keep you safe" You like to say. "bum bum" at the end of singing Amazing Grace and you do not like it when anyone else joins in to say, "bum bum."

You like doing things for yourself except for when you don't and then you demand that other people do them for you. Typical threenager stuff, nothing new under the sun.

You like to talk about Dreesuz. You've heard enough churchianity and Christianese in your young life to say some really profound things... when you're not accidentally promoting outright heresy. You like to pray and you like to talk about God. You are a little Christian lady. You are the first Van Voorst to be raised entirely within the world of Presbyterianism. This is the air you breathe. You will never know a time where we didn't sing psalms.

You love your sisters and like playing with them, until you don't. And then you like playing by yourself in the back room, especially if trains are involved. If you have your trains, you can easily be on your own in there for hours without needing anything. You also disappear to play with Knox and Eulalie at times. You love your siblings.

You like building things with Duplos and just like trains, you can get lost in them and spend a morning making and playing in a world made out of colored blocks. 

You like Ninjago, especially Cole. He's the rock ninja.

You like being outside, especially without shoes. Speaking of shoes, where are your shoes? Why am I asking you? You don't know. :)

If you say, "Pwease" like three times, you expect to get what you asked for. 

You like to play games. In fact, sometimes, you just start playing them and expect other people to realize that they are now part of whatever game you are playing. Sometimes we discover we've been playing a game with you and we didn't even know it.

You know how to stay dry in your diaper, you just don't care enough to consistently stay dry in it. Sometimes you do, sometimes you do do.

You have a lot of chutzpah to harness and by the grace of God, when it is someday, you're going to wreak havoc on the heathen. You were born to be a handful. May your enemies' hands always be incapable of handling you and may their minds never know what to do with you.

All things considered, you are a delight, Oey. You are cute, smart, funny, and fiesty. I love being your dad and I'm glad I get to spend my days getting to know you.

So, here's to Oey!

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Dad

day no. 17,210: Atticus turns SEVENTEEN!

Happy Birthday, Atticus!

They say that time flies when you're having fun, so it makes sense that it goes even faster when you're having as much as we have. You are seventeen years old today and it has been a blast and it has really flown by.

I am proud of the man that you are and excited by the man you are becoming. You are reliable, humble, faithful, respectable, hard-working, interesting, fun, and kind. You are a good big brother to your siblings and a good son to your mother and me. You are a churchman. You like being where the men of our church are and you like helping out with what needs to be done. You do this at home when it comes to dishes and at church when it comes to chairs. You are a good artist and a good worker. You know how to create a world on paper and how to better the world with your hands.

I am proud of you. I love you and I like you and I like telling others that you're my son.

So, here's the Atticus!

Happy Birthday, son.

Love,

Dad

day no. 17,205: matriarchy is a failed patriarchy

“What is called ‘matriarchy’ is simply moral anarchy, in which the mother alone remains fixed because all the fathers are fugitive and irresponsible.” — G. K. Chesterton

In other words, patriarchy is inescapable. Where we see women leading it is because men are retreating. Matriarchy is built on the foundation of failing fathers. Women lead either where they are forced to because of a vacuum or where they are asked to because of cowardice. In a climate of effeminacy, women are better suited for the work. An effeminate man is not as good as a regular ol' woman and so the pulpits eventually, in an attempt at honesty, pick the lady preacher over the gay pastor because she is better at it than he is.

Where men have abandoned their posts altogether or prefer to sit rather than stand in the posts to which they have been appointed, someone will have to stand there. If dad takes his hands off the wheel, it is not shocking when mom reaches over and grabs it. If he pulls over, gets out, and begin to walk away, it is not shocking that she scoots over and takes over the driver's seat entirely.  This is understandable, but it is damnable. Lazy men put women in an impossible position.

To end where we began, women leading is a sign of men retreating and no man can boast in that kind of cowardice. He can blame the women for being grabby, but he cannot excuse his inability to keep them from reaching around him. When the patriarchy is a gaytriarchy, a matriarchy is the logical next step down.

day no. 17,193: one of the problems with solutions

“Is it possible that at least some of your problems are partly your fault?” — Douglas Wilson

In a world full of sin, it isn't often that you had nothing to do with any of it. Now, that is not to say that it is impossible to be sinned against unilaterally. That can happen, but you should budget for the fact that most sins, like the tango, take two.

“No problem is so bad that you can’t make it worse.” — Douglas Wilson

Some attempts to fix the problem are simply an additional problem. Some solutions are just as problematic as the original problem like taking cyanide for a headache. Cyanide will, all things considered, make the headache go away, but not without consequences. If you go that route, you will find that other things have gone away as well.

Galatians 6:1

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

All of this to say that it is possible to add to the sin in trying to reduce it. If you are not spiritual, you can make the original sin worse. In other circumstances, you may not make a dent in it, but you might add a new sin to the mix. And if you go in without budgeting for your own depravity, you will find yourself tempted in the process of "helping" someone else with their temptations.

Sin is one of the problems with solutions.

day no. 17,187: when the joke isn't half bad

“To say that the moderns are half-educated may seem to be too complimentary by half.” — G. K. Chesterton

And to punctuate the point, most moderns won't get that joke. All they heard was, "oh man, I have to do fractions!"

“Now the public school system may not work satisfactorily, but it works; the public schools may not achieve what we want, but they achieve what they want.” — G.K. Chesterton, What’s Wrong With The World

Feducation is not meant to produce free people, it is meant to churn out wage slaves.

"Public education has not produced an educated public." — G.K. Chesterton

Nor has intended to. To repeat Chesterton's previous point, public education has not failed, it has succeeded. It has done the thing it set out to do. It both tricked most people into thinking it was doing something else and did the thing it was trying to do

“Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.” — G.K. Chesterton

A feducation will never give a man the tools he needs to question his government. The state will never supply its citizenry with the ability to live without it. The state is not teaching you who our forefathers were, let alone what they were taught. If you forget that men like that existed in addition to ignoring what they knew, the state can reign supreme and run on unopposed.

day no. 17,179: rocco is TEN

Happy 10th Birthday, Rocco!

We have now all been blessed by a full decade of Rocco. Ten years may not seem like many, but it is ten percent of one hundred years, which seems like a lot. God has designed us in such a way that we spend our formative years growing into and becoming the kind of person we will be for most of our life. Ten year old Rocco will be a lot different than five year old Rocco, but forty year old Rocco will likely be a lot like thirty-five year old Rocco. All that to say, at this stage of life, things change quickly. You learn a lot of new things. You gain a lot of weight and muscle. You grow a lot of inches in height. You mature. In celebrating your birthday today, we are remembering with fondness all the good times we've already had and all the good times we look forward to as you become more and more who you are, that is, who God made you to be.

So, who is this man of mystery, this ten year old rocket of sauce? He is quiet and kind. He cares what others think of him without being consumed by constantly worrying about what others think of him. He likes to be crazy and scream and run around and he likes it best when most people aren't paying attention to him. He falls asleep during story club sometimes and he gets up early to do schoolwork and push-ups. He is strong. He is a good friend. He is easy to get along with and easy to like. He knows what is right. He loves his partner in crime, Finneas. He does not like being the center of attention, but he doesn't want to be ignored. He is smart, friendly, loyal, and reliable. In summary, he is a good man and I am proud of him. He is my son and I love him with all my heart.

Happy Birthday, Rocco!

Dad

day no. 17,163: boys to men

“If boys don’t learn, men won’t know.” — Douglas Wilson, Future Men

Manhood must be conveyed. You do not become a man by growing up or growing a beard, you only become a man when a man confirms your manhood. It is like being knighted or like apostolic succession. You cannot be knighted without a knight to convey the title to you. You cannot be an elder in the church of God without elders ahead and above you to confirm you. You cannot confirm your own arrival. You cannot be trusted to grade our own exam. Without another man, you cannot know that you are a man. 

Colossians 3:21

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

Fatherlessness is a void that cannot be easily filled. God must by adoption provide fathers where previous men failed or fell short. Boys need men in order to become men. Men must make the time to teach masculinity to boys or we will not have any men. When fathers fail, they provoke their progeny to agent. They leave a lot of boys discouraged and unable to validate themselves through the natural, normal channels that God has provided and so they find synthetic substitutes like gangs or video games.

day no. 17,152: greek and goo-goo-ga-ga

“If a man feels called to the ministry, one of the first things he should do is find a sweet little thing with a stout heart, marry her, and start having fat evangelical babies. This is something the homo-catechized world will sneer at, but only because they can’t do it. All they have is gay fruitlessness.” — Douglas Wilson, Virgins and Volcanoes

The man who feels called to make disciples for a living should begin by making some with his wife. If he is single, he should find our her name and then go ask her father. If he cannot convince a man to give his daughter to him as a husband, he should not seek to convince other men to give their people to him as a pastor. Once he is married, he should have some kids. Parenting is great pastoral training. Knowing Greek is helpful, but knowing goo-goo-ga-ga is critical. Parenting little people is the best preparation for shepherding the little flock of God.

1 Timothy 3:1-5

This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

Keeping covenant with one woman and the children God provides is the best way to prepare a man to help others keep their covenants. Pastors should not be androgynous. They should be men. The fruit of their masculinity should be a sweet, feminine bride and cheerful, obedient children. That scans. If he can do that under those conditions, he can do the same in the capacity of pastor.

day no. 17,136: babies are still the best revenge

In order to save a couple of bucks a bunch of kids are kept from being born and it happens everyday.

Psalm 127:3

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

Many Christians who say, “Children are a blessing,” would still choose a thousand dollars over a thousand descendants: They already know what they would do with a thousand dollars and have no clue what to do with the idea of a thousand descendants:

“Babies are the best revenge.” — Lily Ebert

Fertility is shots fired. The meek shall inherit the earth by surviving the schemes of the sterile. The fruitless will set their nets and the fruitful will escape them and take their revenge by populating the world that the fruitless longed to take by force. The fruitless want the world to themselves, but they will neither get the world they want nor take it from those to whom God wants to give it.

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

The meek do not fight sterility with sterility, but with fecundity and virility. The best antidote for barrenness is fullness and when grumbling lobs its bombs, it is best to fire back with gratitude.

Romans 12:21

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

What could be better than a baby? We don’t overcome the evil of eugenics by foregoing our fruitfulness in order to fight them. Fruitfulness is how we fight them. Our cheerful reproduction demolishes their strongholds and takes every one of their impotent doctrines captive for Christ. Our happy homemaking and culture building begins with making babies. But it doesn’t end there. And they know it. They know a woman’s womb is a weapon and that the future cannot be kept from those who happily hope in it enough to fight by faith and fertility for it this day.

Genesis 24:60

And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, “Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.”

Amen! May our wives be the mothers of millions and our daughters of thousands of millions. Let them flood the earth with faithful dominion and prevail against the gates of Hell.

day no. 17,129: rendering to everyone his due (exhortation outline)

Christ Church Leavenworth

WLC 141: Rendering to Everyone His Due

August 24, 2025

Rendering to Everyone His Due

INTRODUCTION

This morning we are continuing our study of Q141 of the WLC which asks, “What are the duties required in the Eighth Commandment?” The eighth commandment, as you recall, is “Thou shall not steal” and the duty associated with it that we will be focusing on this morning is “rendering to everyone his due.”

The text provided by the Westminster divines regarding this duty is Romans 13:7 which says, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”

PAYING OUR DUES

We owe everyone something, but we do not owe everyone the same things. We owe certain things to certain people and we owe certain amounts of certain things to some that we do not owe to others. King Alfred the Great summarized it well this way, “Give not little to whom you should give much, nor much to whom little, nor nothing to whom something, nor something to whom nothing.” 

If we do not render a man what or how much he is due, we are stealing from him. Theft is not just taking what isn’t ours, it is withholding what ought to be given. In fact, our word “ought” comes to us from an Old English word “agan” (ah-gahn) which means “to owe,” the past tense of which is “ahte” (A-H-T-E). Thus, whenever you ought to do something, it is because you “owe it.” Moral obligation is a duty.

And we are, by God’s design, an indebted people. We are born with bills with pay. We owe our parents for bringing us into the world and we owe our God for life, breath, and everything else. And all of that before we even take our first steps.

So, if we are to “render to everyone his due,” we must consider the various duties and debts that God has placed in our accounts. Any one of these could warrant its own exhortation, but in the interest of time and in an effort to render unto you what you are owed, that is, an exhortation and NOT a second sermon, I will only briefly review but a few of our many dues and duties.

VARIOUS DUTIES AND DUES

Fathers, you owe your children provision. (2 Cor 12:14) If you do not provide for them, you are stealing from them and you are worse than an unbeliever. (1 Tim 5:8) You also owe them discipline, instruction, and a Christian education. (Eph 6:4) If you do not take the time to train them in the way they should go, you are a thief. If you do not give your children encouragement, you are robbing them. (Col 3:21) You owe them good language. Your sons need to know you’re proud of him. Your daughters need to know you think they are beautiful. They only have one dad. Do not deprive them of a father.

Mothers, you owe your children a well managed home. (1 Tim 5:14) If you are too busy with outside engagements to keep up with your domestic duties, you are robbing your people. (Titus 2:5) If you are short with your people because you are worn out from being kind to strangers, you are a domestic terrorist. (Pr 14:1) You cannot be everything to everyone, but you are everything to your littlest ones. You owe them the best of your good works. (Pr. 31:27-28) They only have one mom. Do not be the one who steals her from them.

Parents, you owe your children marital unity. (Eph 6:1) When a child hears, “Honor your father and mother,” he should not have to ask, “Which one?” You owe your children a united front. They deserve a stable home where mom and dad are on the same team. So, do what it takes to get on the same page and then stay on it. Do not let your selfishness steal your children’s sense of security. 

Children, you owe honor to your parents, (Eph 6:1) If you do not honor your parents, you are stealing from them. God picked them out for you. (Acts 17:26) When you honor your earthly father and mother, you honor your Father in Heaven. (Eph 3:14) If you withhold honor from them, you are stealing from them and you are robbing God. (Dt 27:16)

Husbands, you owe your wife love and attention. (Eph 5:33) If you do not take the time to love your wife, you are stealing from her. You owe her your affection. There is a kind of attention she can only lawfully get from you. Do not rob her of it. If you are giving that kind of affection or attention to other women, you are robbing your wife. You owe her love that takes the initiative, pursues, and lavishes. You owe her that kind of care and concern. (Eph 5:25) Just as you seek to meet your own needs, you must seek to meet hers (Eph 5:28) You must understand your wife. You owe her your ears. Hear her out or God will stop listening to you. (1 Peter 3:7)

Wives, you owe your husband respect. (Eph 5:33) If you do not honor him as your head, you are stealing from him. You owe him your loyalty. (Eph 5:22) There is a kind of help he can only get from you. Do not rob him of it. If you are too busy helping others to have time to ask him what he needs, you are robbing him. You owe him your allegiance. (1 Peter 3:1, 5) You owe him submission and obedience (Eph 5:24, Col 3:18) You owe him your affection. Do not withhold from him the comfort only you can provide. (Pr 5:19) You owe him a good reputation. (Pr 31:23) 

Promote him before others and God will promote you. (Pr 31:31)

Spouses, you owe each other your bodies. (1 Cor 7:3, Heb 13:4) Husbands, you owe your wife access to your muscles. If she is a godly woman, you are the only man whose strength she can look to. Wives, you owe your husband access to your body. If he is a godly man, you are the only woman for whom he has eyes. If he doesn’t get to see or hold you, he won’t get to see or hold anybody. Do not rob each other. Be generous. You owe each other regular intimacy. (1 Cor 7:5)

Young men, you owe everyone self-control. (1 Tim 5:1, Titus 2:6, 1 Peter 5:5) If you are spending your strength on self-interest, you are stealing from the rest of us. You are the strongest people in the world. Put it to use for the glory of God and the good of your neighbors. Be strong, but be under control. Be as strong on the inside as you are on the outside. You owe us that. You must not spend your strength on strange women or foolish pursuits. (Pr 7:26, Pr 31:3, 2 Tim 2:22) You owe older men humility, older women charity, younger women security, and younger men fraternity. (1 Tim 5:1)

Young ladies, you owe everyone modesty (1 Tim 2:9-10, Titus 2:5) If you are flaunting your beauty or using it for self-interest, you are robbing the rest of us. You are the most beautiful people in the world. Put it to use for the glory of God and the good of your neighbors. Be beautiful, but adorn it with good works. Be as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. (1 Peter 3:3-4) You owe us that. Stay pure and do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. (Song of Solomon 2:7, 3:5, 8:4) Be as terrible as an army with banners, hard to catch, a wall, and not a door. Do not rob your parents of peace. (Song of Solomon 6:10, 8:10)

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of the duties of sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, in-laws, elders, deacons, members, employers, employees, citizens, soldiers, governors, judges, juries, teachers, students, rich, poor, strong, weak, sick, healthy, loud, quiet, fast, slow, etc…

The point is this: regardless of who you are, you owe someone something and God calls you to pay your debts and leave no outstanding balances. Rom 13:8-9, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

So, pay what you owe. You likely owe someone something. You have been stealing and now you feel the weight of it. Do not let it end with a vague sense of guilt. Make a plan to pay what you owe.  Do not withhold anything to whom you owe it. (Pr 3:27) Begin by confessing to God this morning and then make haste to make it right with the one you have been robbing. (Matt 5:25)

Perhaps you were reminded of something this morning that someone owes you. You’ve been neglected, underpaid, cheated, or undervalued. If that is the case, they may owe you, but you owe them something – forgiveness, and perhaps a direct conversation (Matt 18:15, 22) If someone has withheld what they owe from you, you will not balance the accounts by withholding forgiveness from them. So, if that is you this morning, confess your bitterness and be forgiven by God of your debts and then go out and extend that forgiveness to your debtors.

CALL TO CONFESSION

Since we so often withhold what we owe or pay less than we should, we are reminded of our need to regularly confess our sins, whether they be these duties or others. So, if you are able, please kneel with me and confess your sins, first privately and then corporately using the prayer found in your bulletin.

CORPORATE CONFESSION

Gracious Father, if You were to mark iniquities, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness, that You may be feared. Called by You to the throne of grace, and confident in our great High Priest, we bow before You and confess that we have sinned against You and been unfaithful to Your holy covenant. Our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately sick, so that we often do what we hate, and neglect what we love. Out of our mouths we both praise You and curse our fellow men. You promised mercy to our fathers through the seed of the woman. Turn our hearts again, Father, to consider Jesus, who crushed the serpent’s head, and saved His people from their sins. Forgive, cleanse, and restore us for His sake. Amen.

DECLARATION OF PARDON

Arise and hear the Good News! The assurance of pardon today comes from Php 3, which says, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”

The only thing we bring to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. We bring our baggage and Christ gives us His blessing. We bring Him our unpaid dues and fines and He says, “It is finished!” Those were the last words He said on the Cross before He died. In Greek it is just one word, tetelestai and it means, “paid in full.” In other words, Christian, all of your debts have been satisfied in Christ and in Him, God is satisfied with you. In Jesus Christ, your sins are forever, fully, and completely forgiven… THANKS BE TO GOD!

Now let us ascend to the presence of God in all worship and praise.

day no. 17,128: smooth men and smooth sailing

“When the seas are smooth and the waves are placid, even girly men will sail.” — Joe Rigney, Leadership and Emotional Sabotage

It takes no masculinity to sail on smooth waters. Anyone can do that. Smooth men can take to the smooth seas. When good men provide good times, soft men can skate, but if and when the hard times come, the smooth men slip and fall. They do not have sea legs or any muscle memory of surviving choppy waters to fall back on. They are untested so when the test comes, they fail.

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” — Norman Schwarzkopf

In a good environment, men will need to create artificial adversities in order to stay trim for the real adversities that will inevitably come. If a man does not make some things harder on purpose, he will find out that hard things are much harder by accident. 

Proverbs 24:10

If you faint in the day of adversity, 

your strength is small.

So, lift weights, read books, compose essays, etc... Make things harder sometimes in order to keep your courage from atrophying into something that resembles the structural integrity of a bag of soup.

day no. 17,112: lolo turns 12

Happy Birthday, Laurelai!!!

You are 12 years old today! This is your last year before you before you begin your teens. Can you believe it? On this day next year, you will be Laurelai Rush Van Voorst, teenager. But that is a celebration for another time. Today, we are celebrating 12 years of you in our family.

You have always been full of life and energy. You like the things that you like a lot and you like most things. You are pretty catholic in your willingness to like most things, but the things you really like you like with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You put every ounce of muscle into it, which is saying something considering how much muscle you have. You are strong and fast and full of joie de vivre, that is "the joy of life," In fact, I am sure the French had you in mind when they came up with the term. You are after all a oui-oui bundle of energy and excitement. 

You love giving hugs and getting kisses throughout the day and before bed. You love being the last one to say, "Good-bye" to anyone who leaves and the first to say, "Hello" to any who arrive. You like saying, "Hi" to strangers at the store and smiling at people you meet wherever you are. You bring your weather with you and it is always pleasant and sunny wherever you go.

You are a great sister. You love Penelope and have tons of traditions that are special to just the two of you. You love her shows and singing songs together. You love playing with your little sister and enjoy running around with them outside. You take good care of the babies and love playing with them and watching them.

You are a good friend. You have lots of friend and church and are easy to get along with and always looking to add more friends to whatever group you are in. You are like the Pevensie children waltzing along with a willingness to be friends with anyone who is friendly and not giving a fig for anyone who isn't.

You love to bake and cook and you like to make things. You love the domestic duties God has assigned to ladies like you and look for opportunities to learn new skills.

You like to play games like Wipeout and Supermarket Sweep. You can turn any room into an obstacle course and you can find a game for everyone in whatever it is you are doing.

You like to read in your little Harry Potter closet nook and are growing in your ability to read more quickly while still comprehending what you've read.

You are very helpful during clean up time after dinner. You often volunteer to sweep or mop and you often ask if there is anything else you can help out with before you move on to doing your own thing.

You are a great daughter. You are beautiful, funny, sweet, kind, generous, enjoyable, helpful, and delightful.

I love being your dad.

Happy Birthday, Laurelai!

day no. 17,092: works don't work, but grace goes hard

“The secret of the gospel is that grace works better than works do.” — Douglas Wilson, Keep Your Kids

When it comes to salvation, works don't work, but grace goes hard. Grace saves what works cannot.

Ephesians 2:8-10

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Works accompany grace by faith in believing, but they cannot replace grace or faith by doing.

Grace does what grit cannot do, but does not do it without gutting it out.

Matthew 19:6

Therefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Faith and works are friends. There is no tension between them. They love and like each other. 

day no. 17,090: care, custody, and control

“Biblical child-rearing is a gigantic custody battle between the state and Christ.” — Douglas Wilson, Keep Your Kids

Does man own his increase? Is the fruit of his labor his? Are the fruit of his marriage his? 

God has answered these already for everyone. A man's increase is his to keep. This is the right to property. A man's children are his own. This is the right to posterity. A man's legacy is the fruit of his labors: his people and his produce. He hands these down to those who will bear his name as well as the Name of his God. This is how inheritance works. And this is why the State is at war with it.

Children are the future. Anyone with any interest in how the future plays out must have access to the children. Since the state does not have children of its own, it must find a way to influence the children of others or worse yet, to abduct other chidlren. Enter the public school system. 

"You may not be paedobaptist or postmill, but the left is and that's why they're winning." — Ben Merkle

Someone is going to claim the kids. Someone is going to take responsibility for them. Someone is going to assume control of their education and nurture. God has given His people the sacrament of baptism and the hope of postmillennialism so that they will claim their covenant kids and Kingdom come for the name and glory of God the Father through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Someone will want your kids if you don't and someone will have plans for them and their future if you don't.

“Whoever trains the children controls the future.” — Steve Wilkins, The Public School Movement

The custody battle between the feds and the family is for the future of the world. Rest assured then, saints, that God will not give your seed to Caesar. That said, do not attempt to cancel out His covenant by giving your children voluntarily to Caesar. Do not cut covenant with a foreign god. Too many Christians are eager to send their seed off to Rome and surrender their stake in the future to the State.

Public schools are the foster care system of the Christians who have stopped caring. State schools are secular day cares that serve as our orphanages. Abandoned covenant children are raised by their Uncle Sam who gladly takes them in, but never gives them back.