Proverbs 22:28
Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.
Proverbs 23:10-11
Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,
for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.
"Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our groom; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our father.” - G.K. Chesterton
Do the dead get a seat at the table or not?
Do the traditions of our forefathers matter enough to allow them a turn to speak?
And if they do get a seat and chance to speak, how much weight do their words hold?
How much gravity do their governing principles gain for them in present discussion?
Do you give the dead a place in your personal decision making?
If so, how much say do they get?
Are you able to dismiss their landmarks without considering why they put them where they did and why they put anything anywhere at all?
Do not be too quick to dismiss something that meant something to someone just because they happen to be deceased. Moving landmarks is not to be avoided without exception, but it should be an exception nevertheless.
Friday, February 14, 2020
Thursday, February 13, 2020
day no. 15,088: every church is like a little Eden
Revelation 21:22-27
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Every Sunday when we load into the Kraken, we recite our marching orders for the morning...
Q: Where are we going?
A: to church
Q: And why do we go to church?
A: to worship our God with our people
Every church is like a little Eden, a garden in a vast wilderness, a place where God says, "Yes" everywhere you look and the "No's" are so small in number you'd have to search for them.
Sundays are practice for the new earth. Church is a place where we stand in God's presence, sit under His Word, sing His praises, feast in His presence, proclaim what's He done and express our gratitude. This is merely a pattern of what we will be doing forever.
Every church is a world within a world, a new earth planted inside the old earth. A tame little place of peace inside a wild world of warfare.
Church is a place to receive rations in order to return to the battlefield refreshed and reminded of what we're fighting for and how to fight in the meantime.
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Every Sunday when we load into the Kraken, we recite our marching orders for the morning...
Q: Where are we going?
A: to church
Q: And why do we go to church?
A: to worship our God with our people
Every church is like a little Eden, a garden in a vast wilderness, a place where God says, "Yes" everywhere you look and the "No's" are so small in number you'd have to search for them.
Sundays are practice for the new earth. Church is a place where we stand in God's presence, sit under His Word, sing His praises, feast in His presence, proclaim what's He done and express our gratitude. This is merely a pattern of what we will be doing forever.
Every church is a world within a world, a new earth planted inside the old earth. A tame little place of peace inside a wild world of warfare.
Church is a place to receive rations in order to return to the battlefield refreshed and reminded of what we're fighting for and how to fight in the meantime.
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
day no. 15,087: homiletical help, week 7: not just any words will do --> CLARITY
Good morning men of God,
Preachers are not first performers, but proclaimers. A preacher must consider HOW to say what needs to be said, but before that a preacher must consider WHAT must be said. People may prefer a well spoken message to a well thought out one, but our standard for a good message is not whether or not people liked it, but rather did God like it?
For us a good message is a good man speaking well. But we'd rather have a good man speak poorly than a bad man speak well. Oration is an ingredient when preaching is your task, but it isn't the substance, it's the spice added for taste, not the main course, but the salt that makes the nourishment more palatable.
This week, let's talk about CLARITY: which words to say what
COLOSSIANS 4:3-4
Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak
We must clearly be saying something and clearly not be saying something else. We must leave no room for confusion in what we affirm and what we deny. Our denials and affirmations must be a crystal clear as possible since those who actually hang on our words are compelled to affirm or deny in their own hearts and heads what they heard us proclaim.
We must struggle to make the mysterious known clearly.
This week as you prepare for your next message, think about the muddle the points you're trying to make could result in. Where could there be confusion? What could be better worded as to avoid creating confusion? Be clear and concise. When it is pointed, perhaps say it twice.
Let's be clear, brothers. And let us pray for open doors and clear presentations once admitted through them,
Your brother in Christ
Preachers are not first performers, but proclaimers. A preacher must consider HOW to say what needs to be said, but before that a preacher must consider WHAT must be said. People may prefer a well spoken message to a well thought out one, but our standard for a good message is not whether or not people liked it, but rather did God like it?
For us a good message is a good man speaking well. But we'd rather have a good man speak poorly than a bad man speak well. Oration is an ingredient when preaching is your task, but it isn't the substance, it's the spice added for taste, not the main course, but the salt that makes the nourishment more palatable.
This week, let's talk about CLARITY: which words to say what
COLOSSIANS 4:3-4
Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak
We must clearly be saying something and clearly not be saying something else. We must leave no room for confusion in what we affirm and what we deny. Our denials and affirmations must be a crystal clear as possible since those who actually hang on our words are compelled to affirm or deny in their own hearts and heads what they heard us proclaim.
We must struggle to make the mysterious known clearly.
This week as you prepare for your next message, think about the muddle the points you're trying to make could result in. Where could there be confusion? What could be better worded as to avoid creating confusion? Be clear and concise. When it is pointed, perhaps say it twice.
Let's be clear, brothers. And let us pray for open doors and clear presentations once admitted through them,
Your brother in Christ
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
day no. 15,086: life happens to boys; men happen to life.
Paige is reading Boyhood and Beyond with the kids as part of their morning basket for homeschool and was relaying to me how she is enjoying it. She mentioned this idea that I wanted to take note of and expand a bit upon...
"Many men live one step behind life's events"
Many men assume they will be who they need to be when they need to be it without doing anything now to bring about the likelihood of that outcome. Many men get serious about how to work only after they already have a job. Others look for books on being a husband only after they are married and discover things aren't just going as well as they assumed they would. Then others buy parenting books only after they have children who are rebelling. Most men live a day late and a dollar short.
This is because most grown up males are boys in their thinking, reasoning and communicating.
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
Boys do not become men simply because enough time happens to them and forces them into it. A boy can stay a boy as long as he likes, although he will have to navigate shaving and other side effects biology imposes upon him.
The way of a boy is reactive. Boys do what needs to be done only when and if it becomes so difficult to continue doing something the old, familiar way that something must be done: like counselling, parenting books, marriage seminars, etc... Boys aren't interested in something unless it's on fire.
The way of a man is proactive. Men do what needs to be done by preparing for what they foresee before it happens. At this point, I like to employ Sun Tzu's quote, "the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." A man does the hard work of imposing upon himself the difficulties that attend living his priorities before they catch on fire.
The way of a boy is possessed in passivity. At the end of the day, he would prefer it if he could do nothing and have everyone else off of his back. But life happens and forces him to do more than he original intended and he feels the need to acquiesce to the pressures of other people's priorities... eventually in order to get them off of his back. He prefers the peace of passivity to the war of actually asserting himself. He only works in order to get out from under the weight of responsibility imposed upon him.
The way of a man is inhabited in initiative. At the end of the day, he would prefer to do something wrong than not do anything. He prefers his way of doing something to others way of not doing anything. This initiative is attended by push back from others and forces that resist being acted upon, but the man knows what he believes and why he believes it and gives his strength to impose his will upon that for which he is held responsible. He doesn't work in order to get out from under the weight of responsibility, he works in order to support the weight he has gladly assumed and seeks to use its gravity to impose his will upon it by enveloping it into his atmosphere and signing his name to the deed.
In short, life happens to boys; men happen to life.
Life as usual is worldliness. It is thoughtless, godless movement downstream. Life without intention is simply drift. It still moves, but it carries dead sticks and fish along wherever it goes. Life in this scenario is the normal course of events uninterrupted by any other imposition. What constitutes daily life is largely an unending chain of intermittent urgencies.
Urgency drives the boy where it likes and his boyish wisdom and warfare are powerless to resist its pressure. Importance drives the man to impose his will upon his time, his talents, his treasures and points them where he has decided he wants to go.
Things happens because they want to and one must respond or be entirely acted upon by them. This is quintessential boyishness. Life happens to you and decides for you. A man refuses to be acted upon by any and every thing. He has ideas about where he'd like to be and what end he'd like to see, so he reacts to what he is forced to react to, but he also makes decisions and lives in light of his priorities in such a way as to force life to react to him. He is a force to reckoned with, not a dead stick to be acted upon.
Boys fear life.
Life fears men.
"Many men live one step behind life's events"
Many men assume they will be who they need to be when they need to be it without doing anything now to bring about the likelihood of that outcome. Many men get serious about how to work only after they already have a job. Others look for books on being a husband only after they are married and discover things aren't just going as well as they assumed they would. Then others buy parenting books only after they have children who are rebelling. Most men live a day late and a dollar short.
This is because most grown up males are boys in their thinking, reasoning and communicating.
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
Boys do not become men simply because enough time happens to them and forces them into it. A boy can stay a boy as long as he likes, although he will have to navigate shaving and other side effects biology imposes upon him.
The way of a boy is reactive. Boys do what needs to be done only when and if it becomes so difficult to continue doing something the old, familiar way that something must be done: like counselling, parenting books, marriage seminars, etc... Boys aren't interested in something unless it's on fire.
The way of a man is proactive. Men do what needs to be done by preparing for what they foresee before it happens. At this point, I like to employ Sun Tzu's quote, "the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." A man does the hard work of imposing upon himself the difficulties that attend living his priorities before they catch on fire.
The way of a boy is possessed in passivity. At the end of the day, he would prefer it if he could do nothing and have everyone else off of his back. But life happens and forces him to do more than he original intended and he feels the need to acquiesce to the pressures of other people's priorities... eventually in order to get them off of his back. He prefers the peace of passivity to the war of actually asserting himself. He only works in order to get out from under the weight of responsibility imposed upon him.
The way of a man is inhabited in initiative. At the end of the day, he would prefer to do something wrong than not do anything. He prefers his way of doing something to others way of not doing anything. This initiative is attended by push back from others and forces that resist being acted upon, but the man knows what he believes and why he believes it and gives his strength to impose his will upon that for which he is held responsible. He doesn't work in order to get out from under the weight of responsibility, he works in order to support the weight he has gladly assumed and seeks to use its gravity to impose his will upon it by enveloping it into his atmosphere and signing his name to the deed.
In short, life happens to boys; men happen to life.
Life as usual is worldliness. It is thoughtless, godless movement downstream. Life without intention is simply drift. It still moves, but it carries dead sticks and fish along wherever it goes. Life in this scenario is the normal course of events uninterrupted by any other imposition. What constitutes daily life is largely an unending chain of intermittent urgencies.
Urgency drives the boy where it likes and his boyish wisdom and warfare are powerless to resist its pressure. Importance drives the man to impose his will upon his time, his talents, his treasures and points them where he has decided he wants to go.
Things happens because they want to and one must respond or be entirely acted upon by them. This is quintessential boyishness. Life happens to you and decides for you. A man refuses to be acted upon by any and every thing. He has ideas about where he'd like to be and what end he'd like to see, so he reacts to what he is forced to react to, but he also makes decisions and lives in light of his priorities in such a way as to force life to react to him. He is a force to reckoned with, not a dead stick to be acted upon.
Boys fear life.
Life fears men.
Monday, February 10, 2020
day no. 15,085: sleep well for somewhere violent men are awake and on our side
"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." - George Orwell
The following was the opening gambit from the featured speaker at the 244th Navy/Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Mizzou's Memorial Hall we attended earlier this evening (11/1/19)
"How are you doing today? Great. That's good. Ask me how I'm doing. How am I doing? I'm great, thanks for asking. Ask me why. Why am I so great today? I woke up in America."
Freedom is not free and the land of the free is 100% secure because 1% of its men risk their lives for our sakes. They place themselves between the thing they love and that which would threaten its existence. They do not fight fueled by hatred of everything out there, but by the love of everything we have here.
The following was the opening gambit from the featured speaker at the 244th Navy/Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Mizzou's Memorial Hall we attended earlier this evening (11/1/19)
"How are you doing today? Great. That's good. Ask me how I'm doing. How am I doing? I'm great, thanks for asking. Ask me why. Why am I so great today? I woke up in America."
Freedom is not free and the land of the free is 100% secure because 1% of its men risk their lives for our sakes. They place themselves between the thing they love and that which would threaten its existence. They do not fight fueled by hatred of everything out there, but by the love of everything we have here.
Sunday, February 9, 2020
day no. 15,084: feelings are powerful apologists
Philippians 3:17-19
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
Feelings are powerful apologists.
Bellies belie reality. They provide truth claims about the world around them by looking to the feelings welled up within them. They look in in order to look out. Ultimate reality is inside and to be imposed upon the world.
The Christian looks up to God as the Ultimate reality. From Him comes wisdom to be imposed down to my innermost feelings. My feelings are called then to submit to His imposition. Ultimate reality is outside and to be imposed upon my inner man.
Enemies of the cross begin with their feelings, celebrate their shame, set their minds on the world and end in destruction.
Christians have feelings because Christians are people. Everyone has feelings. But Christians must not put their feelings first. Christians, before they are anything else, are those who put Christ first. Feelings then are to be in submission to Christ. Inordinate affections are to be placed into proper order, not celebrated in whatever disorder we find them. Having them doesn't excuse them being wherever they are found.
Feelings are false prophets.
Saturday, February 8, 2020
day no. 15,083: not just strong... stronger!
Proverbs 20:29
The glory of young men is their strength,
but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.
God made men to be strong and all men know it. No one needs to convince a man that it would be a glorious thing to be strong and mighty. Conversely, every man despises the idea of being considered weak. It is a man's glory to be strong. Strength is admired and desired. Men like competitions because they test strength. They are concrete ways to gauge who is stronger. You do not have to convince a man to want to win. Those who refuse to play often do so because of cowardice. They are afraid to lose, so they refuse to play. In other words, if they can't win, what's the point? This further confirms the reality they attempting to ignore: men were made to want to win. So much so, that when a man imagines he can't win, he pretends he never wanted to play in the first place. Or in worst case scenarios, he convinces himself that not playing was the actual test of strength... and he won that!
1 Peter 3:7
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
God did not only make men strong, He made them stronger than women. So men are not just strong inherently, they are also strong comparatively. They are not just strong in themselves, but strong next to their counterparts. God not only made men strong, He made them stronger.
God did not do this so that they could congratulate themselves for winning arm wrestling matches with the fairer sex. The boy who pats himself on the back for dominating a woman in a feat of strength should expect shade from other men, not accolades. To flex against the fairer sex is to be boring and redundant.
"Oh, you're stronger and you have the biceps to prove it? Asked and answered. Who didn't already know that, bruh? You haven't won anything, you've lost your mind. You will not be receiving a punch on your man card, but a punch to your thick skull."
Being strong means you can win the arm wrestling match, but it also means you don't imagine yourself strong only on the basis of winning arm wrestling matches with women.
So... what is strength for then? If it is a given and not something that needs to be proven in the context of relationships with the fairer sex, what is it given for?
It is for guiding, steering, directing, leading, driving toward an intended end provided by God, performed by the man.
If there is a tug of war over the steering wheel, the man can win. So in cars where the woman is driving, it is not because she overpowered him, but because he abdicated his power. This means the direction your family is going is your fault. She may be driving and steering it to places you don't want to go, but if she's driving, it's because you're weak. You could take the wheel back. You should take the wheel back. It is why you were given strength.
This, of course, assumes the responsibility of knowing that you need to be careful about where you steer. To revisit the initial point, the goal is not to grab the wheel away from your wife simply to show her that you can. Of course, you can. You're a man. God made you strong. You never needed to prove that. What you needed to prove was your willingness to choose a destination, your confidence in directing the course towards it and your patience in enduring the difficulties of going anywhere. The distance between where you are and where you'd like to go must be conquered and it will not go gentle into that dark night. Will you?
The glory of young men is their strength,
but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.
God made men to be strong and all men know it. No one needs to convince a man that it would be a glorious thing to be strong and mighty. Conversely, every man despises the idea of being considered weak. It is a man's glory to be strong. Strength is admired and desired. Men like competitions because they test strength. They are concrete ways to gauge who is stronger. You do not have to convince a man to want to win. Those who refuse to play often do so because of cowardice. They are afraid to lose, so they refuse to play. In other words, if they can't win, what's the point? This further confirms the reality they attempting to ignore: men were made to want to win. So much so, that when a man imagines he can't win, he pretends he never wanted to play in the first place. Or in worst case scenarios, he convinces himself that not playing was the actual test of strength... and he won that!
1 Peter 3:7
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
God did not only make men strong, He made them stronger than women. So men are not just strong inherently, they are also strong comparatively. They are not just strong in themselves, but strong next to their counterparts. God not only made men strong, He made them stronger.
God did not do this so that they could congratulate themselves for winning arm wrestling matches with the fairer sex. The boy who pats himself on the back for dominating a woman in a feat of strength should expect shade from other men, not accolades. To flex against the fairer sex is to be boring and redundant.
"Oh, you're stronger and you have the biceps to prove it? Asked and answered. Who didn't already know that, bruh? You haven't won anything, you've lost your mind. You will not be receiving a punch on your man card, but a punch to your thick skull."
Being strong means you can win the arm wrestling match, but it also means you don't imagine yourself strong only on the basis of winning arm wrestling matches with women.
So... what is strength for then? If it is a given and not something that needs to be proven in the context of relationships with the fairer sex, what is it given for?
It is for guiding, steering, directing, leading, driving toward an intended end provided by God, performed by the man.
If there is a tug of war over the steering wheel, the man can win. So in cars where the woman is driving, it is not because she overpowered him, but because he abdicated his power. This means the direction your family is going is your fault. She may be driving and steering it to places you don't want to go, but if she's driving, it's because you're weak. You could take the wheel back. You should take the wheel back. It is why you were given strength.
This, of course, assumes the responsibility of knowing that you need to be careful about where you steer. To revisit the initial point, the goal is not to grab the wheel away from your wife simply to show her that you can. Of course, you can. You're a man. God made you strong. You never needed to prove that. What you needed to prove was your willingness to choose a destination, your confidence in directing the course towards it and your patience in enduring the difficulties of going anywhere. The distance between where you are and where you'd like to go must be conquered and it will not go gentle into that dark night. Will you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)