day no. 16,327: mercy that does not hate sin is vice, not virtue

"True mercy is no less the product of anger than of pity: that what differentiates the divine virtue of mercy from 'the vice of insensibility' which is called 'tolerance,' is just the under-lying presence of indignation. Thus — so the reasoning runs, — 'the man who cannot be angry cannot be merciful,' and it was therefore precisely the anger of Christ which proved that the unbounded compassion he manifested to sinners 'was really mercy and not mere tolerance.'" -- B.B. Warfield, The Emotional Life of Our Lord

Mercy is not the tolerance of evil. Where evil is tolerated, mercy is unnecessary. If sin is not wicked, there is nothing to overlook.  If evil is not counted against us, it is nothing to say that you do not count it against someone else. If sin is nothing to be angry about it, it is not a virtue to keep your calm about it. But if sin is wicked, then it would be wicked to overlook it. If sins count, it would be wicked to discount it. If sins are hateful, it would be wrong not to hate them. 

Mercy of the kind that merely tolerates sin, then, is a vice, not a virtue. It lacks, as Warfield says, sense. If it doesn't hate the sin it seeks to cover, it just another sin. If it doesn't despise the evil it dies for, it defies its own ends. Why should anyone have to die? But if someone must die, it becomes virtuous to substitute yourself in order to spare the one on death row.

All that to say, if you do not hate sin, you cannot be merciful. You can be tolerant. You can be empathetic. You can be all kinds of things, but merciful may not be named among them. You must hate sin if you want to be merciful. 

God is merciful because He hates sin. Jesus showed great mercy in despising the cross and its shame on His way to and through it (Heb. 12:2). Jesus does not tolerate sins, He dies for them. He does not paint over dirt, He bulldozes the building and rebuilds brand spanking new. If the old could be improved, nothing new would be needed. If sinners could be sainted by twelve step programs, the Son of God died for nothing. If time could heal all wounds, Jesus was unnecessary. But if sin is serious, someone has to die. And if someone has to die, it is merciful to be the one who does the dying in the condemned person's place.

John 15:13

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

day no. 16,326: in flaming wrath against the foe

"The spectacle of the distress of Mary and her companions enraged Jesus because it brought poignantly home to his consciousness the evil of death, its unnaturalness, its 'violent tyranny' as Calvin (on verse 38) phrases it. In Mary’s grief, he 'contemplates' — still to adopt Calvin’s words (on verse 33), — 'the general misery of the whole human race' and burns with rage against the oppressor of men. Inextinguishable fury seizes upon him; his whole being is discomposed and perturbed; and his heart, if not his lips, cries out, —

'For the innumerable dead

Is my soul disquieted.'

It is death that is the object of his wrath, and behind death him who has the power of death, and whom he has come into the world to destroy. Tears of sympathy may fill his eyes, but this is incidental. His soul is held by rage: and he advances to the tomb, in Calvin’s words again, 'as a champion who prepares for conflict.' The raising of Lazarus thus becomes, not an isolated marvel, but — as indeed it is presented throughout the whole narrative (compare especially, verses 24-26) — a decisive instance and open symbol of Jesus’ conquest of death and hell. What John does for us in this particular statement is to uncover to us the heart of Jesus, as he wins for us our salvation. Not in cold unconcern, but in flaming wrath against the foe, Jesus smites on our behalf. He has not only saved us from the evils which oppress us; he has felt for and with us in our oppression, and under the impulse of these feelings has wrought out our redemption." -- B.B. Warfield, The Emotional Life of Our Lord

Jesus is not a dispassionate deliverer. He doesn't deliver merely because it's the right thing to do or because His dad said so. His heart is in it. He wants to rise up and lift up those crushed by the tyranny of sin, Satan, and death. He longed to smash the serpent's skull. He didn't shrink back with feminine meekness at the thought, but leaned in with masculine fierceness to thrust his heel down hard enough to hear the bones crack. 

Jesus is a Champion. He had prepared for the fight and was excited to put His powers to good use. He did not grapple without grit. He came to destroy the works of the evil one and He delighted in demolishing them. He found pleasure in pulling it down and satisfaction in seeing it crumble. Jesus burns with rage and an inextinguishable fury when it comes to sin. He will not stop until it is utterly stopped.

Psalm 2:12

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,

and ye perish from the way,

when his wrath is kindled but a little.

Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Revelation 6:16

“Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:” 

day no. 16,325: a cheerful giver is a shrewd farmer

"It is not possible for us to be cheerful givers if we think we are dumping perfectly good seed down a gopher hole. But it is more than possible once we discover that soil is fertile. A cheerful giver is actually a shrewd farmer." — Douglas Wilson, A Brief Theology of Christmas Presents

Making good investments is not hard work. It is always easy to plow fertile soil. The work is no less strenuous, mind you, but the reward is more obvious. Hard, unyielding land is tough to work. It not only resists your efforts, but refuses to reward them. The farmer who finds fertile soil, however, has less trouble sowing greater percentages of his seed. He can resist the urge to eat it up now knowing how much more there will be to eat later. He gives up the gratification of a plate of food for the satisfaction of a feast for the extended family.

If God can be mocked, then sowing and giving can be separated. But if God cannot be mocked, then you will reap what you have sown. Your reaping will be in keeping with the quantity and the quality of the seeds you have planted. If you have sown sparingly, you will reap a life with nothing to spare. However, if you sow abundantly, you will reap a life of abundance enough to give away and sow even more.

If you are convinced that your gifts to God and His Kingdom are money poorly spent, you will find yourself spent and poorly equipped to recover. However, if you are convinced that your gifts to God and His Kingdom are deposits well invested, you will find you are personally invested in it and richly equipped to appreciate its increasing production.

day no. 16,324: the humble stand against the tyrannies of man

Hebrews 11:23-29 (Geneva 1587)

By faith Moses when he was borne, was hid three moneths of his parents, because they sawe he was a proper childe, neither feared they the kings commandement. By faith Moses when he was come to age, refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter, And chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the people of God, then to enioy the pleasures of sinnes for a season, Esteeming the rebuke of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect vnto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsooke Egypt, and feared not the fiercenes of the king: for he endured, as he that sawe him which is inuisible. Through faith he ordeined the Passeouer and the effusion of blood, least he that destroyed the first borne, should touche them. By faith they passed through the red sea as by drie land, which when the Egyptians had assayed to doe, they were swallowed vp.

Moses' parents did not fear the king's commands. They did not do so because they were scofflaws. They did so because their King's commands usurped Pharaoh's preferences. The King of kings has jurisdiction over kings of geographical areas and/or particular peoples. He is the King of every square inch of earth and every single person. His Law is above every other and all lesser laws are unlawful when out of step with it. 

Moses, when grown up, did not fear the fierceness of the Pharaoh for he feared the Lord of Pharaoh. He forsook Egypt for the sake of Zion. He partook in the blood of the Lamb instead of the food of the Pharaoh. He rejected the throne of the magistrate for the love of the throne of Majesty. And in the end, he saw the lesser lawgiver swallowed up by the sea of the Law of the Lord. The proud will be humbled and the humble will be exalted. This has always been the case. So, when the proud demand you appraise them, you are not proud in defying them. What looks like pride before man is humility before God. When you humble yourself before God, you stand up to the tyrannies of man. 

day no. 16,323: legalism is a charge applied liberally

"Legalism is a word that is thrown around liberally." -- K.P. Yohannan, Head Coverings

The willfully disobedient like legalism. It is the perfect scapegoat. It is one of their favorite friends. Don't want to do something? Just say it would be legalistic to do it. Appeal to the spirit of the Law rather than the letter. The charge of "legalism" not only gives one the license to go on their merry way, but provides them with the smug satisfaction of having the moral high-ground while doing so. It acts for them like poison gas-filled bubble wrap. It protects them from the shock of being rattled, but also releases a deadly vapor into the air if someone's pokes at them become particularly pointy.

Legalism is an idea beloved by the licentious.  It is a camouflage for the corrupt. They can hide in plain sight and sin out in the open without fear of being spotted. The charge of "legalism" sounds bad in anyone's ears.

The best protection of living in one ditch is the accusation of living in the other one.  The best way to protect a cold heart is to accuse the warm-blooded of getting too hot and bothered. The best way to protect bold disregard is to accuse the adamant of being overly scrupulous.

Thus, legalism is used liberally to defend open defiance and liberalism is used legalistically to defend hidden defiance.

All that to say, legalism is a sin, to be sure, but so is accusing the obedient of “legalism” in order to justify ongoing, unrepentant disobedience. Being hyper-scrupulous is a sin, of course, but so is being anti-scrupulous.

day no. 16,322 continued... alphabetical areas of interest list July 2023

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

- G.K. Chesterton

Interested people are interesting people.

Be interested... stay interesting.

Aggressively Optimistic (secondary catch phrase for Postmillitant)

AR (hopefully sooner rather than later)

Assertive (need to learn how to ask for what I want while leaving others to say no)

Atticus (he is 14 and officially taller than me)

Babylon Bee (love watching new vids with the kids)

Beard (still growing, longest I've ever had)

Beard hair (have bad habit of pulling scragglers sometimes)

Be Blessed... Or Else (catch phrase for Postmillitant)

Beta male (these skills come to me more naturally than alpha ones)

Bible Read Through Challenge (completed first one back in May)

Bikes (kids love riding on our street in the evening)

Billboard (excited to see Christ is Lord billboard go up in Leavenworth August 7th)

Birth certificate (KS DOT said not a valid certificate)

Boniface (celebrated our first with reading and twig pencils)

Books (back on track for 300 after getting behind going through GKC catalog)

Brandishing (excited about some of the logos I've made for Postmillitant)

Canon+ (got this as a Christmas gift and have been LOVING it)

Cantus (enjoying reading through it devotional style)

Case of Christian Nationalism (looking to read for the first time soon)

Christ is Lord boxes (ordered 10 to secure billboard in Leavenworth)

Cigars (getting the hang of 'em and ordered a second sampler batch)

Clean up (been staying to help clean up after service each week)

Coffee (brewing a pot once a day between me and Paige)

Coffee (drink a cup of two of black coffee between 12p-3p)

Disciple (new album, Skeleton Psalms, is pretty good!)

Dishwasher (wrestled with it and hoping new piece will fix it and stop the leaking)

Doug Wilson (recently turned 70, excited to see what speaking his minds looks like)

Drive thru (going to start ordering)

Dude Perfect (love watching new vids w/ family when published)

Exercise (need to get back into regular habit of working out from home)

Faucet (kitchen sink will not stay tight)

Fellowship (enjoying staying after each week to eat, talk, and let kids play)

Fight Laugh Feast Conference (details locked down for this October)

Fight Laugh Feast Magazine (working on possible article submission)

Firepit (fired this up for first time over Memorial Day)

Fireworks (need to get some for the Fourth)

Girard, Rene (need to read some of his stuff)

Goldie (need to get new battery and oil change, then register)

Handy (need to learn how to be more handy for Paige)

Headaches (have had a really good stretch of avoiding migraines)

Indigo (not in the pride flag)

Inheritance (praying to live long enough to secure this for my kids)

Intermittent Fasting (still going hard on the 20/4 sans Sunday)

Instant Regret (been watching with Paige at night)

Jenny Geddes (looking fwd to celebrating our first w/ water balloons)

June for Jesus (wrapping up monthly campaign for Postmillitia)

Kentucky (looking fwd to visiting in October, never stayed, only driven thru)

Lawncare (Atticus has been having fun mowing some lawns)

Leavenworth (wonder who else might move here: Gideon, Josiah, Kendall?)

Liturgy (loving the shape our weekend liturgies are taking on)

LOTR (in book 4 of The Two Towers for Story Club)

Lucky People (been watching compilations of these w/ kids at night)

Martime Stories (discovered these four fun reads from Douglas Wilson)

Men's Beer n Books (been LOVING these on the first Fridays of each month)

Men's Movie Night (LOVE that Aaron introduced this bi-monthly)

Milk (still making weekly trips for raw milk)

Mom and Dad (looking fwd to seeing in August, it's been nearly a year)

Money (praying God continues to provide during expensive times to be alive)

Nate Bargatze (watched stand up as family, very funny!)

Nightlocks (install)

NLT (reading Paige's old Bible for Same Page Summer)

NQN (reading through old anthologies in preparation for this November)

The Office (watching through again with Paige at night)

Operation Fiscal Jackhammer (monthly review of checkbook w/ kids)

Ophelia (excited to hear her talk and see her walk soon)

Outdoor dining (have taken table and chairs outside a few times)

Ozymandias (need to circle back to some of these classic poems)

Persuasions (excited to read this Wilson book with kids at dinner time)

Pipe (Laurelai got one of these for me for Father's Day)

Pipe Tobacco (bought some online, smells like I remember... sooo good!)

Playlist (Sabbath clean up playlist is a fan favorite each week)

Popcorn Party (still rock one of these once a month on family movie night)

Postmillitant (up to 2,720 followers)

Postmillitia.com (Peter is working on rolling out soon)

Prayer (in a good groove for others, but need better routine for covering Paige/kids)

Preaching (Hadley seems to think I should be on the rotation)

Psalms (loving these more and more as we learn more and more)

Psalm Sing (monthly Psalm Sing is a family favorite)

Publishing (Peter has mentioned possibility of starting publishing)

Quarantine (new proofs continue to demonstrate it did NOTHING but damage)

Reformation Day (Excited for this year's festivities, hoping for Toby)

Re:treat (monthly chance to have treat a second time)

Roe (one year anniversary of overturn of this wicked ruling)

Rushdoony (read my first Rushdoony recently)

Sabbath Dinner (continues to be a weekly highlight)

Same Page Summer (first time participating, all kids doing it as well)

Shinedown (been getting acquainted with their back catalog with the kids)

Sleep (been having trouble intermittently in getting to sleep)

Snake (filled a huge black snake that was camped under our deck)

Story Club (been working our way slowly through LOTR)

Strategic Withdrawal (may take hiatus from Postmillitant if not to 2,750 by 7/1/23)

Swimming lessons (kids back at it after a few  years off)

Temper (need help from God to get a better grip on my quick anger)

Utility (need to learn how to do more things/have more skills: girls like guys with skills)

Vacation (at the use it or lose it stage of having stored up so much)

Vacation to Custer (on the books for Aug. 24th)

Wade Show (new show in Canon+ we watch every Sunday before movie night)

Warrior Poet Society (John Lovell videos on being better prepared)

Wear Your Faith (staple on my Instagram stories)

Weekly Wrap Up (also watch these from CrossPolitic on Sunday as a family when available)

Weezer (enjoying getting reacquainted with them and being introduced to many new songs)

Weight (clothes still fit and feel decent in my skin, but could stand to lose 5 lbs of so)

Womens' Singing (hosted our first church event at our place)

eXasperated (been getting flustered easily lately, need to grow in long-suffering)

Yes (need to be more like God in providing a world with more yes's and less no's)

Yuengling's (now distributing in MO and KS)

Zzzz's (intermittent difficulty in getting to sleep)

day no. 16,322: you cannot grow godliness by using godless manure

Galatians 3:2-3

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

You cannot be so good as to graduate from the material to the spiritual. You cannot receive the Spirit of God as a paycheck. No one has ever gotten so good at being good that they spontaneously combusted into spiritual flame. No one ever baptized himself with fire. You cannot receive a gift as a wage. If you earned it, it's not a gift. The giver is merely being honest, not generous, in paying what they owe. 

So, if salvation was received as a mere gift, how could it be kept by sheer grit? That is dumb. If you began by saying, "I can't do it on my own," how can you keep going on by saying, "I just know that I can do it!" You cannot continue by pride what began in humility. You cannot build up by merit what was laid down in grace.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11

Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

You cannot be Christlike without Christ as a reference point. You cannot be unChristlike in the name of Christ. You cannot live in unbelief because you are a believer. There are no worldly wisdom classes once admitted and enrolled in the college of Christian wisdom. You cannot grow in godliness by using godless manure.