day no. 16,664: origin stories and eschatologies; the ballad of from and for

Revelation 1:8

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

From and for are inescapable. Everything, it seems, eventually comes down to competing origin stories and eschatologies. In other words, everything is ultimately about ultimates. Time must be pushed all the way to the corners.

From and for are inseparable. When you know where you're from, you know what you're for. You can't measure progress without a beginning and an end. If you know where you started, but don't know where you're going, you could be miles off track. If you've run for miles, but don't know where you're from, you may be merely circling the drain. You cannot appeal to how far we've come unless you know from where we have come. You cannot warn about how far we have yet to go unless you know where we are supposed to end up.

day no. 16,663: continuity heirs

Amos 9:13-15

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

The theme of dominion dominates the Scriptures. Everywhere you look, you are commanded to look after everything.

Isaiah 58:11-12

And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

It’s almost like this theme dominates Scripture as a first hand lesson and example of what He calls us to do in His world. His Word is dominated by the theme of dominion. Just like Eden was a blueprint, His Word is a blueprint. Just as Eden was a garden meant to provide an example of how to gardenize the globe, the Word is word picture of how we are to participate in the story of the world.

Look down and you will see that the Word is immersed in the language of worldwide dominion and commands us to beautify it all and flood it with the image of God. The Bible is flooded with this theme. Now look up and go out and do that in the world! Flood it with grace for the glory of God and the good of the world.

The Bible tells one story; one overflowing with continuity heirs.

day no. 16,662: a Christian home is an et cetera

"When David told his son Solomon that God had chosen him to build His house he encouraged him with these words, 'Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.' (1 Chron. 28:20 NIV). Will not the same Lord be with any man or woman to whom He gives the task of building a home? Ask Him!" -- Elisabeth Elliot, The Shaping of a Christian Family

The Christian home is not et cetera. It is not a tack on, take it or leave it kind of thing. You may not be tasked with leading a church, but if God has given you a family, He has charged you with keeping it. You may not be responsible for the care of your local church building, but you are responsible for the care of your home. And the weight of that should lead anyone to prayer. And the promises of God should lead anyone to expect them to be heard.

day no. 16,661: your local, district satan club

“I am opposed to Satan clubs in the government schools because the government schools are a Satan club. Our overarching goal should be to shut down the pretense of neutral education.” — Douglas Wilson, Blog & Mablog 

Neutrality does not exist because everything matters. In a world filled with enmity, nothing is a wash. Everything is either gain or loss, victory or defeat, advance or retreat.

You should oppose a Satan Club starting up in your local school district, but you should do so by not sending your children to be instructed by the Satan Club that is the public school district. The reason Satan Clubs are even permitted is because evil is unrestrained where there is no vision (Pr. 29:18). In other words, where God is not the standard of decorum, no other standard will hold. Where God does not go, anything goes.

Oppose the Satan Club that is your local district government school, whatever clubs they do or do not allow. Begin that opposition by pulling your kids from their rosters. If you've already done that, raise your kids well and teach them to teach their kids to teach their kids to do the same.

day no. 16,660: despotism is a tired democracy

“If there is one fact we really can prove, from the history that we really do know, it is that despotism can be a development, often a late development and very often indeed the end of societies that have been highly democratic. A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy. As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only one single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep.” — G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

If everyone agrees to let one man lead, is that despotism or is that democracy? The answer is yes. 

The danger of democracy is that citizens are not fixed stars. Since individuals are wandering planets, you cannot depend on them for navigation. In other words, you cannot determine where to go or how to get there by looking merely to people. Democracy makes the voice of the people into the voice of God since whatever the majority wants is what constitutes a standard. Standards accepted in this manner are not lofty ideals that some strive to live up to, but the lowest common denominators to which anyone can fall. Even in systems of democracy aimed at giving voice to the minority, the majority can simply vote to stop doing that.

Christ is the only standard that holds since He holds everything else together.

Colossians 1:16-17

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 

Christ is the only standard upon which you can hang everything since He alone is fixed and firm.

Ecclesiastes 12:11

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one Shepherd.

His Word holds firm.

Matthew 7:24-25

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Despotism may be a worn out democracy,

but Christendom is a church militant.

day no. 16,659: respectable punks

"Lewis was looking at the principle. When some delinquents stole some of his things, that was nothing new. Thieves you shall always have with you. The thing that Lewis noticed with alarm, a cloud the size of a man’s fist, was that indulgent and excuse-making judge. That is where the fatal disease was. The boys had the decency to commit their crime in secret, as though there was something wrong with it. The judge did what she did in the broad light of day, in a courtroom, with witnesses there, and with the approval of her own conscience. That was the promise of a societal hell . . . and here we are." — Douglas Wilson, In Which C.S. Lewis Tells Some Punks to Get Off His Lawn

There is a kind of crime that is committed in broad daylight with the approval of its own conscience - it is the crime of being soft on crime and neutral on nonsense. In Lewis' day it was some childish vandals being mollycoddled, but even he saw where that kind of nonsense would take you. In other words, the disrespectful punks in the back alley were one thing, but the respected punk with the gavel was another. Mischief at midnight on a Friday is a problem, but mannerly mayhem at 11 am on a Tuesday is worse. Sins committed as sins must, of course, be expected as part of normal life, but sins committed as virtues cannot be tolerated without changing the course of everything altogether.

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no revelation, 

the people cast off restraint;

But happy is he who keeps the law.

You cannot throw shade at order and keep any semblance of it. If you cast off justice, you cast off restraint. Where there is no clear vision of what we should expect, you can expect to find the invention of new evils clearly on display.

day no. 16,658: breeding farms for secularists

"With regard to men who have strong opinions about lotsa kids, and equally strong opinions about the need to contribute little after begetting them, I have seen some really unfortunate consequences of this attitude. Such men seem to want to be little more than breeding farms for the secularists." — Douglas Wilson

Inconsistent Christian homes with inattentive Christian dads are sometimes simply breeding farms for secularists. There is no blessing in simply having a lot of anything. Riches can rot and the more the murkier and kids can go bad if abandoned — instead of becoming arrows in one's hand, they can become thorns in everyone's sides.

The secularists cannot breed their own soldiers. They have embraced fruitlessness by being fruity. Two outlets can't make a charge and two nuts can't screw. Nothing they do works and cannot hold together. They cannot have children. But they are more than happy to take yours. 

So stop giving them to them.

If you have strong opinions about the number of children one should have without having strong convictions about the quality of those children, you are merely recruiting rioters. You cannot send your kids to secular boot camp and expect them to come back loyal sons of the Savior. 

The Bible says that children are a blessing. They are not, however, an automatic blessing.  All of your enemies are someone else's children. All the drag queen story hour alphabet mafiosos were begotten by somebody.

So…make more babies, but make them disciples.

Make more arrows.

Do not trust the twigs to sharpen themselves.

Do not send them to the general mill for shaping.

Do not let them become left wing lumber.

Form them at home.

Be sharp and sharpen them.

Ephesians 6:4

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.