day no. 14,764: happy birthday, Paige!

We count the years by how long it takes the earth to orbit the sun. When it began and what exact year that was, we do not know precisely, but we know from any fixed day, a year later, we will be back where we were. So wherever the earth was at on March 26, 1986, it is at that same place again and has just completed its 33rd leg of that particular journey. You have now completed 33 orbits around the sun and spun around 12,054 times on the earth. 12,054 lunch hours, 33 Easters. It's a good ride.

day no. 14,759: soft pedaling hard truth

In Christian circles, softness is not a sin. In fact, it is a virtue. Many Christian churches prefer their men sweater-vested and sweet-hearted, pastel, prim and proper. But softness is forbidden by God; it is not a permissible option of orientation.

The KJV captures this in its translation of 1 Corinthians 6:9

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind

This list of sins continues beyond vs. 9, but the significance of this concept is captured by the two Greek words translated by the KJV separately as "effeminate" and "abusers of themselves with mankind."

The ESV combines these two concepts into one in its rendition of 1 Corinthians 6:9

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality

While "effeminacy" and "abusers of themselves with mankind" certainly can come together to practice homosexuality, this is too narrow of an application of the concepts being condemned.

Effeminacy is itself a sin. Before it ends up behind closed doors, it is doing something in broad daylight; and that thing must be repented of or it will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is not only a sin if it reaches it's telos, it is a sin at its inception. It grows up and gets worse like any other sin, but it's beginnings are not great to begin with (James 1:15).

The Good News is that if a sin can be named, it can be forgiven. If you have been going soft, you can repent and find forgiveness. What you cannot do is embrace softness as an ideal. You cannot dismiss it as an untouchable personal preference. It is either a sin as God has defined it or it is acceptable as we have determined.

Silk will always scratch less than wool skipping will always be more fun than marching. 

The Christian community has far too long been ignorant to the sin of softness and as a result has even promoted it as ideal. What many churches aim for as "exemplary," God aims His wrath at as "unrighteous."

day no.14,758: shifting reference points

"No one should ever be allowed to tear down any fence unless they could explain why it had been erected in the first place." - G.K. Chesterton

For all of the things that God takes time out of His busy eternity to detail for us, His concern with landmarks cannot go unnoticed.

Proverbs 22:28

Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.

Proverbs 23:10

Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

Deuteronomy 27:17

Cursed is he who moves his neighbor's boundary stone.' And let all the people say, 'Amen!'

Deuteronomy 19:14

Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

Job 24:2

Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.

Q: Why all this interest in stones and landmarks?

A: For all the reasons Chesterton points out. It isn't to say that some things can never be moved, but rather to say that you ought to have a VERY good reason to move them. And furthermore, some landmarks are so fixed that a good reason to move them hasn't been found for thousands of years. Progress doesn't require you to shift every reference point, rather it requires you to know the old references so that you can measure what progression actually is.

day no. 14,751: sons of God and the bride of Christ

Read a few interesting articles today, HERE and HERE.

Many feel the freedom to change their vernacular to accommodate the inclusion of "daughters" to the term "sons of God." But most still would feel a sense of reluctance to change their vernacular to accommodate the inclusion of "spouse" instead of "bride" of Christ.

The Church is the bride. That requires no qualification. Yet, sons of God requires an accommodation lest people get the wrong idea.

The accommodations almost exclusively go the one direction.

day no. 14,750: 1 Corinthians 12 walk through and observations

:1 There is authoritative teaching when it comes to spiritual gifts. This isn't just a free for all, what you think is just as good as what I think kind of deal. He doesn't want to leave them uninformed and groping to figure this out when there is clear, light giving teaching on the topic. This also, apparently, is something that they had asked him about and expressed either  confusion and asking for help, or they expressed knowledge on the subject that Paul read and observed their confusion in what they thought they knew on the topic. Perhaps they made assertions that he knows are untrue and now wants to clarify or they asked in earnest and he is now taking his quill to address them.

:2 Everyone is being led somewhere by something. Pagans are being led somewhere by idols. Those who have become Christians are no longer pagans. It would be inappropriate to be led by things that no longer fit who you are. You are Christians, you should be led by the Spirit.

:3 Christians are being led further upward and inward. Up in maturity and in to Christ. And there is no up without going in and you cannot be in without going more up.

:4 And while this is an across the board, universal Christian experience, it manifests itself in a variety of ways within those in whom it manifests itself. In other words, all Christians will grow up and in, but how the Spirit overflows up and out of them will look differently.

:4-6 varieties of gifts, services and activities, but one Spirit, one Lord, one God. God is Himself a unity of diversity. Three persons and one God is a living illustration of the university (unity of diversity).

:7 every Christian has been equipped to do what they have been called to do. Everyone is not called to do everything, but everyone who is a Christian has been called to do something and they can't blame God that they have been given a task without the tools. In other words, God has not set His children up for failure.

:8-11 Paul lists of some for examples and ends by saying that just as the gifts may vary per person, the apportioned amount of any gift may vary per person. So you can have one person with knowledge and another with tongues, and you can have one with healing and another with MORE healing.

:12-13 God did not send a Jew born of Jews to save only Jews. He didn't send a Greek born Messiah to save Greeks, a slave born Messiah to save slaves, etc… He sent one Messiah to live, die and resurrect for all kinds of peoples. Every Christian belongs to and submits to the one Christ. He is the one Head of the one body. There are many things to do underneath the headship of Christ, but only one Head and there are no job openings or possibility of promotion. But there are all kinds of jobs to do south of the neck line in the Christian body = church

:14-26 God arranged the body. If you do not like the body, your problem is not with the rest of the body, but with God who arranged it. hands and eyes have no reason to boast or to belittle their positions. God put them there and it is in that confidence that they can serve, enjoy their place and endure the difficulties that come with wherever they have been stationed. Every body part has its problems. Eyes get blinded, fingers get smashed, knees get scraped, stomach growl, lips chap and the small of your itches where you can't reach it.

When you have a headache, your whole body suffers. You aren't free to just go about your business while your brain aches. A hangnail can ruin your entire day, a stubbed toe, etc… It's all connected.

:27-31 that isn't too say that all gifts are equal. They are equal in one sense and not in another. They are all valuable, but some are higher than others. Hierarchy is not a product of sin. This comes full circle to the Trinity discussion with which he began. There is a hierarchy in the Godhead but no sin. Because we are sinners, we abuse hierarchy on either end of it, but Paul doesn't try to solve the problem by yanking God's design out from under the dining table like a white linen sheet. He insists that order is really there and some gifts really are higher up and that people should desire the higher gifts (if they're wanting to be desirous of something, but not in a lustful way (James 4).

Everyone doesn't have to be everything…. And that's Good News! God is everything and He can divide all that He is into human size portions and divvy it out as He pleases. We don't have to be all to everybody because we can't and God isn't even asking us to. He is asking us to join hands and be part of something that is more representative of what the church should be. Whatever you think the church is failing at, join it and help not fail at it. who is the church? You are!

Who is Todd? His head? Sure. His feet? Yep. His kidney? Yep.  All of it. Corn on the cob is really just Corn. Corn off the cob is the equivalent of body parts scattered about. What many think the church should be would resemble more of a crime scene than a body. A body is an integrated system of parts which are able to be defined distinctly, but cannot function properly without each other. 

day no. 14,747: story

My friend, Kendall, sent me THIS article the other day.

It's main point of discussion was around story and arc and how the rise and fall motif is most often utilized. The article identifies SIX story lines that are often told.

1. Rags to Riches (rise)
2. Riches to Rags (fall)
3. Man in a Hole (fall then rise)
4. Icarus (rise then fall)
5. Cinderella (rise then fall then rise)
6. Oedipus (fall then rise then fall)

I love the art and science and sentiment of story, so this article was up my alley and it reminded me a short YouTube video I saw a while back.

 

The Bible is THE story. It contains every element of every important and meaningful story we have imagined. It is interesting, exciting, and most importantly, it is true.

day no. 14,746: Genesis 4-5 live from Anthem Church (March 3, 2019)

day no. 14,745: 15 years ago today

15 years ago today I was baptized at Cornerstone Church of Ames.

day no. 14,744: Finneas says, "see ya later, 6!"

Finneas,

Two nights ago I told you, "Tomorrow is your last day of being 6 ever!" You responded in classic Finneas fashion by saying, "See ya later, 6!"

I love being your dad. You make life more fun. You still like taking naps with me on Sundays and sometimes you even end up sucking your fingers while you are sleeping. You still bring your blankie with you to bed. But you are growing up and finding ways to serve. You regularly take it upon yourself to clean up your sister's room for them or volunteer to complete some task for one of your siblings in order to help them out. You understand the value of doing things for others and looking to their interests.

You and your brother Atticus are a band of brothers, spending your days fighting Nazis in the basement. You love to draw and color and you are getting really good at creatively putting your mind onto paper. You are tagging along with your bigger siblings, learning and growing in wisdom and knowledge through schooling.

You are full of energy and passion and I love that about you. Your "11" is one of my favorite things about you. True, at times, it is one of the harder things about you too, but I would rather have the problems that come with you and your "11" in my life than the problems I would have if I didn't have you. You are worth it. I would choose you every time.

I am getting glimpses of the future man within you and I am very encouraged by what I see. You have a heart that loves God and is fiercely committed to Him being able to do whatever He desires. You see His sovereignty as a non-negotiable and rightfully so, cuz it isn't!

Happy 7th Birthday, Finneas.

I can't wait to see how another year of growing in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man will develop you. You have worn 6 well. I'm excited to see what you look like in your 7 suit.

Love, Dad

day no. 14,743: clarity, capability and consequences

Genesis 4:7
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

God is a good Dad. 
When He commands, He considers clarity, capability and consequences.

CLARITY

God spells out with meticulous detail what He is after when meticulous detail is what He requires. Don't believe me, read Leviticus and I'll wait for your apology.

CAPABILITY

God does not exasperate His children. He doesn't give them commands that they cannot accomplish. As Augustine once prayed, "Lord, command Thy will and will Thy command." He provides what He requires.

CONSEQUENCES

God provides clear consequences ahead of time. He says what He will do and then He does what He says He will do. He does not give empty threats in order to produce a particular result. He wants us to obey and wants us to use our desire to be accepted as a driver of what we do.

CHRIST

God has clearly communicated that Christ is the way to full and final acceptance before Him. In Christ, all you were incapable of achieving is received. The consequence of faith in Christ is acceptance before God. The consequence of rejecting Christ is finding no regard before God.

day no. 14,742: a time for choosing

I came across this speech the other day while watching, of all things, an army men versus lego men stop motion video with my kids one night before bed. During the scene where the sides prepared for battle, this  excerpt from "A Time for Choosing" by Ronald Reagan on October 27, 1964 was played as a backdrop...

If all of this seems like a great deal of trouble, think what’s at stake. There can be no security anywhere in the free world if there is not fiscal and economic stability within the United States. Those who ask us to trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state are architects of a policy of accommodation. They tell us that by avoiding a direct confrontation with the enemy he will learn to love us and give up his evil ways. All who oppose this idea are blanket indicted as war-mongers. Well, let us set one thing straight, there is no argument with regard to peace and war. It is cheap demagoguery to suggest that anyone would want to send other people’s sons to war. The only argument is with regard to the best way to avoid war. There is only one sure way—surrender.

The spectre our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face is that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and appeasement does not give you a choice between peace and war, only between fight and surrender. We are told that the problem is too complex for a simple answer. They are wrong. There is no easy answer, but there is a simple answer. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right, and this policy of accommodation asks us to accept the greatest possible immorality. We are being asked to buy our safety from the threat of “the bomb” by selling into permanent slavery our fellow human beings enslaved behind the Iron Curtain, to tell them to give up their hope of freedom because we are ready to make a deal with their slave masters. Alexander Hamilton warned us that a nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master and deserves one. Admittedly there is a risk in any course we follow. Choosing the high road cannot eliminate that risk. Already some of the architects of accommodation have hinted what their decision will be if their plan fails and we are faced with the final ultimatum. The English commentator [Kenneth] Tynan has put it this way: he would rather live on his knees than die on his feet. Some of our own have said “Better Red than dead.” If we are to believe that nothing is worth the dying, when did this begin? Should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery rather than dare the wilderness? Should Christ have refused the Cross? Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have refused to fire the shot heard ’round the world? Are we to believe that all the martyrs of history died in vain?

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We can preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we can sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.

day no. 14,741: bus boys and bullets

Where the battle rages, the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle-field besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that one point. - E. R. Charles

If you are a soldier, there are days where your duties are ordinary and uninteresting. A soldier who routinely shows up to bus the tables is steady as far as busboys go, but he isn't steady as far as soldiers go... yet. He is faithful as far as ancillary responsibilities of soldiers go, but not with respect to primary responsibilities. If that same soldier flakes when the battle rages, his loyalty and faithfulness as a soldier are suspect. He cannot compensate for his lack of courage at this moment by his abundance of bussing before. A soldier must soldier on when the battle is boring, but he MUST show up when the battle rages. That is the quintessential character of a soldier. Soldiers must be loyal when there are no bullets, but they aren't soldiers at all if they aren't loyal when there are.

Proverbs 24:10

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

day no. 14,740: good grief

2 Corinthians 7:8-11
For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it-though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.

Grief x8

Grief is not good in and of itself. But that doesn't mean it is bad. It can be bad, but it isn't always bad. It is good when it leads to repentance.

When you feel godly grief, it leads to repentance which means the grief produces a net gain. You are better off for having felt the grief than if you had never felt its sting. Godly grief produces repentance which leads to salvation without regret.

Worldly grief, by contrast produces death which leads to more death with regret for a net loss. It is a loss that leads to more loss.

Godly grief is a loss that leads to ever increasing gain because what it grasps is Christ who gives abundantly. Repentance leads to innocence.

The worldly approach is to remove the sting of sin by categorically changing the game. If we call evil good, then we can commit evil and call it, "good," without shame, grief or regret. But that leads to ever increasing guilt.

Repenting (agreeing with God) and Confessing (calling sin by its name) leads to salvation without any regret.

So those who own their sin are the ones who are free from it and those who deny their sin are the ones enslaved to it. Those attempting to escape shame by clinging to their sin only ensure the shame they seek to avoid. Those who embrace shame by repenting of their sin ensure their salvation and break free from the shame fully and finally.

day no. 14,739: the old one-two combo

2 Corinthians 6:7
The weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left

bada bing, bada boom!

Righteousness is not a one handed operation. You do not have the time or luxury of pursuing alternate endeavors with one of your two hands. If righteousness is your aim, your hands must work together. It is not an end achieved by half-hearted attention. Every area of our lives need to be equipped to fight the good fight. There is no unimportant aspect of our existence. There is nothing so insignificant as to be ignored. The chief end of every thing is to be under the headship of Christ. And this does not come naturally or without a fight. 

Psalm 149:6

Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands