Judges 2:19—3:6
But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, "Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not." So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.
War is a way of revealing one's affections. What you are willing to go war for says a lot about what cares and concerns you consider home base.
War is a way God tests His people's hearts. Conflict confirms conviction. It forces skin into the game and makes theory as practical as blood and sweat and love and hate.
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” ― G.K. Chesterton
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
day no. 15,317: enduring and employing disorder
"If we are to win, we must be able to operate in a disorderly environment. In fact, we must not only be able to fight effectively in the face of disorder, we should seek to generate disorder and use it as a weapon against our opponent." — MCDP 1: Warfighting
We cannot embrace a doctrine of eliminating every danger or disorder. It is not possible. Danger and disorder are inescapable. Since we live in a world infused with enmity by the design of God, (Gen 3:15) we must accept the fact of danger and disorder. We must resolve ourselves to endure that which our enemy attempts to impose upon us and we must repent of that which we experience as a result of being out of step with the will of God. Because we are not sovereign, decisions will be made which wreck our plans or make our lives less secure than if we were driving things.
As Christians, we accept God's designs by faith and walk in them, repenting of our sin and inflicting damage on the enemy as we walk ahead. Someone is going to experience disorder. May it be that God's enemies experience it in increasing measures to the extent that it converts some enemies to allies and crushes the remaining ones who continue to hold out.
We cannot embrace a doctrine of eliminating every danger or disorder. It is not possible. Danger and disorder are inescapable. Since we live in a world infused with enmity by the design of God, (Gen 3:15) we must accept the fact of danger and disorder. We must resolve ourselves to endure that which our enemy attempts to impose upon us and we must repent of that which we experience as a result of being out of step with the will of God. Because we are not sovereign, decisions will be made which wreck our plans or make our lives less secure than if we were driving things.
As Christians, we accept God's designs by faith and walk in them, repenting of our sin and inflicting damage on the enemy as we walk ahead. Someone is going to experience disorder. May it be that God's enemies experience it in increasing measures to the extent that it converts some enemies to allies and crushes the remaining ones who continue to hold out.
Monday, September 28, 2020
day no. 15,316: nothing is conserved by accident
Robert Conquest’s Three Laws of Politics:
1. Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.
2. Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing.
3. The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
Anything that is not explicitly trying to hold on will eventually let go.
In other words, things do not become more conservative by accident and they most assuredly do become more liberal without any thought whatsoever.
"We have remarked that one reason offered for being a progressive is that things naturally tend to grow better. But the only real reason for being a progressive is that things naturally tend to grow worse. The corruption in things is not only the best argument for being progressive; it is also the only argument against being conservative. The conservative theory would really be quite sweeping and unanswerable if it were not for this one fact. But all conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change. If you leave a white post alone it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white you must be always painting it again; that is, you must be always having a revolution. Briefly, if you want the old white post you must have a new white post." - G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, The Eternal Revolution
If you are not actively engaged in keeping the post white, it will eventually be black. If you want to retain its whiteness, you must constantly be reforming it to its former white or it will be gray in a few days and black in a few years. As Chesterton points out, to love white posts is to love the upkeep of reapplying white. Anything not explicitly committed to this process will have a blackened post. Liberalism's insistence on progress is a commitment to black posts. The only hope for a white post is a conservative who loves white enough to continually apply new coats.
1. Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.
2. Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing.
3. The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
Anything that is not explicitly trying to hold on will eventually let go.
In other words, things do not become more conservative by accident and they most assuredly do become more liberal without any thought whatsoever.
"We have remarked that one reason offered for being a progressive is that things naturally tend to grow better. But the only real reason for being a progressive is that things naturally tend to grow worse. The corruption in things is not only the best argument for being progressive; it is also the only argument against being conservative. The conservative theory would really be quite sweeping and unanswerable if it were not for this one fact. But all conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change. If you leave a white post alone it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white you must be always painting it again; that is, you must be always having a revolution. Briefly, if you want the old white post you must have a new white post." - G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, The Eternal Revolution
If you are not actively engaged in keeping the post white, it will eventually be black. If you want to retain its whiteness, you must constantly be reforming it to its former white or it will be gray in a few days and black in a few years. As Chesterton points out, to love white posts is to love the upkeep of reapplying white. Anything not explicitly committed to this process will have a blackened post. Liberalism's insistence on progress is a commitment to black posts. The only hope for a white post is a conservative who loves white enough to continually apply new coats.
Sunday, September 27, 2020
day no. 15,315: die on the high ground rather than live on the lower
"Positions are seldom lost because they have been destroyed, but almost invariably because the leader has decided in his own mind that the position cannot be held.”— A. A. Vandegrift
Positions are abandoned by unbelief before they're surrendered to unbelievers.
Positions are not surrendered as often for being overcome by the enemy as they are for the occupant becoming overwhelmed. The one holding the position is overwhelmed by the defense of it and abandons it, not because it has been demolished, but because the confidence in its centrality has been abandoned.
So then, when attacks come, the last place one should want to be is away from the position best suited to your main objective. To abandon the position before it has been destroyed is to reveal that you distrusted the centrality of the position. To retreat to a secondary position is to confess it as your primary objective and point of centrality. Anyone who is not fiercely committed to what they say they believe most ferociously, will sooner or later be less committed to it.
For example, the high ground is actually advantageous both geographically and ethically. But to surrender that ground in the face of danger is evidence that the higher ground you had was procured accidentally and not in actuality. If the higher ground is possessed in the firmest sense of the word, it could not be abandoned for lower ground. It would rather die on the higher ground than live in the lower.
"Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing."
— Robert Conquest’s Second Laws of Politics
In other words, if you do not explicitly hold to trinitarian orthodoxy, you will, sooner or later, be less trinitarian and more unorthodox. These positions are held, not loosely, but tenaciously and purposefully. They cannot be held lightly. To hold them lightly is to let them slip through your fingers.
Positions are abandoned by unbelief before they're surrendered to unbelievers.
Positions are not surrendered as often for being overcome by the enemy as they are for the occupant becoming overwhelmed. The one holding the position is overwhelmed by the defense of it and abandons it, not because it has been demolished, but because the confidence in its centrality has been abandoned.
Having a position presupposes assiduity.
Positions are picked for certain reasons. Of all the positions one could have taken up, this is the one best suited to the passion of your mission and the realities of the missionfield. It also presupposes that attacks will come from the one on whom your will is being imposed (the enemy) and that attacks must be made from the vantage point and position you have picked.
So then, when attacks come, the last place one should want to be is away from the position best suited to your main objective. To abandon the position before it has been destroyed is to reveal that you distrusted the centrality of the position. To retreat to a secondary position is to confess it as your primary objective and point of centrality. Anyone who is not fiercely committed to what they say they believe most ferociously, will sooner or later be less committed to it.
For example, the high ground is actually advantageous both geographically and ethically. But to surrender that ground in the face of danger is evidence that the higher ground you had was procured accidentally and not in actuality. If the higher ground is possessed in the firmest sense of the word, it could not be abandoned for lower ground. It would rather die on the higher ground than live in the lower.
"Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing."
— Robert Conquest’s Second Laws of Politics
In other words, if you do not explicitly hold to trinitarian orthodoxy, you will, sooner or later, be less trinitarian and more unorthodox. These positions are held, not loosely, but tenaciously and purposefully. They cannot be held lightly. To hold them lightly is to let them slip through your fingers.
Most positions are abandoned in theory before they are abandoned in reality.
Positions are lost first by lack of faith and then by lack of participation and finally by lack of presence altogether. They are surrendered and left to be abused and ravaged by its enemies.
In other words, if a position is believed to be unable to be held, it won't be much longer.
In other words, if a position is believed to be unable to be held, it won't be much longer.
Saturday, September 26, 2020
day no. 15,314: waiting, watching and working
As Christ would have us be fully persuaded
That there will be a great sure day of judgment,
Both to deter all men from their sinning
And for great consolation to all of the godly
When they are caught in the snares of adversity,
So He will have that great day remain
Unknown to man that we might not sleep,
But rather shake off all carnal security
And always be watchful and waiting in holiness
Because we know not at what hour He will come
And must always be ready to say with true fervor,
“Come our Lord Jesus, come quickly, amen.”
- Douglas Wilson, Westminster in Verse, 33 Of The Last Judgement, 3
In other words, God wants us to know two things beyond a shadow of a doubt:
(1) there is coming a day when everything will be judged
(2) no one knows when that day will be
The result is that those who do not know God may be warned into knowing Him and obeying Him now rather than being judged guilty by Him later.
But is also results in those knowing God working hard for Him here and now as to not be found messing around at His return. Knowing He is returning, but not knowing when is a great incentive to do whatever you do, whether eating or drinking, for the Lord (1 Cor 10:31) and to work as hard as you can, whatever it is, as for the Lord (Col. 3:23-24), because in the flash of an eye, He may be there to inspect it and ready to give rewards for good work.
That there will be a great sure day of judgment,
Both to deter all men from their sinning
And for great consolation to all of the godly
When they are caught in the snares of adversity,
So He will have that great day remain
Unknown to man that we might not sleep,
But rather shake off all carnal security
And always be watchful and waiting in holiness
Because we know not at what hour He will come
And must always be ready to say with true fervor,
“Come our Lord Jesus, come quickly, amen.”
- Douglas Wilson, Westminster in Verse, 33 Of The Last Judgement, 3
In other words, God wants us to know two things beyond a shadow of a doubt:
(1) there is coming a day when everything will be judged
(2) no one knows when that day will be
The result is that those who do not know God may be warned into knowing Him and obeying Him now rather than being judged guilty by Him later.
But is also results in those knowing God working hard for Him here and now as to not be found messing around at His return. Knowing He is returning, but not knowing when is a great incentive to do whatever you do, whether eating or drinking, for the Lord (1 Cor 10:31) and to work as hard as you can, whatever it is, as for the Lord (Col. 3:23-24), because in the flash of an eye, He may be there to inspect it and ready to give rewards for good work.
Friday, September 25, 2020
day no. 15,313: one path, one presence, infinite pleasures
Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life;
in Your presence there is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
God provides a path that leads to His presence in which there are pleasures forever.
God's presence is permeated with pleasure. And that is good news. He has pleasure in aces and never runs out. He has enough to go around and back again and He gladly gives pleasures to those walking on the path He has provided. That path is peppered with previews of what we see completely in His presence. There is joy overflowing in the place where He is and along the way, a path paved by life abundant. We have been called to a life that is life indeed, that ends in more of the same.
Fun haters beware: Heaven is not the place for you. If you like long-faces, this is not your kind of party. There are times to be serious and we must take God seriously, but as we do, we do not find less joy, but more, not less pleasure, but more, not less life, but more. And even more in store than the path leading up to it could contain.
God has provided one path that leads to the one place where His presence resides where infinite pleasures are stored forevermore for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
You make known to me the path of life;
in Your presence there is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
God provides a path that leads to His presence in which there are pleasures forever.
God's presence is permeated with pleasure. And that is good news. He has pleasure in aces and never runs out. He has enough to go around and back again and He gladly gives pleasures to those walking on the path He has provided. That path is peppered with previews of what we see completely in His presence. There is joy overflowing in the place where He is and along the way, a path paved by life abundant. We have been called to a life that is life indeed, that ends in more of the same.
Fun haters beware: Heaven is not the place for you. If you like long-faces, this is not your kind of party. There are times to be serious and we must take God seriously, but as we do, we do not find less joy, but more, not less pleasure, but more, not less life, but more. And even more in store than the path leading up to it could contain.
God has provided one path that leads to the one place where His presence resides where infinite pleasures are stored forevermore for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does He withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
No good thing does He withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
day no. 15,312: one too little, two too many and hundreds not enough
Psalm 16:4
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply
Wherever idols are mass produced we should not be shocked to discover sorrows multiplied along with them.
"They that multiply gods multiply griefs to themselves; for whosoever thinks one god too little, will find two too many, and yet hundreds not enough." - Matthew Henry
Anyone who does not like having one boss will not be thrilled to discover that they have two, and yet creating more bosses in order to make one more according to your liking has no end.
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply
Wherever idols are mass produced we should not be shocked to discover sorrows multiplied along with them.
"They that multiply gods multiply griefs to themselves; for whosoever thinks one god too little, will find two too many, and yet hundreds not enough." - Matthew Henry
Anyone who does not like having one boss will not be thrilled to discover that they have two, and yet creating more bosses in order to make one more according to your liking has no end.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
day no. 15,311: not without witness
Acts 14:16-17
In past generations He allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet He did not leave Himself without witness, for He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.
If God did good by giving rain and fruitful seasons to a world full of ignorance and void of Christ, how much more so now should we expect to see His goodness abounding everywhere? He has made everything good in its season and for His reasons, may we rejoice and be glad in them. They are His appointed witnesses that He regularly calls to the stand to faithfully testify on His behalf. Every time it rains, every time fruit is produced, it speaks on His behalf. These are His witnesses, left to faithfully observe His creative power and sustaining strength. May we not ignore their testimony or discredit their witness by bringing in our experts.
In past generations He allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet He did not leave Himself without witness, for He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.
If God did good by giving rain and fruitful seasons to a world full of ignorance and void of Christ, how much more so now should we expect to see His goodness abounding everywhere? He has made everything good in its season and for His reasons, may we rejoice and be glad in them. They are His appointed witnesses that He regularly calls to the stand to faithfully testify on His behalf. Every time it rains, every time fruit is produced, it speaks on His behalf. These are His witnesses, left to faithfully observe His creative power and sustaining strength. May we not ignore their testimony or discredit their witness by bringing in our experts.
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
day no. 15,310 continued... heed heaven's horse-laugh
What we need, or at least what I need, is to hear Heaven's laughter. It is easy to look around and see the sneers of the wicked and the taunts of the godless. It is easy to take notice of their threats. It is hard not to hear them. But do we hear Heaven's hearty horse-laugh to it all?
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
"Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us."
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
While the world rallies and riots around their unified desire to be free from God, He who holds their entire world in His hands looks down and laughs. Heaven's response to the plans of man is a spit take. He isn't on the edge of His seat. He is sitting. He isn't biting His nails to calm His nerves. He is chuckling.
Can we hear Heaven laughing right now? We should... because He is.
Not because our fears aren't real. Not because the enemy's plans aren't serious. Not because it may not actually get bad. But because it cannot overcome His plans. What is meant for evil cannot overcome what God means for good. Whatever God means will win. There is no cosmic arm-wrestling match taking place. There is a world manufacturing its munitions and preparing for a blitzkrieg and there is God in Heaven, patiently sitting back... giggling.
While we look down at our phones and scroll our news-feeds, we see the saber-rattling of the troops of doom, but can we hear the roar of laughter looking down on it all? The Lion of Judah roars with laughter before He roars for the slaughter. The difference between laughter and slaughter is one little letter. What a difference an "s" can make. And if He can do that much with so little, what can't He do with everything at His disposal?
So, take the time to overhear God laughing and slap your knees along with Him for a moment.
And then remember, He doesn't JUST laugh.
Psalm 2:5-9
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
The nations will not be dissolved, but discipled. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. Every square inch and every single individual will be brought under submission to the Son. It is His reward. He earned it. It's His by right and He wants all of it. He isn't content to leave it uncashed. We will not see the nations win, we will see them won over. But submission to the Son will take either the form of voluntary tribute or involuntary tribulation.
Psalm 2:10-12
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
May we who have already taken refuge in Him remember to take heed to hear His laugh. God help us to drown out the mocking taunts of the godless who throw shade at the light of the world hung out to dry on a worldly cross. May many others who are currently aligned against God, take heed and repent before their party is crashed.
In this world, Jesus promised tribulation and turmoil, but He also promised that He would overcome the whole lot of it.
On earth the usurpers reign,
Exert their baneful power,
O’er the poor fallen sons of men
They tyrannize their hour:
But shall believers fear?
But shall believers fly?
Or see the bloody cross appear,
And all their power defy?
Jesus' tremendous name
Puts all our foes to flight:
Jesus, the meek, the angry Lamb,
A Lion is in fight.
By all hell's host withstood;
We all hell's host o'erthrow;
And conquering them, through Jesus' blood
We still to conquer go.
— Charles Wesley, Angels Your March Oppose quoted by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in Morning and Evening
day no. 15,310: a baboon's bottom
"Mere repetition made things to me rather more weird than more rational. It was as if, having seen a curiously shaped nose in the street and dismissed it as an accident, I had then seen six other noses of the same astonishing shape. I should have fancied for a moment that it must be some local secret society. So one elephant having a trunk was odd; but all elephants having trunks looked like a plot." -- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, ch. 4 the Ethics of Elfland
One odd nose here or there is an oddity. Six odd noses in a row is a conspiracy.
A baboon's bottom observed in obscurity is bizarre, but in a herd by the hundred is a coup d'etat, something is going on there. And so it is with the world God made. Odd things happen here and there, but they often happen with enough regularity and repetition that one should wonder, "What's going on here?"
One odd nose here or there is an oddity. Six odd noses in a row is a conspiracy.
A baboon's bottom observed in obscurity is bizarre, but in a herd by the hundred is a coup d'etat, something is going on there. And so it is with the world God made. Odd things happen here and there, but they often happen with enough regularity and repetition that one should wonder, "What's going on here?"
Monday, September 21, 2020
Sunday, September 20, 2020
day no. 15,308: the marriage of mercy and truth
Psalm 85:10
Mercy and truth are met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other
In Christ alone do righteousness and peace enjoy oneness without compromise and mercy and truth make friendly.
"Torquemada tortured people physically for the sake of moral truth. Zola tortured people morally for the sake of physical truth. But in Torquemada's time there was at least a system that could to some extent make righteousness and peace kiss each other. Now they do not even bow." - G.K Chesterton, Orthodoxy, ch 3: the suicide of thought
In the world, there is either righteousness or peace... justice or mercy. There are those who are adamantly for the one and some who are diametrically opposed to the other. If you love mercy, you cry down those who insist upon justice. If you love justice, you mock those bleeding-heart bags of mercy down the block.
Mercy and truth are met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other
In Christ alone do righteousness and peace enjoy oneness without compromise and mercy and truth make friendly.
"Torquemada tortured people physically for the sake of moral truth. Zola tortured people morally for the sake of physical truth. But in Torquemada's time there was at least a system that could to some extent make righteousness and peace kiss each other. Now they do not even bow." - G.K Chesterton, Orthodoxy, ch 3: the suicide of thought
In the world, there is either righteousness or peace... justice or mercy. There are those who are adamantly for the one and some who are diametrically opposed to the other. If you love mercy, you cry down those who insist upon justice. If you love justice, you mock those bleeding-heart bags of mercy down the block.
But in God, justice and mercy are married; whereas in the world, they don't even pay respect to the other. They dismiss each other as barricades. The other is seen as the reason their cause is kept from full expression. The mercy-mongers limit justice and the justice-thumpers muzzle mercy. Outside of God, mercy and truth don't even shake hands; in Him, they not only enjoy each other's company, but make covenant with each other, enjoy oneness, and dwell in perfect unity without dampening either's zeal.
Justice is never more just than when it is married to mercy.
Mercy is never more merciful than when it keeps covenant with justice.
Saturday, September 19, 2020
day no. 15,307: the expositor and its exposition
Luke 24:27
Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
In response to this verse, Charles Haddon Spurgeon in Morning and Evening observed the following,
"Although able to reveal fresh truth, He preferred to expound the old... O for grace to study the Bible with Jesus as both our teacher and our lesson!"
Jesus was the living, breathing, walking Word of God and when given the opportunity to preach, He opened up His Bible and expounded it.
May we, just like the two on the road to Emmaus, have the joy of having Jesus as our teacher and our lesson, the expositor and its exposition.
Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
In response to this verse, Charles Haddon Spurgeon in Morning and Evening observed the following,
"Although able to reveal fresh truth, He preferred to expound the old... O for grace to study the Bible with Jesus as both our teacher and our lesson!"
Jesus was the living, breathing, walking Word of God and when given the opportunity to preach, He opened up His Bible and expounded it.
May we, just like the two on the road to Emmaus, have the joy of having Jesus as our teacher and our lesson, the expositor and its exposition.
Friday, September 18, 2020
day no. 15,306: dead bodies and deadlier vipers
Romans 3:9-13
For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.
Doug Wilson, in Romans: An Apostolic Study Edition, summarizes Paul's smorgasbord of Old Testament statements here in Romans 3 by saying,
"These people have mouths, tongues and throats that are open graves, filled with dead bodies and living vipers."
Jesus called to mind the same imagery when confronting sinners by saying,
Matthew 23:27
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Matthew 23:33
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
Anyone outside of Christ is likened to a tomb full of dead bodies and deadlier vipers.
For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.
Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.
they use their tongues to deceive.
The venom of asps is under their lips.
Doug Wilson, in Romans: An Apostolic Study Edition, summarizes Paul's smorgasbord of Old Testament statements here in Romans 3 by saying,
"These people have mouths, tongues and throats that are open graves, filled with dead bodies and living vipers."
Jesus called to mind the same imagery when confronting sinners by saying,
Matthew 23:27
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Matthew 23:33
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
Anyone outside of Christ is likened to a tomb full of dead bodies and deadlier vipers.
Thursday, September 17, 2020
day no. 15,305: the Lord will give you understanding in everything
2 Timothy 2:1-7
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Christian men must be disciples that make disciples. We can learn a lot about how we are to be those kind of men and how we are to produce more in kind by considering three occupations in which a man could find himself employed:
Soldier
Athlete
Farmer
Christian men are called to be good soldiers. We must be on mission, under authority, training to fight, willing to pull the trigger, avoiding friendly fire and aware of who the enemy is.
Christian men are called to be good athletes. We must train hard so that we are ready to perform. Most of athletics is training. Proportionally, far more time is spent preparing, game-planning and practicing than is actually playing the game. And we practice the way we play, according to the rules. If you are practicing in a way that doesn't take the rules into account, you will not succeed at the actual competition. You play the way you practice.
Christian men are called to be hard-working farmers. Farmers know when to work and where and how to wait and for what. Farmers must work in hope and by faith knowing that the preparing of the soil and the planting will take time and grace to produce fruit. If God doesn't send the rain, the planting won't produce fruit. We work hard, but we entrust our hard work to our God.
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Christian men must be disciples that make disciples. We can learn a lot about how we are to be those kind of men and how we are to produce more in kind by considering three occupations in which a man could find himself employed:
Soldier
Athlete
Farmer
Christian men are called to be good soldiers. We must be on mission, under authority, training to fight, willing to pull the trigger, avoiding friendly fire and aware of who the enemy is.
Christian men are called to be good athletes. We must train hard so that we are ready to perform. Most of athletics is training. Proportionally, far more time is spent preparing, game-planning and practicing than is actually playing the game. And we practice the way we play, according to the rules. If you are practicing in a way that doesn't take the rules into account, you will not succeed at the actual competition. You play the way you practice.
Christian men are called to be hard-working farmers. Farmers know when to work and where and how to wait and for what. Farmers must work in hope and by faith knowing that the preparing of the soil and the planting will take time and grace to produce fruit. If God doesn't send the rain, the planting won't produce fruit. We work hard, but we entrust our hard work to our God.
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
day no. 15,304: govern responsibly
God has given men offices to govern and be governed by including :
Self
Home
Church/State
Christian men are responsible to govern themselves. The number of verses regarding self-control alone point to the power and necessity of self-government. Men have been given themselves to govern and by the grace of God, His Spirit gifts us with the fruit of self-control that we may govern ourselves well.
Christian men are responsible to govern their families. They are the heads of their respective households. They are the one responsible for everything that happens under their roof. Although they may not always be at fault for everything that happens, they are nevertheless, still responsible.
Christian men are responsible to govern their churches and their nations. The elders of each local church are men. Leaders are men and men are meant to lead. Federal representation is one man standing in the stead of all those he represents. He wears the weight of his people's hopes and needs and leads considering the effect of his decisions on his congregants and/or citizens. Joshua made decisions for his family, "we will worship the Lord." and David made decisions for his nation, "We will got to war."
Self
Home
Church/State
Christian men are responsible to govern themselves. The number of verses regarding self-control alone point to the power and necessity of self-government. Men have been given themselves to govern and by the grace of God, His Spirit gifts us with the fruit of self-control that we may govern ourselves well.
Christian men are responsible to govern their families. They are the heads of their respective households. They are the one responsible for everything that happens under their roof. Although they may not always be at fault for everything that happens, they are nevertheless, still responsible.
Christian men are responsible to govern their churches and their nations. The elders of each local church are men. Leaders are men and men are meant to lead. Federal representation is one man standing in the stead of all those he represents. He wears the weight of his people's hopes and needs and leads considering the effect of his decisions on his congregants and/or citizens. Joshua made decisions for his family, "we will worship the Lord." and David made decisions for his nation, "We will got to war."
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
day no. 15,303: you are now free to roam about the cabin
Psalm 12:8
The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
In a world where the most wicked received promotion, it is not surprising to find their junior level executives walking freely about wherever they please. However, in a land where the most wicked are publicly tried and found wanting, the less wicked don't presume the freedom to roam about the cabin unencumbered.
You will always cultivate what you celebrate. You produce what you promote. You increase what you incentivize.
When you exalt folly, you should not be shocked to find fools fumbling around. But when wisdom is exalted, you find that the foolish paths are clearly marked and more people doing their best to avoid them.
The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
In a world where the most wicked received promotion, it is not surprising to find their junior level executives walking freely about wherever they please. However, in a land where the most wicked are publicly tried and found wanting, the less wicked don't presume the freedom to roam about the cabin unencumbered.
You will always cultivate what you celebrate. You produce what you promote. You increase what you incentivize.
When you exalt folly, you should not be shocked to find fools fumbling around. But when wisdom is exalted, you find that the foolish paths are clearly marked and more people doing their best to avoid them.
Monday, September 14, 2020
day no. 15,302: bargain-bin building blocks and second-rate slapdashery
Psalm 11:3
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Not rhetorical. Seriously, what should the righteous do when the foundations are being destroyed beneath their feet? Rebuild them. But NOT in our own image and NOT as though the problem with them was their construction and not our jackhammers.
God has provided us all certain orienting principles upon which decisions, lives, marriages, families, communities, churches, and nations can be faithfully built. He has given these to us in order to show us what to build and how to build them. When we begin trying to use these principles to build out of step with their purpose, it is not surprising that the structures wobble and not only do structural damage to what we built, but also foundational damage to where we built it.
It is also not shocking when our towers topple when they are constructed using bargain-bin building blocks and second-rate slapdashery. You cannot build nobility out of ignoble efforts. You cannot create a heritage out of hash. You cannot leave a legacy out of loose living. Rather, I should say, you can leave a legacy and an inheritance, but it can only be legacy of ignoring legacy and a heritage of devouring inheritances in advance.
So what can the righteous do? Be righteous. Worship the One who is righteous and begin to rebuild our lives, our homes, our churches, our communities, our nations on Him alone.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. 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.
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Not rhetorical. Seriously, what should the righteous do when the foundations are being destroyed beneath their feet? Rebuild them. But NOT in our own image and NOT as though the problem with them was their construction and not our jackhammers.
God has provided us all certain orienting principles upon which decisions, lives, marriages, families, communities, churches, and nations can be faithfully built. He has given these to us in order to show us what to build and how to build them. When we begin trying to use these principles to build out of step with their purpose, it is not surprising that the structures wobble and not only do structural damage to what we built, but also foundational damage to where we built it.
It is also not shocking when our towers topple when they are constructed using bargain-bin building blocks and second-rate slapdashery. You cannot build nobility out of ignoble efforts. You cannot create a heritage out of hash. You cannot leave a legacy out of loose living. Rather, I should say, you can leave a legacy and an inheritance, but it can only be legacy of ignoring legacy and a heritage of devouring inheritances in advance.
So what can the righteous do? Be righteous. Worship the One who is righteous and begin to rebuild our lives, our homes, our churches, our communities, our nations on Him alone.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. 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.
Sunday, September 13, 2020
day no. 15,301 continued... let's all be socially responsible
1 Thessalonians 4:11
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
2 Thessalonians 3:10
When we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
The Christian social contract is in essence, "Mind your own business."
The Progressive socialist concept is, "Mind ours."
Christians largely desire to be left alone.
Socialists desire to be attended to.
Christians require you to do nothing so that we can do what we desire.
Socialists require you to do everything so that they can do whatever they desire.
Christians are to attend to their own responsibilities. This comes from honoring God's commands. When you are responsible for your soul, your property, your family, your business, your hunger, your fulfillment, your production and your distribution, you live simply, heartily, responsibly.... or you don't. You perish. You reap what you have sown. You eat the bounty of your productivity. This means you will either have your fill of plenty or you will have plenty of emptiness. The only exceptions to this are those who are unable to be responsible for themselves: the mentally or physically disabled for example. This does not include those unwilling to be responsible for themselves. Those should be allowed to be hungry. We should let them have their fill... even if what they desire is emptiness.
Christians desire to mind their own business in order to have the privilege and opportunity to help others who are struggling under their own loads. But those struggling under their heavy burdens are not to be understood as those struggling with the struggle of having to have any burden at all. Those who are unwilling or unable to come to grips with what is their responsibility to grasp are not to objects of our charity. We should give them instruction, exhortation, encouragement and discipline, but we cannot give them a free pass from their obligations. The love of God does not compel us to let someone hate His designs.
Galatians 6:1-10
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. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Christianity advocates for everyone doing their part with "everyone" being defined as every single one.
Socialism advocates for everyone else doing my part with "my" being defined by a very small number of elites claiming diplomatic immunity from the personal responsibility to provide for themselves.
If only their social distancing required them to stay out of our business. That'd be a distancing I could get behind. As it is, their dogmatic insistence on minding your business for you is forcing everyone to go out of business. The socialist element wants to force us to keep our distance in public so that they can draw closer to us in private. Their only interest in keeping us apart in public is to keep us apart from our private liberties.
They will never be content to live and let live. They cannot sleep unless someone else is forced to be awake. They will not rest until everyone else is interested in their interests. They are egalitarian, uninteresting, and narrow-minded. Their ideology flies in the face of God and seeks to erect a middle finger large enough to be seen from space.
But it cannot and will not succeed. Sin is insanity and it doesn't work. It can't. It won't. It refused to. You cannot eat the wind and anything that can't go on forever... won't.
Praise God who is from everlasting to everlasting. He has no end and no beginning. He is forever and His world is without end and His Kingdom is forever.... Amen.
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
2 Thessalonians 3:10
When we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
The Christian social contract is in essence, "Mind your own business."
The Progressive socialist concept is, "Mind ours."
Christians largely desire to be left alone.
Socialists desire to be attended to.
Christians require you to do nothing so that we can do what we desire.
Socialists require you to do everything so that they can do whatever they desire.
Christians are to attend to their own responsibilities. This comes from honoring God's commands. When you are responsible for your soul, your property, your family, your business, your hunger, your fulfillment, your production and your distribution, you live simply, heartily, responsibly.... or you don't. You perish. You reap what you have sown. You eat the bounty of your productivity. This means you will either have your fill of plenty or you will have plenty of emptiness. The only exceptions to this are those who are unable to be responsible for themselves: the mentally or physically disabled for example. This does not include those unwilling to be responsible for themselves. Those should be allowed to be hungry. We should let them have their fill... even if what they desire is emptiness.
Christians desire to mind their own business in order to have the privilege and opportunity to help others who are struggling under their own loads. But those struggling under their heavy burdens are not to be understood as those struggling with the struggle of having to have any burden at all. Those who are unwilling or unable to come to grips with what is their responsibility to grasp are not to objects of our charity. We should give them instruction, exhortation, encouragement and discipline, but we cannot give them a free pass from their obligations. The love of God does not compel us to let someone hate His designs.
Galatians 6:1-10
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. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Christianity advocates for everyone doing their part with "everyone" being defined as every single one.
Socialism advocates for everyone else doing my part with "my" being defined by a very small number of elites claiming diplomatic immunity from the personal responsibility to provide for themselves.
If only their social distancing required them to stay out of our business. That'd be a distancing I could get behind. As it is, their dogmatic insistence on minding your business for you is forcing everyone to go out of business. The socialist element wants to force us to keep our distance in public so that they can draw closer to us in private. Their only interest in keeping us apart in public is to keep us apart from our private liberties.
They will never be content to live and let live. They cannot sleep unless someone else is forced to be awake. They will not rest until everyone else is interested in their interests. They are egalitarian, uninteresting, and narrow-minded. Their ideology flies in the face of God and seeks to erect a middle finger large enough to be seen from space.
But it cannot and will not succeed. Sin is insanity and it doesn't work. It can't. It won't. It refused to. You cannot eat the wind and anything that can't go on forever... won't.
Praise God who is from everlasting to everlasting. He has no end and no beginning. He is forever and His world is without end and His Kingdom is forever.... Amen.
day no. 15,301: we are taken away by that with which we are taken
Psalm 10:2-4 (KJV)
The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
We become like what we worship. This can happen in either direction. We can devolve into idolatry or aspire to the divine. Either way, we are all well on our way to becoming something and sooner or later we're all going to get there. We are taken in by that which we invite to take us and we are taken away by that with which we are taken.
The devices we take are taking us somewhere.
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Psalm 115:4-8, Psalm 135:15-18
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
Those whose hearts constantly behold the Lord are becoming more and more, by one degree or another, like Him in glory. This is God's doing in us, His glory at work in conforming us to the image of His Son.
Romans 8:28-29
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.
The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
We become like what we worship. This can happen in either direction. We can devolve into idolatry or aspire to the divine. Either way, we are all well on our way to becoming something and sooner or later we're all going to get there. We are taken in by that which we invite to take us and we are taken away by that with which we are taken.
The devices we take are taking us somewhere.
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Psalm 115:4-8, Psalm 135:15-18
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
Those whose hearts constantly behold the Lord are becoming more and more, by one degree or another, like Him in glory. This is God's doing in us, His glory at work in conforming us to the image of His Son.
Romans 8:28-29
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.
Saturday, September 12, 2020
day no. 15,300: "yes!" and "amen!" to God's earth
"Our marriage shall be a yes to God's earth; it shall strengthen our courage to act and accomplish something on the earth. I fear that Christians who stand with only one leg upon earth also stand with only one leg in heaven " - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Testament to Freedom
This really captures what has developed as a mission statement of sorts for my family in the last year or so. Particularly in light of the recent adoption of postmillennial, optimistic, legacy-minded, Christian conquest married to a commitment to create more delight and enjoyment of earthly life here and now in an effort to practice for eternal life there and then.
We feast now in order to prepare for that feast then. We rehearse so that we show up in proper shape. We practice to better play the game later. We work to build for God's glory here and now knowing that whatever survives the refining fire of Christ's return will only improve upon what we're already doing, not demolish it entirely.
So, as much as possible, we seek to enjoy God's world in proportion to His enjoyment in creating and sustaining it all.
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein.
We marry and say, "Yes" to God's green earth in doing so. We are grateful for the flesh in which He has chosen to cloth each and everything, the skin on which He places sentiments in order to make visible His invisible qualities of grace, generosity, creativity and power.
Romans 1:19-20
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
What God has made is good because its origin is located in Him and His goodness. Sin has corrupted good things, but nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving and a heart full of gratitude that looks up and gladly says, "Thank You!"
1 Timothy 4:1-5
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
This really captures what has developed as a mission statement of sorts for my family in the last year or so. Particularly in light of the recent adoption of postmillennial, optimistic, legacy-minded, Christian conquest married to a commitment to create more delight and enjoyment of earthly life here and now in an effort to practice for eternal life there and then.
We feast now in order to prepare for that feast then. We rehearse so that we show up in proper shape. We practice to better play the game later. We work to build for God's glory here and now knowing that whatever survives the refining fire of Christ's return will only improve upon what we're already doing, not demolish it entirely.
So, as much as possible, we seek to enjoy God's world in proportion to His enjoyment in creating and sustaining it all.
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein.
We marry and say, "Yes" to God's green earth in doing so. We are grateful for the flesh in which He has chosen to cloth each and everything, the skin on which He places sentiments in order to make visible His invisible qualities of grace, generosity, creativity and power.
Romans 1:19-20
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
What God has made is good because its origin is located in Him and His goodness. Sin has corrupted good things, but nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving and a heart full of gratitude that looks up and gladly says, "Thank You!"
1 Timothy 4:1-5
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
Friday, September 11, 2020
day no. 15,299: the problem with our problem
C. H. Spurgeon was once asked how he reconciled the Sovereignty of God with the responsibility of man. “I don't,” he replied; “I never reconcile friends.”
Last night (1/16/20) the Van Voorst family watched episode 1 of Reformed Basics by Doug Wilson on Amazon Prime.
The quote from Spurgeon helped springboard the conversation about God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. If God is in control and knows a thing from the beginning to the end and chooses what ending He wants to come to pass, how is it that man can be held accountable or responsible for anything that ends up happening?
The question is a natural and normal response to this kind of assertion and we know that because the Bible assumes that will be the natural, normal person's response to it.
Romans 9:19
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?”
Wilson's explanation of our issue and our predictable response is illustrated by thinking of it as a character in a book and an author of that book. Who is responsible for what the character says? Is he 100% responsible and the author is off the hook? Is the author 100% responsible and the character is off the hook? What about if we divide it up 50/50? Our difficulty with this illustration is that we don't like being thought of as a character in someone else's story and we don't like imagining that all of our words are like a dialogue being penned down by someone else. In short, we imagine ourselves as something more than merely a two-dimensional character, simply parroting whatever words are being piped through our vocal chords from an off-stage ventriloquist.
But our problem is highlighted by the problem we have with that illustration. We immediately rush to defending ourselves as being more than just a mere character. We see that flaw in the logic immediately and we don't take too kindly to it.
Here is the problem with our problem: we don't have a problem with God being merely an author of stories. We don't rush to explain that He is much more than a two dimensional author writing what sometimes appears to be poorly written dialogue. We don't immediately attempt to elevate His position within that particular allegory.
But the explanation of God's sovereignty and our responsibility is located not in elevating ourselves within the story, but recognizing that He is outside of all stories and is much more than a two-dimensional story teller. He is an another dimension altogether. A dimension in which He alone lives, moves and has His being. He lives in that world, that plane, that realm and we live in ours. He is outside our space and time and yet able to interact and determine our space and time (Acts 17:26). In fact, not only able, but perfectly so, uniquely so.
Last night (1/16/20) the Van Voorst family watched episode 1 of Reformed Basics by Doug Wilson on Amazon Prime.
The quote from Spurgeon helped springboard the conversation about God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. If God is in control and knows a thing from the beginning to the end and chooses what ending He wants to come to pass, how is it that man can be held accountable or responsible for anything that ends up happening?
The question is a natural and normal response to this kind of assertion and we know that because the Bible assumes that will be the natural, normal person's response to it.
Romans 9:19
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?”
Wilson's explanation of our issue and our predictable response is illustrated by thinking of it as a character in a book and an author of that book. Who is responsible for what the character says? Is he 100% responsible and the author is off the hook? Is the author 100% responsible and the character is off the hook? What about if we divide it up 50/50? Our difficulty with this illustration is that we don't like being thought of as a character in someone else's story and we don't like imagining that all of our words are like a dialogue being penned down by someone else. In short, we imagine ourselves as something more than merely a two-dimensional character, simply parroting whatever words are being piped through our vocal chords from an off-stage ventriloquist.
But our problem is highlighted by the problem we have with that illustration. We immediately rush to defending ourselves as being more than just a mere character. We see that flaw in the logic immediately and we don't take too kindly to it.
Here is the problem with our problem: we don't have a problem with God being merely an author of stories. We don't rush to explain that He is much more than a two dimensional author writing what sometimes appears to be poorly written dialogue. We don't immediately attempt to elevate His position within that particular allegory.
But the explanation of God's sovereignty and our responsibility is located not in elevating ourselves within the story, but recognizing that He is outside of all stories and is much more than a two-dimensional story teller. He is an another dimension altogether. A dimension in which He alone lives, moves and has His being. He lives in that world, that plane, that realm and we live in ours. He is outside our space and time and yet able to interact and determine our space and time (Acts 17:26). In fact, not only able, but perfectly so, uniquely so.
So, all that to say, the solution to "the problem" of free will and predestination is not found in freer people but a freer God.
Thursday, September 10, 2020
day no. 15,298: feelings farmers
"The chief aim of order is to give room for good things to run wild." – G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Everything in its right place makes everything right in its place.
Colossians 3:5 (KJV)
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Tell your feelings to fall into formation. Teach them their place. Make them march in line and in step with their Commander's intent.
When our affections are out of order, the result is inevitably disorder and chaotic affections topple everything over. Even the best of affections, if assembled incorrectly, eventually collapse.
Matthew 22:34-40
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Our highest affections ought to be reserved for God. He is our chief aim and of the highest order. We cannot place too much value on Him. We cannot conjure too much affection for Him. There is nothing disproportionately possible when it comes to throwing praise upward when He occupies the highest place. When we worship Him with our first and best because we recognize Him as the first and best in everything we do, it makes room for everything else to fall into place.
Certain things must follow from placing God first, like loving your neighbor, leading your family, raising your kids, honoring your elders, etc... but they can only be done properly if they follow feelings submitted primarily to God. In other words, there must be second things, but they can only be properly done when they don't come first. We do violence to ourselves, God and others when we conjure feelings for them that rival those we ought to have first found in Him. We do a disservice to those we attempt to love by focusing our feelings on them in disproportion to their place in the universe.
We are responsible for the ordering our of affections. If we have feelings for second things that rival our affections for God and diminish His place of priority in our heart, it is our duty to feed our affections proportionate to where they should be placed. It is our responsibility to feed our flagging affections for God, even when -- especially when -- we don't feel like it. In fact, that is the time we must do it most. If we find in ourselves feelings for second things that are inordinate, it is our duty to withhold from them or force them further back in the feeding line.
We must manage the intensity of our feelings. God has made us feelings farmers. We have a crop to monitor and a garden to which we must attend. We must fertilize what we want to grow, prune what we want to see grow more, cut back that which we desire to see only at certain levels, and cut off that which we never want to see again. If we want to complete a picture of layer and texture and depth, some plants will need to be kept smaller, while others will need to be promoted higher. We must tend to the gardens of our emotions and resist the temptation to believe that we have no say in what or how much we feel anything. If we feel something too much, it is our duty to resist it. We are obligated to turn a cold shoulder to our own internal pleadings if they aspire disproportionate to their designated stations.
Everything in its right place makes everything right in its place.
Colossians 3:5 (KJV)
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Tell your feelings to fall into formation. Teach them their place. Make them march in line and in step with their Commander's intent.
When our affections are out of order, the result is inevitably disorder and chaotic affections topple everything over. Even the best of affections, if assembled incorrectly, eventually collapse.
Matthew 22:34-40
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Our highest affections ought to be reserved for God. He is our chief aim and of the highest order. We cannot place too much value on Him. We cannot conjure too much affection for Him. There is nothing disproportionately possible when it comes to throwing praise upward when He occupies the highest place. When we worship Him with our first and best because we recognize Him as the first and best in everything we do, it makes room for everything else to fall into place.
Certain things must follow from placing God first, like loving your neighbor, leading your family, raising your kids, honoring your elders, etc... but they can only be done properly if they follow feelings submitted primarily to God. In other words, there must be second things, but they can only be properly done when they don't come first. We do violence to ourselves, God and others when we conjure feelings for them that rival those we ought to have first found in Him. We do a disservice to those we attempt to love by focusing our feelings on them in disproportion to their place in the universe.
We are responsible for the ordering our of affections. If we have feelings for second things that rival our affections for God and diminish His place of priority in our heart, it is our duty to feed our affections proportionate to where they should be placed. It is our responsibility to feed our flagging affections for God, even when -- especially when -- we don't feel like it. In fact, that is the time we must do it most. If we find in ourselves feelings for second things that are inordinate, it is our duty to withhold from them or force them further back in the feeding line.
We must manage the intensity of our feelings. God has made us feelings farmers. We have a crop to monitor and a garden to which we must attend. We must fertilize what we want to grow, prune what we want to see grow more, cut back that which we desire to see only at certain levels, and cut off that which we never want to see again. If we want to complete a picture of layer and texture and depth, some plants will need to be kept smaller, while others will need to be promoted higher. We must tend to the gardens of our emotions and resist the temptation to believe that we have no say in what or how much we feel anything. If we feel something too much, it is our duty to resist it. We are obligated to turn a cold shoulder to our own internal pleadings if they aspire disproportionate to their designated stations.
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
day no. 15,297 continued... psalm 2 sneak preview
1 Corinthians 11:3
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
God made the world in covenant. Headship and hierarchy are infused into the way the world is and should be. It is not a bug to be worked out or a consequence of the Fall, but a design feature and divine fingerprint of its Creator.
A consequence of the Fall is that enmity was placed by God between the seed of Eve and the seed of the serpent. Those in league with Lucifer have never cared for hierarchy because it guarantees that they can't have the wheel. Satan fell because playing second fiddle offended him. His plan was to reign away from God rather than serve in His presence. But what Satan soon discovered is that there is no world where you get to rule your own roost. All the roosts are already trade-marked. Hell is not Satan's booby prize, it is his prison and those who attempt to remake the world in their own image follow his demonic footsteps in demolishing their only hope for peace and comfort. The only place any reign is in submission to the Patriarch of patriarchs.
Revelation 5:10
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.
Just in case there was any confusion as to what the world's plan was, the UN just came right out and said it,
In other words, "The world and the way God designed it doesn't sit right with us and so it must be rebuilt... That's why we must burn it to the ground and feel completely justified in doing so. For our great love of the world, we light it on fire. We're here to help. You're welcome."
The pledge of allegiance of the United States of America as it appears on the book declares, "One nation, under God." The UN, however, desires, "All nations out from under God," and the DNC tipped their hand in that direction a few weeks back when they removed the words "under God" from their allegiance. Now I don't need to find my shocked face to find out that the UN and the DNC don't declare themselves subject of the King, but it does come off as a new level of boldness to wear it so baldly. It's admittedly a more honest approach, but it's still a bad look. But you can't circle the wagons in a corner forever. At some point, you need to come clean and rally around what really excites you.
This is merely a Psalm 2 sneak preview. The trailer is short, but to the point. I hear they went all out. But I've also heard, spoiler alert, that there is VERY unexpected ending.
Psalm 2:1-6
Why do the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
Let us break their bands asunder,
and cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
God made the world in covenant. Headship and hierarchy are infused into the way the world is and should be. It is not a bug to be worked out or a consequence of the Fall, but a design feature and divine fingerprint of its Creator.
A consequence of the Fall is that enmity was placed by God between the seed of Eve and the seed of the serpent. Those in league with Lucifer have never cared for hierarchy because it guarantees that they can't have the wheel. Satan fell because playing second fiddle offended him. His plan was to reign away from God rather than serve in His presence. But what Satan soon discovered is that there is no world where you get to rule your own roost. All the roosts are already trade-marked. Hell is not Satan's booby prize, it is his prison and those who attempt to remake the world in their own image follow his demonic footsteps in demolishing their only hope for peace and comfort. The only place any reign is in submission to the Patriarch of patriarchs.
Revelation 5:10
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.
Just in case there was any confusion as to what the world's plan was, the UN just came right out and said it,
In other words, "The world and the way God designed it doesn't sit right with us and so it must be rebuilt... That's why we must burn it to the ground and feel completely justified in doing so. For our great love of the world, we light it on fire. We're here to help. You're welcome."
The pledge of allegiance of the United States of America as it appears on the book declares, "One nation, under God." The UN, however, desires, "All nations out from under God," and the DNC tipped their hand in that direction a few weeks back when they removed the words "under God" from their allegiance. Now I don't need to find my shocked face to find out that the UN and the DNC don't declare themselves subject of the King, but it does come off as a new level of boldness to wear it so baldly. It's admittedly a more honest approach, but it's still a bad look. But you can't circle the wagons in a corner forever. At some point, you need to come clean and rally around what really excites you.
This is merely a Psalm 2 sneak preview. The trailer is short, but to the point. I hear they went all out. But I've also heard, spoiler alert, that there is VERY unexpected ending.
Psalm 2:1-6
Why do the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
Let us break their bands asunder,
and cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion
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