Psalm 78:1-7
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments
It is a father's job to remember what his father taught him. It is also his duty to pass along this to his son. The next generation should receive their information first hand from their fathers by way of the forefathers. The story of God is a story of fathers loving sons and handing down an inheritance of remembering our Father in heaven.
Monday, November 30, 2020
Sunday, November 29, 2020
day no. 15,378: thorns, thistles curses and Christ
Hebrews 6:7-8
For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
The land that bears thorns and thistles is cursed. It is worthless. It is cursed land. It's end is to be burned. The curse of thorns and thistles being applied to the land goes back to the garden of Eden and the sin of Adam.
Genesis 3:17-19
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
We are that land. That is our curse. We produce thorns and thistles and as a result, we deserve to be burned.
But Christ became a curse for us.
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"
Jesus bore a crown of thorns and thistles on His head in order to bear the thorns and thistles our head, Adam, deserved. Jesus sweat blood from His forehead in order to bear the weight of the curse our head deserved. He did this in order to bear the curse of our head and to become our new Head.
We are led by a Head that once wore a crown of thorns and thistles. Jesus sweat blood in order to produce bread for us to eat so that in returning to dust, we might rise from the ashes.
For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
The land that bears thorns and thistles is cursed. It is worthless. It is cursed land. It's end is to be burned. The curse of thorns and thistles being applied to the land goes back to the garden of Eden and the sin of Adam.
Genesis 3:17-19
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
We are that land. That is our curse. We produce thorns and thistles and as a result, we deserve to be burned.
But Christ became a curse for us.
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"
Jesus bore a crown of thorns and thistles on His head in order to bear the thorns and thistles our head, Adam, deserved. Jesus sweat blood from His forehead in order to bear the weight of the curse our head deserved. He did this in order to bear the curse of our head and to become our new Head.
We are led by a Head that once wore a crown of thorns and thistles. Jesus sweat blood in order to produce bread for us to eat so that in returning to dust, we might rise from the ashes.
Saturday, November 28, 2020
day no. 15,377: daily bread
"A daily portion is all that a man really wants. We do not need tomorrow's supplies; that day has not yet dawned, and its wants are as yet unborn. The thirst which we may suffer in the month of June does not need to be quenched in February, for we do not feel it yet; if we have enough for each day as the days arrive we shall never know want. Sufficient for the day is all that we can enjoy. We cannot eat or drink or wear more than the day's supply of food and raiment; the surplus gives us the care of storing it, and the anxiety of watching against a thief. One staff aids a traveller, but a bundle of staves is a heavy burden. Enough is not only as good as a feast, but is all that the greatest glutton can truly enjoy. This is all that we should expect; a craving for more than this is ungrateful. When our Father does not give us more, we should be content with his daily allowance. Jehoiachin's case is ours, we have a sure portion, a portion given us of the king, a gracious portion, and a perpetual portion. Here is surely ground for thankfulness." -- C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
Like manna, God provides for our daily needs daily. Also, like the manna, trying to hoard today's provision in order to provide yourself with tomorrow's needs often goes rotten. God gives daily. He could give us a lifetime's worth today and make it enduring enough to last all of our days, but He chooses instead to be intimately involved on a daily basis, providing us with our needs, serving us daily.
Like manna, God provides for our daily needs daily. Also, like the manna, trying to hoard today's provision in order to provide yourself with tomorrow's needs often goes rotten. God gives daily. He could give us a lifetime's worth today and make it enduring enough to last all of our days, but He chooses instead to be intimately involved on a daily basis, providing us with our needs, serving us daily.
Friday, November 27, 2020
day no. 15,376: what gets smithed, get shipped
"When we are looking at a man’s family, we are looking for what we want to see duplicated—for Paul tells us that it will be duplicated." -- Douglas Wilson, The Neglected Qualification
Whatever is manufactured in the home will be moved beyond it. Whatever is produced behind closed doors will be distributed once they are opened.
Whatever gets smithed at home will get shipped outside of it.
If you don't like what you see when you look into a man's home, you should not want to see that man set up as an example or a target. A pastor/elder is a target. He is set up as an exemplar of what other men, fathers, husbands, brothers and sons should aspire. In other words, if you would not want more of a man's family in the world, then do not promote that man to the position of pastor/elder.
Whatever is manufactured in the home will be moved beyond it. Whatever is produced behind closed doors will be distributed once they are opened.
Whatever gets smithed at home will get shipped outside of it.
If you don't like what you see when you look into a man's home, you should not want to see that man set up as an example or a target. A pastor/elder is a target. He is set up as an exemplar of what other men, fathers, husbands, brothers and sons should aspire. In other words, if you would not want more of a man's family in the world, then do not promote that man to the position of pastor/elder.
Thursday, November 26, 2020
day no. 15,375: it's a tough call
"Be tough for your wife, which is a
very different thing than being tough on her." -- Douglas Wilson, Flesh of My Flesh
God made men strong. They are built, God-tough. The reason is so that they can be hard for their wives. Their broad shoulders were meant to carry loads for her. To clear the driveway for her. To take the heavy, cumbersome trash bags out for her. When men go rogue, they either do so by being weak where they were made to be strong or by using their strength for something it was not intended for. So men either refuse to chop wood because it's too cold or they use the axe to chop up the house. These fall short of the glory for which God created men -- to be strong and good. If you are tough on your wife, you are a bully, using for wicked gain what God gave you to employ for her good. If you are tough for her, you are like Christ, giving your gain to her because God is good.
God made men strong. They are built, God-tough. The reason is so that they can be hard for their wives. Their broad shoulders were meant to carry loads for her. To clear the driveway for her. To take the heavy, cumbersome trash bags out for her. When men go rogue, they either do so by being weak where they were made to be strong or by using their strength for something it was not intended for. So men either refuse to chop wood because it's too cold or they use the axe to chop up the house. These fall short of the glory for which God created men -- to be strong and good. If you are tough on your wife, you are a bully, using for wicked gain what God gave you to employ for her good. If you are tough for her, you are like Christ, giving your gain to her because God is good.
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
day no. 15,374: sharpies and smoothies
"In marriage, much depends on understanding the God-given distinctions between male and female, and much depends on understanding how they are intended to blend in an organic and complementary way. But we stumble—we were supposed to blend our wills, becoming more and more like-minded, and we were supposed to keep our personalities distinct and sharp, becoming daily more and more like ourselves, growing up into ourselves. Instead of this, we blend our personalities, and everything and everybody gets all tangled up, but we keep our wills distinct, becoming increasingly stubborn as the years go by. And then we wonder at the conflicts." -- Douglas Wilson, Flesh of My Flesh
God likes writing with a sharpie and He enjoys making smoothies. But when we make smoothies out of sharpies, they taste bad and kill us to boot. And when we try to write with a smoothie, we make a mess of everything.
God's desire is for a man and woman in marriage to use sharpies for their personalities and to make smoothies out of their wills. A man should not lose himself in his wife. He should surrender his will for her. A woman should not be absorbed in her husband. She should surrender her will to him.
Oneness is the goal of marriage. This is best accomplished by blending your wills in a smoothie while keeping your personalities distinct like sharpies. This allows two to become one in a way that complements. This allows the key and the lock to be one unit without becoming one giant lock or one great key. Key and lock, arrow and string, violin and bow: two distinct personalities, one clearly defined will. The distinctions are sharp in form and function which gives way to the smoothness of the functionality. The purpose is produced smoothly because the personalities are kept sharply.
God likes writing with a sharpie and He enjoys making smoothies. But when we make smoothies out of sharpies, they taste bad and kill us to boot. And when we try to write with a smoothie, we make a mess of everything.
God's desire is for a man and woman in marriage to use sharpies for their personalities and to make smoothies out of their wills. A man should not lose himself in his wife. He should surrender his will for her. A woman should not be absorbed in her husband. She should surrender her will to him.
Oneness is the goal of marriage. This is best accomplished by blending your wills in a smoothie while keeping your personalities distinct like sharpies. This allows two to become one in a way that complements. This allows the key and the lock to be one unit without becoming one giant lock or one great key. Key and lock, arrow and string, violin and bow: two distinct personalities, one clearly defined will. The distinctions are sharp in form and function which gives way to the smoothness of the functionality. The purpose is produced smoothly because the personalities are kept sharply.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
day no. 15,373: the right kind of bright: love children, raise warriors, hate evil, praise God
"We (must) finally recognize the importance of the time we are called to invest in our children. Because it is a long war, it crosses generations. In a very short space of time, your children will join you in the line, and a short time after that, their children will join them. This means that we begin by fighting for our children, but we must end by fighting by means of them. We must do two things simultaneously—we must fight today’s battles, and we must recruit and train tomorrow’s warriors. If I am allotted more than the proverbial three score and ten, I hope that as my children and grandchildren are hitting their stride, I will see myself as still fighting through them. I hope that I have the privilege of seeing a lot of downstream damage to the work of the adversary. Decades from now, when my descendants are giving fits to whatever progressives are calling themselves in the 22nd century, I hope that my name is a hissing and a byword to God’s enemies. A short-sighted man who throws himself into ministry, neglecting his family in order to do so, is not just demonstrating for us that he doesn’t understand his wife and kids. He is demonstrating for us the fact that he doesn’t understand the nature of true ministry. A man who is wrong about children will find it difficult to be right about anything else. So what we need (as I’ve said in other places) are more children with the right kind of bright in their eyes, like Jonathan after he ate the honey. We want children who have that kind of bright in their eyes because they have fathers who gave them the honey in the first place. " -- Douglas Wilson, The Neglected Qualification
THIS!
Ministry is primarily multi-generational, mission-minded, multiplication of disciples that begins in the home and produces the right kind of bright.
Love children.
Raise warriors.
Hate evil.
Praise God.
Monday, November 23, 2020
day no. 15,372: sinsanity
"A man who sins sexually can come to his senses a half an hour later, and often does. But a man who refuses to come to his senses, who refuses to accept an authoritative law/word that governs all lovemaking . . . such a one is seriously attempting to be God at all times, instead of what the sexual sinner is doing, which is forgetting he is not God for half an hour." -- Douglas Wilson, Pomosexuality
All sin is insanity. It is either momentary madness or deep-rooted delirium. It is forgetting the God above while believing the god within. It is madness. Those who come to their senses, repent and ask God to forgive this insanity. But those who never come to their senses expect God to accept their insanity, not as a blunder of hysteria, but as an alternate reality, a recreation of the world in their own image. This second insanity trumps the first and is of a different species entirely. The flashpoint is still observed in the sexual behaviors of the sinner, but the essence of the sin is different. It originates in believing in one's blindness as opposed to being temporarily unable to see clearly. Both are sins, but the former is foundational as evidenced by its insistence after the fact while the latter is practical as evidenced by the immediate regret and repentance in acting out of insanity. The one attempts to justify its insanity by calling it "order," while the other acknowledges the insanity by repenting of it the moment it becomes clear to them what it was all along.
All sin is insanity. It is either momentary madness or deep-rooted delirium. It is forgetting the God above while believing the god within. It is madness. Those who come to their senses, repent and ask God to forgive this insanity. But those who never come to their senses expect God to accept their insanity, not as a blunder of hysteria, but as an alternate reality, a recreation of the world in their own image. This second insanity trumps the first and is of a different species entirely. The flashpoint is still observed in the sexual behaviors of the sinner, but the essence of the sin is different. It originates in believing in one's blindness as opposed to being temporarily unable to see clearly. Both are sins, but the former is foundational as evidenced by its insistence after the fact while the latter is practical as evidenced by the immediate regret and repentance in acting out of insanity. The one attempts to justify its insanity by calling it "order," while the other acknowledges the insanity by repenting of it the moment it becomes clear to them what it was all along.
Sunday, November 22, 2020
day no. 15,371: the situation and the sacrifice
"There are two different kinds of good news. The first doesn’t really require much context. If you were surprised by a massive inheritance, this would simply be good news. If you found out that you had been awarded a huge promotion at work, this would be good news. But if you heard that a cure had been developed for a particular kind of cancer, you would not hear it as good news personally unless you had previously taken in the bad news that you had that particular kind of cancer." -- Douglas Wilson, Flesh of My Flesh
Everyone likes good news, but not everyone appreciates the Good News. In order to appreciate it, you have to appreciate the weight of the bad news. Grace teaches our hearts to fear and then grace our fears relieves. Grace does not artificially create something to be afraid of in order to produce the sensation. We are actually in danger, we just don't realize it. So grace reveals the danger for what it already is. And when we see that clearly, if we see it rightly, we shudder. It is then that the Good News of Jesus Christ makes sense. It is then that His death becomes Good News of a particular variety. It is not just bonus news or happy news, but the best news ever! It is realizing that our biggest problem is worse than we thought only to discover that God's solution is grander than we ever imagined. That is appreciating the sacrifice by first understanding the situation.
Everyone likes good news, but not everyone appreciates the Good News. In order to appreciate it, you have to appreciate the weight of the bad news. Grace teaches our hearts to fear and then grace our fears relieves. Grace does not artificially create something to be afraid of in order to produce the sensation. We are actually in danger, we just don't realize it. So grace reveals the danger for what it already is. And when we see that clearly, if we see it rightly, we shudder. It is then that the Good News of Jesus Christ makes sense. It is then that His death becomes Good News of a particular variety. It is not just bonus news or happy news, but the best news ever! It is realizing that our biggest problem is worse than we thought only to discover that God's solution is grander than we ever imagined. That is appreciating the sacrifice by first understanding the situation.
Saturday, November 21, 2020
day no. 15,370: if we win, they lose; if they win, they lose forever
"We must remember that our adversaries are rotting away from the inside out. If we win, they lose. If they win, then they lose forever and ever." -- Douglas Wilson, Pomosexuality
Anything that can't go on forever... won't.
Those who oppose the will of God will not be able to oppose it forever. It will eventually impose itself upon them. This will happen either in the gracious form of conversion through repentance, faith and regeneration, trading uniforms from enemy to ally; or it will take the form of holding out until the very end and being completely undone by the presence of God.
God will overcome every enemy. Some will become friends, the others will be utterly defeated. Their only hope is that we win before they die. If they win, they have nothing to look forward to. So we must fight to win. If we don't, they will saw the limb off the very branch on which they sit.
Anything that can't go on forever... won't.
Those who oppose the will of God will not be able to oppose it forever. It will eventually impose itself upon them. This will happen either in the gracious form of conversion through repentance, faith and regeneration, trading uniforms from enemy to ally; or it will take the form of holding out until the very end and being completely undone by the presence of God.
God will overcome every enemy. Some will become friends, the others will be utterly defeated. Their only hope is that we win before they die. If they win, they have nothing to look forward to. So we must fight to win. If we don't, they will saw the limb off the very branch on which they sit.
Friday, November 20, 2020
day no. 15,369: the answer is, "Yes"
Q: Should I stay or should I go now?
1 Samuel 30:17-25
And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, "This is David's spoil." Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart." But David said, "You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike." And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
Q: Should I stay or should I go now?
Those who keep watch and hold down the fort enable those who go out to be fully out. They can leave without also having to worry about what's left behind. They are able to go knowing that reliable people have stayed.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
In order for the great commission to be fulfilled, some will need to stay, some will need to travel and some will need to move altogether. Those who remain in order to witness to Jerusalem make it possible for those going to Samaria to know that the Gospel doesn't evaporate behind them. The point of planting churches is to see them bloom where they are planted, which means some must stay to water while others must sow somewhere else in order to cover the world in the sweet-smelling aroma of the Gospel.
1 Samuel 30:17-25
And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, "This is David's spoil." Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart." But David said, "You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike." And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
Q: Should I stay or should I go now?
A: Yes! One or the other.
Those who keep watch and hold down the fort enable those who go out to be fully out. They can leave without also having to worry about what's left behind. They are able to go knowing that reliable people have stayed.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
In order for the great commission to be fulfilled, some will need to stay, some will need to travel and some will need to move altogether. Those who remain in order to witness to Jerusalem make it possible for those going to Samaria to know that the Gospel doesn't evaporate behind them. The point of planting churches is to see them bloom where they are planted, which means some must stay to water while others must sow somewhere else in order to cover the world in the sweet-smelling aroma of the Gospel.
Thursday, November 19, 2020
day no. 15,368 continued... reading the global reset gang's mail
Reading through my old friend Orthodoxy again today and came across this gem,
"These can be called the essentials of the old orthodoxy, of which the chief merit is that it is the natural fountain of revolution and reform; and of which the chief defect is that it is obviously only an abstract assertion. Its main advantage is that it is the most adventurous and manly of all theologies. Its chief disadvantage is simply that it is a theology. It can always be urged against it that it is in its nature arbitrary and in the air. But it is not so high in the air but that great archers spend their whole lives in shooting arrows at it -- yes, and their last arrows; there are men who will ruin themselves and ruin their civilization if they may ruin also this old fantastic tale. This is the last and most astounding fact about this faith; that its enemies will use any weapon against it, the swords that cut their own fingers, and the firebrands that burn their own homes. Men who begin to fight the Church for the sake of freedom and humanity end by flinging away freedom and humanity if only they may fight the Church. This is no exaggeration." -- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
day no. 15,368: life after death... after life after death
"The unbelieving heart likes to scoff at the idea of life after death, but think about it for a moment. Absolutely everyone believes that in this cosmos, inorganic matter, dead matter, came first. And yet here we are, alive. People who say that life cannot follow death must mean that such a thing cannot happen twice. We all agree that it happened at least once " -- Douglas Wilson. Flesh of My Flesh
Everyone believes in life after death. The Darwinists believe there was only death and it gave birth to life. Christians believe that there was nothing and that from it God made everything and that any of it that dies in Him will again live. Resurrection is belief in life after death after life after death. We all believe in it happened before, Christians and evolutionists alike. Christians, however, insist that by God's grace it's going to happen again!
Everyone believes in life after death. The Darwinists believe there was only death and it gave birth to life. Christians believe that there was nothing and that from it God made everything and that any of it that dies in Him will again live. Resurrection is belief in life after death after life after death. We all believe in it happened before, Christians and evolutionists alike. Christians, however, insist that by God's grace it's going to happen again!
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
day no. 15,367: privately preferred uncertainty
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. (Rom. 1:19-20).
Certainty is inescapable. If we reject the certainty God provides, we don't merely settle for uncertainty. We look for another one. The problem is... there is no other certainty. Nothing else is stable since everything else is subject to being acted upon. If everything is mutable, then nothing is indissoluble. Since only God is impenetrable and immutable to the other forces, He alone is certain. So what begins as a quest for private certainty ends in a private devotion to the uncertainty best preferred.
"The problem of sinful man is not that he wants certainty. He already has it and he doesn’t like it. The problem is that he wants his own certainty, or, failing that, his own uncertainty. But at whatever cost, short of repentance, it must be his own." -- Douglas Wilson, European Brain Snakes
Certainty is inescapable. If we reject the certainty God provides, we don't merely settle for uncertainty. We look for another one. The problem is... there is no other certainty. Nothing else is stable since everything else is subject to being acted upon. If everything is mutable, then nothing is indissoluble. Since only God is impenetrable and immutable to the other forces, He alone is certain. So what begins as a quest for private certainty ends in a private devotion to the uncertainty best preferred.
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
day no. 15,366: all out there having it out
"What he does, he does with his might. Where he loves, he loves with his whole soul; when he hates, he hates with equal cordiality; and when he fights, he wants a clear field and nothing to do but fight.” -- J.H. Thornwell speaking about his colleague, Robert Breckenridge
I want to be like Robert Breckenridge and I want to have the kind of friends he had. I want to be the kind of man who does whatever he does with all of his might because he believes in it with all of his heart and I want friends who, if they know anything about me, know that. That is a textbook definition of assiduity. I want to be that assiduous.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might
I want my assiduity to be fueled by my passionate persistent belief in what I am doing. I want to do my all for the glory of God Almighty and His Kingdom knowing that in Him is my everything.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
I want to hate that which would come against that which I love. True love truly hates that which would destroy the beloved. Love must come first, but hate must follow. Anyone who loves must hate.
Psalm 97:10
O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.
I want to fight fair and ferociously. I want to fight like I want to win, but I want to win fighting fairly by faith in God. Faith fights the good fight and it fights it squarely and fairly, straight up the middle, according to decorum, attempting to win. I want to be clear about what I'm about and what I'm against and then with it all out there, to have it out.
I want to be like Robert Breckenridge and I want to have the kind of friends he had. I want to be the kind of man who does whatever he does with all of his might because he believes in it with all of his heart and I want friends who, if they know anything about me, know that. That is a textbook definition of assiduity. I want to be that assiduous.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might
I want my assiduity to be fueled by my passionate persistent belief in what I am doing. I want to do my all for the glory of God Almighty and His Kingdom knowing that in Him is my everything.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
I want to hate that which would come against that which I love. True love truly hates that which would destroy the beloved. Love must come first, but hate must follow. Anyone who loves must hate.
Psalm 97:10
O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.
I want to fight fair and ferociously. I want to fight like I want to win, but I want to win fighting fairly by faith in God. Faith fights the good fight and it fights it squarely and fairly, straight up the middle, according to decorum, attempting to win. I want to be clear about what I'm about and what I'm against and then with it all out there, to have it out.
Monday, November 16, 2020
day no. 15,365: a happy, Christian home
“Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.” -- Martin Luther
This is a description of a Christian home.
A home where the husband and spouse pursue Jesus with assiduity produces a home where he goes off to work every morning to a wife who wishes he was able to stay a moment longer and where she stays home adoring and managing it so well that the husband cannot bear being delayed a moment more in getting back to it once his work is completed.
This is a description of a Christian home.
A home where the husband and spouse pursue Jesus with assiduity produces a home where he goes off to work every morning to a wife who wishes he was able to stay a moment longer and where she stays home adoring and managing it so well that the husband cannot bear being delayed a moment more in getting back to it once his work is completed.
Proverbs 24:27
Prepare thy work without,
and make it fit for thyself in the field;
and afterwards build thine house.
Sunday, November 15, 2020
day no. 15,364: fellowship with God and with others
1 John 1:5-10
This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
A community is only as strong as the thing that holds it together.
Our communion with God is held together by the strength of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And if Jesus is strong enough to hold us together in communion with God, He is strong enough to hold us together with one another.
Sin is what makes fellowship impossible. Sin is a separation. It is a promotion of difference that destroys unity.
The communion table is proof that God has eliminated that obstacle making fellowship with Him and with others not only possible, but promised.
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
If love can cover a multitude of sins, a very difficult chasm to cover, it can certainly cover a multitude of opinions or preferences.
This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
A community is only as strong as the thing that holds it together.
Our communion with God is held together by the strength of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And if Jesus is strong enough to hold us together in communion with God, He is strong enough to hold us together with one another.
Sin is what makes fellowship impossible. Sin is a separation. It is a promotion of difference that destroys unity.
The communion table is proof that God has eliminated that obstacle making fellowship with Him and with others not only possible, but promised.
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
If love can cover a multitude of sins, a very difficult chasm to cover, it can certainly cover a multitude of opinions or preferences.
Saturday, November 14, 2020
day no. 15,363: God does not faint or grow weary
Isaiah 40:28-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Because God does not faint or grow weary, He is able to help those who are fainting or growing weary. Even children who seem to be running on limitless energy eventually conk out and sleep just as hard as they play. Even young men, the strongest human beings on the planet, find themselves worn out after a day of heavy labor.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Because God does not faint or grow weary, He is able to help those who are fainting or growing weary. Even children who seem to be running on limitless energy eventually conk out and sleep just as hard as they play. Even young men, the strongest human beings on the planet, find themselves worn out after a day of heavy labor.
But God never faints. He never grows weary. Ever.
So it begins with God. And since He does not grow weary or faint, neither will those who follow Him faint or grow weary. The weary can always find strength in Him. The worn out can find themselves renewed by His presence. The faint of heart can fly in Him. He can lift anyone up because He is not too proud to bend down or too weak to ascend back up.
Friday, November 13, 2020
day no. 15,362: works follow faith by necessity and in that order
"If your life is unholy, your heart is unchanged; and if your heart is unchanged, you are an unsaved person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you, given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, he has done nothing in you of a saving character. The grace which does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves his people, not in their sins, but from them. 'Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' 'Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.' If not saved from sin, how shall we hope to be counted among his people." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
The saved are also changed.
The transformed are also conformed.
Those perfected are also being made perfect.
If nothing has changed, you are not saved.
If you're not being conformed to Christ, you have not been transformed by Him.
If you're not being made perfect, you are not counted perfect.
This is not legalism. This is not reintroducing works as a post-script. This is not agreeing to leave works out of the recipe mix as long as we get to insist on it being sprinkled on top. This is allowing for works to be left out of the recording, but demanding it be allowed into the mastering. Works do not save. Works cannot save. Only grace through faith in Christ's substitutionary life, death, resurrection and ascension can save. And it does. And when it does it changes the root of the matter which changes the fruit of the matter. Repentance is confirmed by its fruit. If the fruit tastes the same, the root remains unchanged. Change the root and the fruit follows.
Works follow faith by necessity and in that order.
If your faith is not followed by works, that is proof positive that whatever you do have, it is not Biblical faith. The appraisal confirms it as fool's faith.
Faith is the source of works. It cannot follow. Faith bows and works curtsy. Faith proposes and works accept. Faith opens the door and works walk on through.
The saved are also changed.
The transformed are also conformed.
Those perfected are also being made perfect.
If nothing has changed, you are not saved.
If you're not being conformed to Christ, you have not been transformed by Him.
If you're not being made perfect, you are not counted perfect.
This is not legalism. This is not reintroducing works as a post-script. This is not agreeing to leave works out of the recipe mix as long as we get to insist on it being sprinkled on top. This is allowing for works to be left out of the recording, but demanding it be allowed into the mastering. Works do not save. Works cannot save. Only grace through faith in Christ's substitutionary life, death, resurrection and ascension can save. And it does. And when it does it changes the root of the matter which changes the fruit of the matter. Repentance is confirmed by its fruit. If the fruit tastes the same, the root remains unchanged. Change the root and the fruit follows.
Works follow faith by necessity and in that order.
If your faith is not followed by works, that is proof positive that whatever you do have, it is not Biblical faith. The appraisal confirms it as fool's faith.
Faith is the source of works. It cannot follow. Faith bows and works curtsy. Faith proposes and works accept. Faith opens the door and works walk on through.
Thursday, November 12, 2020
day no. 15,361: compound interests
"Are we prepared for what sanctification will cost? It will cost an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth, and an immense broadening of all our interests in God. Sanctification means intense concentration on God’s point of view." -- Oswald chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
When we begin to see things from God's point of view, our earthly interests will wane and our heavenly interests will wax. Concentration boils things down to their essence. Concentration on Christ will tighten the focus of earthly endeavors to their connection with Kingdom come. Simultaneously, this concentration with respect to what is above, though a narrow door, gives way to an expansive playground of increased interests. There are matters about which one never imagined or considered now unlocked by passing through the narrow door of faith in Christ alone. So we see former things narrowed and faithful things broadened. We do not become less interested by losing interest in some earthly matters, but gain, overall, more interest in retaining the matters of faith concerning our everyday duties while gaining an array of faithful duties and delights of which we never previously showed interest.
When we begin to see things from God's point of view, our earthly interests will wane and our heavenly interests will wax. Concentration boils things down to their essence. Concentration on Christ will tighten the focus of earthly endeavors to their connection with Kingdom come. Simultaneously, this concentration with respect to what is above, though a narrow door, gives way to an expansive playground of increased interests. There are matters about which one never imagined or considered now unlocked by passing through the narrow door of faith in Christ alone. So we see former things narrowed and faithful things broadened. We do not become less interested by losing interest in some earthly matters, but gain, overall, more interest in retaining the matters of faith concerning our everyday duties while gaining an array of faithful duties and delights of which we never previously showed interest.
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
day no. 15,360: from garden to garden; Adam to Adam
Romans 5:15-17
If many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:22
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”
Because Adam ate the fruit off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
Jesus drank the cup of God's wrath.
Because Adam failed at a tree,
Jesus was nailed to one.
Because Adam disobeyed under a tree,
Jesus obeyed on one.
If many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:22
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”
Because Adam ate the fruit off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
Jesus drank the cup of God's wrath.
Because Adam failed at a tree,
Jesus was nailed to one.
Because Adam disobeyed under a tree,
Jesus obeyed on one.
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
day no. 15,359: bore before
Psalm 68:19-20
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
Our God is a God of salvation,
and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
God bears with us on a daily basis.
If He wants to bear us, it must be daily for day in and day out, we require bearing. And we are not easy to bear, lest you underestimate the cost of putting up with your junk.
Also, we are here today because He bore with us yesterday. The only reason He again bears with us is because He bore with us before.
God is our salvation from beginning to end.
He has saved us.
He is saving us.
He will save us.
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
Our God is a God of salvation,
and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
God bears with us on a daily basis.
If He wants to bear us, it must be daily for day in and day out, we require bearing. And we are not easy to bear, lest you underestimate the cost of putting up with your junk.
Also, we are here today because He bore with us yesterday. The only reason He again bears with us is because He bore with us before.
God is our salvation from beginning to end.
He has saved us.
He is saving us.
He will save us.
Monday, November 9, 2020
day no. 15,358: devoted
Acts 2:42
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Those who first came to faith in Jesus Christ devoted themselves.
The word "devoted" comes from:
de = leaning toward, leaning into +
vow = promises, oaths
In other words, to be devoted is to be leaning into your vows. Not just making them, but working towards keeping them -- to do your level best to be about what you said you would be about, making your word sure by living in light of your promises.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Those who first came to faith in Jesus Christ devoted themselves.
The word "devoted" comes from:
de = leaning toward, leaning into +
vow = promises, oaths
In other words, to be devoted is to be leaning into your vows. Not just making them, but working towards keeping them -- to do your level best to be about what you said you would be about, making your word sure by living in light of your promises.
Sunday, November 8, 2020
day no. 15,357: God forms and fills
"(God) creates, and then He fills out by creating some more. He forms, then He fills what He has formed." -- Douglas Wilson, Flesh of My Flesh
God invents and then He invests. He forms and then He fills. He founds and then He furnishes. He produces and then He permeates. He shapes and then He saturates. He creates and then He adds color. He designs and then He adds dimension.
He designs day and night on day one and then comes back around on day four to decorate them with the sun and stars. He forms water and sky on day two and then fills them with fish and birds on day five. He speaks the land and plants into existence on day three and then comes back by on day six to saturate the world with animals and Adam. Lastly, He forms the seventh day as a day of rest and then fills it entirely with Himself.
God invents and then He invests. He forms and then He fills. He founds and then He furnishes. He produces and then He permeates. He shapes and then He saturates. He creates and then He adds color. He designs and then He adds dimension.
He designs day and night on day one and then comes back around on day four to decorate them with the sun and stars. He forms water and sky on day two and then fills them with fish and birds on day five. He speaks the land and plants into existence on day three and then comes back by on day six to saturate the world with animals and Adam. Lastly, He forms the seventh day as a day of rest and then fills it entirely with Himself.
Saturday, November 7, 2020
day no. 15,356: a logistical nightmare or a miraculous dream?
Acts 2:41
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
In reading this, I can only imagine the logistics of transforming this swarm of three thousand souls into a body. Just think of the organizational needs: small group leaders, children's curriculum, men's ministry, meeting space, heating bills, snow removal, etc...
Three thousand souls is a logistical nightmare in one sense, yet a miraculous dream in another. Thousands of people repenting of their sin and believing in Jesus is awesome in every sense of that word.
This was clearly a work of God that clearly required lots of work from God's people.
They probably didn't have a Marriage Conference that first month or a Coffee Bar by the end of their first year, but they had a church. It's not that those things are bad per se, just that that they aren't primary things. You don't need them to have a church, but a church may have them at some point.
If you have a coffee bar, but no Bible teaching... you DON'T have a church
if you have a building, but no praying... you DON'T have a church
Conversely, if you have a growing church you may end up needing a kid's space or a traffic team, etc...
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
In reading this, I can only imagine the logistics of transforming this swarm of three thousand souls into a body. Just think of the organizational needs: small group leaders, children's curriculum, men's ministry, meeting space, heating bills, snow removal, etc...
Three thousand souls is a logistical nightmare in one sense, yet a miraculous dream in another. Thousands of people repenting of their sin and believing in Jesus is awesome in every sense of that word.
This was clearly a work of God that clearly required lots of work from God's people.
They probably didn't have a Marriage Conference that first month or a Coffee Bar by the end of their first year, but they had a church. It's not that those things are bad per se, just that that they aren't primary things. You don't need them to have a church, but a church may have them at some point.
If you have a coffee bar, but no Bible teaching... you DON'T have a church
if you have a building, but no praying... you DON'T have a church
Conversely, if you have a growing church you may end up needing a kid's space or a traffic team, etc...
Friday, November 6, 2020
day no. 14,355 continued... seventy-one inches is social suicide
If you can manage to stay six feet apart from anyone else for the rest of your life, you will live forever. Six feet apart is the new elixir of life. Immortality is only seventy-two inches away (or whatever that is in meters). Because as we all know, seventy-one inches is social suicide.
While everyone else is staying six feet away, here I am keeping two yards between me and others. Suckers. Health, wealth and prosperity are measured in yards, ya dummies.
Why does COVID still use English standard measurements like feet anyway? It's unrepently old-fashioned.
Six feet apart cannot keep you from going six feet under. One out of every one will die and everyone will someday end up separated from everyone else by at least six feet.
Two and two are still not five despite the CDC's latest projections.
day no. 15,355: pollute, distribute, substitute, salute
“'Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.' The altar means fire — burning and purification and insulation for one purpose only, the destruction of every affinity that God has not started and of every attachment that is not an attachment in God. You do not destroy it, God does; you bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar; and see that you do not give way to self-pity when the fire begins." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
God has given us the command to bind our sacrifices to His altar. We do not make an end of the thing, He does. It is our duty to bring it, to keep nothing back and to take it where He has commanded it.
If we bring something else, we pollute the altar.
If we bring only part of what was asked, we distribute the altar.
If we bring all of the right thing to the wrong place, we substitute the altar.
But if we bring all of the thing required to the place required, we salute the altar.
And once you've bound it to the altar, do not begin to feel sorry for what will happen to it. Do not let self-pity form your thoughts about God's fire. If you empathize with that which God has commanded you to be brought for destruction, you declare God unfair while justifying the object of His wrath. This is why we must bind our sacrifices with cords. There is too much temptation to help break our sacrifices out of prison once the fire begins to fall. Our sympathies are often with our loss instead of God's grace. We empathize with the loss we are suffering instead of the gain God is purifying for us.
God has given us the command to bind our sacrifices to His altar. We do not make an end of the thing, He does. It is our duty to bring it, to keep nothing back and to take it where He has commanded it.
If we bring something else, we pollute the altar.
If we bring only part of what was asked, we distribute the altar.
If we bring all of the right thing to the wrong place, we substitute the altar.
But if we bring all of the thing required to the place required, we salute the altar.
And once you've bound it to the altar, do not begin to feel sorry for what will happen to it. Do not let self-pity form your thoughts about God's fire. If you empathize with that which God has commanded you to be brought for destruction, you declare God unfair while justifying the object of His wrath. This is why we must bind our sacrifices with cords. There is too much temptation to help break our sacrifices out of prison once the fire begins to fall. Our sympathies are often with our loss instead of God's grace. We empathize with the loss we are suffering instead of the gain God is purifying for us.
Thursday, November 5, 2020
day no. 15,354: easy to please, impossible to satisfy
"God is the perfect Father. This means, among other things, that He is ridiculously easy to please, and impossibly difficult to satisfy." -- Douglas Wilson, Flesh of My Flesh
God is easy to please and impossible to satisfy.
God is not withholding. He does not keep back anything good from those whom love Him. He accepts our efforts because of Who He is, not how good they are. He is easy to please. He doesn't just love us... He likes us. And not through gritted teeth, but with mirth and joy.
God is never done giving to us. He is never satisfied with our growth, not because He is hard to please, we established the ease with which He is pleased already, but because He is so pleased to see us grow. He desires to give us more. He is never done giving. He is never tired of giving to us. He will never conclude, "Yeah, that's Christ-like enough." No, He will not stop until we are conformed completely to the image of His Son.
God is easy to please and impossible to satisfy.
And that... is Good News!
May we be like Him with respect to our children and our disciples. May we be easy to please, receiving and encouraging even the slightest moves made by faith. But may we never settle for slight moves. May we spur our beloveds on to greater and greater moves of more and more faithfulness. May we not fall short of urging them not to fall short.
God is easy to please and impossible to satisfy.
God is not withholding. He does not keep back anything good from those whom love Him. He accepts our efforts because of Who He is, not how good they are. He is easy to please. He doesn't just love us... He likes us. And not through gritted teeth, but with mirth and joy.
God is never done giving to us. He is never satisfied with our growth, not because He is hard to please, we established the ease with which He is pleased already, but because He is so pleased to see us grow. He desires to give us more. He is never done giving. He is never tired of giving to us. He will never conclude, "Yeah, that's Christ-like enough." No, He will not stop until we are conformed completely to the image of His Son.
God is easy to please and impossible to satisfy.
And that... is Good News!
May we be like Him with respect to our children and our disciples. May we be easy to please, receiving and encouraging even the slightest moves made by faith. But may we never settle for slight moves. May we spur our beloveds on to greater and greater moves of more and more faithfulness. May we not fall short of urging them not to fall short.
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
day no. 15,353 continued... postmillitant
1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faithPostmillennialism may contend that everything is getting better, but it doesn't pretend that it's going to get that way without a fight.
day no. 15,353: the fifth child turns five
Rocketsauce,
You have just completed your fifth circuit around our sun. Nice work, my man!
I love you, little brother. You are such a good kid. I love being your dad. I can hear your voice now. You have been very articulate for quite some time now. You easily adopt new words and enjoy incorporating them into your vocabulary. It is so much fun to hear the things you say. You end up sounding much older than you are because of the comfort with which you use words. Granted, they're not always used correctly, but what you lack in context, you make up for in confidence. It's like the pro-tip for reading obscure Jewish names out loud from the Old Testament: just sound confident, don't stumble and keep reading, plowing ahead, and everyone will assume you know what you're talking about. You do that really well, although the words are not foreign, just foreign to you, english words well above your pay grade.
Speaking of Hebrew, you are full of chutzpah. You are tenacious. But you are also tender. You run headfirst into everything and often end up on the business end of some unfortunate altercation as a result. But you aren't scared. You may cry when you get in over your head, but you don't stop messing with the bull, even after you've gotten his horns. You don't look for fights, but you don't shy away from them when they find you. You whine and fuss when the fight gets to be more than you bargained for, but once your protests have produced peace, you get right back into the fray, mixing it up, and kicking up dust until it once again gets on top of you. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
You love your big brothers and like playing with them. You've enjoyed sharing a room with them and playing with them. That said, you also play well with your sisters, by whom you are adored. You often make your way into the plays and performances your siblings spontaneously decide to direct and produce. You even have lines given to you... and sometimes you even remember them!
We love you, Rocco. You make our home a lot more fun. I love being your dad and am grateful for the opportunity to disciple you and to teach you to know, love and obey our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. You love God with what you've got. You are a fan favorite in the church nursery and everyone who knows you likes you. May God bless you with good friends and great influence for His glory, their good and your own growth in Christlikeness. May you be a cannon ball for God's Kingdom and may you never fear the dark, but may it always fear you.
I love you, son. I'm proud of the man you are and the man you want to become and I'm committed to helping you become him and relying on for the wisdom and ability to do so.
You have just completed your fifth circuit around our sun. Nice work, my man!
I love you, little brother. You are such a good kid. I love being your dad. I can hear your voice now. You have been very articulate for quite some time now. You easily adopt new words and enjoy incorporating them into your vocabulary. It is so much fun to hear the things you say. You end up sounding much older than you are because of the comfort with which you use words. Granted, they're not always used correctly, but what you lack in context, you make up for in confidence. It's like the pro-tip for reading obscure Jewish names out loud from the Old Testament: just sound confident, don't stumble and keep reading, plowing ahead, and everyone will assume you know what you're talking about. You do that really well, although the words are not foreign, just foreign to you, english words well above your pay grade.
Speaking of Hebrew, you are full of chutzpah. You are tenacious. But you are also tender. You run headfirst into everything and often end up on the business end of some unfortunate altercation as a result. But you aren't scared. You may cry when you get in over your head, but you don't stop messing with the bull, even after you've gotten his horns. You don't look for fights, but you don't shy away from them when they find you. You whine and fuss when the fight gets to be more than you bargained for, but once your protests have produced peace, you get right back into the fray, mixing it up, and kicking up dust until it once again gets on top of you. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
You love your big brothers and like playing with them. You've enjoyed sharing a room with them and playing with them. That said, you also play well with your sisters, by whom you are adored. You often make your way into the plays and performances your siblings spontaneously decide to direct and produce. You even have lines given to you... and sometimes you even remember them!
We love you, Rocco. You make our home a lot more fun. I love being your dad and am grateful for the opportunity to disciple you and to teach you to know, love and obey our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. You love God with what you've got. You are a fan favorite in the church nursery and everyone who knows you likes you. May God bless you with good friends and great influence for His glory, their good and your own growth in Christlikeness. May you be a cannon ball for God's Kingdom and may you never fear the dark, but may it always fear you.
I love you, son. I'm proud of the man you are and the man you want to become and I'm committed to helping you become him and relying on for the wisdom and ability to do so.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
day no. 15,352: thoughts inform affections to choose actions
"The head rules the belly through the chest." -- C.S. Lewis says in The Abolition of Man
In other words, our thoughts must inform our affections in order to choose our actions.
Our affections must be under the authority of our intellect and our actions must be thought through and in concert with what we value and esteem most highly. This requires our affections to be in order which requires something other than one particular affection to be left to do the organizing. Affections do not order themselves and cannot be trusted to fall in line without order being imposed upon them. They will not, in other words, simply sort themselves out. If allowed to sort themselves, they will leave you feeling out of sorts.
In other words, our thoughts must inform our affections in order to choose our actions.
Our affections must be under the authority of our intellect and our actions must be thought through and in concert with what we value and esteem most highly. This requires our affections to be in order which requires something other than one particular affection to be left to do the organizing. Affections do not order themselves and cannot be trusted to fall in line without order being imposed upon them. They will not, in other words, simply sort themselves out. If allowed to sort themselves, they will leave you feeling out of sorts.
Monday, November 2, 2020
day no. 15,351: let God doom decree as he deemeth right
Psalm 60:12
With God we shall do valiantly;
it is He who will tread down our foes.
When we play the man, God gets the glory and we see the victory. We are honored as men among men by faithfully participating in the work God is doing. He treads down those on the business end of our blows. It is God who owns the victory and His sovereign will and grace that decides the outcome.
The King-of-Glory against this Grendel a guard had set,
so heroes heard, a hall-defender,
who warded the monarch and watched for the monster.
In truth, the Geats’ prince gladly trusted
his mettle, his might, the mercy of God!
Let wisest God, sacred Lord, on which side soever
doom decree as He deemeth right.
-- Beowulf
With God we shall do valiantly;
it is He who will tread down our foes.
When we play the man, God gets the glory and we see the victory. We are honored as men among men by faithfully participating in the work God is doing. He treads down those on the business end of our blows. It is God who owns the victory and His sovereign will and grace that decides the outcome.
The King-of-Glory against this Grendel a guard had set,
so heroes heard, a hall-defender,
who warded the monarch and watched for the monster.
In truth, the Geats’ prince gladly trusted
his mettle, his might, the mercy of God!
Let wisest God, sacred Lord, on which side soever
doom decree as He deemeth right.
-- Beowulf
Sunday, November 1, 2020
day no. 15,350: flagging zeal
Song of Solomon 6:10
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning,
fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
and terrible as an army with banners?
An army with banners is an assembly of men inspired. Men standing shoulder to shoulder under the shadow of a common banner are a terrible sight when it is you they are coming against. Few things inspire like a flag under which to fight.
A good woman is a banner waving in the wind under which the man aligned to her fights ferociously. A noble, Christian woman is as terrible as an army with banners. For her security and purity, a man will give every ounce of his life and livelihood. Nothing inspires better than love and loveliness. Men will cheerfully give their blood and sweat to defend the true, the good and the beautiful.
May my sons find women cut from similar cloth.
May my daughters be as inspiring as an army's banner.
We fight for our banners, for our tribe, for our family, for our God, for our country, for our principles and we do so with grins that are willing to grimace.
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning,
fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
and terrible as an army with banners?
An army with banners is an assembly of men inspired. Men standing shoulder to shoulder under the shadow of a common banner are a terrible sight when it is you they are coming against. Few things inspire like a flag under which to fight.
A good woman is a banner waving in the wind under which the man aligned to her fights ferociously. A noble, Christian woman is as terrible as an army with banners. For her security and purity, a man will give every ounce of his life and livelihood. Nothing inspires better than love and loveliness. Men will cheerfully give their blood and sweat to defend the true, the good and the beautiful.
May my sons find women cut from similar cloth.
May my daughters be as inspiring as an army's banner.
We fight for our banners, for our tribe, for our family, for our God, for our country, for our principles and we do so with grins that are willing to grimace.
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