day no. 15,530: death v. love

"Death cannot change love; love changes death. Love changes the meaning of death, but death does not change the meaning of love. When fire and water meet, one must die. 'Love is as strong as death' (Song 8:6) because, 'many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.' (Song 8:7) Death threatens love with extinction; 'Love, thou shalt die,' but love replies, in triumph, 'Death, thou shalt die.'" -- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

Death and Love are the strongest forces in the world and they are at enmity with one another.  Death seeks to undo all that Love accomplishes and Love seeks to make an end of Death altogether. Two will enter, but only one will leave.

God is Love. And Love became flesh and dwelt among us. And then Love died. But Death could not hold Him. He conquered Death and survived it. He undid Death and removed its stinger. Love survived death and now lives forever. Love is stronger than death. Death was able to kill Love, but it could not keep Love dead. Love rose again and now holds the keys to Death. Love owns Death. And any who are in Love, will live forever with Him. Water can smother a fire provided the fire stays put and the water continues to pour, but a fire can lick up water when the puddle remains and the sun burns bright from millions of miles away. Just like God's fire fell from Heaven to lick up the altar in the days of Elijah, so will love stoop to lap up death and evaporate its deluge in which mankind was baptized. The world was baptized with water once and the Holy Spirit will baptize it again by fire and the water will be no more and the fire will purify all that remains to be better than it ever was before.

day no. 15,529: Penelope is ELEVEN!!!

Penelope Page, you are easy to celebrate.

1.  You wake up early to do your school most mornings.

2.  You like a little tea with your honey.

3.  You read your Bible before bed every night.

4.  You still like to sit on my lap during TV time.

5.  You often give all the little kids baths on your own accord.

6.  You work hard year round to have extra $ to buy others Christmas presents.

7.  You still occasionally scale the stairs walking on all fours.

8.  You love playing the piano and writing new songs.

9.  You like to sing and often can be heard singing somewhere in the house.

10. You are getting sooo tall.

11. Your hair is curlious maximus.

12. You are a whiz when it comes to Latin.

13. You are a great big sister.

14. You are a great little sister to your big brother.

15. You are beautiful.

16. You are smart.

17. You are funny.

18. You are helpful.

19. You make life better.

20. You make life more interesting.

21. You love Jesus.

22. You hate feminism.

23. You laugh at my jokes.

24. You tell me yours.

25. You want to be a mom when you grow up.

26. You want 42 kids.

27. You still think 42 kids is realistic.

28. You love to read.

29. You love to write and type.

30. You love logic lessons

31. You like a little coffee with your creamer.

32. You like funny animal videos on YouTube

33. You are growing up.

34. You're still my little girl.

I love everything about you and enjoy watching you grow up. God continues to grow you in so many ways. You are becoming more mature in wisdom, in stature and in favor with Him and others.

I am proud of you and I love being your dad.

Happy 11th Birthday, Nen.

Love,

Dad

day no. 15,528: God is not male, but He is masculine.

"To God we are all feminine... In the Song of Songs it must be the groom and not the bride who symbolizes God, the bride and not the groom who symbolizes the soul. God impregnates the soul, not vice versa. That is the deepest reason why throughout the Bible the human image for God is male, never female. It is only an image, of course, and not literal... But the image images something, and that something is the relationship that the inventors of these images experienced: they all experienced God as the husband of the soul. The fact that God spiritually impregnates us and not vice versa, the fact that God creates new life in us and not vice versa, and the fact that God comes into us and not vice versa, cannot be changed any more than the fact that a man impregnates a woman and not vice versa can be changed. No matter how much we rant and rave, we cannot change the essential, eternal laws of the very structure of reality to conform to our latest ideological fashions and fancies." -- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

God is masculinity to the nth degree. He is He. He is Groom. He is Husband. He is Father. The church is never the husband, never proposing marriage, never the source of the seed. It is the one receiving the ring, the proposal and the seed and into its womb life is placed.

We do not conquer God, He conquers us and then bids us conquer in His Name and for His sake. He does not take upon Himself our name, we take His. He does not change His mailing address, we change ours. He does not join our mission, we join His. He does not enlist in our infantry, we enlist in His

He does not curtsy, He bows. We curtsy. He is not courted, He courts and we are courted. We do not carry Him across the threshold of our lives, He carries us over into His. We do not open doors for Him, He opens them for us. We do not protect Him, He protects us. We do not provide for Him, He provides for us. We do not pay the bill, He does. We do not walk on the road side of the sidewalk, He does. We do not labor that He may gain anything, He works that we might have everything. He does not carry our children in Him, we carry His in us. He does not wait until we get home, we are told to wait up for Him. He is not disciplined by us, we are disciplined by Him. 

This is not merely a sexist insinuation echoing out of ancient, backwards texts, but a existential necessity embodied in the eternal reality of the living God. All of these customs reinforce a particular reality. There is a reason a man does not take his wife's last name. There is a reason that a man penetrates and that women have penetrable places and wombs like soil ready to receive seeds. There is a reason that men take out the trash and women do the dishes. It isn't merely erected from social construction, but built upon eternal foundation.

There is a reason He is a He. He is not parent, but Father. He is not spouse, but Husband. God is masculine. He is not male, but masculine. He does not have a body, but when He rented one, He wore a male one. He rented a tuxedo, not a prom dress. But not because He is male. He is spirit. But because He is so masculine, there is no other image He could have worn to communicate Himself to His creation.

day no. 15,527: God's playlist

"I called him, but he gave me no answer."
Song of Solomon 5:6

"God's long-dated bills will be punctually honoured; we must not suffer Satan to shake our confidence in the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers. Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our prayers--they are not blown away by the wind, they are treasured in the King's archives. This is a registry in the court of heaven wherein every prayer is recorded." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

All prayers are answered. All prayers are heard. There are no unanswered prayers. God answers by saying, "Yes," "No," or "Not Yet." And He hears every prayer offered up by His people. Said another way, no prayer escapes His notice. He hears each and every one of them and answers them according to His sovereign, good will. But there is no such thing as an undocumented prayer. There is no prayer sent which is not delivered. There are no return to sender, unable to deliver, no forwarding address prayers. God is always there and in that sense He never moves. In another sense, He is always moving and never dormant or incapacitated. Your prayers go somewhere and they always make a sound. And wherever they go, God is there. And whatever sound they make, God always hears. All prayers are recorded in the sense that they are documented. All prayers are heard in the sense that they are documented in audio and available for playback on God's playlist.

day no. 15,526: the Head on behalf of the human

"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered."
Hebrews 5:8

"We are told that the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering, therefore we who are sinful, and who are far from being perfect, must not wonder if we are called to pass through suffering too. Shall the head be crowned with thorns, and shall the other members of the body be rocked upon the dainty lap of ease? Must Christ pass through seas of his own blood to win the crown, and are we to walk to heaven dryshod in silver slippers?" -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Can the Head wear a crown of thorns without the rest of the body experiencing pain? Can blood be exacted from the brow and the other bones not ache? If the Head suffers, the body suffers with it. The Head bears the brunt of the burden, but the rest of the body yet experiences the agony. The wounds are inflicted in the face, but experienced by the body. The Head takes the blow, but the body dies with it. The Head is pierced on behalf of the body, yet the blood is taken from the entire body. And when the Head is raised will the body not follow suit and be raised with it? As goes the Head, so goes the body. Amen.

Colossians 2:10-12

And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead.

day no. 15,525: conforming our wants to reality

"Wisdom consists essentially in absolutely wanting that which we absolutely need." 
-- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

When our wants are ordered in accordance with reality, we are wise, happy, content and blessed. Much of life consists in putting the right wants in the right order. When our wants are in concert with God's created order, we are wise and we always have what we need. When we want most what we need most, we find it provided graciously in limitless abundance in the person of God and by His hand of provision. 

Inordinate affections guarantee discontentment. You cannot have less of what you need most and be satisfied. Conversely, you cannot have an abundance of what you do not need and be satisfied. 

Wisdom is wanting most what you most need. It is ordering your affections according to God’s revelation. It is living in light of His order that produces peace by avoiding disorder.

day no. 15,524 continued... chrestianity

I am a Chrestian. I practice chrestianity.

I worship God the Father through His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  I worship the Word that was in the beginning and was with God and was God and became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. That makes me a Christian. 

Because I worship the Word, I like words. I enjoy language and turns of phrase that capture the good, the true and the beautiful. I like the way words sound and the way they paint mental pictures and furnish intellectual living rooms. I utilize this blog as a place to catalog what I come across in my readings when I find it fascinating and/or helpful in articulating or clariying the Christian message and worldview. This makes me a practitioner of chrestomathy*.

I am a Christian who enjoys chrestomathy. In other words, I'm a Chrestian.

*Chrestomathy (/krɛˈstɒməθi/ kreh-STOM-ə-thee; from the Ancient Greekχρηστομάθεια “desire of learning” = χρηστός “useful” + μανθάνω “learn”) is a collection of selected literary passages (usually from a single author); a selection of literary passages from a foreign language assembled for studying the language; or a text in various languages, used especially as an aid in learning a subject.

day no. 15,524: the over/under on God

Deuteronomy 30:11-14
For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

Israel did not overhear God. They were not listening with a cup against the door of heaven in order to eavesdrop. Israel heard God because He spoke to them. He initiated by opening His mouth.

"Revelation is God's gracious self-disclosure, whereby He forfeits His own personal privacy, that His creatures would know Him." -- Albert Mohler, Jr., The John MacArthur Handbook of Effective Biblical Leadership

God is not found because anyone was looking for Him anymore than He is heard because anyone was listening for Him. If He remained silent, He would remain invisible to us. We would see His invisible qualities speaking loudly in nature, but from Him we would hear nothing directly. In nature, perhaps, we could hear His footsteps upstairs, but we might easily mistake it for the wind or the house settling.  But we hear God because He makes Himself heard. 

Israel did not understand God.  He cannot be comprehended or apprehended. Israel did not hunt Him down or deduce Him. He cannot be determined by calculation. He is not a conclusion one can merely come to or a destination at which one can inevitably arrive. He cannot be obtained or contained. Israel stood under God because He stooped. He initiated by coming down. He revealed Himself. He was not discovered, He disclosed Himself.

We do not overhear or understand God.
He stands over and speaks to us below. 

day no. 15,523 continued... defenestration

Yesterday during Latin class, we learned a new word: fenestra. It is Latin for "window." One of the English derivatives listed was "defenestration." I had look that one up. Turns out it means "the action of throwing someone out the window."

I love that we have a word for that. It seems like it would be so rare of an occurrence that it wouldn't warrant it's own word, but nevertheless, there it is.

It reminded me immediately of Jezebel. I guess we could say she got defenestrated. 

2 Kings 9:30-37

Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window. Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, “Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?”

And he looked up at the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. Then he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. And when he had gone in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.” So they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as refuse on the surface of the field, in the plot at Jezreel, so that they shall not say, “Here lies Jezebel.” ’ ”

day no. 15,523: dead silence

"The issue is always idolatry because in our fallen state we would rather have an image than a word." -- Albert Mohler, Jr., The John MacArthur Handbook of Effective Biblical Leadership

Whenever the second commandment is broken it is because the first already has been. When we reject the invisible God above, we embrace a visible god beside. We prefer tangible images because we can wrap our heads around them. We can't bear the idea of having our heads wrapped up into something else, however. We are allergic to being consumed, so we reject the omnipresent, transcendent God in favor of one that is present at my preference, immanent only when I care to imagine it.

"We would rather have an image we can control, because we can put an idol over here, dress it, and speak to it. This is the major distinction between the one true God and the false gods of the Old Testament -- while the pagans speak to idols, the one true and living God, who has no form, speaks to His people." -- Albert Mohler, Jr., The John MacArthur Handbook of Effective Biblical Leadership

Words are authoritative. They require understanding, belief and obedience,. There is no denying a word without denying it altogether. But an image can be discarded. It can be handled. It can be modified. It's nose can be cut off without despising its face. It can be painted, positioned, put away or put on display. But one thing it can never do, is speak.

1 Corinthians 12:2
You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols

Idols are mute. They cannot give instruction, so we fill their mouths with our own words. We put soliloquies in their mouths and our hands up their backs in order to move their mouths as we speak. When we are led by idols, it is merely us moving ourselves. Idols are silent, it is we who speak. Idols are empty, it is we who fill their mouths with words. Idolatry is ventriloquism. Some pull it off better than others, but none pull it off without putting words in someone else's mouth.

Jeremiah 10:5
Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field and they cannot speak

But God speaks. The second person of the Trinity is the eternal Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us. As such, words carry a weight that cannot be easily displaced. Words don't wait at the back of the closet until you're ready for them. They hang and haunt and hound. They do not go gently into that good attic. They insist on being heard and acted upon. So we stop listening or do our best to clog our ears with cotton balls. We put our hands over our ears and raise our voices in order to drown out the sound.

Acts 7:57
But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him.

Zechariah 7:11
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.

But if we refuse to listen, we're no better off than godless pagans. If we reject the God who speaks because we do not like His words, we don't get different words, we get silence... and lots of it. 

1 Kings 18:29
And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

"Just think about those haunting words for a moment, and consider where we would be if God had not spoken. We would be in the same predicament as those pagan priests." -- Albert Mohler, Jr., The John MacArthur Handbook of Effective Biblical Leadership

If we reject God's Word, we are left without help or hope. We have no idea what we're doing, why we're doing it or where it's all going. We are alone and without a word to guide us. We are ranting and raving and cutting ourselves and crying out for answers or a word of advice, but there will be nothing -- no fire, no revelation, no reply, no word, no nothing. Without God's Word we have dead animals on dead altars offered in the name of dead religion by dead people with dead hearts. 

In other words, without the Word, there is only dead silence.

day no. 15,522: becoming what we're beholding

Psalm 135:15-18
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see;
they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.

Those who worship idols become like the idols they worship, because the principle in place is, "we become what we behold." 

2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Those who worship God become like Him, because the principle in place is, "we become what we behold." 

Everyone is becoming something and sooner or later they're going to be it. They will cease becoming and beginning being. For those who worship idols, they will end as they are: dead, displaced and under the never-ending wrath of God. For those who worship God, they will end as He does, unending in life, established and under the never-ending waterfall of grace and mercy.

For a more detailed treatment of the topic, try We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry by  G. K. Beale 

day no. 15,521: dampster fire

Matthew 26:56
Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.

"Divine grace can make the coward brave. The smoking flax can flame forth like fire on the altar when the Lord wills it. These very apostles who were timid as hares, grew to be bold as lions after the Spirit had descended upon them, and even so the Holy Spirit can make my recreant spirit brave to confess my Lord and witness for his truth." 
-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

If we are brave, it is because God is blessing us. We are water-logged and the least likely to be set on fire, so rest assured, if you see us ablaze, God has done a great work in us. Elijah's altar was drenched to the dregs to demonstrate the clear dominion of God. If He could set that on fire, what couldn't He lick up with heavenly flame?

1 Kings 18:33-35, 38-39
And (Elijah) put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time." And they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time." And they did it a third time. And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water... Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God."

God demonstrates His divinity by turning us into His disciples. God can produce water from a rock because He can make water from nothing. He can light damp souls on fire because He made them in the first place. If He can make us out of nothing, He can make our death into our life and our dullness into His light.

day no. 15,520: notitia, assensus, and fiducia

In reading R.C. Sproul, Jr.'s When You Rise Up, I was introduced to the terms, "notitia, assensus, and fiducia"

notitia = knowledge

Before you can have faith in something, you must have some understanding of what you are putting your faith in. This refers to the capacity to understand the object of your faith. Not completely per se, but you have to be able to say what you have faith in in order to have faith in it. This presumes an object of faith and an ability to articulate where you are aiming your faith.

assensus = assent

Once you understand what is being asked, you have to assent to what is being asked. Once you know the object of faith and comprehend the information of who that is, there is this step in the process which intellectually assents to it. This is agreeing with the terms and conditions. Assensus acknowledges it would be a good thing to do what is being asked. It has read and understood the terms and conditions and agrees in principle to them. It does not object to them or seek to qualify them in any capacity.

fiducia = trust

Fiducia is the final piece of the puzzle. It not only agrees that it would be good to obey, it obeys. It insists that you must know what the foundation is and understand where it is located. It agrees that it can hold and will hold whatever is built upon it. But it goes beyond mere assertion, it goes all the way and begins to actually build there. Fiducia is actually placing yourself on the foundation and letting it hold you. It is building upon it and nowhere else. It is moving any other building materials you have to this location and abandoning all other projects. It is placing your trust in this foundation as your only firmness and demonstrating it as such by throwing your everything onto it.

day no. 15,519: heralds are not at the behest of hearers

"If you are afraid of men and a slave to their opinion, go and do something else. Go and make shoes to fit them. Go even and paint pictures, which you know are bad, but which suit their bad taste. But do not keep on all your life preaching sermons which say not what God sent you to declare." -- Phillip Brooks

You would better be employed making bad sandwiches for those with bad taste than you be preaching bad sermons suited to the tastes of your hearers. If someone likes double onions and peanut butter, that's there business, but if they don't like double imputation, you have no business accommodating their fancies. Any sermon crafted according to the itches of its listeners is by nature bad. A good sermon ought to take its listeners bad taste into account, but not in order to cater to them, but to confront and correct them.

Sermons are not preached primarily because the people need to hear them. The heralds are not sent at the behest of the hearers.  Preachers speak because the great glory of God demands to be declared and the majesty of His Good News begs to be shared. If you do not want to do that, don't.

You can water down whiskey and still tend bar, but you cannot water down the Word and still tend flocks. 

Someone once asked Martin Luther, "How did you bring about the Reformation? How did you turn Europe upside down?"

He replied, "I simply taught, preached and wrote God's Word. Otherwise, I did nothing. When I slept, the Words so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor inflicted so much damage upon it. I did nothing. The Word did it all."

day no. 15,518: repenting right now

"The function of eschatology is to prepare us, not to inform us. The book (of Revelation) is for the obedient, not the curious." -- Steven W. Smith, Recapturing the Voice of God

Whenever God casts a vision for the future, its application is in the present. He isn't merely communicating certain facts about what will happen tomorrow There are certainly plenty of those as you’d expect, but what many miss is the motivation for present obedience.

In other words, eschatology is more about repenting right now and reordering the events of today than it is about resenting the future and attempting to order the events of tomorrow.

day no. 15,517: sermons should be made to be heard

"Many letters have an oral dimension to them. In other words, they are didactic and they are written for the ear as much as the eye. After all, it only took one person to read the letters to the whole church, who would then hear the letter." 
-- Steve W. Smith, Recapturing the Voice of God

Written communication is not always merely a matter of information. It can be a way to communicate without being present. Oral communication requires presence, whereas written communication doesn't. But sometimes the goal of the written word is not merely to relay the content, but to express the context, the presence and personality of the one speaking. 

Preaching is auditory. Sermons should be made to be heard. They are not merely information spoken out loud for efficiency's sake. They are crafted to capture the essence as well as the information. The way something sounds being coupled with the way something is understood and choosing words in a way that marries the two.

When preparing a sermon, consider the content, of course, but do not neglect to complement the information with words that sound like the idea you are trying to relay. 

day no. 15,516: eat the fat. drink the sweet. make the merry.

Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Eat the fat.
Drink the sweet.
The joy of the LORD is our strength.

Low calorie, fat-free faith has no meat on its bones.
Teetotalers do not have any fun.

Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Fat and sweet were made by God. They nourish. They sustain life and livelihood. They keep things alive and make alive things more lively.

1 Timothy 4:1-6
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

Nehemiah 8:12
And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

Great mirth is what God desires for His people.

Eat the fat.

Drink the sweet.

Make the merry.

Make much of His glory for when you understand God's goodness, life is good.

day no. 15,515: two years of Juniper!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Juni!

You are such a sweet little lady. You have grown up so much in the last few weeks. You are developing your vocabulary and you are growing in personality. You have this funny way of saying, "Hello?" which sounds more like, "Ayyyy--ohhhh!" It is adorbs. You are so funny and the funny thing is, you know it. You like to make people laugh and you're good at it.

You also love lending your voice to our family traditions. You babble loudly along when asked, "What did Spurgeon say?" as your siblings respond, "Visit many good books, but live in the Bible." Your version is not as clear, but what you lack in clarity, you make up for in volume. When we do roll call, you often respond by yelling, "six" (even though your seven) while the other kids are still sounding off (even though you should be last). 

You are just a delight. You always have been. You are easy to love and to like.

You have such pretty eyes and such a sweet smile and the craziest, cutest hair. It's coming in so thick and it's getting curly lately. You love having it in a waterspout ponytail on the top of your head. It makes you feel pretty. You're not wrong. You are cute.

It's so much fun watching you grow up. Lately, you love saying, "Thank you!" which comes out more like, "Kee-koo." It is absolutely adorbs. What makes it particularly pleasant is that you seek so often to insert it, saying, "Kee-koo" for things that don't really require or necessitate it. You just waddle around thanking people for things they didn't know they were doing. It is so sweet and such a blessing. I love that our home is filled with sounds of gratitude. Life, as Chesterton said, can be taken for granted or taken with gratitude, and you have a head start on seeing everything as a blessing from God.

You have a sweet disposition. You are agreeable as evidenced by your most famous "move" at this point would be a silent nod. You look up with your big eyes and nod along when asked most questions. You like to be in the affirmative and it makes it easy to ask you to do things and to want to direct comments to you.

Any update about you wouldn't be complete if your love liquids of all kinds was not brought front and center. From mom's iced coffee to my cold water, you can't get enough. You're always chugging good girl moonshine or someone else's milk or your own milk and whatever happens to have a straw in it left unattended. Literally, you just keep drinking. I don't know where you put all of it. You are a good eater and often ask for "cookies" or "crackers" which are some of your favorites. That said,  you're not particularly picky and typically eat whatever mom makes for you.

You often bunch up your top sheet and use it as a sort of makeshift snuggly and when you wake up often jump up and point at it as if to say, "What happened there?" You often do well playing by yourself in your bed in the mornings even though you toss everything overboard in the process.

You are a blessing to everyone and all your siblings love you and enjoy spending time with you. Your mom and I delight in you and often find ourselves talking about how great you are. We love that God made us your parents. 

Happy 2nd birthday Juniper. You are a gift from God and a great bundle of cheer and joy. I can't wait to watch you grow up more and more as He gives you wisdom, stature and favor before Him and the rest of us.

Love,

Dad

day no. 15,514: the pulpit is a throne

"The pulpit is the throne for the Word of God." -- Martin Luther

The authority of the throne is in the One who sits upon it, but the One who reigns deserves a throne upon which He can rest and yet reign.

day no. 15,513: the tool and the toil

Nehemiah 8:5
Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people

A preacher's primary job description is here summarized: open the Bible in front of other people. Do whatever it is you do, but fail to do this, and you fail as a preacher. You may entertain, you may inform, you may energize, but you have not preached.

The tool and the toil are also clearly articulated in this simple verse. The Bible is the tool of the preacher's trade. He must have one and he must be well-acquainted with it. He must know how to use it. He must be familiar with its weight in his hand, in his head, and on his heart. His job is to stand before his people and open it. He must show them where he gets what he brings. And then he must labor to make sure that his people see this and then understand it. His people need to see what he sees and he must labor to help them see it. He must be the messenger and be transformed by the message. He must do this for all to see.

1 Timothy 4:15-16
Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

day no. 15,512: held in high esteem and at a distance

2 Kings 10:18-19
Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live." But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal.

Jehu called upon all who worship Baal by providing a safe space for them to congregate and do what they love best together. He called the meeting upon force of death. Let not one be missing who looks to Baal. To be missing from this is to be considered outside of Baal. This being set up, Jehu then did an audit at the assembly to assure that not a single worshiper of the Lord had snuck into their soiree. When it was confirmed that it was only Baal worshipers and that no one who was a true Baal worshiper was missing and that no half-hearted hacks were present, Jehu let loose and destroyed the entire lot of Baal worshipers in one fell swoop. 

Jehu disguised an attempt to purify Israel from Baal worship as an attempt to purify Baal worship in Israel. 

You may say that a half-hearted Baal worshiper may have skipped the meeting and survived the onslaught, thus preserving a seed of Baal worship inside Israel. But the beauty of Jehu's plan was that he made it so easy to gather that if any who had warm feelings for Baal were not present, they were not warm enough to be any threat to Israel. They may have a safe harbor for Baal in their affections, but they aren't the kind of people who are going to raise a fuss or violently assert those beliefs onto others if they can't even find a way to show up for the big Baal ball. If they don't take the easy on ramp, there is good reason to believe they will not strive to advance the cause if it were to be difficult.

The same tactic could be used against Christians. The world could make it easy to profess faith in Him and incentivize the gathering with threats of violence for foregoing it and some would still hang back. They would possess warm feelings for Jesus, but not enough fire even to move them to attend the meeting. Thus, if the world tried to snuff out Christianity in one fell swoop, the only surviving sentiments about Jesus would be so lukewarm that they couldn't boil water.

Acts 5:13
None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

Some hold Jesus and His people in high esteem, but still hold Him and His people at a safe distance. The world knows it has nothing to fear from these sorts and God knows He cannot depend on these as they quarantine their cares voluntarily.

day no. 15,511: warp and woof

"In simplest form, the covenant God has made with man is simply: love, trust and obey God and teach your children to do the same. And to take it one step further, we haven't taught our children to do the same unless or until we have taught them to teach their children." — R.C. Sproul, Jr., When You Rise Up

In Matthew 28:18-20, the disciples are commanded to make disciples. So, in order to be a disciple, you must go and make more disciples and part of that making includes teaching them to do for the next person what you are doing for them at that moment.

The same is true for parenting. The command to those living in covenant is to invite more in and that begins with teaching what God has done (drama) and what it means (doctrine). God then commands us to teach others and part of that teaching must include teaching them to teach others to teach others. In other words, a man may preach to his great grandchildren by teaching his children to teach their children to teach their children.

The warp and woof of the Christian life is making disciples by immersing them into the Triune God and teaching them to observe and obey everything He has said, being reminded as we remind them that God is with us when we do this. This should be Christian business as per usual.

day no. 15,510: when blue ribbons are given to second hand emotions

"The will is the custodian of the feelings and must learn to lead them, not follow them"
-- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

"The head rules the belly through the the chest."

-- C.S. Lewis in The Abolition of Man, chapter 1: Men Without Chests

In other words, the will tells the body what to do through affection. Affections are necessary, but secondary. Affections make bad principles. The will must lead, but can follow. It shouldn't, but it can. Where affections are not guided, they will guide. Where the will does not lead, it will be led. When primary things are not given blue ribbons, they are corrupted. The will has been awarded custody of the affections, but the will must serve them by raising them and nourishing them, not by serving their whims. Giving gold medals to secondary things ruins everything.

day no. 15,509: more or less

"It's not wrong to be tired. It's not wrong to feel overwhelmed. It's not wrong to go through seasons of complete chaos. What is wrong -- and heartbreakingly foolish and wonderfully avoidable -- is to live a life with more craziness than we want because we have less Jesus than we need." -- Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy

These are the last words of DeYoung's book on busyness.

It is sad that so many have much more crazy than they ever wanted because they have far less Jesus than they desire. The tragedy of this as DeYoung points out is that it is not an inevitability. Jesus is available for those who want Him and there is more of Him to give than we take advantage of. At the same time, we endure and create more chaos, confusion and craziness than is necessary in our attempts to get after it without Him. We bring more crazy than is required upon our own heads.

We don't want hectic, but we have plenty of it. 

We need Jesus, but we don't have as much as we should.

These are tragedies, but they are also opportunities.

The hectic does not have to rule and Jesus still does.

So there is hope. There is time to repent, believe and have less crazy and more Jesus if we die to the pride of being busier than necessary in order to live for the hope of being holier than the world demands.

day no. 15,508: you cannot steal time

"You can borrow time, but you can't steal it... You cannot cheat sleep indefinitely. And the longer you try to borrow against sleep, the more your body (or God) will force you to pay for those hours -- plus interest." -- Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy

You can borrow time from tomorrow by staying up late tonight, but you can't steal it. It comes out of the account. Time you should have been sleeping can be borrowed to complete a project, but you never get away without the bank noticing. Sleep debt cannot be waived without a payment. It will either show up in your shortness, in your attention span, in your productivity, in your weekend plans, in your health, etc... but rest assured, if you do not rest, you surely will pay for it. And even when it is acknowledged as a loan and not attempted robbery, it still puts you at the mercy of your creditor. While borrowing time is less egregious than filching it, it is not without its own consequences. The borrower's wishes are always at the whims of the lender.

Proverbs 22:7
The borrower is the slave of the lender.

day no. 15,507: for a rest and for a test

"God gives us Sabbath as a gift; it's an island of get-to in a sea of have-to. He also offers us Sabbath as a test; it's an opportunity to trust God's work more than our own... I'm not so important in God's universe that I can't afford to rest. But my God-given limitations are so real that I can't afford not to." -- Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy

Sabbaths were made for a rest and for a test. God gives us permission to set aside the daily grind in favor of a weekly feast. The work of the week leads up to a feast produced by the week's hard work. But it also demonstrates that we can take a day off without everything we've worked so hard to build falling apart. We build, but Got holds together. Sabbath teaches us to believe that by taking our hands off of it for a day. 

Adam's first full day on earth was a day off. He was made during the 6th day, so the first day he experienced from beginning to end was a Sabbath. We work from rest, not for it. And then we test our work by taking a break from it. God is giving us grace to go ahead, grace to get a break and grace to realize it was His work through us all along.

1 Corinthians 15:10
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

day no. 15,506: inordinate expectations

"The people on this planet who end up doing nothing are those who never realized they couldn't do everything." -- Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy

If you plan on doing everything you want to do, you should plan on doing nothing you want to do. Only those who prioritize their wants end up accomplishing anything they wanted.

day no. 15,505 continued... accredited cruelty and unaccredited competency

"I had rather that a thief should feed me than a shepherd devour me." -- Junius Brutus, Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos

The title of tyrant can rightly be applied, according to Vindiciae, in circumstances where one obtains the office through unceremonious means or where one executes the office unceremoniously after going through the proper ceremonies.  However, it is better to be ruled well by one who became Ruler unlawfully than it is to be abused by a lawful Ruler. Of course, the ideal prince is one who secures his position rightfully and keeps his oath of office just as righteously, but the choice between accredited cruelty and an unaccredited competency should be obvious although the thief in question ought to be made to promise to continue to do should the opportunity avail itself or if the governed should be able to prevail it upon him.

day no, 15,505: a sense of proportion

"The goodness of God cannot mean exactly the same thing as the goodness of man, because God is not a man. A good man is not the same as a good dog; for the same reason, the goodness of God is not the same as the goodness of man. The reason is that goodness is proportionate to being. God's being is divine and infinite; man's is finite and human; a dog's is finite and doggy. Each has a goodness proportionate to its nature."-- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

A good dog still poops in public, a good man is prohibited from doing so, nor would he, out of his goodness, be inclined to do so. God is not a man and therefor His goodness is not equivocal to man's. He is a different kind of being and thus His goodness is proportionate to His nature. There is, of course, some overlap. A good dog and a good man both refrain from biting people without provocation, for example, but a good dog and a good man both must threaten to bite certain people or they cease being good. A good father desires to give good gifts to his beloved children and a good God does the same, but the earthly father's estimation of goodness is limited to his perspective and potency. He only sees things from the vantage point of being a fellow human and from the capacities that correspond to human nature, whereas God sees goodness from a divine, eternal perspective combined with the competence to achieve any measure of goodness He desires.

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.

James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

day no. 15,504: triperspectivalism revisted

POINT OF REFERENCE (source)
Prophet - Eternal
Priest - Experiential
King - Situational

Each disposition acts from a certain point of reference. The reason the prophet cannot help but ask, "But is it true?" is because their reference point is eternal, located in the truth that exists outside of all places and times, anchored in Sovereignty as its source. The reason the priest cannot help but ask, "But how does it impact people?" is because their reference point is experiential, located in the feelings, affections and apprehensions that exist inside all people from all places and times, anchored in the subjective experience of each as its source. The reason the king cannot help but ask, "But how does it advance the cause?" is because their reference point is situational, located in the logistics required to keep advancing the mission towards the vision that exists for the kingdom as a whole, anchored in the structures and systems that facilitate the intended outcome.


POINT OF LEVERAGE (emphasis)
Prophet - Truth
Priest - Compassion

King - Power

Each disposition utilizes a certain point of leverage. The prophet will always appeal to the fact that what he says is true. He sees the world in terms of black and white, true and false and being on the side of right and true is the place his emphasis invariably lands. He confronts people by identifying what is true. The priest will always appeal to compassion. He sees the person and their need to be known and understood. He meets people by identifying with them. The king will always appeal to power. He sees the need for force to be applied in order to corral people or things where they ought to be. He leads people by identifying what moves them.

POINT OF APPLICATION (concern)
Prophet - Informational 
Priest - Transformational
King - Organizational

Each disposition has a point where the rubber hits the road and machinery respective to its agenda that it employs and uses to test success. The prophet gauges this through information. Did they hear and understand what is true? Do they know it? Can they repeat it back to me? Do they appreciate the gravity of the details? The mantra of the prophet is, "ideas have consequences." The priest gauges this through transformation. Did they change? Did they respond? Did they make a change? Has their disposition towards the world been transformed? The mantra of the priest is, "Transparency leads to change." The king gauges this through organization. Does the current structure complement the goal? What systems need to be implemented to further the cause? What structures would help resist mission creep? The mantra of the king is, "A good plan is better than good intentions."

day no. 15,503: the space between your load and your limit

While reading Kevin DeYoung's Crazy Busy I came across a term he borrowed from Richard Swenson called, "margin." He uses this to refer to the the gap between your load and your limits. Everyone's life needs margin. If you are too efficient, squeezing every ounce out of every second, you will find the unexpected often derailing your entire life. You need margin built in because you need to plan on something taking longer than you expected or something being interjected into your day or week that you had not planned for and could not have foreseen.

According to Swenson, "margin is the space between your load and your limits."

You need to make sure you aren't always carrying your max. You should leave a little gap between what you schedule and how much time you have. Since you only have 24 hrs in a day, you should not seek to plan every last second of the day, unless you deliberately schedule some of that time as gap time between things or a stretch where there is nothing in particular planned. This will make space for unforeseen tasks or planned tasks that didn't go according to plan. 

day no. 15,502: enjoying the glory of God eliminates the need for awesomesauce and weaksauce

"The nature and depth of human pride are illustrated by comparing boasting to self-pity. Both are manifestations of pride. Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to suffering. Boasting says, 'I deserve admiration because I have achieved so much.' Self-pity says, 'I deserve admiration because I have suffered so much.' Boasting is the voice of pride in the heart of the strong. Self-pity is the voice of pride in the heart of the weak. Boasting sounds self-sufficient. Self-pity sounds self-sacrificing. The reason self-pity does not look like pride is that is appears to be so needy. But the need arises from a wounded ego. It doesn't come from a sense of unworthiness, but from a sense of unrecognized worthiness. It is the response of unapplauded pride." -- John Piper, The Dangerous Duty of Delight

Pursuing the glory of God as the source of your greatest delight destroys both forms of pride: boasting and self-pity. In the first sense, it eliminates boasting since all the glory is in God and He becomes the source of our exaltation instead of ourselves; and in the second sense, it eliminates self-pity because it is your greatest joy to give everything you have and endure all things in order to inherit the world and Christ's righteousness. 

day no. 15,501: five areas of influence and governance

"Following John Stott, I would like to point out the candidate for church office must display a solid character in five main areas. First, in relation to himself, he must be mature and self-controlled in the areas of alcohol, money, temper, and tongue. With regard to his relation to his family, he must be faithful to his wife and an effective and loving leader of his kids. With regard to his relation to others generally, he must be hospitable and gentle. With regard to his relation to outsiders, he must be highly esteemed. And last, with regard to his relation to the faith, he must have a strong hold on it, and gifted in teaching it." -- Douglas Wilson, Deacons and the Women

Any candidate for the offices of elder or deacon must have FIVE areas of governance under control in order to qualify for consideration. He must be in good and godly relation:

1. TO HIMSELF
2. TO HIS FAMILY
3. TO OTHERS GENERALLY
4. TO OUTSIDERS
5. TO THE FAITH

God has given men governance and they must exercise it over themselves, over their wives and children, over those to whom they are given responsibility, in front of those whom they have no responsibility and under God. If a man is not a good citizen of each of these spheres, he cannot be given leadership in the sphere of church governance.