day no. 16,079: the Founder of the feast

"The dinner party is a true proclamation of the abundance of being -- a rebuke to the thrifty little idolatries by which we lose sight of the lavish hand that made us." -- Robert Farrar Capon

Preparing a feast prepares us. Feasts require sacrifice. It takes effort and generosity to lavish a table with linens, fat, and sweet. But feasting reminds us of the abundance of our Father who made us. He is no skinflint. There is no stinginess in Him.

"It was largesse that made us all; we were not created to fast forever." -- Robert Farrar Capon

God set a table for us because He wanted to. He wasn't obligated to have us over. He didn't need the company. He invited us over because He wanted to and He prepares a feast for us that we might taste and see His goodness.

"Nourishment is necessary only for a while; what we shall need forever is taste."

-- Robert Farrar Capon

We need good food to keep us alive, but more importantly, we need it to keep us alive long enough to learn how to truly live. Food not only provides the fuel to keep going, but it provides more time to learn what's worth going on for. Nourishment is necessary for now because nourishment gives us enough time to develop taste.

Psalm 34:8

O taste and see that the Lord is good.

Food is grace, but taste is grace upon grace. It is good to be kept alive, but better to enjoy the life you're living. The meal is a gift, but the ability to appreciate it is an additional present.

Ecclesiastes 2:24

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

day no. 16,078: the wisdom of the the flesh is enmity against God

"Paul says, 'The wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God' (Rom. 8:7), which words are very significant. For the word translated 'wisdom,' signifies that the best thoughts, the best desires, affections, and endeavors that be in any natural man  -- even those that come most near to true holiness -- are not only contrary to God, but even enmity itself." -- William Perkins, A Reformed Catholic

Christianity is distinct from all other religions in that it identifies sin even in our best efforts. All other religions, being man-made, come by a certain affinity for some of their good works quite honestly, if only to honor the religion they invented. But Christianity, being of, from, for, through, and to God, is forced to face how far short even our best efforts fall short. Yet, it is this unique acknowledgement which gives Christianity its great humility and confidence. It is not contingent upon human ingenuity or endeavor, but on the isolated genius of God.

Philippians 3:8-9

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Christianity is founded on righteousness outside itself. Right standing with God is only from Christ. No thing can be counted as gain outside of Him. No amount of good can be accumulated or stacked to accomplish what He alone freely provides to those who place their faith in Him.

Isaiah 64:6

We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Our best is not good enough. His perfection, however, is ours by grace through faith in Christ alone. Christianity alone atones for every sin and provides all righteousness required to enter peacefully into the presence of the Father.

day no. 16,077: liberalism likened to the prodigal son

Luke 15:11-13

There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.” And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.

While Liberalism despises Christianity, it continues to live off of a Christian inheritance while contributing nothing back. Like the prodigal, it ends up exhausting the riches it inherited. It lives entirely on someone else's dime and fails to realize that while those dimes may spend, they don't save themselves.

Liberalism believes it is rich because it has coin in the bank, but fails to consider where that coin came from or express gratitude for its presence. Liberalism refuses to give credit to that which extends to its current line of credit.

By the grace of God, may Liberalism, like the prodigal son, come to its necessary end, come to its senses, repent, and return to seek again to serve its Father in His house according to His rule where His provision is in abundance and without end.

day no. 16,076: we become apologists for that which we provide excuses

Ephesians 4:32

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Kind is a command. Nice is not.

Psalm 97:10

O you who love the LORD, hate evil!

Kindness confronts evil. Nice is evil because it refuses to openly oppose it. We become apologists for that which we provide excuses. Nice assumes the authority to offer peace treaties to kindness’s enemies. Nice is therefore treasonous rebellious pride. Nice is friendly fire. Nice shoots at those it should protect and excuses those it should shoot. 

Proverbs 8:13

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.

If you love something, you must hate what opposes it. You cannot love without hatred. If you do not hate what comes against your beloved, you merely love yourself and your enjoyment of the beloved, but not the beloved itself. And to love what you love without any thought given to what the beloved likes or loves may be natural, but it is naturally evil. Niceness then, in the long run, isn't even nice. It is dangerous, conceited, and selfish propaganda. It baits and switches for the sake of self love.

Nice does not look to the interests of others, but only to its own interests in them.

While on his deathbed in his forties, Oscar Wilde turned to his lover, Robbie Ross, and said, “Did you love any one of those little boys for their own sake?” Robbie replied, “No, I can’t say I did.” Nice does what it wants to who it wants without worrying much about what it means to the other.

Nice needs Christ to forgive it. 

Kind comes from Christ and can forgive others.

Thus, we come full circle.

Ephesians 4:32

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

day no. 16,075: soft slapdashery

"True to the normal course followed by nations in decline, internal differences are not reconciled in an attempt to save the nation. On the contrary, internal rivalries become more acute, as the nation becomes weaker." -- Sir John Glubb, The Fates of Empires and Search for Survival

Sound familiar? Is a growing and looming threat of Chinese world dominance leading to an American "let bygones be bygones" sort of unity? Far from it. Is Russian aggression producing American unification? Not a chance.

As a nation becomes more decadent, it becomes more vulnerable. Its people do not rally together around the common cause of preserving the nation, but rather indulge in the luxury of intensified, divisive rivalries. This increased lack of clarity as to what constitutes a nation inevitably leads to it being overtaken by one who lacks no certainty as to who they are and what they are doing. A nation that has forgotten what makes them distinct is easy pickings for one who has a clear identity. The crisp sharpness of the invading society's distinct personality makes short work of the soft slapdashery of a society with disassociated identity disorder.

day no. 16,074: vitamins to vivisection

"Our problem is that we want vitamins, not a knife." -- Erwin W. Lutzer, 7 Reasons Why You Can Trust The Bible

We prefer vitamins to vivisection.

Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

We prefer artificial good to surgical precision.

We prefer vague apologies to specific repentance.

We would rather improve our selves than expose ourselves.

We would rather add something synthetic than remove something authentic.

We would rather take supplements than submit to surgery.

We would rather treat the symptoms with sugar than target the source with a scalpel.

We would rather live forever online than die and be resurrected on earth.

day no. 16,073: you cannot make statues without rejecting stone

"For that there must be a final choice, for a man cannot make statues without rejecting stone." -- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

A statue is what's left of a stone once everything that isn't statue has been removed. If we are to be made saints, everything unsaintly will have to be chipped away. You cannot choose stature without rejecting stone and you cannot reject stone without a standard if you intend to end up with a statue. You need a rule by which to discern which is stone and which is statue so that you do not either lop off a limb or leave a rough spot.

day no. 16,072: forty-four

Today, by the ever-loving grace of God, I get to celebrate the day I was shuffled out on to life's stage. I may be past my intermission at this point, but I feel like the story is really coming together and I'm excited to see how the action continues to crescendo toward its denouement.

day no. 16,071: what's the mater?

1 Corinthians 11:12

For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

Today, two mothers were made and from these two I am.

The first is my mother. On this day in history, she was born to her mother. 

The second is my mother-in-law. She also on this day in history was born to her mother.

From the first I received my life.

From the second I received my wife.

So, Happy Birthday to the two mothers that have in one way or another made me everything I am today.

day no. 16,070: story problems

"Theology is thought, whether we agree with it or not. Mythology was never thought, and nobody could really agree with it or disagree with it."  -- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

Plot and thought are two different things. A plot can be a thought and a thought can be the plot, but they need not be the same. They are related and often appear together, but the power of plot and the power of thought are two different strengths. Truth is beautiful and beauty is true, but they are not the same thing; but neither can they be separated. 

In a math class, you often are given story problems. Now, the problem with story problems is that they are insufferably bad stories. They make a way for you to add 4 and 2, but they don't make a way for you to enjoy addition. They ruin the power of plot and the efficiency of thought. 

A good story, however, always has problems. So, the problems are not the problem. Everything has problems. So much so, in fact, that the problem with a lack of problems, is a dull story. A good story, though, makes sure that everything adds up in an admirable way. It produces an increased appreciation of fiction and fractions. The marriage of truth and beauty make for a good story.

day no. 16,069: Carthage must be destroyed

"It is common enough to blame Rome for not making peace. But it was a true popular instinct that there could be no peace with that sort of people. It is common enough to blame the Roman for his Delenda est Carthago; Carthage must be destroyed...  but Carthage fell because she was faithful to her own philosophy and had followed out to its logical conclusion her own vision of the universe. Moloch had eaten his children. " -- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

Delenda est Carthago does not merely serve as an enthusiastic battle cry for rallying the forces of humankind to fight the inhuman devilry of godlessness, it also serves as an axiomatic statement regarding the end of godlessness.

Carthage must be destroyed was a sentiment that reminded men of the seriousness of their situation and called them to arms accordingly, but it also was an assurance of the utter futility of the insanity they were up against. Anything that can't go on forever, won't. Insanity doesn't work. Fear not, little flock, folly always falls.

A society like Carthage, built upon the foundation of child sacrifice, is one predicated on a god devouring his children. The only possible end of a system like that is the very eradication of the society that adopts it. To adopt Molech is to be adopted by him, which must end in being eaten by him. To give Molech your infants is to guarantee the end of your people. A god who demands babies for food will not stop his chomping with the babies. He will keep eating until everyone has been devoured.

In other words, Carthage must be destroyed. There is no other possible outcome. Even if they win, they lose. Their way of life and practice promise their own destruction. The only question is if we will oppose them in the process. Will we be complicit or will we be combative? If they win, we all lose. In other words, their only hope is that we defeat them. So, love your neighbor as yourself and love your enemy by rallying with your brothers in Christ as brothers in arms as we seek to end Carthage. To that end, by the grace of God, some Carthaginians might be destroyed by being saved. After all, one way to save a Carthaginian is to convert them.

Carthage, this is your warning: Carthage must be destroyed.

Christendom, this is a call to arms: Carthage must be destroyed.

This is God's promise: Carthage must be destroyed.

So, join the fight and believe the promise. Carthage must be destroyed. Carthage will be destroyed. Will you be numbered among the destroyers?

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

The greater the diameter of light, the greater the circumference of the darkness:

Don't hold back the diameter... Carthage must be destroyed;

Don't sweat the increased contact with the darkness... Carthage must be destroyed.

day no. 16,068: his business to be better

"It is very right to rebuke our own race or religion for falling short of our own standards and ideals. But it is absurd to pretend that they fell lower than the other races and religions that professed the very opposite standards and ideals. There is a very real sense in which the Christian is worse than the heathen, the Spaniard worse than the Red Indian, or even the Roman potentially worse than the Carthaginian. But there is only one sense in which he is worse; and that is not in being positively worse. The Christian is only worse because it is his business to be better." -- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

When history proposes that the sins and sons of Europe invaded the sinless sons of the Americas, it does violence to verity. The conquest of the Americas was not done sinful sinners usurping saintly saints. The conquerors may have been willing to sacrifice the lives of men in order to gain power, wealth, fame and land, but the natives of the land had been sacrificing men to that end already.

The western men, however, had good reason to know better, whereas the natives did not. This is why the natives not only allowed the death of men, but required it in some cases. They didn't simply accept casualties as part of the plan, but saw casualty as the plan itself. Men had to die. The death of men was not merely permitted as a means to an end in the native Americas, but it was the very end in itself. The fallen sons of God crossed the oceans long before the fallen sons of Adam.

The reason we so readily blame the western men, and rightly so, is because they ought to have known better. The reason we so easily forget the sins of the natives, and wrongly so, is because we have inherited western man's sense of justice, something we should never have received had we been born natives. The western men ought to have known better because they lived under the influence of Christendom. Thus western men missed the mark as Christian men, whereas the natives fell short of shooting at the right target.  To miss the bull's eye is a different kind of falling short than to aim at a different target altogether.

The end of manslaughter was only possible in so far as Christendom succeeded. Even if it fell short of its own standards, its standards were so unique that only its survival could usher in the eradication of human sacrifice. If the natives had won, manslaughter and sacrifice would never have subsided. The only hope for the world was the survival of Christendom, even if carried by sinful men walking out of step at times with its precepts. It does not excuse their missteps, but it does explain why we now assume human sacrifice is abhorrent. That end could not have been achieved had the native devilry triumphed or been left to its own devices.

day no. 16,067: to be like is to be different

"A shadow is a shape; a thing which reproduces shape but not texture. These things were something like the real thing; and to say that they were like is to say that they were different. Saying something is like a dog is another way of saying it is not a dog." -- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

To stress similarity is to highlight difference. If they were the same, they would not be like, they would be the same. Therefore, to propose that likeness is the same as sameness is to propose that differences be treated like similarities. Yet, we've already established that "to be like" is "to be different." In other words, to appeal to similarity to make a a case for sameness is to call upon the strength of differentiation to make a case for assimilation. To make that case is to defeat it. It saws off the limb on which it wants to sit. To assert the principle is to disprove the premise.

day no. 16,066: planting pain and reaping resurrection

Psalm 126:5-6

Those who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy! 

He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.

Tears are given as seeds to be sown, not treasures to be bottled and kept to be admired. Nothing dries faster than a tear and those who work to lengthen their wetness are working against the grain.  So weep, mourn, and shed tears, but let them hit the ground that they might spring up. Don't seek to treasure pain and sorrow in a scrapbook. Pour it out and allow it to die in the ground like water spilled that cannot be recovered.

2 Samuel 14:14

We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.

Tears will come, but tears must fall. Let them flow and let them go. As they are buried, they shall be reborn as shouts for joy and shoulders weighted down by sheaves. Our shoulders ought to slump under the weight of resurrection promises, not under the gloom of morbid introspection,

Romans 6:5

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.

John 12:24

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Tears shed like showers water the shoots of shouts of joy yet to come.

day no. 16,065: him who orders his way aright

Psalm 50:23

He who brings thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me;

to him who orders his way aright

I will show the salvation of God!

There are things to be done and an order in which to do them.

Ordo amoris, or ordered affections, are the prescription through which we can see the salvation of the Lord. If your ways are out of rank or your desires out of proportion, you will be blinded. You won't see salvation around you or in your future. 

“A well-ordered life, regulated by God’s Word alone, through Christ alone, by faith alone, for God’s glory alone, is the only answer to our anxiety.” — John Calvin

Order is inescapable. What we call disorder is simply the wrong order. The one who does not intentionally order their life will reap disorder in their lives. But there is also order that is intentional and yet still disordered.

2 Chronicles 27:6

So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.

You can order your ways wrongly. It is one thing to fail to put things in any particular order, another to fail by accidentally ordering things incorrectly, and another to insist that your preferred disorder be respected and received as orderly.

Matthew 6:33

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

When we seek God first and order ourselves according to what He declares as righteous, we receive that which ranks lower. The lower things are retained by insisting on them remaining lower things. A properly ordered life is enabled to retain all of life.

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

"Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth 'thrown in': aim at Earth and you will get neither." -- C.S. Lewis

If you aim at something other than Christ, you won't get to keep it. It isn't the case that we get to keep whatever we put in first place and that God just happens to be the best number one overall draft pick. No, if you don't pick God first, you don't get to keep anything. We aren't given one slot that we get to keep no matter what. If God makes the list, but isn't #1, you don't get Him or whatever idol you put before Him. But if you make God and His righteousness your top priorities, you will get to keep everything else.

Psalm 24:1

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

There is no square inch of any good thing that God is not prepared to give away to those who love Him aright.

Psalm 84:11

The Lord will give grace and glory:

no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.

day no. 16,064: not accepted on spec

Psalm 48:12-14

Walk about Zion, go around her,

number her towers,

consider well her ramparts,

go through her citadels,

that you may tell the next generation 

that this is God,

our God forever and ever.

He will guide us forever.

God is not withholding His good and asking you to accept it on spec. He invites you to walk around, tour the place, measure it, etc... Take all the time you like. The exhibit isn't closing anytime soon. You will discover it better than you imagined. You will stop your pondering not because you've reached the end of its wonder, but because your ability to wonder will be exhausted before you've reached the end. 

And once you've done that, tell the next generation. Invite them to gaze away with you. Point out what you've already noticed. Invite them to enjoy your joy. Joy doesn't decrease by being shared, but increases the more you give it away.

God is inexhaustible. We will spend our respective eternities dwelling upon His goodness without ever reaching its end. We will experience forever the joys of hunger and its satisfaction. Thirst and its slaking are respective joys. It is more enjoyable to eat when famished than to graze when bored. It is more satisfying to drink when parched than to imbibe out of habit. God's house will contain the presence of both pleasures: desire and fulfillment in simultaneous bliss forever.

Psalm 34:8

O taste and see that the Lord is good:

blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.

day no. 16,063: seasonal scripts

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven

The hearts of men are often compelled to write poetry in the Spring and philosophy in the Fall, vows in the summer sun and eulogies in the dead of winter.

Genesis 8:22

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Liturgies are inescapable.

day no. 16,062: forsake the foolish, and live

Proverbs 9:6a

Forsake the foolish, and live.

If you do not forsake the foolish, you will die.

This warning presupposes a desire to live.

God commands to our weakness and for the benefit of others.

We were not going to forsake the foolish unless we were instructed to. There is something naturally attractive about fools and foolishness. Yet we do not connect them or their ways with the death they represent. We choose to smell a hint of life rather than the odor of rottenness.

Fools and foolishness need us to forsake them. Their only hope is in being opposed, not applauded. Tolerating them is akin to torturing them. Your parades only pave their way to hell. They will never know that they're dead and headed toward death unless the living shake them.

Hear the Word of God.

Choose life.

Don't just desire to be alive, live.

Forsaking is an active thing.

No one forsakes sin by accident.

No one trips into life.

Forsake the foolish, and live.

day no. 16,061: as each day requires

1 Kings 8:59-60

Let these words of mine, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.

Every day requires its own obedience, grace, and mercy. We are never called upon to possess tomorrow's strength. In fact, we are forbidden to try. (Mt. 6:34) But neither can we perform yesterday's obedience today. We do not get do-over's. We can repent of yesterday, but we cannot relive it.

We can only do what we can do, but we must do it.

Part of today's obedience is asking for forgiveness for yesterday's failures. Part of today's obedience is resisting the urge to be anxious about what tomorrow may ask of you. Today, your job is to obey and to do what is required of you right now. God will provide faithfully as each day requires every single thing: both the to-do's and the hop-to, the tasks and the tenacity to tackle them, the target and the grace to keep at it after previously missing the mark.

day no. 16,060: generosity and gratitude

"Generosity and gratitude are necessary components to any thriving economy." -- Christ and Capital Instagram Feed

Exodus 20:15

Thou shall not steal.

Generosity and Gratitude define a Godly economy.

Both presuppose property rights:

Generosity because it really was yours to give away;

Gratitude because it really was someone else’s who gave it.

Generosity is something a man rich towards God pays to someone he owes nothing.

Gratitude is something a man poor in spirit pays to Someone he owes everything.

Acts 17:24-25

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

Generosity knows it owes no one and yet gives gifts.

Gratitude knows it owes someone and so gives thanks.

day no. 16,059: eating death rather than starving to it

“Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison.” -- C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns

Spiritual nature considers bitterness better than barrenness.

Proverbs 27:7

The full soul loatheth an honeycomb;

but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

An hungry soul will not starve to death.

Forbid it refreshment and it will drink venom.

Refuse it nourishment and it will devour disease.

A malcontent soul would rather eat death than starve.

It prefers to pick the place of its own martyrdom and die justified in its own eyes than to receive the call to die and by justified in God's.

day no. 16,058: getting hammered for God

In France, there is a monument to the Huguenots who died as martyrs for the cause of Christ. These words are inscribed on the monument...

Hammer away, ye unregenerate hands.

Your hammer breaks, God’s anvil stands.

The Word of God outlives all its critics.

Luke 20:17-18

And he beheld them, and said, "What is this then that is written, 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?' Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."

The Word of God made flesh outlived all His critics.

Those who fall upon Him live while those who refuse fall prey to Him.

"The anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly bearing their blows."

-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

day no. 16,057: indifference is intolerable

"If we are not all trying to convince the world of the truth of our convictions, what in the world are we doing; or why in the world do we call them our convictions at all?" - G.K. Chesterton

To be convinced is to be won over. The word convince comes from "con" meaning "with" and "vincere" meaning "to win." A man convinced has been won. And to hold a conviction means to be won by it and to desire for it to win in others. You cannot be won over without wanting to see others won. If you don't, you can hardly imagine yourself to have been won by what you imagine. To fail to fight for what you believe in is to manifest evidence of unbelief. For the believer, indifference is intolerable.

"Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions." -- G.K. Chesterton

day no. 16,056: overwhelming

Penelope,

The other day (4/18/21) you told me that you came across a verse which you would like to be your family's rally cry when you get older, get married and have children of your own.

Job 12:15

If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.

I love your heart and vision for being part of God's plan to spread the knowledge of His Son over the face of the earth as the waters cover the seas. May He bless your plans by raising up for you a good and godly man to be your husband and granting your womb to be even now incubating generations of faithful citizens for His kingdom.

Genesis 24:60

And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her,

"Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions,

and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them."

I am overwhelmed by your desire to see God's glory overwhelm the earth and that He has overwhelmed your heart to have such an expansive vision for your life's work. I love being your dad and watching you grow as a sister in Christ while still a daughter in my home. I love having a front row seat for all that God is doing in your heart by getting to be your dad. I love you and I like you and I'm encouraged by you and your faith inspires me.

May God give you more abundantly that you can think or imagine even to ask a la Eph 3:20-21.

Adveniat regnum Tuum

Fiat voluntas Tua

Saecula saeculorum.

Amen.

day no. 16,055: rooting for you

Matthew 3:10, Luke 3:9

Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

The word "radical" comes from the Latin “radix” which means “root.”

So when we speak of "getting radical" about our faith, we must mean getting to the root of things -- not merely trimming the outer limbs and twigs. If our “radical” does not begin to chop away at the trunk, it is just topiary. It may appear to be "getting serious," or “getting things into shape,” but it only looks that way. The only difference it makes is for temporary appearance, but it makes no difference for eternal significance.

day no. 16,054: risen from the dead, descended from David

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel.

Do not forget Jesus:

(1) resurrected from the dead

(2) related to David

Remember the risen Lord. Recall how He laid Himself down and picked Himself back up. Do not forget that He holds the keys of death and Hades.

Revelation 1:18

I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Remember His flesh. He is the promised Son of David who sits enthroned forever in righteousness that cannot be usurped. He is inexorable and immutable. He cannot be overcome and He never wears out. His head does not grow heavy under the weight of His crown. He rules and reigns in perfect righteousness forever. He is a glorified man and as such, the firstborn from the dead, the first fruits of all who will follow in His footsteps. His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. 

Romans 9:5

Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Remember Jesus Christ: risen from the dead, descended from David.

Receive and believe.

Keep in mind that He died and yet lives and do not forget that He descended to David's form in order to descend from His family so that sons of men might ascend to be sons of God.

day no. 16,053: but young men think it is

Here Dead Lie We

Here dead lie we because we did not choose

     To live and shame the land from which we sprung.

Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose;

     But young men think it is, and we were young.

-- A. E. Housman - 1859-1936

Life may be short-lived, but the young still imagine it long. So when they freely give up their futures in order to save the short lives of those with longer pasts, at least let the survivors stand in honor of their sacrifice. Not merely appreciating the fact that they gave their lives to save ours, but that they gave that which was precious to them for what we take for granted, that they laid down their greatest treasure for what we daily undervalue. It is easier to live and criticize life than it is to die for the critics back home; and yet, some did, and so we live.

day no. 16,052: systemic sin

Proverbs 16:9

A man's heart deviseth his way: 

but the LORD directeth his steps.

We must make more room for margin. When we wring everything out, we often end up stressed out since something inevitably takes longer than we planned or something unforeseen springs up and spoils our plans. Since God's plans are superior to ours, it should not require a Herculean effort to delight in His interruptions instead of kicking against them. 

We must plan, but we must not fail to plan for God's plans. There are few better ways to live a frustrated life than to live without margin. Organize every square inch without any room for wiggle and then live exasperated in all the inevitable wiggling. We need faith to plan and faith to roll with audibles. It is faithless to refuse to plan and it is faithless to refuse to change your plans. There will be planning, that much is inescapable. The question is whether or not your plans will account for God and whether or not having done so, you will count His interruptions superior or inferior to your instructions.

God have mercy on me, a well-organized, systematized sinner. May Your plan of salvation take fully into account my failed attempts to account for everything.

day no. 16,051: bearing the sword... one way or the other

"The Emperor Trajan held not himself exempt from laws, neither desired he to be spared if he

became a tyrant; for in delivering the sword unto the great provost of the empire, he says unto

him: 'If I command as I should, use this sword for me: but if I do otherways, unsheathe it against me.'" -- Junius Brutus, Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos

A man under authority deserves defense from his subordinates, but a man out of control deserves to have his subordinates as his disciplinarians. Those who will not be under authority should not be allowed to remain in authority over others. Authorities are given the sword in order to be deacons of God's wrath, but if they, themselves, become rebellious, the sword should not only be taken from them, but turned against them.

Romans 13:4-5

For he (i.e. governing authority) is the minister ("deacon") of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister ("deacon") of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

day no. 16,050: excesspool

"Always those are the greater number who are led by passion, than those who are ruled by reason, and therefore tyranny has more servants than the commonwealth." -- Junius Brutus, Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos

Take heart sons of the republic; tyranny may have a larger pool to fish from, but it always fries those it hooks and pollutes the waters into which it throws the others back.

Tyranny survives in society because it already thrives inside individuals. The tyrannies of unchecked instincts and inordinate affections already burn inside which makes participating in the burning down of the world around you only natural.

Passion leads to riots faster than reason leads to reformation, but the one burns out and the other is the light of the world.

day no. 16,049: an all or nothing proposition

Ecclesiastes 1:1-2

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

If there is no God, nothing matters.

None of it.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

If there is a God, everything matters.

All of it.

If you begin without God, it doesn't matter where you go from there.

If you end with God, everywhere you go in the meantime matters.