day no. 16,474: where misery pools, mercy reigns

The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:6

“It is the most grievous sentence of the three, but it overflows with comfort. Strange is it that where misery was concentrated mercy reigned; where sorrow reached her climax weary souls find rest. The Saviour bruised is the healing of bruised hearts. See how the lowliest penitence gives place to assured confidence through simply gazing at Christ on the cross!” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening 

Where misery pools, mercy reigns

2 Corinthians 5:21

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Where sin was concentrated, Righteousness was executed.

day no. 16,473: anyone can say, but everyone does

Matthew 23:3

Whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

Anyone can say what is important to them,

but everyone does what is important to them.

Someone can say things that go against what they actually believe, but they rarely do things that go against what they actually believe. In other words, it is easier to lie than it is to live. It is more difficult to lie to yourself than it is to lie to others. It is easier to lie about your living than it is for you to live what you think is a lie. It is hard to live in a way that goes against your priorities, but it is easy to talk about anything as a priority. Priorities are too expensive to be lived against, but cheap enough to be spoken of lightly. 

Generally speaking, people do what they want.  When they lie, it's because they want you to think something about them that isn't true. They want you to think that, but they don't want to do that. They know enough to know what you think their priorities should be. They may also know enough to know what they wish their priorities were, but nevertheless, they aren't, and so, they lie. At its worst, this can even mean lying to oneself.

James 1:22

Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 

Discontinuity between saying and doing always involves some kind of deception. Sometimes the hypocrite has deceived himself. Many times the hypocrite is trying to deceive you.The one who says that they value doing something that they are not doing is either lying to you or to themselves... but the smart money is usually on them trying to deceive you, even if by doing so, they are also kidding themselves.

day no. 16,472: grateful men guard the house of God

Nehemiah 12:40, 45

So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God… both the singers and the porters kept the ward of their God

Tolkien rightly observed that, "Men are better than gates" and better men make even greater gates. Those entrusted with the singing of songs and the carrying of cargo could be trusted to keep the door of their Lord. Two choirs kept watch. Songs and strong backs made secure the house of God.

Christians need not shout anyone down when they can just as easily sing them to the ground. Plus, it's better style.

God appoints grateful men to guard His house. And their gratitude does more than keep the door, it keeps the men. It provides the power and the perseverance to keep the post. Grateful men guard the house of God as a great God guards the hearts of men.

day no. 16,471: we fight from victory not for it

Isaiah 40:2

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

We fight from victory not for it; our warfare by Christ is accomplished.

We do not fight to find out who in the end will win.

We fight to show that we in the meantime are on the winning side.

We are the Church militant and the gates of hell shall not prevail. The conquest of the earth by Christ is not in question. He has conquered the earth, is conquering the earth, and will conquer the earth. The world may be slow in accepting it, but the lump will be leavened. The only question is how much of it will come quietly. 

Every knee shall bow and be made low. Some will lower themselves in honor of the King while others will be put in their place against their will. Yet, all will bow before Christ.

The warfare of the world is accomplished.

Therefore, let us go by faith to war!

day no. 16,470: stirred, not shaken

Hebrews 12:26-29

He hath promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” And this word, “Yet once more,” signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

Do not read the Bible in light of your newsfeed. Read your newsfeed by the light of the Bible.

Do not be one of the things that are shaken. It is easy to look around and read that into the Bible and much harder to read your Bible before you look around. But if you do, you will stand firm and the evil day won’t rock your world because it won’t depend on how you feel about the news cycle, but on what you know about the Good News. What you read in the Word should stir you to do something about what you see in the world. Christians ought to be a photo-negative of James Bond's favorite drink — stirred, not shaken.

Ephesians 6:10-14

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth

day no. 16,469: never little where much is needed nor more where less is required

“Give not little to whom you should give much, nor much to whom little, nor nothing to whom something, nor something to whom nothing.” — Asser, The Life of King Alfred (attributed to Pope Gregory therein)

God is not a skinflint but neither is He a spendthrift; that is to say, He does not waste anything or withhold anything good. He provides for His people. He determines the portion appropriate and provides no less than necessary nor more than needful. He does not spoil or spurn His children. He never gives little where much is needed nor more where less is required.

Proverbs 3:27

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

A good and godly man, like God, provides for his people. He works hard and procures the means necessary to bless them. He does not leave their welfare to chance or leave their nourishment to nuance. He makes his disciples his duty and his people the object of his piety. 

Romans 13:8

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

A good king gives what he can, pays what he owes, and does his duty before God and man. He does not skimp or soil. He does not set a table of crumbs, but neither does He scold when a crumb falls to the floor. He gives something to all and all to some. He withholds nothing from anyone and gives everything to no ones. 

A man must know what needs to be given, where to give it, how much of it is needed, and how to get it. Like David, he must work hard to set aside the right amount of the right things in order to have the best amount of everything.

1 Chronicles 29:2

Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

day no. 16,468: live as brave men

“Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.“ — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Brave men do not rely on luck. They make their own luck. And so it is said that fortune favors the brave. In other words, bravery does not guarantee an outcome, but it does encourage it. Brave men face adversity boldly whether they survive it or not. Their willingness to die often proves the deciding factor in their victory. But even when they fall, they fall well. They do not fall on their swords, but only under the best blows of others. They do not go down sulking, they go down swinging.

Courage, my lads.

day no. 16,467: the master touch

"If the Holy Spirit speaks in the man, then in prayer God speaks to God." — C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm

A skilled master playing on the finest instrument is a match made in Heaven. Sometimes, however, a master reveals his genius by taking up a plastic toy instrument and making it sing. Because of his skill and expertise, he can draw beauty and majesty out of it and because of its meager make up, no one would have expected it. Thus, the Master demonstrates His majesty in bringing transcendence to the immanent. He make the humdrum hum with melody. He takes the plain and momentarily promotes it to the proper. In His hands, the dull becomes dynamic. The master is not demoted for taking up the toy, the toy is promoted. The plastic piano is raised to the level and dignity of a real instrument when moved by a Master. The common is sanctified for holy purposes as the Master flexes His skill.

And so it is when God picks us up to pray. He draws us up to greater dignity and draws more attention to His divinity in doing so. He makes a party favor a prize.

Romans 8:26

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

God is not less impressive for picking up a crude implement, but more impressive. The fact that He can build a straight cathedral using a bent trowel is to His credit. He shows off His majesty in making much of what no one expected much.

day no. 16,466: little by little

“Little by little, one travels far.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

Faithfulness over time moves mountains. No obedience is too small. No point of faith is insignificant. Little by little, like Tolkien said, one travels far.

Matthew 13:33

Another parable spake he unto them; "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”

Leaven works its way through the lump slowly, but surely. Little by little it marches on and before you know it, the entire loaf is leavened.

Christians are called to the long game. We are to be faithful for as long as it takes while remaining expectant in each passing minute. We plan for our great-grandchildren while preparing our hearts for this afternoon. We faithfully live like we will be ancestors and like we may meet Jesus this evening.

Faithfulness over time moves mountains.

Everything is going somewhere, and sooner or later it's going to get there. And Amen.

day no. 16,465: rise up to raise up

Nehemiah 2:18

They said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

Strong foundations are poured by strong hands and laying groundwork often strengthens hands. As we rise up to build, we are built up. We grow strong as we build strong foundations and walls upon them. We conjure up our strength to begin the good work and are strengthened along the way as we commit to seeing it through. The spent one is often replenished, the one watering is watered, and the sacrificial is resurrected. 

Let us, then, like them, rise up to raise up. Let us build and in so doing be built up.  Let us strengthen our resolve to lay foundations where none exist. Let us make our land ready with the end in mind before we begin and continue on by faith what began in faith. Our faith, along with our hands, will be strengthened by the good work God prepared beforehand for us to do. (Eph. 2:8-10)

day no. 16,464: whatever responsibility belongs to you, own it

Ezra 10:4

Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.

Whatever responsibilities belong to you, own them. Take ownership, rise up, and do what is distinctly yours. And as men begin to rise up to their responsibilities, they will find like-minded, similar-spirited men called to their side. We must do what is ours to do, but we should also expect God to stir others to throw their lots in with what He is doing through us. Conversely, He may stir us to join in another's work already in progress. We may be the aid called up as reinforcement for our brother. But whatever the call, obey it. Be of good courage, attend your post, and throw your back into whatever you're called to do there. If every man of God rose up to the responsibility God has given him, we would find even more reasons for good courage as we began to hear good reports of godly advance in surrounding quarters.

Men do not make excuses, they take responsibility; and in so doing, they often make good friends. Both in making themselves friends fit for other men and in collecting for themselves a set of reliable running mates.

day no. 16,463: whatever it is that you require, it is but a crumb to Christ

"And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." — Matthew 15:27

“The woman thought Christ one who kept so good a table that all that she needed would only be a crumb in comparison; yet remember, what she wanted was to have the devil cast out of her daughter. It was a very great thing to her, but she had such a high esteem of Christ, that she said, ‘It is nothing to Him, it is but a crumb for Christ to give.’” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening 

Whatever it is that you require, it is but a crumb to Christ. He can meet your need without exhausting His resources. He has more than enough for whatever is too much for you. He is compassionate and capable. He cares enough to do something and He is competent enough to do anything. If He were only one or the other, we would be in dire straights, either at the mercy of an all-powerful, but indifferent Oz or in the keep of a well-meaning, but limited Lord. But since He is both, we can be bold in facing our fears and asking for His help.

1 Peter 5:7

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Luke 1:37

With God nothing shall be impossible.

day no. 16,462: faith in Christ conquers the world

Mark 7:27-28

Jesus said unto her, "Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs." And she answered and said unto him, "Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs."

The Syrophoenician woman played the cards she had: she really cared about her situation and she really believed that Jesus could do something about it. His protest to her request was not one of ability, but one of order. Her indomitable faith in Him, however, led her to state that even the smallest morsel from His table could satisfy her every request. Christ's crumbs were her feast and she begged for them because she believed in Him.

“The woman won the victory by believing in Him. Her case is an instance of prevailing faith; and if we would conquer like her, we must imitate her tactics.“ — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Faith conquers the world. It connects us to Christ who is the King of everything. He is a conqueror and has all dominion and authority in Heaven and on earth. Faith in Him is faith that overcomes its adversaries.

1 John 5:4-5

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Victory is obtained by believing the Victor. There is no other way to inherit the world to come than by believing in the Son who came.

Revelation 12:11

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Resurrection faith overcomes, even in the face of death; and in the end, overcomes even death itself.

Revelation 21:7

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Those who are overcome by Christ overcome every other obstacle and in the end, inherit everything that was jettisoned in order to hold on to Him.

day no. 16,461: name calling

You call yourself a Christian, so far so good.

Would anyone else call you one? Could you be accused of being a Christian? And if you were, would there be enough evidence to convict? Would a charge of Christianity hold up against you in court? Could a prosecutor dig up enough Christian dirt to convict you of the faith once for all delivered? Are there enough resurrected skeletons in your prayer closet to accuse you of being a Confessor? Would a jury believe beyond a reasonable doubt that you are what you claim to be? Would anyone call you names akin to the Names above all other names?

Acts 11:26

It came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

It is one thing to self-identify as a Christian and quite another to be accused of being one. It is one thing to associate yourself with Him and quite another to confirm that He associates with you. In most cases, I grant it, the accusers are not, perhaps, the best judges of what constitutes a faithful testimony. But that said, is there enough evidence to suggest they see you in league with the One they saw fit to crucify? By that definition, do you inspire a similar response or anything remotely akin from the enemies of Christ?

James 2:19

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

If you believe that there is one, true God, you do well, but it does not necessarily place you in the best of company. Demons know well the facts of the matter, yet fail to benefit much from that fact. Demons may believe in God, but they aren’t called according to their belief. Rather, they respond to what they know in such a way as to be identified entirely by their unbelief. So whatever knowing is in that regard, it doesn't amount to much more than additional evidence against you if you do not act rightly upon it.

day no. 16,460: generations, nations, domination

Psalm 145:4, 10-13

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts... All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

The job of the generation is to praise God before the next. This is true both in terms of order and priority. God must be praised before anything else is praised. God is to be praised above anything else. He is before and above all other things.

The best way to ruin anything is to make it a primary thing. Anything placed before God is set up for a devastating fall. God is to be praised in the presence of other people. The next generation should not only be taught the doctrines of God, but regularly be caught up in the former generation's celebration of said doctrines.

Missions must always keep generations and nations in mind. We are not sent merely to disciple foreign nations, but domestic generations. We reach the world by first reaching our home. We teach the heathen by teaching our children first. 

God wins each successive generation through faithful covenant keeping and conquers the nations by the same means. Sanctification is a process of smashmouth incrementalism. This applies to individuals, communities, churches, generations, and nations.

Generations -- Nations -- Domination

day no. 16,459: hypocrisy holds heresy's war hammer

“Whenever a man is about to stab religion, he usually professes very great reverence for it. Let me beware of the sleek-faced hypocrisy which is armour-bearer to heresy and infidelity.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening 

If you have ever, like me, wondered why modern day Diotrephes don't just leave the church instead of sticking around and redefining it, here's why: they like to flatter what they shatter. They pay great reverence to the title of Christian. Not enough, of course, to come in by the narrow gate, but enough to jump the wall and break into the whole business. Thus, instead of acknowledging what Christianity is and what they, by contrast, are not or no longer claim to be, they continue to insist that they are Christians while gutting every and anything remotely Christian from the word. 

Hypocrisy holds heresy's war hammer. Two-facedness serves as squire to apostasy's campaigns. Posturing and pretense play sidekick to Pharisaical pageantry. You will often find men complimenting the virility of that which they plan to castrate. They extol the fecundity of those they desire to make eunuchs.

Proverbs 27:6

The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

day no. 16,458: charisma is an artificial substitute for character

"Where men are forbidden to honor a king they honor 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, Equality from Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

Where hierarchy and character are criticized, achievement and charisma will be praised. Where submission is slandered, slickness will be saluted. Where morality is mocked, menace will be admired. Charisma is an artificial substitute for character. It does not really work and you can always taste the difference. You cannot successfully suppress the spiritual nature. If you deny the spiritual authority of Christendom, you delegate it to the authority of pop culture. If it is denied a feast of slow roasted meat, it will devour the fastest food it can find.

Proverbs 27:7

The full soul loatheth an honeycomb;

but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

A satisfied soul can say, "No" to real temptation, but a ravenous one will say, "Yes" even to poison. A healthy spirit can resist sweetness, but an unhealthy one cannot escape bitterness.

day no. 16,457: second helpings

"'If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God, it will make in the end no difference what you have chosen instead.’ Those are hard words to take. Will it really make no difference whether it was women or patriotism, cocaine or art, whisky or a seat in the Cabinet, money or science? Well, surely no difference that matters. We shall have missed the end for which we are formed and rejected the only thing that satisfies. Does it matter to a man dying in a desert by which choice of route he missed the only well?" — C.S. Lewis, A Slip of the Tongue from The Weight of Glory and Other Essays

Any second thing sought as a first thing will end in the loss of everything. It does not matter what the secondary thing is per se, but only that it was sought primarily.

Matthew 6:33

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

Nothing can be sought first and kept other than Christ and everything sought second to Him will be kept by those who kept it in line. Everything is added to the one who has nothing but Jesus.

day no. 16,456: a coming of age for the materialist magician and sinfrared vision

“I have great hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotionalise and mythologise their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, a belief in us, (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to belief in the enemy (God). The ‘life force,’ the worship of sex, and some aspects of Psychoanalysis, may here prove useful. If once we can produce our perfect work — the Materialist Magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshipping, what he vaguely calls ‘forces’ while denying the existence of ‘spirits’ — then the end of the war will be in sight. but in the meantime we must obey our orders. I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that ‘devils’ are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.” — C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

The powers and principalities have nearly pulled this one off. Science has become a religion of sorts and becomes increasingly so with each new headline. Whether it is overpopulation and abortion, wellness and vaccination, or the world and climate control, science says what are the sins while declaring themselves the Savior.

Science has never rejected the sovereignty of God. It rejects the God of sovereignty. The sovereignty it likes a good deal actually. It can get on board with unmitigated authority as long as it is the one who has it. In other words. the Spirit of the Age, i.e. Scientism, aspires to sovereignty and gladly borrows the idea from God while flat refusing to acknowledge the God from whom they've copped the credit.

But none of this should surprise. Lewis said it a century ago, but the Apostle Paul said it a few millennia ago.

2 Corinthians 2:11

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Satan should never have the element of surprise. His tactics are transparent. The only way he can get the jump on anyone is if they refuse to pay attention or deliberately forget what they clearly know. But no Christian need worry himself about being caught by a secret snare. The Bible provides sinfrared vision.

day no. 16,455: the cross comes before the crown, but the crown does come

“The cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning!” — C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

The crown may not come until after the cross, but it does most certainly come. No crown worth having could come without it. The cross may precede the kingdom and the junk may go before the joy, but the kingdom does come and the joy is found. The will of God will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and His joy, likewise, is assured because of what He first endured.

Hebrews 12:2

Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus endured the cross for the sake of the joy that lay beyond it. Let us also lay aside every weight and sin that so easily entangle and engage every difficulty set before us today with our eyes on the prize and the crown kept in view.

“At this hour the church expects to walk in sympathy with her Lord along a thorny road; through much tribulation she is forcing her way to the crown.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

day no. 16,454: tenacity without tyranny and mercy without milquetoastery

“Chivalry offers the only possible escape from a world divided between wolves who do not understand, and sheep who cannot defend, the things which make life desirable.” — C.S. Lewis, The Necessity of Chivalry from Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

Chivalry is the sanctified blend of tenderness and toughness, meekness and mettle, kindness and a killer instinct. In the medieval knight this elixir is immaculate. He is the perfect nth of goodness and severity. He is not a balance of the two, but the full dose of both uncorrupted and in concert.

Romans 11:22

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God.

Only in Christ is this mixture manifested in us without corruption. Outside of Him. the one will always devour the other. Either justice will abandon mercy or mercy will tax justice to death; but in Christ, righteousness and mercy kiss without compromise. In Him, tenacity is without tyranny and mercy is without milquetoastery.

Psalm 85:9-10

Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him;

That glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth rare met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Christ is the Lion and the Lamb. He is not a declawed Lion or a devilish lamb. He is not a Lion without teeth or a Lamb with fangs. He is not a domesticated house cat or a sophisticated bully. He is both Lion and Lamb to the nth degree.

"It is constantly assured, especially in our Tolstoyan tendencies, that when the lion lies down with the lamb the lion becomes lamb-like. But that is brutal annexation and imperialism on the part of the lamb. That is simply the lamb absorbing the lion instead of the lion eating the lamb. The real problem is--Can the lion lie down with the lamb and still retain his royal ferocity? THAT is the problem the Church attempted; THAT is the miracle she achieved." — G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Meekness and mettle mixed without being mixed up is a miracle. In Christ, we conquer and we cultivate. We dominate and decorate. We not only push back the darkness, but we do so by candlelight. We can be tenacious without being tyrannical and merciful without being milksops.

day no. 16,453: a preponderance of dragons (a.k.a. imagine dragons)

2 Chronicles 32:21

And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.

For every bad dragon, there are two good ones. We are told that one out of every three angels followed Satan in his fall from grace (Rev. 12:4-9). That means that two out of every three remained in their God-assigned stations. From these posts they still intercede, when ordered by God, on behalf of His saints against the foul and fallen minority, those benighted supernovae, the bad dragons.

Hebrews 1:13-14

To which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

The preponderance of angels are on the side of the saints. And if those running on fumes are ferocious, how much more so those still connected and daily renewed by their source of strength? If bad dragons are a bad business, how much better are good dragons a boon.

Dragons are real, but they are outnumbered and outgunned. They are more than any man could handle, but there are no match for the majority of dragons who remain on our side by remaining what God made them.

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” — Neil Gaiman a la G.K. Chesterton who actually said...

"Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon." — G. K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles

day no. 16,452: Christians are always in the majority

2 Chronicles 32:7-8

Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

The arm of flesh will fail and its conceits will deflate. The gates of hell will not prevail against the kingdom of Christ and it's faithful, leaven-like march. Tolkien rightly observed that "Men are better than gates," and the Bible confirms that God is better than men. Where gates may falter, God does not; and where men may fear to defend them, He never faints. A gate is only as good as the men who man it; so, it should not shock us when the gates of hell fail to prevail. The men who defend treason should not expect find loyalty and those who stand for falling short should not be surprised to find their stand short-lived.

"A man with God is always in the majority.” — John Knox

The one who goes with God, goes with strength in numbers. Athanasius appeared to have been outmatched, but he and God contra mundum (against the world) made short work of the multitudes who opposed them.

day no. 16,451: guilty and glory-haunted

"We are a very guilty people. We are also a glory-haunted people. The only possible outcome of this combination— apart from the great grace of reformation and revival—is tyranny. There is only one alternative to the tyrannical course we are on, and that is for God to give us preachers who will invite the nation to come to Jesus, and to give us a heart that will do so." — Douglas Wilson. All the Condemnation in the World

We will have tyranny if we do not have a revival. Reformation is our only path to freedom. There is no such thing as a secular sanity. There is no nebulous generally agreed upon morality that is not rooted in the Gospel of God revealed through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Because we have insisted on secular sanity, we have lost our minds. We are guilty before a holy God whose laws do not go out of style because we've grown too big for our britches. We cannot assuage our shame by hitting the accelerator on our sins.

"Guilt must be declared righteous; guilt must attain to glory. But apart from repentance and faith in Jesus, the only way to get there is by means of a moralistic and very public frenzy." — Douglas Wilson. All the Condemnation in the World

Glory is inescapable. Justification is inevitable. It is never a matter of whether we will seek glory, but from where and if we will reach it. It is never a question of anything being justified, but what and by what means is deemed justifiable.

The guilty cannot avoid glory. They will either attempt to glorify their guilt or to glorify the guilt-bearer of God. The world as we know it will either descend as sinners into deeper tyranny or descend to one knee before the Liberator of sinners. Sin will be dealt with and because it is serious, someone has to die. It will either be everyone under tyranny or everyone under the Redeemer that God appointed. 

By the grace of God, we know that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that God's Christ is the King of kings who sets the captives free. Guilt will not win the day. Glory-whores will not capture the kingdom. In the hearts of His people and through the hard work of their hands, the world will revive and reform as it conforms to the image of the Son of God. Everything is headed in that direction and someday, soon enough, we shall see it.

Romans 8:28-32

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

day no. 16,450: song and sword, singing the Word

Psalm 149:5-9

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;

To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints.

Praise ye the Lord.

It is the privilege of the saints to sing with all their hearts with swords in all their hands. May God's elect never shy away from either. May the love of Who we have behind us give us faith to go ahead. May we know the Word of God and cut to the quick each and every one of His nations. May we have Psalms in our hearts and on our lips and His Word in our hearts and in our hands as we go forth to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that the Lord has commanded. In so doing, we can rest and run assured that He is with us always. This is the honor and privilege of God's people.

day no. 16,449: the high-minded and heavy-handed stand no chance against a household in Christ united

Genesis 14:14-16

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

The high-minded and heavy-handed stand no chance against a household in Christ united.

One household overthrew four kingdoms. These four kingdoms had just successfully overthrown five kingdoms. Abram and his clan retrieved his kidnapped nephew along with everything else the four kingdoms had hauled off. In other words, he redeemed five kingdoms worth of treasure from four kingdoms worth of warriors. 

Abram had servants whom he had both trained and armed. They may have been servants, but they were trained and armed like free men. Thus they were loyal servants. They were given dignity and treated with respect and in return they fought for their faithful master and friend. They used their training to overtake their master's enemies and employed their weapons for the sake of setting others free. These men were citizens of Abram's household. They were born into his house and brought up by him. They were trained and nourished and disciplined in the instruction of the Lord God and when called upon, they fought as one single unit under the banner of Abram.

Pharaoh too once feared a family and for good reason. A band of brothers ain't nothing to sleep on.

Psalm 127:3-5

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: And the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; So are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Abram sharpened sticks into arrows and had nothing to fear when opposed by local tyrants. A man who attends to his household has no reason to worry about the kingdoms of rebels. A patriarch need not fear an emperor. A man with loyal sons is better equipped to resist his enemies than a man with fearful subjects and hired hands.

The high-minded and heavy-handed stand no chance against a household in Christ united.

day no. 16,448: rocco is EIGHT!

Happy EIGHTH birthday, Rocco!

You are such a good little man. I like being your dad. You are strong, kind, considerate, polite, brave, bold, and 100% boy.

You have my eyes and my nose and I enjoy seeing myself when I look at you.

Last school year, every work day, you would politely knock on my door and ask if you may come in and get our trash and then inevitably ask, "Since I'm already in here, may I use your bathroom?"

You love riding your bike on the street, but always ask for permission before doing so.

You like helping with the dishes at night as long as you are able to stand on the counter top so that you can put the dishes away. 

You are solid muscle. You have six pack abs and a smile on your face. You are like a velvet covered brick: strong and dependable and soft and pleasant to be around.

During Taki time, you always choose whatever Finneas picked. If I ask you before Finneas, you look over at him to see what kind he wants. You like being his sidekick. You two are quite the dynamic duo.

You like climbing on me at night when we're singing and praying before bed. You also like to receive your nightly hug and kiss.

You are a canon ball for the Kingdom. You will change the shape of things without being changed by them.

You pray most nights to drive a dump truck or a motorcycle and to teach your kids about the Gospel when you grow up.

You love church and like when the men separate out after service to be taught how to sing their parts. You make friends easily and have a blast sitting by and playing with all the kids at church on Sundays after service.

You sleep hard, but have been staying up more often during Story Club. When you do fall asleep, I get the privilege of carrying you down the stairs and tucking you in.

You like to wrestle and have recently bested both a neighorhood kid and a friend at church who were older than you. You have good grip strength and are hard to knock over. You are no push over, but are pleasantly disposed to accommodate others. You are like a sturdy solid gate that keeps everyone safe by keeping the bad guys out, but lets the good stuff pass through. "Men may be better than gates," as Aragorn once said, but you, my friend, are both.

You are a good man. I like being around you and like having you around and about. You are a good friend and a fun person to talk to. You ask good questions and stick around to hear the answers. You are thoughtful and faithful.

I like you and I love you and I'm so glad I get to celebrate these days with you as your dad.

I am very proud of you.

I love you, Rocco.

Happy Birthday!

Dad

day no. 16,447: tradition is old fire and fresh wood

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire." — Gustov Mahler

Tradition is the collection of vetted habits worth keeping. It is a body of culture which winnows itself as it goes. Tradition is not the ashes that remain of what was previously burned down, but the refined gold of what has passed through the fire and been made better off for it. The ashes are not the traditions, but the detritus. 

2 Timothy 1:6

For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God

The Christian religion is one of keeping flames ablaze. We did not provide the lightning, but we can throw more fuel on the fire that fell from above. Tradition, then, is not the admiration of ashes, but the continuation of conflagration. It is old fire and fresh wood.

"Then I saw in my dream that the Interpreter took Christian by the hand, and led him to a place where there was a fire burning against a wall. In front of this fireplace was a man continually casting buckets of water on the fire in an effort to extinguish it. Nevertheless, the fire continued to burn higher and hotter." — John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

The Holy Spirit is active in keeping His fire within us burning. He will not quench the smoldering wick. He will keep the party alive and pour fresh oil on what the Devil attempts to dampen.

Isaiah 42:3, Matthew 12:20

The smoking flax shall he not quench.

Let us then do our best to keep ourselves from being wet blankets. Let us kindle afresh the fire within by looking to Him who first lit us up. May we tend to our flame and preserve it for the next generation that they too may see by the light of it and be comforted by its warmth and grow its circumference to shine brighter and burn hotter than ever before.

"Be of good cheer, master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle in England, as I hope, by God's grace, shall never be put out." — Hugh Latimer

day no. 16,446: the world washed by water and by fire

"Is all this admirable universe, sinless and perfect everywhere beyond the Moon, to perish at the last day? It seems not. When scripture says the stars will fall (Matt. xxiv. 29) this may be taken 'tropically'; it may mean that tyrants and magnates will be brought low. Or the stars that will fall may be only meteorites. And St Peter (II Pet. iii. 3 sq.) says only that the universe will be destroyed by fire as it once was destroyed by water. But no one thinks the flood rose to the translunary regions: neither, then, need the fire." — C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image

When God destroyed the world by water, He did not do away with the world entirely. He wiped out every living thing with breath save eight and those with them on the boat, but the world was still there when the flood was over. God did not wash the world away per se, but washed the worldliness off of the world. He didn't throw the plate in the trash, He washed it and dried it and put it back onto the table for use.

2 Peter 3:6-7

Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

We too often imagine God's cleansing fire as an incineration. We imagine the world reduced to ashes and the new earth being ex nihilo two point oh well. But Peter here says the world will perish by fire in similar fashion as to how it perished previously by water, which is to say that those outside of Christ will be washed away, but those inside Him will inherit the earth. Only this cleansing will be accompanied by a complete and total restoration of Edenic blessing where sin is absent and God is forever and fully present.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

There is no foundation other than Christ which can support any work of any kind. But the work done on that foundation varies and the fire will test it. That which was good will be refined and purified by the fire like gold and will come out the better for the fire. That which was no good will be burned up entirely, but the foundation will hold the person who labored frivolously upon it.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Work done by, for, through and to the Lord will not be in vain. It will survive the refining fire and be better for having been exposed to it. The ark will save those inside it and the fire will save the goodness of any work He inspired through them.

day no. 16,445: gafforism

While listening to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde on the treadmill last night (3/15/22), I came up with phrase "gafforism." It is a combination of gaffe + aphorism:

gaffe /ɡaf/ noun. an unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator; a blunder.

aph·o·rism /ˈafəˌrizəm noun. a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.” a concise statement of a scientific principle, typically by an ancient classical author.

A gafforism is then the wisdom of the world, that is to say, folly. There really are better ways to pick up girls than others, but that kind of wisdom is wayward, it descends by excelling -- the better it is at that kind of the thing, the worse off it ends up.

James 3:14-16

If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Gafforisms may help the worldly exploit the fallen world, but it does not help them lay claim to the world to come. Meekness is not a fruit of ignorance, but of repentance. The worldly wise will cool-shame and mock talk the meek, but the world they lust after will be taken from them and all the counterfeit joys they've experienced along with it.

All that said, here are some gafforisms acquired by Wilde. Witty or wise as they may be in assessing the worldly situation, they profit nothing on the day of judgment; in fact, they not only DO NOT profit, they produce more debt.

"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”

False: there are badly written moral books, well written moral books, badly written immoral books, and well written immoral books (case and point)

“To define is to limit.” 

True, but misapplied: This fact is reported as though it were a bad thing, and that definitions, therefore, should be resisted instead of embraced and obeyed. Ironically, Wilde misses the fact that for him to define "limit" as a negative is for him to limit himself to what limitations can be. Wilde cuts himself off from the liberty of the law by insisting only on the lawlessness of licentiousness.

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

True: even the worldly wise can see through the lies of other worldly wisdom. But pitting one type of worldliness against another does not produce other-worldliness. Wilde rightly sees through materialism, but cannot see his sensualism. He rails against paying for things by rallying around free pleasure. He does not resist the prostitute for her profession, but would deny her the paycheck.

“The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” 

False: this is akin to saying you can only get rid of a headache by decapitation. It does get rid of the headache, but it kills the patient rather than curing him.

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” 

False: the maxim that any publicity is good publicity is only true of those who seek justification in the public eye. For them, to be ignored by the popularazzi is to be dead in the sin of obscurity with the rush of being thrust back into the public spotlight the equivalent of a miraculous resurrection. Their lives and livelihoods hang in the balance of public opinion, but your life is more than merely whether or not other people happen to notice it.

“When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.” 

False: love is not blind, it is bound. Lust is blind. It wants what it wants without seeing what it doesn't. But love is anything but blind or deceived. It has its eyes wide open and pledges purity and fidelity with the intention of keeping its vows. Romance, in the worldly sense, is without decision. It is driven by passion and defiance of forethought. Romance, in the Christian sense, is intentional. It is driven by covenant and diligence in duty.

“Never marry at all, Dorian. Men marry because they are tired, women, because they are curious: both are disappointed.” 

False: Christian men marry because they are fired up and Christian women because they are certain. The world may encourage men to marry once they've given up chasing tail and women to marry to prove to them how good independence really was, and in that sense, Wilde rightly observes, they do end up disappointed. Worldly marriage mocks at covenant and wonders why sharing an address is so difficult sometimes.

There are more examples, of course, but these are sufficient in showing the amount of wit and wisdom the worldlings are capable of seeing without having eyes to adequately describe what they're observing. It is one thing to see what is around you and another to to see your own eyeballs. For that, you need wisdom outside of your field of vision. You need the wisdom that is from above.