day no. 16,681: no hall passes

“We must fight against the passions with main force, not with artifice, and that the battle-line must be turned by a bold attack, not by inflicting pinpricks; that sophistry is not serviceable, for the passions must be, not nipped, but crushed. Yet, in order that the victims of them may be censured, each for his own particular fault, I say that they must be instructed, not merely wept over.” — Seneca, On The Shortness of Life

We cannot kill our sins by simple consent. It is not enough to merely wish your sins away. It is not enough to agree with God that they ought to go. We must mortify our sins. That is to say, we must engaged them in battle, hunt them down, stalk them where they live, and pursue them to point of annihilation when we have them on the run. 

Colossians 3:5

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry.

We cannot be content with any cancer. We must pluck it out. We must cut it off and cauterize the wound. No point of re-entry should be unguarded and no hall passes should be provided.

Romans 8:13

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

day no. 16,680: load-bearing

Isaiah 22:22-24

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue.

The glory of God rests upon the head of the home. The weight and responsibility of being reliable is laid upon his shoulders. He is called to be fixed and fastened in order to provide a sure place for those under his care. Lineage and legacy hang in the balance and a rock of a man can make all the difference.

"The 'key's speak of safety and protection. The 'peg' speaks of firmness, strength, stability, and something not usually to the modern man's taste: staying put." — Elisabeth Elliot, The Shaping of a Christian Family

A man must be a peg in a sure place. He must be a load-bearing beam. Lives depend upon him. He must be able to support others. He is a board, like them of course, but he is a board that must support other boards. He must be fixed, firm, reliable, resolved, strong and stable.

Galatians 6:2-5

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.

A man must bear his own load because he will be required to help carrying the loads of others. If he cannot carry himself with dignity, he will not be able to carry others with reliability. 

Proverbs 27:8

As a bird that wandereth from her nest,

so is a man that wandereth from his place.

Cornerstones cannot take vacations from their cathedrals without causing collateral damage.

day no. 16,679: a good book rewards return visits

“I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.” — C.S. Lewis, Letter to Arthur Greeves (February 1932)

In the last few years, I've adopted the practice of re-reading good books. I still read new books, but I focus the bulk of my reading on circling back around to good books.

A good book rewards return visits.

“Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course of their life.” —  C.S. Lewis, The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others’ Eyes

There are some books worth reading once, but there are some that are worth reading over and over. A good book is not one you read simply to get through, but to get something out of. A great book has enough to supply subsequent visits. A great book moves with the times by staying put. Because it wasn't written to appease the prisoner of its particular moment, it is free to speak in principle to anyone at anytime in particular and to any one at different, particular times in his or her life..

Read good books.

Reread great ones.

“Master those books you have. Read them thoroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and reread them…digest them. Let them go into your very self. Peruse a good book several times and make notes and analyses of it. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books he has merely skimmed. Little learning and much pride comes from hasty reading. Some men are disabled from thinking by their putting meditation away for the sake of much reading. In reading let your motto be 'much not many.'" ― Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students

The best way to appreciate a good book is to know the Good Book. The Bible is the key to understanding and applying any other book. It is the legend that unlocks every other written word.. Whatever you do, read and reread your Bible. No book better exemplifies the reward of return visits than the Bible. It is a living Book. The principles contained never go out of style. They never cease being applicable.

"Visit many good books, but live in the Bible."  ― Charles H. Spurgeon

day no. 16,678: the growing forces of dissolution

"Do not, I beseech you, be troubled about the increase of forces already in dissolution. You have mistaken the hour of the night; it is already morning.” — Hilaire Belloc

The darkness is not growing, it is gathering. It is being herded together and led to the slaughterhouse. Days include a period of both dark and light, but they are defined by the day. A night is simply put, just another part of the day. It is said to be darkest before the dawn, but by that time the night is nearly defeated. Though it appear to be making a final conquest of the light, it is merely exhausting its last breath before it expires.

1 Corinthians 15:25-26

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Every darkness will be rooted out. It may be darkest in the corners, but that is merely a symptom of its defeat. It is huddled and cornered and outgunned and coming to an end until only death will be left. And even then, it will go down. Death will die and darkness will be snuffed out by everlasting light.

day no. 16,677: single or sundry?

"Pluralism is just the political name for what in theology is called polytheism. And Christians are not polytheists, or at least they didn’t used to be. The Christians of the future won’t be, at any rate." -- Douglas Wilson, Trump, NFTs, Fremdschämen, and More

Pluralism is polytheism. You cannot have competing gods of the system without having competing gods. And if we learned anything from our mythologies, there is never enough room in the kitchen for multiple chefs. You cannot have more than one god without having at least one duel to the death. You cannot have multiple ultimates. Those who multiply gods multiply sorrows and those who cannot be satisfied by a single God cannot be satisfied by sundry gods.

"Whoever thinks one God too little, will find two too many, and yet hundreds not enough." -- Mathew Henry

Christianity cannot be re-branded to meet the new DEI requirements. It cannot remain Christianity and compromise on the matter of Christ's assertion of unilateral authority (Matt. 28:18-20). The Kingdom of Christ will cover the world as the waters cover the sea, but it will never have more than one throne.

day no. 16,676: good homes and good medicine

"Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, ‘a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.’ Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

A good home is good medicine. It can fill myriad prescriptions. A perfect place must be suited to differing demands. It is a place of productive activity for the laboring and rest and respite for the exhausted. It is a place to lay your head and to lift it. It can tend to the needs of the mending or the growing. It gives rest to the worker and work for the rested. It is a place of quiet and belly laughs, of sitting and standing, of silence and singing, of fasting and feasting, 

Godly parents strive to give their kids this kind of blessing and should teach their kids how to provide this gift to their children. It nourishes health and teaches how to feed. It comforts and teaches how to be a comforter. It raises and teaches how to raise others. A good home reproduces good homemakers. A good home is one that does not insist on being superior to the subsequent homes it produces. It shows those in it how to make one of their own, it cheers them on in their endeavor, and it welcomes back its former members without obligating them.

In short, a good home is simultaneously somewhere you want to be and something you want to replicate somewhere else.

day no. 16,675: pig sty repentance

Ephesians 6:4

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Christian parents are obligated to raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. This command was given to Gentile Christians in Ephesus who did not have a robust history of Christendom to lean into. They had to build it from scratch. If there was going to be a Christendom, they were going to have to create it.

So, they did.

We find ourselves two thousand years downstream from those who received Paul's letter and others like it. We have a rich inheritance that has been largely squandered on loose living or taken for granted by entitlement. We have wasted the fruits of our father's hard work by waxing fat and kicking. Like the prodigal in the pig trough, we are now dead broke and the economy is falling apart around us. He was out of cash when in came the famine. But back home there was plenty. There was work to do and food for the asking. 

The prodigal considered the pigs and headed for home. He had nothing left to eat but crow. 

So, he ate it.

May we similarly see the swine and return to our Father's house empty-handed with hearts full of repentance.

day no. 16,674: what craftsmen and centurions have in common

"Every wise craftsman who seeks to exercise true dominion in the world knows two things: first, he has creative authority to arrange—he is the craftsman. And two, he must respect the nature of the material he is using. The craftsman does not just exercise authority; he also submits to the nature of his material." — Douglas Wilson, Church Music and Other Kinds

A craftsman, like a centurion, is found faithful when he is in authority by being under authority. Creative genius is a creature. An artisan cannot create without acknowledging the created nature of the materials and more importantly, the created nature of the mind and fingers performing the work. Derivative minds working with derivative materials cannot be authoritative in their artistry without first submitting to the Author of all things.

day no. 16,673: the stars always shine

Philippians 2:14-16

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

The stars always shine, but we see them better at night.

We are called to conform our behavior to Christ's commands wherever we are and whatever we are doing (1 Cor. 10:31, Matt. 28:18-20). But our behavior shines brightest when everyone else is rebellion. The contrast only draws attention to our shining conduct. But like the stars, let us burn bright for Him who sees us in broad daylight. Let us not only show up and show off at night. Let us labor to light up anywhere, all the time.

1 Peter 4:3-5

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

Stars are strange as far as the heavens are considered. The night sky is dark with rare exceptions. But those exceptions shine all the brighter for the backdrop in which they are placed.

Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

day no. 16,672: Lord Light and Lady Dark are Mr. and Mrs. Day

Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

In the beginning, God made the light and separated it from the darkness. He called the light, “day” and the darkness, “night”, but the pattern of light and then dark that has followed is called a “day." The darkness is defined by the light. They are a set with the Light assigned as the head of the darkness. The darkness was married to the light by God and took on light’s last name. In other words, Lady Dark and Lord Light are Mr. and Mrs. Day.

day no. 16,671: in concert with Christ or incoherent without Him

Ephesians 1:9-10

For He has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of His will, according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Progress is either in concert with Christ or it is regress. 

Every bridge will either be Crossed when we get there or burnt behind us.

All things are either going forward in the Lord or nowhere quickly.

Advances are either in concert with Christ or incoherent without Him.

day no. 16,670: coming to their Head or coming to their end

"Because we do not trust the Spirit’s intricate work in the womb of the world, we think to take over the process. We don’t take it over successfully, obviously, or thwart it, but we do retard it. Because we have become worldly in this way, we have refused to become earthy... The work of God is thereby reduced to the management of a tiny ecclesiastical and doctrinal circle, with the gospel right at the center of it. The gospel is right where it ought to be, right at the center, but it is not doing what it was intended to do, which is to transform the world. Because, for the faithful, there is nothing in the world that is allowed to be outside the circumference." — Douglas Wilson, The Great Gospel-Centered Crack-Up

Keeping the Gospel central is often a catch phrase used to keep it at the periphery. The Gospel is advocated as the center of some miscellany on the perimeter or the axle of some wheel that is not connected to the rest of the car. Yes, we insist, it must be central. But central to what? Is it the Center of everything or just the one thing? Is the Gospel central in its own lane or is it the center of all lanes? The error of western evangellyfish is in insisting that the Gospel be the center of a small, off-to-the-side sphere, one with very little, if any, overlap with the large circle in which we live, move, and have our being. They still insist on it being the center of something which assuages their consciences. They are Gospel-centered after all. It should be central somewhere. But what this misses is everything else. Jesus is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. He is the Center of every other system. All things are coming to their head in Him or coming to their end by His hands.

Colossians 1:17-18

And He (Christ) is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.

Ephesians 1:9-10

For He has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of His will, according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

1 Corinthians 15:24–26

Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

day no. 16,669: running from rumors

Hebrews 10:39

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Christians do not fade to black, they march ahead. 

Proverbs 28:1

The wicked flee when no man pursueth: 

but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The wicked run from rumors. 

The righteous face their fears.

Do not skedaddle on spec; battle in broad daylight.

Do not retreat from possibilities; run toward realities.

day no. 16,668: a kinder, gentler authoritarianism

"Modern intelligence won't accept anything on authority. But it will accept anything without authority." — G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Knew Too Much

Authority is inescapable. The modern mind hates this fact and wars against it by embracing any authority that opposes the appearance of the old authorities. Nevermind that it can only do so based on a new authority. On what basis do you remove the ancient landmark? On whose authority do you supplant it? By what standard do you forsake it? By the standard that having standards is old-fashioned, and on the authority of those who despise our elders, and on the basis of the ancient world being so unrepentantly unmodern. By this we attempt to remake the world in our own image. The modern world redefines authority to mean anything that used to hold sway so that when they grasp for power and cast them aside, it isn't by "authority" that they do so, at least in its traditional sense. How could it be when by its definition "authority" is the order it is overturning? And thus we get the new kinder, gentler authoritarianism. 

"For the modern world will accept no dogmas upon any authority; but it will accept any dogmas upon no authority. Say that a thing is so, according to the Pope or the Bible, and it will be dismissed as a superstition without examination. But preface your remark merely with 'they say' or 'don’t you know that?' or try (and fail) to remember the name of some professor mentioned in some newspaper; and the keen rationalism of the modern mind will accept every word you say." — G.K. Chesterton, The Superstition of Divorce

The backslidden West despises definite authority. Cite a specific Source and the impulse is resistance. The apostate post-moderns do, however, receive indefinite authority. If some study has found something or someone online said or you saw something somewhere, it is assumed to be authoritative.

day no. 16,667: the wedding vows of Adams

The first Adam’s wedding vows were:

Genesis 2:23

This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.

The second Adam’s wedding vows were:

This at last is blood of my blood

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Christian,

because she was taken out of Christ.

Matthew 26:26-29

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

day no. 16,666: flee or fight, the fear still awaits

“A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

While people may differ in how they respond to fear, with some wanting to flee from it and others wanting fight it, they cannot differ in having to eventually meet it. Fear is inescapable and fleeing from it only guarantees that you will meet it on its terms. Facing your fears is confronting them on your terms. It is deciding to fight instead of being forced to it.  Whether you flee or fight it, the fear still awaits.

Matthew 10:28

Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Fear is inescapable. You will be afraid of someone for some reason. And no one can escape facing their fears. Running from them is running into them. Is is compounding the problem. It is adding fear to fear. It is water at a flood. It is tossing kindling at a fire. 

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Fear is inescapable. However, the one who fears God alone need not fear any other. Those who flee to the Fear of Isaac (Gen 31:42) need not flee from anything else.

day no. 16,665: a defeatist attitude is defiance

"The Christian warriors chant the war song, and prepare for to-morrow's fight. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening 

It is not prideful to believe that in Christ, we can win. It is prideful to disbelieve it. A defeatist attitude is defiance. It is resisting the blessing of God and refusing to hear what He has said. He is in you and it is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). He is greater than what opposes you. So, if you are a Christian, chant this war song and fight the good fight.

Be willing to lose, but expect to win. Fight like that for which you are fighting is worth your best effort. Believe in Him and in His promises. And then get out there and get after it.

1 John 4:4

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

day no. 16,664: origin stories and eschatologies; the ballad of from and for

Revelation 1:8

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

From and for are inescapable. Everything, it seems, eventually comes down to competing origin stories and eschatologies. In other words, everything is ultimately about ultimates. Time must be pushed all the way to the corners.

From and for are inseparable. When you know where you're from, you know what you're for. You can't measure progress without a beginning and an end. If you know where you started, but don't know where you're going, you could be miles off track. If you've run for miles, but don't know where you're from, you may be merely circling the drain. You cannot appeal to how far we've come unless you know from where we have come. You cannot warn about how far we have yet to go unless you know where we are supposed to end up.

day no. 16,663: continuity heirs

Amos 9:13-15

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

The theme of dominion dominates the Scriptures. Everywhere you look, you are commanded to look after everything.

Isaiah 58:11-12

And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

It’s almost like this theme dominates Scripture as a first hand lesson and example of what He calls us to do in His world. His Word is dominated by the theme of dominion. Just like Eden was a blueprint, His Word is a blueprint. Just as Eden was a garden meant to provide an example of how to gardenize the globe, the Word is word picture of how we are to participate in the story of the world.

Look down and you will see that the Word is immersed in the language of worldwide dominion and commands us to beautify it all and flood it with the image of God. The Bible is flooded with this theme. Now look up and go out and do that in the world! Flood it with grace for the glory of God and the good of the world.

The Bible tells one story; one overflowing with continuity heirs.

day no. 16,662: a Christian home is an et cetera

"When David told his son Solomon that God had chosen him to build His house he encouraged him with these words, 'Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.' (1 Chron. 28:20 NIV). Will not the same Lord be with any man or woman to whom He gives the task of building a home? Ask Him!" -- Elisabeth Elliot, The Shaping of a Christian Family

The Christian home is not et cetera. It is not a tack on, take it or leave it kind of thing. You may not be tasked with leading a church, but if God has given you a family, He has charged you with keeping it. You may not be responsible for the care of your local church building, but you are responsible for the care of your home. And the weight of that should lead anyone to prayer. And the promises of God should lead anyone to expect them to be heard.

day no. 16,661: your local, district satan club

“I am opposed to Satan clubs in the government schools because the government schools are a Satan club. Our overarching goal should be to shut down the pretense of neutral education.” — Douglas Wilson, Blog & Mablog 

Neutrality does not exist because everything matters. In a world filled with enmity, nothing is a wash. Everything is either gain or loss, victory or defeat, advance or retreat.

You should oppose a Satan Club starting up in your local school district, but you should do so by not sending your children to be instructed by the Satan Club that is the public school district. The reason Satan Clubs are even permitted is because evil is unrestrained where there is no vision (Pr. 29:18). In other words, where God is not the standard of decorum, no other standard will hold. Where God does not go, anything goes.

Oppose the Satan Club that is your local district government school, whatever clubs they do or do not allow. Begin that opposition by pulling your kids from their rosters. If you've already done that, raise your kids well and teach them to teach their kids to teach their kids to do the same.

day no. 16,660: despotism is a tired democracy

“If there is one fact we really can prove, from the history that we really do know, it is that despotism can be a development, often a late development and very often indeed the end of societies that have been highly democratic. A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy. As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only one single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep.” — G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

If everyone agrees to let one man lead, is that despotism or is that democracy? The answer is yes. 

The danger of democracy is that citizens are not fixed stars. Since individuals are wandering planets, you cannot depend on them for navigation. In other words, you cannot determine where to go or how to get there by looking merely to people. Democracy makes the voice of the people into the voice of God since whatever the majority wants is what constitutes a standard. Standards accepted in this manner are not lofty ideals that some strive to live up to, but the lowest common denominators to which anyone can fall. Even in systems of democracy aimed at giving voice to the minority, the majority can simply vote to stop doing that.

Christ is the only standard that holds since He holds everything else together.

Colossians 1:16-17

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 

Christ is the only standard upon which you can hang everything since He alone is fixed and firm.

Ecclesiastes 12:11

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one Shepherd.

His Word holds firm.

Matthew 7:24-25

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Despotism may be a worn out democracy,

but Christendom is a church militant.

day no. 16,659: respectable punks

"Lewis was looking at the principle. When some delinquents stole some of his things, that was nothing new. Thieves you shall always have with you. The thing that Lewis noticed with alarm, a cloud the size of a man’s fist, was that indulgent and excuse-making judge. That is where the fatal disease was. The boys had the decency to commit their crime in secret, as though there was something wrong with it. The judge did what she did in the broad light of day, in a courtroom, with witnesses there, and with the approval of her own conscience. That was the promise of a societal hell . . . and here we are." — Douglas Wilson, In Which C.S. Lewis Tells Some Punks to Get Off His Lawn

There is a kind of crime that is committed in broad daylight with the approval of its own conscience - it is the crime of being soft on crime and neutral on nonsense. In Lewis' day it was some childish vandals being mollycoddled, but even he saw where that kind of nonsense would take you. In other words, the disrespectful punks in the back alley were one thing, but the respected punk with the gavel was another. Mischief at midnight on a Friday is a problem, but mannerly mayhem at 11 am on a Tuesday is worse. Sins committed as sins must, of course, be expected as part of normal life, but sins committed as virtues cannot be tolerated without changing the course of everything altogether.

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no revelation, 

the people cast off restraint;

But happy is he who keeps the law.

You cannot throw shade at order and keep any semblance of it. If you cast off justice, you cast off restraint. Where there is no clear vision of what we should expect, you can expect to find the invention of new evils clearly on display.

day no. 16,658: breeding farms for secularists

"With regard to men who have strong opinions about lotsa kids, and equally strong opinions about the need to contribute little after begetting them, I have seen some really unfortunate consequences of this attitude. Such men seem to want to be little more than breeding farms for the secularists." — Douglas Wilson

Inconsistent Christian homes with inattentive Christian dads are sometimes simply breeding farms for secularists. There is no blessing in simply having a lot of anything. Riches can rot and the more the murkier and kids can go bad if abandoned — instead of becoming arrows in one's hand, they can become thorns in everyone's sides.

The secularists cannot breed their own soldiers. They have embraced fruitlessness by being fruity. Two outlets can't make a charge and two nuts can't screw. Nothing they do works and cannot hold together. They cannot have children. But they are more than happy to take yours. 

So stop giving them to them.

If you have strong opinions about the number of children one should have without having strong convictions about the quality of those children, you are merely recruiting rioters. You cannot send your kids to secular boot camp and expect them to come back loyal sons of the Savior. 

The Bible says that children are a blessing. They are not, however, an automatic blessing.  All of your enemies are someone else's children. All the drag queen story hour alphabet mafiosos were begotten by somebody.

So…make more babies, but make them disciples.

Make more arrows.

Do not trust the twigs to sharpen themselves.

Do not send them to the general mill for shaping.

Do not let them become left wing lumber.

Form them at home.

Be sharp and sharpen them.

Ephesians 6:4

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.