day no. 16,718: for generations and nations yet unborn

Great was the vict'ry of his death,

His throne exalted high;

And all the kindreds of the earth

Shall worship or shall die.

A num'rous offspring must arise

From his expiring groans;

They shall be reckoned in his eyes

For daughters and for sons.

The meek and humble souls shall see

His table richly spread;

And all that seek the Lord shall be

With joys immortal fed.

The isles shall know the righteousness

Of our incarnate God,

And nations yet unborn profess

Salvation in his blood.

— Isaac Watts, Psalm 22

Everyone must kiss the Son or kiss their buns goodbye. In Christ's death and resurrection, He laid claim to earth in its entirety. It is His and the fullness thereof, the whole world and those who dwell therein. 

Christ died for His covenant children, He had in mind the kids unborn to be reborn by His blood. He laid His life down for a legacy. He wanted the meek to inherit His earth. So, He made His last will and testament, and died to secure it. He purchased their heirlooms with His last breath. He went to the grave for those yet to come and rose again to usher in a new earth for them to play in.

There are nations and generations who do not know the Lord.... yet. Some have not yet been born, but many of them will be reborn.

day no. 16,717: a sanctified imagination and a solid argument

"A great deal is said in these days about the value or valuelessness of logic. In the main, indeed, logic is not a productive tool so much as a weapon of defence. A man building up an intellectual system has to build like Nehemiah, with the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other. The imagination, the constructive quality, is the trowel, and argument is the sword." — G.K. Chesterton, Varied Types

Every Christian man must have a sanctified imagination and a solid argument.

1 Peter 3:15

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

The Christian faith is reasonable. That is not to say that reason alone can account for it, but it is to say that a faith-filled person can have good and godly reasons for being faithful. 

We must like, Nehemiah, not neglect the building for the fighting. We need our imaginations baptized by our beliefs and our wisdom weaponized by the Word. Our plans begin in our brains and our blueprints should reflect His fingerprints. Our practices and behaviors should correspond to our King's edicts. We need a trowel to build up and a sword to strike down. We must erect a high Christian standard and demolish every high and lofty pretense that imagines itself higher than Christ.

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.

Vain imaginations need to meet their Maker and every bad reason for defying the Lord needs to be met with vigilance. We cannot cast down all imagination nor does Christ call us to. But if you're going to fight a vision war, you will need to have a vision of your own by which to wage it and if you're going to crush soft logic, you will need cold, hard reason to squish it.

Isaiah 54:17

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.

The heritage of the Lord is hewing down haughtiness. No deceptive philosophy can survive a clash with Christendom. Every condemnation of Christianity will stand condemned. Foreign tongues will rise up against God's people, but they will be cut out.

Proverbs 10:31

The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom:

but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

Vanity will be cut off and Christ will reign in righteousness. No argument shall prevail against the kingdom of God. The gates of hellish invective will be carried off by God's Samsons.

This is the legacy of the Lord's loved ones.

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.

Conquering the spirit of the Antichrist is the honor of His heritage. Overturning the tables of tyrants is the triumph of the church.

day no. 16,716: to have stood

"Armor is heavy, yet it is a proud burden, and a man standeth straight in it." — Mark Twain

While Jesus once famously invited us to ease the burden of our yokes by plowing ahead with Him, He did not, in doing so, do away with burdens altogether. Again, Christ's call was not one of being done with yokes, but of having His assistance in shouldering them. For those who were not used to being under any yoke or weight of responsibility, His invitation would have seemed like MORE work, not LESS.

Lamentations 3:27

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

It is good to wear heavy armor. It is a pain in the neck and back, of course, but it encourages one to stand straighter. A stiffened spine softens the pain points. The less chafed the man in the armor the less chafing from it he receives.

"It's the empty wagon that rattles." — Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse

Men without burdens are more free to laze about, but no one can assuage their cries of boredom. An empty wagon squeals and whines with every pebble in the way. A loaded wagon settles down and bickers less about minor inconveniences.

Men were meant to carry weight. Sore shoulders stand up straighter. The glory of a man is wearing his burden well. He is eager to carry his burden as his prize. He is pleased to stand and proud to have stood.

day no. 16,715: man your post

Nahum 3:13

Behold, your troops

are women in your midst.

The gates of your land

are wide open to your enemies;

fire has devoured your bars.

Soldiers should be men. A good soldier is a good man soldiering well. A good man is not a woman. He is a good man because he fights for women. He leverages his strength on her behalf. He fights so that she doesn't have to. When men act like women in war, it is to their shame. Their women are ravaged when they fail to play the man . How much more so when they send their women to the front lines?

Isaiah 19:16

In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them.

When men become like women, the whole earth trembles and shakes. When the stalwart are shaky, what hope do the shaken share? Men must man their posts. The posts must be guarded by guys and those bros must be bonafide blokes.

Jeremiah 51:30

The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed; they have become women; her dwellings are on fire; her bars are broken.

Men were made to be shields. They are to be types of saviors who place themselves between the danger and their beloved. They are to go out front in order to bear the blow. When they hole up and hide, there is no hope. 

"Men are better than gates." — J.R.R. Tolkien

Gates are best when they keep the wicked away and protect the righteous within. But gates are worthless without men. Someone has to man the post to open them to needed commerce and close them to unwanted conflict. 

Nehemiah 1:3

And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

A town without walls is in trouble. A city without gates is either a ghetto or soon to become one. A city without walls is undefined. It is impossible to know where it ends or begins. Without gates it cannot welcome grace. Without gates it cannot block the base. 

Proverbs 25:28

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

We end where we began: men being men. A man must be meek. That is he must be strong and under control. If you are not strong, you cannot be meek. If there is no strength to restrain, it is just weakness, not meekness. A good man good at being a man can control himself and be entrusted with the task of keeping others safe. He can be expected to control the wickedness from without that threatens his city for he is well practiced in protecting himself from the threats of sin to his soul.

day no. 16,714: practice. progress. persistence.

1 Timothy 4:15-16

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

Practice.

Progress.

Persistence.

Practice presupposes hard work.

Progress presupposes pay off.

Persistence presupposes impatience.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Hard work is hard, but it can hardly be ignored. It is not for nothing. It is for Someone. And He always attends it and rewards it, both now and forever.

Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Hard work wears you out, but keep it up. Don't give in to weariness. Seeds sown will sprout. The fruit of faithfulness will shoot up and the harvest of righteousness will flood the fields of the entire earth.

day no. 16,713: slavery is always marketed as mastery

"Licentiousness is not a soil in which liberty grows" -- Douglas Wilson, Plodcast 267

Societal freedom cannot be purchased by a sexual revolution which is to say that a lack of restraint cannot produce better restraints. A license to sin is not a declaration of independence, but a covenant with co-dependence. 

1 Peter 2:16

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Evil isn't free. It is costly. The freedom of falling without restraint is paid for by an abrupt end of all freedoms. That is to say, the freedom to fall like that is a prohibition against ever falling again. A parachute can save you from falling to your death, but it cannot save you from the discomfort of its straps. If you want to be free from the inconvenience of its bulk on your back or straps on your shoulders, you are free to fall unhindered. But you are not free to stop yourself from falling that way.

Galatians 5:1

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Stand fast in freedom. Do not give into false flags. Slavery is always marketed as mastery: be your own boss, have it your way, do what you like, follow your heart, etc... 

Galatians 5:13

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another.

In Christ, you are free to consider others. You have the ability to deny yourself. You can say, "No," to yourself sometimes. Because the Christian is forgiven for their selfishness, the temptation to be selfish is sometimes high, but true forgiveness is not fuel for fornication; it is power to persevere against temptations and the courage to overcome them.

day no. 16,712: property wrongs

“Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it. But philosophers dislike property as property; they wish to destroy the very idea of personal possession.” — G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare

Thou shall not steal presupposes private property. In other words, that which is thine really is. Jealously wishes thine was mine, but envy settles for thine as nein. Envy as a philosophical assumption has become so embedded into our thinking that many would rather everyone starve than anyone else be satisfied.

A thief wants to steal your property because they want it be their property. They do not long for a world where no one owns anything, rather they long to own more than they currently do. Philosophies like Marxism, however, do not just want to rob you, they want to rob the world. In short, they want to steal your right to property. This is often weaponized as a front by the well-to-do's who have not forfeited their interest in your property in the least. They want to do away with your property rights in principle and install their right to all property.

But theft is theft, regardless of who is doing it. Thou shall not steal. Whatever it is; whoever is trying to do it.

day no. 16,711: the surge of the saints

Jeremiah 1:10, 19

See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant… And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

The meek inherit the earth not because they don't do anything, but because they do what God says. They obey Him and thus He places them over the nations. 

Psalm 105:43-45

So he led forth his people with joy,

his chosen ones with singing.

And he gave them the lands of the nations;

and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,

to the end that they should keep his statutes,

and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord!

The world belongs to those who listen to the Lord and do what He says.

This will involve rooting out evil, pulling down demonic strongholds, destroying false doctrines, throwing down high-minded, heavy-handed opposition to Christ's reign, and building upon the firm foundation of His life, death, and resurrection and planting with the help of His Spirit and His intercession for us at the Father's right hand where He ascended and is now seated.

The rebels will not all come quietly. They will resist Jesus' reign, but they will not succeed in holding back the advance of His Church. Their gates will not prevail against the surge of the saints. The leaven will work its way through the lump. The leaven works according to the rule of Christ and the world is transformed by those conformed to Him.

day no. 16,710: the end will be better than the beginning

 "The world is full of these unfulfilled ideas, these uncompleted temples. History does not consist of completed and crumbling ruins; rather it consists of half-built villas abandoned by a bankrupt-builder. This world is more like an unfinished suburb than a deserted cemetery.” — G.K. Chesterton, What’s Wrong With The World

The is a suburb of Heaven. Jesus Christ ushered in a new earth when He resurrected from the dead. In this new earth, the Sabbath is moved from the seventh day of the week to the first. The Lord's Day is a weekly declaration of a new world order. While God promised Noah that He would never flood the world as He did during his days, He also promised Habakkuk that a flood was coming -- i.e. the world would one day be flooded with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the seas.

Ecclesiastes 7:8-10

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning;

and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Be not quick to anger,

for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Wisdom is not wondering why things have all gone down hill. Anyone can say that and no one is wise by accident. It requires no insight to complain.

"Man is the wreckage of something great instead of the rising of something inferior." — Donald Grey Barnhouse

Mankind is admittedly a wreckage. He is not a wine maturing with age. He is milk getting worse everyday. He is a shadow of his former glory. 

Wisdom is seeing God's handiwork in it all, however, and believing His promises in the midst of it. Wisdom sees that without Christ, chaos is inevitable, but it also knows that because of Christ, the chaos is now retreating. Sin is spiraling out of control, but the Spirit is building back better.

In Christ, a man can expect to be remodeled down to his studs just as he can expect the world to be subdued by Christ through His church. In Jesus, the man is remade as well as his surroundings. A new creation exists inside and out. He lives in a new world in as a new man.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

A man made new must still combat the old man within as he must also fight the old world without, but to fight to return to the good ol' days won't fix anything -- first, because they weren't as good as he remembers, and second, because that is only rewinding the movie to the part you still liked. Without a new movie, it is going to end the same way, no matter to what previous scene you select. Lastly, we live in a world where a man has been raised from the dead. That has changed things. There is no setting the world back. We do not live in a post-Christian world because Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. as a resurrected man. There is no going back to the way things once were.

Philippians 1:6

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

God completes what He puts in motion. He performs what He has promised. If you are a new creation, you will be completely recreated. The new earth on which we live will be made entirely new too.

Psalm 2:8

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

The Father did not raise His Son from the dead in order to abandon His inheritance, nor has the Son forgotten to ask for it.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

day no. 16,709: the righteous side of history

Isaiah 35:4

Say to those who have an anxious heart, 

“Be strong; fear not!

Behold, your God

will come with vengeance,

with the recompense of God.

He will come and save you.”

Whatever and whomever you are afraid of, don't be afraid that they're going to get away with it. No one gets away with anything. Whatever vile things they may have planned or ill-intentions they might desire, none of them have escaped His notice. He will come to judge the living and the dead. He will pay back in full measure what is owed. So, be wise and kiss the Son. He will save those who trust Him. We demonstrate that trust by standing up in faith to those who scare us. We laugh at their plans and wait for our God. We can be strong because His wrath has no weakness. He is not impotent, but omnipotent. He is not ignorant, but omniscient. 

So be strong and don't be afraid. The man with God is always in the majority and the one who loves the Son will end on the righteous side of history.

day no. 16,708: the great army of Christ

"Daily there depart from [the church] some who have fought the fight, kept the faith, earned the crown of righteousness, and who constitute the church triumphant, the church of the firstborn and the spirits of just men made perfect (Heb. 12:23). And daily new members are added to the church on earth, to the militant church here below; they are born in the church itself or are brought in by the work of missions. These two parts of the church belong together. They are the vanguard and rearguard of the great army of Christ.” — Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God, pp. 502-503

The Church grows when its members have children or when new members are added through conversion. The army of God advances as children are baptized and catechized and nations are evangelized and disciplined. Like an army, we lose some to death, but unlike other armies, we gain many from the enemy. Converts do not merely cease firing on us, but join us in firing back.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Church triumphant cheers on the Church militant. In this they are one. They are fighting the same battle and those who have departed share in the work of warfare here as much as those still fighting share in the peace of paradise above. There is one church and those who have long since departed are enlisted in the same army as those most recently born.

Ephesians 4:4-6

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

day no. 16,707: a civilization of communities

"The Huguenots operated as an oppressed nation within a nation... They would identify with us and tell us a few things. They would tell us, first of all, to sing. They used to sing going down the streets, undoubtedly singing psalms of God's glory and protection. They would also tell us to make the best wine and become the best artisans and statesmen in the land. They would recommend we move close together because they realized too late they lived too far apart. They would tell us to focus on purity of worship, and they would tell us not to create community, but rather to create civilization." — Raymond Simmons, The Confessional County

The modern evangelical church knows enough to know that it should foster community. It differs, of course, on how best to go about promoting community, but it typically doesn't fail to recognize the need to do something about it. That said, most go about as far as small groups or Sunday School, but few go much further.

But Christ did not send us out to simply set up good looking ghettos. He commanded us to disciple the nations, to immerse them in the things of God, to baptize them in the Triune Name, and to teach them to obey everything that He commands. And He has promised to be with us when we do that.

Community is great, but civilization is better. Civilizations are, of course, composed of smaller communities, so we cannot ignore localities. In order to have a civilization, however, its local communities need more than mere internal harmony, they need a source of external unity with other communities not local to their own. This unites tribes into nations and nations into Christendom. They must take care of needs in their respective households of faith, but they must foster a catholic interest in other households.

The scope of Christendom is global civilization, not just local community. It is more than mid-week connection groups, it is complete colonization. Christianity can and should be exported. Christendom is, after all, a matter of world conquest. How much of the earth is the Lord's after all? All of it. How many of the people who dwell therein are His? All of them. To ask the question is to answer it. The answer the question is to inform our aim.

Acts 17:30

God commands all people everywhere to repent.

day no. 16,706: current events

"'After bread, the need of the people is knowledge,' said Danton. Knowledge is now a monopoly, and comes through to the citizens in thin and selected streams, exactly as bread might come through to a besieged city. Men must wish to know what is happening, whoever has the privilege of telling them. They must listen to the messenger, even if he is a liar." — G.K. Chesterton, Utopia of Usurers

The legacy Media is a knowledge cartel. It makes the news and pushes it on others. It attempts to knock off anyone else attempting to work the same block. It controls the means of production and distribution. It is a manufacturer of news, not a reporter of it. It wants you caught up in the power of their current events. That stream is a lazy river that flows steadily and begs its Tubers to take it easy and enjoy the ride.

But what are people to do? As Chesterton points out, people need information. They need to know what's going on. The people are the hands and feet who need the eyes to see on their behalf. But what is the heart supposed to do when the eyes lie? It cannot help but beat faster. If we cannot trust our eyes, we cannot see. We can rely on other senses in hopes of getting a read on what's out there, but we'll have to adapt as a blind man. We can put our ears to the ground or smell for something fishy, but we cannot see.

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no vision,
the people cast off restraint.

When people can't see they grope or go bonkers, but either way they grab on to whatever they can get their hands on and let go of whatever they used to know.

So, is all hope then lost? Certainly not.

2 Corinthians 5:7

We walk by faith, not by sight.

Christian, we do not begin by reading the world, we begin by reading the Word. If you look at the world and what is sold as the top stories, you will look around in dismay. But if you look to the Word and then look up and then look around, you can read the world. You can know the times and know what to do like the men of Issachar of old. We should not read what see on screen into the Word, rather we should be reading the Word into what we see on our screens. Our outlook ought not to be crowd sourced. It ought to be the Source.

"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it." — G.K. Chesterton

day no. 16,705: the imports and exports of parenting

Ephesians 6:4

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

Parenting involves nurture and admonition, discipline and instruction, imports and exports. Fathers are called to discipline certain things out of their children: sin, foolishness, selfishness to name a few. They are also called to sow certain things into their children: wisdom, righteousness, the Word of God, etc... We discipline things out and instruct things in. Godly parenting cannot exclude one or the other. Both are required if we are to raise our children in the Lord.

Proverbs 22:15

Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child;

but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Foolishness is hardwired inside your child. If you do not discipline it out of him, it won't go anywhere. In fact, it will set up a successful shop and even seek to begin franchising. Discipline stops foolishness from flourishing. It weeds the garden of your son's soul.

Proverbs 22:6-8

Train up a child in the way he should go:

and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

The way a child should go is not known to them. You must train them in it. You must introduce them to the way of the Lord. You must not only show them everything which He has commanded them, but show them how to obey everything He has commanded. You fulfill the great commission in teaching your sons the obedience of faith (Matt 28:20, Rom. 1:5, 16:26)

Education is a leading out of, literally ex (out of) + ducare (to lead). A Christian education is leading a child out of his wickedness. It is teaching him how to say, "No," to himself and how to say, "Yes," to Christ. Our children need to know what's wicked within them and provided with help to distance themselves from it. They also need to know what's wonderful without and be introduced to it so that they might close the distance.

Change must come from the outside. A heart left to itself will rot. But the force of sin can be disciplined out and the way of faith can be instructed therein. In similar fashion, Christ is at first without; but by grace, He comes and visits within. He condescends to visit the Bethlehems of our hearts and to take residence there on the outskirts. By His Spirit, God uses parenting to pull out the wanton and to put in wisdom.

day no. 16,704: a winter fire for the unfortunate

"Any one thinking of the Holy Child as born in December would mean by it exactly what we mean by it; that Christ is not merely a summer sun of the prosperous but a winter fire for the unfortunate." — G.K. Chesterton, The New Jerusalem

Fear not, little flock. For though the darkness seems to grow, Christ is a warmth in the midst of cramping cold. Fret not the winter, for He burns hot against your adversaries. The rain He sends on everyone, but the growth He gives to you. While anyone can see the sun at length in the summer, to you it's been given to see it even on the shortest days of the year. The reign of Christ is kind and floods the world with His goodness. A summer sun can sometimes be taken for granted, but a winter fire always warms the heart. 

Acts 14:21-22

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

day no. 16,703: every one yet to come

Psalm 71:18

Now also when I am old and greyheaded,

O God, forsake me not;

until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation,

and thy power to every one that is to come.

Men were made to be strong for others. They were made to be hard for others, not hard on them. They are meant to finish strong so as to provide a strong foundation for the next generation to build upon.

God gives fathers the strength to show their children His strength. Ask, and you shall receive. Why do you not have strength? Because you do not ask for it and when you do, you ask for it to spend on silly side projects or sinfully on self-promotion.

Fathers are meant to propagate the glory of God. As glory-bearers, it is their distinct privilege and responsibility. Men were meant to do so like seed that turns into wheat that floods the fields with the presence of fruit. This generation and every one yet to come depend upon this generation of fathers falling to the ground in worship. For when they do so, a rich harvest sprouts up to seek the sun above.

John 12:24

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

day no. 16,702: faithfulness begets faithfulness

Isaiah 38:19-20

The living, the living, he thanks you,

as I do this day;

the father makes known to the children

your faithfulness.

The LORD will save me,

and we will play my music on stringed instruments

all the days of our lives,

at the house of the LORD

Fathers have the privilege of passing along the good news to their posterity. The living are given the ability to share life with those who live under their roof. The children should hear often of the Father's faithfulness to their father. The Lord saves sinner and the children of sinners should hear this good news as soon as they can pay attention. The love of God in Christ should be a constant topic of discussion and occasion for celebration. 

We cultivate what we celebrate.

Father have the privilege of preaching to their great grandchildren when they teach their children to teach their children to teach their children. When fathers convey the faithfulness of the Father to their children and teach their children to do the same, generations of faithfulness are produced.

In other words, faithfulness begets faithfulness.

May our homes be filled with the sounds of singing and laughing before the Lord that the soil in which our saplings grow may be rich with nourishment for them as they shoot up in stature and shoot straight in spiritual warfare.

Psalm 144:12

That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.

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.

Psalm 128:1-3

Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

day no. 16,701: the freedom to pay what we owe

"Freedom is not just so we can do what we want but so that God gets what He deserves: pure worship and a righteous society that acknowledges Him." — Raymond Simmons, The Confessional County

The freedom to do whatever you want is not the freedom to not do whatever you don't want. You may be permitted do whatever you like and still not be able to stop yourself from doing whatever you don't like. 

Romans 7:19, 24

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do... O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

There will always be good things you want to do, but can't quite and evil things you want to stop doing, but can't quite discontinue. There is no hope in personal will power. That is no freedom found in felling all the fences. Liberty requires limits. Liberated from what? Liberated by whom? Liberated for what?

Romans 7:25

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are saved from sin by Christ for the glory of God.

John 10:9

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

He alone is the door. He is the access point to the gates of Heaven. It is Heaven because the gates keep the evil out. It is Heaven because inside the gates are pasture to play to our hearts' content.

Galatians 5:1

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Don't go poking around the fence or spend too much time wondering what's outside the door. Whatever it is, it is outside of Christ, outer darkness where the soundtrack is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God deserves more than your attendance. He is owed your participation in celebration.

day no. 16,700: Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness

Psalm 65:9-13

Thou visitest the earth,

and waterest it:

thou greatly enrichest it

with the river of God,

which is full of water:

thou preparest them corn,

when thou hast so provided for it.

Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly:

thou settlest the furrows thereof:

thou makest it soft with showers:

thou blessest the springing thereof.

Thou crownest the year with thy goodness;

and thy paths drop fatness.

They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness:

and the little hills rejoice on every side,

The pastures are clothed with flocks;

the valleys also are covered over with corn;

they shout for joy, they also sing.

The Lord made the liturgy of life and the cadence of the calendar is crowned with Christ's kindness. The rhythm of rain falling and returning is grace upon grace. He sends His goodness on all of creation.

Psalm 145:10-13

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.

Creation constantly confesses Christ. It conveys faith in the power of resurrection. The routines of day and night, summer and winter, ebb and flow, wax and wane, seedtime and harvest all testify to the goodness of God.

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.

The cadence is our comfort. It is a reminder of His covenant. The liturgy of life is a faithful friend, a brother born for adversity. It calls our anxiety back to sobriety. It tempers our tempers. It reminds us of the goodness that has us surrounded and begs us to surrender.

day no. 16,699: something will be underfoot

“And the glory is that the cross of the Lord Jesus was the tent peg of God, driven into Sisera’s head. Our salvation was not accomplished by means of delicacy.” — Douglas Wilson, When False Teachers Strut

The Cross of Christ crushed the serpent's head like the tent peg of Jael did Sisera's skull. Our salvation was not subtle. It did not slip on by or sneak around. It came down hard and to the point. It drove that point through death's door and ransacked its stronghold. The Savior was not subtle like the snake. He did not dupe death. He faced it down and laid it out.

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Satan brought disaster by the daintiness of word play. The Son brought deliverance by the severity of sword play. He crushed the serpent's subtle lips at great expense. His heel was burned when he stamped on that flame, but the fire went out and His heel has healed.

Romans 16:20

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

May we now follow in His footsteps, crushing serpents as we go. For the road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but the road to heaven is paved with bad dragons. Something will be trampled underfoot: it will either be the seed of the serpent or the blood of the Son. You will either be the feet of Jesus resting on the footstool of evil or you will be part of the evil that is gathered together to be His footstool.

Hebrews 10:28-31

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, "Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense," saith the Lord. And again, "The Lord shall judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

day no. 16,698: nothing left behind

Psalm 66:4

All the earth shall worship thee,

and shall sing unto thee;

they shall sing to thy name. Selah.

The choir will span the continents when it is all said and done. All states will sing of the Savior. The earth will harmonize around one song. Every tongue will tell of His glory. Every soul will sing of His grace. They won't rally around a generic "god" but under the one and only, true and living, King of kings and Lord of lords. His Name will be sung by everyone. His praise will be the pulse of everyone's heart.

All the earth will worship the Lord.

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof;

the world, and they that dwell therein.

Nothing will be left behind.

day no. 16,697: a cleaner path

"If we had served our God as we have served their kings, there would not be today one remnant of them in our path, either to slander or to slay us" -- G.K. Chesterton, The Crimes of England

If our compliance to the King matched our reliance on our kings, we would live in perfect Monarchy. The reign of Christ would be on earth as it is in heaven. But we have deferred to governors more readily than we have to God. We have sought the favor of the State over that of the Sovereign. We have been zealous in our patriotism and apathetic in our piety. 

2 Chronicles 12:8

They will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

You can serve Christ by serving His appointed authorities, but you cannot substitute the magistrate for the Messiah. Loyalty must be to the Lord of lords, not to your lords as Lord. 

The reason we have so many thorns in our side is that we refuse to worship the Crown of thorns. We are confronted constantly with those who hate Christ because we have gladly filled their coffers. We have chased the wind and reaped a whirlwind. We have sown weeds and are now being choked out by them.

Leviticus 26:3-13

If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

day no. 16,696: keep the feast; taste and see

1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast.

Psalm 34:8-9

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!

Keep the feast; taste and see.

day no. 16,695: death is on death row

“If you knew what God knows about death you would clap your listless hands” — George Macdonald

If we knew what God knows, we would laugh a lot more. Not because death isn't as bad as it seems, but because resurrection is more than we can imagine. Death is an enemy, but it is the last one. The one who dies by grace through faith in Christ alone vanquishes his last foe. In dying, all his enemies are slain. There remains no Sabbath rest for death. It will end and never begin again.

Revelation 2:11

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. 

The second death cannot overcome the resurrection. The one who overcomes in Christ cannot be stopped by a second death. For him, that enemy has already been defeated. He is invincible in Christ.

1 John 5:4

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

We overcome the world by believing in the resurrection of Christ. In Him, we are born again into the life of the indestructible God and like Him, we will not be destroyed.

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.

Because Christ reigns, death doesn't. Death is on death row awaiting execution. He will watch all his friends die. He will see his empire eradicated. And then, he will come to his end.

day no. 16,694: a good war is better than a bad peace

"While a good peace is better than a good war, even a good war is better than a bad peace. These far-flung comparisons are nowhere so common as in the Gospels.” — G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

While no one wants a bad war, too many settle for a bad peace. There are few things worse than fighting over something not worth fighting about, but barely more tolerable is not fighting over something worth fighting about.

Enmity is infused into our story by God. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent are engaged in inexorable opposition. To pretend otherwise is to prefer bad pace.

Jeremiah 6:14

They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, "Peace, peace; when there is no peace."

Crying, "Peace," can be more violent than a battle cry. It can do more damage and cause more pain. Bad peace cannot heal. It can only let the cancer spread. Declaring peace over the disease in seed form only leads to its spread. Decrying the surgeon does not heal the infection.

1 Thessalonians 5:3

For when they shall say, "Peace and safety;" then sudden destruction cometh upon them

Few things are more dangerous than assuming a safety seal can diffuse a landmine. Calling something safe doesn't make it so. Bad peace assumes that declaring a ceasefire will stop the tanks cresting the horizon from firing. You can lay down your arms, but you can't take their fingers off their triggers.

James 4:1-4

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

There will be fighting. Neither the Spirit nor the flesh can fully get what they want as long as they other is around. Friendship with the world is bad peace. To befriend the world is merely to enlist in its army. Those who defect to the enemy begin pressuring the remaining Christians to do the same. That is because enmity is inescapable.

Better a good war than a bad peace, but best of all will be the good peace provided by Christ after He has destroyed all of His enemies and hands the Kingdom to His Father before polishing off death itself.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

day no. 16,693: our priorities must be prioritized

Psalm 50:23

He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;

And to him who orders his way aright

I shall show the salvation of God.

Ways do not order themselves. They can be disordered or disheveled. They can either have no order imposed upon them or the wrong order. Unless one intentionally orders their way according to Christ and His commands, it will be chaotic. 

2 Chronicles 27:6

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

God requires rightly ordered affections, or ordo amoris as Augustine put it. Our priorities must be prioritized. We must love some things more than others. We must love some things differently than others.

Colossians 3:5

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

The salvation of the Lord belongs to those who impose order on their affections. This requires fanning into flame those which we know to be lagging behind and hamstringing those you know to be running out ahead.

day no. 16,692: born into an armory

“Christianity is also a challenge and a fight. While it is deliberately broadened to embrace every aspect of truth, it is still stiffly embattled against every mode of error. It gets every kind of man to fight for it, it gets every kind of weapon to fight with, it widens its knowledge of the things that are fought for and against with every art of curiosity or sympathy; but it never forgets that it is fighting. It proclaims peace on earth and never forgets why there was war in heaven.“ — G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

Christianity, like a ninja, should be able to walk into any room and immediately identify all the weapons and what could serve as makeshift ones if necessary. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. While we are born into a feud, we are also born into an armory. Everything God declared good is a potential weapon. It can be used to the glory of God and the good of a neighbor, which is to say it can be used to the bane of Beelzebub and the banishment of his brood. 

Christianity cannot forget that it is in a fight. It cannot settle down to the lap of luxury as long as Lucifer retains any remnant or settlement. Christendom cannot tire until the gates of Hell have failed. It cannot stop pushing until ever last demonic stronghold has been toppled. Like Samson, Christianity will walk away once the gates come down. And even then, it will carry them as a trophy of its conquest.

Revelation 12:7-9

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Where angels fight, dragons flee.

Where Christians light up, the darkness scatters.

Where faithful Christians are buried, the landscape bursts with life.

Revelation 12:11

And 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.

day no. 16,691: fussbudgets go broke

2 Corinthians 6:11-13

Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also.

Love leans in. It wants to believe. It looks for things to compliment. It seeks to protect the reputation of the beloved. It opens its heart as wide as it opens its mouth. It is not suspicious. It doesn't desire any dark secrets. It isn't seeking to justify a bad attitude by looking for a fly in the ointment.

"Fussers don’t have this largeness of heart. They fuss right and they fuss left. They fuss about their meals, they fuss about the traffic, they fuss about the sermons, they fuss about the lack of things to grumble about. Because this had happened at Corinth, the saints there had fallen prey to certain agitators who wanted to circulate their complaints. So Paul opened his heart wide, and poured everything out. And it was at that moment that he told them the problem was in their own twisted, constricted hearts. Open up, Paul says. Imitate him as he imitates Christ. Join him and his company of great hearts." -- Douglas Wilson, A Blizzard of Troubles

A fussbudget not only budgets for flaws, but invents them where they can't find any. Fussers take a lack of legitimate fodder as an occasion for illegitimate accusations. They bank their bad attitude on assumption and assuage themselves by pleading that they're merely being realistic. In Reformed circles, they may even hide behind the doctrine of total depravity liberally applied. 

But the company of great hearts have great faith. This is not to be confused with being insatiably naive. The doctrine of total depravity is as much a part of their creed as the fusser, but they don't place their faith in it, they place their faith in God, who saves and sanctifies dirty rotten sinners. Fussers place their faith in fault-finding. They insist that they can find a bent motive behind any behavior, yet cannot see the log of bent motives in their desire to discover specks.

Fussbudgets go broke. While they may account for withdrawals, they never make any deposits. They overtax and underproduce. They are not warm or welcoming to imports while being experts in exporting cold, calculating suspicions.

day no. 16,690: the Church Militant is still fighting and still alive

“The early Church was important while it was still insignificant, and certainly while it was still impotent. It was important solely because it was intolerable; and in that sense it is true to say that it was intolerable because it was intolerant. It was resented, because, in its own still and almost secret way, it had declared war. It had risen out of the ground to wreck the heaven and earth of heathenism. It did not try to destroy all that creation of gold and marble; but it contemplated a world without it. It dared to look right through it as though the gold and marble had been glass. Those who charged the Christians with burning down Rome with firebrands were slanderers; but they were at least far nearer to the nature of Christianity than those among the moderns who tell us that the Christians were a sort of ethical society, being martyred in a languid fashion for telling men they had a duty to their neighbors, and only mildly disliked because they were meek and mild. Herod had his place, therefore, in the miracle play of Bethlehem because he is the menace to the Church Militant and shows it from the first as under persecution and fighting for its life.” — G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

The church has never been a non-issue. From its inception it incited a most violent reaction. Herod attempted to kill one child by killing an entire classroom. The child had to die because He laid claim to the throne. The church cannot be tolerated because the church cannot tolerate the unrepentant. It refuses to go along to get along and so, it must go. And yet, here it is. The Church Militant may be under persecution and fighting for its life, but it is still fighting... and it is still alive.

"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'" — Abraham Kuyper

Enmity is inescapable. The seed of the serpent will never settle for a ceasefire. Evil is no more content with a ghetto of good than Good is content with an island of evil. Neither can tolerate even a hint of the other. God will sanctify the world as He will sanctify the saint. He will push His Spirit to every inch of every corner until everything is under His dominion. Every nook and cranny will crane its neck in His direction.

Isaiah 45:22

Look unto me, and be ye saved,

all the ends of the earth:

for I am God, and there is none else.

The chief end of all the ends of the earth is to begin with God. Everything is going somewhere and sooner or later, it's going to get there. That place is in Christ. All things, in heaven and on earth, will be summed up in its Savior.

Ephesians 1:9-10, 20-21

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... He raised [Christ] from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.

The current principalities obviously take exception to this. Those possessing power or might push back. Those trying to dominate don't like being dominated.

1 Corinthians 15:25-26

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

But none shall outlast Christ's attack. He has laid siege on the gates of hell and they cannot hold out. Until you see death eradicated, rest assured, Christ's enemies are being systematically stalked and hunted down.

day no. 16,689: laughingstock

"The sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal, or two friends talking over a pint of beer, or a man alone reading a book that interests him.” — C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Few things can beat a good laugh and a good draught, except perhaps a good book. Good company comes in many forms and all of them are from God. It is not good for man to be alone and God has given him many good companions. From good friends to good poetry and from good times to good silence, it is all from God. Under the sun, there is much to be done, but none of it is good outside of grace, and all of it is gracious in His good will.

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.

God is kind to the ungrateful. He gives even the gift of gratitude. There are no lack of excuses to say, "Thank You!" We are surrounded by invitations to blush. God helps us to give thanks as we receive His grace. May we all be of that good stock which is, in Him, a laughingstock.

day no. 16,688: alphabetical areas of interest list July 2024

"There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people."

— G.K. Chesterton

Interested people are interesting people.

Be interested... stay interesting.

Airsoft battles (went to first Christy battle in KC then one at Chip's)

Aquafresh (funny YouTube channel)

Atticus working (Fridays/Saturdays on the farm, our first working kid)

Baldwin IV (Lolo loved him in Kingdom of Heaven)

Baptisms (Knox and Eulalie scheduled to be baptized on July 7, 2024)

Based (a better way to be)

Bedrooms (big girls moved to basement)

Bentellect (YouTuber reading memes we've stumbled upon)

Bottle Rockets (added to the 4th this year and excited to do again next year)

Canon+ (subscription ran out, would like to renew when we can afford it)

Cantus (in the 600s and loving it)

Cigars (Atticus bought me some for Father's Day)

Date night (bigget kids make it possible to go out on dates with Paige)

Drywall (completed my first dry walling in basement big girl's room)

Eulalie Day (born May 18.2024)

Family table (still doing weekly round up before Wade Show and movie on Sundays)

Field Trip (not looking forward to planning and going out on this for the first time this Fall)

Fight Laugh Feast (not going to Dallas this year, can't afford it and get FLF every week at CCL)

Friday movies (every 3rd Friday w/ bigger kids began watching more grown up movies)

Goldie (need to get up and running for Paige and kids to use

Handy (achievement earned: learned how to drywall)

Headaches (have had a really good stretch since twins born and back to work without bad one)

Intermittent Fasting (still working really well for me, 20/4 M-SAT)

Jail (got put in Meta-klink after crossing 14k and having one reel reach 3.5 million)

Kingdom of Heaven (watched director's cut for first time with kids)

Knox Nolen Reuel (born May 18, 2024)

Lawn mowing (Atticus has a growing business)

Linkin Park (remix album has been a hit with the kids)

Lord of the Flies (reading with kids for Story Club)

Mind (I've been more distracted than usual lately, a bit foggy since twins were born)

November (excited for No Quarter and another election)

Out to Eat (hardly ever get fast food anymore)

Postmillitant (crossed 12k followers)

Postmillitant (1st reel with 1 million views)

Pound sand (great phrase I'm looking to use more often)

Quarters (noticing lots of quarter left in carts at Aldi lately)

Raise (got my annual merit increase in March)

Rey Mysterio, Jr (Lolo loves him, but NOT Dominic)

Sermon prep (was asked to preach on 9/29/24 at CCL: open fifth Sunday slot)

Skittles (Penelope's favorite REV FC character)

Substack (just started so StoicChristian could share -- we'll see where tat goes)

Surprise sister (we were expecting our 9th and got an unexpected 10th)

Swamp Sniper (kids have gotten into watching these airsoft events on YouTube)

Taco Spaghetti (new dinner favorite)

Taylor Nikolai (YouTuber we've enjoyed watching)

Ten Thousand (recently crossed 10k on IG for Postmillitant)

Twins (excited for a bunch of firsts)

Two-step verification (required now that I have 10k followers on IG)

Ulysses (thought about for Knox, but couldn't get passed most famous namesake)

Vacation (still having to use it or lose it with as much as I have accrued 208ish hrs)

Vacation (not sure if we will take a vacation this year since we just had twins)

Wade Show (enjoy weekly watch with the family before movie night on Sundays)

WWE (watching clips of Rey Mysterio)

Xtra (work was been busy lately with lots of extra)

Your Month (videos Finneas likes of months battling)

Zzzs (getting a surprisingly good amount of sleep considering two newborns)