"If unwilling to rise in the morning, say to thyself, 'I awake to do the work of a man.'" -- Marcus Aurelius
Imagine what your day would look like if you woke up saying to yourself, "I need to get up and do the work of a man today."
I wonder what many guy's lives would look like if that is what got them out of bed, if that vision is what led them through their day and if that sentiment was on their mind as they closed their eyes at the day's end, "Today, I did the work of a man."
The work of a man is fulfilling the responsibilities in keeping with masculinity. It is noble work. It is hard. It is made for men and men were made for it. It is more difficult than what a boy would do and requires more of a man that what he would do by default, but it is the work that God has put men on earth here to do.
The dirty, difficult, worthy work of being a man.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
day no. 14,989: annihilation and erosion
"There are two ways to use military force to impose our will on an enemy. The first is to make the enemy helpless to resist us by physically destroying their military capabilities.This has historically been called a strategy of annihilation.
The second approach is to convince the enemy that accepting our terms will be less painful than continuing to resist. This is a strategy of erosion, using military force to erode the enemy leadership’s will. In such a strategy, we use military force to raise the costs of resistance higher than the enemy is willing to pay."
You can destroy an enemy's weapons or you can destroy your enemy's faith in their weapons. Achieving either of these objectives will help you win the war.
God has given us many weapons with which to fight and defend ourselves: His Son, His Spirit, His Word, prayer, baptism, communion, your neighbor, the local church, etc... Any of these, when wielded well, can do great damage to the darkness and the temptations it hurls in our direction.
The enemy, therefore, seeks to cut us off from them by making us too busy to read or pray, too resentful to forgive, too nervous to get baptized, too sensitive to take communion, to picky to pick a local church, too depressed or too proud to reach out, etc...
If the enemy cannot keep us from these weapons, he will attempt to keep us from using them by eroding our faith in them.
What good is the Bible against current affairs? What can an old book say about modern problems? Why should I pray if God is just going to do what He wants anyways? Why go to church when I could just as easily listen to spiritual music or a podcast at home? Why confess my sins when it only makes me feel worse?
If the enemy can erode your confidence in the weapons you have, it is the functional equivalent of disarming you. And all the while ammunition is being smuggled away from the guns we no longer believe to be firing properly or effectively.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11
Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
We know what Satan is up to. This does not need to catch us off guard.
And let us not forget, these strategies can be employed by us as well. We can diffuse the devil's bombs by refusing to believe in them. We can disarm his arsenal by cutting their power out of our lives. We can annihilate the sinful habits of lying and hiding sin by dragging them into the day light of confession, faith and forgiveness. We can watch them shrivel up and see the life go out of them. We can cut out sinful eyes, cut off sinful hands and enter eternal life. We can wear away the success of his schemes against us by standing firm in Christ. And rather than being wore down, we can be sharpened to a point in the process.
The second approach is to convince the enemy that accepting our terms will be less painful than continuing to resist. This is a strategy of erosion, using military force to erode the enemy leadership’s will. In such a strategy, we use military force to raise the costs of resistance higher than the enemy is willing to pay."
You can destroy an enemy's weapons or you can destroy your enemy's faith in their weapons. Achieving either of these objectives will help you win the war.
God has given us many weapons with which to fight and defend ourselves: His Son, His Spirit, His Word, prayer, baptism, communion, your neighbor, the local church, etc... Any of these, when wielded well, can do great damage to the darkness and the temptations it hurls in our direction.
The enemy, therefore, seeks to cut us off from them by making us too busy to read or pray, too resentful to forgive, too nervous to get baptized, too sensitive to take communion, to picky to pick a local church, too depressed or too proud to reach out, etc...
If the enemy cannot keep us from these weapons, he will attempt to keep us from using them by eroding our faith in them.
What good is the Bible against current affairs? What can an old book say about modern problems? Why should I pray if God is just going to do what He wants anyways? Why go to church when I could just as easily listen to spiritual music or a podcast at home? Why confess my sins when it only makes me feel worse?
If the enemy can erode your confidence in the weapons you have, it is the functional equivalent of disarming you. And all the while ammunition is being smuggled away from the guns we no longer believe to be firing properly or effectively.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11
Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
We know what Satan is up to. This does not need to catch us off guard.
And let us not forget, these strategies can be employed by us as well. We can diffuse the devil's bombs by refusing to believe in them. We can disarm his arsenal by cutting their power out of our lives. We can annihilate the sinful habits of lying and hiding sin by dragging them into the day light of confession, faith and forgiveness. We can watch them shrivel up and see the life go out of them. We can cut out sinful eyes, cut off sinful hands and enter eternal life. We can wear away the success of his schemes against us by standing firm in Christ. And rather than being wore down, we can be sharpened to a point in the process.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
day no. 14,988: delaying hard work does not make it easier later
"By avoiding labor and suffering , I shall draw on myself a thousand times more than I avoid." - Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor
When we put off hard work, we create harder work for ourselves in the future. Hard work doesn't get easier by being put off until later. It typically, as Baxter points out, gets harder.
Whatever made something difficult to begin with will not be made less difficult by delaying it. Hard things become harder and the habit of putting off hard things will be more hardened. Thus making the likelihood of doing hard things even less likely as they become harder and you become softer.
When we put off hard work, we create harder work for ourselves in the future. Hard work doesn't get easier by being put off until later. It typically, as Baxter points out, gets harder.
Whatever made something difficult to begin with will not be made less difficult by delaying it. Hard things become harder and the habit of putting off hard things will be more hardened. Thus making the likelihood of doing hard things even less likely as they become harder and you become softer.
Monday, November 4, 2019
day no. 14,987: rocco is 4 today!!!
Rocco Henry Warfield Van Voorst, you are officially four years old today!!!
You are an amazing son and I'm very proud of you. I love seeing you and interacting with you. You love cuddling and sitting on my lap when we watch television. You, like your brother Finneas, have taken to the habit of walking around the house in your undies. You always choose Raisin Bran for cereal night. You sometimes like your hair done "like Atticus" which means parted with a swoop in front and sometimes you want it done like "a fauxhawk" combed to the middle. You love playing with your big brothers and fancy yourself a big kid, but also enjoy playing with Laurelai where the odds are more evenly matched. You often fall asleep in the van if the car ride gets long enough and you love sneaking sips of milk from your cup in the fridge in between meals. You can be trusted to play outside as long as another big kid is around. You are a good little brother and a great little son. I love everything about you little man and pray for you every morning on my walk to work.
You are an amazing son and I'm very proud of you. I love seeing you and interacting with you. You love cuddling and sitting on my lap when we watch television. You, like your brother Finneas, have taken to the habit of walking around the house in your undies. You always choose Raisin Bran for cereal night. You sometimes like your hair done "like Atticus" which means parted with a swoop in front and sometimes you want it done like "a fauxhawk" combed to the middle. You love playing with your big brothers and fancy yourself a big kid, but also enjoy playing with Laurelai where the odds are more evenly matched. You often fall asleep in the van if the car ride gets long enough and you love sneaking sips of milk from your cup in the fridge in between meals. You can be trusted to play outside as long as another big kid is around. You are a good little brother and a great little son. I love everything about you little man and pray for you every morning on my walk to work.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
day no. 14,986: a battle won is an enemy converted or consumed
“Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.” —Winston Churchill
If the goal is to stop the enemy from firing upon you, you can accomplish this by decreasing the enemy's numbers. You can also accomplish this by flexing in such a way as to beat the fire out of them without beating the life out of them.
The best leaders discover ways to defeat their enemies without having to eliminate them. The best way to destroy an enemy is by turning him into an ally. The next best way, of course, is to destroy him. You can only do what you can do at the end of the day, and some enemies won't stop fighting until they stop breathing. Some refuse to have the fight beat out of them and thus require the light to be beat out of them. They provide no other way to end the altercation. Sin, Satan and death fall into this category. They never have enough, never quit, never lay down arms. They will continue to war until they require Jesus to snuff them out completely. And one day, by His grace, He will.
1 Corinthians 15:26
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
If the goal is to stop the enemy from firing upon you, you can accomplish this by decreasing the enemy's numbers. You can also accomplish this by flexing in such a way as to beat the fire out of them without beating the life out of them.
The best leaders discover ways to defeat their enemies without having to eliminate them. The best way to destroy an enemy is by turning him into an ally. The next best way, of course, is to destroy him. You can only do what you can do at the end of the day, and some enemies won't stop fighting until they stop breathing. Some refuse to have the fight beat out of them and thus require the light to be beat out of them. They provide no other way to end the altercation. Sin, Satan and death fall into this category. They never have enough, never quit, never lay down arms. They will continue to war until they require Jesus to snuff them out completely. And one day, by His grace, He will.
1 Corinthians 15:26
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Saturday, November 2, 2019
day no. 14,985: defend when inadequate, attack when abudant
“Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack. One defends when his strength is inadequate; he attacks when it is abundant.” —Sun Tzu
If you are an immovable object, you can retain and hold on to whatever you hold precious, but you cannot stop the assaults from coming. You can rest knowing that they can't get through, but you cannot find any rest from their banging about at your walls.
Victory is only possible by leaving the security and invincibility of the walls and attacking the enemy at its source.
"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." -- Sun Tzu
The time for getting strong is when the enemy isn't at your door. During that time, you can heal from former battles, bulk up for future ones and prepare and plan for the next altercation. This isn't just passively waiting for the next time the enemy knocks at your door but actively going out and attacking them by busting through theirs.
I talked with my friend, Josiah, more about this last night (10/15/19) after Connection Group and developed this idea a bit more.
"Don't let the enemy win" is an inadequate battle plan. It is certainly part of the plan, but it cannot be the entire plan. The plan must be "win the battle." If the strategy is merely don't let the bad guys destroy everything we hold dear, our vision is not up to the task.You need a bigger vision to survive, a grander aim in order to succeed.
Think of it in terms of a football game.
"Don't let the other team into our end zone," is an inadequate game plan. The goal is "win the game," not just "don't give up too many points." Part of the plan to win the game must involve limiting the number of points you allow the enemy to score, but it must also involve advancing your team's cause toward the goal of scoring points in the enemy's end zone in order to have more points than them when all is said and done.
If we are fighting from a place of defense, we are reacting to our enemy and allowing them to set the agenda. If we lose, they win. If we win, we merely keep what we have. However, if we go out and attack, we take the risk of losing out there, but the failure is one of not expanding our kingdom beyond our walls as far as we would have liked. Whereas if we fail on the defensive, we lose everything we have. Attacking requires a vision of where we want to go and setting the agenda of what we intend to accomplish and impose on the world around us. Merely playing defense is resisting the enemy's vision for your life.
While God may have plans to prosper you and not to harm you, our enemy has plans for us as well: to hurt and harm us, to shrink us and shame us. Our strategy cannot merely be to fend off the devil and his wiles, but to run toward God, embrace His purpose for our lives and do damage to the darkness along the way.
If you are an immovable object, you can retain and hold on to whatever you hold precious, but you cannot stop the assaults from coming. You can rest knowing that they can't get through, but you cannot find any rest from their banging about at your walls.
Victory is only possible by leaving the security and invincibility of the walls and attacking the enemy at its source.
"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." -- Sun Tzu
The time for getting strong is when the enemy isn't at your door. During that time, you can heal from former battles, bulk up for future ones and prepare and plan for the next altercation. This isn't just passively waiting for the next time the enemy knocks at your door but actively going out and attacking them by busting through theirs.
I talked with my friend, Josiah, more about this last night (10/15/19) after Connection Group and developed this idea a bit more.
"Don't let the enemy win" is an inadequate battle plan. It is certainly part of the plan, but it cannot be the entire plan. The plan must be "win the battle." If the strategy is merely don't let the bad guys destroy everything we hold dear, our vision is not up to the task.You need a bigger vision to survive, a grander aim in order to succeed.
Think of it in terms of a football game.
"Don't let the other team into our end zone," is an inadequate game plan. The goal is "win the game," not just "don't give up too many points." Part of the plan to win the game must involve limiting the number of points you allow the enemy to score, but it must also involve advancing your team's cause toward the goal of scoring points in the enemy's end zone in order to have more points than them when all is said and done.
If we are fighting from a place of defense, we are reacting to our enemy and allowing them to set the agenda. If we lose, they win. If we win, we merely keep what we have. However, if we go out and attack, we take the risk of losing out there, but the failure is one of not expanding our kingdom beyond our walls as far as we would have liked. Whereas if we fail on the defensive, we lose everything we have. Attacking requires a vision of where we want to go and setting the agenda of what we intend to accomplish and impose on the world around us. Merely playing defense is resisting the enemy's vision for your life.
While God may have plans to prosper you and not to harm you, our enemy has plans for us as well: to hurt and harm us, to shrink us and shame us. Our strategy cannot merely be to fend off the devil and his wiles, but to run toward God, embrace His purpose for our lives and do damage to the darkness along the way.
Friday, November 1, 2019
day no. 14,984: the interplay of science and art in warfare
"Various aspects of war fall principally in the realm of science, which is the methodical application of the empirical laws of nature. The science of war includes those activities directly subject to the laws of ballistics, mechanics, and like disciplines; for example, the application of fires, the effects of weapons, and the rates and methods of movement and resupply. However, science does not describe the whole phenomenon.
An even greater part of the conduct of war falls under the realm of art, which is the employment of creative or intuitive skills. Art includes the creative, situational application of scientific knowledge through judgment and experience, and so the art of war subsumes the science of war. The art of war requires the intuitive ability to grasp the essence of a unique military situation and the creative ability to devise a practical solution. It involves conceiving strategies and tactics and developing plans of action to suit a given situation."
In order to win wars, you must have knowledge and creativity. You must engage the interplay of principles and practices, maxims and methodologies, tenets and tactics.
With respect to warfighting, you must have the scientific ability to develop technology and the creative foresight to compel you to further technological advancement combined with the technical knowledge of how the machinery works and the creative ability to maneuver the tools available in unexpected and overwhelming beauty.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
The same is true in Biblical counsel. One must possess knowledge of the wisdom the Bible conveys first and foremost, but then one must have the creative, artistic ability to draw those timeless truths to the exact point and time in which they are needed. The words we speak should be chosen from the Words God has spoken, which requires intimate familiarity with His entire counsel, but it also requires creative nuance and strategy. We must know what words to say, in which order and at what intervals in order to deploy them most strategically and efficaciously.
Our words should fit the occasion we are in. We do our best counseling when we find timely wisdom drawn from the well of timeless truth.
"We thus conclude that the conduct of war is fundamentally a dynamic process of human competition requiring both the knowledge of science and the creativity of art but driven
ultimately by the power of human will."
At the end of the day, knowing God's Word and having the creative capacity to know what to say still requires someone to say something. Someone needs to read their Bibles, meditate upon it, read the person sitting across from them, think about them and then speak.
An even greater part of the conduct of war falls under the realm of art, which is the employment of creative or intuitive skills. Art includes the creative, situational application of scientific knowledge through judgment and experience, and so the art of war subsumes the science of war. The art of war requires the intuitive ability to grasp the essence of a unique military situation and the creative ability to devise a practical solution. It involves conceiving strategies and tactics and developing plans of action to suit a given situation."
In order to win wars, you must have knowledge and creativity. You must engage the interplay of principles and practices, maxims and methodologies, tenets and tactics.
With respect to warfighting, you must have the scientific ability to develop technology and the creative foresight to compel you to further technological advancement combined with the technical knowledge of how the machinery works and the creative ability to maneuver the tools available in unexpected and overwhelming beauty.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
The same is true in Biblical counsel. One must possess knowledge of the wisdom the Bible conveys first and foremost, but then one must have the creative, artistic ability to draw those timeless truths to the exact point and time in which they are needed. The words we speak should be chosen from the Words God has spoken, which requires intimate familiarity with His entire counsel, but it also requires creative nuance and strategy. We must know what words to say, in which order and at what intervals in order to deploy them most strategically and efficaciously.
Our words should fit the occasion we are in. We do our best counseling when we find timely wisdom drawn from the well of timeless truth.
"We thus conclude that the conduct of war is fundamentally a dynamic process of human competition requiring both the knowledge of science and the creativity of art but driven
ultimately by the power of human will."
At the end of the day, knowing God's Word and having the creative capacity to know what to say still requires someone to say something. Someone needs to read their Bibles, meditate upon it, read the person sitting across from them, think about them and then speak.
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