One Piece at a Time

Proverbs 24:27 ESV

Prepare your work outside;

Get everything ready for yourself in the field,

And after that build your house.

It was hot, the zap all your strength out of you and put you to sleep, kind of heat. The windows on the truck were down but did not seem to get the air out like it should mostly because “They just don’t make them like they used to.” It is true, my old ’62 Ford F-100 complete with window vents and floor vents quickly circulated air. The new simply was not designed to circulate outside air, the air-conditioner was supposed to work! The new vehicle was designed with different ends in mind. When it is not designed for the old circumstances, it simply does not work as well. This was one of my many conversations with the young woman who had chosen to spend the day with me instead of butterfly tagging with her mom and siblings. It was her turn and she had the first right of refusal. She chose to help a friend split wood, and repair/ build equipment for his grandkids to enjoy, and talk theology. I even refused to allow her to bring a book to read, she had to talk with me for the two hours there and the three hours back, in the heat, and yet she still chose to go this morning with me.

What did I do today? Talked with a young woman about the pain of divorce, and how it does not end when a new marriage comes along. How it lingers in the broken hearts of children for decades even after forgiveness comes, scars remain after healing has occurred, and they may never fade away completely. We talked of children and how many a young girl thinks she wants. The frustrations her parents have finding houses and cars big enough seemed to be a determining factor in her number, this was a stern rebuke to me of what fruit may come from my disgruntled, complaining tongue. An afternoon of divine appointments outside of Sam’s Club talking of the fall of civilization or hopefully only its downgrade.

What was done today? Life was lived and sown into. The faith was slowly passed from one immortal soul to another. “How do you eat an elephant?” the joke goes, “one piece at a time”. This is how discipleship is done. One moment at a time, over and over again until eventually the elephant has been eaten. Talking of nothing and everything for all things are under the dominion of God’s chosen people. As you chose to walk with other Christians realize that Jesus spent a lot of mundane trips walking dirt roads with his disciples before they saw him walk on water. They were late for many meals before he fed the five thousand.

It is easy to want to jump to the end. To build the house then work the fields. The work of discipleship must be done before the joy of fellowship bears fruit. It is easy to think you can build your house and enjoy it and forget that the joyful Christian fellowship we read of in Acts was built on the work of opening homes to one another and breaking bread with one another “day by day” (Acts 2:46). Casual daily discipleship is work. Do the work.

Coram Deo  

Contrast

Galatians 3:9-10 ESV

So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in a Book of the Law, and do them.”

Star Wars was always a favorite of me and my brother, after it came out. Watching as the little green guy that talked funny would walk around and give sagely advice like “Do or do not, there is no try” was fun right before the lightsabers would come out. George Lucas’s movie was an instant success and has been a money-making phenomenon for thousands for almost fifty years. The direct contrast of good versus evil, white hats and black, is at the core of story. It resonates with all of humanity because we know that it is the story we have entered. An epic battle of massive significance and it galvanizes men and women of all ages back to seeing things as they are. So often the enemy wishes to find gray areas, longing for the muddy middle to when the day.

Coming to this section of Galatians, Paul is once again laying out the gospel. Coming back to the head of the family he speaks of Abraham and the beginning of the people. Going back to 1776 and the Declaration of Independence to prove his understanding of the faith was there at its inception. In laying out all that is at stake in knowing the gospel in relation to all false gospels, he lays out the stark contrast as that of blessing and cursing. The difference is not only significant, it is overwhelming and the matter is of eternal significance. This is God’s pattern from the inception of the Nation of Israel. He had them come to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal to receive the blessing and the curse of the covenant. Blessings would come to those that obey (Deuteronomy 28:1) and curses on those who would not “obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statues…” (Deut. 28:15)

Satan always works to muddy the waters. Trying to make the choice not clear and palpable. In the Garden the choice is straightforward, do you believe God or the Snake. The beauty of the tree, the luscious healthy look of its fruit, and its ability to open the mind to the knowledge of good and evil are all muddy water. Do Adam and Eve believe God or not, the choice is clear, blessing or curse. The Catechism we are teaching our children (A Catechism for Boys and Girls by Erroll Hulse) says it wonderfully; Why did they eat the forbidden fruit? Because they did not believe what God had said.

Augustine and Pelagius had a great fight over the light of scripture. Augustine holds to the firm foundation that we are saved by grace alone and Pelagius holding to works that save us. Augustine defeated such overt attack, but even as the argument is the same, the semi-pelagians would come in with a “nuanced” argument that would once again taint the waters introducing some works just as a small portion of salvation. Muddying the waters for many that would hold to the idea that some work, just a little one, was required of them more than their faith. And so the waters were muddied and many fall victim to the deception of faith + ___________.

Galatians is clear that all who would rely on works are cursed. Looking to China, the communist show confessions bear witness that those who wish to live according to the current line must show their works of support for the party and its party line. When they cross it, even accidentally, they must do public penance. This was seen in the poor internet personality that accidentally had a tank on his show the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the one he never learned about in school, yet he did penance faithfully.

It can be seen in the United States as politicians, pastors, and patsies that pander to the current narrative eventually fall victim to BLM, MeToo, or whatever the latest might be, and must stand and do penance.  The Curse of the law is real and palpable. If you will live by faith alone it must be in Christ Alone or you will fall and falter eventually buying the “ocean front property in Arizona.” The line between good and evil is stark and “it runs right through every human heart.” (Solzhenitsyn)

Coram deo

Too Late

1 Samuel 15:26 ESV

And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

There he stood barefoot in the snow with a shirt of hair, asking to be absolved of his sin. It was the 11^th century and a feud had erupted between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope. With the Emperor firing the Pope and the Pope excommunicating the emperor. After a turn of events, it appeared everyone was following the Pope and so Henry the IV stood outside in the snow asking for forgiveness. Pope Gregory the VII knew he could not refuse to absolve the sin, even though he knew Henry was not repentant, Pope Gregory absolved him. Years later, Henry would again remove the pope and install his own person in his place. Gregory would end his life in exile.

As we pick up the biblical narrative, we find that Saul has once again shown his true colors. He has gone to war for God but chose to fight for his own glory instead. Thinking he could get rich by partial obedience he chose to not obey God’s commanded destruction of the Amalekites. Samuel shows up to condemn him for his latest rejection of God’s Lordship. After being confronted with his afront Saul does “all the right things.” He verbally agrees with the judgment, explains his sinful motive, petitions for pardon, and asks to be allowed to worship. How could Samuel reject such a penitent king? Yet, that is exactly what Samuel does. He chooses to completely reject Saul because God has already rejected him. Letting him know that he will not go in and play nice as if all has been set in order! He turns to leave and Saul grabs Samuel which rips Samuel’s robe.

There is no shortage of false penance at our house. It is most evident when the false tears and sobs do not have the appropriate effect. Then the eye rolls, the feet stomp, the grumbling under the breath comes. This is the heart that has not repented of anything. Just distraught he was caught and is trying to lesson whatever rebuke might be coming. Regularly my posture towards my sin is this way. It is most evident as we look at Saul. It was the people’s idea and my fear of man that has led me to this. “My sin is bad, but it is understandable.” When David was caught in sin and exposed by the Prophet Nathan, David gave no excuses. He does not say “but she was really good looking” or “I was tired and not ready for the temptation” he simply recognizes his sin for what it is and accepts responsibility for it. Too often my heart mimics Nathans. When I have wronged my children by my lack of self-control and allowed my anger to vent itself. Knowing I have sinned I seek to apologize. Yes, they are at the cause but is there repentance when I apologize accompanied with pointing out their portion of the problem?

How many died because Saul never repented? He would go to his grave thinking he was God. Attempting to commit suicide and begging others to kill him (assisted suicide), not wishing to believe God was sovereign over the moment of his death. He would deny the sovereignty of God until the end, taking thousands of Israelites with him. We must never be deceived into thinking that sin is contained in any way. It seeps into all who are around us. Whether it be homosexuality, promiscuous heterosexuality, infanticide (Murder of babies/ abortion), pride, anger, or any other pet sin we or our society might choose to accept today, it has devastating and drastic effects for YEARS to come on THOUSANDS of families. This was but one man’s sin, what of when thousands join in it?

Repentance is the only way to destroy the sin from our lives and even then, David’s sin would cost thousands their lives still. Yet, he was not allowing it to grow any larger. Are you allowing your sin to grow larger, knowing it, but seeking to justify it, giving excuses for why it was “understandable” in those conditions. Let us not think because other sinners can empathize with our sinful desires that that somehow justifies a portion of them! You do not know the moment when your unrepentant heart has finally become so callused that it will no longer please your creator!

Coram Deo

Fog of War

1 Samuel 6:2 ESV

And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place”

My brother and I had been saving up all our money for the summer. We had a jar and mowing money went into it, allowance money went into it, and even birthday money went into it. We finally saved up the necessary amount for the video game. It was a strategy game that pitted very different groups against each other. To master it you would go from quest-to-quest building cities and defenses while either attacking or defending depending on necessity. As we started to play the game, we found there was a specific feature that was very annoying. It was called “the-fog-of-war” when turned on you could go and explore but the knowledge you had would be dated to what you saw, and anything could change. How should I defend when I do not know what the other guy is preparing? How should I attack when I do not know what his defenses are? That level of reality was not something we enjoyed in the game so we found the setting and turned it off, free to enjoy our game with out the frustration of reality.

That frustration is what we see with the Philistines. As they have found themselves in possession of a religious artifact that they wanted to use for propaganda they found a lot of odd things started to happen. At first it was the desecration of their temple, then the disease, then the reality that both of those seemed to travel with the ark. They did not want to seem superstitious but the evidence was mounting and they had to do something! So, they asked the question everyone wants to know, “How should I act to gain the end I desire?” The child that watched their parents go through a painful divorce, and was shuffled from one house to another, grows up and wants to know what they should do so that does not happen to them or their children. Seeking to achieve a particular goal we act in the way we believe will help us attain that goal. This goes for the Christian and pagan alike. The unknown faces us how should we act? God has placed us in the bounds of time such that even in-action is an action that has effect. We are always acting, those actions may passive or active, but it is action.

The Philistine lords asked the question and were given an answer that was reasonable. The God of Israel was punishing them and so they must reverently return his ark to his people. Yet, even in this they would make sure that it was true. They stacked the deck against the outcome they thought was true. The cows, full of milk, would return to their balling calves to have gain the relief they desired. The unnatural behavior of the cows proved the spiritual realities of what was happening to the Philistines, to them and to all. That is also still true today. When we see unnatural behavior, we must understand that a spiritual reality is guiding it. When we see men and women forsake natural relations, we must recognize that it is a spiritual reality in their soul that is binding them. That is true for those that would deny themselves food that they might fast, drawing close to God, and for those that would deny woman was made for man.

When all the facts are known and believed the action is obvious. I heard this morning that ninety-five percent of monkey pox cases occur with gay men, and ninety-nine percent are with men in general. If this is an epidemic that requires action by the government it is obvious what the action should be. Outlaw gay sex for four weeks (the illness lasts 4 weeks) “to flatten the curve.” If you wished to pursue public health the knowledge that cervical-cancer is overwhelmingly found in women with multiple sexual partners should lead to further government action, perhaps, for public health, monogamous heterosexual relations should be the “law of the land.”

When you realize that the government knows this and recommends measures that are least effective and/or often counter productive you must ask “what would cause them to deny the NATURAL response to the problem?” Their goal is truly the destruction of man through the destruction of our society, a society that has fostered human flourishing in the past. To be a bible believing Christian we must confront the reality that we have an enemy set against immortal souls and those institutions that would allow for mortal man to see clearly the facts of his life.

Cruce, Dum Spiro, Fido    

Even a Fool

Isaiah 35:8 ESV

And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it.

It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

“Who is doing family worship?” was the question put to the men’s Sunday School class. We had been going covering the book Family Shepherds by Voddie Baucham and in the open hearted but less than tactful manner that came naturally to the teacher, the question was put to the class, after having admitted he had never even heard of such a thing. The book had defined the basics of family worship as: scripture is read, a song is sung, and prayer is given. After we had this definition, I was able to sheepishly raise my hand, with a few other saints. On more than one occasion in my life I have stumbled upon God’s grace working such that this verse declaring the blest final state of creation and “the Way of Holiness” makes me stand and rejoice that this fool could be so guided!

The music wasn’t much to my liking. For the majority of my upbringing my family had gotten up and went to the early service. The service where the up-and-coming church would ask those that loved their hymnal to go so that new songs could be tried in the main service where those not so dedicated could casually get up on Sunday morning to attend the 10:45 service. Yet, it was a faithful group of older saints who loved the songs they had known since childhood and sang with gusto and joy such that the pleasure of the Hymn book was conveyed to at least one more generation. The memory of learning to read words and notes from this book next to my father as his big fingers would go from word to word singing in his deep base, accented by the deep rumble of the pipe organ filling the room with its joyful sound. But for all of my love of such things God had moved. Refusing to choose our church based on music Kelly and I found a church of joyful saints that sang songs of a more modern variety. This brought sorrow and frustration to me that pressed me to action.

My Children needed to know the old songs. They needed to feel the love and joy that comes from the Hymns that have been sung for a century or more. And so, pressed on by my discontent, I bought two Baptist Hymnals (now eight) and we would sit down with our three-year-old and newborn to sing a couple hymns every night, read a short scripture and pray. A fool’s love for the old songs he was raised with being passed on to his children had me blundering into family worship. Passing my faith and loves onto my children simply because I didn’t care for the music being sung at church, set the pattern in our lives that has endured for eleven years now. Not because I was wise, theologically astute, or convicted by my children’s need, but because God will use even my childish frustrations to help me grow in my faith.

This last Lord’s Day we sang a song I had never sung before, “My Only Comfort”, I had found it in a presbyterian hymnal. It required more expertise and practice from the leaders than we are used to because the words weren’t written to be sung. The words were written to be known. They were put to music to assist us in memorizing the great truth of our comfort. Taking the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism and making it into a Hymn for us to sing. It is not due to our wisdom, foresight, or training that we stay in the way. Our assurance does not come from the disciplined Christian training we received from the sweet old ladies on Sunday morning with their flannelgraphs. The providential hand of God has “hemmed us in behind and before” he “has laid his hand upon” us (Psalm 139:5), his “word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105), and our hope is in him who holds us and sustains us. His care and love for his people is such that The Way we are upon is so firm, sure, and well-constructed that even a fool couldn’t get lost! What a comfort for those of us who are often foolish!

Cruce, Dum Spiro, Fido

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly father, not a a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.