Some
would deride the vision of those girls who choose to stay at home and
prepare for being a wife to a man and a mother of children. We're seen
as lazy, and purposeless, and idle-- while our counterparts are
attending college and beginning careers in the wide world.
Even
we can begin to become lax -- it is so easy to let ourselves live a
smooth life. To stop striving. To take this season of our lives to
ourselves-- after all, we don't have a family to care for yet, and we do
enough with helping keeping our parent's households running, don't we?
It's okay if we are soft on ourselves, for after all, there's no young
man on the horizon, and af-----
Stop.
Look.
Girls, listen to me. If those girls who are going into the work force
are pouring these years into hard study and preparation.... to get a
_job_?.... shouldn't we maybe..... take our preparation even more
seriously? We're not just trying to gain skills to earn money. We're
right now learning to become queens of our own households. We will have
souls to train and mouths to feed and bodies to care for. We will have
households to run and businesses to look after and our husband's vision
to assist. It will be our responsibility to see our families taken care
of the best way possible.
If
a career girl is putting in long hours of college for her future job,
we should be throwing our whole selves into learning every skill we
possibly can to best care for our husbands and children 'someday'.
Believe me, 'someday' is so, so close. You can't afford to lose the time
you have now.
You can't.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Living Intentionally: The Key to a Godly, Productive Life
Are you a learner? Are you striving to further your knowledge and gain understanding? Or are you just passively living your life, hoping you'll absorb by osmosis the wisdom around you?
Godly people and successful people have this in common:
they live intentionally.
A wise man shall hear, and increase in learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
(Proverbs 1:5-6)
You don't gain much knowledge just by listening. You have to actively listen, intentionally gain wisdom,seek understanding. It doesn't just happen. It takes work.
Will you live intentionally today?
Godly people and successful people have this in common:
they live intentionally.
A wise man shall hear, and increase in learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
(Proverbs 1:5-6)
You don't gain much knowledge just by listening. You have to actively listen, intentionally gain wisdom,seek understanding. It doesn't just happen. It takes work.
Will you live intentionally today?
(linked article on being an intentional reader and getting the most out of reading: http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/how-to-read-a-book/ )
History vs. Devout Humanism
Moreover, pietism, because it makes man primary in salvation (by denying God's sovereignty and predestination), sees all things in terms of man rather than in terms of God. Thus, to cite a specific example, a minister, totally pietistic, saw the meaning of all events in relationship to himself. If a storm upsets his plans, it meant that Satan was trying to hinder him. If he foolishly made a costly blunder, it meant the Lord had brought it to pass to teach him something. The meaning of all events was no larger than himself; the whole universe revolved around frustrating or abetting him. Trains were late, or on time, because the Lord (or Satan in some cases) had a special purpose in it for him.
Such an attitude is not unusual. It has been fostered by generations of preaching. It reduces the sovereign and totally personal God to the level of a witch or warlock playing esoteric games with people. It does not make God personal; it makes God capricious, and a capricious God is ultimately impersonal, because He has no inner consistency or nature but merely unconscious drives and impulses.
Moreover, this minister's attitude was really a form of devout humanism, not Christianity. In a biblical theology, all things have reference to God, and God is totally in control of all things, so that nothing can be understood without reference to Him. In a consistent humanism, all things have reference to man, and nothing has any meaning apart from man. To understand the meaning of anything means to understand it as it relates to man. Moreover, in a theocentric universe, there is between man and God a whole multiplicity of secondary causes and consequences, so that, although God can act directly, He normally acts through His total work of history, which is totally ordained by Him; even God's miraculous acts within history are a part of that total context, the primary meaning of which is primarily determined by Him....
Thus, Charles Wesley rejoiced when his wife and daughter were hideously pockmarked following smallpox, because, therefore, "they cannot fall heir to sin of vanity." Such a view means that a man's essential attitude towards the world is that it is something to be rescued from rather than something to conquer as God's vicegerent.
----------
Rushdoony, from Institutes, Vol. 2
Such an attitude is not unusual. It has been fostered by generations of preaching. It reduces the sovereign and totally personal God to the level of a witch or warlock playing esoteric games with people. It does not make God personal; it makes God capricious, and a capricious God is ultimately impersonal, because He has no inner consistency or nature but merely unconscious drives and impulses.
Moreover, this minister's attitude was really a form of devout humanism, not Christianity. In a biblical theology, all things have reference to God, and God is totally in control of all things, so that nothing can be understood without reference to Him. In a consistent humanism, all things have reference to man, and nothing has any meaning apart from man. To understand the meaning of anything means to understand it as it relates to man. Moreover, in a theocentric universe, there is between man and God a whole multiplicity of secondary causes and consequences, so that, although God can act directly, He normally acts through His total work of history, which is totally ordained by Him; even God's miraculous acts within history are a part of that total context, the primary meaning of which is primarily determined by Him....
Thus, Charles Wesley rejoiced when his wife and daughter were hideously pockmarked following smallpox, because, therefore, "they cannot fall heir to sin of vanity." Such a view means that a man's essential attitude towards the world is that it is something to be rescued from rather than something to conquer as God's vicegerent.
----------
Rushdoony, from Institutes, Vol. 2
Friday, February 27, 2015
Safe in the Harbor
Here's a couple verses from one of my new favorite songs (the version I have is sung by David Coffin). Some inspiration really is worth putting down - solid stuff.
-----
Some men are sailors, but most are just dreamers
Held fast by the anchors they forge in their minds;
Who in their hearts know they'll never sail over deep water
To search for a treasure they're afraid they won't find.
So in Shelter Harbor they cling to their anchors
Back down their boilers and shut down their steam;
And wait for the sailors to return with the bright treasures
That will fan the dull embers and fire up their dreams.
And some men are schemers who laugh at the dreamers
Take the gold from the sailors and turn it to dross;
They're men in a prison, they're men without vision
Whose only horizon is profit and loss.
So when storm clouds come sailing across your blue ocean
Hold fast to your dreaming for all that you're worth;
For as long as there's dreamers, there will always be sailors
Bringing back their bright treasures from the corners of earth.
-- Eric Bogle
-----
Some men are sailors, but most are just dreamers
Held fast by the anchors they forge in their minds;
Who in their hearts know they'll never sail over deep water
To search for a treasure they're afraid they won't find.
So in Shelter Harbor they cling to their anchors
Back down their boilers and shut down their steam;
And wait for the sailors to return with the bright treasures
That will fan the dull embers and fire up their dreams.
And some men are schemers who laugh at the dreamers
Take the gold from the sailors and turn it to dross;
They're men in a prison, they're men without vision
Whose only horizon is profit and loss.
So when storm clouds come sailing across your blue ocean
Hold fast to your dreaming for all that you're worth;
For as long as there's dreamers, there will always be sailors
Bringing back their bright treasures from the corners of earth.
-- Eric Bogle
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Hymn
Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget
the wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet,
and crown Him Lord of all.
the wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet,
and crown Him Lord of all.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Of Sheep and Conquerors
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
We are hardpressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -
Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body."
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
Today's sermon topic was Matthew 5:10-12, in which Jesus introduced the correct understanding of persecution. Pastor Jim did a fine job of expounding the principles involved. Since I was already working on a post centered on Romans 8:36-37, I think I will combine the information for a point-by-point explanation of the Christian doctrine concerning persecution.
1. Every Christian who lives with the goal of godliness will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). A careful definition of persecution is an attack (whether verbal or physical) by someone with unrighteous motives on a person in whom the Spirit dwells. This is the rite of passage, in varying degrees, for all Christians; it must be decided when one counts the cost (Luke 14:28-31) and decides to lose their life in order to find it in the end.
2. Persecution is simply an outworking of carrying the cross in the man's environment. Once the man decides to build the tower and fight the war, he must take up the cross in order to accomplish these objectives. The man may know to fear God and not man, but in order to learn wisdom he must enter into the paradigm of men and remain God-fearing in order to make the cross-carrying worthwhile. The proverb commands us to buy truth and sell it not; so too, the man must determine the wisdom of God as superior to his own thinking and feeling.
3. Cross-carrying is understood very differently by the world as compared to the knowledge God has ordained. The world believes in natural selection, and in such a paradigm living by God's standards is considered the conduct of sheep; the bottom of the food chain. However, such a paradigm of persecution did not exist during Israel's time, in which they were conquering their local area and had the civil authority to fight against (and in God's permission, conquer - which we are not now permitted to do, see Deuteronomy 20) persecuting nations. During a period in which the church is a minority can we expect it, as in the case of the Romans to whom Paul wrote. As the earth and its institutions come progressively under the purview of Christianity, justice raises her banner and the unrighteous are condemned in their acts (Psalm 82; 94:1-2, 20-23; 125:1-3; 149:6-9; Romans 13:4; etc). Unfortunately, due to the conduct of some Christians at various time, who acted so sheepish as to confirm the viewpoint of the unrighteous, Christian men and women were needlessly slaughtered when they had means to defend themselves. We must always prevent evil when we can within God's construct of civil and institutional government.
4. We are more than conquerors whether in flight or in legal battle. Our cross-carrying involves laying our lives down against an enemy who has declared war on us by virtue of our existence. Such a battle is long-term and may involve times of relative peace when the forces of evil realize they cannot at that moment overcome us, but there is no fellowship between light and darkness; the natural man is at enmity with God (Colossians 1:21, Romans 8:7). It is our choice during this war to determine whether we will believe in God that we are more than conquerors and prove it, or conform to the worldly notion that we are sheep in the natural hierarchy.
5. The correct answer to future persecution is not pragmatism but consistent application of cross-carrying. Two principles coincide: first, he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much; second, he who loses his life now will find it, and vice versa. The man who will be rewarded with the fruits of the Spirit and a better resurrection must be living in such a manner to receive both, whether in the days of peace or the days of war.
6. Shame is yet another topic which we must address from God's viewpoint, or we will succumb to the fear of man. Shame involves insufficiency. To man, shame is found by non-conformance to a lifestyle the present culture (by its many manifestations) considers secure. To God, shame is determined by relying on something which is in fact unsupported by God's establishment of truth. It is a war of man's order versus God's order, and one will win out. Because Christ held to God's order, He despised the shame of men, and took on Himself the cross for His church (Philippians 2:7-9, Hebrews 12:2-3).
7. Finally, cross-carrying, whether in days of war or days of peace, has merit in God's eyes; in this we are more than conquerors. As our minds are renewed to the wisdom of God, we come to understand that the testing of our faith in perseverance produces patience, which proceeds to equip us with all the armory of God. Such progress involves rejoicing.
"As it is written, 'For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.'
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
Romans 8:36-37
We are hardpressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -
Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body."
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
Today's sermon topic was Matthew 5:10-12, in which Jesus introduced the correct understanding of persecution. Pastor Jim did a fine job of expounding the principles involved. Since I was already working on a post centered on Romans 8:36-37, I think I will combine the information for a point-by-point explanation of the Christian doctrine concerning persecution.
1. Every Christian who lives with the goal of godliness will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). A careful definition of persecution is an attack (whether verbal or physical) by someone with unrighteous motives on a person in whom the Spirit dwells. This is the rite of passage, in varying degrees, for all Christians; it must be decided when one counts the cost (Luke 14:28-31) and decides to lose their life in order to find it in the end.
2. Persecution is simply an outworking of carrying the cross in the man's environment. Once the man decides to build the tower and fight the war, he must take up the cross in order to accomplish these objectives. The man may know to fear God and not man, but in order to learn wisdom he must enter into the paradigm of men and remain God-fearing in order to make the cross-carrying worthwhile. The proverb commands us to buy truth and sell it not; so too, the man must determine the wisdom of God as superior to his own thinking and feeling.
3. Cross-carrying is understood very differently by the world as compared to the knowledge God has ordained. The world believes in natural selection, and in such a paradigm living by God's standards is considered the conduct of sheep; the bottom of the food chain. However, such a paradigm of persecution did not exist during Israel's time, in which they were conquering their local area and had the civil authority to fight against (and in God's permission, conquer - which we are not now permitted to do, see Deuteronomy 20) persecuting nations. During a period in which the church is a minority can we expect it, as in the case of the Romans to whom Paul wrote. As the earth and its institutions come progressively under the purview of Christianity, justice raises her banner and the unrighteous are condemned in their acts (Psalm 82; 94:1-2, 20-23; 125:1-3; 149:6-9; Romans 13:4; etc). Unfortunately, due to the conduct of some Christians at various time, who acted so sheepish as to confirm the viewpoint of the unrighteous, Christian men and women were needlessly slaughtered when they had means to defend themselves. We must always prevent evil when we can within God's construct of civil and institutional government.
4. We are more than conquerors whether in flight or in legal battle. Our cross-carrying involves laying our lives down against an enemy who has declared war on us by virtue of our existence. Such a battle is long-term and may involve times of relative peace when the forces of evil realize they cannot at that moment overcome us, but there is no fellowship between light and darkness; the natural man is at enmity with God (Colossians 1:21, Romans 8:7). It is our choice during this war to determine whether we will believe in God that we are more than conquerors and prove it, or conform to the worldly notion that we are sheep in the natural hierarchy.
5. The correct answer to future persecution is not pragmatism but consistent application of cross-carrying. Two principles coincide: first, he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much; second, he who loses his life now will find it, and vice versa. The man who will be rewarded with the fruits of the Spirit and a better resurrection must be living in such a manner to receive both, whether in the days of peace or the days of war.
6. Shame is yet another topic which we must address from God's viewpoint, or we will succumb to the fear of man. Shame involves insufficiency. To man, shame is found by non-conformance to a lifestyle the present culture (by its many manifestations) considers secure. To God, shame is determined by relying on something which is in fact unsupported by God's establishment of truth. It is a war of man's order versus God's order, and one will win out. Because Christ held to God's order, He despised the shame of men, and took on Himself the cross for His church (Philippians 2:7-9, Hebrews 12:2-3).
7. Finally, cross-carrying, whether in days of war or days of peace, has merit in God's eyes; in this we are more than conquerors. As our minds are renewed to the wisdom of God, we come to understand that the testing of our faith in perseverance produces patience, which proceeds to equip us with all the armory of God. Such progress involves rejoicing.
"As it is written, 'For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.'
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
Romans 8:36-37
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
A Brief Note on Pleasure
"The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, but He casts away the desire of the wicked."
Proverbs 10:3
Wisdom is above man's thinking. A man may think that if he descends into the depths of his sin, and depends on his lusts, he can make his pleasure secure. Any pleasures we receive, including those that involve temptation, come within the purview of God's providence, and may be cast away at His disposal. Therefore, it is better to wait on the pleasure God provides, for "He adds no sorrow to it".
Proverbs 10:3
Wisdom is above man's thinking. A man may think that if he descends into the depths of his sin, and depends on his lusts, he can make his pleasure secure. Any pleasures we receive, including those that involve temptation, come within the purview of God's providence, and may be cast away at His disposal. Therefore, it is better to wait on the pleasure God provides, for "He adds no sorrow to it".
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