A Gettysburg Thanksgiving

Four score and seven years ago plus another three-hundred eight, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new holiday: conceived in humble gratitude, and dedicated to the conviction that all ‘good and perfect gifts come down from the Father’ in heaven.

Now we are engaged in a great culture war, testing whether that holiday, or any holiday so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.  We are met on a great social network of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that harvest-time as a day for feasting, celebrating, and giving thanks by those who here have tasted the bountiful blessings of Divine Providence that that holiday might live.  It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, most Americans observing this holiday cannot dedicate, they cannot consecrate, they cannot hallow this feast.  The holy men and women of God whose hearts are merry have consecrated it far above the heathens’ poor power to add or detract (Proverbs 15:15;  Ecclesiastes 9:7).  The world will little note nor long remember what we say here; but it must never forget the LORD and what He did here, what He is doing, and what He will continue to do.  It is for us the merry-hearted, rather, to be here dedicated to the unfinished work of setting the table which they who cooked, fried, baked, and basted here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from the Pilgrims we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the first full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these turkeys shall not have died in vain – that this holiday, under God, shall have a new birth of merry observance – and that this festive thanksgiving in Christ’s kingdom, by God’s Spirit, for the Father’s glory shall not perish from the calendar.

Outsmarting God

I know my own imperfect heart well enough to know that there have been times, when I have sinned against the Lord and have been expecting discipline from Him, that I try to manipulate that discipline (put a book in the seat of my pants, talk Him into taking fewer swats, color a picture for Him to put on the fridge before He finds out what I did).  --  As if I can outsmart God when He has determined to do what needs done.  My pastor points out that such an approach -- trying to "manage" God's judgment -- is likely what many conservatives are attempting to accomplish through their voting ....

"Whether we get Trump or Hillary, one thing is certain.  We deserve worse than that.  We have to take up our problem with God, because He is the one visiting this plague of an election on us.  And He is doing so for reasons that are righteous, holy and just.  We deserve the rulers we have gotten, are getting, and are going to get.  Wicked people get wicked options in their elections.  The problem is not the RNC, or the DNC, or whoever else we might want to blame.  We have met the enemy, as Pogo said, and he is us.

"If the hand of the Lord is upon us, the way out is repentance.  We cannot manage our way out.  We cannot do a little voting triage.  We cannot game the system.  What is happening is the judgment of God. And if God is judging a stiff-necked people, as He manifestly is, it is no solution to suggest that we try to dodge the flaming hailstones.  The way out is repentance.  And I don’t primarily mean repentance at the polling booth.  Right repentance will eventually show up at the polls, but I am talking about the country turning back to Jesus Christ through a great reformation and revival.  If you want anything else, you are desiring salvation without a Savior." - Douglas Wilson

(https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/dodging-flaming-hailstones.html)

More Than a Feeling

I've been impressed at how quickly a good country song can take me, in just 4 minutes, from tapping my toe to crying.  I've also stood in the edge of the ocean and, in about the same amount of time, felt the waves take sand from under my feet and bury them without any effort on my part.

Emotions are sand.  And what did Christ tell us about the house built on sand (Matthew 7:26-27)?  Too many in our culture build their worship experiences and their marriage relationships on emotions.

This World Is Not My Home; I'm Just a-Shirking Through

When some mess in our nation or in the Christian church is motivating a discussion with opposing views, I will occasionally observe someone saying, "At the end of the day, this earth is not our final destination and these worldly matters are distracting us from our relationship with God."

If a personal relationship with God is all that matters, then why are we still here? Once that relationship has been established, why not just go immediately to be with Him?

Apparently, the One with Whom we are in relationship wants to see growth in that relationship via a life on this earth. Apparently, He wants us to honor Him by how we live here on this planet, by how we seek His face, by how we heed His Word, by how we engage with our neighbors, and by how we love those neighbors through our votes (or abstentions) in regard to policies (and politicians) that will certainly affect those neighbors.

A Married Man Is Wiser

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22).  “Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;  he who does so destroys his own soul” (Proverbs 6:32).

Got that?  A man who finds a wife “obtains favor from the Lord,” but if he sins against her by committing adultery, he “destroys his own soul.”

Now hear these words that Wisdom speaks (from Proverbs 8:35-36): “’For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord;  but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;  all those who hate me love death.’”  –  Sound familiar?  What Proverbs says of Wisdom, it also says of a wife – nearly word for word.

So it’s not a stretch to suggest that a young man gains wisdom by marrying and being faithful to his wife.  And what does that imply of a man who has the opportunity to pursue a wife but fails to do so?

For more on this, check out these links:

https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/7-reasons-young-men-marry-23rd-birthday.html

https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/110542.html

From Dream to Déjà Vu

Ever had a bizarre dream? (duh) ... where you were in some location that you didn't really recognize?

Ever had déjà vu ... in a place where you're sure you've never previously been?

Now you know why:  It's probably that place you didn't recognize in an earlier dream.

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(Oh, the things I can come up with when I have a bit more spare time than usual!  If you want to be further impressed, check out my syllogism on Peter Piper.)

"Your Descendants Will Love the LORD!"

"And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." -- Deuteronomy 30:6

One of the deepest desires of my heart is to see every single one of my descendants enjoying God eternally. Given the context for the above verse, God is promising His people that, if they wholeheartedly repent and obey His commandments, He will grant hearts and souls of love and life to them and their descendants. ~~ What an awesome (conditional) promise!

As long as you're tryin' to do what's right ..., right?

"In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes." -- Judges 17:6 & 21:25

This verse is not a compliment to the culture in Israel during the time of the judges. This verse shows up twice in the book of Judges as book-ends to two very strange stories that show the depravity of a culture where God, the One Who is Truth, Beauty, & Goodness, had been all but forgotten. But if the implication of those crazy stories doesn't quite convince you that "every man doing what was right in his own eyes" was actually a bad thing, then please consider the following clear instruction from Deuteronomy 12:8 -- "Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes."

Have you ever been to a church where you were encouraged to worship the Lord in your own way? Were you ever given the impression that God doesn't care so much about what you do or how you do it as long as your why (your motive) is right? Sure, if your motive is wrong, that's not good. But as long as your doing "whatsoever is right in your own eyes," well, then ....

Does God Care about Politics?

Is Jesus King of Nations? Or is He only King of individual hearts? Does God care about national and global politics?

"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." -- Proverbs 14:34

"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." -- Proverbs 21:1

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." -- Proverbs 29:2

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." -- Proverbs 33:12