Good Fences

I began reading this week 'Papa Don't Pope' by Douglas Wilson with Todd. I have enjoyed the approach that Todd uses when reading and that is to Plod through a book a little each week. (For him I think it would be more accurate to say a little each day, or maybe even a little each hour - he does some serious plodding - and reaps the rewards.) 

This week we are in the introduction through chapter one. In the introduction I came across an interesting phrase: " Good fences make good neighbors"

At first glance what do you think this phrase means? I asked some peers in the office and the general response went something like: "Boundaries are good for relationships" which in its own right is a very vague statement. 

What Doug meant by the phrase however is that when two parties come to a disagreement, before they can reach an agreement they have to go through the in-between phase of clearly defining the disagreement. Clear distinctions help solve issues. 

What are some of the more public disagreements many have in our country?

Covid: Vaccines? Government Overreach? If we could clearly define what we disagree about which actually has really nothing to do with the Virus itself and everything to do with The state claiming 'In loco parentis' making decisions for autonomous families across the countries as if it were everyones father. My savior is the God of the Universe, not the United States Government. 

Also currently enjoying Webster's 1828 Dictionary and studying biblically based definitions of words. Foundations are so important. 

Many today argue for equality that is 'guaranteed to us by our constitution' but forget the foundation of our equality which is stated in the very document they cite. 

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among theses are...."

Psalms 11:3 "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

On the note of forgetting the Lord.

 Lets look at just one word defined in the most recent Merriam-Webster edition, and compare it to Webster's original 1828 edition. 

Marriage

Today's Merriam Webster:

mar·​riage | \ ˈmer-ij  , ˈma-rij \

Definition of marriage

1asee usage paragraph below : the state of being united as spouses in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law

b: the mutual relation of married persons : WEDLOCK

c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage

2: an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effectedespecially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities

3: an intimate or close unionthe marriage of painting and poetry— J. T. Shawcross

Webster's 1828

MAR'RIAGE, noun [Latin mas, maris.]

The act of uniting a man and woman for life; wedlock; the legal union of a man and woman for life. marriage is a contract both civil and religious, by which the parties engage to live together in mutual affection and fidelity, till death shall separate them. marriage was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and for securing the maintenance and education of children.

Marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled. Hebrews 13:4

1. A feast made on the occasion of a marriage

The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage for his son. Matthew 22:2.

2. In a scriptural sense, the union between Christ and his church by the covenant of grace. Revelation 19:7.

What is left out in Today's version? Almost everything of substance. First the uniting of One man and One woman. Marriage is both a civil and religious union. Live together in fidelity until death. Instituted by God. Prevents promiscuous intercourse between the sexes. For securing the maintenance and education of Children. 

When we try to rid our words of God's influence the result is empty carcasses void of meaning. We need to be careful where we get our definitions from. God defines the things of this world (seeing as he made it and all) not man.  

Keep your Prosperity in check

This morning I read in Joshua and found a parrallel to Deutoronomy that applies so well to our situation as a culture, nation, and generation today. 

Joshua 24:12-14 "I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. I have given you a land for which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!" 

The Israelites possessed a land for which their generation did not wield the sword for, cities for which their hands did not build, fruits for which they did not plant - And they therefore receive a the warning not to forget who gave this to them, not to forget the Lord. 

Deuteronomy 6: 10 "So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good tings, which you did not fill, hew-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant - when you have eaten and are full - then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

Here we see the same warning. 'When you have eaten and are full THEN beware lest you forget the Lord.' 

Voddie made a statement that went something like, "Trials have a way of sending us to our knees, but prosperity has a tendency to drive us away from worshipping God. Keep your prosperity in check."

 Keep your prosperity in check. 

One key piece here that stands out is free prosperity, or that which you did not earn yourself. The Israelites possessed a land with wells already dug and cities already built. 

Our generation possesses a land that we ourselves did not wield the musket to defend, we did not toil for its founding principles. Our prosperity for which we were born into has a way of driving us away from God. We should beware, lest we forget. 

Of more importance than just our Nation, what else did we not labor for, or earn? Our salvation. Not by our hands we received the greatest gift in the history of the universe. Let us not forget.

"To what shall I liken this generation?"

 Jesus, speaking to the multitudes about their own generations says,

"It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying: ' We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not lament'"

Here he is referring to  an ancient version of the game, Simon Says - when a designated child pretended to play a flute the other children were supposed to dance. Essentially, beginning to say that when both John the Baptist and He came to them, they did not respond. He goes on to say, 

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a freind of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her children." Matthew 11:16-19

Many people become frustrated with a situation and seek answers. Many Christians even want to know where they are going wrong in their marriage or in childrearing; But will reject any answer given to them, even those that come from scripture. We become just like the generation Jesus was speaking to and reject any wisdom. We had an answer already in our mind which was to continue to receive affirmation in our hardships from those around us, and not to take biblical action, regardless if scripture clearly commands us to. The people were given John and they complained because he didn't eat that he must be demon possessed. Then the Son of God came and they complained that because he did eat and drink that he was a Glutton! Regardless who brought the message, they were going to reject it. They had preconceived in their minds that they would not change their lifestyle and therefore could fabricate an excuse against anyone who would require them to. 

There are so many parallels today, one I mentioned above was that of people seeking advice and when pointed to scripture reject it. They had already decided they only wanted to appear to seek advice, what they actually desired was someone to complain to who would affirm them in their present state. 

Our generation rejects truth just like those who lived 2,000 years ago did. When the truth is provided we will find an excuse, we only wanted to appear to seek the truth. 

We are willing to blatantly contradict ourselves in order to continue living in folly. To draw just one more parallel: Many in our nation support sacrificing our children on the alter to a God that will promise material wealth and success (abortion) and in order to justify this they say it is their body therefore it is their choice. Then when Covid hysteria comes about the same people want the Government to force needles into peoples bodies against their will, completely contradicting their argument for killing children. They don’t want John who eats locusts or Jesus who eats with Sinners, they just want what they want and they want it now because they want it, and by Golly they want it okay? 

Pray that we can be humbled to receive the teaching of the Lord. 

Context

 An Elder at our new church, Pillar Jacksonville, made a comment that surprised me. He urged the congregation to steer away from the "Verse of the Day" options that some bible apps provide. We are working through Philippians and chapter 4, vs. 3 was used as an example. 

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". 

This is a very familiar verse to many. And if one were to read only this verse and not the preceding verses he might do things like paint it under his eyes before a football game insinuating God is going to strengthen him to win the game. (Tim Tebow) What Paul is really saying however is that he is able to be content in times of prosperity and in times of trial because of the strength that God gives him. He is able to be both humble and resilient. What Paul clearly is not talking about is God strengthening our physical capabilities in order to allow us to achieve material gain. How often is this verse misused and taken out of context?

Not only can we use verses wrongly, but when not reading in context we can also miss entire aspects of scripture that are not explicitly stated in verses. Genesis 3 is a prime example. What was the Sin Adam committed? Without reading the chapter all the way through, and the context found elsewhere in scripture, you would miss completely that it was Passivity. And later when Paul says in Timothy that he does not "permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence." It is often missed that this eludes also the sin of the passivity of man. If women are leading in the church, that means that men are not. If men are not leading in the church, they are likely being passive not only in the church, but at home and in all other areas of their lives. That is how we came to this mess in the first place. 

At Pulpit speeds it only takes 15 minutes to read Philippians, 16 minutes to read 1 Timothy, and even less to read the first 4 chapters of Genesis. Context matter's, we should be very diligent in seeking to understand it. 

Olive and Aspen.. Romans??

 I want to start by quoting Voddie Baucham: "If we continue to send our children to Ceasar for their education, we need to stop being surprised when they come home as Romans."

The Blansett family is now a family of Four. We are the smallest unit assigned a sector of fire in the infantry - a fireteam. Meghan and I are feeling the blessing of having childREN multiple now and thinking more and more about our responsibilities to raise them and train them in the way they should grow. This is an area that deeply offends people and is highly controversial and thus it is imperative that scripture provides the direction and answers, not culture. 

Meghan and I have decided to draw a line in the sand. We will not send our daughters to be educated by Ceasar. In a recent commentary on Proverbs by Doug Wilson several points of scripture spoke to this topic and I want to jot some of my thoughts down below. 

First and formeost, children become like their teachers. Not just in what they are being explicityly taught in cirriculum, but what is being implicitly demonstrated before their eyes in lifestyle and beliefs. Luke 6:40 says that a pupil is not above his teacher but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. Our children become like those by whom they are taught. 

Who is teaching our children in the public schools? Simply put Fools. I can say this because Foolishness is clearly defined in scripture. Psalm 14 says that a fool in his heart has said there is no God. Prov 1:7 says that fear of the Lord is the begginning of all knowledge but fools despise wisdom and knowledge. To boil this down people either love God or they do not. They either submit to God or they do not. They are either Wise or they are Foolish. The first aspect of Wisdom is to receive God's word. Overwhelmingly, teachers in public schools today, and the boards that run them, do not love God. 

What are we taught today? "Believe in yourself" This is a central narrative even in the G and PG rated movies viewed as wholesome, and it leads to objectifying truth itself. We see this with transgenders and the new tolerance of "My truth". But what does scripture say about trusting in our own feelings? Proverbs 28:26 says he who trust in his own heart is a fool. But these ideas have seeped into our culture. 

Sporadic thoughts from some reading and listening we have been doing / More to come as I finally get back into blogging. It has been a long period of silence in that area. I would like to say that we have been so busy transitioning in many areas, but the truth is that I have not made it a priority. I see it as a spiritual discipline to translate notes into cohesive thought and has been an area I have failed in the last few months. 

As a final parting note, Our daughter Olive came into the world two weeks ago from yesterday and we have yet another arrow to be sharpened. Praise God.