Violently Oppose Selfishness

 Christian men must violently oppose selfishness wherever it may be found. Unchecked, unrealized, and undealt-with selfishness that is allowed to fester in one's life can indeed manifest in ways that once were unimaginable to the doer. 

I think we can all relate to what Paul says in Romans 7: 15: "What I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." During the writing of this, if someone asked me, "Would you like to watch pornography?" I would clearly and defiantly say no. Why then, countless times in my life, have I done that exact thing, and things of the like, and things even further steeped in darkness? 

This is a puzzling question. I often talk of assiduity. Doing things on purpose, with purpose. But the rubber meets the road in the moment. While free of temptation to sin, we can conjure all day long about what we stand for, and our strength to chose rightly. But strength was made for the battle, and in fact only is strength if it is proven in the battle. That battle rages all around all day long, in waves and seasons, but it is unrelenting. Standing on the field, thinking back to past victories or defeats, we plan our actions. But the plan is said to be the first casualty in war, and when temptation hits once more, we are back to what Paul spoke of - doing that which we hate, and we previously professed to abstain from. 

In reality, our own strength will never win the war. I alone am incapable of defeating any temptation that is thrown my way. I may for a season experience victories, and I may implement safeguards in my daily routine, but these only prolong an ongoing seige, they do not allow for a break into the offensive. 

Romans 8: 13 says this, "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

'By the Spirit' is the principle thing. 

Now, seeking to put to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit can lead a man into two ditches, for there are always ditches on each side of a road. One ditch, is legalism. This would be seeking so fervently to conquer sin that faith turns from the Spirit's power to your own. The ditch on the other side of the road would be akin to passivity - the thought that the Spirit will enter you and move through you without any action of your own, simply requiring you to sit back and let life happen to you, whatever you do must be the work of the Spirit. 

I have often attributed my failures to not hating my sin enough - there may be an element to this that is true. But regardless how deep my hatred of the dark, I am powerless on my own to fight the battle, my strength is carnal. The strength of the Spirit is heavenly, and so, we must pray. Yes we must hate sin, yes we must be strong and conduct ourselves as men, yes we must choose rightly, but we are powerless without the Spirit - This is my prayer. 

"Holy Spirit, I cannot produce holiness apart from you. Help me walk by you today. Teach me to hate what you hate and love what you love. Produce your fruit in me, especially self-control. By your power, help me put to death the desires of my flesh today. Amen"

I began this post speaking of selfishness. Most Sin's that I can think of in my past are rooted in it. It is the putrid soil in which the weeds of various vile acts were first sprouted. It must be violently hunted in every area of a man's life, learning by the Spirit to hate what the Lord hates, and to love what the Lord loves. 

Surgeon

We must be Surgeons in our own lives, to ruthlessly cut out those things that don’t matter. 

Our time is not boundless, it is not limitless. Each of us has only 24 hours in each day, and our days our numbered. 

Paul speaks earnestly of this when he says in Ephesians 5, “Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

You cannot redeem the time, and be a good steward of the hours the Lord has given you if you are not careful to plan. Plan your time, rightly prioritize your assignments, resist the urge to passively exist, do not let life happen TO you. Eliminate, surgically and carefully, those things that do not matter. 

This will look different for everyone, and will change with the seasons of life. 

In a lighter tone, this brings to mind something I heard a man say once, “People ask me how I have the time to do it all, dad, business owner, fitness, sleep, home, training - I said I don’t, I just choose which area that week I will neglect. Last week it was cleaning the house, this week its sleep.”

The above quote speaks to the seasons of priorities, but I think the use of the word “neglect” is wrong. Nothing should be neglected, though it might lower on the priority scale. 

Many men, taking ‘wisdom’ from culture, will seek to be ultra successful at work and think they are excellently compartmentalizing their time to be as productive as possible. We may call this the workaholic. This usually leads to sacrificing your family on the alter of success. The issue is not that this man is addicted to work, but that he is a sluggard at home. This man may be working hard at the culture facing areas of his life, at work, to avoid the harder work that needs to be done at home. 

Know who you are, and know whose you are. Correctly align your priorities to your assignments - God gives you those by the way. 

God has entrusted me with my wife, and my children. These are my first assignments. He has entrusted me to be a member at a local church, where I am called to serve. He has given me family, and made me a friend to a few. I am called to serve them, and especially those who do not yet profess Christ. He has given me the assignment of each person that I come into contact with on calls for service in East Kansas City. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list - Just a brainstorm as I sit thinking about my God given assignments. Now the task is to make my time reflect those assignments, hobbies may have to get the boot. 

The real virtue is not hard work. You can work hard and neglect the things that matter most. The real virtue is disciplined work. 

1613 Men's Conference Notes

 I recently attended one of the two days that my church joined in via live-stream to the "1613 Men's Conference"

The conference was predicated on 1 Corinthians 16:13, which reads: 

"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."

I believe the speakers' aim was to address that line, "Act like men". What does it mean? The underlying premise of the conference was that there is a scriptural standard which defines the answer to that question, and it lies in stark contrast to how the world would seek to answer it. 

Good so far. 

Before I continue let me say this - I was not asked to speak at this conference, so any criticism that I may have is coming from a man who was not in the arena. 

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;"

I take nothing away from the men who spent their time to prepare and to present their thoughts. I am but a critic in this context. 

That being said, here are my thoughts.

The audience was urged to listen to men due to their extensive resumes. Resumes that consisted of incredible successes on the battlefield, or in the sports stadium, or the courtroom. In one instance the audience was being urged to not pursue manhood based on the world's standard of success, and in the next were told a man was credible due to his worldly successes. 

I did not hear one man introduced with qualifiers such as, "He has six grown children who all remained in the faith".

The heavy majority of speakers were war veterans. Automatically claiming the respect of men in the audience because what is more manly than going to war? What could be more selfless? 

Does the type of selflessness that we like to talk about only consist of prioritizing national security over personal safety? What about the type that would prioritize family over personal accolades? Is the greatest sense of duty depicted by dying on a battlefield, and not by homeschooling our kids in order to raise them in the training and admonition of the Lord. I am not meaning to take anything away from men who have sacrificed, but I what I would like to draw attention to is that the military is filled with men who can make decisions under fire, and who are unable to discipline a child. When you make sacrifices on the battlefield, men respect you, medals are earned, beers are purchased. When you make sacrifices at home, you simply lay your head to rest on your pillow at night and do it again the next day. Usually there is no thanks, there is no spotlight. So which really is the sacrifice? I grew weary during my time in the Marine Corps of men all too willing to accept the common "thank you for your service" and all too willing to serve only their personal desires when it came to their family, or their duty as husband or father. To an audience full of fathers and husbands, the conference consisted, in my opinion, of too many war stories, and too few home stories. 

We love to train firearms. We love to shoot, I love to shoot. We know that when tragedy visits us we do not rise to the occasion but simply fall back to our level of training. And so we train. But how many times in your life will you need to draw concealed in the grocery store and shoot an active threat? How many times in your life will a man enter your home at night seeking harm to your family? Switching gears, how many times will your children look to you for wisdom? So as we prioritize our time, what type of training will be put to the test more frequently? Make no mistake, both are of life or death consequence. 

Nick Freitas made a comment I couldn't help but write in my notes. "Men say, 'I'd die for my family', yeah, probably instantly". He rightly makes a jab at those men who are quick to claim they would act heroically in a single instant, but then fail to act heroically in the opportunities that are presented to him each and every day. Decisions to train, decisions to wake early, decisions to ask forgiveness, decisions to sacrifice time doing something he would like to do in order to do something he knows he ought to do. This person thinks a lifetime of selfish decisions will prepare him to make an incredibly unselfish decision in a moment of crisis. Not so. 

Joel Salatin: Food predicated on an anti-death philosophy is anti-Christian. To the Vegans and Vegetarians, all that they are doing is seeking to eliminate death as a prerequisite to life. To the chemical fertilizer industry, they seek to claim that you can have life without sacrifice, that something does not have to die for something else to live. I am always encouraged by this man's consistency.

I appreciated the time I had to listen to other Men's perspectives, hear their stories, and think critically about their claims. I think the conference as a whole missed the mark in that their aim was to point men to scripture for their definition of manhood, but urged you to listen to the speakers based on their worldy accolades. For an audience likely hungry for practical application, they were given war stories. War stories are great, they can be applied to our spiritual war surely, but the application has to be drawn and has to be clearly prescribed, otherwise you may just enlighten that flame inside every man that is so drawn to the foreign battlefield which yeilds glory and drawn away from that battlefield in their own homes. In simple terms, its sexy to fight your way to a downed blackhawk, its boring to lead family worship. Unless of course you rightly state that the two are not all that different and that one is in fact much harder and much more important than the other - that is the piece that I found missing during the conference. A disconnect. 

Verse 14: Let all that you do be done in love. 

A Daily Battle Cry

 Last night as Meghan and I finished putting the kids to bed, we sat down on the couch, eating our dinner past 10PM and sighed. We both felt it. Fellowship in our home had been broken that day. We both failed as parents, having self control in our responses and discipline of the children. Our home had not been full of Love, Joy, or Peace that day. 

As I sat down this morning to read, I revisited a book called "Family Worship" by Joel Beeke. He quotes J.C. Ryle and I will share it here: 

"I charge you, fathers, take every pain to train your children in the way they should go. I charge you not merely for the sake of your children's souls; I charge you for the sake of your own future comfort and peace. Truly your own happiness in great measure depends on it. Children have caused the saddest tears that man has ever had to shed. Such sorrows are heavy enough when fathers have faithfully discharged their duty yet still live with a prodigal son or daughter. But who can bear the reproach of a stinging conscience that condemns us because we never brought them up in the fear of the Lord? What shame to have failed to take seriously the vow we uttered at our children's baptism to raise our children in our confessional doctrines. How much better if we can say: "Son, we taught you God's word; we wrestled for your soul; we lived a God-fearing example before you. You didn't see in us a sinless piety but an unfeigned faith. you know we sought first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Your conscience will bear witness that Christ is the center of this home. We sang together, prayed together, and talked together. If you turn away from this light and these privileges, and insist on going your own way, we can only pray that all our bible study, praying, and singing will not rise up against you in the Judgement day - and that you will come to your senses before it is too late. "

I had highlighted this entire portion because it struck me so deeply. And this morning it served as a solemn reminder of my duty as a Father to lead my family. When the household is groaning under the weight of Sin, it is the father's duty to establish the heading, to set the fix, find the azimuth of faith, and LEAD. 

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of Power and of Love and of a Sound Mind." 2 Tim 1:7

Blansett's, what spirit lives in us?

The Spirit of the Holy God!

What is the fruit of that Spirit?

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self Control - If we live in the spirit let us walk in the spirit!

And if we tire?

Let us not grow weary of doing good, whatever a man sows, that he will reap. 

Today we go to battle, and we stand firm wearing the whole armor of God:

We gird our waist with truth

we put on, the breastplate of righteousness

we shod our feet with, the Gospel of Peace

we hold in our left hand, the shield of faith - with which we quench the fiery darts of the enemy

on our head, the helmet of salvation

in our right hand, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. 

Who is our King, and in whom's army do we march?

Christ is King!

The will of of God in Christ Jesus for us is: 

We rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. 

Hold fast to Good, Abstain from every form of Evil. 

What Makes Men Passive?

 I am working through a book with men from church, “The Titus Ten” by Josh Smith. 

In discussion this morning the question was posed, “What causes Christian men to be passive?”

This question gave me pause and I think is worth breaking down an attempt at an answer. 

Simple answer, Sin. 

Many understand the first Sin in scripture to be Eve’s disobedience by eating the forbidden fruit; however, the text says that that she ‘also gave to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.’ Gen 3:6. 

Adam was with his wife, who he was given by God, while she was tempted by a serpent. He watched while the snake twisted the words of the creator, and watched as his wife did the one thing God had forbid her to do, and yet he did not enter the arena. Passivity. This is truly the first Sin that I see in scripture - Adam’s failure to act. That was HIS wife that he was instructed to tend and keep. 

In Officer training with the Marines a phrase was hammered into my psyche - ‘Indecision is a decision.’ That phrase haunted my brain as I slept at night. It was a warning. If you don’t make a decision, you are deciding to lose your men to the enemy. Death will visit your platoon if you fail to decide and act. The phrase stays with me today. Every time I watch one of my children do something that requires discipline I hear it in the back of my mind, ‘indecision is a decision’ - will I decide to discipline? If I passively let the situation melt away without doing so, am I inviting death to visit my child? That may seem extreme but we know that when Sin is allowed to fester in our soul, death is indeed what awaits. 

So what caused Adam to be passive? What tempts me to be passive today? What lives inside of every man on earth that whispers, ‘it’s not a big deal, it’ll be okay’?

Fear? Do we fear making the wrong decision so much, do we fear the rejection or the thoughts of others so dearly, do we love so much to be liked, that we fail to act? The devil does not create, he distorts. Fear is actually a requirement and it is a good thing.. when it is rightly placed. Fear of anything but God is misplaced fear.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matt 10:28

When you fear something you are recognizing its power over you - rightly align your fear. There is only one who holds this power and is worthy of your fear. 

Weariness may be another reason. We may be so tired of trying and failing that we become passive. A man in our book group shared an example of trying to lead someone who did not want to be lead and he grew so tired that he stopped leading. 

-As Christian men, we do not have the liberty to get tired- Matt Truax

Spurgeon - “By Perseverance the snail reached the Ark.”

Paul urges the church in Galatia, “do not grow weary while doing good”. 6:10

Passivity can be self preservation. We may think that to survive comfortably we must remove ourselves from situations. Well firstly, where did we get the notion that comfort was something to be desired? But I will draw in a concept from warfare. Self preservation is at times necessary - but it is a means and not the end. MCDP 1 dives into this with the notion that we defend out of weakness - in order to build strength, momentum, planning, in order to once again take the offensive. Sure the defense is the strongest form of warfare - you risk the least, but you gain no ground. You defend so that you can attack. Which means there is an objective you are after, and it is not just keeping the high ground. 

Christian men are not called to simple maintain the ground, we are called to advance. 

My takeaway from our discussion this morning is this. That in order to act, in order to make sound decisions, in order to root out passivity, we must be so rooted in scripture and in the Gospel that it is an automatic part of our analytical process. It must be the filter through which every decision must pass, and yes even that harrowing decision that is indecision. 

Your Name - Archer

 In the process of naming my Children, I have struggled with yours, my fourth child, and my second son, the most. 

That my be evidenced by the fact that I am writing this post approximately 24 hours AFTER your arrival into this world, as apposed to several months prior.  

As Meghan and I discussed names, I continued coming back to the words of King Solomon in Psalms 127 vs. 3-5:

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.

Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed,

But shall speak with their enemies in the gate."

Remember that Solomon's father held up the severed head of a Giant as his battle cry rang out, spurring on the army of the Lord as they pursued the Philistines. His father, when learning of this Giant's challenge, confidently recalled the times in which he hunted lions and bears in order to protect his sheep, and defiantly stated that the opposing warrior would end up no different than those predator's limp carcasses. That was only the beginning of Solomon's Father's story. Imagine the conversations Solomon had with his dad, imagine the upbringing that shaped him. He then grew to become the richest man in the world, and yet returned to the above truth. Here is a man who understood the bloody realities of combat. He understood the wide array of distractions that accompany great wealth and fame. He then states not that kingdoms and riches are a reward, but that children are. He states not that large armies and stockpiles of weapons are like the tool that the archer uses to pierce his enemies through, but that children are. 

Your Brother's name is centered around cultivation. Growing that which the Lord has blessed him with. 

Your name is focused on defending it. 

Men are required to do both. Men are required to weild both the sword and the trowel. To rebuild the walls of the city and fight off the hordes who threaten it. 

To have something worth fighting for, and then to fight for it. To build something worth defending, and then defend it. 

To fight and to defend without a cause is to lust after violence. To coward under threat of assault to that cause is to have never loved it in the first place. 

Archer this is my charge to you. This is my prayer for your life. That you would cling to the words of Solomon, and desire to be blessed with that great heritage from the Lord: Children. Secondly that you would have the capacity and the will to be a warrior. Defend what the Lord has blessed you with. Sharpen the arrows he gives you, that when you lose the bowstring they would pierce deep. 

Thirdly that you would not hold it against your mother when you are thirty years old and she still calls you "Archie". You will always be her son, and she will always have fond memories of holding the 9lb 5oz baby that you once were. 

Your middle name, Joel, is in honor of a man who has had a great impact on your Mother and I: Joel Salatin. In fact his worldview greatly impacted our decisions on life after the military. He first fired our passion for working the land, and open our eyes to God's beautiful design for the food that sustains us. He is unapologetically consistent, questioning why christians can be so blind to the hypocrisy of pursuing spiritual health, and disregarding physical health. I have often claimed that men cannot compartmentalize their lives, as much as they try. If one is a tyrant at home, a lazy provider who regularly takes shortcuts in leading his family, this will bleed into his life at work - sooner or later. Joel makes the argument regularly that as Christians continue to choose the quick fix, cheap and easy solution to food, they will sooner or later, chose the cheap easy solution to other things in life as well. It may be a stretch here but if a man is defaulting to the drive through and forgoing the planning, diligence, and effort that it takes to prepare a real meal at home, or help his wife as she does, how long will it be before he takes the same approach to his love life. Will he eventually also take the drive through approach to sexual satisfaction (I think we all see the metaphor). Joel is after consistency. Archer, may you be assiduous like Joel, may you be consistent in your approach to all things in life, weighing your decisions on the scales of scripture and not convenience. 

Last of all you are Blansett. You are a member of this team and you are greatly loved. Three other little sets of hands at this very moment are arguing about who gets to hold you first and longest. Welcome to the tribe. I will close in keeping with my closing to your older brother. Much love awaits you Archer, and much responsibility awaits you as well. Good thing that's something you're made for. Your Mother and I love you dearly Archer Joel Blansett. 

Book Request on Leadership (Military)

 I had a former Marine of mine reach out this week requesting some reading material on leadership in the military. 

One could find numerous titles under the commandants reading list, and I won't claim to have read them all or even close to it. 

I do believe that in any story in history in which you will find a respected leader you will find similar tenants. 

Self-sacrifice. Wisdom. Consistency. 

Sacrifice: The men, and the mission must come before the interests of the self. 

Wisdom: A level of personal investment into the study of the task at hand must have been completed. This is an element of sacrifice, becoming an expert in a craft does not happen in a night. 

Consistency: They are who they say they are. They do what they say they will do. As simple as this sounds it is an uncommon virtue. 

The titles that immediately came to mind:

The Bible!

Matterhorn

The last stand of Fox Company

MCDP 1 and 1-3

Armed Forces Officer 1950 edition

Killer Angels

Gates of Fire - This one has been very impactful to me. The USMC and all branches across our warfighting force pay lip-service to the term "Professional Warrior". This retelling of the Peloponnesian War gives a glimpse into a generation of Men that would make ours look like elementary school girls in camouflage. 

I have often wanted to write a series called "The Apogee Letters" a play on "The Screwtape Letters" and an addition to "The Attritionist Letters" which was written in the Marine Corps Gazette to make the argument that as much as we claim to be maneuverist in our theory, we are really attritionists in our actions. I would be making the claim that as much as we claim to be a warfighting institution with lethality our primary goal, we are really a shadow of a lethal past - capitulating to a weak society, forfeiting the very treasure we set out to protect. 

I have said the phrase "when I have time" too often - the longer I continue to say that the more details of my personal experience in the Corps I will begin to forget. 

I shall begin!

Exit Stage Left

 It has been almost two full months now since my official time as an Active Duty marine came to an end. The transition overall proved more difficult in many ways than I or Meghan expected. I think over the coming months I will have more to say over this topic but I wanted to pause and take the time to reflect.

1) Identity Crisis - Very easy to feel this, even when you didn't think you got your identity from the military, you did. In ways that weren't evident, and that's okay, even good in some ways and at some times. We do identify with what we spend our time on, what we spend our effort on, and in many cases, you spend more time at work than you do at home or at church, therefore it follows that your vocation would shape a large part of your identity. Pause. Lets be very clear that as Christians our identity is in Christ. That supersedes all else. Within that, God has given us responsibilities: Husband, Father, Leader at church - and these all nest within our identities in Christ - because we are Christians we operate a certain way within these roles. A biblical way. Now if you believe in the providence of God, then your vocation is certainly not outside of that providence and therefore is also a responsibility of yours to nest that role within your greater call to identify with Christ. I am a Christian husband, I am a Christian Father, I am a Christian Marine. It so happens that over the last 5 years of my life, that last nested identity determined where I lived, when I was able to be at home, when I was able to travel with my family, the healthcare we received, my time, Etc. 

Two months ago was my last day as an Active Duty Marine. 

I faced the crux of competing priorities and I made a difficult decision - but one that placed my role and responsibility as a Husband and a Father above my vocation. 

The transition was not all sunshine and rainbows with a smooth plan for housing, a high-paying job, and a friend group all waiting for us. In fact, we faced several obstacles: Our deployment was extended by three months, leaving us just over one month to sell our home, pack and move our belongings, and transition my platoon to oncoming leadership.  The job I thought I would get immediately out of the Marine Corps decided I wasn't the right fit. The church we thought we would be attending deemed too long of a trip for us to have a regular community. The loss of our church family, friend group, and purpose at work weighed heavily on Meghan and me, a real dislocation of expectation, and we often questioned if we had made a mistake. Did we too fall into the grass is greener mentality? 

Now let's place all of those doubts and obstacles against the reality of today. 

For the past three months I have been at the dinner table every night with my family. 

My children have had their father read to them, sing with them, pray with them every night before they close their eyes. ( barring a week I visited my parents in Africa) 

I spent our 6th wedding anniversary with my wife, after spending the last three apart. 

I am building my wife her dream home on 21 acres, most importantly with her dream oven from France (that last part was joke). 

We are living with my in-laws during the build process and our kids are creating a deep relationship with their grandparents. 

I could go on about all the blessings, the list does not have an end. 

The Marine Corps is efficient at warfighting because when I left, it didn't matter. Someone stepped into my role and is now doing an even better job than I did. 

Quick list of some things I'm taking away - 

- Being in the Marines is a privilege, not a right, you might have to give up part of yourself to succeed(If you know my story you'll know how literally I mean that). Reinforcement of the fact that things worth achieving require sacrifice. 

- Greatest achievements were not my own but those of my Marines. Promoting my chief scout to SSgt is one of the greatest honors I received. Re-enlisting a sniper in the mud after a ghillie break in, securing four more years of his leadership within the community, two more promotions after break-ins. The awards, the school graduations, the Honor graduates of those schools, the intelligence briefings I sat in the back silently clapping as my Cpl absolutely crushed a threat analysis. All of those things I just listed were accomplishments of those around me, not my own, but they are what I am and will remain most proud of. Greatest achievements as an Officer were not my own but those of my Marines. 

I love this because its the same for Husband's and Fathers. If you want to know the worth of man, look at his wife. Look at his children. Don't look at him, look at what he's responsible for cultivating and determine if they are thriving. This is a constant reminder to me when I start thinking too much about myself.  

- Sometimes training had an alterior motive. We thought we weren't getting any more trained by being so miserable, but that was the point. Being comfortable with being miserable DOES make you a better, more capable, more lethal, leader. Don't shy away from difficulty, embrace it and the change it will make in you. 

- We weren't training Marines, we were growing men. "If you're planning for years grow rice, if you're planning for centuries grow men"

07/14/2024

 Yesterday was Saturday, July 13th and as my family commenced our Sabbath celebration Meghan informed me of some shocking news, Trump had been shot during a rally in Pennsylvania. We had just sat the kids down and started a movie, and I had just begun rolling out the first pizza dough - we took a pause and watched what news we could find. Through what has come out over the last twenty-four hours I just have a couple of comments to make. 

In the Marine Corps, there is a phrase we use all the time, it almost takes on a satire-ish use, but the truth of it still resounds, simple as it is. "Words have meaning". Don't make your intent to "destroy" when you really mean "neutralize" - words have meaning(I'll spare you the nuance of the definitions of tactical tasks). Now since 2016, we have been hearing things like "Trump is Hitler, he is a fascist Nazi, etc." It is generally accepted that during the WWII era, killing Hitler would have been seen as an act of global good. One side of our political aisle has been treating these two men as equals, so it follows that any "good" person today should carry out an assassination attempt, for it would be a global good.  - Words have Meaning, we need to be consistent, wild exaggerations and bravado have consequences. 

Leadership is enacted, not claimed - strength is tested in adversity, not in controlled environments. I can't think of a less controlled environment or a more adverse situation than to be shot at. I can't think of a better snapshot in time to reveal a man's strength, resolve, and leadership than those seconds immediately following bullets flying over his head or even into his own body. We saw Trump not cower behind his security detail, but immediately lead. In a situation he had never encountered or trained for, his response was strong. I respected this, and though there are many things I don't respect about him, this moment proved to me his intentions to lead. 

Nothing is new under the sun. Like most scenarios, we blame sin on the object - but sin is of the heart. We like to blame drunkenness on the object of alcohol, porn on the ease of access to the internet, murder on guns, and addiction on drugs - but these are all problems of the heart, and sin is not picky on its outlet. We could find many things to blame in this situation, and I'm sure many political analysts and news hosts will do so with a pointed political agenda. But we know this is the result of unrepentant sin. James 4:1-2 says that we lust and do not have so we murder. We covet and cannot obtain. Politics are very complicated, but what happened yesterday resulted from sin in a man's heart. 

May we understand the times and what to do about it. 

Brussels Airport

 Amid the hustle of international travel, the connections, the delays, and the stress of it all, a man stops to play a public piano. This fellow traveler stopped to share beautiful music with anyone willing to take out their Bluetooth headphones and listen. 

“One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind” Ecc 4:6

This was a great reminder that all creation speaks of a creator, all creation sings his praises - it is all around us if we are able to slow down and listen, and see. That piano music was beautiful because God gave us ears to enjoy it, it was beautiful because not everyone is gifted or trained to play it, we love music because our creator loves music.

This reminded me of a quote from CS Lewis that I read in an essay of his though I don’t remember the name. Lewis is explaining that you can reach after God or you can try to avoid him and he says about avoiding God: 

“Avoiding him in many times and places has proved so difficult that a very large part of the human race failed to achieve it. But in our own time and place it is extremely easy. Avoid silence. Avoid solitude. Avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health, and above all on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully but you’d be safer to stick to the papers. You’ll find the advertisements helpful, especially those with a sexy or snobbish appeal.”

Do you know someone who rejects the truth about our Savior? Does their life look anything like what CS describes above? Are you unintentionally aligning the day to day of your life with the narrative above? 

“Aspire to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands” 1 Thes 4:11

Father's Day 2024

 Happy Father's Day! 

I'll set the tone of this writing by sharing a quote from John Adams:

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood."

I share this quote for two reasons, first to shift the mindset on Father's Day from our immediate one father, but to the hundreds and thousands of fathers who, for generations have sacrificed, many with blood and life to create the life we have today, and second to set the record straight that all of those things they sacrificed for would not have come to fruition without the Providence of our heavenly Father. 

The impact of a Father should not be viewed to and certainly does not stop at the first generation. His action or inaction will be felt for hundreds of years. The Lord says that he will place curses on generations that follow those who curse him but bless a thousand generations of those who faithfully serve him. 

let the following example simmer:

This is a juxtaposition between two men who lived in the same state and during the same years. Jonathan Edwards a God-fearing father who took action and Max Jukes, a worldly man. Men have studied 729  of Edward's descendants. Of this number came 300 preachers, 65 college professors, 13 university presidents, 60 authors, 3 United States congressmen, and one vice president of the United States. Men have also studied Jukes' descendants: Three hundred of them died prematurely. One hundred were sent to the penitentiary for an average of 13 years each. One hundred ninety were public prostitutes. There were 100 drunkards.

The difference is action in the realm of our command as Fathers to raise up our children in the training and admonition of the Lord. This cannot be outsourced to teachers at school, Sunday school teachers at church, daycares, private schools, coaches, etc. Children learn 10 % from what you say is important, and 90% from what they SEE is important based on your actions and the life you live with and in front of them. 

Theodore Roosevelt said: 

“It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deed might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” 

Toast today the fathers who have come before us who got in the arena. Blessed are we who have the privilege to be downstream of their faithfulness, sacrifice, and obedience to Christ. May we be numbered among them.  

“Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.” Proverbs 14-26

Warning - Morgan Wallen (We actually don't want one)

 If you haven't heard the song by Morgan Wallen, "Warning" - give it a listen. If you didn't know anything about him, the situation, or the general country music industry, you might think he was a Christian faced with his Sin and experiencing the guilt that accompanies an unrepentant life ready to change his ways. There was a time in my life when I could have sung the lyrics to this song as well. Here is a quote from the song: 

Should've come with a warnin' (ooh)
Don't sit right there
Don't sip on what they're pouring (you)
Her kiss is gonna kill you in the morning
Nah, it ain't gonna end too good
Everything about that night I thought I wanted
Should've come with a warnin' (ooh)
Should've come with a warnin'

The irony here is that all of the above DID in fact come with a Warning. When we are young we don't want the warning, and then when we are old we lament about not having one. 

"But to what shall I liken this generation? 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.’

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 friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” - Matthew 11: 16-19

We are no different than the generation that Jesus speaks of in the verses above. We simply have an objection to anything that crushes the pedestal we place our desires on.

There is a warning, it is found on every page of scripture - It is found in the wisdom of mature Christian men and women in your church - Do not run from it and then wail that you did not have it. If you do, your last name might need to be 'Wallen' too. 

360 Degrees

 The enemy does not play by your rulebook. The enemy will not pursue you where you are strongest, or where you are most prepared. Indeed the enemy is cunning, and defeat often is not anticipated but only realized after the thing is done. There is nothing finer than the point of a needle, but when it has made a hole, it draws all the thread after it. A small leak will sink a great ship. 

Look at the picture below.. Do you see it? Where do you think my Marine expects the enemy to be?

The concealment is objectively good; however, he expects the enemy to be where it is most convenient for him, directly at his front. 

Now look at the same position from a different angle. Where do you think my Marine did NOT expect the enemy to be? 

We tend to do a great job of protecting our front. This Marine had excellent vegetation on his torso, head, rifle, optic, and tripod. If the enemy was confined to his front I'm confident he would not have been compromised - he would have been able to take his shot and exfiltrate. He would have been able to impose his will on whoever was downrange of him. 

But there is no guarantee the enemy will be confined to a position most advantageous to us. His lack of concealment from his flank would have gotten him compromised if only one patrol passed his position. 

Don't get comfortable or complacent. When you do, the fatal blow is close at hand. Do not cut corners and always remember the enemy gets a vote. 

The 2x6 Man

 I loved the chapter titled "Two by Six" in Doug Wilson's book "How to Exasperate Your Wife". I want to share a couple of highlights from the chapter and add some additional comments. 

When building a house, 2x6s are normally used to construct both interior and exterior walls and provide the essential structural stability of the building. Speaking specifically of the exterior walls, these framed walls define the boundaries of the house. These walls define the difference between inside and outside. These walls provide support for the trusses, which support the roof, and thereby maintain the difference between wet and dry. 

These walls have two sides to them, the outside which is exposed to the elements and therefore fixed with sheathing, housewrap, and siding; and the inside, which is covered in sheetrock and painted. This perimeter wall which defines the house is filled with windows. 

The two by sixes we addressed originally provide most if not all of their value completely out of sight. Husbands are like these two by sixes. Their value is often not seen from the outside and this is natural and good. They are to cultivate the beauty and glory of their family, not of themselves. 

They have a responsibility to define the boundaries of the family - they establish the difference of inside and outside - their duty of protection and provision is fundamental. Because of the support the walls give to the roof, children in the home are warm and dry instead of cold and wet. 

"A husband has two sides, just like the exterior wall. The side of the wall that faces his family is very much like the other walls of the house. The sheetrock is the same, the texturing is the same, the color of the paint is the same, pictures are hung, and so on. This means that the man of the house is to live with his family as family. The face he presents to them is conducive to the warmth of life together. But unlike the other walls, six inches away from the warmth of the living room is the hard snow or cold rain. And he has to deal with this at the same time. He presents a wall of protective siding to the world and one of warmth to his family."

Many men struggle with the correct ordering of these two very different sides. Some have the hard protective siding facing both ways - they are hard against the world, and hard against their families. I have worked with many men like this in the military, they have become so indoctrinated into their job, they forget that the reason they began to fight in the first place was for their family. They succeed at work, but they lose the reason why they began that work in the first place. They retire and are amiss as to why their families seem as strangers, having been neglected all the while. 

Another type is the modern sensitive male who has sheetrock on both sides. This sheetrock doesn't weather well. These men fall apart during the first storm, and in life there are and will be many storms. His family is left to fend off the elements with little help from him - but at least he is a nice guy right?

The worst however is the man who completely inverses the correct order. He places siding on the inside towards his family and sheetrock against the elements. He is susceptible to every temptation the world will offer him and yet he is resistant to every need and desire of the wife and children to which he has been given responsibility. He protects his own interests FROM his family, and is in love with the world. One often wonders why he ever married in the first place?

Back to the point on the windows in these perimeter walls. Husbands and Fathers are required to teach. The windows in the walls enable those who live within, the pleasure of seeing the world. These windows must allow the family to see the world and what goes on in it, but they must retain the same protective function as the wall they are in. This is something that requires much wisdom - explaining the world to children without exposing them to it. 

Some men under the guise of protecting their children will remove the windows altogether. This is the typical bad example of a homeschooling family doing it wrong. Things are hidden rather than exposed, topics are avoided rather than explained, sins and temptations and deceit are treated as if they don't exist rather than being illuminated by truth. 

Other men let their kids deal with the world without protection and direction, and these are not windows but simply holes in the wall. This is what a family who sends their kids to public school with an outsourcing mentality might fall into. All teaching is outsourced to their teachers, to their peers, to the internet, to social media, and to the whims of modernity. 

The 2x6 man does all of the above rightly and wisely. He provides structural stability to the family, he protects the family from the harsh outside, and provides warmth and love for them. He teaches, filtering the world through the lens of scripture. He is the wood that is meant to be nailed, meant to be fixed, meant to be cut. "And when a saw runs through this kind of wood, the smell - an aroma of sacrifice - is one of the sweetest smells on earth"

Possess Your Vessel

 The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the Lord 

- Proverbs 21:31- 

Sometimes we hit our stride, we are prepared for what lies ahead - until time gives its vote. Time is one of the great levelers, one of the great testers. Much like pressure can produce diamonds or it can cause explosions - time can prove and validate preparation, or it can reveal a weak will. What does time reveal about you? Are you consistent, and does time prove that? 

The relationship of preparation to time is not one of a graduate degree to a career in higher ed, in which once it is achieved tenure is right down the road - it is more akin to fighting a living and breathing foe, in which case each day you train, he also trains and therefore your perseverance in the day of testing will depend upon your ‘consistent’ preparation. If you stop preparing even for a day, if you cease to train and yet he does not you will surely be struck down in the engagement. Time with preparation is a powerful tool, but time with idleness deteriorates even the strongest.

 We must redeem time for it is Evil - Ephesians 5:16 - 

If we sit by idly we will not be ready for the day of deliverance. That Great War horse will have shaken off his saddle and will have become fragile. 

Do not sit idly assuming the evil that will greet you one day will not require you to have prepared. 

“For this is the Will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

Later in this letter Paul goes on to urge the Thessalonians to increase more and more, to aspire to live a quiet life working with their hands, to pray without ceasing, to give thanks in everything, to test all things, holding fast to what is good and abstaining from what is evil. 

This is preparation: ‘without ceasing’ 

This is consistency: ‘test all things’ 

This is the war horse prepared for the Lord to bring Deliverance

Possess your Vessel. 

Mourning

 How do we deal with the aftermath of sin in our lives?

As a man, as a “guy” in line with stereotype, I am prone to think logically and realistically about most things, void of emotion. In fact in my military training I have been taught be void of emotion in certain circumstances because often times it leads to poor decision making - don’t make decisions based off of emotions but based off of the facts. We’ve all heard the adage. 

How do we as men reconcile this tendency of ours? Especially in light of our own sin? If we are truly to view our sin realistically then we should be crippled with emotion, and not so easily stoic as if we are guaranteed a contract of forgiveness. 

Reading in James 4 we find an exhortation in light of this topic : “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. LAMENT and MOURN and WEEP! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” 

This passage hit me like a brick wall. I am being told to weep. I am being told that my sin should affect (If I am viewing it correctly) me to such an extent that all of my joy is turned to gloom. Not to receive pity from the sight of others, not to be given encouragement from others, but to humble myself, and allow the Lord to do the lifting in his time. 

In the same day I was confronted by this passage in James  I also read from 1 Corinthians and I think it provides guidance on how to actually carry out this gloom that we are charged with having in light of our sin. 

In chapter 7 Paul says that he is not rejoicing because the Corinthians were made sorry, but because their sorrow led to something - it was genuine in that it resulted in something. Repentance. He goes on to say that “Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation” but that “The sorrow of the world produces death.” He knows the Corinthians were sorrowful in a Godly manner because “What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!” 

So do lament, do weep and do mourn. But do not do so in a worldly manner. Do so in humility and do so for a purpose. Weep and mourn for the sin that is within you in that it would lead to true repentance and salvation, that it would ignite within you a fervor for righteousness, that it would produce within you diligence, and a vehement desire to walk rightly. 

A Prayer For My Son

My dear son Gardner,

I pray to God that you will be strong, and prove yourself a man. 

I pray that you will not be given over to desires and lusts, but that in all things you will exercise self control and restraint. 

I pray you will abide in truth, not fooled by the doctrines of men, not deceived by the workings of this world. 

I pray you will love the Lord your God, and in all that you do you will submit yourself to his will. 

I pray and I implore you, be a man! 

Christian Nationalism

 This topic can become quite a lengthy one to discuss but this post will be shorter and more wave-top in nature. I was given the question recently, "Do you ever feel like scripture/christian communities are being manipulated to achieve political/economic goals?" Within this question was an attached article titled, "Opinion / What Christian Nationalism has done to my state and my faith is a sin". Now I do not have a subscription to the NY Times where that article was posted, so my response lacks a considerable amount of context from the perspective of the questioner, but my response will be to christian nationalism more broadly in the context of the question presented. 

First, saying you are a christian does not make you one. Many people involved in what is commonly labeled 'christian nationalism' are not in-fact christians but rather secularists who give lip-service to the faith. In Matthew we read that many who claim to be Christians will cry out to the Lord and he will say, 'depart from me you workers of lawlessness for I never knew you' Matthew 7:21-23 

So how is a Christian identified as such? By his fruits. A couple of verses earlier in Matthew we read that "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit... Therefore by their fruits you will know them." Matthew 7:18-20

Let's take this a step further.. what are these fruits? There are numerous places in scripture that we could point to, but I'll just specifically look at Galatians chapter 5 verses 22-25 : "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

So this fruit sets us as Christians apart from the rest of the world. We read this in Ephesians where the conduct of the 'New Man' is discussed, "You should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.. If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him.. put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:17-24

You are not a Christian just because you say you are. Christians look different from the rest of the World, you can identify them by their fruits, their actions. So my first point is that there needs to be an understanding that not everyone who is involved in the 'christian nationalism' movement is indeed a christian. You cannot take their word for it. 

Are these people mentioned above most likely using scripture for political or economic gain? I would say most likely yes. But in Vain they worship God, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men - Matthew 15:9

Do I pray for our Nation to not become, but return to a Christian Nation? Yes I do. 

Political and economic 'gains' are not mutually exclusive from true Christians either. The Christian faith is indeed one of world conquest. In Matthew 28 Jesus states that ALL authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth, and commands his disciples to "Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." This making of disciples is not done through political coercion at the state level, but by faithful christians extending their radius of fruitfulness to reach every nation, reaching even to politicians, yes. 

Many serve the Republican Party first and foremost, many serve their affiliations and worldy identifiers/allegiances first and foremost - If any of those are served above God and served above the submission to all of Scripture, yes all of it, even that part that says wives submit to your husbands, or that part where Paul says women should not teach in the church, or that sticky verse that calls us to love our enemies as ourselves, then they serve a different master than Christ. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked - Galations 6:1. Lip-service may work with men, but it does not with the God of all creation. 

Definitions are extremely important, especially in this topic. The first one we've already identified is the definition of what a Christian is in the first place.  The old bumper sticker "God said it - I believe it - That settles it" is wrong. It was settled before you believed it, and you believing it has nothing to do with its truth. The correct order of that phrase is "God said it - That settles it - I believe it" 

All of that before even beginning to define "Christian Nationalism" - That would be the next term requiring a solid definition. 

So in final answer to the original question. Yes many people abuse the faith and scripture for their own personal or political gain - but we must be careful not not lump in those who say they are christians, with those who actually are christians. True christians do pray for the day that every nation would bow and confess Jesus as Lord - and that will look a lot like what people call "Christian Nationalism". - Just without the lanterns and pitchforks. 

Classical Education

 I recently began reading a book titled, "An Experiment in Liberty" by George Grant. This book speaks in great length and detail about America's path to independence. As the author goes about the rich work of setting the stage for the Revolutionary War he spends time on several important figures in our Nation's history. Men such as Cotton Mather, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, John Quincy Adams, George Washington, General Wolfe (who disembarked 3,500 British regulars from naval ships into row boats and with muffled oars snuck past the watch over the St. Lawrence river to arrive in the rear of the city of Quebec, attacking it at daylight. Today, in our ever-more capable military, you cannot even conduct small boat training unless every marine has passed an advanced swim qualification and received a certificate that has been uploaded into a computer database. The handicaps on our employment and capabilities are self-made and severe. At the center of it lies risk adverse commanders and political leaders who fabricate requirements not for the lethality of our men but to save themselves from blame should something go wrong. But I have long sense digressed!), and many others. As you read about these men it becomes very clear that they were educated in a much different manner than we are today. As we see religion flee from our schools and our education we also see a gradual breakdown in the fabric of our 'experiment in liberty'. John Adams is quoted saying, "Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand". Where did these men go? Where are our nation's leaders who think like Adams? The answer is we don't educate men to think like Adams as we used to.

G.K. Chesterton said, "The great intellectual tradition that comes down to us from the past was never interrupted or lost through such trifles as the sack of Rome, the triumph of Attila, or all the barbarian invasions of the Dark Ages. It was lost after... the coming of the marvels of technology, the establishment of universal education, and all the enlightenment of the modern world. And thus was lost-or impatiently snapped-the long thin delicate thread that had descended from distant antiquity; the thread of that unusual human hobby: the habit of thinking."

George Grant notes that the type of education in the time of these men was not merely pointed at the object of the accumulation of knowledge - as much is today (if you could even call it that). Instead it was aimed at equipping an entire generation of leaders with 'the necessary tools to exercise discernment, discretion, and discipline in their lives and over their callings.'

In other words we are taught today 'what to think' while generations of men in our past were taught 'how to think'.  

Ice Age

 Profound knowledge from Sid the Sloth in the movie Ice Age!

As we sat in the car line at the DMV this week we put on Ice Age for the girls to watch as we knew our wait might last over an hour. Meghan and I listened to the movie partly through our conversation in the front seat and it was nearing the end when Diego, the sabertooth cat exclaims, "Lets take this shortcut". Sid the sloth takes one look at the icy hole in the glacier and replies simply, "No, I choose life."

I remarked to Meghan about how wise that line is. When we are confronted with sin, and a temptation to take a shortcut to love, a shortcut to wealth, a shortcut to happiness, we should recognize the darkness ahead and simply say, 'No, I choose life'. 

We have treated sin so apathetically that we don't see everyday choices as decisions of life or death, but they most assuredly are.