I just can’t blog today. I am much too worried about the outcome of today’s elections.* Instead, I am going to direct your attention to two articles posted today that address the foolishness of modern Christianity. I’ve already shared these links via Google, Facebook, and Twitter, and now I’m posting them here in the main column, so that should tell you how strongly I feel about these issues.

The first, by Jared Moore, deals with psychic Christianity: Why is That Christian Dressed Up Like a Psychic?.

The second, by Dan Phillips, debunks one manifestation of psycho-Christianity: How to forgive yourself: a Biblely appraisal.

Read and think.

* Not really. Even if Vladimir Ilyich himself was on the ballot — you know, like two years ago — and won — like two years ago — I’d still know that God was on his throne, directing all things according to his good pleasure.

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again

That, no doubt, is overly optimistic. Still, it’s a good day here in the USA. Every American knows what happened yesterday: President Obama — the worst and most wicked American President ever — got fired. Yes, I know, he’s still in office; it was, sadly, just a symbolic firing, a vicarious firing. His term is not finished, so his job is safe for the moment. Lacking the ability to throw him out in to the street, Americans sent packing as many of his minions as possible.

My own state of North Dakota has elected the first Republican senator in twenty-four years, and the first Republican representative in thirty. Representative Earl Pomeroy is also the first incumbent representative to be defeated since 1966. This, of course, makes me very happy — not so much that Republicans were elected, but that Democrats were defeated.

I’m not as happy as I could be, though. “A message has been sent,” they say. Well, maybe. But I don’t think there’s a lot of virtue behind that message, and I don’t think the message is what most are thinking it is. I don’t think the motive behind this turnover is really philosophically conservative.

Before I offer my expert analysis, let me say two things. First, to those of you who voted against the Party of Evil in years past, and whose vote yesterday was business as usual, thanks. Second, to those who have seen the light and no longer want government to take care of you, who have learned to value liberty over the chimera of welfare, welcome, and thank you also. But I’m afraid you’re a minority. I’m afraid the Democrats were thrown out yesterday for the same reason they were elected in the first place: pure infantile self-interest.

Obama was elected because America is a big baby who wants a mommy to take care of her. Obama promised to do that. His party has been making that promise for, I don’t know, certainly as long as my historical eye can see. Obama promised the voters he would wrap them up in a blanket all cozy and warm, warm their bottle, and rock them to sleep. And to a great extent, he has tried to keep that promise. For the last two years, he has really only been doing what he promised. So why the outrage? It’s simple, really. Baby was tucked in and sung a sweet lullaby; two years later, Baby woke up from nappy time to find that not only is the bottle is not warm, her diaper is full, as well. And Mommy keeps talking, but isn’t making it all better.

So Baby cries for Daddy.

I’m grateful for yesterday’s election results, but I’m not impressed. America: grow up.

By “romance,” I mean the romantic story as found in books and film. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Gina Dalfonzo (a writer unknown to me, so I can’t vouch for her work in general) gets it right when she writes Why Sex Ruins TV Romances (HT: Challies).

Not too long ago, the Mrs. and I watched Letters to Juliet, another of those insipid romances that slips in here occasionally when I let my guard down.

The story begins with Sophie and Victor, a de rigueur shacked-up-not-married-but-engaged couple heading to Italy on a “pre-honeymoon” — that’s right, a let’s-have-sex-in-a-romantic-remote-setting vacation as a prelude to the wedding. Victor, the demi-man half of the couple, is a chef who is in the process of opening a high-class restaurant, and is very entertainingly passionate about his food and wine. The trip to Italy is, for him, not only a romantic getaway, but a reconnaissance mission for his business. In fact, as it turns out, the pursuit of wine and cheese quickly eclipses the “pre-honeymoon.” This, as you can imagine, frustrates Sophie. And this is where I found it necessary to break in with a rant.

“What does she expect?” I asked. “They’ve been shacked up for who knows how long. She’s already given him everything she’s got, and she expects to go to an exotic location, surrounded by all the stuff — the not-her stuff, that is — that he loves, and be the center of attention? The honeymoon was over long ago. There’s nothing new left, nothing unknown to discover. She sold herself cheaply, and expects the price to go up after the sale. . . . [etc. and so on].”

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that the real romance involves another couple, Claire and Lorenzo, who have to wait a very long time to consummate their love. A very long time. And that wait is what makes the romance romantic, and the ending so sweet. In fact, without the wait, there is no story.

Which is why I say that romance in modern media is largely dead. The honeymoon has taken place long before the wedding (if there is a wedding at all). There is no wait, no longing, no anticipation. When dessert has been served, and then the vegetables arrive, who cares? As Dalfonzo concludes, “Apparently it wasn’t enough that the culture of casual sex has done so much to deprive us of good real-life role models; it had to take away all the good love stories, too.”

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

For Each
Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)

My harvest is done, its promise is ended,
   Weak and watery sets the sun,
Day and night in one mist are blended,
   My harvest is done.

   Long while running, how short when run,
Time to eternity had descended,
   Timeless eternity has begun.

Was it the narrow way that I wended?
   Snares and pits was it mine to shun?
The scythe has fallen, so long suspended,
   My harvest is done.

—Christina Rossetti, Poems (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993).

The Gospel According to John

15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

   These verses, we must carefully remember, contain a parable. In interpreting it we must not forget the great rule which applies to all Christ’s parables. The general lesson of each parable is the main thing to be noticed. The minor details must not be tortured and pressed to an excess, in order to extract a meaning from them. The mistakes into which Christians have fallen by neglecting this rule, are neither few nor small.
   We are meant to learn first, from these verses, that the union between Christ and believers is very close. He is “the Vine,” and they are “the branches.”
    The union between the branch of a vine and the main stem, is the closest that can be conceived. It is the whole secret of the branch’s life, strength, vigor, beauty, and fertility. Separate from the parent stem, it has no life of its own. The sap and juice that flow from the stem are the origin and maintaining power of all its leaves, buds, blossoms, and fruit. Cut off from the stem, it must soon wither and die.
   The union between Christ and believers is just as close, and just as real. In themselves believers have no life, or strength, or spiritual power. All that they have of vital religion comes from Christ. They are what they are, and feel what they feel, and do what they do, because they draw out of Jesus a continual supply of grace, help, and ability. Joined to the Lord by faith, and united in mysterious union with Him by the Spirit, they stand, and walk, and continue, and run the Christian race. But every jot of good about them is drawn from their spiritual Head, Jesus Christ.
   The thought before us is both comfortable and instructive. Believers have no cause to despair of their own salvation, and to think they will never reach heaven. Let them consider that they are not left to themselves and their own strength. Their root is Christ, and all that there is in the root is for the benefit of the branches. Because He lives, they shall live also. Worldly people have no cause to wonder at the continuance and perseverance of believers. Weak as they are in themselves, their Root is in heaven, and never dies. “When I am weak,” said Paul, “then am I strong.” (2 Cor. xii. 10.)
   We are meant to learn, secondly, from these verses, that there are false Christians as well as true ones. There are “branches in the vine” which appear to be joined to the parent stem, and yet bear no fruit. There are men and women who appear to be members of Christ, and yet will prove finally to have had no vital union with Him.
   There are myriads of professing Christians in every Church whose union with Christ is only outward and formal. Some of them are joined to Christ by baptism and Church-membership. Some of them go even further than this, and are regular communicants and loud talkers about religion. But they all lack the one thing needful. Notwithstanding services, and sermons, and sacrament, they have no grace in their hearts, no faith, no inward work of the Holy Ghost. They are not one with Christ, and Christ in them. Their union with Him is only nominal, and not real. They have “a name to live,” but in the sight of God they are dead.
   Christians of this stamp are aptly represented by branches in a vine which bear no fruit. Useless and unsightly, such branches are only fit to be cut off and burned. They draw nothing out of the parent stem, and make no return for the place they occupy. Just so will it be at the last day with false professors and nominal Christians. Their end, except they repent, will be destruction. They will be separated from the company of true believers, and cast out, as withered, useless branches, into everlasting fire. They will find at last, whatever they thought in this world, that there is a worm that never dies, and a fire that is not quenched.
   We are meant to learn, thirdly, from these verses, that the fruits of the Spirit are the only satisfactory evidence of a man being a true Christian. The disciple that “abides in Christ,” like a branch abiding in the vine, will always bear fruit.
   He that would know what the word “fruit” means, need not wait long for an answer. Repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, holiness of life and conduct, these are what the New Testament calls “fruit.” These are the distinguishing marks of the man who is a living branch of the true Vine. Where these things are lacking, it is vain to talk of possessing dormant grace and spiritual life. Where there is no fruit there is no life. He that lacketh these things is “dead while he liveth.”
   True grace, we must not forget, is never idle. It never slumbers and never sleeps. It is a vain notion to suppose that we are living members of Christ, if the example of Christ is the only satisfactory evidence of saving union between Christ and our souls. Where there is no fruit of the Spirit to be seen, there is no vital religion in the heart. The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus will always make Himself known in the daily conduct of those in whom He dwells. The Master Himself declares, “Every tree is known by his own fruit.” (Luke vi. 44.)
   We are meant, lastly, to learn from these verses, that God will often increase the holiness of true Christians by His providential dealings with them. “Every branch,” it is written, “that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bear more fruit.”
   The meaning of this language is clear and plain. Just as the gardener prunes and cuts back the branches of a fruitful vine, in order to make them more fruitful, so does God purify and sanctify believers by the circumstances of life in which He places them.
   Trial, to speak plainly, is the instrument by which our Father in heaven makes Christians more holy. By trial He calls out their passive graces, and proves whether they can suffer His will as well as do it. By trial He weans them from the world, draws them to Christ, drives them to the Bible and prayer, shows them their own hearts, and makes them humble. This is the process by which He “purges” them, and makes them more fruitful. The lives of the saints in every age, are the best and truest comment on the text. Never, hardly, do we find an eminent saint, either in the Old Testament or the New, who was not purified by suffering, and, like His Master, a “man of sorrows.”
   Let us learn to be patient in the days of darkness, if we know anything of vital union with Christ. Let us remember the doctrine of the passage before us, and not murmur and complain because of trials. Our trials are not meant to do us harm, but good. God chastens us “for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.” (Heb. xii. 10.) Fruit is the thing that our Master desires to see in us, and He will not spare the pruning knife if He sees we need it. In the last day we shall see that all was well done.

—J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (Baker Books, 2007) [Westminster (PB) | Amazon (HC)].

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Paradoxes

O Changeless God,

Under the conviction of thy Spirit, I learn that
the more I do, the worse I am,
   the more I know, the less I know,
   the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am,
   the more I love, the more there is to love.
      O wretched man that I am!
O Lord,
   I have a wild heart,
      and cannot stand before thee;
I am like a bird before a man.
How little I love thy truth and ways!
I neglect prayer,
   by thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly,
   by knowing thou hast saved my soul.
Of all hypocrites, grant that I may not be
      an evangelical hypocrite,
   who sins more safely because grace abounds,
   who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood
      cleanseth them,
   who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell,
      for he is saved,
   who loves evangelical preaching, churches,
      Christians, but lives unholy.
My mind is a bucket without a bottom,
   with no spiritual understanding,
   no desire for the Lord’s Day,
   ever learning but never reaching the truth,
   always at the gospel-well but never holding water.
My conscience is without conviction or contrition,
   with nothing to repent of.
My will is without power of decision or resolution.
My heart without affection, and full of leaks.
My memory has no retention,
   so I forget easily the lessons learned,
   and the truths seep away.
Give me a broken heart that yet carries home
   the water of grace.

—The Valley of Vision, Arthur Bennett, editor (Banner of Truth Trust, 2002).

John 15:7–11

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

   There is a wide difference between believers and believers. In some things they are all alike. All feel their sins; all trust in Christ; all repent and strive to be holy. All have grace, and faith, and new hearts. But they differ widely in the degree of their attainments. Some are far happier and holier Christians than others, and have far more influence on the world.
   Now what are the inducements which the Lord Jesus holds out to His people, to make them aim at eminent holiness? This is a question which ought to be deeply interesting to every pious mind. Who would not like to be a singularly useful and happy servant of Christ? The passage before us throws light on the subject in three ways.
   In the first place, our Lord declares, “If ye abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” This is a distinct promise of power and success in prayer. And what does it turn upon? We must “abide in Christ,” and Christ’s “words must abide in us.”
   To abide in Christ means to keep up a habit of constant close communion with Him,—to be always leaning on Him, resting on Him, pouring out our hearts to Him, and using Him as our Fountain of life and strength, as our chief Companion and best Friend.—To have His words abiding in us, is to keep His sayings and precepts continually before our memories and minds, and to make them the guide of our actions and the rule of our daily conduct and behavior.
   Christians of this stamp, we are told, shall not pray in vain. Whatever they ask they shall obtain, so long as they ask things according to God’s mind. No work shall be found too hard, and no difficulty insurmountable. Asking they shall receive, and seeking they shall find. Such men were Martin Luther, the German Reformer, and our own martyr, Bishop Latimer. Such a man was St. John Knox, of whom Queen Mary said, that she feared his prayers more than an army of twenty thousand men. It is written in a certain place, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James v. 16.)
   Now, why is there so little power of prayer like this in our own time? Simply because there is so little close communion with Christ, and so little strict conformity to His will. Men do not “abide in Christ,” and therefore pray in vain. Christ’s words do not abide in them, as their standard of practice, and therefore their prayers seem not to be heard. They ask and receive not, because they ask amiss. Let this lesson sink down into our hearts. He that would have answers to his prayers, must carefully remember Christ’s directions. We must keep up intimate friendship with the great Advocate in heaven, if our petitions are to prosper.
   In the second place, our Lord declares, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” The meaning of this promise seems to be, that fruitfulness in Christian practice will not only bring glory to God, but will supply the best evidence to our own hearts that we are real disciples of Christ.
   Assurance of our own interest in Christ, and our consequent eternal safety, is one of the highest privileges in religion. To be always doubting and fearing is miserable work. Nothing is worse than suspense in any matter of importance, and above all in the matter of our souls. He that would know one of the best receipts for obtaining assurance, should diligently study Christ’s words now before us. Let him strive to bear much fruit in his life, his habits, his temper, his words, and his works. So doing he shall feel the “witness of the Spirit” in his heart, and give abundant proof that he is a living branch of the true Vine. He shall find inward evidence in his own soul that he is a child of God, and shall supply the world with outward evidence that cannot be disputed. He shall leave no room for doubt that he is a disciple.
   Would we know why so many professing Christians have little comfort in their religion, and go fearing and doubting along the road to heaven? The question receives a solution in the saying of our Lord we are now considering. Men are content with a little Christianity, and a little fruit of the Spirit, and do not labor to be holy in all of life. They must not wonder if they enjoy little peace, feel little hope, and leave behind them little evidence. The fault lies with themselves. God has linked together holiness and happiness; and what God has joined together we must not think to put asunder.
   In the third place, our Lord declares, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.” The meaning of this promise is near akin to that of the preceding one. The man who makes conscience of diligently observing Christ’s precepts, is the man who shall continually enjoy a sense of Christ’s love in his soul.
   Of course we must not misunderstand our Lord’s words when He speaks of “keeping His commandments.” There is a sense in which no one can keep them. Our best works are imperfect and defective, and when we have done our best we may well cry, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Yet we must not run into the other extreme, and give way to the lazy idea that we can do nothing at all. By the grace of God we may make Christ’s laws our rule of life, and show daily that we desire to please Him. So doing, our gracious Master will give us a constant sense of His favor, and make us feel His face smiling on us, like the sun shining on a fine day. “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” (Ps. xxi. 14.)
   Lessons like these may be legal to some, and bring down much blame on those who advocate them. Such is the narrow-mindedness of human nature, that few can look on more than one side of truth! Let the servant of Christ call no man his master. Let him hold on his way, and never be ashamed of diligence, fruitfulness, and jealous watchfulness, in his obedience to Christ’s commands. These things are perfectly consistent with salvation by grace and justification by faith, whatever any one may say to the contrary.
   Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. The Christian who is careful over his words and tempers and works, will generally be the most happy Christian. “Joy and peace in believing” will never accompany an inconsistent life. It is not for nothing that our Lord concludes the passage: “These things have l spoken unto you, that your joy might be full.”

—J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (Baker Books, 2007) [Westminster (PB) | Amazon (HC)].

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I dedicate this post to you, the person reading it. Before you were even born, God planned this very moment, the moment you would type the address of this site into your browser or the moment you would click a link from another site to arrive right here, right now. It is no accident that you are here today and you can be certain that God has orchestrated all of this so you could learn what I want to tell you today. So get ready. This is your moment!

The previous paragraph is shamelessly plagiarized from Tim Challies. At least it’s fresh, unlike most stolen texts, having been published just this morning. And it’s just as true here as it is there, or in any of the sources to which Tim attributes it. Since this very topic has been on my mind recently, I’d like to make a few comments of my own. I’d suggest reading Tim’s article first; it’s well worth your time. In fact, I insist that go read it, because I want you to understand what he has written about God’s will and providence, and I don’t want to repeat it here. Tim covers the theology of the matter well; I just want to focus on the single aspect that’s been on my mind.

First, I want to affirm that I agree in part with the paragraph at the top of this page: that you are here, right now, reading this, is providential. It is a part of God’s plan for you. But that’s as far as my agreement goes. The problem with that paragraph is not that it points to God’s providence as the cause of your presence here. The problem is that the writer presumes to know what that means. There is an arrogance to it. Specifically, he takes the fact that his book (or blog post) was written, and that you are reading it, to be positive affirmation of his work.

That God allowed or even planned an event doesn’t prove the good of it.

The “secret will” of God includes bad things. Consider, for example, the sale of Joseph by his brothers to the Ishmaelites (Genesis 37). Now imagine Joseph’s brothers implying that since God planned it, they had done a good thing. None of us would agree, yet we know that in the providence of God, their sin — clearly against the “revealed will” of God — was a part of his secret will (Genesis 45:5–7). The ultimate example, of course, is the crucifixion. What great sin was premeditated by God! Shall we praise the Pharisees for their part in God’s redemptive plan?

Returning to the opening paragraph, there are various reasons why God might put a book (or blog) before your eyes. It might be to teach you valuable lessons contained therein. It might be to exercise your discernment. It might be to educate you from a primary source about some falsehood. It might even be a part of turning you over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:18ff). While an author — particularly, a Christian author — should hope for and even expect the first to be true, he is arrogant and presumptuous to declare himself, as it were, an oracle of God to the reader, and, as Tim pointed out, to claim to know the secret will of God.

What I want you to take away from this is a caution on the way you assess your own work. Don’t assume that because you have succeeded in an effort, been praised by others, or experienced beneficial results, that you have done the right thing. The appearance of blessing might be just that: an appearance. God might be using your foolishness for purposes unknown. The only sure measure of right is the revealed will of God — Scripture. Strive to be in that will of God that is revealed, and remain prudently silent about that which is hidden.

As I observed yesterday, the entire gospel is summarized in Genesis 3:21:

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

Most readers will see the blood sacrifice prefiguring the crucifixion. But that is only half of the gospel.

At the center of the gospel is the doctrine of imputation. In the bloody sacrifice, we see our sins being imputed to Christ (Isaiah 53). But that’s not enough. That does not justify me before God. It isn’t enough that Christ bore the penalty for my sin. I must be presented before God righteous. And my righteousness must be a real righteousness. God cannot merely pretend; that would be, as Rome and Finney called it, a “legal fiction.”

Where do we get this righteousness? Adam and Eve thought they could produce their own: “and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings” (v. 7). Isn’t that typical? Our first instinct, when confronted with our sin — our nakedness — is to try harder, do better. But as Adam and Eve learned, the best covering we can make is inadequate. Nice as it may be, it is still our own, and our own righteousness is no better than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Adam and Eve needed what we need: a covering not of their own making, but of God’s. So God killed an animal and made garments for them of the skin. He replaced their unrighteous garments with righteous garments.

Christ did not die merely to take away our sins. A complete exchange was made on the cross: our sin for his righteousness. And it’s all there in Genesis 3:21.

Why are you here? That is, if you really are here. Technical difficulties continue, so you’re probably not, which means I’m wasting my time typing this. However, if you are here, go away and get busy giving thanks.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
   Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
   Speak of all His wonders.
Glory in His holy name;
   Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.
Seek the Lord and His strength;
   Seek His face continually.
Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
   His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,
O seed of Israel His servant,
   Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
He is the Lord our God;
   His judgments are in all the earth.
Remember His covenant forever,
   The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
The covenant which He made with Abraham,
   And His oath to Isaac.
He also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
   To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
   As the portion of your inheritance.”
When they were only a few in number,
   Very few, and strangers in it,
And they wandered about from nation to nation,
   And from one kingdom to another people,
He permitted no man to oppress them,
   And He reproved kings for their sakes, saying,
“Do not touch My anointed ones,
   And do My prophets no harm.”
Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
   Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
   His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
   He also is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
   But the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before Him,
   Strength and joy are in His place.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
   Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
   Bring an offering, and come before Him;
   Worship the Lord in holy array.
Tremble before Him, all the earth;
   Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
   And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
   Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord;
   For He is coming to judge the earth.
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
   For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation,
   And gather us and deliver us from the nations,
   To give thanks to Your holy name,
   And glory in Your praise.”
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
   From everlasting even to everlasting

Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

—1 Chronicles 16:8–36

Yes, I know the site is still hiccupping. I’m pursuing one possible solution while avoiding another. In the mean time, those of you who have not subscribed to the RSS feed through a reader such as Google Reader might want to consider doing so. You’ll have no trouble there.

So you survived Thanksgiving. Me too. We cut back to only five kinds of pie this year, which may explain why I'm feeling so chipper (only napped for about two hours) and looking so svelte. But we're not out of the woods yet, as the following sonnet by an anonymous bard will illustrate.

When I was a young turkey, just new to the coop,
My big brother Mike took me out on the stoop.
Then he sat me down, and he spoke really slow*,
And said there was something I needed to know;

His look and his tone I will always remember,
When he told of the horrors of Black November.
“Come about August, now listen to me,
Each day you’ll get six meals instead of just three.

“And soon you’ll be thick, where once you were thin,
and you’ll grow a big rubbery thing under your chin.
“And then one morning, when you’re warm in your bed,
The farmer’s wife will burst in and hack off your head.

“Then she’ll pluck out your feathers so you’re all bald and pink,
And scoop out all your insides, leave you lying in the sink;
“And then comes the worst part,” he said, not bluffing,
“She’ll spread your cheeks and pack your backside with stuffing.”

Well, the rest of his words were too grim to repeat,
I sat on the stoop like a winged piece of meat,
And decided on the spot that to avoid being cooked,
I’d have to lay low and remain overlooked.

I began a new diet of nuts and granola,
High-roughage salads, juice, and diet cola;
And as they ate pastries, chocolates, and crepes,
I stayed in my room doing Jane Fonda tapes.
I maintained my weight of two pounds and a half,
And tried not to notice when the bigger birds laughed.

But ’twas I who was laughing, deep under my breath,
As they chomped and they chewed, ever closer to death;
And sure enough, when Black November rolled around,
I was the last turkey left in the entire compound.

So now I’m a pet in the farmer’s wife’s lap.
I haven’t a worry, so I eat and I nap.
She held me today, while sewing and humming,
And smiled at me and said, “Now, Christmas is coming . . .”

* My apologies for the misplaced adjective (or truncated adverb, if you prefer). “Slowly” does not rhyme with “know.”

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Hymn XLI.
Faith’s review and expectation.
I. Chronicles xvii. 16, 17.
John Newton (1725–1807)

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
   That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, hut now am found,
   Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
   And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
   The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
   I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
   And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
   His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
   As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
   And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
   A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
   The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
   Will be for ever mine.

—from Olney Hymns. Book I: On select Passages of Scripture.

* This is Amazing Grace as it was originally published in 1779. Stanzas 1–3 are no doubt familiar, and possibly 4 as well. If you’re wondering what happened to “When we’ve been there ten thousand years,” the answer is, nothing; it was not part of the original hymn, and its author is unknown.

John 15:17–21

This I command you, that you love one another.
   18 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”

   The passage before us opens with a renewed exhortation to brotherly love. For the third time in this discourse our Lord thinks it needful to press this precious grace on the attention of His disciples. Rare, indeed, must genuine charity be, when such repeated mention of it is made! In the present instance the connection in which it stands should be carefully observed. Christian love is placed in contrast to the hatred of the world.
   We are shown first, in this passage, what true Christians must expect to meet in this world,—hatred and persecution. If the disciples looked for kindness and gratitude from man they would be painfully disappointed. They must lay their account to be ill-treated like their Master.—“The world hateth you. Be not moved or surprised. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
   Facts, painful facts in every age, supply abundant proof that our Lord’s warning was not without cause. Persecution was the lot of the Apostles and their companions wherever they went. Not more than one or two of them died quietly in his bed.—Persecution has been the lot of true believers throughout the eighteen Christian centuries of history. The doings of Roman Emperors and Roman Popes, the Spanish inquisition, the martyrdoms of Queen Mary’s reign, all tell the same story.—Persecution is the lot of all really godly people at this very day. Ridicule, mockery, slander, misrepresentations still show the feeling of unconverted people against the true Christian. As it was in St. Paul’s day, so it is now. In public and in private, at school and at college, at home and abroad, “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. iii. 12.) Mere churchmanship and outward profession are a cheap religion, of course, and cost a man nothing. But real vital Christianity will always bring with it a cross.
   To know and understand these things is of the utmost importance to our comfort. Nothing is so mischievous as the habit of indulging false expectations. Let us realize that human nature never changes, that “the carnal mind is enmity against God,” and against God’s image in His people. Let us settle it in our minds that no holiness of life or consistency of conduct will ever prevent wicked people hating the servants of Christ, just as they hated their blameless Master. Let us remember these things, and then we shall not be disappointed.
   We are shown secondly, in this passage, two reasons for patience under the persecution of this world. Each is weighty, and supplies matter for much thought.
   For one thing, persecution is the cup of which Christ Himself drank. Faultless as He was in everything, in temper, word, and deed,—unwearied as He was in works of kindness, always going about doing good,—never was any one so hated as Jesus was to the last day of His earthly ministry. Scribes and High Priests, Pharisees and Sadducees, Jews and Gentiles, united in pouring contempt on Him, and opposing Him, and never rested until He was put to death.
   Surely this simple fact alone should sustain our spirits and prevent our being cast down by the hatred of man. Let us consider that we are only walking in our Master’s footsteps, and sharing our Master’s portion. Do we deserve to be better treated? Are we better than He? Let us fight against these murmuring thoughts. Let us drink quietly the cup which our Father gives us. Above all, let us often call to mind the saying, “Remember the word that I spake unto you, The servant is not greater than his Master.”
   For another thing, persecution helps to prove that we are children of God, and have treasure in heaven. It supplies evidence that we are really born again, that we have grace in our hearts, and are heirs of glory: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” Persecution, in short, is like the Goldsmith’s Hall mark on real silver and gold: it is one of the marks of a converted man.
   Let us nerve our minds with this cheering thought, when we feel ready to faint and give way under the world’s hatred. No doubt it is hard to bear, and the more hard when our conscience tells us we are innocent. But after all let us never forget that it is a token for good. It is a symptom of a work begun within us by the Holy Ghost, which can never be overthrown. We may fall back on that wonderful promise, “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matt. v. 11, 12.) When the world has said and done its worst, it cannot rob believers of that promise.
   Let us leave the whole subject with a feeling of deep pity for those who persecute others on account of their religion. Often, very often, as our Lord says, they do it because they know no better. “They know not Him that sent Me.” Like our Divine Master and His servant Stephen, let us pray for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. Their persecution rarely does us harm, and often drives us nearer to Christ, the Bible, and the throne of grace. Our intercession, if heard on high, may bring down blessings on their souls.

—J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (Baker Books, 2007) [Westminster (PB) | Amazon (HC)].

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

After pursuing one method of fixing the “internal server error” problem, and having no success, I am breaking down and doing the job I’ve been avoiding for some time: rebuilding. For the first time, pressed by necessity rather than desire, I’m starting with no clear idea of how I want it to look when I’m done. The comments below will accept your complaints and suggestions; who knows, I might even consider them.

This may take me a while, so expect some (more) odd behavior in days to come. Thanks for your patience (if, indeed, you are being patient).