Ten Quotes: God Rest Ye Merry by Douglas Wilson

Just in time for Advent and Christmas here are ten quotes from Douglas Wilson's book God Rest Ye Merry. 

Bethlehem was the opening gambit in the last campaign of a long war. 

Our good God, our overflowing God, our God of yes and amen, has always been able to promise far more than we are able to believe. I am not here speaking of unbelief, or of hard hearts, which is another problem. I am speaking here of true and sincere faith, a God-given faith, but one which is still infinite, and which God loves to bury under an avalanche of promises. We serve and worship the God who overwhelms, who delights to overwhelm. 

The one who took the position of a servant was given authority over all.

Mary overcame in the way women are called to conquer-by giving birth to conquerors, or by giving birth to daughters who will give birth to conquerors. And this explains how the Magnificat [Luke 1:46-55] can have been composed by a woman and still be so gloriously militant. Godly child-bearing is militant. 

Man in his sinful condition does not want to be saved. That is part of what it means to be a sinner. This means that man wants, by various strategies, to put himself out of God's reach.

We are told to clothe ourselves with humility and tender mercies. When Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, the cross is certainly in view. But we do not just follow him to the cross-we must also follow Him to the manger. We must become little children. 

There is a vast difference between narrow partisanship and a broad political worldview. Many Christians in their attempts to keep the former out of their spiritual lives, have also found themselves excluding the latter. This is a drastic mistake. In doing this, they have found themselves without a consistent biblical worldview at all--because all worldviews are inescapably political. If you are resolved to be apolitical, you are resolved to abandon the world, to write it off.

The sun has risen. Christ has come. He is the king. The light covers the world. A return to heathen midnight is an impossibility. Those who walk in darkness now are doing so in a world diffused with light. This is hard to do--you have to remain blind, or hide in root cellars. There are ways to stay out of the sunlight, but they are difficult to accomplish.  

We should strive over time to have our celebration of Easter far surpass the glory of Christmas...and we shouldn't try to fix this by reducing what we do at Christmas.

"Penitential" seasons can be put to a genuinely good use if they are a time when serious, once-for-all mortification of particular sins occurs-if real sins and real bad habits are uprooted from your life.  

And One:

From the very start, from the very beginning, the life of Jesus presented a potent threat to the status quo. This threat was not the result of Herod's paranoia--Herod knew what many Christians do not. The birth of this child meant that the old way of ruling mankind was doomed. The transition from the old way of rule to the new way of rule was not going to be simple or easy, but it was going to happen.

Quotes From Other Books
The New Pastor's Handbook by Jason Helopoulos
On Being a Pastor by Derek Prime and Alistair Begg
How to Exasperate Your Wife by Douglas Wilson
The Things of Earth by Joe Rigney
A Son for Glory by Toby Sumpter 
Escape from Reason by Francis Schaeffer
Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung
Making Gay Okay by Robert Reilly 
Christ Crucified by Donald Macleod
Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God by John Calvin

Evidence and Justice

From Douglas Wilson and Randy Booth's A Justice Primer:

Guilt needs to be established prior to the verdict being delivered. Careful attention to the evidence must be given before a sentenced is made. Judges make judgments, but just judges always regard the law first, and the rules of evidence are a part of the law. It is all too common for people to rush to judgment when they are in no position to know or evaluate all the evidence. A personal hunch in not capable of delivering justice and it is fully capable of doing an injustice. 

Newspaper reports, Internet blather and other types of rumor mills are not reliable evidence. It is possible to be in possession of two percent of the evidence but to assume that you are in possession of it all. For genuine justice to be rendered, all the available evidence, the right kind of evidence, the proper interpretation of the evidence and wise judges are all necessary. Our brains want to fill in missing information and will frequently do so rather than acknowledge that we simply do not  know. We often assume actions, motives, and reasons not in evidence. Reading between the lines is dangerous and prone to produce injustice.

Moreover, repeating bad evidence is not evidence. The fact that two people are "convinced" that someone is guilty does not make that person guilty, and his is no guiltier if ten people are "convinced" and post it on Facebook, and get twenty-seven "likes." Quantity cannot substitute for quality. To assert that a certain person, organization or company is "guilty" or "evil" does not make it so. Neither does the repetition of such statements prove the guilt of the accused. However, it might well indict the repeater of unsubstantiated reports for false witness.  

Not a Cover Up

Douglas Wilson and Randy Booth from A Justice Primer:

In a public setting, it is necessary for the accuser to be prepared to prove what he says. In order to that (is this starting to sound familiar?), he must not be anonymous, he must be accountable to a body for his charges (in case they prove deliberate falsehoods), he must have independent confirmation of what he says (2-3 witnesses). If these conditions do not pertain, a church body is prohibited by Scripture from entertaining the charges (I Tim. 5:19). When authorities unsubstantiated charges, they are not covering anything up. They are being obedient. 

Witnesses & Justice

From Douglas Wilson & Randy Booth's A Justice Primer:

Witnesses must be accountable to the appropriate court, and must be in a position whereby they can be cross-examined. Thus anonymous accusations must be rejected as unsubstantiated and considered not credible...not all witnesses are to be believed...Multiple credible witnesses are required before even receiving an accusation against an elder (I Tim. 5:19)...Malicious false witness violates the ninth commandment and inflicts serious damage on our neighbor. Negligent or careless false witness is also a breaking of the ninth commandment and can have similar effects. Our obligation is to honestly and accurately represent others when we disagree with them, not to assume that we know what they really meant. 

By What Standard?

From Douglas Wilson and Randy Booth's A Justice Primer:

Autonomy seeks to replace the perfect law of God-which is perfect justice-with our own standards of justice. Justice demands an authority. By what standard will we evaluate fairness? Who will execute or enforce justice? Is this standard and authority infallible? How are the standards to be applied? Who says? These are all inescapable questions. Some standards will be used and some authority will stand behind those standards. The alternatives are limited. Essentially, we can choose between autonomy and theonomy-man's law or God's law. One of these standards will be the ultimate authority and arbiter of justice. 

Book Review: A Justice Primer

A Justice Primer by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An excellent overview of what Biblical justice should look like, including discussions of things like witnesses, jurisdiction, authority, church discipline, sexual abuse, internet mobs, evidence, character of witnesses, due process, motives, anonymous witnesses, and taking a Christian brother to court.

It is not scholarly, but more like a lengthy sermon on what Biblical justice looks like with applications to the 21st century. Pastors, elders, deacons, fathers, and mothers could all benefit greatly from the wisdom in this book.

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Book Review: How to Exasperate Your Wife

How To Exasperate Your Wife and Other Short Essays for Men by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A short, great book for men who have a twisted view of headship, which means most of us. His chapter on tenderness was excellent as was the sexuality catechism as the back. I am not sure why he included the essays on sex in heaven. They were fine essays, but felt a bit out of place. Other than that the book is wonderful.

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Ten Quotes: How to Exasperate Your Wife by Doug Wilson

Here are ten of my favorite quotes from Douglas Wilson's book How to Exasperate Your Wife. 

A man who ditches the actual wife of his youth is thereby revealing that he abandoned another woman (Wisdom) some time before. 

If her [the wife's] wishes are routinely disregarded, this means that her husband has failed to invest her with his authority, and has failed to act as an example for the rest of the household. A sure indicator of an unhappy household is the ignoring of Mom, and the head of that home is an abdicating father.

No one person is absolute. And this why those husbands who think that headship means their wives should never offer a contrary view are wrong. This is why husbands who think their wives cannot require certain things of them are wrong. This is why husbands who believe that their wives have no court of appeal outside the marriage are wrong.  

 Few forms of behavior are less respectable than that of demanding respect. 

A man who gives love receives respect.

A man who is not strong enough to be tender is not strong at all...We tend to think that a man who yells and blusters and intimidates has an excess of strength. We think he has a surplus. But biblically understood, he is actually a covenant wimp.

A nation defended by her women is a nation no longer worth defending. When women are placed in the front line of defense, every Christian man should walk away from the cause of that nation as being beneath contempt.

The basic question here is whether law operates in the context of grace, or whether grace operates in the surrounding context of law. If the former, then marriage is delight upon delight. If the latter, then it is one conflict after another. In these two different marriages, the objective standards may be exactly the same, but they are played in different keys.  

The progression towards adultery moves like this-simmering discontent, open discontent, open desire in other directions, which is lust, and then lust acted out, with infidelity as the result. Now a man might be able to convince himself that he is not being unfaithful in the first two stages-he is not being aroused, and he is not actively seeking that kind of gratification. His problem doesn't appear to him to be overtly sexual at all. But that's a set up. Don't feed the kind of discontent that will, later on, feed something else. 

What is biblical masculinity? It is the glad assumption of sacrificial responsibility.

And one:

What is the confessional issue of our time? The confessional issue of our time is human sexuality, biblically defined.  

Clean Upstream

Pastor Doug Wilson notes in this book

Recognize that sexual sin is not just a sin for which there will be consequences later (although that is true)-sexual sin is itself a judgment for antecedent [prior PJ] sin. Find out what that sin is, and deal with it. Stop floating towards the falls. Work your way upstream.

Many men see lust and sexual sin in isolation from the rest of their sins. Lust is what happens when you see a girl and keep staring and staring or click on that link you swore you wouldn't or when you roll that scene from the movie over and over in your mind. Because this sin is often committed in the dark or in our minds we assume it has little connection to the rest of our sins. But there are clusters of sins that at first glance have little to do with sex that make it easier to cheat on our wives, flirt at work, look at porn, or indulge fantasies in our heads. Here are a few sins upstream that lead to sexual sins downstream. Naturally these intertwine with each other and you can probably think of others.

Laziness: Proverbs 15:19 says the way of a lazy man is like a hedge of thorns. Many a man has found himself entangled in sexual sins because he was lazy in other areas of his life. A man who cannot put in a hard day's work, cuts corners, refuses to maintain his home, hopes he wins the lottery, is too lazy to discipline his children or help his pregnant wife is not likely to work hard when it comes to resisting  the buxom blonde on the screen.

Grumbling:  Throughout the Scriptures God's people are called upon to give thanks. When they don't bad things happen. One could argue that sodomy, one of the greatest sexual sins, begins with a failure to give thanks (Romans 1:21). But we treat grumbling and complaining with kid gloves.  A man addicted to porn has a huge problem. A man who spends most of his life complaining is complimented for being insightful and wise. But porn and grumbling go together. A man who is discontent with his children, his job, his house, and his dog will not be content with his wife. A complaining mouth is a sign of an unfaithful heart.

Lack of Self-Control: Self-control is a central character trait necessary for true holiness. Without self-control other virtues, such as kindness and mercy, lose their balance and beauty.  A man who cannot control his eating, his temper, his schedule, his movie watching, his gaming, his hobbies, and his speech is not likely to control his sexual urges. Yet we are surprised when a man who spends dozens of free hours and hundreds of dollars on hunting or golf cheats on his wife. Why?

Coveting: Of course, lust is a sub species of covetousness. But we don't take other types of coveting as seriously as we take coveting a woman. We recoil at lusting after a women. But a new job...not so much. We just wink. When we are jealous of a friend's pay raise or new house or new truck or...fill in the blank then we are coveting. We believe we deserve more than we have. We believe God has withheld something good from us (Genesis 3:4-6). A longing for a new job, car, house, etc. naturally leads to sexual sin. Covetousness is compared to idolatry in Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5. If we bow down all day we will not suddenly stop bowing at the computer or with a co-worker.

The trouble is the sins listed above do not make our short list of "big" sins. We are lazy, grumbling, out of control, coveting men and then wonder why we cannot resist the cute waitress.  Acre after acre of our lives are untended and full of weeds and we wonder why this one little area has so many snakes in it.

We should fight against sexual sin by regulating our computer habits, guarding our eyes at work, being accountable, memorizing verses, and other regularly suggested means. But we will never  kill our lusts until we begin to put to death these other sins. We will never defeat sexual immorality until we work until we don't want to and then work some more. We will not turn away from porn unless we stop grumbling about God's hard providences.  When we learn to hold our tongue we will also learn how to hold back sinful thoughts. And when we give thanks to God for his gifts we will stop lusting for what he has withheld. These Spirit filled disciplines will help us find victory over our sexual sins. Otherwise fighting lust will be a losing battle, like cleaning up downriver while the sewage continues to pour in upstream.

Quotes from Rules for Reformers

Pastor Doug Wilson's latest book is called Rules for Reformers. It is not for everyone, but anyone in Christian leadership should read the book. It has a hard, but cheerful edge to it.  Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book.

A reformer has to be the kind of man who can stand up to the clamor of the mob. 

The wise are those who take the initiative whenever they have the opportunity.

Survival should never be the goal, stalemate is not the goal, absence of collision is not the goal.

We are not to fight to the point of predominance, we are to fight to the point of complete victory.

Cultivate a robust sense of humor. [Wilson repeats this idea throughout the book.] 

Keep the pressure on, wherever you are on the line...Wake up in the morning thinking about what the fires you can set.

The work of cultural reformation is a contact sport.

A godly satirist [a man who uses sarcasm and ridicule] should know the difference between weakness and arrogance, and, as far as possible, reserve his arrows for the latter.

We need to distinguish between those who demand apologies as a weapon, and those who want to see genuine reconciliation.

Winning an argument, with documents and everything, is not what brings repentance. [Pastor Wilson is not saying that arguments have no value. He is just saying that winning them does not produce repentance.] 

The issue is never the issue. Keep your eye on the ball.

The rule is never to apologize for the truth. Never.[Emphasis his.]

Do you want to bring up endangered kids or dangerous kids...Would you like them to be smooth stones in the sling of the Son of David? Or are you just hoping they make enough money to get by, are generally nice people, and always come home for the holidays...Do you want to provide them with Jesus-centered education that will train them for the battle, the way boot camp is supposed to? 

If you do not love the present, which you have seen, how can you love the future, which you have not seen?

When forgetfulness begins, love is then in decline.

The key battle in our culture wars is the reestablishment of worship that is pleasing to God.

The reason for singling out sodomy for particular political attention right now is the homo-activists have made it their central political weapon.

All the Christians in the world, thinking sweet thoughts all at the same time, could not make a minimum wage law that didn't hurt the poor.  

All hope is lost? Good. That means the conditions for a black swan revival are improving by the day. The stone cold deader we get, the more God is hastening the day. Nothing is dying but what has needed to die for a long time. 

There is no solution to our cultural or political troubles apart from the blood that Jesus shed.  

Book Review: Excused Absence

Excused Absence by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A small book that is like putting dynamite under the foundation of public education. Pastor Wilson systematically exposes the problems with Christians sending their children to public schools. He then answers objections to his thesis and explains some temptations with Christian education whether in a Christian school or at home. He roots the book in Scripture and the covenant that God has brought his people into. This book is a must read for anyone who thinks public school is a valid educational option for Christian parents.

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Book Review: Father Hunger

Father Hunger: Why God Calls Men to Love and Lead Their Families by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read most of Pastor Wilson's books. All them are challenging in various ways. However, this book convicted me in ways his other books have not. I am not exactly sure the reason. I think it has to do with my oldest son turning thirteen. As my sons have gotten older, my own sins have become more apparent. This book did not just cut up some false views I had in my head. It cut up portions of my life that needed badly to be dealt with. Strange as it may sound this book led me to make a list of particular attitudes towards my family that I needed to repent of. It is also led me to pray more.

Here are three specific things that stick out:
1. A good father is a grateful father because he believes that God is sovereign over all things, including the annoying, irritating, ugly, things.

2. A good father longs for the responsibility that comes with children, a house, a wife, etc. He embraces the role because he knows this is what God made him for, this is how God is going to sanctify him, and God has given him this role to serve those around him.

3. Those fathers who cling to God are able to do what God has called them to do. One the easiest excuses for a father to make is that he is not able to affect change in his household. He believes he is impotent to do the job. Pastor Wilson's last chapter deals with this. He reminds us that if God calls us to be fathers then he will give us grace to accomplish the task. I have already leaned on this truth numerous times over the last several weeks.

Several reviews have noted that this book was not what they expected. I agree. It was different. But still very good.

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Thunder and Lightning in the Pulpit

"We were not sent to clear our throat nervously, trying to get somebody's attention. We were not sent in order to make a few mild suggestions. We were not sent to indulge in a few postmodern dabblings of a theological nature. We were commissioned-I believe the word is ordained-to compel every manifestation of worldly power, glory, wisdom and exaltation to yield to and obey the majesty of God, in full accordance with God's Word.  We were sent to bind and loose, and all by God's Word.  And if need be, we have been ordained to open the Word completely,  press it flat against the pulpit, hold on to both sides of that pulpit, pray for divine protection, and preach as though we were thunder and lightning.  How could we not?  The Scriptures are a great thunderhead." (Doug Wilson in With Calvin in Theater of God, p. 95)

Take Up and Read

Ken Meyers explains how the problem is not the culture, but the culture of the church. An insightful interview, showing why Ken Meyers is one of the go to men for understanding how the church should relate to culture.

Douglas Wilson gave 21 words for fathers in his sermon last week. I printed it out and have read through them several times this week. His words are biblical and should be carefully digested by all fathers and fathers to be.

Vern Poythress reminds us that the state cannot solve all our problems.

President Obama used the Bible to defend his stance on gay marriage. Denny Burk explains why this is absurb.

Last week I posted several times on how we as Christians should approach food.  My primary aim in those posts was to warn those who become proud because of their healthy eating habits. My hope is that next week I will be able to address some other issues.  But in the meantime here is a good post on how to combat gluttony, which is a sin.

Book Review: Wordsmithy

Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Douglas Wilson at his best; Funny, straight to the point, and practical. Filled with great advice on how to become the type of person who writes stuff that people want to read. I found my preaching was challenged as well. I cannot recommend it too highly for all those who long to write. But even for those who don't it is worth your time.

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Take Up and Read: Thursday Edition

Carl Trueman discusses why elders should be older, more mature men. He is right, but what do you do when the older men have abandon the faith? What do you do when most of the men in your church are young?

There are thousands of books on how to prepare sermons, but almost nothing on how to listen to them. Since millions of Christians around the world listen to sermons Sunday after Sunday this is odd. Here is a short article by Phil Ryken on how to hear a sermon. If members followed this I think many a pastor would enter and leave the pulpit with more spring in their step.

Lent began last Wednesday. First, if you do not know what Lent is read this. Then you can read this quote by Michael Horton, a professor at Westminster Seminary in California, on Lent.  Then read this post by Noel Piper on Why Would We Observe Lent? Finally, Pastor Douglas Wilson gets to the heart of how we should and shouldn't celebrate Lent.

Finally, here is a wonderful article by Kevin DeYoung on why we should delight in our very ordinary lives because they display Christ's extraordinary salvation.

Doug Wilson on Santorum, Paul, and Politics

Doug Wilson has weighed in on the Rick Santorum vs. Ron Paul debate with some good words of balance. I know many of you are Ron Paul supporters, therefore you should listen to what Wilson says. Wilson is not trying to get anyone to stop voting for Paul. But rather he is trying to keep us from making broad sweeping statements and overreaching. Ron Paul will not save America and Rick Santorum is not the antichrist. Rick Santorum will not save America and Ron Paul is not the antichrist. This does not make them equal, but it should make us careful about how we talk about them.

Here are three of Wilson's posts that are worth your time, even if they make you mad. 

First, he explains why Rick Santorum's foreign policy is not equal to abortion. This is an important point to remember.  Abortion is the most heinous sin in American history, maybe the history of the world. Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the fire bombing of Dresden pale in comparison to abortion. It is easy for the abortion debate to become stale. It shouldn't.  That does not mean we should only think about abortion when it comes to voting.  But it should be first on the list. Any candidate who does not vocally oppose abortion is ungodly. This does not mean Rick Santorum has a good foreign policy. It just means his foreign policy is not the equivalent of being pro-choice.

Second, he muses on why certain Ron Paul supporters feel like anyone who is not on the Ron Paul bandwagon has "insufficient zeal for the cause."

Finally, Pastor Wilson reminds us to not sacrifice the important things for our political ideas.

Douglas Wilson on Beer

As alcohol is being restored to its proper place in the church there are numerous dangers that must be avoided. One is believing drinking is a sin. Another is believing that you are more holy because you can handle alcohol. A third is thinking that freedom in Christ to drink means that I can dishonor my parents (Exodus 20:12) and my elders. (Leviticus 19:32) In the video below Douglas Wilson tells us what his favorite beers are and tell us to be careful not to be snobs.

Ask Doug: What's your favorite beer? from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

Loving Our Bodies

A husband's first duty is to understand that he is in fact a husband, which is another way of saying that he needs to understand his profound identification with his wife. The first words out of Adam's mouth were "bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh," a love poem. He was not welcoming a new roommate; he is naming one who had been taken from him in order to be merged back into him in a new, more glorious fashion. God made one into two in order to make the two back into one. Now a husband is commanded to love his wife as he loves his own body--nobody ever hated his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it. Why do some husbands not nourish and cherish their wives? Because they do not believe their wives are their own body. Which is another way of saying they do not believe the Scriptures. Douglas Wilson