Ben Zornes

Grains in the Harvest

February 4, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Paul tells us, “we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread (1 Cor. 10:17).” But for grain to be made into bread it must face threshing, milling, kneading, and fire. In ancient times cattle would trample the grain with a heavy wooden sledge, then it would be winnowed with a fan to blow all the chaff into the fire, then it would be ground between two millstones, then of course transformed––by water, yeast, kneading, proving, and finally baking––into bread.

You are grains in the harvest of God. But grains by themselves are quite useless. By God’s providence, various means of the Spirit’s purging flame works in us to unite us into one loaf, that we might be bread to the nations. When we join a local church body, we become mingled with that part of Christ’s body. Thus our duty is to join with the saints we are in community with, and walk alongside each other as the Lord threshes, mills, kneads, proves and bakes us into a loaf for the great fellowship meal of joy in the everlasting Kingdom of our God.

The Ache to Belong

February 3, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The ache for belonging is painfully on display in our culture. Entire stores are devoted to clothing and decor and food for each unique sub-culture. I recently overheard a gal telling someone that her boyfriend was really into cyber-goth steampunk style. Whatever in tarnation that is.

We want to belong. So political parties, subcultures, social media channels, and country clubs all offer a means to scratch that itch to belong. But here, in these baptismal waters, we have a sign of true belonging. Here is archetypal belonging. God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit enjoy eternal belonging in the holy fellowship of the Godhead. By baptism, we are brought into Christ, and by Him, we are brought to the Father, and the Spirit seals and bears witness that all of this is good enough to be true.

When explaining to this child what his baptism means, with the sweetest of simplicity these parents can say, “You belong to Jesus.” And because you belong to Him, God welcomes you into His glorious fellowship, promising life everlasting to those who abide in Him by faith.

So welcome covenant child to Christ.

A Meal for Humans

January 27, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The first meal was a shared meal at a tree in Eden. Eve hands the fruit to Adam. They both partake. Thus began humans’ enduring feast of rebellion. Every generation found itself partaking of that self-exalting meal of self-righteous pride. It became a tradition passed down year after year, generation after generation (1 Pt. 1:18). Father handed it down to son. Master to apprentice. Teacher to student. Sin was mankind’s treasured hand-me-down.

But as Christ prepared to go to the tree of Calvary to deal with our sin, He too began an enduring feast. Christ invites His bride to a meal, where he hands out the food, week in and week out, year by year, century by century until He comes.

Jesus took the bread and gave it to His disciples. His disciples spread out to give it to the swelling numbers of believing saints. Those saints lived and died while crossing oceans, deserts, mountains, and valleys to bring the feast to every nation. When the minister breaks the bread, he does so as an authorized representative of the first Human who defeated Sin, our Lord Jesus. When the tray is handed to you, it is handed to you by a member of Christ’s body. When you hold that tray and pass it to your neighbor, you do so as brothers and sisters in Christ. He is the One Who presides at this meal. He is the One Who serves this meal. He is the One who partakes of this meal. He is the One Who is this meal.

Mankind’s first meal damned humans. But this meal is real bread and real wine for real humans, served by real humans, instituted by a real Human––who was also God––who came in order to save humans and reunite them, in Himself, to God.

So come in faith, and welcome to Jesus…

The Primary Act of Living

January 20, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

This meal is for those who are born anew, born again. Once a child is born they immediately begin to suckle at their mother’s breast, and the weeks which follow bring a daily miracle of growth, strengthening, and maturing. A child’s birth is only the commencement of its life, and its life must be nurtured and sustained or else it will languish.

We have heard news stories of children abandoned, abused, or left to starve. This rightly horrifies us. Newborn life is clearly dependent life. It is not able to stand, or hardly do anything more than drink, on its own. But drink it must. And drink it does.

Our baptism signifies the new-birth which must take place by faith. It signifies that in order to enter the kingdom of God, “Ye must be born again.” It shimmers as a beacon of joy, heralding good news that God’s grace makes dead men live. But whereas baptism, like birth, only takes place once, eating and drinking is the principle task of living.

What do newborns do? They eat, they drink, they sleep. If you find that your faith is weak and languishing, I propose that you’ve not been eating, drinking, resting. Remember, it isn’t mechanically partaking of this meal or of the Sabbath which bring renewal. It is faith. It is trust that in Christ’s body and blood is your only hope for new life. Here is your only place to find rest from the guilt of your sin. Here is the only meal which will nourish and grow your faith. Here in the body and blood of Christ crucified, risen, ascended, and reigning.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Clinging to Lady Wisdom

January 20, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Solomon repeatedly exhorts his son to get wisdom, be guided by understanding, cling to instruction, and value the knowledge of the Lord as greater than riches. Wisdom is likened to a woman, a lover even (Pro. 4:8). A wise son is to take hold of instruction, and not let her go, for in her is life (Pro. 4:13). This lady should be sought with the fervor of a miner during the gold-rush of 1849.

Picture a man running to his soon to be bride, after his twelve-month deployment. They will take hold of each other, and nothing is peeling them apart. That is how a King commands his son to cling to wisdom. Remember, these are instructions for a son who will soon rule a nation. Governance at every level must be guided not by mere appetite, but by God’s transcendent wisdom.

But another lady lingers in the shadows of the book of Proverbs. Her name is Folly. She doesn’t have any interest in loyalty or fidelity. Her embrace is not one of mutual love; it is the embrace of a boa constrictor. She plans to suffocate, then devour. If you become Lady Folly’s lover, your only loyalty will be to your basest cravings. Food, sex, money, sleep, will become your all-consuming desires. Your pursuit will not be for wisdom, and the blessings which come by it. Your pursuit will be for fleeting pleasures, which will return less and less pleasure, as they turn you into a ghost of a person.

Whereas Lady Wisdom is a tree of life, Lady Folly is a grave (Pro. 2:18). Dead lives, dead families, dead cities, dead nations are so because they have embraced, and been embraced by Lady Folly.

Our governments at every level are in ruins. We are not ruled by Wisdom, we are not found in her embrace. Rather, our nation has embraced the follies of same-sex mirages, abortion, antidepressants, entertainment gluttony, and taxes on others to pay for all these pursuits. It is no wonder that what God said would happen, has happened, “None that go unto Lady Folly return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life (Pro. 2:19).”

Our self-government, family government, and national government have all wandered down the path of Lady Folly, and we deserve the death that awaits us, unless God grants a revival of repentance. Only Lady Wisdom establishes a government for the living. So cling to her.

More Like Texas

January 16, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Heartening News

Some heartening news out of that state that has a lone star on its flag, Texas.

1/ Three towns in Texas recently voted in favor of becoming "sanctuary cities for the unborn.”

Six other Texas towns have also recently passed similar versions of an ordinance aiming to outlaw abortion. But what exactly do these ordinances mean?https://t.co/1cHg5CtYij
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) January 16, 2020

These towns have voted to outlaw abortion in their town. In other words, Planned Parenthood, or other murder mills, will not be allowed to operate in the city limits of these towns. This is a profoundly important, and courageous step which these small towns have taken. Of course liberals and pro-aborts will howl about how unconstitutional this is, and there will certainly be legal wrangles to be had. However, this is precisely the sort of thing which Christians magistrates should be doing.

Falling Under Their Own Gravity

Liberal cities have, for decades, had city councils passing all sorts city regulations, which can be described with the french term le hogwash. Seattle hands out free hypodermic needles. San Francisco bans plastic straws. Fort Collins permits public toplessness for women. New York City put the kibosh on large soda cups. And the list could go on.

City magistrates are allowed to do such things. Now, the wisdom or folly of their decisions is often revealed downstream. Then it becomes someone else’s problem. But that is fortunate for politicians because if there is anything they love it is “problems”. It’s what keeps them in business, like cavities for dentists. So, if liberals are outraged by these Texas towns, they have every right not to live there, under such patriarchal oppression. If they choose rather to live in the utopia where plastic straws (that pariah of a functioning society) have been banished, go for it. “It’s a free country, man.”

Many twitterers (who think him/her/them/zir/xirselves quite witty) point out how these Texas city councils are a bunch of old, white men making decisions about women’s bodies, and how dare they. But, the same crowd is quiet when it comes to city councils who are not at all qualified to make environmental decisions about plastic use, soda consumption, or how sex works. Remember, these are the same people who can’t tell the difference between a boy and girl. These are the same people who raise the taxes higher and higher, yet can’t figure out why people are moving out of their cities and states. These are the same people who will soon realize that their slaughter of their offspring has affected the birth rate to a point of no return. Then their strawless, sodaless, citizenless, lawless utopia will be replaced by a civilization with much more restrictive laws than we puritanical Protestant ever dreamed up. Outlawing abortions will pale in comparison with being forced to wear burkas.

Bloodshed & Guilty Consciences

Now, this ties in with the protestant doctrine of the lesser magistrates. God has given the sword of justice into the hand of His deacon of justice (cf. Rom. 13). They are called to maintain piety, justice, and peace. A city council which refuses to maintain those will soon find themselves overrun by impiety, injustice, and unrest. These old, white Texas men, have taken a daring step to ensure that their towns have babies, so that those babies can grow up, get married, be productive, and take care of the aged. The hatred for offspring which the left displays when such news breaks is a tell, which even a beginning poker player could discern. These people don’t love their neighbor. These people don’t care for others. They are consumed with guilty consciences, and the only way for an unregenerate conscience to be assuaged is to see others die. Guilty consciences always lead to bloodshed.

However, the blood that they shed only adds a greater weight to their burden of guilt. That blood cannot take away their sin. That blood cannot offer them forgiveness. That blood testifies against them, accuses them, drips from their hands. Only the blood of Christ can assuage their guilt. Only the lamb of God can take away their sin. Only Jesus can assure them, “It is finished.”

So, what these small Texas towns have down should be an example to small towns across this nation. We do not have to go along with the blood-lust of godless men. We must not. It is well within their rights for godly civil servants to outlaw murder. Further, not only should we outlaw abortion in our cities and states, but we should call the liberals bluff. They scoff on twitter and say, “Oh, so you won’t mind if we send all the fetuses to you?” To which the answer should be a rigorous adoption system (with good vetting so children don’t end up in abusive homes). If they don’t want the blessing of productive humans, we’ll take them. Which means the churches need to have a flush adoption fund.

Adoption is, after all, God’s idea (Gal. 4:5).

Sins Great and Small

January 13, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Big sins are built on the backs of a thousand little sins. Sequoia sins like murder, adultery, embezzlement, apostasy, or fraud don’t grow overnight. They arise out of a thousand lies you tell yourself. A thousand minor compromises. A thousand squints at the clear lines of God’s law. A thousand fudging of the numbers in our moral accounting books.

Imagine roaring down the highway at night, in an unfamiliar area, and suddenly right ahead of you is a paper sign across the road. The font is tiny, and to make things worse the font is Comic Sans, but it reads: “Bridge Out!” As you careen to your death in the icy river below, you won’t be thinking to yourself, “What a legalistic sign!”

Rather, if you’re careening towards such danger, you want to have warning signs up ten miles down the road. You want flashing lights. You want a sign that lights up with a big orange glow, visible from Pluto, when your headlights hit it. You want signs to warn you if you start hurtling down the path towards disaster.

King David once prayed, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression (Psa. 19:13).” Are there sins of resentment which you are treasuring up? Are you telling yourself lies about your motives for hanging out with certain friends? Have you justified watching some questionable movies under the pretense of “understanding the culture”? Have you cut corners at your job? Have you gone to bed angry at your spouse, or kids, or others?

If you feel the prick of conviction from those questions, remember that that conviction is a road sign, warning of a calamitous fall awaiting those who recklessly and willfully plow forward. A disastrous fall will come to the haughty man who refuses to heed the warning sign; but grace, upon grace, upon grace is given to the humble man who repents and flees from the little sins, and thus is kept from great sins.

Book Review: “The Gluten Lie” by Alan Levinovitz

January 7, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The Gluten Lie: And Other Myths About What You Eat by Alan Levinovitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My record on food fussiness is well established. In short, I think we should eat just about everything with gratitude––even processed foods. Those who invoke the verse about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Ghost to justify their food anxieties and fears need the gentle correction of a holy raspberry.

Yes, now I remember, this is a book review. The Gluten Lie traces how food myths gain credence and become gospel, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. For instance, in the 80s we were told, “Fat is bad.” Then come to find out, it was the scientific studies funded by the margarine companies that were actually bad. Levinovitz has done a lot of deep diving on the complicated relationships between food, science, politics, dietitians, and how the general public is often having its chain yanked by the representatives of these various interest groups.

Perhaps his most helpful insight is how so many dietary gurus turn food and the enjoyment thereof into a sort of religious system. Priests declare foods clean or unclean, and if you eat “bad” food you must repent by purging out the unwholesome. For a faithful Protestant, we should have no qualms about saying, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, so pass the gravy.” Instead, many Christians have gone along with the crunchy trends, thinking that they are pursing sanctification, wen in fact they are following an alternative religion.

A really helpful book on how to think about food, and about the many food myths that snake oil salesmen are peddling.

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