A man has to know his wife’s weaknesses in order to lead her well. Of course, he also has to know his own weaknesses.

You cannot build a stable, coherent society out of random individuals. It takes godly families to bring structure and order to the wider culture. Godly families are the incubators of godly civilization. Doing things “decently and in order” is not just a Pauline/Presbyerian liturgical principle; it is also a necessary principle of social life. There is no economic system that can bring prosperity to a people who do not have an intact family structure. The state, even the most generous welfare state, l can never compensate for missing fathers. The economically poor are all too often poor in family life and order. When the family goes to pieces, everything else goes with it. Poverty of family life (eg, low marriage rates, high divorce rates, high illegitimacy rates, low birth rates, etc.) will always lead to economic poverty. A lot of modern economics is trying to make bricks out of straw - it’s trying to create widespread prosperity when the familial and ethical preconditions for such prosperity are absent. It simply cannot be done, at least not for long. A lot of modern “prosperity” is a mirage because it’s built on a shaky foundation. This a lesson that can learned in two ways - either a study of Scripture leading to repentance…or the hard way.

Socialism is a system where productive citizens pay the state to babysit unproductive citizens.

This should be something all Americans can celebrate!

@Bryan1819News is an Alabama - and American - treasure. The whole podcast is good, but the second half on populism in Alabama is excellent. No doubt what he describes here applies to most red states. It’s the best explanation of state level politics and factions within the Republican Party that I’ve heard.

God designed truth and love to work together, never one at the expense of the other. Truth and love are inseparable and reinforce one another.

There’s a lot of talk right now about Christians (and conservatives) learning to embrace and wield political power — something we have not really done for quite some time. This is all well and good. Being afraid of power is immature and irresponsible. Christians should seek to gain political power and use it for good. A pietistic, Gnostic fear of political engagement has kept Christians weak and marginalized for far too long, which is not only bad for us, it’s bad for everyone. Christian statesmen have access to wisdom that non-Christians lack; we have a framework for understanding the purpose of civil government, God’s design for human society, and the proper application of civil justice that others will not have. There has been a dire need for serious Christians to enter the political arena for a long time; it’s wonderful that we seem to have turned a corner. But what should not be overlooked is that the church has power that Christians have also refused to wield for good. The church has a different kind of power, to be sure, and uses different tools and weapons. But the church is unarguably powerful. It is a more subtle form of power, like leaven working its way through a batch of dough. But though it is a more covert kind of power, it can be every bit as much public and political as power wielded by civil magistrates. How does the church exert this power in the world? When the gospel is preached in all its fullness, culminating with the declaration of Christ’s lordship, it is certainly transformative for individuals and families, but it is also socially and culturally transformative. Think of the early Christians who ultimately toppled the Roman Empire with no access to conventional political power, without lifting a sword, but who preached and prayed their way to the beginnings of Christendom. Or think of Luther’s quip about the Reformation: while he sat and drank beer with Phillip Melanchthon, the Word (that he had preached and written about) did all the work. Or consider the “black robed regiment” of Presbyterian pastors whose preaching produced the American War for Independence. Take note of the well documented prayers that aided and abetted the downfall of the Soviet “iron curtain” in Eastern Europe; in the aftermath of the 300,000 strong prayer rally in November 1989, a communist official even admitted, “We were prepared for every eventuality — but not prayers and candles.” Prayers brought down the Berlin Wall. Again: it’s good that Christians seem to be learning that political ambition can be righteous and holy. It is good and proper for Christians to seek political influence and dominion; it is good for Christians to hold high ranking positions in civil government; it is good for Christians to seek to exert political power in righteous ways and to righteous ends. Christians need to be salt and light in high places as opportunity allows. But whether we have political power in the civil government or not, we always have the weapons of liturgical war and Spiritual war at our disposal. The church does not merely seek to vote her way to cultural victory; she preaches and prays, she serves and suffers, she disciplines and disciples her way to dominion. The church has immense power to change the world. She needs to seize that power and use it. For too long we have allowed our unique ecclesial powers to lie dormant; it’s time to take up the sword of the Spirit, the imprecations of the psalter, and petitions offered before the throne of grace, the cosmic Oval Office. Political action by Christian statesmen has its place in producing a discipled nation - but political activism for Christians should never be separated from liturgical activism. It’s time to unleash the power of the church.

RT @uribrito: I have the privilege of speaking to CREC pastors virtually every day. I am continually grateful for the maturity and wisdom…

Lousy sermons, shallow music, no theology of liturgy that is compelling in explaining why it is disastrous to forsake the assembly (Hebrews 10:25), infrequent communion, etc. In short, many pastors cannot really explain what someone gets in gathered worship they could not get elsewhere - and that’s a huge problem.

We are commanded to seek Christ where he has promised to be found, which is in the ordinary means of grace, the Word and sacraments.

The real test of Ordo Amoris: Should Jason Kelce pull for his own former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, or his brother’s team, the KC Chiefs?

@KyriosityTweets Paraphrasing, of course. O’Rourke was a clever and eloquent writer, for sure.

@DocSandlin Thanks Andrew!

@Startup_CFO_ Thanks!

It’s important to understand the traditional doctrine of Ordo Amoris is very much rooted in Scripture, not just nature. Scripture gives explicit and detailed guidance about the structure of our moral obligations towards others. From Augustine onwards, Ordo Amoris has been established exegetically. It is also important to note that Ordo Amoris teaches we have an obligation to love every single person we meet, indeed, every single person in the world. But it also teaches we are not obligated to love each and every person in the same way and to the same degree. I do not love all women in the world the exact same way I love my wife - indeed to do so would be sinful. I do not have the same obligations to every child in the world that I have to my own children. I do not have to love every country in the world in the same way I love my own nation. I cannot even love all Christians in the same way I love those who belong to my local church. Etc. Finally, it is important that Ordo Amoris not be abused. The doctrine provides no support to modern secular globalists or multiculturalists who would use it to justify prioritizing strangers over one’s family. Nor does it give racists or kinists any cover for hating others. Ordo Amoris presupposes the universal obligation to love, then explains how love gets worked out in various ways specific to each kind of relationship. We are finite creatures with finite love and finite obligations to others. Ordo Amoris focuses our love according to our obligations and frees us from false guilt.

Your loves will never be properly ordered unless you are seeking to love the true God above all, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.