Finley, I am.

By It I See Everything Else

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 14:00:00 GMT

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.

C.S. Lewis, "Is Theology Poetry?" (Oxford Socratic Club, 1944; in The Weight of Glory)

The lens by which we see everything. All of Christ in all of life. Our faith is not just a part of our life, but the whole.

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

Psalm 36:9 ESV

Damascus Road by Josiah Queen

Mon, 02 Nov 2026 14:00:00 GMT

I threw stones
You threw a lifeline
I was blinded like a deer up in the headlights
Heart was cold
Filled with hate
I clenched a fist and fought against life in Your light
When I was still Your foe
You met me there on Damascus road

Saul wasn't looking for Jesus. He was "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1) when the light knocked him into the dirt. That's the whole gospel in one roadside: "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God" (Romans 5:10).

Luther's first thesis has been rattling around my head since Reformation Day: the entire life of believers is to be one of repentance. Damascus Road wasn't only Paul's moment. Every one of us was headed to a whitewashed grave, righteous in our own eyes, until He opened them.

I was headed to a white washed grave
Until I saw the light
And He changed my name

Shopkeeping

Sat, 31 Oct 2026 12:35:43 GMT

I've been digging into bots for the last week and not only am I using them for various tasks at work, I have a group of bots helping with running Finley Shop. Here is what they are currently doing for us.

Mercer · Shopkeep

Every 2h (6am–10pm CT): metrics Page refresh — Square sales + Fathom traffic + stock pulse; post here only when something changed

Square Online store: listings, inventory notes, About/shipping copy, coupons & deals

Stock timing with Scout; listing URLs / UTMs with Callum when promos need them

Callum · Dove on the Wire

Buffer drafts (X + FB, IG when relevant) after James’s yes; ~2/3 voice vs ~1/3 shop; FB always with photo

Sun ~8am: weekly Mon–Sun post pack for approval

Mon ~9am: maker feed scan → insight + draft angles

Weekdays ~8am: swipe-file scan (keepers on swipe Page; ping only if worth adapting)

Mon–Sat ~10am: niche reply finder (drafts only, never posts)

Every 2h 6am–10pm: Buffer/X metrics → social cells on shared metrics Page

1st of month ~9am: X Under the Hood labels check

As needed: pinned/promo/sale copy + UTMs; market teases held until a show’s confirmed

Scout · Letter-Bearer

hello@ inbox every 2h 9am–9pm CT — draft for approval, never send unasked

Mon ~9am: Midwest market-vendor calendar watch

Vendor/customer triage + draft outbound

Market submission watch + open/close/reply alerts

Align stock/timing copy with Mercer and market announcements with Callum

Near-term: application nudge Mon Nov 2 ~6pm; market→online pivot call Fri Nov 6 ~5pm

They are just out doing their thing while I work, both my day job and in the shop. Tasks that would never happen or fall behind handled by bots that don't forget.

Play the Man

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.

Hugh Latimer, to Nicholas Ridley at the stake, Oxford, October 16, 1555 (Foxe's Acts and Monuments)

Far Kingdom by The Gray Havens

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:00:00 GMT

The pastor of the church we've been attending for the last month or so has been talking about the German term "sehnsucht", building a playlist that sits in that longing.

There is a far, far kingdom
There at the end of the sea
Where they know my name
And until that far, far kingdom
Calls me home
Oh, my soul, I will wait

In Lewis' Weight of Glory, Clive says:

The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.

That longing has been weighty this year in our home. Psalm 62:5 says "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him." We've done a lot of waiting in silence with hope. There is Joy in that longing. One day heaven, today dragons.

Automating the Shelf

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 11:44:34 GMT

Over the last couple years I have built up the Shelf page on this site more than any other. Reading has become a major part of my life. By hand I have added 120 books to this page. Each book includes title, author, cover, categories, audiobook links, purchase link, and a couple other metadata fields.

Sometimes I’ve added a book lazily without the links and come back the next day to add links. Finding the cover, Audible and Canon+ audiobook links, store links, and more took time. Before, adding an automated script for this kind of thing would be tedious. A script that had the grace to find books on Amazon and Canon+ reliably would be difficult or expensive.

But AI skills allow these things to be easy. A few weeks back I had Grok build a skill for finding all the meta data for a book and then adding it to the Shelf. Now with one prompt— add Misconceiving IVF by Joshua Holler to the shelf — Grok’ll go get all the details and the cover and build the small JSON block.

But there’s more. Over the weekend I started playing with Grok Bot. I now have a librarian named Bede. Bede tracks my Canon+ and Audible for various things, including progress and completion of books. When I make progress on a book, Bede updates my website for me. This has allowed the In Progress section to become true and easy to maintain.

Now I never miss adding a book to my page that I listened to because I didn’t have time. Bede quickly handles that. And the result is I can do more with my time. Like read more and make that page better.

Improvements to the Shelf

Over the last week the Shelf has gained hierarchical categories, like my blog. This allows for faith/theology and fiction/fantasy, making organizing even better for finding a good book.

The Shelf also gained length tags. This is something I attempted earlier this year but failed at. Why? Well, going and getting the length for 120 books sounded terrible, so I tasked Grok with it. Grok bullshitted the lengths for the majority and patted itself on the back. And that was that. Over the weekend I tasked Bede with getting them and it found a way to access APIs for both services and get accurate lengths. Superintelligence has gotten better. With that in hand, you can now find a short book or an epic book to suit your fancy.

The other small changes across the page are mostly quality of life for myself. I made the site build 3x faster. But because of Bede and the AI skill files, the page is no longer missing available audiobook links and a bunch of broken purchase links are fixed.

What’s Next

I’m working on a facelift for the page as well as new filtering. The layout of the page has remained largely unchanged since it launched a couple years ago. As I’ve added books, it has outgrown it’s initial simplicity. While on one page it is a library, on the other it is a digital library and can be more powerful than just scroll and find.

Small preview. I'm working on a more condensed update to the Shelf that will provide more info on my books. Astro is dynamically— at build time— calculating three colors off their book covers. Books marked as Highly Recommended or Required Reading are expanded, other books show their spines.
This take a year like 2026 from 12 rows of 4 to just 5 rows.

More to come.
— James Finley (@thefinley) October 28, 2026

Be Killing Sin

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.

John Owen, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, ch. 2

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 8:13 ESV

As a Gentleman Walks By The Longhouse, Whistling

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 11:57:12 GMT

Greatly appreciate Pastor Doug's teaching on servant lordship here.

Lake of Fire by We the Kingdom

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:25:15 GMT

One of the things I've always loved about We the Kingdom is that they don't just play four chords in a key they can sing. This song has transition chords, diminished chords, and so much flavor.

Here by Mumford & Sons

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:25:18 GMT

I love when Mumford & Sons is clean and stripped back.

St. Patrick's Legacy

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:09:43 GMT

I count myself Irish/Scottish, of the Farquharson clan, tied to MacBeth. St. Patrick's story is important to me. The Irish and their faith is an emerald of the West. Go preach Christ crucified. Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me.

Abusing Customizable Selects

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:50:50 GMT

Great article from CSS Tricks showing the potential for the new customizable selects with CSS. We truly have the power now. Be gone all you stupid UI library dropdowns!

Salt and Light from Rend Collective

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 12:58:12 GMT

Ben Fuller - Black Sheep

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 17:19:56 GMT

Jesus loves you, black sheep.

Gangsters and Angels

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 13:34:13 GMT

The cross or the machine?
It's always the same chore
The best I ever met
Had nothing and gave it all away
We'd rather be ruined than change
And die in our dread
But love your crooked neighbour With your crooked heart

Beautiful song to sit in over the weekend. Raising kids is hard, y'all. God bless the grandparents that made it and are still learning, still growing, still parenting.

Momma Loves Me

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 13:53:09 GMT

So wrap me up in sweet forgiveness, take my wrongs (take my wrongs) and make them white
Take my scars and take my troubles and spread my ashes in the wind

Christian: It’s Time to Go on Offense in the Public Square

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 11:58:17 GMT

As horrible as this event was, let this be a warning to all normal churches and “everyday revolutionaries” out there, especially those who decry the culture war. The Left sees no difference between you and the charismatic megachurch that hosts political rallies for Donald Trump. You are their enemy. You may not wish it were so. You may nuance every jot and tittle of your pristine doctrine all you want. But they do not care. They will storm your church in order to strike fear into your children. This is who the Left is. They do not discriminate between the Kellerites and the MAGA Baptists.

J. Chase Davis, Christian: It’s Time to Go on Offense in the Public Square

For too long Christians have stayed out of politics. In a country that was started by Christians, for Christians. Best I can tell, my grandparent's generation retreated and bought the lie of secularism being neutral. But when you retreat, others take what you left. And what we left was academia— colleges and universities established for the Glory of God—, the arts, the sciences, and the public square. And it's all been captured not by neutrality, but by pagans.

None of that is news to anyone paying attention. The conclusion is: Christian, it's time to re-enter the public square. You need to read deeply; you need to grow substantially in logic, substance, speaking, courage, and faith.

There are so many waiting for your voice, Christian. But your voice isn't the emotional cackling of the Left. It's not the twisting of emotional sabotage, of toxic empathy, of untethered empathy, of suicidal empathy, or unjust mercy. No, men talk to the point. Your voice is the voice of reason, of grace, of justice.

Start with Slaying Leviathan by Glenn Sunshine. Move onto The White Horse King by Benjamin Merkle. Toss in some When a Nation Forgets God by Erwin W. Lutzer and The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton. There is a ton of good ones in between, but that's a start.

If we could all take 12 months off to read some books, we'd all be doing a lot better in this.

Demons by Josiah Queen

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 11:46:20 GMT

Tell those demons run and hide
They tremble at the name of Jesus
Every time
Fear ain’t gotta home here up inside my mind
Darkness has to leave up in this light

Dragons.

And I won’t buy those lies
They can’t take control over this
Life of mine

This was a long week. Churches being attacked, demons shrieking, darkness closer than I want it. My trust problems are with people, not the Creator. Nah, I trust Him. Proven over and over. There will be unpublished journal writings from this weekend. But trust me when I say, fear ain't got a home here. I don't buy your lies. And my house? It serves the Lord.

The Long Surrender

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 17:21:09 GMT

With Devils Filled

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:44:28 GMT

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

We have reached the "they are storming the churches" part
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) January 19, 2026

Do not be anxious. If you find yourself anxious, check your heart. You must trust God and His sovereignty. If you do, why worry?

Yesterday a church in Minneapolis was stormed by communist revolutionaries. Behind them was Satan himself. I don't say that flippantly. I don't say that lightly. I don't say that figuratively. Our fight is with him and his and we have reached the storming the churches part.

In the words of Martin Luther, "The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him."

Do not tremble for Satan. A Mighty Fortress is our God. The cruel hate of our ancient foe is unmatched but by the grace, love, and power of our God. Tremble not. Fear not. Be not anxious.

Rest in God.

And be prepared.