Posts from — November 2004

I’m better off for having read this article by Mark Horne: The Pastorate and The Presbytery

I never knew why ministers were members of presbytery and not the congregation.

Now I’m off to read this one: Ministers and Ruling Elders Do Not Occupy the Same Office

Whew. Great extended weekend. Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent the morning lounging around our home, watching the parade and spending time together. We also made some food, which, around three, we took over to a friend’s home, where we enjoyed a very big meal together. I am thankful we were able to go, because the girls weren’t feeling too hot. Wednesday night Geneva woke up around 3ish and felt very warm. I didn’t take her temperature at the time, but when she got up in the morning she still felt warm. She didn’t have a fever (according to the thermometer), but she has had a runny nose and didn’t appear to feel very well. Our friend said that they weren’t about to cancel because of a bit of a cold (which is what I suspected she had), and so we went over and Geneva (along with Ashley and the rest of us) had a splendid time. We left a bit earlier than we wanted, though, because Geneva started to feeling down again. Still, we were there well into the evening, and enjoyed the hospitality shown to us.

Friday was Ashely’s birthday. Happy Birthday to Ashley! She is now two years old. Crazy how time flies. She had a CareBear birthday. One present is what she now calls her bike. It plays a song. We all now know the song by heart. Part of me is just waiting for the batteries to die.

Saturday we got our Christmas tree, and decorated it. It is a glorious thing… very beautiful. And big! It’s funny how Christmas trees always seem to grow so much on the trip home, isn’t it? We actually had to trim off quite a bit from the top in order for the star to keep from hitting the ceiling. And we have 9′ ceilings! The girls helped us put the decorations on, and it was a deight to see them enjoying themselves by celebrating Christmas.

Yesterday, we celebrated the Lord’s Supper, which is always a great blessing, and worth noting on here. We didn’t have anyone over for dinner, but did have some friends over for dessert in the evening. We shared a nice bottle of wine, ate leftover Thanksgiving desserts, and talked – I’m just now noticing – about the future and the past. Our conversation (at least, the gentlemen’s conversation) was about eschatology and history.

After they went home, we had The First Annual Okimoto Family Advent Worship. It was pure delight. The girls behaved wonderfully… much better than I had expected. I think the candle was something that they were able to really get excited about, whereas our ‘ordinary’ worship doesn’t have a ‘fun’ element like that. We’ll have to try to encorporate something like that into ordinary time. Anyhow…

Our advent wreath is just beautiful. Megan came through big time on that. We ended up buying some of that wetfoam stuff, and using clipping from the holly bushes in front of our house, together with a few fake berries. It looks beautiful, really. I’m very happy with it… I want people to come over so I can show off my wife’s handiwork. I’ll put pictures up soon.

So, that gets you all up to speed.

Everyone needs to know about this: BugMeNot.com

It gives usernames and passwords for sites that require registration. First newspaperlogin, and now this.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Remember everyone, Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.

And, of course, that doesn’t mean get rid of all the food and celebration. It means get rid of any strife.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The James White/Douglas Wilson debate ‘Are Roman Catholics Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ?‘ is now available for purchase at aomin.org. The mp3s are just 3 bucks. DVDs 15.

If anyone buys the dvds… i’d love to borrow some time.

For the past year and a half or so (since we bought our house), I’ve been collecting big boxes in our garage. Not that I want to be collecting them, but they were too big for the garbage can, so I just put them in the garage ‘until later’. Plus, other things that were too big to throw out, or didn’t belong with regular garbage… like an old tabletop grill.

The pile in the center of the garage grew to the point where it is the defining feature of the garage. You have to shimmy around the pile of boxes and other junk to get around. So, earlier in the week, I finally got around to scheduling a bulk garbage pickup. They are coming today, some time between 7 and 3:30.

Except… I forgot to put all the garbage out. I realized this at about 9 o’clock this morning. I called my lovely wife, and told her. She cheerfully took on my duties of garbage piling. Thankfully there isn’t anything very heavy in there… just bulky. I imagine the girls played in the year while she dragged stuff from the garage to the front curb.

I am such a blessed man. What a woman.

Andrew Johnson was President from 1865 to 1869. He was the first President to be impeached.

He was impeached because he dismissed the Secretary of War, which was, allgedly, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act – one of the rules implaced by the radical republicans in Congress. In the spring of 1868 he was tried, and was acquitted.

I just realized yesterday evening that the album Laid by the band James is really quite good. Apart from the title song, which is really not the picture of moral uprightness, it is really good songcraft. I suppose one other song is pretty immoral as well… One of Three. It’s sort of along the lines of XTC’s song Dear God (which is also a pretty cool sonically).

Anyhow… I used to own the album, sold it, and I think I might get it again through BMG one day.

I bought the mp3 of yesterday’s Dividing Line. Listening to it now. I’ll fill you in on what he says about the debate.

So far, they’ve just said the mp3s/DVDs/videotapes will be available today. And White recommends the video over the audio only. There were “visual moments” to give a “more accurate gauge” of the debate.

Mike has gathered a few synopses of the White-Wilson debate. Worth looking at as well is Wilson’s opening statement.

#1

#2 (in the comments)

p.s. White says he’ll discuss the debate on today’s Dividing Line, but I can’t listen to real audio. If anyone listens, can they send me a summary of what he says? Or, even better, make another format available?

One of my biggest complaints about derek webb’s music has been that it peaks too soon. I think I’ve said it before on this blog, but when I compare derek’s music to music by, say, don chaffer, an obvious difference shows itself. Derek’s music is immediately appealing, and I really like it. But then it starts going downhill… it wears off. It gets kind of old. Don’s songs, though, take more effort to appreciate. At first listen they’re “eh, it’s all right”, but then, as you listen to them more, they get better and better. Derek’s music gets less and less spin time the more I get to know the music… don’s, though, gets more and more.

But that has now changed. With his newest album I See Things Upside Down, Derek Webb has finally given me something I have to work at to appreciate. The description of Don Chaffer’s music above fits perfectly with ISTUD. I’ve had it for a week now, and I think I’m just now getting to the point where I can appreciate it.

I’m not sure how to describe the sound of the record. Definitely Wilco influenced. I think it’s more accessible than Wilco, but the general feel of the record is very similar to a (recent) Wilco record.

If the music takes some work to appreciate, the lyrics are meet for it. This album, unlike his first solo record, does not deal strictly with the church. It isn’t a concept record like that one. It includes songs written to the church, to his wife, and, interestingly, written from the perspective of the devil. I think all this makes it a much more enjoyable record. More rounded, more real.