Posts from — June 2005

This past Sunday’s White Horse Inn was an interview with Douglas Wilson.

Some time last week Geneva got a sore on her finger. It looks like she had a hangnail and just ripped it off, but she may have gotten it by some other means. It’s just a little open sore right next to her fingernail.

When we were at the restaurant Saturday evening, she got some of the vinegar based Carolina barbecue sauce on the sore. She said it hurt. Megan told her to wipe it off. “Off my finger?”, she asked.
“Yes”, said Megan.
“I can’t… it’s stuck on my finger!”

She thought Megan was telling her to wipe the owie off her finger.

So, you’ve been wondering whether a pair of headphones will work after they’ve run through the washing machine… rest easy, friend. They will work just fine.

I haven’t been off to a great start on the regimen. I’ve only excercised a few more times since my last post, and when I last weighed myself, I had not lost any weight.

So… it’s a slow start. But… it’s still on.

Yesterday, we went out to eat. It was a Father’s Day thing. We went to a place called ‘Daddy Bims’. He specializes in Carolina barbecue. It was pretty good… not as good as I was expecting, but I enjoyed it. Daddy Bim, the chef, apparently used to be the personal chef of none other than Don Johnson. How about that?

This morning I was treated with a special coffee cake breakfast, and the presentation of a gift… James Jordan’s Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis. I am blessed.

I’m listening to the PCA GA discussion regarding the resolution about public schools, and I don’t know if it speaks well of me and the folks I’ve had discussion with, or poorly of the elders in the PCA. Because it’s the same sort of thing.

They all say “I’m in favor of Christian education”, but then say they can’t say it’s wrong to send our kids to the government schools. One guy even said those schools teach our kids philosophical naturalism, and it’s a horrible thing. But then went on to say, essentially, that he doesn’t think the church can tell people it’s wrong to do that.

One other guy said that education and training are different things. That learning calculus is just training, but education is far broader than that. I agree with him on that, but he went on to say that kids only get training at the government schools, and their education at home. That’s a crock. The kids learn how to think at school, and in public schools they’re learning how to think like unbelievers. Plus, even if they only received training there, they’re still being educated in how to receive their training. Their parents sending them to a godless institution for their training educates them. It says something about God, and His relevance in this world.

Anyhow. I didn’t expect it to pass, but I would have thought there would be a more intelligent debate at the PCA GA.

In Doug Wilson’s book, My Life For Yours, there is a chapter on The Bathroom.

It begins,

We are working our way through a biblical home, and as we come to the bathroom, the universal response of readers is perhaps less than enthusiastic. And all God’s people said, “Oh, dear.”

Yesterday I went for one of my run/walks. I call it that because I’m so out of shape, I only run a quarter of a mile, at most, and then walk (kind of fast) another mile or so. Anyhow…

I saw a sticker on someone’s mailbox that said…

Blacks didn’t choose Slavery
Jews didn’t choose Genocide
and Babies don’t choose Abortion!

And I thought, most of those things aren’t true.

Of course, it is true that black slaves in the US did not choose to be slaves, and the Jews did not choose to be systematically killed off by the Nazis (and Babies definitely don’t choose abortion).
But, ‘blacks’ are still choosing to enslave people in Africa. And, I don’t know for certain, but my guess is that most of the black slaves brought to the US, had they not been kidnapped (a crime I’m not overlooking, mind you), would have favored slavery of other people in the same way it is a reality today.

Likewise, Jews did choose genocide… just not their own. It is common for many critics of the Bible to attack it because it prescribed genocide. Jericho being one example. Psalm 137 is also a common reference.

At least the third line was accurate.

Anyhow… Just what I thought when I saw that sticker.

So, we watched Hitch last night. I thought it had some very funny parts, and was basically a fun movie. Pretty predictable, but still interesting. The funny parts were some of the funniest things I’ve seen in a movie for a while. Probably since we saw Elf. I was laughing pretty heartily for almost one entire scene.

There was some trite, trashy dialogue thrown in here and there. Some of it had a purpose in character development, but those aren’t the more offensive moments. The offensive parts, as best as I can guess, are there to get a few laughs. Especially since this movie is a chick-flick morphed to be more open to male viewers. I was impressed, though, that neither of the two couples the film focuses on sleep together.

There was a conscious attempt to make the film anti-misogynist, and that is a message delivered on the surface. The comments I referred to above, though, contradict that sentiment. So, while it tries to respect women, and say that guys that sleep around without any commitment are jerks, it fails to thoroughly communicate this, from top to bottom. Several times, women exclaim about their lack of coitus for X length of time. These are the comments that are supposed to be funny, but really aren’t. Instead, they make the women appear to be like the male jerks the film condemns. I’m sure there’s a touch of feminism in there… but in the end, I think it objectifies women and makes them sexual toys. These, again, are the conclusions I draw from some of the foundational things the filmmakers chose (probably unconsciously) to do, and you really only notice if you think critically about the film. And that from a Christian perspective. But, the primary message of the film is a good one, for the most part.

I enjoyed how the film showed that women want to be respected, and want to be honored. In our day and age, it is common to think that women are just the same as men. Egalitarianism and all that rot. But the film struck at the truth when it made ladies fall for the men that listen to them, think about them, and work hard at pleasing them. When the man cherishes the woman, she reciprocates.

I began reading What Saint Paul Really Said a while back, then put it down for a good bit, and recently started into it again.
The other day I read something that I thought was really cool.

In Romans 10:13, Paul wrote, “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In the context, “Lord” is clearly referring to Jesus. But, he was quoting the Old Testament. Joel 2:32, to be precise. And in Hebrew, the word “Lord” is Jehovah. Paul applies this OT passage about God to Jesus.

I told Megan to share that with any Jehovah’s Witnesses that knock on the door.

I love this:

This morning the exhortation is for a particular (and very important) part of our congregation—the little ones. I want to begin by asking all the children who are eight-years-old and younger to pay close attention. Step out in the aisle if you need to, or stand on your chair, or have your mom or dad hold you up. Let me give you a moment to do that.

Of course what I am saying applies to the older kids too, and so I invite you to listen as well, but I want to speak right now to the little ones, to the squirmiest saints among us.

You may have wondered why your parents bring you here every week, and are working to train you to sit through such a long worship service. You are here for a very simple reason—you belong to Jesus, and because you belong to Jesus, you belong here with us.

When the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he spoke to many of the different groups in that church. One of the groups he spoke to was the children, and he did this because he expected that they would be there when his letter was read. Now there were certain things in that letter that he must have known that you kids would not understand (and there are parts that adults don’t understand very well), but it was still important for you to hear. This is because the children of believers are growing up into that Word. What you don’t understand now, when you are grown you will understand far better than someone who first heard about it as a grown up.

You are here because you are welcome here. Not only that, but you are welcome here as children. We don’t expect you to be grown-ups, but we expect you to be grown-ups someday—someday very soon. So when one of you squawks or cries, we like it. When one of you toddlers is a little fussy, we don’t mind. If you disobey your parents, we bless them as they teach and discipline you in love. When you say amen with us, or recite the Apostles’ Creed with us, or sing psalms with us, we love it. You are supposed to be here.

But it is still hard work for your parents to have you here. And so the exhortation this morning is just for you—make your parents’ sacrifice in this a pleasure. We are entering into the heavenly courts as a congregation, and as we do that, you really shouldn’t be poking your sister.

A coworker stopped in today and gave me two half full packages of cookies to take home.

One of them is Chewy Chips Ahoy!. And it is “NEW & IMPROVED” Chewy Chips Ahoy. What is new and improved, you ask? 20% more chips and a softer cookie.

Well… nevermind. At first, I thought it said they were 20% more chewy. And I was going to ask how such a measurement is taken. What units do they use to measure chewiness.

But… I looked at the package, and I was just wrong about what it said. So nevermind all of this post. Except recognizing the sad start this gives my regimen.