Of This & That

It has been a while since I have posted anything here. It is not for lack of ideas or issues to write and comment on. That said, it must be confessed there has been a certain lack of energy or enthusiasm to rush to print my pontifications on the latest cascading waves of news that have swept through the Evangelical church as well as the world at large. In an age of 30 second sound bites, news is here today and gone tomorrow.

Part of the ennui also has to do with the deja vu nature of the news cycle. How many fallen mega-church pastors have we heard about over the last umpteen years or more? How much political BS keeps repeating and repeating and repeating? What can you say that has not been said before, or at the issue in hand, others have already written about? Lord forgive me and deliver me from cynicism. With all that said, I will attempt to set forth a few thoughts.

Being a Deacon in an Evangelical Baptist church is interesting. Oddly enough, the greatest satisfaction I have from being a Deacon is in serving the Lord's Supper to the people of God. The tradition in our church is for the Deacons to serve the bread and cup, or more accurately in our case, the gluten free wafers and the trays holding the little cups of grape juice. The Communion assignments are rotated so that over time, a Deacon will have opportunity to serve the bread and cup to just about everyone in our congregation, I really enjoy and receive much satisfaction in the performing of that service,

There are of course, other duties and responsibilities I have as a Deacon. One of the questions we as a Deacon Council ask ourselves from time to time is, "Are we what we say we are, or are we what we do?" That tension comes from those responsibilities we have and perform that might more properly fall under the office of Elder. I am not convinced there are any churches that have a perfect form and organization for church government. I know there are some who like to make that claim, but from what I have seen, they doth protest to much. Nor am I convinced that the Bible and New Testament in particular, are as clear on how church government should be organized as some would have us believe.

Our church is a relatively large church, though not what I would call a mega-church. That larger size presents challenges in terms of ministering to the whole body. None of us want anyone to fall through the cracks. That is always a challenge. There is more I could say, but will leave it for another time.

The seasons are changing; another week and Autumn will officially be upon us. The days continue to grow shorter. I have now been retired for ten months. I am still sort of working out what "retired" means. I had visions of doing more writing, but though I did finish some projects earlier in the year, not much has happened over the last three to four months. Getting our kitchen renovated was part of the reason for lack of writing output as well as the general ennui spoken of above. Writing is a discipline, and if I am to be any kind of writer at all, I will need to be disciplined in pursuing it.

The Football season is in full swing,(Go MSU Spartans!), and hockey is not far behind. In the meantime our Tigers are doing what they can to make it to the baseball post-season playoffs. Will this be the year the Tiger roars? Time will tell...

This & That

 
Thoughts on Retirement: I heartily recommend retirement as long as you do not have to spend it living in a cardboard box under a freeway overpass.  Every day is "Saturday" except Sunday, and Monday through Saturday are all "jeans day".  Naps are nice... I recommend them.  Not having to go to work or come home from work in a blizzard is nice too.  A cold snow-bound day at home retired will always beat a day in the office...   Did I mention the naps and sleeping-in in the morning?

The New Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T5i.... My choice from the options for the company retirement gifts.  I'm just getting in to figuring out some of the bells and whistles. 

The Long Winter 2013-2014:  We have had close to record snowfall this year, and some really cold weather. As I write this, I look out the window and we are getting another heavy snowfall.

 The woods behind our house.

                          The spirea bush in its Winter slumber...

Odds & Ends

"In a age of relativism, orthodoxy is the only possible rebellion left." ~ Peter Kreeft

Living With the Mystery of Unanswered Prayer by Mark Daniels..

A little update on my trek through Credo by Karl Barth: I am through the chapter on the remission of sins. I can only read a page or two at a time and then my brain circuits are at the point of blowing a breaker... I find it odd that reading Barth's Credo has done more to confirm me in orthodox faith then anything I've read since my time in seminary. I find myself loving and embracing the Apostles Creed as a true statement of basic Christian belief and doctrine... It is odd that Barth can come across more orthodox then some of those in the broad tent of Evangelicalism.

It is hot; getting up in the low 90's which for our part of Michigan is hot. Back in May we got a central air conditioner to replace our window AC. It is getting a work out, and we are thankful to have it.

Other books in my reading pile: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury; All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren; War In Heaven (Kindle) by Charles Williams..

About ten days ago we did our annual pilgrimage through Ionia County, Michigan on the David Hwy. This year's field crops look so, so much better then they did on last year's pilgrimage; an indication of the abundance of rain we have had compared to last year's severe drought... We followed the road east past Westphalia where it becomes Price Rd. Supper was at the Big Boy in St. John's and then we came west on M-21. A nice evening with good friends for company...

Of This and That...

I have not written much here as of late. Frankly a lot of that has to do with still dealing with the loss of Mom & Dad back in December. I find myself really missing Dad. I miss Mom too, but for some reason feel the loss of my father more keenly... That may have something to do with how Mom had noticeably declined so much over the last few years, whereas Dad was pretty alert mentally right up to the end. Dealing with it all has sparked a number of thoughts that may yet someday find their way into a blog post. But right now the emotional energy nor the time is there to do it.

The matter of time may find itself resolved by the end of this year. Even before Mom & Dad's passing, there were a number of things coming together indicating it was time to start movement toward retirement. I would like to walk away while I am still a little on top of my game; to walk away before being asked to go away; to leave when I still had a little bit left to do some of the other things in life I have wanted to do. I have often thought over the past number of years that I really could use a sabbatical, but given the business world I work in, that was not in the cards. I am really looking forward to taking a month or so after retirement to just "do nothing". No, I will not "do nothing at all", but I really would like some down time from the everyday hectic pressure of work and provision.

What am I reading these days? A Kindle version of The Book of Concord which is the extended statement of Lutheran belief and theology. Robert Penn Warren's All The Kings Men. An English translation of Credo which is Karl Barth's exposition of the Apostles Creed. Set aside for now, but waiting to be read is Marilynne Robinson's Home which is a companion book to her novel Gilead. I did finish Gilead earlier this year. Many other books beckon to be read. I did get a few books from Mom & Dad's library which are among those calling to be read, but more on those at another time.

There is a world of study available on YouTube. Yale University has a number of classroom lecture series available on YouTube. One series of lectures I am currently working through is Dr. David Blight's class sessions on the American Civil War. I knew David Blight in his undergraduate years at Michigan State University, and it was David who introduced me to the Civil war battlefields of Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Antietam as well as others. Yale has some other series available on YouTube that have caught my eye. Going through some of those is on my list of things to do when I retire.

That's all for now...

Shalom...

Of This & That.

~ "Don't grow old..." said my 97 year old mother in-law.

~ How many Christian women over the past 2,000 years have been in a position to be a "Proverbs 31" woman? The Proverbs 31 woman had servants, and her husband was on the town council. I dare say 95% of the virtuous Christian women over the past 2,000 years were not in the socio-economic class of the Proverbs 31 woman. Commentators and writers need to be VERY careful how they apply that passage to the general population of Christian women around the world.

~ At least I can have some assurance that a Mormon will have some degree of a common sense of decency. That is more then can be said for a cold blooded secular materialist.

~ Has anyone written an opera based on the story of Aeneas and Dido in book 4 of the Aeneid? Lovers torn apart by fate and the gods. The wrath of a woman scorned... Thwarted love and suicide... The answer is yes: Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, Didone abbandonata by Niccolò Piccinni, Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz, among others.

~ Yes, I am becoming a soccer fan. I don't have a favorite MLS team yet, but the Seattle Sounders are in the running. Not having a personal history in the sport, I'm not tied to any of the Midwest teams.

First Post of 2012

Well you have to start off the 2012 blogging year sometime, so here we are.

We've had a relatively mild Winter here in our part of Michigan; not a lot of snow and no hard cold spells yet.


The Detroit Lions lost to New Orleans yesterday in the wild card playoff. Even with that, this Lions team has had the best season then we've seen in Detroit for a mighty long time.

My Michigan State Spartans beat Georgia in the Outback Bowl. That was pretty neat.

Someday maybe I'll tell the story about the garage door opener. (sigh...)

Work has been busy and no sign it will let up in let up with all the projects coming down the line.

I have been exploring the world of E-books, especially free E-books... The Toshiba laptop came with a Toshiba reader installed. I also see Amazon is offering a free copy of the kindle reader for PC. I am thinking about giving it a try too.

Billy Goat Log: December 5, 2011

• From the sanctification department: This morning I found myself irked and bothered about something not really worth mentioning. Truth was, as I thought about those things, I could feel my blood pressure going up; as in the sinful anger zone. I needed to call a time out and rein in the thoughts and passion and confess to the Lord the sin that it was. Then I got irked that I got irked... Of all the serious real life issues in a fallen and not yet fully redeemed world, I got all hot and bothered about that?
  
  

  Lord help me to see the trivial issues in life as the trivia it is. Help me to see the cares and things of this kosmos the way You see them.

• Seasons: In a few short weeks winter will officially be here. The neat thing about that is the days will start to get longer. In our more northerly latitudes in Michigan, the changes in the length of daylight between the seasons is noticeable. We think of winter as the season when everything has died and is dormant and slumbering beneath the cold winter wind and snow. But then think how the definition of winter is the period of time when the short days start getting longer. It is in that we find the hope of the winter season; it anticipates the spring that is coming.
  
• It is a beautiful thing to see the people of God show and express the love of God to those who are hurting and broken...
• My Master invited me to have a meal with Him and His people last night. The partaking of the meal with Him was a sign of His forgiveness for the wrongs I have done Him. The punishment I should have received for those wrongs was borne by the Master Himself. In His work on my behalf, I was reconciled to Him and where there was emnity there is now peace and acceptance. So it is I can eat at His table with joy and gladness of heart.
  

Of This And That

• It has been a slow summer for blogging. I get home from work and crash, and there isn't a lot of energy left for much else. Work is getting hectic. I did set a personal deadline for retirement. All I'll say at this point is it is less then two years, ready or not. I found I needed to set that deadline to give myself some focus. Otherwise I was just kind of drifting along waiting for something to happen instead of focusing on making it happen.
  
• Our Detroit Tigers are tearing up the central division. They have a pretty good lead heading into the end of the regular season. It has been fun to be able to turn on the TV and watch some or parts of the games. It will be interesting to see what the playoffs bring. Also Detroit Lion fans are looking forward to what the regular season will bring. Will this be the year the Lions roar is heard throughout the NFL?
  
• New Toy Department: I have a new Toshiba Satellite L755 Laptop. The laptop I was using was a work issued HP, and I was restricted as to how I could use it and what software I could add on. I really like the Toshiba. I don't do gaming so didn't need a lot of bells and whistles. The price for the total package was good and in budget.
  
• The days are getting shorter. The trees, flowers, and other fauna are getting that late summer tired, washed out look. Here in our part of Michigan we've even seen a tree here and there that has turned color. A few more weeks and we will put the AC window unit away. Our AC got a real workout during the extended hot weather we had in July and August. I am looking forward to the Fall season.
  
• Reading: How Long O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil (2nd Edition); D. A. Carson; (Baker,2006)
  
• I have friends and family living in Texas. Things in Texas are really bad; no rain since last fall, and a number of destructive wild fires. Here are some pictures of the devastation caused by the record setting extensive drought. We can expect the economic impact to extend far beyond the Texas borders. The cotton crop has been wiped out. The impact on the livestock industry is simply devastating. We need to pray for our friends in Texas.

Billy Goat Log: June 18, 2011

• We upgraded our cable subscription back in early April, just in time to catch some of the NHL Stanley Cup playoff games.  The Red Wings were taken out by the Sharks who were taken out by the Cannuks who were taken out by the Bruins, and then Vancouver burned down which was really kind of silly.
• We made it through the high school graduation open house season.   Look out world!  Here they come!  We blink our eyes and that "little kid" running around the church foyer is now driving a car, and then graduating from high school.  Then at some point they get married  and maybe further down the road start having kids of their own.  
• I've been reading some Vince Flynn spy thrillers.  Also I've picked up a Tony Hillerman book I don't remember reading before.
• Will I ever be able to retire? I'm at that age, but financial prospects are still tenuous at this point. Back in March a good friend passed away very suddenly. He was about 3 months from retirement. He had talked about his plans for this summer of which at the top of the list was spending time with his one and only grandchild. It is things like that which cause you to stop and think.
• We had a wet spring, and so far it has been relatively cool. We've ran the AC a few times, but have been able to go days at a time without it. Back in the fall of 2009 I split some peony bushes. This is the first year we've had blooms from the transplanted portions.
• I'm convinced more then ever that Biblical perseverance is perseverance in faith believing. The context of the persevering passages in the book of Hebrews sets perseverance in contrast to apostasy.
• On one of my other blogs I did a story on a Great-Uncle Pvt. George Britton who was killed in World War I. I was able to find some information on the regiment he was in, including some combat history. That story is found here.

Of This and That

• The Michigan State Spartans make it to the NCAA dance once again. Life is good.
  
  
• Winter keeps dragging on here in our part of Michigan. We are really ready to be done with it all.
  
  
• Civil War redux: The picture of the Civil War in popular culture is one of a southern slave state unity in a "Confederate Solidarity". The truth is that image of Confederate solidarity is a myth. Here are some blogs I follow that expose that myth for what it is: Renegade South, Southern Unionist Chronicles, and Cenantua's Blog.
  
  
• To The Post-Modernity Child: Even as the gods of your fathers betrayed your fathers and you, so shall the new gods you have replaced them with end up betraying you, and your children, and your children's children. You sow to the wind. You will reap the whirlwind. Sadly, you are becoming the same thing you were trying to avoid.
  
  

• Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong: fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God He will come and save you." (Isaiah 35:3-4)
  

  
  There are a lot of precious nuggets in Isaiah...
  
  
• Here is a link to Tim Challies's review of Rob Bell's "Love Wins".
  
  
• Internet Wonders: A young friend of ours is on the swim team at a nearby NCAA Division II school. This past week she and some of her teammates were at the National NCAA Div. II Swim & Dive Championships in San Antonio, TX. Through the wonder of a NCAA WWW live stream, we were able to watch some of the events she was in. That was pretty neat... Our young friend is a solid commited Christian, and it was a joy to see her swim her heart out; leaving it all in the pool; swimming to the glory of her Lord and God.

Billy Goat Log: January 9, 2011

• The church we attend is inter-generational. We have a pretty good balance from youngsters on up through the grey haired seniors. So it is we see the normal ebb and flow of life in the life of the congregation; births, weddings, funerals, and etc. This past week was the occasion of several deaths in the Church family.
  
  We knew Sue was not long for this world. Cancer had taken its toll on her body, and chemo was no longer effective. My wife and I went to see her this past Monday. She knew we were there, but it was hard for her to talk, and the morphine to control pain made her drowsy. Friday we got word she was now with Jesus.
  
  I'm glad we got to know Sue and her husband over the past eight years we've been at our church. I'm glad she got to hold her grandchildren in her arms before leaving this world. I'm glad my last spoken words to her were, "Jesus still loves you..."
  
  RIP
  
  
• I had to get a new mobile phone. The old one totally died. It was about three years old so it didn't have many bells and whistles. The new one has the camera and some text and e-mail capabilities the old did not. Of course I had to check out all those fancy new features. It's like having a new toy.
  
  
• The Detroit Lions finished the regular NFL season with a string of wins. The roar is starting to come back... I remember the last time the Lions were in a playoff game many, many years ago. Maybe next year...
  
  
• Back in September I posted a study on The Lord's Table. I recently had opportunity to present a more developed and expanded version of that material in an adult Sunday school class. I want to do some further work on that and sometime in the future publish that revision here. It has been of particular interest to me to read John Calvin's Commentary on the 1 Corinthians 10 & 11 passages that deal with the Lord's Table.
  
  
• Over the Christmas break we took the oldest grandson to see The Voyage of the Dawntreader in 3D. If you are a stickler about a movie following closely to the book, you will find this version of the Dawntreader a disappointment. That said, I thought the movie did retain the basic essence of Lewis' original story, and the technical things such as graphics and etc, were well done. Somethings were left out that I would have like to have seen included. Some things were included that I thought could have been left out. Overall it was passasble though not outstanding; three stars out of five.
  
  

• "With nearly 230 million total speakers, Bangla (Bengali) is one of the most spoken languages, ranking sixth in the world. The predominent religion among the Bangla people is Islam 89.5%, followed by Hindu 9.6%, and "other" 0.9% (2004, CIA Factbook). That less then 1% "other" includes Christianity."
  
  Bangla Ministries Worldwide (Facebook)
  Bangla Ministries Worldwide
  

  
  
  

A Few Odds & Ends

• My sister Joy passed away in early June. This is the first holiday season when she will not be with us. There is, as it were, "an empty chair at the table". I know other families are also experiencing the "empty chair" at this time of the year. Death is a part of life in a fallen and not yet fully redeemed world. Past generations lived much closer to death then the current secular Western generation I am a part of. Unless the Lord comes first, we will all eventually come face to face with death. That is where the Advent time of year is an encouragement. It not just the babe in the manger, but the whole life He lived, as well as His death, and the overcoming of death through His resurrection that gives us hope beyond death; the hope of eternal life. That is what makes Christmas special.
  
  
• I am compiling on this blog a list of books I have read. The results can be seen at "The Billy Goat Reader" link on the left side of this page.
  
  
• My alma mater, Michigan State University ended up with a share of the Big 10 title in football. Michigan State is in the top ten in the BCS rankings. It's been a good year to be a Spartan fan. In the meantime the Detroit Lions... Well, what can you say...
  
  

• "If evangelical Christianity is about anything, it ought to be about the gospel—that’s the meaning of the term evangelical itself. If so, we must recognize that our mission is to be found in what makes the good news good. We don’t have to be left to our own striving and clawing. And we don’t have to try to be emperor of our own lives, or of those around us. We point instead to a kingdom that overshadows—and knocks down—every rival rule, including our own." ~ Russell Moore as quoted by Kevin DeYoung.

  
  
• On December 1, we got snow and enough that it accumulated on the ground, but not enough that made it hard to clear the roads.
  
  
• Here is one of my all time favorite Christmas songs.
  

Peace,

~ The Billy Goat ~

Billy Goat Log; October 17,2010

• In thinking of the Lord's Supper, the question is not, "Is the Lord's table a sacrament?" The question is "How is the Lord's table a sacrament and what is the nature of the grace conveyed in that sacrament?" That there would be an ordnance of worship that is not somehow a means of grace in bringing the worshiper closer to God strikes a discordant note similar to that of a fingernail scratching on a chalk board.
  
  This week I picked up the book; This is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought by Thomas J. Davis (Baker, 2008). I'm just getting into it. It is a bit on the scholarly side, but traces the development of reformation thought regarding the Eucharist. Stay tuned.
  
  
• In the discussion of young earth/old earth or young universe/old universe there seems to be a missing element on both sides. Time is not constant, but relative. I don't know enough about physics to understand if or how e=mc² proves time is not a constant. I do have a philosophical rationale argument for saying time is relative based on its measurement being founded in the relationship of mass and motion.
  
  Has anyone in the young earth camp on the one side, or the theistic evolution camp on the other side, ever discussed the implications of time's relativity on the whole creation question and our understanding of Genesis 1? They may have, and if so, I'd like to see it.
  
  
• Back in May I posted a note here about second and third hand reports of some of the turmoil in the loose association of churches our former church is part of. Recently I came across first hand proof of that turmoil on one of the blogs associated with that movement. The division, (and it is a division), is between the "old path" group and the "Reforming" group. The blog post was defending the old-path side, and it was in the comments that the differences between the two became highlighted as representatives from each side set forth their case.
  
  It is not my point to get into the details of those issues. (That's why I'm not linking to that blog post). That blog post and the comments made in response reinforced the conclusions I expressed back in the May posting referenced above.
  
  Reading that blog post reminded me of why it was that nine years ago we left that church and movement. I am so relieved and thankful we are away from that atmosphere and culture; that we are now beyond all that, and have gone on with our lives. And I'm also thankful the Lord directed our paths to another church that is much more healthy and balanced. "Here to the Lord has helped us."
  
  
• Story line: "The Life and Times of St. Lester the Unbeliever and His Role in the First Intergalactic Ecumenical Synod of 3457 (CEE)¹".
  
  (¹ Common Earth Era, formerly designated AD.)
  
  
• Once upon a time, in another lifetime, I graduated from high school. One of the hit songs of 1967 was this rock classic.
  

Billy Goat Log: 09/21/2010, 11:05 PM EDST

• That Sunday, Pam sang in the choir. She chatted with her friends, and cuddled her grandchild in her arms. I remember saying hi to her in the church lobby. Tuesday morning was her surgery. It was a serious surgery, but all went well. The Doc was ready to close things up. A blood vessel burst. Only 50 years old and she was gone just like that.
  
  I was shocked when I opened the e-mail from church and read the terse one line statement. Sunday she was living.... How could she be dead? We were casual acquaintances, and Pam and her family were involved members of our church. She sang in the choir and sang in the ladies' trio with her good friends Wendy and Brinda. From the very first time we started attending our church, Pam and her family had always been part of it.
  
  The next day the news came with details about the visitation and the funeral. One son was in boot camp for the National Guard. He would be coming home to say goodbye to his mom...
  
  We were not able to make the visitation, but did get to the funeral on Saturday. I went into the church, and the casket was in the foyer, still open. I saw Pam laying there; that dear, dear Christan sister we all loved so well. Seeing her there, I came close to losing it. Then the casket was closed. She was so very much alive when I saw her Sunday. The next time I see her, she is in that casket. She was there, but she was not there. The body was there. The spirit was in the arms of Jesus.
  
  The service glorified the Lord and Saviour Pam loved and served. On her chair in the choir loft was a choir stole and one rose. Afterwards at the luncheon that was served, we offered our condolences to her husband and children.
  
  Pam is gone. When we go to church, she will not be there... Someday we will see her again. That body laid in the casket to be put in the grave will be resurrected and reunited with the spirit that had been torn from it in death. Our mourning will finally once and for all be turned to joy.
  
  In the meantime, we who knew and loved her will miss her. RIP dear sister in Christ...
  
  
• The days are shorter. The leaves are starting to turn. In two days Autumn will officially be here.
  
  
• It took me some time to do the last post on the Lord's table. Things kept coming up, and it was hard to find the concentration of time needed to work on it. At one point I thought it was ready to post, but didn't have time to finish it up. When I got back to it, I found myself rewriting some things because as I had reflected further, I found I was not in full agreement with how I had stated some things. There are some things about the Lord's table I'm still pondering on. There are times when the answers are not as clear cut, or as black and white as we want to think they are.
  
  
• Recent reading: I revisited I Sing the Body Electric! by Ray Bradbury. There is a lengthy poem at the end of the book called "Christus Apollo" which has a distinct Christan motif. That poem may be worth doing a review on sometime in the future. Bradbury has a way of writing sci-fi that makes the humanity of the characters more the story then the sci-fi setting of the story. Human needs don't change that much no matter what the technology.
  
  
• And my alma mater, Michigan State University, beat Notre Dame by using a fake field goal in overtime this past Saturday night. And it was good... :)
  
  Detroit Lions lose again... (Sigh...)

~ The Billy Goat ~

Billy Goat Log: 08/21/2010, 9:33 PM EDST

• So I have not posted in a while. The last few weeks have been somewhat hectic and in some ways emotionally draining.
  
  
• There is a church in our metropolitan area that does a "home make-over" once a year. This year my married daughter and family were nominated for the home make-over, and the church picked their house to work on. The work was done last weekend. A whole bunch of volunteers from the church, a number of businesses providing materials and etc, and Sunday afternoon my daughter, son-in law, and grandchildren returned to a refurbished and redecorated house. I was personally overwhelmed by all the work this group had done. My daughter's family is on the upper edge of the "working poor" blue collar class. It has been a real struggle for them, and what the church did in fixing up the house will be a real help. We are humbled and thankful for this kind providence. God was very gracious and kind to us as a family.
  
  
• While their house was being worked on, they put the family up in a local motel, and had a number of special things planned for them. One of the events was to go to watch our local minor league baseball team play a home game. My wife and I got to go along also. It was really nice.
  
  I don't get out to watch our local team play that often, but every time I've gone to the local baseball park to watch them, I've really enjoyed it. I realized how much I enjoy watching a live baseball game. One of the things on my retirement "to do" list will be to get to more baseball games. and yes, our local team won the game, and we enjoyed the fireworks afterwards.
  
  Did I mention my oldest grandson got to throw out one of the "first pitches"? That was pretty neat!
  
  
• I recently opened a page at Scribd. I published some previous material there, and have been encouraged by the response. I realize I need to come up with some new, never before published material.
  
  
• Summer is winding down. The days are shorter and the nights cooler. This fall I plan on doing some more splitting/transplanting in the flower gardens. There is something about getting out of the house and putzing around in the yard, looking after the perennial flowers we have there. I get some sense of what it may have been like for Adam to tend the garden of Eden; as though in that yard and garden work I touch root with Eden itself...
  
  
• We were at a Christian bookstore today. I didn't buy anything. As I wandered through the aisles, I really wondered if there was much there that really met people where they really needed to be met, and how much of it was just so much fluff and vapor. I tend to be cynical, but it would not be at all fair for me to pass wholesale judgement on books I have not read. But then I don't feel compelled to have to read whatever "latest and greatest" just came out either. The only "must read" for the Christian is the Bible itself. Other books can be helpful, and I myself have been helped along the way by other books, but when you get down to the very root of the matter, there is only one book absolutely needful.
  
  
• The relationship of Isreal and the church, the degree of continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments, suprasessionism or "replacement theology" vs. dispinsationalism: I'm not convinced anyone has really come up with a Biblicaly satisfactory answer. The answers I've seen from all camps are at some point or another less then so.
  
  
• Jesus Christ is LORD...

Of This & That

• It seems I get ideas of things to write about, but then when I do have some time to sit down and write, the energy is not there... Another reason retirement looks better all the time.
  
  
• I've been doing some thinking on the Lord's Supper and sense there is perhaps an aspect of the Lord's Supper that tends to get over looked by those who, on the one side, hold a sacramental view of the ordinance, as well as those on the other side who hold a memorial view of the ordinance. I need to pull some notes together and do some further study.
  
  
• What if what we have is an old universe, but a young biosphere? Both secular and theistic evolutionists accept "survival of the fittest" as the driver of evolutionary process. But what if instead of the survival of the fittest, the driver of evolutionary process before the fall was a benign benevolent purpose centered on creating bio-diversity in a way that did not involve death? Does the recent young-earth creationism movement read into Genesis 1 more then Genesis 1 really says?
  
  Do you want to tell someone they have to give up their belief in evolution, theistic or otherwise, before they can be saved and become a Christian? Are you ready to use the process of church discipline on someone who holds to theistic evolution? Would someone who holds that view be allowed to join your church and participate in its ministries? Do we really want to make young earth creationism a sine qua non of orthodoxy along with the deity of Christ and the trinitarian being of God?
  
  Can we evangelize in a way that the offense of the Gospel is the cross, and not the issue of creationism versus evolution?
  
  My sympathy and leaning is towards the recent-creation view. That said, I do not find I can clinch that view as tightly in my hand as some seem to insist we must.
  
  
• August 1914, ninety-six years ago. The world went insane... Strident nationalism and militarism overrode reason and prudence. Ninety-six years latter and not a lot has changed. All it will take is another "assassination" of some "archduke" and madness will again plunge the world into darkness.
  
  
• Reading books about war can really be depressing. I think this year I've read more then enough about war for a while, and "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" will have to wait. I have seen the movie, though I'm not sure I could watch it again because the memories it invokes stir a deeper grief each time they come flooding back into the conscience.
  
  
• In my last post I linked to a blog post by Dr. Russell Moore regarding a question about Robert E. Lee. (See the link in the post just below this one.) Sad to say, but not totally unexpected, one of the replys to Dr. Moore's post gives a classic example of the cultic nature of the "Lost cause" mythology regarding the Civil War.
  
  
• It is that time of Summer where the colors of leaves and plants get a sort of washed out tired look. The frenzy of bright and vibrant colors begains to dissipate in anticipation of the autumn days that will shortly be upon us. The days are noticably shorter.
  
  
• Jesus Christ is LORD...

Peace,

~ The Billy Goat ~

Of This and That

• I am in the final pages of H. C. Willmontt's "coffee table" edition of World War I(Dorling Kindersley, 2006). Though all war is depressing, WW-I was one of the most depressing wars of all. The reasons it started, the expectations versus the reality, the slaughter of trench warfare, the self-serving political maneuverings on both sides; utterly tragic.
  
  This "coffee table" book has "tons" of photographs, side-bars, and informative insets. I'm not entirely confident about some of the assertions Willmott makes regarding some of the events. For one example, I'm a little skeptical of the devaluing of the U.S. Army's offense in the Argonne Forest in relation to the ultimate collapse of the Hindenburg Line and the German defeat. That said, this is another good resource for gaining an understanding of World War I.
  
  
• Death is inconvenient. It upsets the pattern and flow of life. Back on June 2, I was at work when I got the call that my sister Joy had died. After hanging up the phone, I felt all other concerns for work and the other press of life drain away. I was going to take a timeout from the world for a few days. The world would have to just get along without me. And it did... A week latter, after the funeral I was back at work, picking up and going on with my life in this world. Death be not proud... Death is an enemy, and one day death will be put to death...
  
  
• I have concluded that Covenant Theology has just as much bologna in it as Dispinsationalism does. God did not speak out of both sides of His mouth...
  
  
• We watched the DVD version of The Blind Side. It was pretty good. Unfortunately the best line from that movie is not one you want to repeat without careful consideration of who will be hearing you quote it. It would be well though if many a momma would say the same thing to their college bound son.
  
  
• The year I started kindergarten, this was one of the top hit songs of the time.
  
  

Of This and That

• So some people are taking issue with John Piper inviting Rick Warren to a conference. What would these same people have said about Spurgeon inviting D. L. Moody to preach at the Tabernacle?
  
  
• I am slowly reading through H. P. Willmott's World War I. This is one of those "coffee table" kind of books with lots of pictures and side notes along with the main text. It is interesting and yet I can only read so much at a time because of all the wars to read about, reading about World War I is the most depressing. Given the reasons behind, and how it started, it was so totally unnecessary, and yet to this day we still live with the results of that colossal blunder.
  
  
• I recently led a men's Bible study session on the Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah 52 - 53. As a result I had a few preliminary ideas on a Biblical theology of that passage. We so often go to the suffering Servant passage bringing all of our New Testament perspective with us. How often do we ask how a believing Jew of Isaiah's time would have understood that passage? The images of the temple sacrificial system would have been pretty key to how it was understood.
  
  
• We've been keeping an eye on the Detroit Red Wings playoff games with Arizona. The series will be decided in game seven. In the meantime baseball has started and I've enjoyed catching a little bit of some of the Tigers games on TV.
  
  
• I'm told that the day I was born this was the number one pop song at that time.

Of This and That

March Madness: So I didn't think Michigan State would get past the Sweet Sixteen, and as of today they are headed to the Final Four. I don't mind being proven wrong. Will the Spartans take it all? I'm a little pessimistic, but really would not mind being proven wrong again. I just realized it was 39 years ago come May when I graduated from MSU. How the years have flown by.

On Visiting Texas: Last week we were in Texas to see family. It was cold when we got into Austin, but warmed up enough to really enjoy it. The bluebonnets were on the verge of blooming, but it was the day we started home that they really blossomed. We did get some of those famous Round Rock donuts. The highlight of the trip was when my 95 year old mother-in law was with us on the back porch and out of the blue she starts praising Jesus and thanking Him. She forgets a lot of things, but she has not forgot her Lord Jesus.

Fahrenheit 451: Just finished reading the book. I saw the movie many years ago. The book is much better then the movie. What you also see in the book is that it is a "prophecy" of what will come from a "political correctness" mentality. That's not just my opinion. The author, Ray Bradbury, comes right out and says so in an interview in the back of the edition I read.

Ramblings

A few short days and it will be Christmas. One more day of work and I get some time off. Work has been a little hectic lately.

I am finishing Chesterton's Orthodoxy. It was written a hundred years ago, but reads like it was written just last year. I highly recommend it. Yes, I know Chesterton was Roman Catholic. Just read it anyways, and have the audacity to appreciate it.

The so called "Health care Bill: There is nothing healthy or caring about it. The real goal is not health, but power and control. We are being betrayed in the name of "health care" and "compassion" and all the other baloney that politicians use to disguise their true intentions.

We have some really neat young people in our church. You can not help but love them. You can not help but pray for them. I am well aware they are not "perfect", but many of them have their heart in the right place, and that is such an encouragement to see.

How do you pray for a fellow Christian believer who in some shape, fashion, or form, is going through some rough waters? Lately I find myself thinking that if I really love you, I want what God wants for you in your current stress. As such, I find myself being more careful not to pray that the trial be taken away, but that you would be given grace to go through the trial, and come out on the other side more conformed to the image of Christ. If we really love one another, that is what we want for each other; to be conformed to the image of Christ.

For to us a child is born,
  to us a son is given,
  and the government will be on his shoulders.
  And he will be called
  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
  there will be no end.
  He will reign on David's throne
  and over his kingdom,
  establishing and upholding it
  with justice and righteousness
  from that time on and forever.
  The zeal of the LORD Almighty
  will accomplish this.

(Isaiah 9:6-7)

Peace....

~ The Billy Goat ~