12.31.2004
Package
I am really excited about a package that came to my door last night. It was full of....book pockets! I am putting book pockets in the backs of all my books, and working on printing out cards for all of them. Whenever I loan out one of my books (which I do often) I will keep the card that has the title and author and write on it the name of the person who has borrowed it and on what date. I let people keep them as long as they like, or until I need it back, but usually forget what books are out. I'm still working on geting all of our books entered into the library database. It's a lot of work!
I am really excited about a package that came to my door last night. It was full of....book pockets! I am putting book pockets in the backs of all my books, and working on printing out cards for all of them. Whenever I loan out one of my books (which I do often) I will keep the card that has the title and author and write on it the name of the person who has borrowed it and on what date. I let people keep them as long as they like, or until I need it back, but usually forget what books are out. I'm still working on geting all of our books entered into the library database. It's a lot of work!
12.30.2004
Free iPod
OK, so I'm a dork. I signed up to win a free iPod. All you have to do is sign-up for some free trial and then get 5 other people to do the same and they send you an iPod. I know of a couple of people who have actually gotten iPods so I decided to give it a shot. So I need five people to go sign-up. I did the blockbuster free trial which is kind of like net flix. If you want to help out go here:
Win a Free Ipod!.
I don't really have any music to put on it, but I download a lot of sermons that never make it onto CD. My computer crashed awhile back and I have never gotten the burner to start working again. So it would be nice to put all of them on this and listen to it through my car stereo (yes you can do that they tell me.)
OK, so I'm a dork. I signed up to win a free iPod. All you have to do is sign-up for some free trial and then get 5 other people to do the same and they send you an iPod. I know of a couple of people who have actually gotten iPods so I decided to give it a shot. So I need five people to go sign-up. I did the blockbuster free trial which is kind of like net flix. If you want to help out go here:
Win a Free Ipod!.
I don't really have any music to put on it, but I download a lot of sermons that never make it onto CD. My computer crashed awhile back and I have never gotten the burner to start working again. So it would be nice to put all of them on this and listen to it through my car stereo (yes you can do that they tell me.)
12.28.2004
The Will of a Community
I received "Mother Kirk" back from a brother last night and re-read some of Wilson's comments in the chapter on community. It's been a couple months and I couldn't really remember how much he had said in regards to the parish that had gotten me on this kick I'm on lately. I was surprised to see the Dr. Chalmers was mentioned in one sentence! That was all I needed though I guess.
His approach seems to be much more of a congregational parish approach, not necessarily involving the surrounding heathen population, but rather dividing a church up into manageable parishes. He does a great job at addressing the modern obstacles to the parochial system, but comes up a little short on practical solutions. His main analysis is: move near the church and do things together.
So here is something I have been mulling over: our family travels 20-30 minutes to a church we like, driving past 3-4 similar churches. Should I, in principle support of a parish system that I want to see happen, choose to attend the reformed church 5 blocks away from my house in order to pursue this ideal? I have NO guarantee that anyone at that church will care at all about my ideals, and their orthopraxis is nowhere as close to my convictions as the other church.
One of the main points of the discussion on community in "Mother Kirk" is that is an ideal which must be pursued. It does not just happen. And that means people must be convinced of the necessity of community, not just the usefulness or niceness of it. They must be shown from scripture of the biblical imperative to form Christian community. Which means that elders must be teaching their flocks all of these things. And that is what leaves me in somewhat of a bind. Is this something that can happen from the bottom up, or does it have to happen from the top down (I think I already answered my own question).
I am by nature an action person, so I say "If no one else will do this, I'll do it myself". So I take my family to the reformed church on the corner and begin building community with my neighbors (supposing that they also have not driven 20 minutes to attend, urgh!). Is this wise?
I received "Mother Kirk" back from a brother last night and re-read some of Wilson's comments in the chapter on community. It's been a couple months and I couldn't really remember how much he had said in regards to the parish that had gotten me on this kick I'm on lately. I was surprised to see the Dr. Chalmers was mentioned in one sentence! That was all I needed though I guess.
His approach seems to be much more of a congregational parish approach, not necessarily involving the surrounding heathen population, but rather dividing a church up into manageable parishes. He does a great job at addressing the modern obstacles to the parochial system, but comes up a little short on practical solutions. His main analysis is: move near the church and do things together.
So here is something I have been mulling over: our family travels 20-30 minutes to a church we like, driving past 3-4 similar churches. Should I, in principle support of a parish system that I want to see happen, choose to attend the reformed church 5 blocks away from my house in order to pursue this ideal? I have NO guarantee that anyone at that church will care at all about my ideals, and their orthopraxis is nowhere as close to my convictions as the other church.
One of the main points of the discussion on community in "Mother Kirk" is that is an ideal which must be pursued. It does not just happen. And that means people must be convinced of the necessity of community, not just the usefulness or niceness of it. They must be shown from scripture of the biblical imperative to form Christian community. Which means that elders must be teaching their flocks all of these things. And that is what leaves me in somewhat of a bind. Is this something that can happen from the bottom up, or does it have to happen from the top down (I think I already answered my own question).
I am by nature an action person, so I say "If no one else will do this, I'll do it myself". So I take my family to the reformed church on the corner and begin building community with my neighbors (supposing that they also have not driven 20 minutes to attend, urgh!). Is this wise?
12.27.2004
Bibliography
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you! Our family enjoyed a wonderful Christmas this year, going back and forth between our parents' houses. I must admit that it was a bit taxing on Lily and Asher, and Asher wasn't feeling well anyways, but we all had a great time.
I have been reading Thomas Guthrie's Autobiography and Memoir by his sons and it is so great. I just finished Volume I and loved it. I also got some great books for Christmas and so I have decided to keep a list of books I have read during the next year. It will be over to the right below my articles and such.
One of the best gifts I received was from my mother and father. The gave me the complete 22 volume collection of Calvin's commentaries! When I opened up one of the books that they wrapped, I said "Great! I'll have to start collecting them and work my up to the full 22." Then they explained that the rest were in a box upstairs! I also received "To a Thousand Generations" by Doug Wilson and have begun reading that.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you! Our family enjoyed a wonderful Christmas this year, going back and forth between our parents' houses. I must admit that it was a bit taxing on Lily and Asher, and Asher wasn't feeling well anyways, but we all had a great time.
I have been reading Thomas Guthrie's Autobiography and Memoir by his sons and it is so great. I just finished Volume I and loved it. I also got some great books for Christmas and so I have decided to keep a list of books I have read during the next year. It will be over to the right below my articles and such.
One of the best gifts I received was from my mother and father. The gave me the complete 22 volume collection of Calvin's commentaries! When I opened up one of the books that they wrapped, I said "Great! I'll have to start collecting them and work my up to the full 22." Then they explained that the rest were in a box upstairs! I also received "To a Thousand Generations" by Doug Wilson and have begun reading that.
12.20.2004
Darrell reports:
"Baptists are fat. OK, so we can't have a beer or drink wine to observe the Lord's Supper, but the gluttonous consumption of donuts and coffee is just fine. Makes sense to me."
"Baptists are fat. OK, so we can't have a beer or drink wine to observe the Lord's Supper, but the gluttonous consumption of donuts and coffee is just fine. Makes sense to me."
12.09.2004
Nice Try
Well, as I said in an earlier post, sometimes you just have to try out a book you've never heard of (or something along those lines). Well, there is good reason I have never heard of "Survival Tactics in the Parish" by Lyle Schaller. My first hint that this might be a questionable purchase was that it is from a Methodist publisher. Now this doesn't necessarily disqualify a book, although it should raise some flags, but this guy has written books with some other interesting titles that should raise some more. Add to that the fact that he is usually touted as an expert in "church-growth" and you have a recipe for disaster.
The opening pages of the book let me know fairly quickly that this book was not for me. It has a discussion from a fake pastor's conference with men and women "pastors" sharing their pastorate history. I kept telling my wife that I was going to keep pushing through it and try and glean something from the book, there has to be something good in it. Long and short of it is: I didn't make it much farther before I felt a gag reflex coming on that forced me to put the book down forever. At least I only paid 1 cent for it! Mr Schaller sounds like he would be a good fit over at Willow Creek.
Well, as I said in an earlier post, sometimes you just have to try out a book you've never heard of (or something along those lines). Well, there is good reason I have never heard of "Survival Tactics in the Parish" by Lyle Schaller. My first hint that this might be a questionable purchase was that it is from a Methodist publisher. Now this doesn't necessarily disqualify a book, although it should raise some flags, but this guy has written books with some other interesting titles that should raise some more. Add to that the fact that he is usually touted as an expert in "church-growth" and you have a recipe for disaster.
The opening pages of the book let me know fairly quickly that this book was not for me. It has a discussion from a fake pastor's conference with men and women "pastors" sharing their pastorate history. I kept telling my wife that I was going to keep pushing through it and try and glean something from the book, there has to be something good in it. Long and short of it is: I didn't make it much farther before I felt a gag reflex coming on that forced me to put the book down forever. At least I only paid 1 cent for it! Mr Schaller sounds like he would be a good fit over at Willow Creek.
12.06.2004
Wilson's comments on Free Will and WCF
So many of our theological fallacies come about because we place ourselves on the same level as God. But hopefully we have learned by now that, alas, we are not divine (Thank God).
By virtue of creation, mankind was given given a true and natural liberty with regard to all issues of good and evil. Adam, when he fell, was not coerced or dragged into that sin. The decree which God had given concerning the fall of man did not "force" Adam to sin, and neither had God implanted within Adam any program of internal coercion. Now how can a non-coercive decree be a sovereign decree? The answer to the question resides in the fact that the "causal agent" in the sovereign decrees does not inhabit the same "universe" as the thing caused. If it did, then the causation on the one hand displaces responsibility on the other. In other words, God is to the universe what Shakespeare is to Macbeth, and not what Lady Macbeth is to Macbeth. Put another way, God's relation to the universe is unlike every causal situation in the world that we know. Consequently, it is a category mistake of the first order to try to compare the two different kinds of causation.
So many of our theological fallacies come about because we place ourselves on the same level as God. But hopefully we have learned by now that, alas, we are not divine (Thank God).
12.03.2004
More Books!
I have bought two new books this week, both relating to the parochial system in some way, I hope. The first is a book I took a chance on, since I know virtually nothing about the book nor the author, But as I told Lindsay, you can't learn anything new if you only read the books you are told to. It is called "Survival Tactics in the Parish" by Lyle E. Schaller. Mr. Schaller is some kind of expert on church-growth or something, so I should be interested to know exactly what the book is about. It's paperback and only cost $.01, so if it's no good, it will make good kindling.
The second book is one I am more excited about getting. It is a two-volume set from 1874 titled "Autobiography of Thomas Guthrie, DD" written by his sons. I have heard about this book, and Mr. Guthrie's name is often seen coupled with Thomas Chalmers, and so I am excited. Guthrie was also a Scottish minister in the nineteenth century who was dilligent in reform and community. The books are very worn but were only $5 for the two! If you haven't noticed yet, my book wishlist is over to the right.
Have you ever realised that you are so unrighteous that you can't even repent without the help of God?
I have bought two new books this week, both relating to the parochial system in some way, I hope. The first is a book I took a chance on, since I know virtually nothing about the book nor the author, But as I told Lindsay, you can't learn anything new if you only read the books you are told to. It is called "Survival Tactics in the Parish" by Lyle E. Schaller. Mr. Schaller is some kind of expert on church-growth or something, so I should be interested to know exactly what the book is about. It's paperback and only cost $.01, so if it's no good, it will make good kindling.
The second book is one I am more excited about getting. It is a two-volume set from 1874 titled "Autobiography of Thomas Guthrie, DD" written by his sons. I have heard about this book, and Mr. Guthrie's name is often seen coupled with Thomas Chalmers, and so I am excited. Guthrie was also a Scottish minister in the nineteenth century who was dilligent in reform and community. The books are very worn but were only $5 for the two! If you haven't noticed yet, my book wishlist is over to the right.
Have you ever realised that you are so unrighteous that you can't even repent without the help of God?
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