An arrow released

“Sad” day today. H is moving 70 miles away, to the town of her birth and home of my older two children. She won't be far, but she won't be here. Psalm 127 speaks of children as arrows in a quiver.  It is time to let this one go and pray/trust that God will direct her to His chosen target.  Since she will be nearby, we will see her often, just not every day.  And she gets to spoil the niece and nephew more often as well.

My favorite picture of H as a little girl.

So, P will have to put up with her two 50+ parents on her own. At 17, she thinks she'll be moving out next year, but I doubt it.  There are many things involved in leaving home, which she has not yet realized.  If she is ready next year, then I will gladly shoot the last arrow from the quiver in God’s will.

Post 101

I just realized that I have reached a “milestone”: I have 100 posts! To celebrate (which I should have done on my last post, since it was #100) here are not-quite 100 unrelated thoughts.

1. Since baseball is not a timed game, why is it called a “time out” when the coach wants to talk to the pitcher?
2. When the “occupy” protesters are done complaining about not having a job, will they refuse to clean up the mess they are making in various city parks, even if they are offered an hourly wage to do so?
3. And why are they protesting at Wall Street, when it is all the corporations represented on Wall Street that provide jobs?  Perhaps they should go to Washington and tell the Congress and President to remove hindrances to jobs, like over-regulation and high corporate taxes.
4. Why does the President think he needs to go give a speech to promote his economic recovery plan, when doing so costs millions of taxpayer dollars? A word to the press: point out to him that he could cut his own budget by those millions by staying in the White House and speaking from there. 
5. Why do so many people complain about colder weather in the fall, when they were looking forward to it in August?
6. And why do these same people blame the TV weather person for weather the latter cannot control?
7. And why does the TV weather person take credit for good weather?
8. Also, why do TV weather personalities act like nannies?  They tell us, “Put on your coat since it is cold.” Or, “Grab your umbrella, it’s going to rain today.” We can decide for ourselves.
9. Has anyone missed the NBA, since it is not playing ball this season because of a lockout?  I didn’t either.
10. Is it hockey season too?  Hmm, baseball ending, hockey starting, football half-way through. It must be October.

Okay, so I only could muster 1/10 of 100 thoughts. But hey, Game 7 is on now.

Thoughts on worship music

One of the topics that seems to get people going is music in the church.  Some churches sing only hymns, some only modern choruses, some only the Psalms.  Really, it matters not to me what a church sings, as long as the people enter in to true worship.  We sing a mixture of choruses and hymns, and are small enough that individuals request songs during the meeting. Many times, the Spirit of the Lord seems to pick the music, as someone will testify that all the songs spoke to his/her needs of the moment.


Anyway, I have been reading a biography of John MacArthur lately, written by Iain Murray.  In it, the Murray has a chapter dedicated to several objections to MacArthur’s ministry.  There is even a section on music in the church.  I find it refreshing that John MacArthur has a balanced view, not proclaiming that either form of music is best, only that the song leader must remember that many people will remember the words to the songs after they have forgotten the sermon.  The author quotes from O Worship the King, written by MacArthur, Joni Eareckson Tada and others. They write,

Like it or not, today’s songwriters are teachers, too.  Many of the lyrics they are writing will soon be far more deeply and permanently ingrained in the minds of Christians than anything they hear their pastors teach from the pulpit. How many songwriters are skilled enough in theology and Scripture to qualify for such a vital role in the catechesis of the people? (1)

Earlier in the biography, Murray quotes MacArthur saying, “I am convinced that the downgrading of worship, Scripture, and theology will ultimately usher in serious doctrinal compromise.” (2)  To me, that means that if all we sing are Scripture choruses, we miss out on the depths of theology in the older hymns. But by the same token, if we only sing the hymns in a dry, staid manor, we miss out on the emotional aspect of worship the great God and Creator.  Try singing “My Jesus, I love Thee” without any emotion.  Or, my favorite “And Can it Be” by Charles Wesley in a monotonic way.  It cannot be done by one who is in tune with God.

(1) John MacArthur, Joni Eareckson Tada, Robert and Bobbie Wolgemuth, O Worship the King (Wheaton, IL, Crossway, 2000) pp. 12-13
(2) Quoted in Iain H. Murray, John MacArthur, Servant of the Word and Flock (Edinburgh, Scotland, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2011) p.188

Thoughts on how it used to be

It’s hot.  The weather icon on this computer says it is 99°F.  It’s September and we are getting a l;ate summer heat wave.  It always get hot around Labor Day, doesn’t it?  What did folks do in the old days when it got this hot?  Surely they endured and took a break in the shade, sipping well water or something.

I guess we are not as hardy as they were.  The schools around here that heave not gotten air conditioning are all closing early this week, including where I teach.  It was 86° inside my classroom the last few days, and  understand it was warmer at the elementary schools.  So, we got out at 1:15 yesterday and 11:00am this morning. I remember riding my bike to school, and not worrying about the heat.  Of course, I don’t remember if it got to 100° this late in the year when I was young. And there is a lot more humidity here than in Arizona, so if it did get this hot, we didn’t feel it as much.  Or we ignored it.

Now I see why schools in the old days did not start until later in September, or even October.  Not only was it cooler, but the children were needed on the farm to help with the harvest.  Now, their are fewer farms, and the farmers don’t require the extra hands as much.

So, if you are reading this and you are older than 40, tell me something you remember from “the olden days”.

How verbal are you?

Here is a vocabulary test I tried out, and was surprised at how well I did: Test Your Vocabulary.  You get two lists of words- the first tests your broad vocabulary level, with words like; the second your narrow vocabulary.  I am in the 45th percentile for adults over 18 years, with a vocab of around 26,000 words.  I did not think I was that verbal.

How well can you do?  Try it, then come back and brag about (or humbly admit) your score.

HT: First Thoughts blog

Grandson update

He’s now 5 weeks old.  Isn't he adorable?

The power of God in the storm

We had quite a storm Monday morning.  Winds at over 70mph tore through the area, downing many trees, including one in our yard.  We praise the Lord we were all well, though we lost a couple hours of sleep, and the electricity was off until this morning, about 36 hours total.

Storms are interesting in their display of the power of God.  This one had the strong winds and lightning that seemed to be a constant strobe light.  It took me a while to realize the power was out because of all the lightning.  All I could think was (and I know it is cliche, but it fits here): AWESOME!!!

Here are a few pictures of the damage and limbs we had moved to the street.  We thank our neighbors and their lawn tractors for moving the largest ones.

Are you dressed for the wedding?

We went to a wedding last weekend.  It was one of the most beautiful weddings I have seen (and I have been to a lot of them).  A young man came to the wedding dressed in shorts, t-shirt and ball cap.  My first thought was that he should realize this is a wedding and not a ballgame or picnic. I know the young man, and have only seen him dressed up on a few occasions, one of them being his own wedding.   


My thoughts turned to this passage from scripture:

But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’  (Matthew 22.11-13 NKJV)

Concerning the young man above, I'll leave it to others to decide if his attire was an offense, as I know he is dressed for the most important wedding of all.  When Jesus returns, and we celebrate the wedding supper of the Lamb, the only garment the King of Kings will allow will be the one He supplies: The righteousness of Christ.


Are you dressed for that wedding?

Presenting...

A Grandson!!!

Born Tuesday, May 30, 2011 @ 9:45pm, a 8#5oz, 19½ inches gift from the Lord (Ps. 127)

Thoughts on the end of the world

This came in an email yesterday.  Excellent thoughts on the recent miscalculation of a misguided preacher.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Mark LaCour

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"Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. (2 Thess. 2:1-2).

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Harold Camping isn't the first preacher to be a "victim" of bad math. Jonah had the number of days to judgment correct, but God mercifully extended the deadline. Hananiah shortened the number of years of judgment, and it cost him his life (Jer. 28). But bad "accounting" methods don't produce false prophets -- arrogance does. While Harold Camping and his faulty "math" has exposed him for who he is, don’t think for a second God hasn't used him. Notice a few ways:

First, God has used him to show the world how foolish it is to date the future. It's one thing to "look for the blessed appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior" (Titus 2:13), it's another to circle a date on a calendar and hour on a clock. The former emphasizes our desire to be with Christ, the latter our desire to be seen as someone important with inside knowledge from God.

Second, God has used him to harden people in their arrogance. More than one atheist has patted himself on the back that he's more "enlightened." While he correctly assizes Camping as foolish, he mistakenly generalizes from that foolishness there is no return of Christ at all (2 Pet. 3:3ff.) And God uses Camping's foolishness to harden the atheist with that effect (2 Thess. 2:9-10). Laughing at the "fool on the hill" doesn’t equate to every Christian being a fool. We’re just not on the hill.
Third, God has used him to discipline well-meaning but gullible Christians to always test the prophetic. Rarely is naivete built on immaturity alone, but pride. People giving up jobs, spending their retirement, working/preaching long hours to get the message out is disheartening, but the rebuke should be evident -- humble yourself and listen to others outside your own circle. "The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps" (Prov. 14:15) -- a consideration that requires being teachable from others (Prov. 9:4, 16).

If Noah, a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5), had concentrated his preaching on the 120 years God was to put up with mankind before the flood (Gen. 6:3) the unbelievers wouldn't have been caught off-guard when the flood came (Lk. 17:26-27); and two, he could have "dragged his feet" in building the ark, knowing he had 120 years. He did neither. He left the calendar -- and the math to God. So should we. There’s too much building yet to be done.