Its not just a new month but its a new year! As the kids would say “Woot”
My email showed up with this month’s new sky calendar at Skymaps where you can print out maps to what is on the sky calendar in the sky this month. I am hoping for a clear night this week to spot Comet Machholz which was just ‘discovered’ in August and is at it’s peak brightness.
N.T. Wright in God’s Way of Acting makes some very good comments on how people view the incarnation & miracles show whether they believe the bible is “True” or not.
Nevertheless, the birth stories have become a test case in various controversies. If you believe in miracles, you believe in Jesus’ miraculous birth; if you don’t, you don’t. Both sides turn the question into a shibboleth, not for its own sake but to find out who’s in and who’s out. Problem: “miracle,” as used in these controversies, is not a biblical category. The God of the Bible is not a normally absent God who sometimes “intervenes.” This God is always present and active, often surprisingly so.
Likewise, if you believe the Bible is “true,” you will believe the birth stories; if you don’t, you won’t. Again, the birth stories are insignificant in themselves; they function as a test for beliefs about the Bible.
I was also interested in reading more articles I found at religion-online.org where they say they have:
More than 5,200 articles and chapters. Topics include Old and New Testament, Theology, Ethics, History and Sociology of Religion, Communication and Cultural Studies, Pastoral Care, Counseling, Homiletics, Worship, Missions and Religious Education.
This library service looks like it could be very useful, especially where you have a handfull (or more) kids with their own library cards.
You can get your notices by email or even by RSS feed.
I have sent a request to our local library to look into adding the service.
Originally spotted at 43 Folders
In his sermon this evening our pastor, Craig Davis, spoke on the need for Christians to have convictions. He quoted John Stott out of Nov/Dec 2000 Modern Reformation magazine. I found the quote online:
The spirit of our age is very unfriendly towards dogmatic people. Folk whose opinions are clearly formulated and strongly held are not popular. A person of conviction, however, intelligent, sincere and humble he may be, will be fortunate if he escapes the charge of being a bigot. Nowadays the really great mind is thought to be both broad and open ? broad enough to absorb every fresh idea which is presented to it, and open enough to go on doing so ad infinitum.
What are we to say to this? We must reply that historic Christianity is essentially dogmatic, because it purports to be a revealed faith. If the Christian religion were just a collection of philosophical and ethical ideas of men (like Hinduism), dogmatism would be entirely out of place. But if God has spoken (as Christians claim), both in the olden days through the prophets and in these days through His Son (Heb. 1:1, 2), why should it be thought “dogmatic” to believe His Word ourselves and to urge other people to believe it too?…
…Christian dogmatism has, and should have, a limited field. It is not tantamount to the claim to omniscience. Yet in those things which are clearly revealed in Scripture, Christians should not be doubtful or apologetic.
I have seen those who are willing to stand for what scriptures state ridiculed both by those outside the church and within as being arrogant. Our society today is so relativistic that even in the church we are uncomfortable when someone stands for truth. We want people to hedge their convictions, to preface their comments with “I think” rather than “Thus sayeth the Lord”
Amy Welborn in her blog open book quotes a NYTimes article on Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye, and his Atlanta ministry, Revolution. What struck me was the name - Bakker - son of Jim & Tammy Fay fame. Maybe it is my old Pentecostal background coming back to haunt me but I am glad to see that it appears he has “done good”.
Bethra Szumski, 33, a tattoo artist, said she came to Revolution in 2002 with a low opinion of Christians, whom she found judgmental. She told me she believed in God, not in church or religion. But she was drawn to Bakker because he was wrestling with his own problems and because he did not judge her. ”Under my own resources, I’m incredibly ineffective to do anything except self-destruct,” she said. ”He said salvation wasn’t anything I could find on my own. Jesus had atoned for me.” At Revolution, she said, the teaching never strayed far from this core idea of grace. ”We hear that a lot, it’s really repetitive, but I need to hear that every single week.”
I guess what caught my attention were the words We hear that a lot, it’s really repetitive, but I need to hear that every single week. How true! Oh we all want to hear something new - to leave Sunday morning with a new “truth” tucked away but we forget that there is only one Truth, and it is He we need to hear about.
Originally spotted at JollyBlogger
Miranda Instant Messenger is a multi-protocol messaging and chat client for the Windows operating system. What this means is that Miranda allows you to communicate over multiple networks at the same time through a single graphical interface. This keeps things standard and simple. Protocols that are supported include, but are not limited to: ICQ, MSN, Jabber, Google Talk, Tlen, IRC, Yahoo!, AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Netsend, VYChat and E-Mage. You just install the ones you want to use.
There are a number of interesting and useful plugins to extend the functionality of Miranda IM such as SMS, Email notification and weather conditions.
Why did I install Miranda at the office? We use Pegasus Mail as an inter-office email program for most things that need to be handled in the office - but sometimes you just need a quick answer - and email needs to be ignored while you are ‘working’ because you cannot stop what you are doing to see if the last email you received is urgent or another phone call to return when you are finished with the current client.
An Instant Messenger program solves this because if someone needs to a quick answer or an urgent answer - it can usually be handled quickly, and even without the client across your desk even knowing you are multi-tasking.
We also have multiple offices and Miranda allows us to communicate easily between the offices. Pegasus Mail does great for those questions that need to be researched but for a quick answer to a question Miranda saves picking up the phone and dialing long distance - just to find out the person has a client with them and will have to call you back.
In the office I have set up Miranda to use the VY Chat protocol - A serverless protocol that allows you to chat with other people on your LAN, and is compatible with Vypress Chat (but not required). Anyone in any of the offices can ‘chat’ with anyone else over our vpn (virtual private network). The ICQ and other plugins are not installed on the employee’s computers so we do not have to worry about unsolicited (or unauthorized) chat sessions.
At home (and on my office computer) the plugins for ICQ and AIM and Google Talk are installed - so I have the ability to ‘chat’ with others outside the office if needed.
Had to pass this along - Saw it at 40 Bicycles an thought it too funny:
I recently heard this story about N.T. Wright: A student asked Dr. Wright after one of his lectures to define the rapture as it fit into his eschatology. He replied: “The rapture is when you look out your window, see people rising up into the air and say to yourself, ‘I’ll be damned!‘”
Originally spotted at 40 Bicycles
Ok, Christmas was a month ago, but I am finally getting caught up on some reading (and blogging) and thought this was too cute to just let it hit the ole bit-bucket. I saw it over at the Learn Spanish blog.
12/27/2005 Update: NPR has Claudio Sanchez reading this
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the casa,
Not a creature was stirring… caramba, que pasa?
Los ninos were all tucked away in their camas,
Some in long underwear, some in pajamas.
While mama worked late in her little cocina,
El viejo was down at the corner cantina.
Living it up with amigos, carracho!
Muy contento y poco borracho!
We had hung up the stockings with mucho cuidado,
In hopes that old Santa would feel obligado.
To bring all the children, both buenos y malos,
A nice batch of dulces and other regalos.
Outside in the yard there arose such a grito,
That I jumped to my feet like a frightened cabrito!
I ran to the window and looked out afuera,
And who in the world do you think that it era?
St. Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombrero,
Came dashing along like a crazy bombero.
And pulling his sleigh. instead of venados,
Were eight little burros, approaching volados!
As I watched as they came and this quaint little hombre
Was shouting and whistling and calling by nombre.
“Ay pancho! Ay pepe! Ay cuca! Ay beto!
“Ay chato! Ay chopo!, maruca y nieto!”
Then, standing erect with his hand on his pecho,
He flew to the top of our very own techo.
With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea,
He struggled to squeeze down our old chiminea.
Then huffing and puffing, at last in our sala,
With soot smeared all over his red suit de gala.
He filled all the stockings with lovely regalos,
For none of the ninos had been very malos.
Then chuckling aloud, seeming very contento,
He turned like a flash and was gone like the viento.
And I heard him exclaim… and this is verdad,
Merry Christmas to all… y Feliz Navidad
Originally spotted at Learn Spanish
Date Started: January 30, 2005
I was asked to join the Sunnyside OCRC men’s discussion group of the book
The Lord’s Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship by Jeffrey J. Meyers, pastor of
Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church and published by
Canon Press.
The book has some good reviews on
Amazon.com and a summary of sorts can also be found in a booklet at the church’s website titled
The Lord�s Service: Worship at Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church
The blurb on the back summarizes the intent of the book:
Jeffrey Meyers begins laying out a case for a covenant renewal service by means of Old Testament sacrificial liturgies, biblical typology, and covenant theology. He then guides us through the stages of a covenant renewal liturgy, explaining from Scripture the meanings of each step of the service. The final section addresses miscellaneous issues in worship, such as the use of creeds, the �regulative principle,� and ministerial clothing.
This appears to be a book that will force me to do some thinking and my plan is to post my thoughts and questions as I read through the book.
In the introduction to the first section of the book, the author states his purpose will be to lay out the biblical and theological fundamentals that will be necessary to address the practical aspects of how we conduct Christian worship. Too often pastors see that what they are doing is not ‘working’ and seek answers everywhere except the Bible. Does God give us the ‘freedom’ to do whatever we want on Sunday morning in order to draw a crowd seek the lost? I do not see an ‘Order of Service’ anywhere in my Bible, so what order - if any - are we to follow…
PART I: The Divine Service of Covenant Renewal: A Biblical and Theological Orientation
Why Go to Church on Sunday? Some Popular Answers
pg 31. “As C.S. Lewis said, ‘The charge is feed my sheep not run experiments on my rats.”
Covenant and Worship
Covenant Renewal: Worship as Sacrifice
The Sacrificial Liturgy of Covenant Renewal
The Lord’s Service and Ours
The Trinity and Covenant Renewal Worship - Part 1 - The Nexus Between Worship and Confession
The Trinity and Covenant Renewal Worship - Part 2 - The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Liturgy
Corporate Rites and Rituals
PART II: The Lord’s Service Explained
Entrance and Call to Worship
Confession and Absolution
Consecration and Ascent
Communion and Benediction
PART III: Essays on Worship and Liturgical Theology
Whom Do We Trust: The Use of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds in Worship
pg 233. The real question is: what do they believe the Bible teaches? You see, the slogan “No creed but the Bible” is practically useless.
pg 234. a creed is man’s answer to Christ’s question - Phillip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom
pg 235. — if we are going to be faithful to the Bible itself, we must use “human” creeds. It is not just that creeds are permissible and biblical, but the Bible demands that we publicly express our faith in concise accurate, and intelligible language - which is precisely what creeds attempt to do.
pg 236. From Dabney’s comments on 2 Timothy 4:2 — Sermons = creeds
pg 242. When the elders interview a candidate for membership, what doctrines must the candidate confess? These are crucial questions today, because many churches require adherence to various idiosyncratic doctrines for membership.
Q. Does requiring infant baptism fit in this category?
pg 243. The classical position is that the door into local church membership ought to be no narrower (or wider) than the door into heaven. What , then, must a person believe in order to enter into heave? Answer: He must be able to confess honestly that he trusts “in God the Father Almighty, etc.”
The Place of the Minister in the Lord’s Service
On Hearing God’s Voice Extra Nos
pg 290. The real essence of biblical religion is perhaps the hardest thing for us modern spiritualistic Christians to learn again. We are accustomed to think of body and soul flesh and spirit, physical and spiritual as opposites that we no longer understand that the whole magnitude of God’s love lies in the astonishing fact that God’s son came to us *in the flesh * and that the Holy Spirit graciously binds Himself to the material means of grace.
pg 291. We must, therefore, as Reformed churches embrace the rich biblical means-of-grace theology of the Bible. One of the most harmful notions ever foisted upon Reformed Christianity is the idea that God ordinarily communicates His presence immediately to the soul of man, bypassing all outward, physical means.
pg 291. as Reformed Christians we do affirm that the Lord’s ordinary, normal means of delivering His gifts is indeed through His constituted means and not beside them or around them or without them. This is God’s normal *mudus operandi * . The Lord’s Spirit normally works through the human and physical instrumentalities that He has ordained. Otherwise promises that are attached to these means are misleading and even deceptive.
pg 292. To understand the Holy Spirit’s promise to use the Lord’s appointed means as instruments to deliver the gifts of the kingdom is the hallmark of Calvin’s Reformed sacramental ecclesiology.
pg 294. God ordinarily speaks to us from without, through the voice of another in the Christian community. God’;s service to us on the Lord’s Day is conveyed primarily by way of the Word as it is read, sung, and reached. The voice of God comes from outside of u (extra nos), and and external word (externum verbum)
The Regulative Principle of Worship
Using the Traditional Liturgies
A Parking Lot Parable: Is the Church Year Biblical
A Ministerial Robe and Collar
The Ascension Offering Examined
We All Partake of One Loaf: Restoring Our Children to the Lord’s Table
Bibliographical Essay
Finis Coronat Opus
As my wife and I have flipped through the channels we have run across Joel Osteen and wondered how this guy passes himself off as a minister of the Gospel. What is it that draws thousands (35?) to this man every week?
Well, I ran across the article by Michael Spencer, iMonk, Michael Spencer: Outing Joel Osteen: A Challenge to the Evangelical Blogosphere and see that my impressions were not wrong.
What scares me is the possibility that the news media will start to use him as the ’spokesman’ for evangelicals in the same way they use ‘Rev’ Jesse Jackson as the spokesman for the black community. We do not get to pick those who represent us in the media - hopefully those with clout - and maybe it will be the bloggers like iMonk hopes - to prevent this.
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