Lady of Longbourn

Theme Verses for Now

2009-11-16T00:28:00.001-07:00

"And we urge you, brethren,

to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake.

Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.

See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us.

Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss."

1 Thessalonians 5:12-26

Exchange Blogging

2009-11-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my living room at almost 2 AM, with one knee up like I've wanted it all day. The faucet in the kitchen sink is dripping, and I just triple-sneezed as is my wont. There are things happening tomorrow, but only for a few hours, and after that I can take a nap. That or I can have ice cream. My days usually exclude at least one of those.

I've decided what to wear tomorrow, an impossible task for this indecisive day. So when my alarm sounds, I'll have no excuses for not jumping into my morning. It will be a good morning, I know. Snow is coming, but I'm going to brave it for a party. And pray it doesn't interrupt my Sunday plans, either.

My brother is in the living room still up, too. He is reading my blog, and I am reading his. You would think that two people sitting in the same room could talk about whatever has been interesting enough to blog. And mostly we had, but it is fun to see how we each choose to craft our expressions on the page.

He's a good man, my brother, a sincere one. His blog might be worth looking at, especially if you are wondering what it is like to wear purple tennis shoes or shop at the grocery stores in the middle of the night. Go to Silence Spoken to read some of his tales and poems.

Then have a good day. Think independently. Live togetherly.
To God be all glory.

What Makes a Man a Man?

2009-11-14T01:10:00.001-07:00

Many years ago now I attended the first wedding of a cousin on my mom's side of the family, cousins we were always closer to growing up. I can't say I knew this cousin well, but something struck me during the ceremony: he was the same guy. No magical transformation was coming over him as he recited vows or joined himself to his wife. At the reception his smile was the same. The things that made him laugh hadn't changed.

I have a friend whose wedding I attended 4 and a half years ago. When I first met the groom, I didn't like him very much, but that was before he met his wife. God used her to balance him, to mellow him, I think. He didn't wait for the wedding to change. The impact was almost instant when he started bringing her around. Or it could all be my perception.

Today a couple I know had a baby, and I was looking at pictures of the daddy holding his firstborn, a little girl. Again, I don't know this man all that well, but it seemed in the pictures that his life was permanently changed today. The man smiling down at the bundle of dependence in his lap may have always been there, buried in words and decisions. But now he is there, on the surface, sincere. He can be nothing but himself with her, and will spend the rest of his days striving to ensure that "himself" is sufficient to be her father.

To God be all glory.

Friends and Growing Up

2009-11-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

The scale has tipped. I have suspected for some time, and can now confirm that I have more friends on Facebook who are married than who are single (but legal adults). That does not even count those who are in serious relationships or who are engaged.

And... let me take a deep breath... in this year I have about 18 friends who have had or will soon have babies. 6 months on either side of today, and 18 new little lives! I love babies. My main dilema is only in getting to be around these cuddly kids, as many of them live out of state or about an hour away.

Growing up is strange. I stay young with young friends, playing games, and not cleaning my room as I should. But one can't help others from growing up, and from feeling that one day soon grown-upness may even creep upon me!

To God be all glory.

Church Search

2009-11-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

I’m in between churches right now – between congregations. All summer and fall I’ve been casually attending the meetings of various friends. I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels to not be obligated to make an appearance at any one building on a Sunday morning. I might tell a friend I’m coming, or I might decide Saturday night. Some Sundays I sleep in. Sunday morning heathenism is rather refreshing.

Except it isn’t heathenism. A lot of what happens in those buildings on Sunday mornings is of heathen origin. But heathenism is a lot more than skipping a sermon and praise concert. It is a lifestyle of rejecting God, and that I certainly have not done.

I believe the Bible teaches Christians to gather regularly with each other. That isn’t something I have abandoned either. My recent experience is filled with times of fellowship and encouragement with other believers. We do ministry together, hold each other accountable for our walks with God, philosophically tackle the dilemmas we’re facing, study the Bible, and pray. During these times we also tend to eat, to play games, to laugh and tease, sometimes to work. Kids running around get swept up by disciples of Jesus, who – like Him – love children.

About a month ago some friends invited me to their church. I went that weekend. This week they asked me what I thought, and didn’t I like it (since I hadn’t been back). And I froze, because, well, I did like it. The people were friendly and the teachings were biblical and stimulating. But I don’t think I’ll join. This Sunday I did go back there, though. And my friends’ thirteen-year-old son confronted me, “I thought you said our church was just ‘ok’.”

Hard to explain. This particular church is on the good end of mainstream churches. They have good doctrine. A lot of their money goes to missions. Kids are with parents in church for most of the time, and youth aren’t separated from their families. The music isn’t too loud or too self-centered. With a congregation of about 50, the pastor and teachers can know everyone.

After pondering for a day or so, here is my answer to the thirteen-year-old friend: (it’s alliterative so I can remember!)
1) Plurality. There is only one pastor at the church. He’s the head man. I believe Jesus is the head of the Church, and that leadership beneath Him must be shared among more than one equal. Whenever real life cases are discussed in the New Testament, the word is used in the plural. (Elders) In this way they can model cooperation and problem solving. Congregations and pastors are kept mindful that Christ is the true head, and that the Church is His project. Also, when one is weak, there is another to be strong, the proverbial man to pick you up when you fall. Two are better than one and a cord of three strands is not easily broken. Pastoring is a lonely job, being at the top instead of a part of your congregation as friends and brothers. My Bible describes a different sort of dynamic, where pastors are respected for being respectable and where everyone is exercising his gifts for the good of all: pastors, prophets, discerners, helpers, administrators, on and on.
2) Property. This was quite confusing to my friend, who expects people to scorn his church for meeting in the club house of a condominium complex. Whether you own a building, rent it, or have borrowed money from a bank to claim that you own it, all represent instances where the Church of God has used resources God entrusted to them not to do what He has instructed: caring for the poor, widows, orphans, and missionaries – but to have a separate place to meet. I believe churches are meant to be gathered in homes. Limited in size, surrounded by hospitality and everyday life, the atmosphere of house church encourages the participation of everyone, the familial fellowship of believers, and the synthesis of sacred and secular.
3) Preaching. The New Testament describes and even commends preaching. Except almost always the lecture style sermon was delivered to an unsaved audience. It is a tool of evangelism. And evangelism is not the purpose of the regular gathering of believers. In fact, the church meetings described in 1 Corinthians are much more open and unstructured than what we usually think of as church. No one was scheduled to speak. Anyone (any man?) was allowed to bring a word, be it a prophecy, a teaching, a tongue – as long as he spoke it for the edification of the group. He may share a testimony of God’s work or an instruction or challenge the Spirit laid on his heart to give to his friends. A teaching might be towards an identified deficiency of understanding or may flow out of the studies individuals are making during the week on their own. Prophecy may correct the direction the congregation is going, may identify weaknesses and strengths among them, may warn them, or may give them hope and vision for the future. Some verses indicate that individuals may also bring songs of their choosing to the meetings of believers, with which to encourage each other.

Now that I’ve said those things, I do believe that there is a place for the lecture-style teaching we call sermons. I really enjoy Bible conferences, and am not opposed to worship concerts where the band has practiced and is intending to honor God. When I visit my friends’ churches, I usually view those services as conferences, and I look for the Spirit-driven gatherings elsewhere. At this stage of my life I’m not content with the small groups and Bible studies that have been getting me by. So I’m still looking, reading books and searching websites from people who are practicing what the Bible teaches about Church. I’m excited to see where that leads.

Some questions remain, stronger tensions between the familiar and the ideal: how is authority supposed to work in the church? Is it important? Is it a matter of exercising authority or of submitting to authority? How much should we submit? What shall Christians do for evangelism? Wouldn’t it be better to team up? But is it wrong to invite people in to hear the gospel, or should we go out to them? Are women to speak in the church meetings? If not, why on earth did Paul say so? - Just to prove I don’t think I know everything!

To God be all glory.

Orion's Circuit

2009-11-05T00:18:00.001-07:00

Orion is out tonight, aiming his bow at the rising moon. We reunite each fall and winter, Orion and I. He is my companion in the stars, keeping the same hours as I. It’s chilly out tonight. Clear in that cool dry way that Colorado is known for.

I’ve been through a lot since last Orion and I were out together. My life is definitely patterned in seasons. Some years have had their own theme, but usually the lessons are shorter and more diverse. This year was a scattered year, learning things that built in each other but not in obvious ways. A soldier will learn to march and learn to shoot, and both are related in that they come in handy during battles, but they don’t really build on each other.

Last year when I was almost twenty-four I almost went crazy. I couldn’t believe the life I had; my life seemed inevitable, not chosen. And I didn’t know how to be a twenty-four year old in my situation. Never had my dreams imagined me here. Yet I came to the conclusion that I ought to be myself, trusting God, and not worry about what twenty-four year olds are supposed to be. So I have told myself many times these months.

I don’t miss the soul-searching that comes with autumn. It comes around each year, and I don’t regret it. Nor do I look forward to the restless questioning. My soul never seems satisfied in the fall, the season of Thanksgiving. This November opens with a focus on open-handed gratitude. That’s what I call it. Each day’s blessings are cause to rejoice, never a reason to demand more.

I don’t require more blessings, but I have learned to ask. Such was my summer theme: Hope. Do I have confidence in my Heavenly Father’s goodness, enough to discuss with Him what I want and rejoice that in Him all answers, yes and no, are yea? Will I dare holding out my heart to wait on Him? And when I did this year, oh! how the peace came in. Before, I was silly not to ask for His good gifts.

Spring was hard, an exercise in love. Love hopes all things. It holds on and does not abandon. But it speaks the truth and rejoices in it rather than in evil. Love means sacrifice in the sense of a drop everything to help attitude. It is consuming, on your mind all the time. God never promised love would be painless. Though love has to do with community, it often feels lonely.

This year has brought thoughts about truth and calling and compromise. Faith and that not-tame God have kept popping up. I asked myself what I was willing to suffer for Christ, and for the first time truly doubted that I would rejoice to risk life and happiness and all I’ve worked for. Rejection has been on my mind lately. I’m more honest about reality than I used to be: eyes open to the vanity and hopelessness apart from the work of God to grace us.

And now that I’m facing twenty-five in the next several weeks, I must praise my God that I have a life that I run after. The friends I have are ones I choose. My weeks are spent doing things I believe are important, not just floating through an existence. Though twenty-five seems to have come upon me without my consent, the rest of my life is intentional. That is due only to the grace of God. He has helped me through some hard decisions. Some of my waiting and patience has ended, and other parts remain.

By many standards this year has little to show for it. I still have not written a book or started a successful business. No prince charming has swept me off my feet. Like Orion, I’m back and rising over the same horizon. But those who know astronomy realize that relative to the rest of the firmament, Orion’s position has changed. He will move among the stars and planets like he has not done in my lifetime. And a new year is here: the Hunter is chasing life down.

To God be all glory.

How to Make a Big Banner

2009-10-31T18:57:00.000-06:00

Banners and Signs can be expensive to print. Obviously if you’re interested in a permanent sign, you may want to invest in one of these. Also if your sign needs to have graphics or reflect on the image of a business or organization, the cost can be worth it. But if your message is more important than your image, and your money can be better spent on your mission than on your signs, consider using this technique.

Go to a Wal-mart with a Fabric Center. Other fabric stores will do, but will cost a little more. They have a section where you can buy tablecloth by the roll. Choose a light colored vinyl with felt on the back. This can be bought for about $3 a yard. Good size signs are 2 to 3 yards.

Next go to the Home Improvement Department, and buy painter’s tape. The blue works pretty well on a white background. You can also use black. (Or if you happen to have a black vinyl back, use the off-white painter’s tape.) Do not use anything but painter’s tape.

Plan out your sign, checking your spelling. Use box letters 6-12 inches tall. Try to keep the wording simple. I’ve seen where some people have smaller words and larger phone number or website. Or do it the other way around.

Don’t stress too much about layout, though, because you’re using painter’s tape, which is removable. If you mess up, peel it off and fix your mistake. Test letter size. Stand back and see if your sign is readable at a distance.

When using your sign, hold it up by hand, one person at each end. Or sew the ends into a loop and insert PVC pipes. The felt back makes the banner a little heavier to resist wind and hang properly.

Roll or fold to store if you want to reuse your sign. Or peel off the painter’s tape and store the fabric to use again for a different message.

If you do a good job, from a distance no one knows your sign was made with tape, and when they’re closer they’ve already gotten your point. Use for protests or church organizations. Advertise a garage sale or party. Make a welcome home sign for a special occasion.

To God be all glory.

Pigfest Summaries October 2009

2009-10-26T23:09:00.005-06:00

Below find the resolutions (wording not exact) made at my latest Pigfest and my semi-summaries of the debates.

The IRS Code giving tax deductions for mortgages should be abolished to aid the market. – This resolution was given as a means of getting government out of the “capitalist” market. What is capitalism? Hasn’t the government always interfered? With what are we comparing government interference if their involvement was a part of America’s historic success. Why do we say that is not good? The tax credit inflates property prices through the incentive increasing demand. It also encourages the economy of debt. Eliminating this credit would reduce paperwork. What should be the role of government? What is the government doing with the taxes it collects, and wouldn’t it be wasteful to give it more? Isn’t reducing taxes for any reason a step in the right direction? Or is this an attempt to pay more to Caesar of that which is his? Why stop with this credit – why not abolish all credits or all taxes? Where would you stop?

Ronald Reagan was the best president in US history. – Were his fiscal policies good or bad? Under his administration, taxes were reduced. But the debt increased. Whose fault is the spending and taxing? The US budget is the responsibility of the House of Representatives. But Reagan had veto power if he thought the debt was unacceptable. Was he good or bad on defense? The United States, it was claimed, won the Cold War without firing a shot because of his leadership. However, with hindsight we know that Russia and former soviet countries still exist, their ideology unreplaced. What is most important in determining best? Were there better presidents? Knowing what makes a president good is useful thought for future voting. Perhaps we tend to falsely ascribe outcomes that were the result of something other than his administration. Should our vote be based on performance examples or biblical ideals? The Bible is not specific on principles for choosing presidents. One “best” example is not as good as determining the best policies in each category of presidential accomplishments. Best is relative to one’s priorities.

The call of Christians is not to redeem the world’s culture, but to provide a comprehensive alternative. – What is the place, then, of the Great Commission? Can/should Christians still participate in secular culture (politics, for example)? What is culture? Does the culture need redeemed? Some parts of culture are amoral. World’s culture was defined as secular/ungodly culture, not global or national cultures. How are Christians different from unsaved? Does the resolution present a false dichotomy? Can’t we both redeem the culture and provide an alternative?

Missionaries and Christian workers who demand support are beggars. – Paul the apostle didn’t beg. He worked to support himself. Churches funded him voluntarily. Giving salaries to missionaries is different from sending a gift by them to help the poor. Is the issue really accountability in those to whom we give? What is the money for? Is this about the size house they live in? Is it about the size house we live in? Is it wrong for missionaries to live in a style better than the people they’re trying to reach? Competition between mission agencies sometimes centers around the lifestyle provided. Maybe missionaries should just publish needs: plane ticket, housing… Or for at least their first short-term trip, they should pay their own way, proving their work before asking others to pay for it. All Christians are called to ministry; why should some get paid? Do we act like writing a check excuses our lack of ministry? Does this resolution apply to pastors? Should we stop tithing?

Providers and Consumers of entertainment should do so only with God-glorifying ulterior motives and for a limited term. – Can’t entertainment – and whatever we do – be done to the glory of God? Some said there is a significant distinction to be made between work and entertainment or luxury industries. Others said there is no difference, that all work in the United States is superfluous, just to feed your family. Most things can be done to glorify God, but when we entertain ourselves, we don’t think about it; we just ‘relax.’ Chilling is ok; you can glorify God in ‘me time.’ But are you? More important works are being neglected because so many are employed in entertainment. Shouldn’t we apply our effort and genius to feeding the poor in Africa, for example?

God is hindered from bringing revival to America by lack of prayer and by unbelief in the Church. – Can God be hindered? Is He choosing to be hindered? Would He get more glory if he sent revival when His people prayed for it? Is revival in the church, or among the unsaved, or of the country’s economics and morality? Revival in individuals in the church and as a movement reaching the unsaved affects the whole country. Why do we think God should send revival to our country? Is the issue prayer and belief, or repentance? Don’t we the Church need God to put a desire for repentance and revival into us in the first place? Maybe a lot of things don’t happen because we don’t believe when we pray. What about when we do believe, but our prayers aren’t granted? How does God get glory from that? How do we know revival isn’t happening in America? Would we know if there was revival in the sub-cultures of immigrant populations?

Intelligent Design is a step in the right direction. – The movement is a step in the right direction for the church and for science. Science is a word normally misapplied to philosophies of origins. Is I.D. science? Science was defined by some as necessarily repeatable and observable, but not as the equivalent of facts or truth. Science must accord with facts and truth, however. Evolutionists claim to have observed amino acids forming in a laboratory given hypothetical early earth conditions and electric shocks, leaving us with two conclusions: the amino acids still were not life; and intelligence created the soup, directed the energy, and interpreted the experiment. Should we push for I.D. to be allowed in science class as an alternative to the other falsely-called ‘science’ of origins? Or could we go back to teaching religion and morality in school and put I.D. or creationism there? Intelligent Design in the resolution is used as a summary for both “open-mind” exegetical conclusions from facts and “already decided” eisegetical Creationists looking for evidence in facts. Philosophy has touched so many fields of study today that its application to each subject might best be presented along with the subject: in English class, in biology class, etc.

I learned yet more about hosting pigfests. Again I need to be both more assertive as a moderator and less talkative as a debater when I don't have anything to add. I need to stay focused on helping the discussion to remain on topic and go in an edifying direction. One of the guests suggested that when explaining the rules - or even in the invitations - give an example of how a resolution is stated. The resolution needs to be unchanged during the entire segment - no amendments. Without this rule everything gets confusing and unwieldy. Also, people need to be encouraged to allow for universal participation, even if it means deferring to others when you have something to say.

One of the things I love about Pigfests is not only that we learn about the topics of the debate, but we learn about relating to each other. Some of my friends brought their kids, and I love that, because more people need to know that kids aren't in the way. We the pre-parents need to see examples of parenting in action. And a lot of us need our baby fixes. = )

To God be all glory.

Filthiness, Foolish Talk, Coarse Jesting

2009-10-21T01:56:00.000-06:00

Is it wrong to use bad language? Ok, so Paul talks about it in Ephesians 5. What does he mean? Is there a list? Were there taboo words in Greek, and didn't biblical authors use some of them?

How do we define profanity and cussing? Is it based on the meaning of the word? Are there some things polite people just don't talk about? Do word origins or associations make a word profane? What about the words that, when used properly, are not profanity (often religious words like God, hell, damn)? Is a word appropriate if we don't mean it in a profane way? What about the opposite? If we are really angry, and feel the situation warrants, can't we be like everyone else and use those words to express ourselves?

- Profanity is lazy. Find a word that means what you want to say. Usually people don't literally mean the crude words they use. Even if they do...

Some people say that Christians can use profanity as a matter of liberty, but probably shouldn't cuss around non-Christians or weaker Christians or those who would be offended by such language. Which situations would make cussing acceptable? Is there nothing better to say?

Other Christians think that we the pious should use common language, including all its coarseness, to relate to non-believers. To prove that we are not hypocrites, we should even use the language in church.

What about non-believers who are turned off by the better-than-thou purity of Christian's speech? Shouldn't we become all things to all men so that we might win some? Think of how the world will respect us for having the courage to be real.

How do the non-believers know what is bad language and what isn't? Should we be encouraging them to do something they think is wrong? Is it conforming to the world to accept the world's list of filthy language? Or is it conforming to the world to use language enunciated by the basest criminals?

Do bad words change over time? Can a word become bad because it is adopted by bad crowds, or misapplied? Can a bad word become good through frequent usage and acceptance? Is the culture becoming crass or the crude word being redeemed?

Does Paul's admonition in Ephesians extend beyond a certain vocabulary? Does he constrain our topics, our attitude toward certain topics? Does he demand an alternative?

Are there other instructions that apply to our speech? For example, the word 'modest' in the Greek is not limited to what people wear. Shouldn't we guard our speech to ensure its modesty? Excluded styles then would be those called vulgar and obscene. A little later in Ephesians, Paul says that some sins ought to not even be mentioned among Christians. Is there any way we practice this in Christian circles?

Shouldn't we be the same in every circumstance, around all people? Can't we be ourselves? Should Christians be ashamed to let non-believers know how they really are? But doesn't that mindset contradict the call to holiness and purity, love and edification?

It does. The Bible teaches to refrain from filthy speech for a reason. It's application is wide, aimed at motive, thought, and utterance. Our mouths were made by God for better things, and His Spirit in us would use our lips to preach the good and lovely truth. (Philippians 4:8?)

Compromise is unacceptable. This is one of the last bastions of Christian separateness, of a light that distinguishes us from the darkness. The light offends the darkness, but also shows the way to life.

Guarding our speech isn't easy. It starts with right ideas, thoughts and intentions that agree with God's perspective. Then out of love we communicate to each other - not making light of sacred and serious things, nor laughing at sin - but encouraging our fellows to love and good works. We pursue excellence in all things, even in taming our tongues (from gossip, slander, lies, coarse jesting, foolish talk, mention of unspeakable sins, and from foul language).

I have left some unanswered questions. Can words move between acceptable and unacceptable? Who decides? Does context matter?

But I believe that a reliance on the authority of the Bible (knowing that if something was written, it has meaning and importance still today) will guard us from straying. The beggarly excuse for Christian community that the world offers, built around crass talk and coarse jesting, as I mentioned in my previous post, must be rejected! Trust that our relations with non-Christians are overseen by a sovereign God who alone saves sinners will give us freedom to walk in wisdom and holiness towards them.

To God be all glory.

Profanity, Cussing, and Christians

2009-10-21T01:18:00.000-06:00

A while back I was at a Bible study where, if I were to summarize the point, we studied the justification for cussing. It was one of the most frustrating Bible studies I have ever attended. How can one take the clear statement of Paul in Ephesians 5 and make it mean nothing - or the very opposite? Positions in the group ranged from situational ethicists to ultra-conservative to Christian libertarianism to utter liberality (without much Christian consideration).

Hardest to refute, for me, at the time was the question of definition. Who defines which words are profane, and which jokes are coarse? And if the majority culture decides, what does that do to Christian absolutism - let alone the call not to be like the world? I believe that the cultural inacceptability of certain words and topics is a remnant of a spiritual life in this civilization, not part of the 'rudiments of the world' to which Christians should not be conformed. It is obvious, at least, that profanity is usually associated with non-Christian cultures.

The Pyromaniacs give a refutation of this point at their blog, using the thrust and context of Paul's words in Ephesians 5. Phil Johnson says that cussing is the emblem of the godless brotherhood. In lieu of real Christian community, their weak substitute for love is this commonality built on treating sacred things lightly and good things badly and modest things crassly. Of such things they talk. For such talk they laugh. Paul was discouraging us from settling. I prefer the edification of a loving assembly that urges me to align my perspective with God's. Not that we cannot make jokes! We were made to laugh! But laughter is crude that pokes fun at that which God has called serious. Lightness in conversation leads to lightness in living.

I've said enough for one post. Read Team Pyro's blog on cussing. I tell you, it's good. And read my next post. Comment, too. I am interested in discussion. Rules here are that comments may not contain any foul language.

To God be all glory.

Alibis

2009-10-20T23:52:00.000-06:00

Note to world: Alibis are only effective if they correspond to the time of accusation. To say, “The accused was playing darts with me at my house!” as a defense, when the crime for which he was being tried happened two days prior is irrelevant. How infuriating, to attempt to refute the testimony of one man, who witnessed a crime, by stating that in the whole of your experience, you never witnessed the defendant commit a trespass! Again, though a person may have done great things, none can erase the guilt of even a single act of wickedness. No judge would allow evidence of good behavior in a case determining guilt. Reasonable doubt is applied to the trial at hand, and not to the character of the criminal.

To God be all glory.

Dearth

2009-10-20T23:46:00.000-06:00

There is a word. It is a good word, with strong, Old English origins. The word means ‘scarcity’, and is spelled D-E-A-R-T-H. Being a person whose reading far exceeds her experience of audible vocabulary, I chose the pronunciation of this word. Despite associations with the Dark Side in Star Wars, I opted for the sound that rhymes with hearth. Then one day some friends heard me say dearth and decided I needed to learn that the pronunciation actually rhymes with earth.

And I still don’t like it. Earth is such a full, substantial word, like a foundational grunt. A word meaning ‘famine’ ought to have a hollow, agonizing emptiness, where echoes live. Dearth should have a sound reminiscent of starving, and less like ‘birth’.

To God be all glory.

JRR Tolkien: Myth, Morality & Religion by Richard Purtill

2009-10-15T00:07:00.003-06:00

Very few people, I guess, run around this world confessing that they are just trying to hold on to their stuff as many years as possible. This motive is twofold, the first referring to possession, and the second to duration. Both are matters of personal control and not of humble gratitude. These are the topics of JRR Tolkien’s works. Archenemies Melkor and Sauron are driven by these corrupt desires. Smaller characters may seek smaller dominions, even to the petty Sackville-Bagginses and the miller near Hobbiton and Bywater. Elves and men war with the double temptation to gain and to keep – place, power, people, and property. Each race presents his different side to the question, Elves must endure but cannot truly own any part of the fading world. The changeless cannot keep the things they love from changing. But Men think the answer is in gaining immortality. If you listen for wisdom in The Lord of the Rings, hear it in the voice of Faramir. To the topic of immortality he relates the history of his people: "Death was ever present, because the Numenoreans still, as they had in their old kingdom, and so lost it, hungered after endless life unchanging.”

As an antithesis to the vices above Tolkien hints at a simple life of love and sacrifice, daily gratitude for the blessings that point to a giver. Such open-handed bliss is the eternal joy of his worldview. It is the fate of every overcomer, to borrow the words of Revelation.

Exploring these points and more is Richard Purtill’s JRR Tolkien: Myth, Morality, & Religion. The book was interesting, but also a bit disappointing. As a fan of Tolkien, I desired more attention to his words and motives and less a case for the definitions and distinctions of science fiction and fantasy held by the author.

To God be all glory.

Denver Broncos Football and Fandom

2009-10-14T23:43:00.000-06:00

One of my best friends tells me that my one quirk, the part of my personality inconsistent with all the rest, is that I like football. I don’t personally see this as a contradiction; maybe there are other things about me she doesn’t know. My brother does not like football. Or at least, though he may enjoy it, he sees it as an attack on the priorities of our nation, and more particularly, his family. Sure, football is a great team game of hard work and strategy. But people are obsessed, and paying millions of dollars to men who do nothing but feed our entertainment lust is unproductive. “Hello! What about Hollywood?” My brother feels almost the same about movies. Except that movies can communicate important messages, an aspect of entertainment rather lacking when it comes to sports.

All the same, I see football as a sort of strategy class and people-watching session. Living in Colorado, I became a fan of the Broncos when they were doing well enough to win back-to-back Superbowls. And for several years afterwards, I stuck with them, engaging in the family ritual of changing into team colors after church and sitting down with pizza and a pop in front of the television to watch the came and coach from the couch. I adopted the title of Morale Coach, wanting to encourage our players to play hard and to be good sports, not to fight or taunt or through tantrums. Years of disappointing seasons and gloomy Sunday afternoons took their toll, so that I wasn’t sad when I committed to do a Bible study on Sundays during football.

Fair weather fan? I can justify that. Last year was the worst, the Broncos harboring a team full of players who didn’t seem to want to win. And if the players aren’t trying and don’t want to win, I’m not going to sacrifice my happiness cheering for them. Much as I admire Coach Shanahan, I have to admit coaching ought to impact the attitude of the team – a team that had its share of personal trouble, losing a teammate in a dramatic drive-by shooting and generally being involved with a party crowd up to no good. Still, one has to follow Mike Shanahan’s example of accepting the need for a new coach driving the Broncos.

This season is a whole new ballgame. A young coach named McDaniels came in and, holding his head high through some early controversy, established his game. There’s a lot of new talent – or new to Denver – on this year’s lineup. Our running backs aren’t signature Mike Shanahan anymore. But our defense can play, our punter is good, and our offensive line is holding long enough for a no-name quarterback, Orton, to come through with his plays and make all of us rethink his place among the league’s quarterbacks. Play has been clean, with few sloppy turnovers.

I’m not saying the Broncos don’t have their weaknesses. What I’m pointing at is energy. The defense sees the ball coming towards them, and everyone around takes a lunge at it. There’s no casual, “he’s not my man to cover” attitude, or wimpy shoves representing themselves as tackles. On offense, when there’s no hope left of making the first down or of scoring that big run, the running back, Moreno, pushes for a few more opponent-dragging feet. Introducing a creative new formation, called the Wild Horses, the offense has been willing to take risks, and capitalize on unexpected opportunities (read: deflected passes caught and run for big plays).

The Broncos are 5-0, and it’s all about enthusiasm. After the overtime win this Sunday, the coach took a leap into a celebration hug with one of his guys, a player I don’t recognize, a nobody – of whom the coach is proud, with whom the coach has rapport. Everyone was slamming their fists into the air, jumping and yelling. The last time the Broncos won their first 5 games, they won the Superbowl, and I became a fan. This year, a fan is reborn.

To God be all glory.

Slow Going?

2009-10-14T23:19:00.001-06:00

“Hello down there! Slow going?” – Inigo Montoya, Princess Bride

Slow going down here in the blog world. I have two book reviews to post, and a blog written up about laughter, even one about football.

“This is not as easy as it looks.” – Man in Black, Princess Bride

My blog is published on two different host sites: Blogger and Wordpress – neither of which have been cooperative recently. Blame might be shared by my own laptop and internet provider, as well. And when I have been on my computer, late into the nights and early mornings, my work has been directed towards by business, the one linked on the sidebar here but rarely mentioned. It has a new name, new look, and even some new products coming just as soon as I can get the pictures taken.

“I don’t suppose you could speed things up?” – Inigo Montoya, Princess Bride

Three years ago I started this business, hoping to learn a lot about business and accounting without going to school, needing something to do with the extra money I had lying around, and of course wishing to earn enough income to stay home full time. Self-discipline is something I can do, but only with encouragement. And sometimes, when things are just too hard, I actually need help.

“Throw me the rope.” – Man in Black, Princess Bride

Some of my good friends have been encouraging me lately. They also have their own business. We had a long talk about believing in our products, about wanting to make sure that we’re not selling junk, but to be willing to settle for marketing goods and services that won’t revolutionize the world. My brother asked me why I think people should have what I’m selling. Questions like that make me think, and usually when I think, I get answers, which turn into the blurb about each item that appears on my website.

Assistance has come in concrete ways, too. Several of my friends have advertised for me and referred acquaintances to my business. The friends above are going to print my government-regulation-required care and contents tags. And my brother even offered to help with some HTML for my webpage.

“I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?" – Inigo Montoya, Princess Bride

One of the other goals for my business is to build relationships with customers (thereby changing the world – I just can’t escape that motive!). Sometimes all it takes is opening the conversation, however unexpected or odd.

“I’m not left-handed either.” – Man in Black, Princess Bride

Running a business is a risk. Putting my creativity out in the world for judgment is scary. I could lose money. I could waste time. But there is power in the unexpected. That’s what I’m trying to offer on my website. For sale is an eclectic supply of handmade and home-designed accessories that are unlike anything the rest of the marketplace has to offer. Some taglines I’m using or toying with are: “Mi~Re~Do: Reviving Declining Melodies” and “Buy Mi~Re~Do. Tilt your perspective.” By thinking through the practical and aesthetic worth of my products, I’m trying to change the way my customers think about – and live – ordinary life.

“Get used to disappointment.” – Man in Black, Princess Bride

Still, it’s been three years, and though I’ve sold several items on Ebay, and ventured into Etsy, I have almost zero client base. I have designed several business cards, and been too timid to hand them out. Marketing is nonexistent. And my room is overrun with unsold inventory.

“I’d just as soon destroy a stained-glass window as an artist like yourself…” – Man in Black, Princess Bride

Artists and dreamers cannot be kept down. We will keep creating, used to our disappointments but pushing forward anyway. Companies will succeed because they persevere where others failed, and offer goods that others don’t. When Buttercup cried, “We’ll never survive!” on the margins of the fireswamp, Westley the eminent business coach countered, “Nonsense! You only say that because no one ever has.”

To God be all glory.

There is Good in Him

2009-09-25T21:32:00.001-06:00

The politics of Star Wars are interesting. The philosophy, though?

I was watching Revenge of the Sith the other night, a tense and moving film filled with individuals in conflict. Obviously Anakin is torn between what he wants and what he fears. Padme loves Anakin but can’t believe who he’s become. Obi Wan has to fight evil, though it is manifest in his pupil and friend. The Jedi want to follow the Jedi-way, but evil is too powerful to be left alive that long.

The prophecy, about the “chosen one”, is the one common theme in all of the movies. Anakin is to restore balance to the force. Balance is just the half-full way of describing this tension. As Padme lies dying, she tells Obi Wan that there is good in Anakin. Luke repeats this in Return of the Jedi, and ultimately, appealing to this shaft of goodness is what saves the galaxy.

While I watched a few nights ago, Anakin Skywalker’s seduction by the Dark Side, I laid a finger on something that has always bothered me, a fundamental difference in philosophy between George Lucas and I. For Anakin, there is no going back. He never repents for what he has done, even at the end of Episode VI. In Episode III, after disarming Master Wendu, leading to his death, Anakin’s whole being looks like he wishes he could repent. “What have I done?” he cries out. As though unable to control who he is or what circumstances limit him, the young Jedi hates who he is becoming yet boasts in it. The wickedness in him is just as important, just as valid, as the good. In the end of the story it is not a turning from his identity that causes the change, but the resurgence of a different part of his character.

That is a hopeless, gnawing life. The truth is, Anakin wasn’t good. Neither was Darth Vader. Goodness could only really come by acknowledging the wrong, and turning from it to something truly good outside himself. Without that, there is no forgiveness, no redemption. Without that, good versus evil is ultimately irrelevant. Which matches the philosophy of the Jedi, who claim that “only the Sith [bad guys] deal in absolutes.”

To God be all glory.

Kingdom Distinction

2009-09-25T21:26:00.001-06:00

It seems utterly incompatible, about as ridiculous as preparing for a crisis by studying gardening and botany. If persecution is coming to those who live godly in Christ Jesus – if a distinction is going to appear between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world in a way that requires we take sides - then what is the place of living in community: of being the church, the alternative culture shining brilliant hints of the patriarchs’ “better city”?

Yet this paradox lives, and has lived throughout the history of the church. It is when the people of God do life together that they are perceived as a threat to be persecuted. And it is under the threat of intense suffering that the people congregate, realizing that they need each other more than for a religious ceremony once a week – and that if time is short, the priority of life is all the more to live faithfully and investing in the eternal things: people.

To God be all glory.

Blink of an Eye by Ted Dekker

2009-09-22T18:25:00.001-06:00

Passive. Active. Force. Manipulation. Choice. Fate. Death. Freedom.

Does God mean for something to be? Is the only way to tell God’s will through hindsight? “Whatever will be, will be”?

For perfect free will, one must be not only all-powerful, but completely omniscient: to know all possible actions and outcomes and to be able to cause any one of those.

Humans tend towards arrogance, assuming that their knowledge comprises available knowledge of the world, and that if we seem to ourselves to be in control, we must truly be.

Though “love changes everything,” knowledge certainly helps.

Faith is not dependent on what we can comprehend with our own minds, but on the love of God.

If prayer influences God, does that make prayer powerful?

Can those who “love their neighbor” kill them? How much animosity, and how much humility, is required of Christians dealing with Muslims?

Read Blink of an Eye by Ted Dekker, the story of Seth the surfer-genius who receives a form of clairvoyance that enables him to see possible futures, when he meets a fugitive Saudi princess named Miriam. What do they learn about the world, each other, themselves, and God? If there’s a way to happily ever after, they will find it.

To God be all glory.

Frozen in Time by Michael Oard

2009-09-22T17:56:00.002-06:00

Like many children, my fascination with mammoths began long before I could understand the science. Maybe I caught the tone of mystery when anyone wrote or talked about these huge wooly beasts of the past. As I have grown up, I have gradually gained more knowledge of the mysteries surrounding mammoths and their ice age. Like the dinosaur question, how did they all die? Why were they living in Siberia and Alaska in the first place? These ivory-tusked creatures of legend have on occasion been found mummified, almost whole, standing upright in the permafrost. How did that happen, and what does it tell us about the climate of the past?

For a creationist, curiosities related to extinction and weather always bring to mind the Flood. How much did the world change when God judged mankind by sending a global catastrophe? Are we still affected today by the aftershocks of the Flood? So for a person like me, a book giving a scientific creationist perspective on the Ice Age and the Mammoth mystery is gold. Michael Oard, a meteorologist, has written such a book.

Frozen in Time is well-constituted, moving through a thorough introduction of the subject and mysteries to a presentation of the Creationist Flood model and its Ice Age mechanism followed by a summary of secular theories and their difficulties, finishing with an exploration of the evidence for and against the proposed explanations for the Ice Age and the demise of the seemingly out of place mammoths. Michael Oard is willing to criticize both secular and creationist scientist for jumping to conclusions about the extinction of mammoths, pointing out that a deep snap freeze is not necessary to preserve a few mammoths in standing position with relatively unspoiled food in their stomachs. His book provides an alternative and points out that most mammoths appear to have died and been buried in more normal ways.

Aside from including very interesting tidbits about mammoth finds, other large mammals associated with the Ice Age, elephant taxonomy, and weather patterns, Frozen in Time is an important book because it is yet another evidence that the sciences built on uniformitarianism (demanding an old earth and repeating processes in nature) cut the floor from under themselves. By excluding short timelines and catastrophic possibilities because of their bias, secular scientists have no chance of following the evidence where it leads. Like trying to figure out which paints to mix to create green when the existence of blue is denied, the scientists are figuratively mixing any color except for blue, and are frustrated that they have not been able to explain green. This is bad science.

Creation science, on the other hand, not only solves puzzling natural phenomenon (and no, we do not solve everything by saying “God did it.”), but provides us with useful sciences and models. In this book are included speculations about cavemen, about classification, the adaptability of animals to different climates, geology, geography, global warming or cooling, and migration of man and beasts.

To God be all glory.

PS:
Here’s what I don’t understand. Why, when the evidence works for biblical creation and worldwide flood – but not for uniformitarian, old-earth evolution – would you compromise your Christian belief in the literal history of the Bible to subscribe to the secular theory?

When a Creationist does something predictive, like entering conditions they believe were existent immediately following the Deluge into weather pattern models, their presuppositions yield predictions that are founded by scientific evidence. Here I want to be completely honest about my claim. I’m not saying that a creationist who knew nothing of the Ice Age put flood data into models for meteorology and geology and bam! there was an Ice Age in the model. What I am saying is that creationists, who had already developed the theory of flood ramifications (plate tectonics, volcanic and geothermal activity, massive amounts of water in the air and on the continents draining into the oceans, dispersion from Ararat), put the puzzle pieces together and connected these models to the Ice Age. When applied, their results matched the evidence.

The secular scientists who reject the Bible’s claims about history, especially on origins, age of the earth, and the Flood, have observed and know that there was an Ice Age, but had no preexisting mechanisms they could apply to the historical advent of the Ice Age. So all of their efforts have been to study the data about Ice Ages and devise possible mechanisms, according to the traditional scientific method. Except every time they test their hypotheses with computer models, the predictions fail to account for the data. In fact, many times the uniformitarian (long-age) theories have resulted in predictions directly contradicting the data. What’s more, the more puzzling questions of the Ice Age (Mammoths in Siberia, Hippos in England, ‘disharmonious associations’) are left unanswered, and never answered as part of a comprehensive model of the Ice Age.

So why would a person, who claims to believe in God and the Bible, trade belief in the most reliable historical document ever written, whose predictions are universally proven by the evidence, for a theory whose science, hypotheses, and predictions are so unsatisfactory and questionable? Christian, you don’t have to compromise, or try to fit secular philosophies into your Scripture. They have no evidence. To switch sides on such unconvincing assertions is foolish!

Skeptics who like to comment on this blog, if you’re going to object to the claims made here or in any of these books I’m reviewing, you’re going to have to be more substantial than the ad hominem attacks that the creationists are ‘lying’ or ‘stupid’ or ‘bogus scientists’. A battle of name-calling is misplaced on this blog. If you want to discuss evidence, models, or the logic and reality of presuppositions, please comment. We all benefit from critical thinking.

Keys

2009-09-22T17:53:00.002-06:00

If it has key in the name, I’m bad at it. Or lock. I turn it the wrong way. I turn it back, and it still won’t work. That righty-tighty and lefty-loosey thing doesn't work, either. The key gets stuck, or it won’t go in. Combination locks are no better. And just now, as I turned on my computer, I realized that my thumb drive is a bit too much like a key. I press it against my USB port, and it doesn’t glide in. So I turn it over (the markings that used to tell me which side is up have washed off – and some USB drives are backwards, anyway). But this time it doesn’t go in, either. I push harder, and still no success convinces me to turn it back to the first way and push hard, which tends to work. Story of my life is not pushing hard enough. Then I just get up the nerve to push something harder, like a cd that ought to be eaten by the player in a friend’s car, and actually the cd was inserted into the space between the cd player and the dashboard. Oops!

To God be all glory.

Small Town

2009-09-18T11:08:00.000-06:00

Everyone in the small co-orbiting towns of St. Francis and Bird City is an amateur genealogist. Each has a curiosity and supply of information about who is whose child, and to whom they were married. This has been complicated by divorce and widowhood, causing remarriages and blended families, all of which are duly noted and considered relevant information when telling a story about an individual.

They each have a pharmacist’s knowledge of pills and what they’re for, how much is taken, and especially the side effects. In fact, side effects and various ailments are appropriate conversation at any time or location. Growing old and dying are familiar aspects of the neighborhood, perhaps helping an individual reconcile to the fact of his own mortality and dwindling independence in a way that makes it harder on a person like me.

Almost all of these small-town citizens have attempted a country occupation like farming or cow-herding at one time or another, and so ought to be classified with country folk. They are innovators, recognizing their limitations and designing ways to compensate. Just as if a field had not enough water to grow corn, they would grow something else or dig a trench, so they treat all of life. Bad knee? Short term memory loss? Hailed out crops? There is a way to move on with every situation. Tenaciously they cling to their possibilities, but they are fatalists, resigned when at last there is no other way out. “That’s how it will have to be.” “This is best.”

In the little metropolis, signs are everywhere about country things and health things. Not only hospitals, but gas stations and grocery stores advertise ways to prevent the flu. Another common sign is that the establishment does not accept credit cards – but they do accept checks, local ones. It’s so backwards from the big city. And their streets perfectly crisscross, perpendicular to each other, but with only a rare stop sign and no hint of right of way.

I got to talking louder last week in the small towns, with all the hearing loss about. And I breathed deeper. Feelings were opened up in that safe, dear place. The country is both an art gallery and a museum, but it is my retreat, a rare place where I am myself and that is all I want to be.

To God be all glory.

Catching Fireflies

2009-09-18T10:43:00.002-06:00

She used to love to catch fireflies, chasing around the yard on a summer evening. Those were the best days, the sun up so long, and even after dark you could stay outside because it was warm, buzzing with humidity. And she would laugh to be alive, regular brown hair bobbing as she ran, transformed by the dusk into elven innocent beauty. What could be more fetching than a girl cupping living light between her hands?

But she moved away and started growing up. She didn’t play in the mud anymore, or hold summer bugs in her palms. Butterflies were safe to land on a nearby flower and she would only watch. Dandelions were enemies to uproot, not fairies to set flying on the wind. Sitting behind a desk with a computer and a cell phone now, weeks and months went by without remembering those days of childhood glory.

A few quirks remained, nothing to hint to a judging world that anything of her elven self truly remained. As the clock displayed numbers corresponding to the month and day of her birth, she celebrated. Her clothes demonstrated an independent taste: dark earth tones punctuated every so often by a royal blue or coral. She always had something to say for a dessert that layered chocolate. And mythical monsters like Bigfoot and Nessie never lost their interest.

Then it happened. Enough of her stable, grown-up life fell away; just as she was ready to take a leap into a real responsibility the freedom of childhood reentered her life. She fled to the country, to the remnants of summer twilights under the stars. Seeds, formerly inserted in precisely dug holes round a circumscribed flower bed, flew from her hands into the fallow ground. Rain fell and she learned to dance, not shivering from the night breeze, but turning her face towards it.

Had she grown out of the child she had been, or had her world trapped her in a box of expectations and limited possibilities, a prison from which she had finally escaped?

To God be all glory.

Flood Legends by Charles Martin

2009-09-07T01:47:00.004-06:00

Flood Legends by Charles Martin

In a short 120 pages (and appendices with translations of flood legends), Charles Martin introduces his readers to interpreting mythology. Can myths be true? If they are, how would you know? Focusing on three accounts of a global flood taken from cultures around the world, Charles Martin compares the similarities and differences. Did the legends, and dozens like them, have a common origin? The comparable details indicate not only that the legends are derived from the same story, but that the tale is a common memory of an actual event. Which versions are most likely to be accurate, and why?

On page 119, the author states his reason for investing time in research, translation, and writing Flood Legends: “Contrary to what many may believe upon reading this work, this is not about ‘proving’ a global flood. It reaches deeper, asking us to abandon preconceived ideas and to think. We should be willing to look for connections – not only those connections that dwell in metaphor, but also the kind that dwell in history.” By taking the case of the flood legends, so universal in traditional lore across humanity, he demonstrates the prospects that come when we take stories at face value, first testing the possibility of truth before disregarding them as imaginative inventions.

I appreciate the immense effort and talent of the researcher, Charles Martin, whose passion led to this book. Though he was repetitive at times, he made some important points in a simple, straightforward way. The true value of this book to me is the intriguing sample of flood legends found in the appendices.

To God be all glory.

Church as Entmoot

2009-09-03T20:58:00.003-06:00

Treebeard, as an elder of Fangorn forest, takes a walk one morning, engaging the wood’s word of mouth network to call a meeting of the Ents. Some Ents won’t come, too busy with their own thoughts and existence to heed the call of community. Others will surprise Treebeard, waking and walking as they have not done for decades, to mark the importance of the moment by their presence. The cause is that which the whole forest has been awaiting to arouse them.

The tree-herders, shepherds of the forest, gather for a moot in the dingle. A moot is a gathering for deliberative purposes. So the Ents spent three days deliberating. They took their time getting the facts and feeling the urgency of their participation in the world’s events. At last they made a decision, and the conversation stopped. Then it erupted in a communal shout, which echoed into a chant as the Ents left their little dell that seemed so remote as to be not part of the real world, and marched.

No more waiting. No individuals left to ponder whether they were with the group in the action. All of the tree-people swung themselves over the hills in the gentle descent to their doom. The decision had been built into their nature, and the making of it at last was only a matter of being clear that the need was legitimate. So they went, making war on Isengard and breaking down the wicked stronghold that had harried their defensive borders for so long.

Contrast this with the two days the hobbits spent in the House of Tom Bombadil, also in a forest that shares many parallels with Fangorn. In that house they were protected and refreshed. The hobbits heard many stories of history and the way of the world in the land where Bombadil is Master. But when they were sent away, it was a thorough departure, not a continuation of the fellowship begun in the house, or even of the instruction given in the house. And so they surrendered to temptation and deceit, almost losing their lives to the Barrow Wight. Bombadil was willing to come to their aid, but not to go with them, having, as Gandalf explained, withdrawn into a little land within bounds that he had set.

The nights with Bombadil and Goldberry comprised a vivid experience for the hobbits, opening their hearts to history and destiny in a way that little else could. But it was disconnected from the rest of the quest. Frodo and his companions could no more return to the House under hill than they could spend their eternal rest in Valinor before the tale was over.

I think church should be like the Entmoot. Don’t you ever sit in a gathering of believers, praying, singing, sharing the word of God, and just imagine everyone getting up and rushing the doors to take on the world? What if we actually did?

To God be all glory.

(quotes taken from that all-three together Lord of the Rings that came out right before the first movie)

p. 467 – Entmoot = an assembly of the people in early England exercising political, administrative, and judicial powers. Also an argument or discussion, esp. of a hypothetical legal case. An obsolete definition (therefore the most likely intention of Professor Tolkien), a debate, argument or discussion.

p. 467 – “Entmoot… is a gathering of Ents.”

p. 468-469 – “The Ents were as different from one another as trees from trees… There were a few older Ents… and there were tall strong Ents…”

p. 469 – There were about 48 Ents present (and no young Ents or Entwives, due to the tragic history of the Ents).

p. 469 – “Merry and Pippin were struck chiefly by the variety that they saw: the many shapes, and colours, the differences in girth, and height…”

p. 469 – “standing in a wide circle round Treebeard…”

p. 469 – “a curious and unintelligible conversation began.” (In jest:) Were they speaking in tongues??

p. 469 – “they were all chanting together”

p. 469 – “gradually his [Pippin’s] attention wavered.”

p. 470 – “But I have an odd feeling about these Ents: somehow I don’t think they are quite as safe and, well funny as they seem. They seem slow, queer, and patient, almost sad, and yet I believe they could be roused.”

p. 470 – “But they [Ents] don’t like being roused.”

p. 471 – “However, deciding what to do does not take Ents so long as going over all the facts and events that they have to make up their minds about.”

p. 472 – “…but now they seemed deeper and less lesisurely, and every now and again one great voice would rise in a high and quickening music, while all the others died away.”

p. 473 – “…the voices of the Ents at the Moot still rose and fell, sometimes loud and strong, sometimes low and sad, sometimes quickening, sometimes slow and solemn as a dirge.”

p. 473 – “held conclave”

p 473 – “Then with a crash came a great ringing shout…”

p. 473 – “There was another pause, and then a marching music began like solemn drums… before long they saw the marching line approaching…”

p. 475 – “It was not a hasty resolve… we may help the other peoples before we pass away.”

p. 475 – “songs like trees bear fruit only in their own time and their own way: and sometimes they are withered untimely.”

Already Gone by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer

2009-08-24T23:38:00.002-06:00

Already Gone by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer with Todd Hillard

Britt Beemer’s America’s Research Group was commissioned by Ken Ham to survey 1,000 former attendees of conservative Christian churches, who are now in their twenties, to discover why they left. Already Gone is a summary of the survey results, and a challenge to the church to heed the warning and make the radical changes required to remain relevant – not only to the younger generations, but to everyone.

Do you believe in the authority of Scripture? Does your life demonstrate it? Ken Ham poses these questions to young adult Christians both in and out of mainstream churches, to pastors, Christian teachers, to parents, churches, and educational institutions. The subject of Already Gone is the generation of Christians my age (20’s), many of whom have left the church. Of those who have left, there are two main groups: one whose worldview is mostly secular and skeptical of the Bible, and one that believes the Bible is true and applicable but has found the church irrelevant. How is the church failing to deliver a biblical worldview to the children and youth who faithfully attend Sunday school, church, and youth group? Of the twenty-something’s who remain in the church, are they submitted to the authority of Scripture, or is their search for a worship experience prevailing over God’s teachings about the Body of Christ?

What about the parents, pastors, youth pastors, and Sunday school teachers who make up the older generation, the church establishment? Have they sold out God’s teachings on the church for their beloved traditions? How much of what we think of when we hear “church” is actually biblical? Why is the most common accusation against the church that it is hypocritical? The church in America is losing members so drastically that we need to radically reevaluate our practices and teachings. Compromise cannot be tolerated.

As founder of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham must touch on his favorite subject: the foundational importance of Genesis, and how compromise on the historical and scientific truth of Genesis undermines all of Scripture, faith in God, and even the gospel. He calls the church back to teaching “earthly things,” the correspondence between the Bible and reality. Christians need to be equipped for apologetics from an early age, to guard against doubts and to answer inquiries from a godless culture. This, more than music or games or attractive activities, is the only way to be relevant to people living in the real world and desperate for answers.

Already Gone is a fair, factual, and interesting treatment of the systemic problems in the church today. Lest we become like post-Christian Europe, where church is a marginal pastime for a few elderly people clinging to vestiges of tradition in empty cathedrals, we must take action now. Several reactions to the problem are presented, with their disadvantages and perks, but ever a challenge to study for yourself what God says about church and training up children.

As a member of the generation under the microscope, on the edge of the traditional church and ready to flee, I was impressed by the willingness to take us seriously. Some of us are leaving because we see the problems and want a church that does what a church should, and loyalty isn’t strong enough to keep us from looking outside our experience. Ken Ham acknowledges, with some surprise, people in my situation. I appreciated this book. Even though I’m pushing for the more extreme reactions mentioned (abandoning Sunday school and traditional trappings: buildings, sermons, and orders of worship), I have a lot of respect for the way Already Gone ties the whole malady to the failure of Christians to teach and obey the authority of the Word of God. If a person is faithful to study and submit to that, he will be led to the mode of meeting and discipleship God intends, strongly equipped for the Christian call to evangelize our world.

To God be all glory,

Lisa of Longbourn