Random Notes

We're sorry posting has been light. Our lives are just extremely busy. I'll been working on narrative report cards (meaning, no number grades, just long diatribes about each student) all week. I have to finish them TOMORROW and I only was able to start on Tuesday. I've also been really tired and still having a great deal of trouble staying asleep. I wake up between 1 and 3 fully awake. Mike has been working really hard on school stuff. We've gotten to be really boring. We're not even doing anything for Hallo-Reformation Day. Well, I did throw a party for my students at school.

School Singing

School is going really well. My students are well disciplined, smart and kind. They sing as we walk outside, they sing in the morning, they sing all day. It's amazing how much singing hymns and psalms has gotten down deep into their bones in less than two months. They hum and sing them to themselves while they do seatwork. They clamor to choose their favorites, they even invent playground games centering on the hymns we know. I have already taught them "At the Name of Jesus", "Be Thou My Vision", "Doxology", "Gloria Patri", "How Great Thou Art", "Lift High the Cross", "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty", "Psalm 40" and "Psalm 128." They know all of the tunes and the first verse or two by heart, at least. This experience has confirmed to me that children are quite musical. Only one really struggles with rhythm and pitch. All of the children participate, no one acts "too cool." It's a real blessing to me to sing along with them all day long.

Reporting In

We had a very nice trip to Monroe. Our friend Lori rode with us and we had lots of good car conversation. She came over for dinner last Sunday and between all of that, I feel like I've gotten to know her pretty well and I really like her! In Monroe, we mostly enjoyed hanging out with people like Duane, Sarah, Jon, Emily, Christin, Thomas, Jessie and the Lusks. Norman Shepherd had lots of good things to say about justification, his delivery is just a little too quiet and monotone. I got a good deal of knitting done during the sessions, before I took off and left for lunch. Unfortunately, we were too late for a drive-thru daquari on Friday when we came in. We were lucky to have our trip weekend coincide with Matt and Elizabeth's engagement party, so we were able to see them and say hello and meet people Matt tells lots of stories about, like Brad. That was very fun. I'm looking forward to seeing them get married in December.

Apologies and Announcement

Our apologies for the lack of exciting content. Mike is preparing for a big Latin test tomorrow and the GRE, which he takes next Tuesday. I'm suffering from extreme end of quarter stress. We're heading to Louisiana this weekend for a little change of pace, you can catch us at Auburn Ave on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Call Duane and Sarah for our cell numbers if you are just dying to hang out with us.

On the Subject of Thank You Notes

A couple who is courting came to our wedding and gave us a joint gift. Etiquette says send the thank you card to the woman, but does Reformed-ness say send the card to the man?

Sabbath Dinner

We have people over to eat semi-regularly and we tend to eat nicer dinners on Sundays, but yesterday was the first time we had a good old-fashioned Sabbath dinner, inviting as many people as our table will fit (two, other than us.) One of our guests is a single friend from church, the other guest: the incomparable Wayne O. I took my Sabbath dinner guidelines from the worthy example of Mrs. Holly Rench. We had slow-roasted chicken, wild rice, corn, salad, homemade "challah" bread, and Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla with Fresh Strawberrries that we sugared to make them nice and juicy.

I had a good time preparing the meal. I have never ever made bread before. I just flipped open my copy of the Joy of Cooking and had at it. I have never ever ever wanted a Kitchenaid stand mixer so much in all my life. I kneaded that bread for 10 minutes and I thought I might die. Everything was turning out okay, until I got to the braiding part. I have absolutely no idea how people braid sticky, uncooperative bread dough. I did the best I could. It wasn't very pretty, as far as challah bread goes, but it tasted alright. People got seconds. And they stayed well into the afternoon, chatting with us. It was a success.

Sabbath Reflection

Jesus lives, and so shall I. Death! thy sting is gone forever!
He who deigned for me to die, lives, the bands of death to sever.
He shall raise me from the dust: Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and reigns supreme, and, his kingdom still remaining,
I shall also be with him, ever living, ever reigning.
God has promised: be it must: Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and by his grace, vict'ry o'er my passions giving,
I will cleanse my heart and ways, ever to his glory living.
Me he raises from the dust. Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, I know full well nought from him my heart can sever,
Life nor death nor powers of hell, joy nor grief, hence forth forever.
None of all his saints is lost; Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and now is death but the gate of life immortal;
This shall calm my trembling breath when I pass its gloomy portal.
Faith shall cry, as fails each sense, Jesus is my confidence.

Small Study Break: regarding ekklesia

In his Against Christianity, and I'm sure other places and by other writers, Peter Leithart makes the case that ekklesia, which gets translated as "church" DOES NOT mean "people having been called out" as the bare etymology and many evangelicals seem to make of it lately; but instead, the term is a political term denoting a political body of God's peope.

In support of this, in my readings for my Heresy/Orthodoxy in the Early Church thesis, I discovered that when synods were bringing together their followers, they used the verb: ekklesiazein. Reading this, I put forth that this word still has political connations when the polis of God sets about her duties. Just as the Athenians did, who earlier used the term in describing their legislative bodies.

Okay, back to Arius.

Galations 2:16

For you Greek readers, I have a question regarding this verse. Namely, how should we understand Paul's uses of the genitive? We are reading it in my Pauline Epistles course, and Dr. White is requiring us to read the text literally and determine why modern translations translate as they do. Frankly, I don't know.

Here would be my hyper-literal translation:

Knowing that (hoti) a human is not justified (or, righteous-ified) from works of the law (eks ergOv nomou) except through the faith (faithfulness?) of Jesus Christ (IEsou Christou) and we believe in Christ Jesus (eis Christon IEsoun) so that we may be justified/righteous-ified (dikaiOthOmen) from the faith/faithfulness of Jesus (ek pisteOs Christou) and not from works of the law (eks ergOn nomou), because from works of the law all flesh (pasa sarks) will not be justified/righteous-ified (ou dikaiOthEsetai).

Does this throw anyone for a loop? I have given the most literal reading of the Greek as I have been taught in my four years of Greek at UTexas. Here are some other translations:

NASB: nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

NKJV: knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

NRSV: yet we know that a person is justified F9 not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. F10 And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, F11 and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.

ESV: yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

So, those of you who know Greek and are particular experts in Galations and Justification (you are Reformed, right?), please take a stab. I don't know how to render this, but it may end up being my paper topic for this course.

How Sick

From WorldNetDaily:

Terri Schindler-Schiavo's life-sustaining feeding tube was removed this afternoon in compliance with a judge's order as her husband Michael Schiavo, who demanded the removal, and her mother looked on.
...
Doctors say if there is no further intervention, she will die in 10-14 days.

We don't even give murderers that kind of death sentence. At least if the state is going to consent to her husband killing this woman, let her be murdered in a civil manner, not as a beast. As least when a murderer is executed, the ACLU petitions.

More Chronicles of a Boys' PE Teacher

An impromptu speech, at the end of a game of Dodgeball:

"Guys, you showed a diversity of spirit out on the field today. Some fought hard to win the game, while others hid and ran out of bounds, avoiding the game. It is not manly to run away from a ball. A man would risk being hit to try to catch the ball and get someone else out. Men are daring. Some of you play dodgeball like men. Others of you play dodgeball like girls."

N.B. a great guy was interviewed for the PE position today, so hopefully my tenure will end soon.

Why Blog?

Lately, many in my congregation have been asking Kristen and I this question. During the late summer and early fall, our church was talking to Dr. George Grant about becoming our pastor. Well, he has a blog and this site is linked from there. So, a lot of people from my church have gotten to our blog from Dr. Grant's and then ask, "So, why blog?"

My answer has always been rather truthful and, hopefully, sincere. I imagine that many blog because they like to read their own writing and think that many others would benefit from reading their writing. I don't think that. Well, except if you are a Sooner fan, then I'm deliberately trying to bring you back to the fold of God. Other than that, I post mainy to keep up with family and share ideas with friends. Rick and Rachel live halfway across the country, it's hard to talk to someone regularly when they're in another time zone. It also allows me to secretly implant JT with reformed ideas, without having to debate with him to his face -- he's got one of those "you are so wrong" faces that weakens one's faith in his own argumentation. I'm sure there are other reasons. Kristen likes all the women, and men, who comment leaving practical advice, etc...

However, sometimes I really want to close shop and go home. People who spend most of their bytes on why Arnold is evil because he's not an ueber-conservative, theonomist-how-I-like-to-define-it, Republican. Or, the comments made by Rev. Wilson's kin. I see what they do to others who enjoyed blogging, and it makes me sick.

Oh well, c'est la vie.