christiancrouch's Xanga

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 03:00:37 GMT

    I was, anyway. Hebrew is kickin' my Gentile booty. It's a beautiful language. I love it. God chose it for a reason. That being said, I've put in about 8 hours on translating Deuteronomy 1, and I've only managed about 20 verses. That, my friends, is called "frustrating" in my native tongue.

    I also have another reason to love B.B. Warfield. When it comes to cool quotations, he's like a Presbyterian Spurgeon.

    "Perhaps the simplest statement of it is the best: that [Calvinism] lies in a profound apprehension of God in His majesty, with the inevitably accompanying poignant realization of the exact nature of the relation sustained to Him by the creature as such, and particularly by the sinful creature. He who believes in God without reserve, and is determined that God shall be God to him in all his thinking, feeling, willing -- in the entire compass of his life activities, intellectual, moral, spiritual, throughout all his individual, social, religious relations - - is, by the force of that strictest of all logic which presides over the outworking of principles into thought and life, by the very necessity of the case, a Calvinist. In Calvinism, then, objectively speaking, theism comes to its rights; subjectively speaking, the religious relation attains its purity; soteriologically speaking, evangelical religion finds at length its full expression and its secure stability. Theism comes to its rights only in a teleological conception of the universe, which perceives in the entire course of events the orderly outworking of the plan of God, who is the author, preserver, and governor of all things, whose will is consequently the ultimate cause of all. The religious relation attains its purity only when an attitude of absolute dependence on God is not merely temporarily assumed in the act, say, of prayer, but is sustained through all the activities of life, intellectual, emotional, executive. And evangelical religion reaches stability only when the sinful soul rests in humble, self-emptying trust purely on the God of grace as the immediate and sole source of all the efficiency which enters into its salvation. And these things are the formative principles of Calvinism."

    Indeed.

Title

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:43:49 GMT

    There was a time in my life when keeping this blog updated was one of the most important things to me. The last six months have not been one of those times.

    Also, since my premium membership ran out, my site layout has gone back to plain-jane stuff. I'm wondering if I should take the path of the beloved and get a Wordpress, which just look a lot lot cleaner to me.

    Thoughts?

Monday, August 13, 2007

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:07:38 GMT

Who Gets to Decide How the Church Should Worship?

This is one of the best articles on worship I've ever read.

Auf Wiedersehen, Bamberg

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:52:53 GMT

[Note: this is a copy of an email I sent tonight to my friends and family]

My room is empty except for two overstuffed suitcases. In the morning I'm using up the last of my bread to make two honey sandwiches for the road. I'll put away the dishes I bought, fold up the sheets I bought, and stuff the two pillows I bought into the closet for someone who didn't buy them. I'll put the toiletries I'm taking back with me into my carry-on bag, call a cab, and make another last-minute inspection before walking down the hallway and giving a Bulgarian girl my keys for when the super comes back on Monday. I'll close the big orange door for the last time.

The last couple of days have been a big blur. I've had to close this account, cancel that service, and each day has had its own last-minute hassles. I spent today running around buying souvenirs from shops I've scooped out throughout the whole semester only to discover that I owed my super 9.50 (euros) for not paying my rent in time. That was about 9.50 (euros) more than I had (unexpected fees have a way of draining your bank account). After lots of emailing and phone calling, I got it all worked out.

I feel like the whole semester has been like that: putting this off to the last minute, finding unexpected fees and hassles all the time - just one more thing. I've really enjoyed my time here - don't get me wrong - but from the minute I stepped off the plane in Munich last February, an internal timer has been counting down the time until I come back home. There were definitely times where I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel, when I was frustrated with everybody and everything. I had to grow up in a lot of ways over the last six months. Like digging ditches over Christmas break, I can look back on it now and say it was good, but at the time - during the duress and hassle of the whole thing - I hated it.

I've met a lot of cool people, some of whom I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with. I also visited a lot of places where few poor white boys from Franklin County have ever been. I've seen and smelled and touched and lived more of Europe than I ever expected. Yet throughout the whole thing, the familiar things of home were always at the forefront of my mind. "If I were in Sewanee right now, I'd be taking finals/at church/serving overpriced food/laying on top of my car at the lake with my friends." Even in the middle of the last few nights, where I spent all kinds of time with my new friends in the (now) most comfortable of German pubs, I thought about how none of it equaled one cherry limeade with Chelsey, not one Thursday night Bible study, not one single conversation past midnight in Waffle House. I will look back very fondly on Germany, and I won't regret what I might have missed this summer back home, but I won't fool myself by saying, "I'm sad to leave." I'm not.

Germany is a great place, full of great people (and especially great food). The language and the culture are just unmatched - that is, until you compare it with a cool spring afternoon at the Cross, or one night watching episode after episode of "Law and Order" with good friends. We try to pour ourselves into the right-here, right-now, and I think that definitely has a time and a place. Thing is, we'll always go back to what feels like home for us in our hearts. Germany is great, but it's not home.

God says that He has placed eternity in our hearts. He also tells us that Christ doesn't just redeem us from a deserved death, but from the fear of death in this life. We will always be missing something that we don't have right now. It's not just us - all of creation is groaning under the weight of sin and the hope of final redemption. Deep inside me, I know that Sewanee is not my home. Neither is Winchester or Richmond or Columbia. While I live in this tent, this temporary shelter, I will always yearn to leave the tension of "already, not yet" in which the people of God live for now. One day we will live in a city whose Builder and Architect will Himself be our glory, to the exclusion of all places and people we have ever loved. The sun will be embarrassed to show his face in a land where God dwells with people and provides more light in His mere presence than the thousands of nuclear bombs going off every second in our little star. That is something to remember, whether in Bamberg or Sewanee.

A Post A Month Keeps the Readers Away

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:25:00 GMT

Well, so much for social justice, at least as far as my desire to write is concerned. I really would like to write about it, but seeing as it feels like homework, I'm going to let it stew a bit. As I heard one pastor say once, "I can't preach on it, for it has not properly potted." Indeed.

I'm leaving in an hour or so to go to Heilbronn, which is where I attend church. It's a few hours away by train, so an elderly couple in the congregation has been gracious enough to open up their home and let me use their spare bedroom on Saturday nights. Grace upon grace! Even better, I'm leaving with them and a small group from the church to go to the annual School of Theology at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. Formerly under the ministry of the Prince of Preachers himself, it is now one of London's healthiest and most active churches. The theme this year is "The Glory of Christ in the Working Church," and it seems like they've pulled together a really stellar program.
This is my first trip to the UK, and to be honest, I'm looking forward to hearing some English for once. Of course, if the Disney Corporation hasn't led me astray, everyone talks like Mary Poppins, which is pretty cool. I'm looking forward to that, too. With the recent bomb attempts in the city, it even feels like going to a dangerous country, which stokes the smoldering embers of testosterone within me. Who'd have thought that London would be dangerous for Christians?

I'm also less than a month away from being back in the States. By the time I get back from London, it'll be less than two weeks (thirteen days, actually, as someone keeps reminding me). I'll have a couple of finals exams, about which I'm not worrying in the least, and then just taking care of my bureaucratic duties to unregister from everything I had to register for when I first got here (city government, rail pass, bank account, etc., etc.). It should be a hectic last week, but at the end of it all stands the beloved, so I'm not too worried.
I'm starting to get sort of excited about home. As funny as it sounds, I really am anxious about hearing English again. It's been so long that I heard it all around me. When I first got to Germany, I would have a headache at the end of the day for the first couple of weeks just from having to re-tool my brain to German mode. Will that happen once I'm back in the land of free refills? I'm also wondering about church, school, finances....you could say I'm hitting the ground running. The Lord is big enough to handle it all, I've been assured, so I'm trying to keep it all in perspective.

I'm A Bad Blogger

Wed, 30 May 2007 23:23:07 GMT

In order to try and let my "yes" mean "yes," I'm not posting anything until I write some on my promised social justice stuff, though I have a whole list of other stuff I could write on. Not that millions (or even dozens) of folks are waiting on pins and needles for anything I have to say, but a promise is a promise. So, in an effort to actually practice some discipline, I'm planning on using my five-day weekend this week to study up on some of God's teachings on some issues in which my friend has expressed interest. Until then, here are a few pictures from the recent visit of the beloved (who actually writes much better than I do) to see me in the Fatherland.

The view from the hike up to Castle Neuschwanstein (inspiration for the Cinderella Castle at Disney World) near the Austrian border

I feel that without castles and other various and sundry old stuff, Europe would be boring. But then again, I'm from Tennessee, so I'll take whatever castles I can get.

We failed to actually combat popery here (as others have done before us), but it was early, so...gimme a break.

I don't see why people think Europeans are such free-thinkers. I find this to be a perfectly acceptable and direct method of conveying the importance of public sanitation. Get over it, prudes.

Here's Bamberg's cathedral (Dom), which is over one thousand years old, making it considerably older than your church.* In fact, it's so old, I have to resist my urge to call it "Gothic," since it's actually Romanesque and completely free from later Gothic influence. Ha. Who says I deserved a B in art history last fall?**†

With shoes off and feet dangling over the sides of the Unterbrücke, the beloved and I say "goodnight" to the sun in Little Venice.

I hope to emerge soon with something edifying and worth reading. Grace and peace.

*If your church building was founded before 1004, you have the right to disagree with me. However, if you are anyone I know, you are also a dirty, dirty liar for saying so.
**The faculty of the University of the South, for one. Evidently, not doing well on assignments and showing up to perhaps fifty percent of the lectures (that's being rather liberal) will have that effect on your grade.
†This is also a total lie. I looked it up on Wikipedia as soon as I thought about trying to sound smart. So, many thanks to the brave and learned scholar who edited the article on Bamberg. As always, you've helped me appear much more intelligent than I actually am. Let's hope you're not some fourteen-year-old from Ohio who has too much free time.

"The Truth War" Rocks

Sun, 06 May 2007 21:52:16 GMT

The other day I received a package from "Sovereign Grace Baptist Fellowship," my former pastor's house church. Underneath a couple of sweet cards, several pounds of mints (that supposed to mean somethin', Doc?), and some CDs (yes! new music!), I was quite pleased to find a copy of Dr. John MacArthur's new book, The Truth War. I'm in the midst of researching for my next series of posts on social justice (thanks to the challenge of my good buddy Paul), so instead of anything substantial, here're a series of cool quotes I've found so far in my new book. Mind you, this is all from the first fifty-odd pages:

"[Early church father] Ignatius's friend Polycarp, wanted by authorities (because he also was known to be a leader among the Christians), gave himself up willingly, knowing full well that it would cost him his life. Brought to a stadium before a bloodthirsty mob, he was ordered to curse Christ. Polycarp refused, saying, 'Eighty-six years have I served him, and he never once wronged me. How then shall I blaspheme my King who saved me?' He was burned alive on the spot." (p.xii)

"Clearly, the existence of absolute truth and its inseparable relationship to the person of God is the most essential tenet of all biblical Christianity. Speaking plainly: if you are one of those who questions whether truth is really important, please don't call your belief system 'Christianity,' because that is not what it is." (p.xx)

"Martin Luther, that noble gospel soldier, threw down the gauntlet at the feet of every Christian in every generation after him, when he said:

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point." (p.26)

"The point is that the church as a body, and Christians acting in the name of Christ, are never entitled to employ force for any purpose related to the work of advancing Christ's kingdom on earth. The Truth War has nothing to do with carnal warfare or physical violence. In the words of Charles Spurgeon, 'For the church of God ever to avail itself of force would be clean contrary to the spirit of Christianity: for the Christian bishop to become a soldier, or employ the secular arm [of military force], would seem the very climax of contradiction.'" (p.30)

    "With increasing frequency nowadays, I hear people say things like, 'Come, now, let's not bicker about what we believe. It's only doctrine. Let's focus instead on how we live. The way of Jesus is surely more important than our arguments over the words of Jesus. Let's set aside our disagreements over creeds and dogmas and devote ourselves instead to showing the love of Christ by the way we conduct our lives.'
    Many people these days evidently find that suggestion appealing. On the surface, it may sound generous, kindhearted, modest, and altruistic. But the view itself is a serious violation of 'the way of Jesus,' who taught that salvation hinges on hearing and believing His Word (John 5:24). He said, 'The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life' (John 6:63). To those who doubted His truth claims, He said, 'If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins' (John 8:24). He never left any room for someone to imagine that the propositional content of His teaching is optional as long as we mimic His behavior.
    In fact, the New Testament consistently stresses otherwise. One vital principle about our redemption from sin destroys the whole argument: faith, not works, is the sole instrument of justification (Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9). In other words, what we believe rather than what we do is what secures us a righteous standing before God - because we lay hold of justifying righteousness by faith alone, and not by our works (Romans 4:5)....
    ....It is not kindness at all, but the worst form of cruelty, to suggest that what people believe doesn't really matter much if they feel spiritual and do good. In fact, on the face of it, that claim is a blatant contradiction of the gospel message." (pp.32-34)

    "And bear in mind that in [Brian] McLaren's own moral hierarchy, one of the highest values (if not the supreme virtue by which all others are measured) is a particular notion of 'humility' - namely, the standard postmodern species of humility, which starts with the assumption that certainty, assurance, and bold convictions are arrogant and therefore wrong. So the ramifications of McLaren's continual stress on right practice apart from an equal stress on right belief turn out to be profound. 'Right practice' by his definition virtually begins with the relinquishment of all certainty about 'right belief.' One gets the distinct impression that objective, propositional truth means so little to McLaren that he would consider a broad-minded Hindu who always tries to speak positively and tolerantly about others' beliefs a better 'Christian' than the preacher who openly curses someone else for teaching a wrong view of the law and gospel.
    That, of course, would make the apostle Paul a bad Christian (Galatians 1:8-9) - no to mention Jesus (Matthew 23)." (p.36)

    "Biblical orthodoxy encompasses orthopraxy. Both right doctrine and right living are absolutely essential and totally inseparable for the true child of God." (p.37)

    "Remember, the apostle Paul called the church 'the pillar and ground of the truth' (1 Timothy 3:15). We have a duty to uphold the truth and to wield the sword of God's Word against every human speculation and every worldly hypothesis raised up against the knowledge of God. The struggle will continue until every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). The church must pursue that fight, and if church leaders are not setting the example, they are not being faithful to their calling." (p.40)

"Apostasy poses real and present dangers today as always. Actually, the threat may be more imminent and more dangerous than ever, because most Christians nowadays simply don't care about the prevalence of false doctrine, nor do they take seriously their duty to fight against apostasy. Instead, they want a friendly atmosphere of open acceptance for everyone, tolerance of opposing ideas, and charitable dialogue with the apostates." (p.46)

A Christian in College Reflects on the VT Massacre

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:24:01 GMT

    Being out of the country, I found out relatively late (i.e. 5-6 hours afterwards instead of 1-2) about the events at Virginia Tech on Monday morning. For the (surely) few who haven't heard, well over sixty people were either killed or injured on campus by a shooter who then killed himself (for more information, read here). From what I see in the media, it seems like millions of others all across the country are being affected by the slaughter. Many of my friends are joining online groups encouraging prayer for those affected, while others have taken considerable steps to reflect their solidarity with those who are grieving. Churches are even offering public prayer during the week to attempt to minister to anyone affected. At the same time, a few of my friends have rejected the mass displays of grief and publicly announced that all such efforts demean the experiences of those suffering.
    What are we to do? Are we to openly show our support for the grieving? Should we instead try to preserve the dignity of the victims and their families by mourning privately?
    Christians have the peculiar task of being both in the world and separate from it. Our God has graciously deigned to reveal His glory through us, both in our abstinence from carnal lusts and in our ministry to those around us. In a time where it is so tempting to promote ideologies and opinions, the redeemed must be more careful than ever to seek the perfect will of God. Here are just a few of my reflections on the meaning of and response to this tragedy.

    Faith
    Countless people around the world are experiencing shock and dismay at the events at VT. Times like these remind us of the great evil of which we are all capable. I am continually dumbfounded by the majority of people who claim that people are basically good, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. First, the Scriptures tell us in no uncertain terms that everyone in this world is evil, thoroughly corrupted by our sin and incapable of truly becoming good of our own accord (Romans 3:9-20, Psalm 51:5, Genesis 6:5, etc.). We may want to believe with all our might that we are basically good, that there is something inside us that makes us undeserving of tragedy, but the sad fact is that history displays our filthiness ad nauseam. Last month I was able to visit Dachau, the longest-running concentration camp of World War II. Over two hundred thousand people were imprisoned there over the course of twelve years for "crimes" ranging from having the "wrong" race or ethnicity to mental and physical handicaps. Over forty thousand were murdered for insubordinations like collapsing from illness during torturous outdoor roll calls. While it is easy for us to blame the actions of those in power, it is impossible to ignore the approval of the Nazis' deeds by the supposedly-innocent townspeople of the Dachau township, who lived less than a 10-minutes walk from one of history's worst crimes. Their apathy towards the suffering of those in the camp was not based on any sort of fearful submission to the government; rather, it was out of a willful and selfish desire to rid their nation of those less worthy to live than they for their own perceived profit.
    I only mention Dachau because I have seen it with my own eyes. From the persecution of Christians during the Roman Empire through the Khmer Rouge of Pol Pot to the shooting of college students by a lone gunman, we are surrounded by evidence that we are most certainly not good. The perpetrator of this crime was not a monster - he was a sinner, just like you and I, no better or worse. We will go to extraordinary lengths to label people like him "monsters" because we are too afraid to look inside our own hearts and make the terrifying admonition, "I'm no different than he is!" In order to shift the blame off of ourselves, we will castigate and demonize this young man's memory, but it will not change the fact that neither he nor Hitler nor my grandmother are incapable of atrocity.
    The church's responsibility is to continue to affirm and proclaim the Biblical truths of both God's sovereignty and our sin. Our God neither sleeps nor slumbers, and if a sparrow doesn't fall from a tree apart from His will, neither is "innocent" blood shed by dozens. We cannot compromise either of these truths to offer temporary and false relief to those around us. The truth is, we just can't afford to. If we believe in a God who is powerful enough to create the world and save lost souls, we must continue to assert that He was powerful enough to stop one man from murder. The fact that He didn't should show us that His purpose is being worked out for the good of those who love Him according to the counsel of His will, and that no man can usurp God from His throne. We should be preaching the fact that God is still in control with all our power, just as much now as we were on Sunday.

    Hope
    Already our culture's pundits are expounding on the hope we should continue to have through this tragedy. Sometimes I am appalled at the total lack of compassion shown by some men. How are these students' friends going to "work through" difficult times without the power of the Spirit? Tell their parents to "persevere" without the gospel as they bury their own child. I won't speculate as to their motives, but I am sick and tired of hearing a false hope that "everything's going to turn out alright in the end" without Christ. The Bible gives us no assurance whatsoever that we should ever feel any kind of security or comfort in this life apart from the grace of God. None. We should not look forward from this shooting with the hope that one day we will somehow be healed of pain and suffering apart from Christ. If the Lord Himself lived a life of sorrow and suffering, what makes us think that we can just "keep on the sunny side" and life will be good? If anyone has ever had a reason to be happy, it is the all-powerful Son of God who will reign eternally. However, we know that He cried, felt terrible sadness, and became angry. If Jesus felt bad, what makes you think you have the right to feel good apart from Him?
    Christians have to encourage each other that we have a promised home that is immune from pain, sorrow, and death. Our hope does not rest on our own sinful hearts, but instead on the perfect Lamb of God who bore our sins for us. Our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, being kept safe for us in heaven. We will have sorrow in this world, but our Savior has overcome the world and destroyed the works of its ruler. We will know peace, even more fully than we do now. However, our friends around us have absolutely no grounds on which to base their hope. If we are to truly minister to them, we must follow our Lord and tell them the truth - they are lost, and without Christ will never have comfort.

    Love
    Our lives as believers must be characterized by a peculiar and other-worldly love for each other. This love should pour out onto our neighbors as well. However, we are going to be presented with very conflicting and contrary viewpoints as to what our love should look like. Instead of looking to each other for guidance, let's take advantage of the vertical relationship we've been given. Let's look at what Love Himself said:

"There were some present at that very time who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered them, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.'”
--Luke 13:1-5

    It isn't hard to see that Jesus is saying something truly shocking and radical here. People are coming to Him to an explanation for the loss of their countrymen, perhaps even of their friends. They are hurting. Given the context of the Lord's previous remarks in chapter 12, they are no doubt asking whether the wicked will indeed be punished. Yet on the surface, it seems like Christ ignores all of their questions. But did He?
    What Christ says here may seem harsh, but only to people who don't see their great need of salvation. He reminds us that those who are still under condemnation would be terrified of the justice which they seek, for they and all men would surely perish if God were to punish all the wicked as they deserve. He reminds them that God, not rulers or principalities or a disembodied spirit of nature, is ultimately in charge of tragedy. And He does something else, something that stings even more than these fundamental truths - He says that they are no less deserving of judgment than those who were killed.
    Note what the Lord does not say. He does not say that these men were undeserving of death. He does not submit to the crowds and call for the immediate upheaval of the government and its policies. He does not condemn the culture as a whole. Instead, He flips the question and points the finger of blame on those who asked. It's as if He asks, "Why are you concerned with these things when your own life isn't in a right standing with the God who has power over life and death? What right do you have to question My plan? What makes you think you have it all together?"
    In the coming days and weeks, believers will be bombarded with questions stemming from this incident. The Lord commands us to weep with those who weep, and we must be open and honest enough with our friends to share grief with them. At the same time, it is imperative that we truly love those who come to us, not only in word or talk, but in deed and truth. What that looks like is sharing hard truths with dying people. We must honestly and purposefully present the gospel of grace to those who are so desperate for it. Without hiding our own sadness, we must remind them that the more immediate issue for them is their own soul, not the actions of a man hundreds of miles away. That is hard, and that is unpopular, but that is Christian.

    I do not intend to present this as a complete or authoritative commentary on the events of Monday morning. There is only One who knows the hearts of men, and praise Him, it's not me. There is so much more that could be said, but for now, I can only pray for more grace and peace.

See What Kind of Love the Father Has Given to Us...

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:28:12 GMT

Read this article before watching the video.

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are....
....'When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them...'
....And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

        'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
         nor be weary when reproved by Him.
         For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
         and chastises every son whom He receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness....

........For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."

--1 John 3:1a; Hosea 11:1-4; Hebrews 12:5-10; Romans 8:14-17
**********************************************************

        "How deep the Father's love for us,
         How vast beyond all measure
         That He should give His only Son
         To make a wretch His treasure
         How great the pain of searing loss,
         The Father turns His face away
         As wounds which mar the chosen One,
         Bring many sons to glory

         Behold the Man upon a cross,
         My sin upon His shoulders
         Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
         Call out among the scoffers
         It was my sin that held Him there
         Until it was accomplished
         His dying breath has brought me life
         I know that it is finished

         I will not boast in anything
         No gifts, no power, no wisdom
         But I will boast in Jesus Christ
         His death and resurrection
         Why should I gain from His reward?
         I cannot give an answer
         But this I know with all my heart
         His wounds have paid my ransom"
         --Stuart Townend

Easter, France, and Eggs

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:49:08 GMT

    (stolen from Doctrine Matters)

    Ironically (which, in God's eyes, is always "appropriately"), the creator of B.C., one of my favorite comics, died Saturday night. I always wondered if he was a Christian, since he sometimes included Christian themes in his comics. The article would make it seem like he was. I hope that's the case; if so, he had a considerably better Resurrection Day than any of us.

    This article summarizes my life for the last month. I can honestly say that all ten points (and, depending on what the last one means, eleven) apply to me. I am all kinds of ready for classes to start over here.

    Lord willing, I'm going to be making an excursion into the dark and mysterious nation of France tomorrow. I don't know a word of French (unless Burger King was right and "Crossain'wich" is indeed a word), which should make this a most interesting cultural experience. I'm staying with a guy whom I met through a girl on Xanga (one year, one month, and two days ago, to be precise) and hoping that I can do everything you're supposed to do when in Paris. Eiffel Tower? The Arc de Triomphe? The Champs-Élysées (which, I'm told, is lined by trees on both sides because German soldiers prefer to march in the shade)? Notre Dame? Suggestions? I've got a few days.

    Also, does anyone know to to properly peel the shell off an egg after boiling it? A buddy of mine who lives in my hall went to Italy for the week and gave me his eggs so they wouldn't go to waste. However, of the eight eggs I was given, only two have turned out to be unmarred by my heavy-handed attempts to get the shell off. I end up having to throw away most of the egg because the yolk starts to leak out of its little core because of the large chunks of egg white I've ripped out by trying to get that stupid shell off. Are there any tips to keep this from happening so I can eat my eggs and feel like I've done a right and proper job of peeling?

    That sounds really weird.