C T Hall’s Weblog

Many thanks to Dale Ralph Davis for the title of this post which I borrowed from a chapter in his Judges: Such a Great Salvation. We are reading through the book for personal devotions, and it is amazing to see the patience God has for his people.

In this passage (chapter 9) we see that the oppression of Israel is not from solely without. Abimelech the son of Gideon, killed his father’s other children gained a kingship and oppressed Israel. Sin is from within, Israel had forgotten their God and he left them to be subjugated from within and without.

The title of this post comes from Jotham’s (Abimelech’s brother who escaped death) parable against electing a worthless man as king. He stated (in parable) that like a bramble is good for fire, their poor choice for a leader would come back to burn them.

Yet God is sovereign and cares for his people even in trying political times. Abimelech would eventually be killed and God would raise up other judges to rule over his people.

We have a new blog for our growing family! Check out our Halls of Tucson website. I have reproduced my pregnancy and fatherhood posts on the new site, and the site contains other fun things such as links to our registry and friends’ baby sites.

I hope you enjoy the adventures of the House Hall.

One small foot for Baby Hall, one large addition for the Hall family.

My wife and I had our 20 week ultrasound to determine that everything was growing correctly and in its proper place. Thankfully, Baby is growing fine and still due early to mid September.

Here is Baby in all 11 ounces of his glory; yes in the next 20 weeks he’ll be busy packing on the weight, 6 to 8 pounds worth.

And another shot of Baby, this time he’s showing his tummy.

And finally, I can discontinue referring to Baby Hall as (s)he as Baby is hemizygous for the heterochromosome.

And last but certainly not least, we are registered at Babies-R-Us and Target. You can also search for our names and find the information.

Just this week I finished playing Myst IV; it was an enjoyable game with several fun puzzles (and a few irritating ones). I played the previous three Myst games several years ago.

This game mechanics were similar to Myst III in that you linked to nodes where you could view 360º in any direction (as opposed to the stills of Myst and Riven). Zip mode was redone, now you can pull a menu and zip to a particular location, instead of bypassing a few nodes.

The story of this game involves the two brothers, Sirrus and Achenar, escaping from their prison ages and capturing their sister, Yeesha. Like other Myst games, the player must solve various puzzles to complete the game. Many of these puzzles were similar in difficulty to those in prior Myst games. Achenar’s age, Haven, was very acoustically oriented, much like the Selenitic Age in Myst I. Small primate creatures had to be called by name using a machine with rotating dials to produce differently pitched sound.

The final age, Serenia was quite bizarre with several of the puzzles happening in a parallel dream world. To avoid giving too much away the final puzzle was challenging but fun to logically fit all the pieces in their proper place.

I am looking forward to buying Myst V soon.

On Saturday 29 March, Heather and I went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. (For those of you outside of Tucson, this is a zoo displaying flora and fauna from the Sonoran Desert.)

This is a shot of Heather and Baby with the Sonoran Desert as a backdrop.
As Baby is in utero, this does not afford good views of the animals. However, according to some of our pregnancy books, Baby can now hear voices from the outside world, so (s)he had a narrated tour complete with descriptions of the animals (and plants).

Heather’s favourite animals to watch were the river otters. Two river otters whimsically played in the water. One of the otters swam upside down and every time he passed a log, he kicked off it with his front foot and back foot in succession.

While I’m not quite sure I interpreted the signals correctly, I believe Baby’s favourite animals were the javalinas (or affectionately ‘javies’). We also suspected (s)he liked the cute prairie dogs.

One of the paths off the track had an agave garden I enjoyed, I liked the many forms of agave and enjoyed the other flowers and the hummingbirds feeding from them. See if you can find the hummingbird in this image.
Here he is:

While often quoted in several fields of discipline, the prolific author Ibid has no anthology of collected works and no biography. All that is known of him is from other authors’ quotations. In spite of this paucity, much can be gleaned from an author by the quotations that survive.

The works of Ibid originate in great antiquity, he is quoted alongside Homer. Judging by the amount he is quoted, his works rank among the philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle. His works on religion are cited as frequently as Moses, Zarathustra, and the authors of the Vedas.

While the subject Ibid commented on in the ancient world were diverse, as time progressed, he expanded his interests. Not only is he quoted among the doctors of the Church, but also the doctors of medicine. In the modern era his quotes encompass anthropology, athletics, biology, literature, metallurgy, parenting, poetry, technology, and zymurgy to name but a few subjects.

With such a longevity of writing and broad spectrum of knowledge, a strong argument may be made that Ibid is not one writer but several. Perhaps there is a secret society of Ibid, never openly publishing its works but from time to time allowing authors to quote various passages.

However, this concept seems unlikely, not least because Ibid frequently contradicts himself; authors with opposing viewpoints frequently cite Ibid to support their position (or detract from their opponents’) With such different quotations, qualifications for entrance into the secret society would be quite lax and we probably would have heard of the cabal before reading of it in an obscure blog. Perhaps each of us is Ibid (as long as we’ve been quoted twice consecutively).

The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’
—Psalm 14

If there were no God, there would be no atheists.
—G.K. Chesterton

Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.
—C.S. Lewis

Atheism is a crutch for those who cannot bear the reality of God.
—Tom Stoppard

The last issue of Modern Reformation (March—April 08) discusses the ‘New Atheism’. This new atheism is represented by such persons as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens who truculently peddle their religion vehemently assailing any opposing ideas. While the positions of the New Atheists are no different from the Atheism during the Enlightenment and similar hostility toward Christianity and deist religion is found in Marx and Nietzsche, the difference lies in the agenda: proselytisation.
The New Atheists see religion as dangerous and threatening to civilization. With the obvious example of modern day (radical) Islam and its association with terrorism, they search history and find examples of violence in other religions. Now while Christians have and will do terrible things in the name of heaven, just because one (or a group) fails to understand his worldview does not mean the worldview is invalid. Al Gore travelling in a private aeroplane does not necessarily disprove climate change. (Concerning church history, I quote Craig Parton’s article ‘God Does Not Believe in Atheists’, ‘If the history of the church was only a history of “sweetness and light,” it would refute a central and repeated teaching found in the biblical data—i.e., the depravity of man.’ In this the fundamental (new) atheist has all the zeal and ambition as a jihadist, Hindu nationalist, or a Bible thumping Christian fundamentalist.

Beneath the surface of these … arguments [for or against God] are some enormously complex issues; and the side that one takes — after weighing all the evidence and sometimes regardless of where the evidence really points — is still largely determined by the position one originally takes.
—Adam Francisco ‘The New Atheism’

Several arguments are presented in favour or against God. Ultimately, however, empirical evidence cannot prove (or disprove) God. Which introduces us to presuppositions; presuppositions are beliefs which a person tacitly subscribes from which her arguments follow. The atheist presupposes empiricism: only that which may be discovered by the senses is true. (Yet one cannot empirically prove empiricism.) In addition, she presupposes naturalism: natural causes explain all things, there is no place for the supernatural. Therefore when presented with God-in-history Jesus Christ, the atheist immediately rejects him without considering the evidence because it does not fit into her weltanschauung; her presuppositions will not allow it.
Therefore, the proper place to deconstruct empty philosophies is at their roots. Naturalism systematically discounts the accounts of Jesus’s life because it cannot consider supernatural explanations; the material is all there is. Miracles do not exist because they do not exist. Likewise, empiricism cannot be empirically proven but rests on deeper presuppositions. Presuppositions such as: the universe is understandable; our senses do not mislead us; everything that can be known can be discovered by the senses. These presuppositions must be taken on faith as they cannot be proved or disproved. It is an interesting note that we do not relate to our friends on the basis of the third presupposition.

Fundamentally, the desire to dethrone God and enthrone one’s self runs deep in the being of fallen humanity. While atheists oft charge that Christians’ belief in God is because of wish-projection or similar psychobabble whereby they imply that we wish for there to be an orderly universe with a purpose for us in it, we find a god who orders the universe and provides purpose and plan. However quite the opposite may be true; an atheist longs to establish himself as final authority and not submit to another and, behold, he finds no God, no purpose, and no final judgement.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the LORD search the heart and test the kidneys, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’
—Jeremiah 17

When we engage our atheist friends let us direct our attention at the core of the matter, the presuppositions, and pray, for unless the Holy Spirit removes the cold heart of stone and inserts a living heart of flesh, no one will embrace God and truth.

Now by the title, one may think that I’m contrasting and comparing a thing against itself or that this is distinction without difference. But let me first define my terms:

profanity |prəˈfanətē; prō-|
blasphemous or obscene language : an outburst of profanity.
• a swear word; an oath.
irreligious or irreverent behavior.

vulgar |ˈvəlgər|
lacking sophistication or good taste; unrefined : the vulgar trappings of wealth.
• making explicit and offensive reference to sex or bodily functions; coarse and rude : a vulgar joke.
• dated: characteristic of or belonging to the masses.

In essence, profanity is devaluing, or treating irreverently something which is holy. This is forbidden by the third commandment: you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, (literally, ‘lift up the name of the Lord for nothing’ or contemporarily, ‘use the name of the Lord frivolously [or thoughtlessly or flippantly]’). Now this command proscribes the casual use of the name while expressing frustration or surprise. Profanity also includes the thoughtless nigh reflexive damning of things such as the hammer which failed to connect with the nail and quite squarely connected with your thumb. If we believe God has the power to kill and quicken, to save and destroy, then invoking curses on trivial items and situations calling God to damn them reflects a lack of care at best and a desire to manipulate God at worst. (Now this is not to say that there are not situations when curses are appropriate [and is thus not profane]: when Simon attempted simony Peter rebuked him with, ‘May your silver perish with you.’ Likewise Paul states that if anyone preaches another gospel, ‘let him be accursed/anathema.’) Also common is the practice of disparaging one’s fellow man (or woman) especially brothers and sisters in the church. In creation God created man and woman with his own image, and though this was disfigured in the Fall, it was not effaced. To revile a person is too do such to God in effigy. How much more heinous if we profane God by despising our brothers and sisters in whom the image of God is being reformed.

Vulgarity is essentially coarseness. Previously, it was referred to as ‘strong language’. Many of the terms are from Anglo-Saxon roots which express strong feelings when uttered. This, however argues that they should be used sparingly and carefully. To keep the power of vulgar words they should not be used often, but only when the situation requires. (Consider the example of arse/ass; the word is now so common it can no longer be considered vulgar.) However, when the situation requires, express yourself with vulgarity. Luther is quoted as saying, ‘I know that without God’s grace there is nothing good in me, and that I am as much a piece of useless stinking shit as anyone else, if not more,’ which references the Apostle Paul’s ‘Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung [the word here is σκυβαλα or shit, that I may win Christ.’ [Phil 3.8 KJV]

This past weekend my wife and I along with a few of our friends drove to Apache Junction to attend the Arizona Renaissance Festival. We enjoyed the event, where we got to see jousting, and other somewhat period displays. About as interesting as the acts was the people watching. Never will you hear such bad British and Irish accents as at the fair.

My friends and I paid a small sum to throw four axes. Three of mine struck in the board.

I was aiming for the heart in the centre of the shield.

Today, Mrs Hall ends her first trimester and begins the second trimester. Woo, a third of the way there. I’m sure she is excited to be getting over the nausea. Last week we got to hear the fœtal heart beat and look forward to the sonogram that lets us determine the gender of the baby.

(or Intercalary Day if you prefer.)

Often,* one hears that the real leap day is 24 February instead of 29 February. Of course one thinks, ‘But there’s a 24 Feb every year, this doesn’t make sense.’ Indeed, I concur. However, I thought it might be interesting to shed light on why 24 February was considered the intercalary day.

This started back in ancient Rome, where months were not counted as they are now. The Romans had three important days each month, the calends (or kalends) (the first of the month), the nones (the fifth or seventh of the month [the ninth inclusive day before the ides]), and the ides (the thirteenth or fifteenth). The Romans (inclusively) counted down to each day, e.g., today would be the Second of the Calends of March, tomorrow the Calends of March, 21 April the Eleventh of the Calends of May, and 4 August the Second of the Nones of August.

Before Julius Caesar, the Romans used a lunisolar calendar (a calendar that tracked lunar months as well as the solar year). In order to keep the months lined up with the years every so often the ancient romans inserted a month at the end of the year before the last five days of February. Julius Caesar reformed the calendar to a solar calendar. He distributed the extra days of the intercalary month amongst the other months of the year. For the leap year, he inserted an intercalary day after the festival of Terminus (the god of boundaries). Terminalia was on 23 February or the Seventh of the Calends of March. Rather than renumber the days, the date following Terminalia was doubled so that the Seventh of the Calends of March was followed by the Second Sixth† of the Calends of March‡ which was followed by the Sixth otCoM. For a while the Roman church (until the 1970’s) had celebrated saints’ festivals on this pattern (pushing back feasts one day on 24-28 Feb).

And now you know the origin of 24 February as Bissextile day, and the irrelevant trivia section of your mind has expanded.

Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?
Marge: That’s because you were drunk!
Homer: And how!

Footnotes:
* Okay, maybe only if you’re into recondite trivia.
† Much like Fifth Third Bank.
‡ Known now as Bissextile Day.

Recently I finished the book Luther: Man Between God and the Devil. by Heiko A. Oberman. The premise of the book is that to understand Martin Luther, we cannot view him as either a mediaeval man or a modern man, but have to understand him by his own words. As the title of the book indicated Luther fundamentally saw the world and Christianity as between God and the Devil. Although Luther expressed that the devil is God’s devil, we do not see the omnipotent hand of God, and the devil is still a strong adversary of the Christian in this age. (Although this does not entail the popular belief that God and the devil have cast a vote for your soul and it is up to you to decide who to choose.)

I enjoyed the book quite a bit, and appreciated its thoroughness from Luther’s earthy language to his marrying of Katharina von Bora, and unconventional views on intimacy. Overall I enjoyed the book and found it very engaging. In some places, however, I felt the translation from German could have been made a little clearer, but even so the vast majority of the translation was transparent.

Throughout Scripture we see God working His grace and judgment through families.
— John Sartelle

I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
— Exodus 20

Jesus said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.
— Matthew 19

For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.
—Acts 2

Why do we baptize? and what does it signify? Before we look into the question of who we baptize, these questions are necessary to give context to the discussion and frame it.

Baptism is revealed as a command in Scripture. In the great commission found at the end of the Gospel of Matthew we hear Jesus calling us to make disciples and to baptize them in the Triune Name of God. In the Acts of the Apostles and apostolic letters we read of the Word of God being preached and people believing and having their households be baptized.

To determine what baptism signifies, we remember that baptism, like many Christian doctrines, finds its root in the Old Testament. Genesis 15 reveals the covenant God made with Abraham when God alone (pictured as a smoking pot and flaming torch) passed through the torn animals. In Genesis 17 God gave Abram a new name and the sign of the covenant: circumcision. Circumcision was to be given to every man of Abraham’s household and male infants were to be circumcised. Yet we know from examples given in Scripture (such as Esau) that not all who were given the sign of the covenant remained in the covenant, that is, not all of the visible community of faith are of the elect.

Baptism signifies our introduction in the covenant of grace. Not only is it a symbol of this introduction but it seals us in this community. The (Ana)Baptists err on two counts, viz., that baptism is a token of our profession of faith, and that there is no spiritual reality corresponding with the sign. Baptism is no mere token of faith! We cheapen the sign (and thereby grace) when we say it merely symbolizes grace without saying that baptism conveys (or is a means of) grace. Let us be clear, it is not justifying grace that baptism conveys, that is, we are not saved by baptism. However baptism marks the recipient as a member of the church, a people on whom God has bestowed his especial blessing. Baptism does not confer benefits solely at the moment when one is baptized but throughout the life of the Christian. Christians are encouraged to remember their baptism; we recognize that we live as we began, by the grace of God alone.

With this in mind we can begin to answer the question: who do we baptize? We baptize those who are heirs of the covenant of grace. Which of course leads to the question, who are heirs to the covenant? Remembering the Bible is one book — not two — we see that in covenants made with Old Testament figures, the covenant included the figures’ descendants. While Noah was noted as righteous, his children entered the ark as well. God promised with Abraham and his children received the sign of the covenant. Job offered sacrifices not only for himself but his household, etc. Examining the new covenant we see it is greatly expanded; the gospel is for all nations instead of primarily Jews, women are baptized instead of men only being circumcised. Children were included in the old covenants are they to be excluded in the new? (Remember, these covenants are outworkings of the same covenant of grace whereby Jesus secures redemption for his people and takes the wrath due them.) Wouldn’t there be an obvious command forbidding the baptism of our children? Instead of seeing this, we see that God is faithful to households. ‘What must I do to be saved?’ asks the Philippian jailer, Paul and Silas answer, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.’ Consequently, the jailer and his household are baptized.

Are children of believers the same as those of non-believers? Μη γενοιτο! May it never be! The Apostle Paul advises that even the children of a marriage with one believer are considered holy and set apart. We see throughout history God is delighted to work in families; by the grace of God the children of believers are included in the covenant and normally grow up to be believers themselves, exercising faith in God. Growing up in antipædobaptistic churches, I was ‘dedicated’ as a child to the Lord, and saw many such ‘dedications’ while growing up. Yet we nowhere in Scripture read of child dedication ceremonies. Even these churches realize there was something fundamentally different about Christian children. How great is God’s grace. Let us then give our children the sign of the covenant to which they were born (or adopted); they have ‘a right to the rite’ (Strawbridge).

A final word (Reader, I do not entice you with this phrase only to have you read several more paragraphs.) on the subject concerns the benefits of infant covenantal baptism. Baptism is effectual not only at the time of baptism but throughout life. When parents vow the oaths of baptism they commit themselves to raising the child in accordance with the grace of God. The child is to be immersed in Scripture and the ways of God, and sprinkled by appropriate discipline. The parents cannot presume on God’s grace but grasp hold of his promise and faithfulness to families. The children are reminded of their baptism when they see others being baptized into the household of God. Moreover, stressing the communal aspect of God’s great salvation, the congregation vows to assist in raising the child into his baptism. Praise be to God for allowing such a structure and that he did not call us to be alone but brought us into a community, a household of faith.

I leave you with the words of Calvin:

For how sweet is it to godly minds to be assured, not only by word, but by sight, that they obtain so much favour with the Heavenly Father that their offspring are within his care? … Should we not … rejoice with all our heart in thanksgiving, that his name may be hallowed by such an example of his goodness?
—Institutes 4.16.32

And now, just in time for St Valentine’s Day come the first images of Baby Hall. She was moving quite a bit during the ultrasound. They estimate Baby is 10 weeks old and her due date is now 10 Sept. We should find out her gender at 20 weeks.

Ah, so cute, so small, and so embryonic. I’m sure Mother Hall will soon have her own blog devoted to Baby.

On Saturday I was driving back from the dealership after having the car radio reset. As I was driving home, I was listening to the radio on the station it was preset to and heard what sounded like a country song. Having only a few minutes to drive home, I decided to listen to the song instead of station surfing.

The song sounded like a usual, upbeat country song with practical moral advice like: dance with your wife and kiss your husband every day, etc. The refrain was ‘Cause it’s not who you knew / And it’s not what you did / It’s how you live.’

When the song concluded, the station announced itself as a local ‘Christian’ Music station. I was shocked. (I normally don’t listen to mainstream Christian music — frequently, I play a game when I am out of town; while I’m scanning through the unfamiliar stations, I try to pick out which stations are playing contemporary Christian music; usually I can identify it within 1½ measures.) Now, granted I’ve come to expect that CCM generally speaks of Christ in a confused fashion. But this seems to outrightly deny the method of salvation. We cannot live rightly and get to heaven; true religion is not about ‘cleaning people up’ or having people live nice good lives. Rather, true religion is about how God steps into the mess our lives and redeems for himself a people. Ironically, the name of the group is Point of Grace.

I leave you with this line: Make peace with God and make peace with yourself / ’Cause in the end there’s nobody else.

My pastor has frequently commented that we are to approach God with ‘joyful reverence’, and while I cerebrally understand the idea, experientially the concept is not always perspicuous. Until recently, that is. Since discovering we were going to have a child, the similar concept of ‘exuberant terror’ seems completely normal. While very excited about having my new child; I am very humbled by the fact that I don’t know much about child raising. Quite frankly, it’s unnerving. Thus, we have two paradoxical emotions conjoined.

Although I’m still in the beginning phases of this game, I find it quite enjoyable. The game is a Japanese RPG for the PlayStation 2, (fortunately localized, however) where you enter the game having amnesia and explore a large country with many quests. (Unfortunately I tend to be too linear and it takes me longer to explore etc.) Along the way you learn to play music, (so far I’ve played the harmonica, trumpet, piano, and pipe organ) and explore several towns/cities. The core of the game however is the Trotbot, sort of an automobile with legs. The main character uses these to travel in between towns, and although the controls are a bit odd at first, involving the use of both analogue sticks, it does become quite fun to fight enemies with them. My favourite method would be to uproot trees and throw, or even picking up your opponent to throw him. Although a bit hard to find, I picked up a used copy for $18 on an obscure corner of the internet.

Well, I suppose a new category will have to be added to this blog: fatherhood.
For those of you who don’t know: my wife and I are expecting our firstborn. The due date is late August, early September.

The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy.
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Finding parallels with ancient Greek drama, J. R. R. Tolkien coined the word eucatastrophe to describe the sudden turning of events from bad to good. In his essay ‘On Fairy Stories’ Tolkien notes that most fairy stories have this experience; when the story turns from the protagonists being surrounded by insurmountable circumstances and a single unlooked-for event turns the fortunes of the characters. Consider also, in the Return of the King, when hope is all but lost, the host of Mordor vastly outnumbers the armies of the West; the last hope, Frodo, cannot destroy the One Ring. But, of course, this changes when Gollum/Sméagol takes the ring finger from Frodo, and in comical sequence, dances with pure excitement, loses his footing and plunges into the depths of Orodruin. Since most of Sauron’s power is bound in the ring, he loses this with the ring’s destruction and the forces of evil are defeated (although the characters still fight against remaining evil/sin, cf. The Scouring of the Shire [which was left out of the movie]).

Tolkien laments that eucatastrophe was absent from the modern novel, (cf. Jude the Obscure written 1895) but notes it is found in the older fairy stories and other literature such as Greek drama. (Star Wars: a New Hope also typifies the device with the destruction of the Death Star.) Although often misconstrued, the eucatastrophe is not the ‘happily ever after’ of fairy tales but the event which effectuates the state of ‘happily ever after’.

Yet (as foreshadowed by the introductory quote), the best example of eucatastrophe is the life and death of the Saviour: Jesus Christ. When man had eaten of the fruit of knowledge he enslaved himself and all his progeny in slavery to sin. Man cannot emancipate himself, and worse yet he does not care to do so. While he struggles under the wages of sin, he show inordinate fondness to the master. Stolen waters are sweet (Proverbs 9.17). But, in spite of all this, God takes on human flesh to accomplish redemption for his people! Even when God’s people do not have the sense to cry out to him, he takes delight in rescuing them from the mire (cf. the stories of Judges). He does not do this from afar but steps right into our world, and takes on physicality. To further expand on this, in the darkest hour after Jesus’ friends deserted him, after the weight of sin crushed him on the cross and brought him into the depths of hell, after the Christ had been dead three days: eucatastrophe. Our Saviour rises from the dead, the power of sin and death is broken (though not removed) and the folly and rebellion of Adam is reversed. While all of this is not yet realized and we live between Resurrection and Glory, we see that this event, the life and death of Jesus, his active and passive obedience, is what causes the sin of Adam to truly be a fall into grace. Not only this, but it effects the reformation and renewal of the entire universe.

As previously posted my new iMac came in on Thursday; I’m quite impressed with it. The first thing I noticed is the screen. My screen is a widescreen 16:9 format, 20″ along the diagonal. Coming from a 12″ laptop screen, this is ginormous! I have let to watch a DVD on it but am looking forward to it. At first I figured it would have less area than my 4:3 20″ TV, (and the total area is. [The reader is encouraged to work this out for himself.]) but neglected to consider that since a DVD plays in widescreen there is more viewable area on my widescreen monitor than the TV. (How much is more math than I cared to attempt since I had the epiphany last night.)

Other subtle effects are also nice; I love the way the keyboard feels; the keys respond at less pressure than a traditional keyboard, which translates into less movement and more comfortable keying. Also the keyboard has 19 F-keys which are nice if you want to assign Exposé, Dashboard, or Spaces to an F-key.

Speaking of which, the program Spaces is quite nice. Essentially you can set the computer to have up to 16 different ‘spaces’ where you can have different programs or instances of a program, (like web browsing for item x in space 1 and browsing for item y in space 2, etc.). The cool thing is that you can rearrange the spaces and even drag a window from one space into another! Switching between spaces is as easy as hitting ctrl-# (or ctrl-№) of the space you want.

A program I’ve been playing with is GarageBand of the iLife suite. Garageband lets you put loops of music together as well as record real or software instruments (which can be played with the keyboard) to put together music tracks or podcasts. I, being not terribly musically inclined, can’t play the instruments very well but enjoy the feature where it’ll take a genre give you a choice of instruments and put loops together to create a song.

I tested out the video chat feature with my brother yesterday, which was quite fun, I’ll have to encourage more of my friends to get video cameras.

iWork is another phenomenal program suite, it completely blows MS Office out of the water. Keynote (Slide show program) has such great 3-D transitions, although my favourite is the cube, where it appears that the slide is rotated as if were on a cube to reveal the next slide. Confetti is also fun where the slide exploded into virtual confetti to show the next slide. Pages (word processor and page layout program) is great for making family newsletters and posters. (We’ve used it for our Nativity letters.) Now in the ’08 version there are more themes and templates. New to the suite is Numbers (spreadsheet program), which I haven’t had much time to play with.

And finally, is Front Row and the Apple Remote, Front Row turns the computer into a media centre, allowing you to play music, movies, look at previews for movies, and show pictures from iPhoto. Also the remote controls Keynote and iTunes, (and probably others but I haven’t found them yet).

Well that’s it for now, next post will (likely) be on eucatastrophe, as requested by popular demand.

My new iMac came today and I’m quite excited, I took a picture of me taking a picture of it before I realized you all probably didn’t want to see a picture of me but of the computer. As soon as I get that picture off the camera (which I’ll do after I go search for the cord) I’ll post it, until then I’m going to play around some more; expect some posts on the iMac on the computer this weekend.

I recently received the board games Carcassonne and Puerto Rico. Both are quite enjoyable games, and plenty of fun to play. Both are German-style board games, meaning that they are themed games (not abstract like chess or draughts/chequers) where players are not eliminated during the course of the game.

Carcassonne is a tile laying game (for 2-5 players) where players compete to have their followers score the most points. The game starts with one tile (or in a variant, players can build a river as a starting grid) already placed and players draw title and deploy followers ‘meeple’ to one of several features: roads, cities, cloisters, or fields. The tiles have to match with the tiles around it. When a feature is complete (except for fields), the player takes her follower off the board and scores the points; she may now use the follower for another feature later on. Meeple placed on fields become farmers which cannot be removed until the end of the game, when they are scored. Judicious placement or farms can swing the game several points at the end, and a person may win from behind. A nice thing about Carcassonne is that there are several expansion packs which allow for several variants. (I have not got any expansion packs yet, but I’m looking forward to purchasing some.)

Puerto Rico (for 3 to 5 players) has a novel concept; players chose which ‘role’ to play each round. A governor (which rotates each round) chooses the first role and the associated actions are followed by the players, then the 2nd person chooses a role and all players follow the corresponding actions, etc. The player who chose that role gets some special advantage (e.g., the builder gets a reduced price for building an edifice). The roles let players produce goods, acquire settlers, and ship goods back to Spain, among others. My wife and I have been playing as two players each, but I just found a two-player variant online, that we’ll have to try.

All in all these are very good games and along with the Settlers of Catan (which is perhaps my favourite board game so far [We have all the expansions.]) serve as a good introduction to German-style board games, and I’m sure I’ll be buying additional titles in the future.

As a final note, I came across this war game, now I have to get it, but what a price tag!

I would like to get a Wii for my birthday in August. As we all know, it is currently hard to find one. My friend Stephanie pointed me to an interesting article about the reasons for the shortage.

A while back I was pointed to the FreeRice website. I now have spent quite a bit of time on it. The basic premise is that the site presents a word and the player selects the best definition from 4 options. If the player gets the word correctly, the site donates 20 grains of rice to alleviate word hunger. The money for the rice comes from the advertising on the bottom of the screen.

What’s not to love? you’re increasing your vocabulary and feeling like you’ve contributed to solving a major world issue. Besides, where else are you going to find out words like ‘bumbershoot’?

On a side note, does anyone know the number of grains of rice in a fifty-pound bag?

A good friend lent me a computer while I wait to afford a new one (which should be mid-January when we’ll buy an iMac). So I’ve been able now to check my email, check out The Shepherd’s Scrapbook Blog which has very nice pictures of books and found an interesting article on infralapsarianism versus supralapsarianism; a topic I was very interested in a year or two after I became Reformed but (while it is still interesting) have come to the conclusion that it is delving too deep into the mind God — although it does show the unsearchableness thereof. But, perhaps I’ll get Berkhof’s Systematic Theology for Nativity and I can brush up on it.

But that is not the reason I borrowed the computer. I have decided to attempt to learn how to programme for computers. My friend was gracious enough to give me some materials to start programming in C#. I’ve only worked through a few simple programmes, the first of course being “Hello World”, but it seems it should be interesting and more important, useful. Of course it is quite a bit easier to learn by doing examples with the computer than trying to learn just the knowledge without. (While I learnt the concept in the University, I didn’t always heed it.)

(Sadly, because my computer died, my posts will be infrequent until January)

I went to Phoenix this weekend and visited with my sister-in-law & her husband. While my wife was with the girls shopping and going to female-only makeup parties. I went to hear Drs Godfrey and Horton in an conference. It was interesting; the topics were evangelism thru the preaching of the Word.

After much debate and £125,000, ‘Welcome to Scotland’ is Scotland’s new tourism motto. Just a wee bit underwhelming, except of course that price tag, which is US $257,000. That’s $86,000 per word. Obviously I’m in the wrong business.

I think they could have at least translated into Scottish, ‘Walcome tae Scotland’.

This week, I went to see the Broadway (or off-Broadway, I forget) musical The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands The show was great and the performers sang very well. However, being in the back meant we that we couldn’t see all that well; I had forgot to bring my field glasses, which I guess is okay since I’m sure my 10x or 12x binoculars would look quite out of place.

I enjoyed the introducer, stating in a Mafia accent that the is show is not sponsored by nor affiliated with organized crime.

But I think my favourite comment was before the last song, Frank said, ‘I’ll now sing the national anthem’ and proceeded to sing I Did it My Way

At work, this email was sent to all employees yesterday:

As the holidays get closer, we would like to bring a little holiday cheer to our work area. You’re more than welcome to bring ornaments (Non-denominational only please… no Santa, religious etc.) to hang on our holiday tree!

Ignoring the silliness about the ‘holiday tree’, because brevity is the art of wit, or so it is said.

My thought was, ‘No Santas?! When did commercialism become a denomination?’

Or as my wife quipped, ‘Santa represents commercialism, the national religion; tell them that by forbidding Santa, they’re being unpatriotic.’

I am currently reading through Guns, Germs, and Steel (a good book, although rather verbose). The author mentions in passing a few islands off the coast of Tasmania and southern Australia which were connected to Australia and Tasmania at the end of the Last Ice Age. As the sea rose with the melting of the glaciers, Tasmania and these other smaller islands became separated from the Australian mainland. While these smaller islands off the coast of Tasmania were discovered by Europeans they were uninhabited. Evidence was found however that there were at one time Australian Aborigines on the islands. The book states that from a population in the few hundreds, ultimately the populations were not self sustaining and died off; apparently there is no evidence that the island Aborigines had watercraft.

One wonders what the last person on each island thought before he died. Did his culture remember the mainland Australia? Did he think he was the last person on Earth? (I realize there is a movie coming out that explores this theme, I am Legend — well ‘explores’ is probably not the right word.) One wonders if there were a small group that the members died at the same time, or was one man or woman left alive and survived for years after his or her comrades passed away. The isolation must have been staggering; how much hope could there be if you thought you were the last person alive and knew you could not reproduce and continue the line of humans? What sort of mythologies or worldview would a culture that knew it was dying out have?

I only have a cigar socially about once every 6 months but was introduced to this poem by a friend. If anyone knows of a ‘Drinking Spiritualized’ please feel free to share.

Smoking Spiritualized.
In Two Parts.

Part One: The Law

This Indian weed now wither’d quite,
Tho’ green at noon, cut down at night,
Shows thy decay;
All flesh is hay.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

The pipe, so lily-like and weak,
Does thus thy mortal state bespeak
Thou art ev’n such,
Gone with a touch.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

And when the smoke ascends on high,
Then thou behold’st the vanity
Of worldy stuff,
Gone with a puff.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

And when the pipe grows foul within,
Think on thy soul defil’d with sin;
For then the fire,
It does require.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

And seest the ashes cast away;
Then to thyself thou mayest say,
That to the dust
Return thou must.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

Part Two: The Gospel

Was this small plant for thee cut down!
So was the Plant of great renown;
Which mercy sends
For nobler ends.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

Doth juice medicinal proceed
From such a naughty foreign weed?
Then what’s the power
Of Jesse’s flower?
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

The promise, like the pipe, inlays,
And by the mouth of faith conveys
What virtue flows
From Sharon’s rose.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

In vain th’ unlighted pipe you blow;
Your pains in outward means are so,
Till heav’nly fire
The heart inspire.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

The smoke, like burning incense, tow’rs;
So should a praying heart of yours,
With ardent cries,
Surmount the skies.
Thus think, and smoke tobacco.

A basic presupposition of Christianity (which is oft forgotten) is that God is in complete control of the universe; i.e., he is sovereign. God has revealed he is Creator and Redeemer and is sovereign over both creation and redemption. When he speaks, things happen. Yet God does not often thunder from beyond the sky, but uses secondary methods (the ordinary and mundane mechanisms of the world) to orchestrate history and achieve his ends. We see even in the lives of Abraham and Moses — who experienced God speaking directly — long periods where God is silent, and the two are asked to be faithful to God without hearing directly. Since the cessation of revelation with the writings of the last apostle, God has been directly history by ordinary, mundane, everyday means. While not much of what transpires makes sense, Christians trust (or ought) that God is sovereign and will work out everything to his end. As Moses wrote, ‘The secret things belong to the Lord.’

In the first sentence God speaks to man, he commands him to subdue the earth and exercise dominion over it. Though often misinterpreted, God delegates humanity as vicegerents or stewards of the earth. The phrase does not mean that man should pillage the earth and mismanage its resources. Before the Fall of Adam, man would have been a perfect steward, always keeping in mind who owned and ruled the earth. He would have productively worked the land, been responsible with the technology he developed, and in all things worked effectively. (He also would have enjoyed leisure fully, but that issue is outside the scope of this article.) But alas, Adam sinned and partook of the forbidden fruit, and we (among other ill effects of that tree) no longer properly steward the earth.

J.R.R Tolkien expressed the idea of stewardship well in his Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings. At the time when The Lord of the Rings takes place, Gondor is ruled by the Steward Denethor. Denethor is from a long line of stewards since the kingly line of the Southern Kingdom failed. Over a thousand years have past and no king sits in the throne of Gondor; the steward himself only sits in a chair beside the throne. Denethor’s eldest, Boromir, asks how long can the throne be vacant until a steward ascends to the position of king. Denethor, in effect, states never. Yet Tolkien also shows the degeneration of the role of Stewardship as neither Boromir nor Denethor recognize Aragorn as King.

How does this relate to climate change? There has been much talk about global warming and greenhouse emissions. It seems indisputable that the earth’s atmosphere is getting warmer, though there are debates as to how much. It is also probably true that humanity has some effect on these temperatures. How should we approach this? First, remember that God is sovereign, nothing happens outside his secret will. As stewards, the prudent course of action is to analyse the data, and to develop a course of action that takes all data into consideration. This may include having different emissions standards for different countries, depending on population, development status, economical considerations, and so forth. While we should reduce emissions, this is not the sole thing that must occur. Another part of a comprehensive strategy is to develop non-fossil fuels. Of course other economic considerations must take place. Let us exercise our stewardship well, and let everything be done to the glory of God.

While I was websurfing, I found this site with this great image.

I must admit, I sometimes listen to talk radio, mostly in the morning when all the music stations have talk anyway. The local FM Talk Radio station is named ‘The Truth’, which is quite a pretentious name for news and politics radio. Recently, (well I only started listening a few months ago, but probably since forever, since that seems to be the nature of the hosts; every one of them will pontificate and wax eloquent for 30-40 min on 30-40 seconds of content [Or twice as long with half the content if the host is Rush Limbaugh.] with probably no more than 5 or 6 topics in the host’s répertoire.) the topic has been illegal immigration.

Now, I’m as much for immigration reform as the next guy, but I find it outré how much the discussion is disparaging toward the immigrants themselves. All sorts of deprecatory labels are given to them. The most common is criminal, which although technically true, in that they have broken a law, takes into no account the difference between malum in se [wrong in itself], and malum prohibitum [wrong due to prohibition]. For example, murder is a malum in se, but travelling 209,664 fpf in a 201,600 furlong per fortnight zone. (78 mph in a 75 mph zone or 125 km/h in 120 km/h zone). Crossing borders into a different territory is an example of malum prohibitum. The real crime rests with the governments. Consider the subpar conditions in Mexico, whose people flee their oppressive situation to come a land of opportunity, many of which send a substantial money back home to enrich their families’ lives. Many of these immigrants are honest labourers, simply trying to improve their situation. Now I agree, they should go through customs and attempt to enter the USA legally. Unfortunately our government has failed us by making the illegal entry into this country easier than legal entry. Does the Statue of Liberty no longer beckon the world’s disenfranchised?

What I propose is an immigration reform that secures our borders making illegal entry difficult, but to remove the quotas imposed on non-European countries; more Mexican seasonal workers should be given work vistas. This way we can screen applicants and we’d be better able to prevent true criminals or terrorists from coming into our land.

But of course the animosity goes deeper than that; these hosts and presumably their listeners, so value ‘American’ culture, that they are afraid of any foreign influences. I have heard such ludicrous ideas as forbidding the use of Spanish (or other foreign language) in homes and minority community stores and churches. Although I do believe that the most preposterous thing said was that ‘they’ are bastardizing our language. I really did want someone to call in and say something in Old English, and accuse the host of speaking bastardized English for not understanding him.

Yet, all people contain the image of God (imago Dei); broken and shattered though it be by the Fall. We are called to treat each other with honour and respect. To disparage another human is to disparage God in effigy. We are all descended from Adam, and all bruised and broken in his Fall. Therefore, no basis for discrimination remains; we are all beggars. Yet though the imago Dei is defaced, it is not effaced; broken and shattered but not annihilated nor destroyed. Hope remains still, and let us seek thus: that people of every culture, language, and nation have the image of God restored. This power belongs only to Christ, the Second Adam; where Adam failed, he succeeded, while the first cast all his progeny into darkness, the latter restores his to light. The Apostle Paul writes that Christ forms the new humanity, in which there is no free or slave, Greek or Barbarian, Scythian or Jew, male or female.

I close with the words of Charles Wesley, from the hymn Hark, How All the Welkin Rings (usually Hark! the Herald Angels Sing):

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.

Yesterday, my wife and were invited to our friends’ house where we ate dinner and played a couple of board games: Yellowstone and Acquire.

We played Yellowstone before dinner, while their rambunctious two-year old played with her large floor puzzle. Yellowstone is a fun, non taxing, game. In the game you have to control a herd (bison, big-horned sheep, mule deer, or elk) from the edge of the board to the centre. In some ways it resembles a complex version of Chinese Checkers, only with predators stalking your marbles/members of the herd. Overall, it is fun, and quite entertaining when you send a mountain lion to kill a rival herd’s unaccompanied young.

After dinner, we played Aquire. Now this is quite the interesting game. My friend has one of the old versions when it was produced by 3M. The parts are rather simple: a game board with co-ordinates (A-I and 1-12), tiles with printed co-ordinates, 7 hotel chains, paper money, and stock for each company. Each turn is rather simple but the strategy overall is complex and subtle. It is hard to know who is winning until all the money is counted at the end. Each turn consists of playing one of six tiles in your hand, buying stock, and replacing the tile in your hand. For founding a company, the player is awarded a free share of stock. The challenge comes in when companies merge. The smaller company is absorbed into the larger, bonuses are paid to the two largest shareholders of the small company, and all holders can trade shares for the new company, sell the shares, or keep, hoping the company will be restarted. The strategy is to buy stock in companies in the beginning that’ll be bought out, but to end up as a majority shareholder in couple of the larger surviving companies. Of course, it’s often hard to predict which company will perform. A lot of what makes the game enjoyable is that each player is kept in the game until the end. Much to her delight, my wife won. Amazingly, we left at 10:30 pm and I had to be work the next day at 6:45 am, but it was well worth it.

Perhaps next I can comment on one of my favourite games, Settlers of Catan (of which we have 2 expansion packs).

I was watching the Planet Earth on DVD last night and again saw the locust plague. It was quite interesting to watch and I had written a note about it the first time, which is the basis for this post. (Although I have expanded it.)

Watching the destruction brought by the swarm and hearing David Attenborough describe the various instars of locust brought to mind the book of Joel. (Apparently locust too young to fly move about by jumping and are called ‘hoppers’.) Now while many would be reminded of the plague of locust against the Egyptians at the time of the Exodus, or the wild description of locust in Revelation, my mind was brought to the plague that gives the prophecy of Joel context, which Joel says was brought against Israel, God’s people, by God himself.

What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
Joel 1:4 ESV (English Standard Version)

(Without delving too deeply into the difference between formal equivalence ‘word-for-word’ [e.g., KJV, ESV, NASB] and dynamic equivalence ‘thought-for-thought’ [e.g., NIV, TLV, the Message] I was shocked at how some dynamic versions translated the text, the worst example probably being the CEV [Contemporary English Version]:

Swarm after swarm of locusts has attacked our crops, eating everything in sight.

Where is the majesty of this? Joel, written in poetry, has been turned into prose, vapid prose at that. But I digress, this is a topic for another time.)

The text continues to state that the elements of the grain and drink offering are devoured, and Israel can no longer offer those sacrifices. How would we respond if the vine and grain were destroyed, if we could no longer commune with God in the sacraments? The presence of God would be in some sense removed from his people. Yet we see in 2:12 that the Lord calls his own to a life of repentance (Cf. Luther’s 95 Theses) ‘Rend your hearts and not your garments.’ True repentance does not consist of outward signs. Even weeping, while good, is not sufficient, but repentance, prompted by the Holy Spirit, must affect our whole being. And although pity is not owed us (repentance is not the cause of grace), the Lord promises grace in Christ to those who believe and repent.

I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
Joel 2:25

As the title of the blog included etymology I suppose I should include a post about it. The other day I was reading The Institutes of Christian Religion — which one should never read without a dictionary nearby — when I came across the word obdurate which is apparently very similar to obstinate. My Oxford dictionary gives this etymology

ORIGIN late Middle English (originally in the sense [hardened in sin, impenitent] ): from Latin obduratus, past participle of obdurare, from ob- ‘in opposition’ + durare ‘harden’ (from durus ‘hard’ ).

Obstinate comes from the Latin to persist.

On a further note there’s even a useful note at stubborn delineating the usage and shades of meaning of the related words.

THE RIGHT WORD
If you’re the kind of person who takes a stand and then refuses to back down, your friends might say you have a stubborn disposition, a word that implies an innate resistance to any attempt to change one’s purpose, course, or opinion.

People who are stubborn by nature exhibit this kind of behavior in most situations, but they might be obstinate in a particular instance (: a stubborn child, he was obstinate in his refusal to eat vegetables). Obstinate implies sticking persistently to an opinion, purpose, or course of action, especially in the face of persuasion or attack.
While obstinate is usually a negative term, dogged can be either positive or negative, implying both tenacious, often sullen, persistence (: dogged pursuit of a college degree, even though he knew he would end up in the family business) and great determination ( | dogged loyalty to a cause).

Obdurate usually connotes a stubborn resistance marked by harshness and lack of feeling (: obdurate in ignoring their pleas), while intractable means stubborn in a headstrong sense and difficult for others to control or manage ( | intractable pain).

No matter how stubborn you are, you probably don’t want to be called pertinacious, which implies persistence to the point of being annoying or unreasonable (: a pertinacious panhandler).

With 2 batches of homebrew under my belt, I’m looking to do another soon. I decided to appease my SO and brew a Cherry Wheat Ale; I’ll probably do a kit again until I get comfortable enough to play with the recipes. My first batch I named what the recipe was labelled, and worked as a consultant on the 2nd batch (which ended up just being named the style of the beer).  I am thinking of naming this one ‘Cereza Cerveza’ but am open to suggestions. 

Nearly all the wisdom we posses, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.  
— John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
— J.R.R. Tolkien — The Hobbit 

Call me Ishmael.
— Herman Melville — Moby Dick 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
— The Bible 

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
— Jane Austin — Pride and Prejudice 

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
— Douglas Adams — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 

Failing to think of a suitable introduction to my first post on my first blog, I have sampled from literature. Which brings us to the subject of the post. Knowledge is primarily personal. What we know about others comes from revelation of them, either by themselves or one who knows them (though this not always by the intent of the revealer). On the internet, this is even more so, as people adopt personae which correspond to their real-world presence to varying degrees. 

Likewise, God (who cannot unintentionally reveal himself) can only be known by his revelation. In creation (an unnecessary act) he revealed himself. But we are no longer in communion with God or nature; how do we know we see God rightly in creation?How can we trust our senses and reasoning? Are we akin to bleary-eyed men who if a beautiful book were cast in front of us could not read even two words? Where do we get glasses to see, &c.? 

More anon, I have to interact with the real world.