Chicken Little the Patron Saint of Dispensationalism

"Only the fool living under the sun determines to 'Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.' What then do we make of those under the Son who claim 'Evangelize, evangelize, evangelize, for tomorrow we are raptured?' No one wants to come out against evangelism, especially me. It may very well be that in the providence of God the threat of an impending rapture, and of a tribulation to follow, may actually have motivated a few folks to spread the Good News. Wouldn't it just be like God to use such a thing to bring His sheep into His fold? There's a true sign of the sovereignty of God--He is strong enough to use even a dispensational eschatology for His glory. On the other hand, it may be that one day all their apologetical labors will fall on deaf ears when they come to be seen by the world as those whose patron saint is Chicken Little" (R. C. Sproul, Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 55).

Official BLUE Trailer - "Carbon Dioxide is the staff of life."

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Radio - Blessing

"He [Reuven Malter's father] put the radio on the night table. A radio brought the world together, he said very often. Anything that brought the world together he called a blessing" (Chaim Potok, The Chosen, 50).

Cost of Discipleship

"In the Middle Ages, the church showed its glorious wisdom by placing statues of the martyrs at the front door, in the portal of the church. Thus the faithful were welcomed into the church with scenes of decapitation, bloody swords, and suffering servants of God. The church, up front, at the first, portrayed the cost of discipleship" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 102).

Inheritance

"I have thus far sought to argue that, because of the doctrine of creation, historical locatedness is something good. The tradition we inherit is part of our location in history, and so in doing theology it is necessary to relate to the tradition" (Stephen R. Holmes, Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology, 17).

Graveyard Science

Doug Wilson recently posted Seven Theses on the Age of the Earth.

Theses #4 -- The fossil record is a record of death. The fossil record is a graveyard. We have exegetical reasons for believing that this paleontological graveyard was planted after the fall of man. We have a time stamp for Adam in the genealogies, and because of what the Scriptures teach about the nature of death, the recorded deaths of all sentient beings needs to be dated after that point.

"Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory."

"When your congregation prays 'Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,' the folk at City Hall ought to get nervous. The church exists to sign, to signal, to sing about the tension whereby those who are at the bottom are being lifted up and those who are on top are being sent down" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 97).

Celebrations of a Sola Scripturist

"We should not attempt to escape from our embeddedness in the Christian tradition, but should rather celebrate it" (Stephen R. Holmes, Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology, 13).

In light of the doctrine of creation, Stephen Holmes is contemplating the goodness of "historical locatedness" (6).

Let me add that it is the doctrine of sola scriptura which enables the believer embedded in the Christian tradition to celebrate, to borrow a phrase, both "in spirit and in truth." God's revelation teaches us first and foremost that God is God and we are part of his creation. Scripture is our chief authority, it is God's Word given by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life (WCF. I. 2.), and in Scripture we learn to be thankful for "historical locatedness" (i.e., creatureliness) and to celebrate tradition, which is a "subsidiary authority" (6).

Aphoristic Commentary: Numbers 27:16-17

What Moses said to God when looking for a successor: Numbers 27:16-17, Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.

Moses was a shepherd over the flocks of Jethro in Midian (Exodus 3:1) before becoming the shepherd of Israel (Exodus 3:10). Moses was a true shepherd, he was concerned that the flock would still be shepherded when he was gone.

Prayer of Allegiance

"The Lord's Prayer is training in how to understand the political significance of God's Messiah, Jesus. It is a pledge of allegiance to a king and his kingdom that throws all other allegiances into crisis" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 96).

Prayer: Getting Ready for a Fight

"Satan masquerades as an angel of light and resists being unmasked. Get ready for a fight" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 91).

Emily Dickinson: Envelope Poem - A 128

A 128

All       men       for        Honor
hardest        work
But            are      not      known
to     earn -
Paid      after        they   have
ceased     to        work
In          Infamy           or   Urn -

(Marta Werner and Jen Bervin, Emily Dickinson: The Gorgeous Nothings [a collection of Dickinson's "envelope poems"], 28).

Save Us!

"Christians are those who ask to be saved" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 87).

George MacDonald - The Girl That Lost Things

The Girl That Lost Things by George MacDonald

There was a girl that lost things—

Nor only from her hand;

She lost, indeed—why, most things,

As if they had been sand!

She said, "But I must use them,

And can't look after all!

Indeed I did not lose them,

I only let them fall!"

That's how she lost her thimble,

It fell upon the floor:

Her eyes were very nimble

But she never saw it more.

And then she lost her dolly,

Her very doll of all!

That loss was far from jolly,

But worse things did befall.

She lost a ring of pearls

With a ruby in them set;

But the dearest girl of girls

Cried only, did not fret.

And then she lost her robin;

Ah, that was sorrow dire!

He hopped along, and—bob in—

Hopped bob into the fire!

And once she lost a kiss

As she came down the stair;

But that she did not miss,

For sure it was somewhere!

Just then she lost her heart too,

But did so well without it

She took that in good part too,

And said—not much about it.

But when she lost her health

She did feel rather poor,

Till in came loads of wealth

By quite another door!

And soon she lost a dimple

That was upon her cheek,

But that was very simple—

She was so thin and weak!

And then she lost her mother,

And thought that she was dead;

Sure there was not another

On whom to lay her head!

And then she lost her self—

But that she threw away;

And God upon his shelf

It carefully did lay.

And then she lost her sight,

And lost all hope to find it;

But a fountain-well of light

Came flashing up behind it.

At last she lost the world:

In a black and stormy wind

Away from her it whirled—

But the loss how could she mind?

For with it she lost her losses,

Her aching and her weeping,

Her pains and griefs and crosses,

And all things not worth keeping;

It left her with the lost things

Her heart had still been craving;

'Mong them she found—why, most things,

And all things worth the saving.

She found her precious mother,

Who not the least had died;

And then she found that other

Whose heart had hers inside.

And next she found the kiss

She lost upon the stair;

'Twas sweeter far, I guess,

For ripening in that air.

She found her self, all mended,

New-drest, and strong, and white;

She found her health, new-blended

With a radiant delight.

She found her little robin:

He made his wings go flap,

Came fluttering, and went bob in,

Went bob into her lap.

So, girls that cannot keep things,

Be patient till to-morrow;

And mind you don't beweep things

That are not worth such sorrow;

For the Father great of fathers,

Of mothers, girls, and boys,

In his arms his children gathers,

And sees to all their toys

Housekeeping

"The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing is lost. I mean fragments of time as well as materials" (Lydia Maria Francis Child, The American Frugal Housewife, 3).

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is not natural. That's why we have to pray, 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us' every day" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 85).

Prayer: Rediscover the Joy of Being a Creature

"Prayer is the essential practice, the gift that God has given us to help us rediscover the joy of being a creature, of being out of control" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 80).

History and Self

"Your father said I should read Jewish history. He said the first important step in anyone's education is to know your own people" (Chaim Potok, The Chosen, 154).

God Meets Us

"When we want to meet God, we Christians do not go up some high mountain, do not rummage around in our psyches, do not hold hands, close our eyes, and sing "Kum Ba Yah" in the hope of revelation. We gather and break bread in Jesus' name. That's where he has chosen to meet us, that's where our eyes are opened and we recognize him" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 73).

Defiant

"Note that the Lord's Prayer is meant to be prayed aloud, as a public gesture. Rarely do we mumble this prayer quietly. It is meant to be a very audible, very public event. As we have said, this is one of the most defiant, politically charged, public things we Christians can do--pray the Lord's Prayer" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 69).