MzEllen & Co.

sorry for the unexplained grossness…

PhotoHunt

(after backpacking in the rain)

Meijer Garden

Grand Rapids, MI

There may a couple more…but I’m backpacking in the wilderness today…

Where I am today…South Manitou Island.

A new page on my website (The Page of Pages)…along with my latest photos from Meijer Garden.

“Before You Convert to Roman Catholicism…(Top Ten List)” from Reformation Theoiogy

Thinklings Bird’s new blog, “Mind’s Eye”

From ESV.org - their take on Malachi 2:16.

“Difficulties with Roman Catholicism” - from 1829. HT Beggers All.

We’re getting ready to leave…a beach without footprints is a wonderful privilege.

I’ve preposted a couple of things - until Thursday…we’re outta here.

(an my backpack weighs 27 pounds - under 30!!!

Daniel Gooch was born…I have that stamp.

(I’m starting a new series - I dug out my husband’s old stamp collection, not realizing that there are some very cool (and potentially valuable) stamps. So I took photos and some of them will be great blog fodder.

If anybody want to buy a stamp…

English, laid the first successful transatlantic cables. Sir Daniel Gooch was an English railway pioneer and inventor who was trained in George Stephenson & Edward Pease’s works at Newcastle upon Tyne. He was locomotive superintendent of Great Western Railway for 27 years, where as Brunel’s right-hand man, he designed the best broad-gauge engines and invented “the suspended link motion with the shifting radius link” in 1843. Gooch also experimented with a dynamometer carriage. In 1864 he resigned to concentrate on developing telegraphic communication. Sir Daniel Gooch and his son Charles, were the engineers who laid the first Atlantic Cable from the steamship The Great Eastern. Daniel became member of Parliment. Died October 15, 1889.

Ok…my computer is running slow and so is my brain. I reread Chapter 2 and it was listening to Charlie Brown’s teacher.

However…Chapter 2 is…”If It Ain’t Broke…” (I’m editing and publishing as I go…there’s a thunderstorm rolling in and I don’t want to lose my work if the lights go out!)
White points out that there are two extremes in Christianity -

• “change for the sake of change” - if it’s old it can’t be good.
• “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” - if it’s new it can’t be good.

There’s a middle road that chooses to examine things for what they are - not because they’re old or new. Tradition is not Scripture; we are not to seek “new truths” that take us beyond Scripture, which is sufficient. But we are not to be so attached to traditions, to “we’ve always done it this way” that we are unwilling to change/improve/grow.

It does seem that over the last few years (relatively speaking) that there have been perhaps too many translations made available.

3. Extra card for my digital camera…

4. Extra battery pack for my digital camera…

5. Digital camera.

6. Contact case/solution/glasses

7. Cell phone (last time we were on this island, I got a signal from Wisconsin)

8. Swim suit

9. More batteries than I think I need. All of the flashlights, Tom’s camera and Amanda’s CD player all use AA’s.

10. iPod. With sermons

11. Don’t forget the headphones

12. coffee - instant and the bags kind

13…great attitude!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

I don’t remember what this sculpture is called (I call it the face twister…there are more faces than what you can see below, but I couldn’t get good shots.) It’s one of my favorite sculptures in the park,
and from another side…below

(shaking my head) - HT: Jim West.
“sex Offender Back in the Pulpit”

Yes, forgiveness is a good thing…no, stupidity is not.

The basic story is that Jeff Hannah (youth pastor) was convicted of having sexual relations with four underage girls. In 2001 he was paroled and jointed the First Baptist Church of Romeo (where his new wife was a member - yes, that “new” is significant). Soon after, Hannah was asked to fill the pulpit of that church until a replacement was hired.

What makes me think this is stupid? (and there’s more later)

What was the state of Hannah’s “repentance”? Pretty much non-existent

In talking to the Sun-Times last week, Hannah, 42, was unapologetic about his crimes, saying his first marriage had been troubled and he’d had “urges.”

“I honestly believe that had I been a college pastor, I’d slept with college girls,” he said. “But I was a youth pastor. It was less about age and more about who I spent all my time with.”

If he had been repentant (I was wrong and I’m sorry, help me not to do it again) he might have had a case. What does the pastor of the church where he committed these crimes say?

The Rev. Steve Farish, pastor of Crossroads Church, which has relocated to Grayslake, said he considered Hannah so dangerous that he warned the Romeoville church and a regional Southern Baptist official.

“We thought he could still potentially be a danger to women and children,” Farish said. “He was never repentant and never told the truth.”

The deacon at First Baptist Church said,

“In our church, we believe in forgiveness,” said Del Kirkpatrick, one of the deacons who hired Hannah.

Okay…here’s more.

Kirkpatrick hired Hannah as interim pastor (paroled sex offender to be in the pulpit).

So what happened when a permanent head pastor was hired? Well duh…Kirkpatrick (the one with forgiveness, remember?) left the church. WHY?

The new pastor was divorced and then he remarried.

“A pastor should be the husband of one wife,” Kirkpatrick said.(…)

Some in the congregation were upset by Hannah’s role, but Hamby’s remarriage was a bigger controversy, according to church officials. The feud bubbled over last week, when Hamby and Hannah abruptly resigned.

Yes…don’t let your lip-service to “forgiveness” extend to the divorced. That would be really bad. Way worse than putting an unrepentant sex offender in the pulpit.

They have made “marriage” the god.

I guess it’s a good thing that God came to earth, incarnate, to be our Savior, not to be a pastor (Jeremiah 3:8)

More links to takes on this stupidity story:

Scotteriology

The Roland Report

PastorBlog

A possible run for governor of Michigan, 2010?

Ah yes. Tomorrow is the day that we go get college text books (I’m taking Education Psychology and Spanish 1 - again)

I should be getting my new camera (prep for next week) and I’d better be getting my new backpack (also prep)

Possibly on Tuesday (or maybe even Monday night depending on what else happens) we may head over to the “big lake” (Michigan) and sit on the beach for a day (and take the camper and spend the night!

Sunday is the fun trip. I’m getting the new backpack because we’re heading up to South Manitou Island for a couple of nights. This involves carrying everything we’ll need for a three-day, two-night trip. I desperately want to keep my pack under 35 pounds, thus the desire (not need) for a new, smaller, lighter camera - and pack. There’s water on the island, so we don’t have to pack gallons of it. But Amanda refuses to share a tent with me, so we each have to carry our own tent (5 pounds down). And the pack is 3.5 pounds. Sleeping bag is 4 pounds. That’s nearly 15. Add water, clothing, food, water, first aid kit, etc., etc…

Here’s the list so far

Continue Reading »

An instructional (it’s not what you think - and it’s very cute)

(Ashley, the author, is hosting the Carnival of Beauty this week - the Beauty of Change)

An excellent article at Parchment and Pen.

Is our Canon of Scripture a fallible collection of infallible books? To start at the beginning (definitions), the word “canon” means “rule” or “measuring rod”. The Canon is the “rule” by which the church believes Scripture is measured. The Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches all use different Canons - and the Orthodox churches even vary within that segment.

So the question is: How do we know what books belong in the Bible?

Roman Catholics and Orthodox will refer to the fourth century councils and Roman Catholics will refer to the Council of Trent, where Rome dogmatically defined the Canon is they define it today.

The author (C. Michael Patton) notes that every Bible has a list of books that is included in the Canon (whichever list they are using) - but that list is NOT part of the Canon. We have no infallible list of the Canon IN the Canon. So - since we (Protestants) believe that there is no infallible HUMAN authority - the only final and infallible authority is God and His Word, how do we know (infallibly) that we are reading the right books?

The short answer is that we can’t. We cannot be infallibly sure (this side of the grave) that we have the correct list of books.

I didn’t know that it was R.C.Sproul that first made the statement that we have a “fallible collection of infallible books”. And then - what about interpretation? Are we left with a fallible interpretation of a fallible collection of infallible books? Is it time to migrate to the “one true church”?

Not so fast. In the end, this is an issue of epistemology. Epistemology deals with the question “How do you know?” How do we know the canon is correct? How do we know we have the right interpretation? Assumed within these questions is the idea of certainty. How do you know with certainty? Not only this, but how do you know with absolute certainty?

He answers:

1. This supposed need for absolute certainty is primarily the product of the enlightenment and a Cartesian epistemology. To say that we have to be infallibly certain about something before it can be believed and acted upon is setting the standard so high that only God Himself could attain to it. Outside of mathematics and analytical statements (e.g. a triangle had three sides), there is no absolute certainty, only relative certainty. This does not, however, give anyone an excuse or alleviate responsibility for belief in something.

I have some difficulty (as one of the commentors noted) that the supposed need for certainty came earlier than the enlightenment. However, the point remains that the lack of infallible certainty does not relieve us of the responsibility to believe and act upon the probability of certainty (see the article for examples).

2. The smoke screen of epistemological certainty that seems to be provided by having a living infallible authority (Magisterium) disappears when we realize that we all start with fallibility. No one would claim personal infallibility.

Therefore it is possible for all of us to be wrong. We all have to start with personal fallible engagement in any issue. Therefore, any belief in an infallible living authority could be wrong. As Geisler and MacKenzie put it,

As the author puts it, same river, different boats.  I have a fallible faith in God to preserve His Word.  Another person may have a fallible faith in a church to preserve God’s Word.  Either way, we both start with our own personal fallibility.

Is there a place for doubt?  Here’s a post. I like this paragraph:

Existential doubt also plays other roles too. It serves to temper an unhealthy certainty that one may have about her direction in life, her agenda, or certain courses of action. It serves to make the Christian aware of the fact that she walks by faith, and not by sight. It serves to remind her that she is wholly dependent upon God’s provision. It also impels her to seek out her brothers and sisters for comfort and encouragement, although sometimes out of fear of rejection or condemnation, she may not do so.

Are we shown doubt in the Bible?  One of my favorite verses:

Mark 9:23-24. And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

The father believed, and yet knew that somewhere, he harbored doubt.  And he asked Christ to help (and Christ did).

Yes, there is a place for doubt.

Without doubt, we are sure.  With surety, it is not faith.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Romans 8:24 For in this hope we were saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope.  For who hopes for what he sees?

If there is no room for doubt, it is not hope, and it is not faith.

That applies to the Canon as well.  Do I have an infallible assurance of the “right” Canon?  No, but I do have a historical list that includes the books that my Bible include.  I have historical evidence that the Hebrew Jews did not include the parts that my Bible does not include.  I have historical writings that tell me that (world wide), there is room for doubt, but also room for hope and faith that my Bible includes what it needs to include to lead me to eternal life and to a life of Christian faith and conduct.

Is there more?  Some have a fallible faith in a worldly authority that calls itself infallible.  Do I have that same fallible faith in that same authority? No.  For now, I walk by faith, not by sight.