captain’s log

 

We sit at an outpost on a strange planet while one of our crew is in a meeting. We were tricked into this by enemy agents, and now we’re forced to spend what seems like hours in a hostile breakroom. My Somewhat-non-Vulcan-Companion is switching between periods of slumber and passive wakefulness. I write this with hopes that if I place it in a bottle and send it off on a meteor someone will come to our rescue. We have procured two canned drinks, which according to their starboard information panels contain a host of negative ingredients, while not being a significant source of other nutrients.

  Some pepper shakers are before us, but we have found that they could not be converted to plasma cannons as we had hoped. The only items with which i can hope to console myself are a pair of shades, an MSU Bulldogs cap, some magnets, a pocket knife, my iPod, my cell phone, and, to top it all, a copy of The Christian Book of Mystical Verse and my Bible, I will now leave off writing to attend to these last two items.

as much as we want

  We all, as Christians, and if I may say, (for I believe it is true about most readers of this site) we who perhaps are in possession of a greater head-knowledge of spiritual things than some around us, have a blessedly easy time in discerning need in many areas. Truths of the Bible and the findings of great saints of old, have shaped our mindset to believe in the all-sufficiency of Christ in all things; and that the greatest need for each of us is to pursue God. Knowing of course that by this pursuit the mundane things of life will gain clarity as we gaze upon Him. “The Knowledge of the Holy is understanding.”

  But, then again, is this really our belief? Why aren’t we acting upon it? I ask as a fool, for I cannot look such a question straight in the face. If I had the gift of fully articulating my thoughts, perhaps I could be more clear; but I would like to borrow this statement (the origin of which I am not certain, but which I heard from Leonard Ravenhill) “You are as close to God as you want to be right now.”

  Now, we all might say from personal experience that there are times when it seems this isn’t true; but as a general rule, we have seemingly great desires with much less than equivalent pursuits.  We have, I fear, been living with a largely futuristic Christianity. That is to say, we have many high ideas about pursuing God that we refuse to apply to the here and now. Or, we may even be seeking, or rather abstractly hoping, that God will give us great religious experiences now, and we will be pious and diligent later. I fear that we all have a condemnable habit (I speak softly) of seeing the need and not acting upon it. How many hours do we spend in prayer? The saints we read about were glad to suffer hardship and agony for the joy of laying hold of Christ as soon as able, and to keep laying hold; where are we? What are we willing to lose? How patient are we?

   I feel persuaded that the seemingly innumerable and tedious duties of Christianity in seeking the Lord, and drawing close to Him could be easily summed up, in us taking complete advantage of the Cross of  Christ.

are you really a homeschool family?

Note: You do not have to answer all of these questions positively. But it is good to look at ourselves, to make sure we are really in the mix.

  When you go to a secular museum, or a zoo, does your family make sure its correct are opinions heard by all?

  Does your m0m have a blog on which she discusses schooling, as part of a vast community of other homeschool moms doing the same?

  Does your twelth grader look at your fourth grader and say, “I remember when that was my favourite shirt.”?

  No matter what your movie standards, do you love The Princess Bride and National Treasure?

  Do your younger children look on those less fortunate than themselves, and think “They must go to school”?

  Does your ”celebrity gossip” include  Alex and Brett Harris, Kirk Cameron, Casting Crowns, and whoever was in the latest Love Comes Softly film? (please say no)

  Does the teacher ever say, “I’m sending you to the principle as soon as he gets home!”? 

  Do you live with, or at least know, several girls who think the stars of The Chronicles of Narnia are the greatest people that ever lived?

   Does your school-bus consist mostly of car seats? Does it play Adventures in Odyssey? Does it have enough decomposed food material in the carpet to feed a small army?

   When a kid in your family gets a D of even an F, can they still say that they did better than anyone else in their grade?

   When a kid wants a Hall Pass, does that mean he wants go into the master bathroom instead of waiting for the other kid to get out?

   These are just a few of the many general questions that could be ask in order to evaluate yourselves. If you think of any more, be please so good as to display your obviously insurpassable wit by telling me. And try to say something about homeschooling and Facebook.

a few iDeal kodak moments

 

 

 

 

 

Who’s party is this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn’t she look like me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baloon thief!

It’s Mr iDeal! or, not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No cameras!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hang gliding….or something like that.

 

 

 

 

 

(note: They will see the need for more toys in about five seconds)

resignation

A little bird I am,

 Shut from the fields of air;

And in my cage I sit and sing,

To Him who placed me there;

Well pleased a prisoner to be,

Because, My God, it pleases Thee.

Naught have I else to do;

I sing the whole day long;

And He whom I most love to please

Doth listen to my song;

He caught and bound my wandering wing,

But still He bends to hear me sing.

 

Thou hast an ear to hear,

A heart to love and bless

And though my notes were e’er so rude,

Thou wouldst not hear the less;

Because Thou knowest that as they fall,

That love, sweet love, inspires them all.

My cage confines me round;

Abroad I cannot fly;

But though my wing is closely bound,

My heart’s at liberty.

My prison walls cannot control,

The flight, the freedom of the soul.

O, it is good to soar,

These bolts and bars above,

To Him whose purpose I adore,

Whose providence I love;

And in Thy mighty will to find,

The joy, the freedom of the mind.

   –Jeanne Marie de la Motte-Guyon,

And Mama, there’s another good girl name, by the way.

a visit by the queen, part one

  I hope that I am not presumtuous in writing something after this manner. Months ago, I undertook to write an exposition of Psalm 23. Now, I believe that sprung simply from a desire to write something. I pray that this will not be true of the following, and that it arises from a real burden of heart. 

  The other day I read a story about a Queen:a queen who heard of the exceeding greatness, wealth, glory,and wisdom of a King. Upon Hearing, she went, desiring to test this one about whom she had heard such stories; she went, and not without risk, she laid before him “all that was in her heart.” So greatly impressed was she, that she could truly say of him, “Thy wisdom and prosperity exceed that which I have heard.” Indeed, she, a queen, went on to say “Happy are these thy servants, which stand before you continually, and hear thy wisdom.”

   Of Course, ’tis a story with which we are all familiar. It’s the story, in 1 Kings 10, of the Queen of Sheba going to King Solomon; but, let us not dare reduce it’s splendour to that. Is there nothing more than that which can be found here?

   Here it seems there are stores for the converted and lost alike, if we would but search them out. (You should read it). Truly, in so vast a Book, it is difficult for even one truth to be mined: but let us continue digging, nonetheless.

   For, in the first place, it may be seen that the Queen of Sheba did not content herself with a mere knowledge of hearsay. Rather she came, and was willing to commune her whole heart before this king, that she might see him as he was.

  Sinner and Christian alike, we must all take on this same spirit, if we wish for any gain in our souls. We have our Tozers, and  our Amy Carmicheals, and our Rutherfords (name your favourites), and more so, we have the testimonies of Christians around us who’s lives have been changed in dramatic ways by God’s power. Can we be content to look at their depth of experience of free grace, and know of it with a mere head knowledge?

  The same fountains are open to us, if we truly desired them. It is very true when it is said that we are as spiritual as we want to be right now. You may say that getting know God is difficult, and that it takes years and years and years. Well, of course it does! We are all barely beginning. But if we truly desire Christ, and not something else, the difficulties begin to fade, and are found joys, as Paul found them to be. We must be very cold. For the Queen of Sheba, her desire was stronger than all else; what is Solomon to Christ?

those that overcome

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of life which which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

To him that overcometh will I give to to eat of the hidden manna, and will give Him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

And to he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end,to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron: as the vessels of the potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I receive of my Father. And I will give him the Morning Star.

  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white rainment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.

  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God,  and the name of the City of My God, New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon Him my new name.

  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father on His throne.

  (From Revelation 2&3)

   And this is Life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent. John 17:3

   God, give us hearts to understand the things Christ says of Himself in these passages; may Your Word speak, according to the need.

you’ll never find….

After watching the first Ice Age film, I thought it was okay. Not the best, but it was kinda okay.

Kinda.

Then the second. It was really aweful.

Really.

  But then again, I guess every series needs a chance to redeem itself.

  I guess. Maybe.

   If you’re wondering, teh filmmakers didn’t really take the chance with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third installment. Though this story about Family, friendship, and squirrel romance was much better than the previous.

   Imagine, if you can, Manny the the mammoth and Ellie from the second expecting a child; add to that Diego and Sid both going through a midlife crisis: the tiger because he wants to return to the wild, and the sloth because he wants a family of his own; and on top of that, Scrat the squirrel has met the love of his life. And they are trying to kill each other.

  That’s the setting for this film when Sid, on a search for meaning in life, since his larger friends are enamoured with the thought of future parenthood, comes across three large eggs, apparently with no guardian. He decides to adopt them. The trouble begins when the eggs hatch, revealing three… dinosaurs. Wait, on an evolutionary timeline, they were looong gone by that time. But thankfully, if doesn’t have to make sense. After his kids destroying Manny’s babyproof environment, Sid, and every other creature in that period, are surprised to see the real mama…a massive T-rex. She carries her kids away in her mouth, and Sid goes with them.  Following are Ellie, the two possums, Manny and Diego, with hopes of recovering their lost herd-member. They discover another world (not in the Narnia sense) beyond teh Ice Age, where the dinos are still thriving. And they also find a weasel named Buck, who becomes the serie’s best character.

   This summer holds out meagre movie choices. (But then again, that’s probably a good thing, since it prevents to much time wasting.)  And thus far, the only oen really worth going to see has been Up. The new Ice Agefilm was highly entertaining, but it didn’t really shine. It pulled off being very funny and had a lot of swashbuckling animated action. But, as opposed to Pixar’s masterpiece, it was, well, really, really childish.

   In it’s favour, apart from being funny, it had a positive view of family (even though Scrat and his female counterpart’s little love affiar ended ina dissappointing way). Manny is shown as being protective of Ellie, and even moreso of their soon-to-arrive child. Their storyline might be described as endearing, if it weren’t so annoyingly sentimental.

   On the other hand, as far as clean humour goes, this film goes less along the lines of a Pixar and more on those of other mainstream animated films. A couple of subtle cracks abotu male anatomy were the most offensive; accompanied by about the normal amount of more mild glitches.

   So, on those lines, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurswas entertaining, but it was too mainstream and childish to make it high on my list ( Buck the was it’s most redeeming feature). Next to the second one, it was like a walk in the park; but next to Pixar’s ten titles, Up especially, it loses it’s shine. Ultimately, I found it disappointing: not as much in and of itself, but just going to see a film at all; it not all that fun in the long run.

late birthday boast

Have recently accomplished the noteworthy and extremely difficult task of aging another year, I will now proceed to offer my thanks to:

My fellow travellers. It would be a lonely road without you. Christ is enough should we be chosen to a life of loneliness, but it would be arrogant and wrong to take for granted the exceeding blessing of friendship: Brethren, may we all learn to love one another because of Christ, and to love the unconverted because He loves them.

  My family: Y’all are (drumroll, please) fuuuully awesome. Mom and Dad, sixteen years from now, when I’m old and boring, I hope to have supplied the “next best thing,” in abundance (if you follow me). Thanks for preparing for this next stage of childlike manhood; for allowing me to be the only sixteen year old that I know that got Pav lova with a Spider-Man candle on it. For doing more for me up to this point than this blog can express; for taking me to the ER when I plunged from a bunk bed and bit a second mouth in beneath my first one, and the time when I plunged from the window sill face-first with a toothbrush in my mouth. For allowing the humble to confound the proud, the foolish to confound the wise, and for being clay,  and instruments for my Adoption from the spirit of bondage. For being instruments of judgment, and river beds through mercy was sent; and for letting the ultimate goal of marriage and family, which is conformity to Christ, be lived out. To my siblings,  who were there when I drew my first breath, and have been great reinforced ever since: every year of my life, every day of my years, every second of my days, every moment that y’all have been there, will be remembered with gratitude to God as this life unfolds; let us bless Him for the past, strive to know Him in the present, and trust Him for future.

   To the God who holds all things in His hands, and loves us despite our shortcomings: to the Christ Who knows no change, Who’s sacrifice we cannot stifle, and Who’s gift we cannot repay: to the Spirit Who guides in paths to holiness for love’s sake, Who shows us our need, and Who’s wind blows the dust from within this temple, that we may be presented pure and holy to Him that loved us first: to the Godhead three in one be all glory, all desire, all affection, and may those Who have tasted and seen that He is good feel their hearts warmed by His breath to seek their all in Him.

  Let those all those who have reached another year increase in fellwoship with Him in a new way as the journey on life’s road, and may the Lamb that was slain recieve the reward of His sufferings. And may our only boast in new years be of Him.

thy love increase

Sweet the moments, rich in blessing,

Which before the Cross I spend;

Life and health and peace possessing,

From the sinners dying friend.

Truly blessed is this station,

Low before His Cross to lie;

While I see divine compassion,

Beaming in His languid eye.

Love and grief my heart deviding,

With all my tears His feet I’ll bathe;

Constant still in faith abiding,

Life deriving from His death.

For Thy sorrows we adore Thee-

For the griefs that wrought our peace-

Gracious Saviour! We implore Thee,

In our hearts Thy love increase.

-Walter Shirley.