T. Chris Crain

Famous Last Words

2007-12-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

I've been reading through the letters of C.S. Lewis and was encouraged by what Lewis wrote to his childhood friend Arhur Greeves in 1916: "You ask me my religious views: you know, I think, that I believe in no religion. There is absolutely no proof for any of them, and from a philosophical standpoint Christianity is not even the best. All religions, that is, all mythologies to give them their proper name, are merely man's own invention--Christ as much as Loki." Similar to the Apostle Paul, Lewis made an about face later in life, which goes to show that even the skeptic can become a believer.

I look like that?

2007-09-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

I competed in the Run Wild 5K a few weekends ago and Papa Razzi took some photos you can see here. I might have to give up running if I look that pained, even if I did get first in my age group. There are some good pictures of the kids right below the pictures of me.

Crain Camping

2007-08-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a great time camping at Davidson River Campground in the Pisgah National Forest. I was so proud of the kids. They hiked up Looking Glass Rock, a round trip of 6.2 miles! I bribed them with ice cream.

The girls and I enjoyed one of the great wonders of NC: Sliding Rock. Sliding Rock, as the picture shows, is about 60 feet of slippery rock that then plunges you into a pool with 55 degree water.

Now I’ve often pondered, who was the first person in the world who decided it might be fun to slide down that rock? Was it a Native American from long ago? A European settler? Whoever it was had some real guts, it seems.

Camping with the kids is great because it is quiet, relaxing, brings us close to nature(I really enjoyed the skunk that came within five feet of our camp area!), and affordable.

Critical

2007-07-31T12:26:00.001-07:00

I'm preparing some critical thinking exercises for returning teachers and ran across this quote and thought that it was pretty cool:

“Very few really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds – justification, explanations, forms of consolation without which they can’t go on. To
really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. The answer may annihilate the question and the
questioner.”

Spoken by the Vampire Marius in
Ann Rice’s book The Vampire Lestat
Ballantine Books. New York, NY. 1985.

HT: http://www.insightassessment.com/pdf_files/what&why2006.pdf

Big Cat

2007-07-16T08:56:00.001-07:00

Nancy's dad, Ed, and I went out on Clark's Hill Lake Friday night and put out three trot lines . We put chicken gizzards on two and herring on the other one. The chicken gizzards didn't catch us anything except for this big 33 pound flathead catfish. I really couldn't believe it when I saw the fish on the line. It was just too big to be true. Ed and I were laughing like two schoolboy children. Nancy was in the boat too--looking a little squeamish and interested despite her misgivings (ha!).

Properly ordered love

2007-07-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

“For bodily beauty is indeed created by God; but it is temporal and carnal, and therefore a lower, good; and if it is loved more than God is, Who is the eternal, inward and everlasting God, that love is as wrong as the miser’s when he forsakes justice out of his love for gold. The fault here, though, lies not with the gold, but with the man; and this is true of every created thing; though it is good, it can be loved well or ill; well when the proper order is observed, and ill when that order is disturbed,” Augustine, City of God, XV, Chapter 22.

What the best college teachers do

2007-07-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

Don't let the title to this book fool you. If you teach--at whatever level or age--this would be a good book to read because it has many useful tips on what to do to be a good teacher. The author, Ken Bain, Director of the Center for Teaching at New York University, along with some colleagues, did a comprehensive study of teachers who significantly impact how students think, act, and feel.

In the introduction Bain lists six broad questions the study asked:

i. What do the best teachers know and understand? They know their subjects very well and can do whatever they ask their students to do. But, more importantly, Bain says, they have developed techniques and organizing principles so that students might begin to understand the subject well and start building their own understandings. They simplify things and use illustrations and insights to get to the core of the matter. They do not speak about transmitting knowledge or conveying facts but about helping students wrestle with ideas

ii. How do they prepare to teach? They begin by asking what the student learning objectives are not what the teacher will do.

iii. What do they expect of their students? They expect more not by piling enormous amounts of work on but by tying objectives to thinking and acting for life.

iv. What do they do when they teach? They try to create a “natural critical learning environment.”

v. How do they treat students? They trust students. They assume students want to learn and can learn. They discuss with students their awe over life.

vi. How do they check their progress and evaluate their efforts? They have systemic programs to assess their efforts and to make changes.

The rest of the book answers those six questions more in-depth.

Sorry (Summer plans)

2007-06-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the dearth of posts. I really do want to blog but other things seem to get in the way. Once the school year ended at Covenant Christian School things didn't slow down much at all. I've been working on next year already, planning, reading, meeting new families, and reviewing curriculum.

I enjoyed going to Southern Illinois to spend some time fishing and golfing with two old seminary buddies. I caught a 13 pound catfish and a 3 pound bass as well as some other minor fish; can't say the golf was as productive.

We all went down to Tampa to celebrate my sister's wedding and we look forward to going camping at the end of July in western NC at Camp Davidson.

The garden is growing nicely; we eat our first tomatoes tonight and have enjoyed our basil by making pesto many times already.

I read Marilyn Robinson's Gilead and enjoyed it a whole lot. Currently I'm rereading Till We have Faces by Lewis and I plan on reading The Bronze Bow since a lot of my students read that in the grammar school. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was also a page turner. Can't wait for the last Harry Potter book to come out.

I decided to teach Greek to my girls this summer. So I picked up the curriculum, Hey, Andrew, Teach me some Greek! They are such eager learners. The other morning I knew that we could not have our fun lesson in the afternoon so I had told them the day before that we would do it in the morning. As I ate breakfast they marched in with big smiles and went straight to den where they set up their notebooks. I try to make it fun for them. The other day I didn't give them a test but an "expresso yourself," which was basically an exam followed by a homemade coffee shake. Learning was never so tasty.

No power in the blood?

2007-05-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Russell D. Moore writes in the March issue of Touchstone that "American Christianity is far les blody than it used to be. Songs like 'Power in the Blood' or 'There is a Fountain Filed with Blood' or 'Are you Washed in the Blood' are still sung in some places but fewer and fewer, and there aren't many newer songs or priase choruses focsed on blood. The cross yes; redemption, yes; but blood rarely."

Moore says, "What could be more repulsive, even sickening, to a clean, antiseptic society than talk of spattered blood?"

Does the lack of blood in choruses or hymns chosen indicate a less robust Christianty or is the gospel-in-song being contextualized in different ways? If the blood makes you clean then that's what an antiseptic society needs.

Imprimis

2007-05-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

In the last year or so I got on the Imprimis mailing list. Imprimis is a free publication of Hillsdale College. Usually they publish speeches given at the college by well-known thinkers. I thought the last one by Rober Sirico on why free enterprise is better for the common good than socialism to be helpful. Sirico is president of Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. Here's a teaser:

"When we speak of the common good, we need also to be clear-minded about the political and juridical institutions that are most likely to bring it about. These happen to be the very institutions that socialists have worked so hard to discredit. Let me list them: private property in the means of production; stable money to serve as a means of exchange; the freedom of enterprise that allows people to start businesses; the free association of workers that permits people to choose where they would like to work and under what conditions; the enforcement of contracts that provides institutional support for the idea that people should keep their promises; and a vibrant trade within and among nations to permit the fullest possible flowering of the division of labor. These institutions must be supported by a cultural infrastructure that respects private property, regards the human person as possessing an inherent dignity, and confers its first loyalty to transcendent authority over civil authority."

Catfish Crain

2007-04-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law and I went trotline fishing this past weekend on Clarks' Hill Lake (aka Lake Strom Thurmond). It was pretty exciting to put in the lines Friday evening and wonder if we would have anything the next morning. Visions of catfish filled my dreams. When we came back early Saturday morning we had five catfish on the two lines we put out. The two beauties above are 4.5 pounds each. After filleting them we then breaded them in a cornmeal batter and deep-fried them to perfection. Nothing like catching your food, killing it, and then eating it!

"I die like Jesus Christ"?

2007-04-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

This week Cho Seung-Hui committed the second worse school mass murder (HT: Barlowfarms) in U.S. history. After the first shooting inthe dorm room and before he went to the classroom building he mailed a video manifesto to NBC news. In that video manifesto he ranted against what he considered were rich, spoiled kids:

“You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience. You thought it was one pathetic boy’s life you were extinguishing. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.

Do you know what it feels like to be humiliated and be impaled upon on a cross? And left to bleed to death for your amusement? You have never felt a single ounce of pain your whole life.”

What I find interesting is his claim that he died “like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and defenseless people.” What do you think of his claim? Are there any similarities between Cho’s life and death and Jesus Christ’s life and death?

While some will probably imitate Cho’s actions and find him as role-model, the difference between Cho’s actions and Jesus Christ’s actions are as far removed as heaven is from hell. When we look at the differences between Cho’s life and death and Jesus’ life and death, we see why Christianity makes so much sense; why Jesus Christ is the most written about figure in world history; why more people have made Jesus Christ a model to imitate, a person to believe, than any other human being ever. Here are some reasons why their lives and deaths are different:

1. The means of their deaths is different. Jesus Christ was ruthlessly killed by others’ hands but Cho took his own life. Even though Jesus Christ was God and had the authority to keep his life (John 10:14), he freely gave himself over to the Jews and Roman soldiers. He did not kill himself; they crucified him. Peter says, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazereth…[was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:22-24) (emphasis added). Christ submitted himself into the hands of others while Cho decided to end his own life by his own hand.

2. The manner of their deaths is different. Jesus Christ died praying “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” but Cho died with unforgiveness in his heart (Luke 23:28). Though Jesus’ death was painful, he died in peace, giving his life over to God at the moment he perished: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46).

3. The motive of their lives and deaths is different. Jesus Christ died because he loved sinners like you and I. Cho died because he was filled with hate. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son. Since we know that the Father and the Son are one in motive (John 10:30), we know that the Father sent the Son in love and the Son went, of his own volition, because of love.

We must not distance ourselves so readily from Cho, thinking we are vastly different. We may not do what Cho did but when we harbor bitterness, anger, and resentment, clinging to those things in sinful delight, then we become Cho-like. If we relish hatred and envy then we begin to walk the path of Cho. We may never come to the point of mass murder but to be on the path of sin should be warning enough that its destination is fraught with danger—to ourselves and others.

4. The goal of their lives and deaths is different. Jesus Christ died so that others might live but Cho lived so that others might die. In John 10:14 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd….I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus said that “whoever believes in [me will] have eternal life” (John 3:15). The goal of Jesus was to grant people life, which is fellowship with the Triune God. True life is found in walking with God, knowing God, and praising God. But because of the wolves of sin, death, and the devil, humans are beset like helpless sheep. We are defenseless against our enemies. Jesus, the good shepherd, makes it his goal to deliver us from the wolves of sin, death, and the devil.

Augustine’s Enchiridion: A little book worth reading

2007-02-25T15:23:00.000-08:00

Most anything by Augustine is worth reading. At the top, arguably, is the Confessions, but equally famous, and more lengthy, is a book that might serve as stepladder for some (or as the supreme work on the follies of paganism for others), the massive, City of God. Somewhat less lengthy but no less stimulating is On the Trinity. And what about all the other works he wrote on such topics as rhetoric, Donatism, Pelagianism, semi-Pelagianism, the bible, and so on.

For the uninitiated-to-Augustine The Augustine Catechism: Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love is an excellent place to begin. Why? Mainly because Augustine adumbrates many doctrines in this work which he expands upon in his other works.

For instance, Augustine discusses his conception of evil as “a removal of good” (11). Evil, Augustine says, doesn’t exist of itself, but always corrupts the good. For “evils cannot exist at all without goods, and they can only exist in goods, although goods can exist without evils” (14). This thought reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien’s orcs: they were once elves that were corrupted. In this respect, Tolkien was very much an Augustinian.

Augustine, ever the rhetorician, has some choice quotes in his little book. Take this one:

“[E]ven in the one sin which came into the world through one man and passed to all men…we can understand there to be many sins, if the one sin is divided into its component parts. For there is pride there, by which the man preferred to be in his own power rather than God’s, and sacrilege because he did not believe God, and murder because he cast himself down to death, and spiritual fornication, because the integrity of a human mind was corrupted by the persuasion of the serpent, and theft, because a forbidden food was wrongfully taken, and avarice, because he sought more than should have been sufficient for him” (45).

Augustine also briefly discusses his theology of depravity, lying, theodicy, grace, original sin, baptism, the church, purgatory, merit, the two cities, and love.

So, for those who want a taste of Augustine’s thought this is a good place to begin. And, by the way, it is also an edifying work, challenging the reader to greater faith, hope and love.

What’s so fishy about Jesus’ teaching?

2007-02-20T10:07:00.000-08:00

(I was teaching a Sunday School class on Leviticus and someone said later that I offered an allegorical interpretation.)

I. The difference between symbolic actions and allegorical interpretation.

Jesus came eating fish and calling fishermen to be his disciples. Rather than Jesus’ fishy diet being an historical curiosity, his diet ties in with several OT themes, all of which taken together show that Jesus was eating fish because he going to “eat” the Gentiles (i.e., the Gentiles will be included in the new covenant.).

Is linking Jesus’ diet to the Gentiles an allegorical interpretation? To answer this one must define allegorical. It is good to make a distinction between interpretive allegory and compositional allegory. “Interpretive allegory takes the details of a text, whether fictional or not, and seeks to discover what philosophical or theological or moral principles are symbolized in its words and images. Compositional allegory begins with moral principles or spiritual truths and creates a fictional tale to display them in narrative form.”[1] Pilgrim’s Progress is a compositional allegorical story because each character represents some reality outside the text. Christian represents the typical Christian. The slough of despond equals the effect of sin on one’s emotions

Iterpretive allegory seeks to misinterpret the text by reading into the text meanings that are not there. Greek philosophers who disdained the straight-forward interpretation of Greek myths illustrate interpretive allegory. They thought it would be impious to associate heinous acts (e.g., Zeus carousing with earthly women) with divine beings. Better to interpret these tales by way of allegory.

But authors can compose allegories and intend for them to be read as allegories. I do not think that the Bible was written as an allegory like Pilgrim’s Progress but that does not mean that the Bible does not have symbolic (or typological) dimensions to it. That is, literary themes and types reoccur throughout the Scriptures. Israel goes down into Egypt and so does Jesus (Matthew 2:13-15). Jesus goes into the wilderness for 40 days and, unlike Israel, he survives the test. Could it be that Jesus is the true Israel, who will save his people from their sins not just on the cross but by “reliving” what they failed to do? God, being the consummate storyteller, expects us to find the links, resonances, repetitions, and allusions in His (true) story.

And so I do not think that linking Jesus’ diet to the Gentiles is allegorical. Rather, I’d prefer to say that his eating has symbolic dimensions to it. To take a parallel example, when Jesus cursed the fig tree, why did he do that (Mark 11:12-25)? When you study the OT you see that God calls Israel a fig tree (Hos. 9:10, Nah. 3:12). Right after Jesus curses the fig tree he cleanses the temple, ceasing the sacrificial activity for the day. Both the fig tree and the temple are symbols of Israel. If God calls Israel a fig tree and then Jesus curses a fig tree it is not allegorical to say that Jesus is cursing Israel. That is the logical interpretation of the symbolic action. If I burn the flag of the United States you know that is probably a symbolic action of protest against the nation.

What about when Jesus fed the 5000? How many baskets are left over? Twelve (Matthew 14:19). Is this number recorded as a mere historical curiosity with no symbolic import whatsoever? If I named my son George Washington Crain and wrote that in the family history registry would it have no symbolic import whatsoever? The number twelve has historical importance because God constituted Israel as twelve tribes. Jesus called twelve disciples to reconstitute the true Israel and twelve baskets are left over (filled with “Gentile” fish, mind you) as a sign of the coming new age: True Israel will gather in the Gentiles. (But I’m getting ahead of myself).

Let’s take a modern day example. The terrorists said that they flew the planes into the WTC because those buildings stood for what they hate in the West. They “cursed” the West in their act. Their notorious flight was a way to denounce the Western way of life. It had symbolic import far beyond two planes hitting two buildings.

So, when I claim that Jesus’ diet has symbolic import I am saying so because the OT lays a foundation for this sort of interpretation when it consistently links Gentiles with the sea. These themes of the OT tie in with Jesus’ practice of eating fish and serving his disciples fish.

II. God’s diet in the OT

In the OT God limits his diet to the clean sacrificial animals (Lev. 1-7). I’m using “God’s diet” here anthropomorphically. Obviously God doesn’t need to eat. God, as the catechism says, doesn’t have a body as we do. Yet the OT describes the sacrifices as “bread for God.” God smells the food and it is a pleasing aroma to him (Lev. 1:9, 17). Symbolically, God eats the sacrifice, which represents the worshiper.

Although some sea creatures are clean in the OT (Lev. 11:9-12), God doesn’t eat them sacrificially. Though the Israelite may eat some sea creatures, they are not part of God’s diet. God has limited his diet to certain clean land animals. This is an important point, as we shall “sea.”

III. In the OT the sea is used as a poetic metaphor for Gentiles nations

While many passages point to the sea as a metaphor for the Gentile nations I’ll limit myself to a few. If it is true that a few passages prove the connection then an abundance of passages is superfluous. If I claim a spider is in the room I only need to find one spider to prove my point.

In Psalm 65:5-8 the Psalmist praises the awesome deeds of God, proclaiming that he is

“the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.” The Psalmist then goes on to highlight God’s ability to still “the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves.” The very next poetic line is “the tumult of the peoples.” Using the common Hebrew poetic device of repetition, the author has conceptually linked the roaring of seas and waves with the tumult of the peoples, a connection that links the sea with the gentile nations.

In Isaiah 8:6-8 the author rebukes the people of Israel for rejecting him. He then proclaims that the Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon them in judgment. He compares the king of Assyria to “the waters of the River,” which “rise over all its channels and go over all its banks.” Though not using the word “sea” here the idea is still the same. The waters of the world are a fit metaphor for gentiles because they are chaotic. The sea is stormy and rivers flood, both signs of their “chaotic-ness.”

In Isaiah 17:12-13 the prophet compares the thunder and roaring of the peoples and nations to the thunder and roaring of the sea and mighty warriors:

Ah, the thunder of many peoples;

they thunder like the thundering of the sea!

Ah, the roar of nations;

they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!

[13] The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,

but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,

chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind

and whirling dust before the storm.

Isaiah can use the sea as a metaphor because this poetic motif is so firmly entrenched in the Hebraic mind and Scriptures. Christ himself would have read these Scriptures and the same motifs would have been part of his mental furniture.

When Jeremiah prophesies of the coming kingdom of Babylon he links this coming to the roaring of the sea:

They lay hold on bow and javelin;

they are cruel and have no mercy;

the sound of them is like the roaring sea;

they ride on horses,

set in array as a man for battle,

against you, O daughter of Zion!" (6:23).

When Daniel prophesies he mentions four beasts that come out of the sea:

“Daniel declared, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. [3] And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another” (7:2-3). The Lord interprets this verse for Daniel, saying, “These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth” (7:17). The Bible is poetically flexible in that the beasts come out of the sea and the kings come out of the earth because in its less metaphorical moments the Bible knows that no nation exists solely at sea.

IV. Jesus, fish and the sea

The NT continues the OT practice of linking the gentile nations with the sea. In Revelation, a vision given to John by Jesus, a beast rises out of the sea (13:1-4). This vision is like the vision that Daniel had in that the beasts coming out of the sea equal nations.

But preeminently we see the theme continue in Jesus’ life and ministry. When Jesus comes calling fishermen (Mark 1:16), asking them to be fishermen of men (Mark 1:17), stilling storms (Mark 7:35-41), walking across water (Mark 6:45-52), and serving fish from the sea (Matthew 14:19; John 21:1-14), all of these watery motifs tie in with the sea themes of the OT.

The OT likens the gentiles to the sea and so in God’s providence Jesus comes calling fishermen to be his disciples. Formerly these men caught fish from the sea but now they will catch men from the sea of nations. God has decided to “eat” the gentiles now. His fishermen are gathering fish for him. Far from being allegorical, this fishy interpretation does justice to the OT literary practice of describing the nations as “sea” and the NT picking up that same theme not just poetically but in the lived practice of Jesus’ miracles, ministry through his disciples (his fishermen), and his eating habits.

[1] Robert Louis Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 229.

Heating the Family

2007-02-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago our heat went out and the part to fix it was on back order until this past Monday. We had space heaters to keep us warm but our family tended to congregate in the only room with a fireplace.

And this made me think about the blessings of a heat furnace and its pontential problems. Technology shapes people. In times when fireplaces were a necessity and not a luxury families spent their time together in the most heated room. That's the way it appears in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books and in Jane Austen's too.

With the advent of modern heating systems family members can be in different parts of the house, not interacting, but staying warm. While I don't intend on getting rid of my furnace anytime soon, I am more aware of where my warmth should come: cuddling up on a couch with my kids and wife all around me as we read a good book together.

Wisdom and Eloquence

2007-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is a review of the fine book, Wisdom and Eloquence.

In the last twenty five years, a new movement within primary and secondary education has swept across America—classical, Christian education. Churches and parents have founded new schools and realigned existing ones based on the model of the medieval trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Two national organizations have been created to advance the mission of classical, Christian education: the Association of Classical Christian Schools (http://www.accsedu.org) and the Society for Classical Learning (http://www.societyforclassicallearning.org/). Douglas Wilson’s Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning: An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991) provided the first comprehensive paradigm for classical, Christian education. Wilson’s insights were based on his experience helping to start one of the flagship schools of the movement, Logos School of Moscow, Idaho, and on his reading of Dorothy Sayers’s “The Lost Tools of Learning,” an essay that has been extremely important to the classical movement.

Littlejohn and Evans’s work continues the conversation by making a case for this type of education, refining what is meant by the term trivium, and offering seasoned insights into what makes a healthy, vibrant school. The authors are both experienced educators and administrators. Their collective wisdom and eloquence shine through, offering light to teachers, administrators, and boards who may have lost their way in the morass of educational theories, management conundrums, and curriculum offerings.

The authors argue that today’s schools should equip students with two qualities: wisdom and eloquence. “[S]ince education is more about cultural relevance than about attaining economic advantage,” we must train students “to make a profound difference in the world into which they emerge” (13). Wisdom is needed so that students can understand our culture in relationship to God’s Word; eloquence is needed so that students can communicate to our culture by applying God’s Word. To provide these two qualities, the authors propose the liberal arts tradition of the trivium and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy [which they define as science], and music). Liberal education matters because it creates people who have the intellectual skills, spiritual resources, and mental flexibility to compete in today’s environment and to change careers. They believe that the liberal arts are traditional not because they are old but because they work (14). The liberal arts have traditionally been the best education for the best and, as Robert Maynard Hutschins remarks, “[t]he best education for the best is the best education for all” (69).

The liberal arts work, and are the best, because a healthy course in the arts bequeaths fundamental skills. For instance, grammar teaches children how their own language works and, if taught systematically, teaches children to think systematically. Literature exposes students to great books, and only great books can make great readers (98). But, for the Christian educator, the liberal arts can never be enough. Teaching and learning must be grounded in a Christian worldview. Because positions and values flow from a worldview, educators must be aware of their own and of their students’. The authors suggest that the Christian school adopt the Scriptural paradigm of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation (46-49).

While making common cause with many within the classical, Christian arena, the authors also critique how some classical educators interpret the trivium, especially Dorothy Sayers. Sayers argued that the trivium was a set of subjects, but she also linked the trivium to three stages of cognitive development. In the grammar stage, students are like sponges which absorb all kinds of information. Hence, they should be taught the grammar (i.e., the basic facts) of each subject. In the logic stage, students become more argumentative. Therefore, the teachers should integrate logic into their courses, and a formal course in logic should be given. In the rhetoric stage, students are more concerned with how they appear to others. Educators should take this natural tendency, then, and focus on teaching proper forms of expression.

Littlejohn and Evans emphasize that the trivium is a set of subjects and disciplines, not a pedagogy or theory of cognitive development (33-42, 74, 89). They find no place in the history of the liberal arts for Sayers’s theory. They note that many are confused by the paradigm. Parents ask, “Do my children just learn facts in the grammar stage? Shouldn’t good speaking skills taught at their level be a part of the first grade experience?” They also critique her for making the trivium the foundation for the quadrivium (115). For them, all seven sciences should be part of the curriculum from day one of formal education. If followed rigidly, the Sayers model would leave math and science until the mid-teenage years, an absurd notion.

While theoretical in scope, the book is useful for its practical advice for creating a school of excellence. The authors cover such diverse subjects as dress code, class size, a suggested rhetoric curriculum, learning theory, and faculty development—and these are only a few of the subjects addressed. As an administrator of a classical, Christian school, I found many of their insights helpful. For instance, while Littlejohn and Evans are proponents of the liberal arts, they also recognize that each school will implement the liberal arts distinctly. To do so, they suggest that a school’s curriculum be built from the top down or from 12-K by asking, “What kind of graduates do I want to produce?” Once a core set of skills, values, and virtues have been decided upon, the school can proceed with implementing that throughout each grade. In choosing what great books to read, they offer as the core canon the Bible, Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Milton (98). From these books, schools can branch out. In order to engage the world, however, Christian schools have to read books from the world. Evans and Littlejohn argue that the “key to approaching topics that are controversial (in science or any other discipline) is, to borrow an analogy from science, inoculation, not quarantine” (125). Rather than creating a fortress to protect students from all worldly ideas, the authors argue for a training ground so that students can go forth and conquer the world.

Educators will profit from this book, but some, especially those within the classical movement, may have a few nagging questions. Littlejohn and Evans critique the classical movement for making the trivium a model of cognitive development and for making logic and rhetoric methods of dealing with subjects. Even though I grant that the classical movement is most likely wrong to say that the trivium was always tied to a theory of cognitive development, it is not erroneous to say that students in lower grades memorize very well and should be given the basics (i.e., the grammar) for each of the subjects so that they can develop into seasoned thinkers (i.e., logic) and then into articulate speakers (i.e., rhetoric). Evans and Littlejohn take issue with classical educators who speak of a grammar of science, a logic of history, or a rhetoric of history because this confuses those who do not know the trivium, involves using the same terms in multiple ways, and has no basis in history. For them, grammar should mean the study of language and logic and rhetoric are distinct subjects (that must still be implemented throughout the curriculum). Despite not using the terms of the trivium in the way other classical educators have, Littlejohn and Evans end up in essentially the same place. They write that “for each discipline there are foundational elements that…must be committed to memory early in the students’ learning experience,” which seems similar to saying that young students must learn the grammar of each subject (79; emphasis mine). Words take on new meanings, and, borrowing from Sayers, many in the classical movement have used the term “grammar” in another of its senses: “the principles or rules of an art, science, or technique” (from Miriam Webster Online, http://www.webster.com/). The authors helpfully show that the term “trivium” has changed meaning in this modern reincarnation of classical education. This reviewer is not convinced that is a bad thing.

Overall, this book is a succinct and helpful apologia for classical, Christian education that advances the discussion about what this type of education is and offers useful instruction on how to implement it in the real world of primary and secondary schools. The authors are to be praised for writing a book so full of wisdom and eloquence.

(To be published in the Fall edition of Intégrité.)

Van Til on Culture and Religion II

2006-12-09T08:24:00.000-08:00

What is the difference between culture and civilization?

Van Til says all civilizations have a culture but not all cultures mount the pinacle of civilization. Civilization is culture advanced, matured, well-aged.

Van Til uses the idea of culture to attack those who call man an "animal." Why? Because even though man has a physical body that resembles an animal's there is still a fundamental distinction between man and beast. Men think and will; beasts act by instinct. An animal never developed a culture, much less a civilization. Bees make the same hives, however intricate and well-planned, year after year.

Animals are defined by their biological wants and needs whereas man transcends his different constitute parts. No one aspect of man can define man for that one aspect comes from man.

Van Til argues that culture is always social. It "takes in the whole man, not merely as an individual, but as a member of the human organism, and therefore, in his various relationships to other men, and in the different instiutions that are thus called into existence, the institution of the home, of society, with its relationship between employer and employee, capital and labor, commerce and industry, education and science, politics and government" (32).

Man, as a social creature, takes nature and tranforms it into culture: "A river is nature, but a canal is culture. speech is nature, but a Shakespearian drama is culture; a horse is nature, but a five-gaited trotter is culture" (32).

But what about culture and individual freedom? Does culture determine what we are? Van Til likens culture to a river. The river carries you along but you can also swim in the stream and influence the stream because you are a moral agent (33).

The problem with apostate culture is that it is too conernend with the temporal and the material (33). Culture is for man's fulfillment and his fulfillment alone. The best culture will be the one in which man is the least and God the most. The most beautiful culture is when man serves the Lord who made him. If culture expresses religion then the best culture will be the true religion truly lived.

Better than a Swiss Miss Education

2006-12-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

I wrote this little piece up for our monthly Communique at school. The recipe at the end is a real winner. I dare you to make it.

I have something to confess. My family and I are hot chocolate snobs. We didn’t intend on being hot chocolate snobs. It just sort of happened one day. I ran across a hot chocolate recipe and decided to give the heartwarming beverage a try. I was instantly hooked because I could taste the difference between the homemade version and Swiss Miss, just like most anyone can tell the difference between grandma’s apple pie and a gas station version. My children, having hardly ever tasted anything else but my special recipe, are ruined for life—hot chocolate aficionados, all of them.

In the educational world there are Swiss Miss educations and gourmet educations. At CCS we are striving to offer “gourmet” education. What goes into a gourmet education? Well, like making homemade hot chocolate, gourmet education takes discipline and patience. We live in a world that likes Swiss Miss types of things. Instant hot chocolate is quick and easy. We don’t have the time, supposedly, to spend on the gourmet version. But we make a serious mistake when we translate that into education. Like gourmet hot chocolate, good education takes time, patience, and energy. It is not easy, even for the best students. As parents we shouldn’t be surprised that our children have to discipline their mental habits to succeed. As students master the educational recipe—something which can take years—they develop the mental and emotional toughness to succeed.

While gourmet education takes discipline and patience, it also offers greater delight, both for our students and for our students as they serve others. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to make my special recipe for many people. The sheer act of making the recipe has given me pleasure because I know I’m making something worthwhile. It is my hope and prayer that students here would delight in using their talents for God. God told us to subdue the earth and we fulfill that calling through gourmet recipes and gourmet education (Genesis 1:28).

There is an intrinsic delight when we do something difficult and worthwhile. How much more delight is added, however, when we do these kinds of things for others. Isn’t that what a gourmet education is for—other people? Often our society touts how we should do things for ourselves and ourselves alone: Swiss Miss does come in individual packets after all. But my recipe for hot chocolate makes too much for a non-gluttonous person and so it demands to be shared. Gourmet education is the same. A student drinking from the cup of gourmet education delights to serve and bless others.

So please help us by encouraging your child(ren) to imbibe from CCS’s gourmet offerings. Discipline and patience are required but the delight in doing something worthwhile for others more than makes up for the inconvenience.

If you’d like to try the recipe here it is. But I warn you: You could become a hot chocolate snob!

1/3 Cup Coffee
1 oz. Baker’s Chocolate
1 Tbs. Cocoa Powder
5 Tbs. Sugar (can be lessened if you don’t like yours so sweet)
1 ½ Cup of Whole Milk
1 Cup of Cream (We often use 2% milk for both milk ingredients)
1 Tsp. vanilla

1. Mix first four ingredients in a pot and melt chocolate over medium heat. Do not boil.
2. Add milk and cream. Heat to piping hot but do not boil.
3. Transfer to blender, add vanilla, and blend for 20-30 seconds.
4. Enjoy!

Van Til on Culture and Religion

2006-11-28T12:47:00.000-08:00

While Van Til is concerned with culture he knows that culture, by itself, does not restore man, for that would be Pelagianism. As image-bearers of God, all humans will contribute to culture, but what kind of spirit animates that culture? He draws an antithesis between godly culture and ungodly culture (23).

Van Til argues that culture does not include religion (27). Religion is not one aspect of culture. To claim so is a naturalistic position. "The reason religion cannot be subsumed under culture is the fact that whereas man as a religious being transcends all his ativities under the sun, culture is but one aspect of the sum total of these activities and their results in forming history....The meaning of life does not lie in culture as such, but culture derives its meaning from man's faith in God; it is never an end in itself, but always a means of expressing one's religioius faith" (28).

The Calvinistic Concept of Culture

2006-11-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

Before Schaeffer, Sire, and Ravi there was Henry R. Van Til. His book, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, is not about TULIP. Though Calvinism is often reduced to soteriology it is more than that. Rather, his book is about Christianity and culture. A son of the Dutch tradition, Van Til's work takes the best of Augustine, Calvin, Kuyper, and Schilder and sets forth a profound formulation of what Christian culture is and should be.

Van Til describes culture in several ways. Culture is "that activity of man, the image-bearer of God, by which he fulfills the creation mandate to cultivate the earth, to have dominion over it and to subdue it" (xvii).

He defines culture as "any and all human effort and labor expended upon the cosmos, to unearth its treasures and its riches and bring them into the service of man for the enrichment of human existence unto the glory of God" (30).

As a counter-point He quotes Matthew Arnold on culture: It is the "pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world' (25).

While this is partially true, Van Til says, it is also faulty. Culture is not just knowing; it is also producing. It is not just learning passively; it is acting.

Thus, culture is not just an activity of civilized nations but of all men everywhere. Where men are, there culture exists (27).

I look forward to reading more of Van Til. As a shaper of young minds I hope to mold them into positive agents of cultural transformation.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

This is our first Thanksgiving in SC since were were married almost 12 years ago. Both our parents are here celebrating and to mark the occassion I whipped up this liturgy (and a quiche lorraine to go with the turkey):

Thanksgiving Liturgy

L: And you shall spend…money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires.

P: We shall eat here before the Lord our God, and we shall rejoice with our family.

L: You shall rejoice because the Lord sends springs into the valleys; they flow among the hills. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the service of man.

P: We shall rejoice that God brings forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart.

L: You shall rejoice as you look forward to the day when Jesus will drink of the fruit of the vine with you in his Father’s consummated kingdom.

P: We shall rejoice as we wait for the marriage supper of the lamb who was slain that we might have life. We shall rejoice because his love is better than wine.

L: Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has accepted your works. Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil.

Adapted from Deut. 14:26; Ps. 104:15ff.; Mt. 26:29,;Eccl. 9:7; Rev. 3:18; 19:9

We then sang Come, Ye Thankful People Come.

How not to apologize

2006-11-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

This analysis is right on the money.

Before we jump on the self-righteous bandwagon and condemn this politician, though, we should meditate on how often we have apologized in a similar manner.

It is so tempting to offer an apology that is not quite an apology because it saves us from admitting the truth: we are wrong. It is so tempting because it offers a (dead-end) way out of the shame (we should feel) over what we've done. It is so tempting because we think we can dupe someone into believeing we're sorry even while making them feel sorry for making us apologize.

In short, it is tempting because of our pride.

Never Again...

2006-11-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

will I eat Chinese food after reading this.

A Passion for Truth

2006-11-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

“Minds dulled by the smothering conformity of popular culture cannot plumb the depths or explore the breadths of the distinctively Christian virtue of hopeful contentment in the face of perpetual tasks. Thus they rush toward what they think will be the termination of this, that, or another chapter in their lives. They cannot wait to finish school. Thus, for instance, graduation is not a commencement, but a conclusion. Afterwards they hurry through their lives and careers: they plod impatiently through their work week anxious for the weekend; they bid their time until vacation and plod on toward retirement—always coming to the end of things until at last things come to an end.”

--George Grant, "A Passion for Truth," Tabletalk, September 2006

Two Useful Resources

2006-10-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

How did I ever get through Seminary and Graduate without this? I love it!

Evernote is also a useful and free program.

Exodus Mandate

2006-10-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

It seems that there is a growing contingent within the SBC for Christian Schooling.

Chesterton on a woman's function

2006-10-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

My wife really liked this quote from G.K. Chesterton:

"To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors, and holidays; to be Whitely within a certain area, providing toys, boots, cakes, and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannnot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute"

(From What's Wrong with the World, quoted in Captivating, 207).

Great Evangelism Resource

2006-10-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

This video really inspired me.

Great Quote on Food and Life

2006-09-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to reading Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy. This quote is choice:

"Man must eat in order to live; he must take the world into his body and transform it into himself, into flesh and blood. He is indeed that which he eats, and the whole world is presented as one all-embracing banquet table for man….In the Bible the food that man eats, the world of which he must partake in order to live, is given to him by God, and it is given as communion with God. The world as man’s food is not something ‘material’ and limited to material functions, thus different from, and opposed to, the specifically ‘spiritual’ functions by which man is related to God. All that exists is God’s gift to man, and it all exists to make God known to man, to make man’s life communion with God. It is divine love made food, made life for man. God blesses everything He creates, and, in biblical language, this means that He makes all creation the sign and means of His presence and wisdom, love and revelation....Man is a hungry being. But he is hungry for God. Behind all the hunger in our life is God" (11, 14).

Tonight my parents are taking the kids and Nancy and I will have the house to ourselves. I'm going to make a few recipes from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and we'll rejoice in God's good gift of food, which points to him.

Three things everyone wants

2006-09-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

In Genesis 3:6 it says that Eve “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.” While this verse is an inspired account of Eve’s psychology, it also gives insight into what motivates all human beings. It is paradigmatic.

Hence, from this verse we learn that there are three things that everyone wants. What are they? Food = Life. Delight to the Eyes = Glory. Wisdom = Knowledge. We all want life, glory, and knowledge. Every human wants those things to some degree. Come October the Yankees will be vying for baseball glory. Come this evening I will sit down with my family for fellowship and food, both ingredients for a good life (in my dining room newly glorified through a refinished wood floor, fresh paint on the ceiling, and new light fixtures). Right now people are surfing the web for all sorts of knowledge--some wholesome, some rotten, and some frivilous.

What we want we get in Christ. He restores life, glory, and wisdom to us. In communion we receive holy food, through God’s Word we receive knowledge and by the Spirit sanctifying us we are (eventually) glorified. The wanting isn'nt what is bad in us; it is where we find the solution to our wants that counts.

How far are you willing to go?

2006-09-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

How far are you willing to go to raise your child in a Christian manner?

Reading Chaim Potok’s The Chosen challenged me to think about that question. In the novel Potok tells the story of an unlikely friendship between two boys, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders. Though both boys are Jewish they come from different, even antagonistic, Jewish traditions. Reuven’s father, David, is a Modern Orthodox Jew while Danny’s father, Isaac, is a Hasidic Rabbi.

In the book we learn that Reb Saunders never talks to his eldest son, Danny. He talks to his other children but not to Danny—except about the Talmud. Every Shabbat Danny and his father engage in an extended dialogue and debate about the Talmud. As the novel progresses we learn that as eldest son, Danny will one day be expected to assume leadership of the Hasidic Jewish community. We also learn why his father has raised him in silence.

When Danny was young, Reb Saunders realized that his son was brilliant. Not just smart or intellectual but amazingly intelligent. Yet, to his bewilderment, Reb Saunders knows that his son has no heart. Danny has a great mind but no soul. To instill Danny with a soul Reb Saunders raises his son through silence, in the novel an ancient Hasidic parenting method that teaches the child to learn compassion through the suffering of silence.

And so, how far are you willing to go to raise your child in a Christian manner?

While I certainly disagree with the technique Reb Saunders used, I admire his willingness to sacrifice for the goal of raising a son with a soul. As Christians we want to raise our children to know and serve God (Ephesians 6:4). Instead of raising our children in silence, however, we should cultivate rich lines of communication with our children.

In the Gospels the Father communicates his love to the Son verbally (Matthew 3:16-17). The Son talks with his Father daily in prayer. The Father and Son were and are the epitome of a relationship founded on dialogue.

As parents we should imitate the Father. Deuteronomy 6:7-9 describes how thorough we must be in communicating the Father’s ways to our children:

“7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

It is tempting to leave God out of everyday conversations. We can raise our children in silence about the Lord and not realize it. The challenge of Reb Saunders is that he was silent about everything except his Jewish holy books. Do we talk about everything except God’s true holy book, the Bible and its bearing on our lives?

Resources on Theological Aesthetics

2006-09-11T09:40:00.001-07:00

Calvin College has a resource page devoted to theological aesthetics. This page includes a wonderful link to a bibliograpy compiled by Laura Smit.

Why should students study Latin?

2006-09-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Latin is a dead language. Or, so it is said. But if Latin is dead then it speaks loudly from the grave. And I wonder if it is in the grave. Perhaps rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated. While Latin is no longer spoken, it is still widely studied and Latin classics are still printed. Moreover, when you realize the importance that Latin has played in the development of Western civilization—the civilization you are living in right now—you must confess that Latin may be old but is still vigorous in its old age, unlike some of us.

Even so, you might wonder, “Why should students learn Latin beginning in the grammar school years?”

You may have heard that Latin is beneficial because students who take it score higher on the SAT. English has many words derived from Latin and students who study Latin have better English vocabularies and thus do better on standardized tests. That may be true and is a worthy reason for students to labor over Latin paradigms. You may have heard that Latin is beneficial because it gives students a proper foundation to learn other Romance languages (i.e., French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian). With the rise of Hispanic immigrants to America, providing a better base for learning Spanish is a laudable reason for Latin. You may have heard that many technical words in our society’s prestigious professional fields like law and medicine are derived from Latin. Giving students a head start in honorable fields needs no justification.

While these reasons are worthy there are even better reasons for the study of Latin.

First, Latin helps students learn their own language better. When students master Latin they are (re)learning subjects, verbs, direct objects, pronouns, gerunds, infinitives and so on. Studying Latin is a total course in grammar and when students learn Latin grammar they are doing so with reference to English grammar.

When you learn another language it forces you to compare. It is kind of like watching yourself on video. You never realized that you speak that way and have those mannerisms. Latin gives students the opportunity to step outside of their own language, as it were, to see how their language really works. In seeing how another language works with comparison to their own language, students learn better English style and expression. They become better writers and speakers.

Second, Latin helps students develop critical thinking skills. Unlike English, Latin is an inflected language. An inflected language is one in which word endings determine the word’s function in a sentence. For instance, the Latin word “Amo” means “I love” while the Latin word “Amas” means “You love.” In English the verb “love” doesn’t change whether the subject is “I” or “You.”

Latin, like the Roman soldiers who spoke it, marches in orderly patterns. It follows rules and logic. To understand a Latin sentence students must attend carefully to those rules and logic. They must pay attention; they must analyze and dissect. In short, they must develop mental toughness and discipline. Latin exercises the mind in these specific ways. It provides a total mind workout. Students who work out their minds with Latin come away with a muscular brains.

Some of you might be wondering, “Well, why can’t students learn a modern language? Wouldn’t a modern language have the same benefit?” The short answer is, “No, not the same benefit.” By “modern language” you are probably referring to Spanish or French. These aren’t inflected languages. These languages don’t require the same kind of precision in decoding as inflected languages do. While beneficial for living in modern society, Latin is more basic than Spanish or French because it develops more fundamental skills.

Another added benefit is that Latin gives students the tools to read classic texts—the texts that have shaped Western civilization like Augustine’s Confessions. In short, while Latin forms the mind it fills the mind.

So Latin may be old but it is not outdated. When students learn Latin they are being prepared to live in the real world with sharpened minds and greater thinking skills. Long after we have died—and students—Latin will continue to live on as a teaching tool of the highest order. Who said Latin was dead? Rather, it is a living language that enlivens the minds of learners so that they can live better lives.

Convocation

2006-08-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I delivered the convocation address for Covenant Christian School. You can find it here.

The Chariot comes down (or Ordination)

2006-08-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday evening I experienced by faith what Ezekiel experienced by sight in Ezekiel 1 and 2—I was ordained into the ministry and installed as Assistant Pastor of Christian Education at Covenant Presbyterian Church with primary duties to serve as headmaster of Covenant Christian School. Unlike Ezekiel, I'm no longer a mere 30 years old (Ez. 1:1) and, unlike Ezekiel, I hope that my ministry will not be "to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me" (Ez. 2:3).

It is intimadating with being charged to be truthful to God's Word, to live a pious life, and to minister faithfully to God's people. But Ezekiel's vision gives hope.

Ezekiel saw God's very presence symbolized as the chariot, which was a way of showing Ezekiel the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place and the courtyard. I believe that Ezekiel's experience is a pattern for all ordained men. God comes through the ministry of men and sets those being ordained apart to share his Word. Like Ezekiel we are drawn into the holy presence of God and told to eat his word and then share it with His people (Ez. 3:1-2).

Ezekiel's vision also gives hope because it was God who set apart and it was God, through his Spirit, who lifted Ezekiel up and brought him to the exiles (3:15). May the same Spirit make me a "mini-Chariot" of God's presence to the world.

(Picture is of me on the left, Dr. Phil Stogner, a church planter on Daniel's Island near Charleston, and Rev. Eric Dye of Covenant Presbyterian Church.)

Getting Settled

2006-08-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty hectic since I last blogged. For the month of July Nancy travelled to my parents or her parents to live while I stayed in Columbia, working at the school. Living apart was no fun. We saw one another on the weekends but that wasn't enough. By the end Eden made daddy feel special when she started crying and said she missed me and wanted to know when we'd be living together.

Well, two Saturdays ago we moved into our new home in Columbia, SC. We love it. We had the wood floors refinished and have been busy painting. Boxes are slowly being unpacked. The biggest beast has been the ceiling, which has taken forever because it is a very thick popcorn ceiling. I never knew how big a difference a bright ceiling could make but it does. In this photo you can the contrast between the edging I've done and the old paint job. We have a big yard with lots of trees. The kids are having a good time catching bugs and running around. Plus, I'm only 1/2 mile from the school!

Mini-Vacation

2006-06-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

Nancy and I were able to get away for a few days this week before I began work at Covenant Christian School. First, we went whitewater rafting on the Nantahala river in western North Carolina. It was my first time rafting and Nancy's third. We had a blast! Appalachian Rivers Outdoor Recreation has great prices and come to find out the owner is a member of a PCA church in Greenville, South Carolina. Abby, the owner's daugter, was driving us to the launch site and she found out we were from Saint Louis. She said, "This may seem wierd but did you go to Covenant Seminary there?" Well, as a matter of fact... What a small world.

Then we did an overnight backpacking trip on the Appalachian trial. We hiked from Stecoah Gap to Cheoah Bald. We didn't see a soul on the way up to the Bald, which was a rigorous uphill climb of 5.8 miles (the sign I'm pointing to is wrong). We were carrying our gear: tent, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, reading materials (a necessity), food, cosmetics, etc. Though in decent shape our legs weren't quite ready for the strain even though our eyes eagerly feasted on the views. When we got to the top we set up our tent and crashed for a while.

We camped on the Bald and were privy to some beautiful sights, our favorite being watching the sun set over the mountians. At night we didn't hear any sounds of civilization, only the breeze whistling through the treetops. Right after college I hiked the first 210 miles of the AT and had always wanted to take Nancy on a portion of the famed hiker's road. Walking these paths again rekindled an old desire of mine to hike the whole trail. Unless the Lord provides a five month stretch I'll probably never be able to do the entire thing at one time but doing small portions over the years is doable.

Being close to God's green earth is nice and I like the sense of accomplishment too. You never know what kind of things you'll see (like the strange tree Nancy is leaning on). There's something about carrying your own house on your back, so to speak, and being able to have a front porch, as I called it, that includes a majestic view. When we opened our tent fly in the morning the first thing we saw was the sun rising over the distant mountians. At the end of the day you're dog tired, stinky, and dirty. The sleep is so good and the most basic of meals tastes like a feast, even if it is just pasta with a little bit of watery spaghetti sauce because someone forgot to bring the tomato paste(!). I'm blessed to have a wife that will go on "vacations" like this with me!

In SC

2006-06-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

On Monday, June 19th, we closed on our house and the next day headed for SC. The trip was uneventful if you call three kids being squished in the back of a Honda Civic all in their car seats an uneventful thing.

I drove the minivan and it was filled up with so much stuff (e.g., a desk, two tables, a lawnmower, and firearms) that no one else could fit in the car.

On Thursday Nancy and I found a nice house with a huge yard, making our city yard seem even smaller than it really was. We don't close on the home, though, until the end of July so the family will stay in Greenville with my parents and I'll stay in Columbia working during the week.

Lukan Literary Slam

2006-06-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

In Acts 9:33-34 Luke writes of Peter as he travelled "here and there among them all" that "he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. [34] And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed." And immediately he rose."

Luke's mention of Aeneas is a not too subtle claim of the superiority of the gospel over Roman imperial claims to hegemony. Aeneas is the main character of Virgil's Aeneid, a fictional account of the founding of Rome. Though fictional Virgil's account was justly famous then and is now for its literary artistry and for it's not too subtle claims for Augustus Caesar's rule.

Luke was not forced to mention Aeneas's name but providence provided him with an opportunity to record an amazing healing and hint at Jesus Christ's greatness against any Caesar's. It would be like an American Christian healing a man whose name happened to be George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

Christ came to found a better city than Rome. In the Aeneid Aeneas founds his city upon the blood of his enemy Turnus. Though Christ will come in judgment one day, his city is founded upon his own blood, a blood that speaks peace and bids all who will to rise and walk in his name.

A time for everything--even a post on time

2006-06-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

Never have enough time to do what you want to do? The guys at Manager Tools have some useful things to say about time management. Though geared for business managers, I found their insights not only commonsensical in a Platonic recollection sort of way but practical for myself too. They advise following a four-step assessment of what you do and then an evaluation of what your priorities are in theory and practice:

1. Make a list of what you have done in the past three weeks from memory alone. Don’t look at a calendar, PDA, etc.

2. Capture your key priorities. Rule: You can’t have more than ten. Ask: Which five are the most important? Distinguish between tasks and priorities. (The gurus said that Peter Drucker claimed that a good manager would only be good at one thing and have that one thing as his priority!)

3. Analyze where you spend your time. You need a calendar and a reporting measurement device. Analyze in 15-minute increments. Then assign % to the five most important priorities.

4. Schedule your primary responsibility or goal. This is the most important step. It needs to be at least 2 slots/week of 1 hour and half.

Another more in-depth device is "Getting Things Done." Umm...Maybe I'll have to make reading that a priority.

(HT: Ed and Barlowfarms)

Good bye!

2006-05-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

After almost thirteen years of living in Saint Louis we'll be moving back to SC in a few weeks. We'll miss a lot of things about Saint Louis but some things we won't miss at all. Here's a top ten (or so) list of each. We'll miss:
1. Friends
2. Free stuff (Zoo, Botantical gardens, Grant's Farm, Tower Grove Park
3. Educational Instiutions (Covenant Seminary, Saint Louis University, Providence Christian Academy)
4. Cultural and Ethnic Diversity
5. Ethnic restaraunts (Indian food is so good)
6. Easy to get around
7. Aldi (That new dark chocolate is tastey and Winking Owl is so cheap)
8. PCA churches
9. Arch
10. City Architecture
11. Four real seasons (usually)
12. City Museum. Great fun. Makes me feel like a kid again.

We won't miss:

1. The city doorbell
2. Crime
3. What highshool are you from?
4. Lack of different grocery stores
5. No close beach or mountains
6. Waiting in line behind someone with foodstamps when they realize they got $50 too much
7. Pathetic mass transit
8. Division between city and county

Saint Louis has been, as they say, a great place to raise a family