Christ Reformed Folk Invade the Sierras

A bunch of us from Christ Reformed have invaded the eastern Sierras.  Some of us are camping, some enjoying one of the many condos in Mammoth.

Lake Mary (below Mammoth Mountain) is one of the prettiest in the Sierras.  The fishing was pretty good, or so I am told.  I've got nothing against fishing mind you, but I don't like getting up at the crack of dawn.  I'm on vacation!  The whole point of vacation is sleeping in and eating too much.

The scenery is great, but the fellowship is even better.  There are fifteen families or so here this year and we've been hanging out in between fishing, hiking and running (several of our group are training for marathons).

Can't wait for the meteor shower tomorrow night!  That is always one of the highlights of the trip!

This Week's White Horse Inn

Christ's View of Scripture

Having established in previous programs that the New Testament documents are the most reliable texts of ancient history, the hosts in this program discuss the way Jesus throughout these texts speaks of the Old Testament Scriptures. Are these a collection of myths and fables with helpful moral lessons? Is one interpretation just as good as the next? Since Jesus Christ rose again from the dead, his view of Scripture may be worth considering above all others (originally broadcast April 29, 2007).

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



The URCNA Synod, The Overturning of Prop 8, and other Musings

During the 2010 URCNA synod, I had a great conversation (or two) with Dr. Gerhard Visscher (of the CanRC theological seminary).  Here's Dr. Visscher's take on the URCNA-CanRC merger.  I heartily agree with Dr. Visscher's assessment.   Dr. Visscher on the CanRC-URCNA Relationship

Scott Clark offers up a very helpful take on the overturning of Prop 8 and related matters here:  Clark on Natural Law and Sexual Liberation

OK, now I've heard it all.  Here's a car which runs on human waste.  Well, actually it runs on the methane produced by processing human waste.  There are so many great quips which could be offered up, but the voice inside is saying, "don't do it!"   However, I am worried about the prospect of methane being in demand for fuel--I will either be a rich man, or else some evil cabal will capture me and run experiments to find out why my body converts pretty much everything I eat to methane.   The Poop-Mobile

So, John the Baptist's remains have been found . . . in Bulgaria?  That is the first place I would have looked.   Hey, they found bone fragments of a skull, hand and tooth.  That's all the proof I need!  Maybe these gentlemen would profit from reading Calvin's rather sarcastic treatment on relics.  We've heard this before.  More John the Baptist Relics

You Gotta Love the Bureaucrats

Here's part of the flow chart for our new ObamaCare.

I can just see it now. 

• Bureaucrat A tries to figure out from Bureaucrat B if I am eligible for care.
• Bureaucrat B contacts Bureaucrat C for approval. 
• Bureaucrat C must check with Bureaucrats D-F, but Bureaucrat E is on vacation.
• Bureaucrat B contacts the supervisor (Bureaucrat G) and asks what to do. 
• Bureaucrat G tells Bureaucrat C to wait for E to return.
• Meanwhile, I contact A, to learn the outcome. 
• A directs me to customer service Bureaucrat H.
• H tells me to contact appeals Bureaucrat I to expedite the matter. 
• Bureaucrat I tells me to go back to B.
• B tries again to contact C, but now C is out on pet bereavement leave. 
• Meanwhile E has returned and contacts C, who has lost the paperwork.
• C contacts B (but B is now on vacation)
• Upon return, B contacts A.
• A calls me to inform me that I must contact appeals panel (bureaucrats J-M)
• C finds the paperwork, but sees the appeal is underway and files it away . . . somewhere.

I could go on and on.  You get the point. 

I guess my baldness treatments will have to wait.

A Synodical Ordeal

Quite frankly, the 2010 URCNA Synod in London, Ontario, was an ordeal.  At least it was for me.

Along with Christ Reformed's elder delegate, I made my way from the OC to London, Ontario.  But our bags remained in Detroit . . .  We finally got our stuff the next day.  Good thing.  I was getting a bit gamey.

Some guy sitting about three rows back on the flight from LA to Detroit was hacking and snorting his head off.  Sure enough, I was getting sick by Tuesday night and spent much of synod stoned on cold tablets trying not to cough, sneeze or make other gross sounds.  Nothing worse than sitting next to someone coughing, snorting and repeatedly clearing their throats.  I did my best to keep quiet, but that meant sneaking off to go blow my nose every 20 minutes or so . . .

The delegates worked from 8:00 a.m. in the morning until 11:00 p.m. for four straight days.  Despite the grueling schedule, the 200 or so sleep-deprived bone-weary men kept plowing ahead with few signs of the usual crabbiness that goes with that kind of stress and fatigue.  I was impressed with the level of civility shown under such duress.  I know I was tired and crabby!

Adding insult to fatigue, apparently, American Reformed ministers are viewed as a security risk by Canadian authorities!  Here I am getting frisked in front of a bunch of my fellow ministers and synod attendees on the same flight out with me (hence the photo).  I'll bet the security people were looking for Cuban cigars--the contraband most likely to be found on a Reformed minister's person.

Yes, synod was an ordeal.  But . . . 

The nine points of Synod Schereville were re-affirmed by a large margin.  When it came time to approve the study report on justification and the Federal Vision, the matter came to the floor in the form of six recommendations.  The first recommendation (to receive the report) passed without dissent.  Then the second recommendation passed.  Then came the third, the heart of the report.  Not a single "nay."  When it became clear that the vote was unanimous, someone out in the hall applauded.  Before long virtually all the delegates inside began applauding.  Then, there was a cheer or two, and I can only describe the atmosphere in the room as one of spontaneous heart-felt joy.  Never seen anything like it!  About as close as the Reformed come to a "second blessing."

So, if synod was an ordeal, it was well worth it.  The gospel was cheered, the Federal Vision was rejected by every one of the delegates to our synod. 

And once I've caught up on my sleep and my cold is long gone, what will remain is the unanimous vote of Synod London 2010, when the delegates cheered as the gospel was affirmed and the Federal Vision condemned!

Thanks be to God!

This Week's White Horse Inn

Christ the Key to Scripture

All great books are difficult to master and according to classicist Mortimer Adler, the Bible is the most challenging of all the great books. This may in part explain why there are so many varying interpretations of this sacred book. But when we begin to see the scarlet thread of redemption running from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible’s central message becomes unmistakably clear.

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



Off to Synod . . .

Well, I'm off next week to the URNCA synod, in London, Ontario.  Synod will be held on the campus of the University of Western Ontario.

Although I enjoy seeing old friends, I'm not one who enjoys a week's worth of committee work.  But we do have some important things on the agenda, including a report on the doctrine of justification and the federal vision, the issue of possible federative unity with the Canadian Reformed Churches, as well as several other pressing matters facing our churches.

For the past six years, I've been the chair of the liturgical forms and confessions committee (we are working on a new URCNA hymnal), and will be glad to hand those duties off to someone new.

Lord willing, I'll return to the big OC the next week for a bit, and then it is off to the Eastern Sierras for our annual summer vacation with church friends.  I look forward to that all year!

It has been a very productive summer so far.  I've been able to complete a big chunk of the first draft on my book on the two kingdoms.  The book will focus on our duties as Christian citizens. 

I'm tackling questions about the origin and authority of the civil kingdom. the relationship of the Great Commission to the Cultural Mandate, the redemptive role and mission of the kingdom of Christ (in the midst of the civil kingdom), the question of whether or not the United States is a Christian nation (in one sense it might be, in another sense it cannot be), the dark side of the state and the question of civil disobedience, as well as our duties to the civil kingdom as Christian citizens (praying for those in authority, obeying the law, and yes, even paying taxes). 

It is not a book about politics per se, but instead focuses upon the application of Reformed two kingdom theory to our duties as American citizens.  What does it mean to be a Christian and an American?  Political partisans (on either side) probably won't like my answer.  Theonomists and neo-Calvinists won't either!

Hopefully, I'll find a publisher and get it published well before the 2012 elections!

If I get a good Wi-Fi connection, I may have a few updates from synod.  If not, Lord willing, I'll return in a week or so.

This Week's White Horse Inn

Interpreting Scripture

How should we interpret the Bible? Literally? Figuratively? Allegorically? On this edition of the program the hosts take up the subject of hermeneutics, or proper biblical interpretation. Throughout this program they argue that the Bible is not one book with a single interpretive rule, but rather is a library of numerous ancient texts which need to be interpreted according to the rules of their respective genres. In other words, poetry is not the same as history. That's what's on tap this week, at the White Horse Inn!

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



Beware -- the Fat Police!

Under the terms of ObamaCare, all health-care recipients will be required to list their "Body Mass Index" on all medical records--this is in addition to the current requirements to list height and weight.  The Fat Police are Coming!

Fortunately, these regulations will not take effect until 2014.  Although I am currently engaged in heated conflict with my middle age man-boobs and belly girth, what if I've lost the will to fight by 2014?  What if my BMI is too high?  More evidence of the nanny state on the loose!

White Horse Inn producer Shane Rosenthal sent along this link to various church leader look-alikes.  Church Leader Look-Alikes  Some of them are pretty good.  The one that is missing is the guy from the Go to Meeting commercial, who looks just like Mike Horton.  Uncanny even.

I'm gonna get grief for this one . . . but here goes . . .  I'm not a fan of this guy's art.  I've always thought something was a little off.  Now I know what.   Something Odd About the Painting

Bigfoot may be a hoax, but not the dreaded Chupacabra!  El Chupacabra LIves!

Rod Rosenbladt on "Issues, Etc."

Our favorite Lutheran and my White Horse Inn compatriot, Dr. Rod Rosenbladt is doing a series this week on "Issues, Etc." on the subject "Christ alone."

Here's the first program (from Monday). Christ Alone, Part One

Here's the second (from Tuesday); Christ Alone, Part Two

Here's the third (from Wednesday); Christ Alone, Part Three

Here's the fourth (from Thursday); Christ Alone, Part Four

Here's the fifth broadcast (from Friday); Christ Alone, Part Five