Not What You Expect

So, this past year I've been trying to memorize Psalm 119. It's been very difficult, but fruitful. This past week I've been memorizing the verses "Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your law," vs. 67 and "It was good for me that I was afflicted that I might learn your commandments" vs. 71. I am constantly amazed by the blessing of affliction for the godly, and so I commend to you brothers this hymn, by a hard man, John Newton
http://www.igracemusic.com/hymnbook/hymns/i11.html

Paedobaptism

After the baptism talk we had at our last gathering, I've heard more and more stuff relating to baptism. I haven't gone out of my way very much to read things about it since the topic really doesn't have much bearing on my life right now, but I still have some questions about paedobaptism that I'm hoping some of you who understand it can answer.

The other day in a class at WTS, a professor made a side comment where he said he had a hard time with Presbyterians' view on paedobaptism because it's supposedly welcoming the infant into the covenant family and yet the child cannot come to the family table (communion) until he becomes a member of the church. I had never realized that that was the case in Presbyterian churches. In the Methodist church I grew up in we were always allowed to take communion even before we went through confirmation and joined, and in the Anglican church I went to in Columbia children were allowed to take communion if they were with their parents.

So what's the deal? How can we call what we're doing baptism if it doesn't result in the child having the benefits (I would say communion is one of the most important benefits) of being a member of the covenant family. I'm sure that this incongruity hasn't gone unanswered by Presbyterians, so does anyone know the answer?

Looking forward to hearing from y'all. And also, where are these updates I've been asking for for the last month or two? I want to hear how y'all are doing.

Council Summer Reunion of 2009

Are you guys still interested in getting together sometime late summer? What are we thinking about doing? Camping? Hunting big game? Perhaps this?

Something to grease the wheels

For all of y'all debating about infant baptism, check this out and then let's see if we can't get this blog back up and going with a little controversy grease.

Is practicing paedo-baptism a sin?

Reply to "Everything is Awesome.."

That said I really thought the previous post video was hilarous.

Everything is Awesome, Nobody is Happy

Great commentary on our generation by comedian Louis C.K. on Conan.

Sunday: Best Day, or Best Day Ever?

People, Aldi's is so good. It's so good that it isn't even a store: it's a pocket dimension where prices make sense, hidden away from a world where money has gone crazy and a loaf of bread costs more than a dollar no matter how hard you look.

Quickly, I would like to list some of the reasons / ways to know that my Aldi's experience two days ago was rad rad rad:
- I bought corn flakes for (let me break it down for you) 6 cents an ounce.
- I had to call my mom, who is thrifty like whoa, to tell her how amazing the store is. Twice.
- Normally you have to put a quarter in their shopping carts to use them, which you get back when you hook the cart back up to their weird daisy-chain doo-hickey. My cart already had a quarter in it. Which I totally pocketed on my way out.
- I bought respectable bread for 80 cents a loaf.

While I was there everyone I saw looked at me like we were both in on some kind of awesome secret; eye-contact was sufficient to tell who was in the club and who wasn't. A secret club of savings! When I was standing in line to check out, I actually was excited about the fact that my food was eventually going to run out and I would have to come back and buy more stuff later.

Also Dave's and my friend Dan Harding had a son on the same day. But mostly the Aldi's thing.

Congratulations Hardings!

Dissolved by Thy goodness...

I sang this Friday at the Vineyard coffeehouse and the lyrics were still on my mind this morning...

Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue.
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy, I could not live here.
Sin would reduce me to utter despair,
But through Thy free goodness, my spirit's revived
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart.
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground
And weep for the praise of the mercy I've found.

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own
In the covenant love of Thy crucified Son.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.

Good Morning Council...

So life is busy, huh? Mine has been too busy lately. I have little news for the group, other than I'm a year older than the last time I posted. Things are going well, the plate has just been full of little things. I hope that all is well with the men of this great council. I have some thoughts on the Sabbath to share, but those will come at at a later time. And don't forget as you go through this week, if you ain't first, you're last...

Anyone alive in here?

Hello???? Hellooooooooooooooo....

Got accepted to Princeton Seminary today. I was one of two applicants from WTS that got accepted (out of around 10) so that's encouraging. Still pretty sure I'm not going to go there, but I'll be praying about it and considering it more over the next couple of weeks.

Hope to hear from the rest of y'all on here soon. It's been far too long.

Teddy speaks to men...

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

This is from Theodor Roosevelt thanks to AoM blog