I'll Have the Kriegshund Burger and a Cup of Hot Fat, Please

'"But now bring me a musician." And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him.' ~ II Kings 3:15

A prevalent accusation levelled against those of us in the Reformed tradition--and, more often than not, deservedly so--is that of being too cerebral or having an overemphasis on the intellectual aspects of theology and doctrine. I must admit to having a hand in perpetuating that perception and, although I could 'name names' regarding my confederates at WPC, I'll leave that up to the reader to identify those who bear the blame alongside me.

However, though I readily admit the intellectual approach to our faith can be overemphasised, I would also assert with great confidence that it does have its place. Our intellect and capacity for critical thought are gifts from God; after all, He is the author of logic.

Yet, it has been my experience that an all too prevalent approach to our supplications focuses almost exclusively upon the emotional aspects of the faith--at least as much as it concerns those prayers in which we seek guidance or wisdom in specific circumstances, such as job searches, child-bearing or rearing, dating or marriage relationships, etc. By this I mean that the answer we seek--and I am including myself in this discussion--is one of the 'Road to Damascus' variety in which we desire God to provide His answer in some unmistakably overt manner, via anything from an immediate telephone call to His voice emanating from a pillar of smoke hovering just above our house. (Oh, that life's important decisions could always be made by the casting of lots!)

To be clear, I am not denying that God can--and does--use such methods in his Providence to direct and interact with His people to accomplish His purposes. I have often heard those who have said that God 'led' them to such and such decision or they 'felt His call' to make a certain decision. I cannot recall a time in my life in which God has so recognisably dealt with me and my petitions to Him, still, I have no method or authority to discount those types of accounts described above in the lives of others and it is not my intention to here cast doubt upon them.

My point is that I think we sell ourselves short too often when we seek God's counsel as it relates to our ability to act with wisdom. He has given us a tremendous faculty for reason, deduction, and logic. In short, He has, in varying degrees depending upon the individual, given us wisdom--which He intends for us to utilise. I am not advocating that we eschew approaching the bar of Heaven and asking for intercession or guidance; what I am advocating is that we not be so fearful in using the wisdom that God has given us, coupling it with what He has revealed to us as His will in His word, and drawing conclusions or making decisions with confidence.

I have ruminated on this subject for quite some time but my thoughts on this subject re-emerged the other day during my lunchtime men's Bible study on the Book of Judges. In our discussion about God's revelation to Sampson's parents regarding their son's purpose for Israel, it was noticed that the father, Manoah, reacted with a great deal of fear and trepidation while Sampson's mother based her reaction upon her faith--and what she could deduce about the situation based upon what she knew about God. She used the faculties God had given her to assess the situation while Manoah required supernatural authentication to validate God's message. D. M. Lloyd Jones discusses the difference in their reactions thus in 'Facing the Unexpected':

'We must consider what this woman did, and the answer is a startling and surprising one--that she just thought and reasoned. How simple! And yet how we tend to fail at this point ... There is an anti-intellectual spirit with regard to religion. ... The whole emphasis has been placed upon religion as a power which can do things for us and which can make us happy. ... Seeing and observing her husband's collapse ... she doesn't cry or shout ... she thinks, she reasons, she ponders the matter, and with magnificent logic she arrives at the only conclusion that is really valid.' [Emphasis mine.]

All of this is to say that I don't think we should have so little confidence in our God-given abilities to reason and in the wisdom He grants us. Certainly, we should prayerfully seek His guidance and direction; but rather than in a burning bush or an angel from Heaven seizing our knife-clasping hand (which God can and may use at His good pleasure), His answer can often be seen in our ordinary and deliberative attempts to weigh the benefits or deficits of our situtation based upon the gifts He has already bestowed upon us in conjuction with those heavenward petitions.

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Tabula rasa? I don’t think so. I KNEW Gracie Mae had something going on up there!

I was telling some of the folks at church last week about the book on levitation that Ashlee bought me the other day. I haven't been able to put it down.

For quite some time now I have been itchin' to start a bluegrass band. And I've got the perfect name already picked out: Treble Yell! (Can you dig it?)

Speaking of bluegrass bands, one of my old high school buddies was asked to sit in on bass with some of his fellow troops in Iraq and--poof--the Taji Mountain Boys were born.

The following statement has been issued by Michael Anthony Peroutka, the Presidential candidate of the Constitution Party in 2004. He is also co-founder, with his brother Steve, of “Institute On The Constitution.” And he is co-host, with John Lofton, of “The American View” radio show.
I endorse Rep. Ron Paul for President. And I endorse him not because he is the lesser of two evils. A Christian can never endorse any kind of evil. I endorse Rep. Paul because — from a Christian/Biblical and Constitutional perspective – he is, by far, the best candidate running for President.
— Rep. Paul believes, correctly, that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant word of God and thus it is not the role of God-ordained civil government, at any level, to feed, house, clothe or educate anybody.
— Rep. Paul takes his oath to God as a Congressman seriously and believes, correctly, that the Constitution is the highest man-made law in our land, that it severely restricts what the Federal Government can legally do, and it must be obeyed. This is why, as he states on his campaign web site, he has: never voted to raise taxes; never voted for an unbalanced budget; never voted for a Federal restriction on gun ownership; never voted to raise Congressional pay; never taken a government-paid junket; and has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
In addition, Rep. Paul has voted against: the Patriot Act; regulating the Internet; and he voted against the Iraq war. He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program. He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
— Rep. Paul, again correctly, is truly pro-life and believes that there are no circumstances under which it is OK to murder by abortion any innocent unborn babies.
(The CP is the third-largest political party in the US (366,000 members, more than the LP's 235,000), with almost all of them in California and Nevada.)



'Today, with all of the curriculum that's been developed, [homeschooling is] really quite easy. Not only is it quite easy, one of the biggest problems I have is selecting what I want to do from the wealth of resources that are available," says Shortt.



'Of course, there is a one in ten-thousand chance that, when I push this button, it will be the end of the world.' ~ Manhattan Project physicist Enrico Fermi.

Come you masters of war

You that build all the guns

You that build the death planes

You that build the big bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks

~ Bob Dylan, Masters of War

'Ahhh. The sunshine, the flowers, the birds, the ...

... Mama, wake up!! I want to nurse NOW!!!