Saturday, July 24, 2004
I just had to do this...
Further delaying my post on Chalcedonian terms, I came across this:
good job you're captain planet
Who are you in Captain Planet?
brought to you by Quizilla
That show was the most lame, blatantly liberal, self-contradicting hippie crap... and yet I still thought it was cool at the time. Yeah, I was a dumb kid. I actually even didn't develop any pyromaniac campfire tendencies til I was 18, oh well.
I just remember the show now... the first four powers were cool, then the last one was pretty useless...
"Earth!"
"Wind!"
"Fire!"
"Water!"
"uhh...Heart??? Hey... I can make people love each other!"
Further delaying my post on Chalcedonian terms, I came across this:
good job you're captain planet
Who are you in Captain Planet?
brought to you by Quizilla
That show was the most lame, blatantly liberal, self-contradicting hippie crap... and yet I still thought it was cool at the time. Yeah, I was a dumb kid. I actually even didn't develop any pyromaniac campfire tendencies til I was 18, oh well.
I just remember the show now... the first four powers were cool, then the last one was pretty useless...
"Earth!"
"Wind!"
"Fire!"
"Water!"
"uhh...Heart??? Hey... I can make people love each other!"
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Monday, July 19, 2004
24
I had planned on writing something on this, but Josh beat me to it. (See also here). As I promised in the comments on that post, here's my own translation and commentary. I've tried to remain as honest as possible to the text but have given preference to the LXX's textual tradition where something seems missing from the MT. Hopefully it'll show that this wasn't ever to be taken as physically concrete as some people make it out to be. I've tried to preserve the rhythmic structure as best as I could.
The First Account (1:1-2:4a)
In the beginning, God created the sky/heavens and the earth.
And the earth was desolate and empty
and darkness was on the face of the deep
and the Spirit of God brooded/loomed over the face of the waters.
And God said, "[Let] there be light"
And there was light.
And God saw the light, that [it was] good,
and God separated between the light and the darkness.
And God called the light "day" and the darkness he called "night".
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day one.
And God said, "[Let] there be a surface/expanse/canopy in the middle of the waters and let them separate between waters to the waters."
And it was so.
And God made the surface/expanse/canopy and separated between the waters under the surface/etc. and the waters above the surface/etc.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And God called the surface/etc. "sky"
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day two.
And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered to one place and let the dry land be seen.
And it was so.
And the waters under the sky were gathered into their place and the dry land appeared.
And God called the dry land "earth" and to the gathering of waters He called "seas". And God saw that [it was] good.
And God said, "Let the earth sprout green vegetation seeding seed, fruit trees making fruit according to their kind, whose seed is in them, upon the earth."
And it was so.
And the earth brought forth green vegetation seeding seed according to their kind and trees making fruit whose seed is in them according to their kind.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day three.
And God said, "[Let] there be luminaries in/on the surface/etc. of the heavens, to divide between the day and the night, and [let] them be for signs and for seasons, for days and years. And [let] them be for luminaries in the surface/etc. to shine upon the earth."
And it was so.
And God made the two great luminaries, the great luminary for the ruling of the day and the small luminary for the ruling of the night and the stars. And God set them in the surface/etc. of the heavens to light the earth and to rule over the day and the over the night, and to divide between the light and the darkness.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day four.
And God said, "[Let] the waters swarm with swarms of living animals and let flying things/birds fly [=verbal form of the noun] over the earth on the face of the surface/etc. of the heavens."
And it was so.
And God created the the great sea monsters and the living, moving animals, which the waters brought forth according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to their kinds.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And God blessed them, saying "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and [let] birds multiply on the earth"
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day five.
And God said, "[Let] the earth bring forth living animals according to its kind, beasts and creeping things and the live of the earth according to its kind."
And it was so.
And God made the living animals according to its kind, beasts and all that creeps on the ground according to its kind.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And God said, "Let Us make man in our image, as to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the skies/heavens, and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over all creeping things which creep on the earth."
And God created the man in His image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female, He created them.
And God blessed them and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the skies/heavens, and over the beasts, and over all life that creeps on the ground."
And God said, "Behold, I have given to you every plant seeding seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. And to all life of the earth, and to all birds of the skies/heavens and to all that creeps on the ground in which is life, I have given every green plant for food."
And it was so.
And God saw all that he had made and behold, it was exceedingly good.
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day six.
And all the heavens and the earth were completed, and their hosts.
And God completed on the sixth day [MT reads seventh, LXX+Syriac = sixth] all his makings which he had done.
And He rested on the seventh day from all his labors which he had done.
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, for in it, God rested from all his labors which God created in his doing.
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth, in their creation.
---------
Now, that's the end of the first account. (No, I'm not subscribing to the documentary hypothesis, before anyone levels that charge against me. I believe Moses wrote both accounts, but at different times). The Hebrew sense for that particular narrative stops there. The second account offers a more detailed narrative, and seeks to elaborate on the first, which was arranged very poetically. It opens with:
In the day when YHWH God made earth and heaven, before any shrub of the field was on the earth and before any greenage had sprung up - for YHWH God had not caused it to rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground...
[then goes on to outline the forming of man and woman, etc]
If the "days" in Genesis must mean 24 hour days, then we must throw Genesis 2 out of the canon since it speaks of God creating earth and heaven, ground which is not submerged (i.e. post-day 3) but is moistened by steam, and the creation of man, all in one day.
I find it quite strange that people think they have to believe that Genesis 1 is a scientific document. The idea of a day being 24 hours is based on the earth's orientation relative to the sun. Without any sun, this makes no sense. Plus, there is also the failure to realize that much of the Old Testament was polemic against Israel's pagan neighbors. A reference to another creation account is found in Psalm 89 and Isaiah 51, both thought to have been based upon Mesopotamian imagery of the created world being the result of a battle between the dragon-forces of the ocean and the sky gods. The victorious deity killed the serpent-dragons and formed the world from the corpse of their matriarchal leader. By attributing the creative act to YHWH, the authors were giving an "up yours" to pagan religions without necessarily giving their consent to the stories. Do people realize what an incredible statement it was that YHWH created THE SUN, the very object of many people's worship?
I think the ability to recognize polemic just somehow fell out of the contemporary Lutheran readings of Scripture, in our push to become Baptists with a docetic view of Scripture. In the emphasis on the supposedly 24-hour days, the eschatological nature of the account. In a very true sense, the seventh day when God rests from all his works has not yet come (John 5:17), and in Christ, man is being made in the image and likeness of God in a way beyond which Adam was.
Thinkest thou what?
I had planned on writing something on this, but Josh beat me to it. (See also here). As I promised in the comments on that post, here's my own translation and commentary. I've tried to remain as honest as possible to the text but have given preference to the LXX's textual tradition where something seems missing from the MT. Hopefully it'll show that this wasn't ever to be taken as physically concrete as some people make it out to be. I've tried to preserve the rhythmic structure as best as I could.
The First Account (1:1-2:4a)
In the beginning, God created the sky/heavens and the earth.
And the earth was desolate and empty
and darkness was on the face of the deep
and the Spirit of God brooded/loomed over the face of the waters.
And God said, "[Let] there be light"
And there was light.
And God saw the light, that [it was] good,
and God separated between the light and the darkness.
And God called the light "day" and the darkness he called "night".
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day one.
And God said, "[Let] there be a surface/expanse/canopy in the middle of the waters and let them separate between waters to the waters."
And it was so.
And God made the surface/expanse/canopy and separated between the waters under the surface/etc. and the waters above the surface/etc.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And God called the surface/etc. "sky"
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day two.
And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered to one place and let the dry land be seen.
And it was so.
And the waters under the sky were gathered into their place and the dry land appeared.
And God called the dry land "earth" and to the gathering of waters He called "seas". And God saw that [it was] good.
And God said, "Let the earth sprout green vegetation seeding seed, fruit trees making fruit according to their kind, whose seed is in them, upon the earth."
And it was so.
And the earth brought forth green vegetation seeding seed according to their kind and trees making fruit whose seed is in them according to their kind.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day three.
And God said, "[Let] there be luminaries in/on the surface/etc. of the heavens, to divide between the day and the night, and [let] them be for signs and for seasons, for days and years. And [let] them be for luminaries in the surface/etc. to shine upon the earth."
And it was so.
And God made the two great luminaries, the great luminary for the ruling of the day and the small luminary for the ruling of the night and the stars. And God set them in the surface/etc. of the heavens to light the earth and to rule over the day and the over the night, and to divide between the light and the darkness.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day four.
And God said, "[Let] the waters swarm with swarms of living animals and let flying things/birds fly [=verbal form of the noun] over the earth on the face of the surface/etc. of the heavens."
And it was so.
And God created the the great sea monsters and the living, moving animals, which the waters brought forth according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to their kinds.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And God blessed them, saying "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and [let] birds multiply on the earth"
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day five.
And God said, "[Let] the earth bring forth living animals according to its kind, beasts and creeping things and the live of the earth according to its kind."
And it was so.
And God made the living animals according to its kind, beasts and all that creeps on the ground according to its kind.
And God saw that [it was] good.
And God said, "Let Us make man in our image, as to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the skies/heavens, and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over all creeping things which creep on the earth."
And God created the man in His image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female, He created them.
And God blessed them and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the skies/heavens, and over the beasts, and over all life that creeps on the ground."
And God said, "Behold, I have given to you every plant seeding seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. And to all life of the earth, and to all birds of the skies/heavens and to all that creeps on the ground in which is life, I have given every green plant for food."
And it was so.
And God saw all that he had made and behold, it was exceedingly good.
And there was evening, and there was morning. Day six.
And all the heavens and the earth were completed, and their hosts.
And God completed on the sixth day [MT reads seventh, LXX+Syriac = sixth] all his makings which he had done.
And He rested on the seventh day from all his labors which he had done.
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, for in it, God rested from all his labors which God created in his doing.
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth, in their creation.
---------
Now, that's the end of the first account. (No, I'm not subscribing to the documentary hypothesis, before anyone levels that charge against me. I believe Moses wrote both accounts, but at different times). The Hebrew sense for that particular narrative stops there. The second account offers a more detailed narrative, and seeks to elaborate on the first, which was arranged very poetically. It opens with:
In the day when YHWH God made earth and heaven, before any shrub of the field was on the earth and before any greenage had sprung up - for YHWH God had not caused it to rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground...
[then goes on to outline the forming of man and woman, etc]
If the "days" in Genesis must mean 24 hour days, then we must throw Genesis 2 out of the canon since it speaks of God creating earth and heaven, ground which is not submerged (i.e. post-day 3) but is moistened by steam, and the creation of man, all in one day.
I find it quite strange that people think they have to believe that Genesis 1 is a scientific document. The idea of a day being 24 hours is based on the earth's orientation relative to the sun. Without any sun, this makes no sense. Plus, there is also the failure to realize that much of the Old Testament was polemic against Israel's pagan neighbors. A reference to another creation account is found in Psalm 89 and Isaiah 51, both thought to have been based upon Mesopotamian imagery of the created world being the result of a battle between the dragon-forces of the ocean and the sky gods. The victorious deity killed the serpent-dragons and formed the world from the corpse of their matriarchal leader. By attributing the creative act to YHWH, the authors were giving an "up yours" to pagan religions without necessarily giving their consent to the stories. Do people realize what an incredible statement it was that YHWH created THE SUN, the very object of many people's worship?
I think the ability to recognize polemic just somehow fell out of the contemporary Lutheran readings of Scripture, in our push to become Baptists with a docetic view of Scripture. In the emphasis on the supposedly 24-hour days, the eschatological nature of the account. In a very true sense, the seventh day when God rests from all his works has not yet come (John 5:17), and in Christ, man is being made in the image and likeness of God in a way beyond which Adam was.
Thinkest thou what?
Monday, July 12, 2004
I typed this up 2 days ago and couldn't be bothered to post it, thinking it was too trivial to be posted. As I currently have too much of a cold to be able to come up with anything worthwhile, here goes. Don't read this.
I was gonna make an ELCE layman's response to what just happened across the pond but John H already did a very good job of that. [Later addition: I now permanently hate the characters "8-01A" also]
Conclusive proof that I'm a theological dumbass
For the record, Cardiff University's Religious and Theological Studies department has definitions for just about everything, except obvious terms such as "exam" and "assessment". I got my exam results back today. I had really put in my best efforts into the exams I took in May and June. All of the possible grade for the entire year was put into a single "3 essays in 2 hours" format for most of the classes. I still had to produce coursework essays, but they don't actually count towards my final grade. Anyways, my best subjects were New Testament and History of Early Christianity. My worst was probably Early Islam... what happens... I get 72 in Early Islam (1:1 or the equivalent of an A), and 62 and 64 (2:1s, or B's) in the theology classes... This is just a bit ironic, and I don't think it helps my prospects for eventually pursuing a doctorate. I just thank God I don't have to take anymore "academic theology" classes. It just doesn't pay to concisely criticize the critics in an exam. Languages went well, though. But the whole thing makes me wonder how my dissertation is going to be marked when I submit it. I don't conclude in a spirit of "tolerance" that everything's all ok or that the Church is evil, so some people in the department, not my supervisor, but perhaps whoever might end up being the second marker, might not like it.
[Later addition:] I read this today. All very good, but... I did find the author's use of Theodore of Mopsuestia, teacher of Nestorius, and similarly condemned... "interesting". I guess all the greatest heretics were at least relatively orthodox at some point, maybe at several.
Despite all that's happened in the LCMS, I'm still gonna be putting together my application to Ft Wayne in the next few days. I can't get a Lutheran MDiv in this country (though I'll probably work in some time at Westfield House to get the best of both worlds), and want to have a strong confessional rooting before I tackle a doctorate. I don't think all the liberals in the world have it in their power to prevent CTS from being ein feste burg of Confessional Lutheranism, and the best environment to learn and be shaped in. I pray it all works out. That place kix acce.
Update: Bunnie thinks so too.
I was gonna make an ELCE layman's response to what just happened across the pond but John H already did a very good job of that. [Later addition: I now permanently hate the characters "8-01A" also]
Conclusive proof that I'm a theological dumbass
For the record, Cardiff University's Religious and Theological Studies department has definitions for just about everything, except obvious terms such as "exam" and "assessment". I got my exam results back today. I had really put in my best efforts into the exams I took in May and June. All of the possible grade for the entire year was put into a single "3 essays in 2 hours" format for most of the classes. I still had to produce coursework essays, but they don't actually count towards my final grade. Anyways, my best subjects were New Testament and History of Early Christianity. My worst was probably Early Islam... what happens... I get 72 in Early Islam (1:1 or the equivalent of an A), and 62 and 64 (2:1s, or B's) in the theology classes... This is just a bit ironic, and I don't think it helps my prospects for eventually pursuing a doctorate. I just thank God I don't have to take anymore "academic theology" classes. It just doesn't pay to concisely criticize the critics in an exam. Languages went well, though. But the whole thing makes me wonder how my dissertation is going to be marked when I submit it. I don't conclude in a spirit of "tolerance" that everything's all ok or that the Church is evil, so some people in the department, not my supervisor, but perhaps whoever might end up being the second marker, might not like it.
[Later addition:] I read this today. All very good, but... I did find the author's use of Theodore of Mopsuestia, teacher of Nestorius, and similarly condemned... "interesting". I guess all the greatest heretics were at least relatively orthodox at some point, maybe at several.
Despite all that's happened in the LCMS, I'm still gonna be putting together my application to Ft Wayne in the next few days. I can't get a Lutheran MDiv in this country (though I'll probably work in some time at Westfield House to get the best of both worlds), and want to have a strong confessional rooting before I tackle a doctorate. I don't think all the liberals in the world have it in their power to prevent CTS from being ein feste burg of Confessional Lutheranism, and the best environment to learn and be shaped in. I pray it all works out. That place kix acce.
Update: Bunnie thinks so too.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
In other news, my very good friend Cassi has just started blogging. She's currently attending an Assemblies of God church, but is searching for authentic Christianity. I've got her on a reading list of "The Hammer of God" (Giertz), "The Spirituality of the Cross" (Vieth) and "Meditations on Divine Mercy" (Gerhard). Anyways, I've linked her so that some of my regular readers can help me win her over to the authentic and orthodox faith ;)
And I think this post only goes to establish the upcoming t-shirt design of mine,
"I'm so cool, all my friends are either cute girls or astronauts!"
And I think this post only goes to establish the upcoming t-shirt design of mine,
"I'm so cool, all my friends are either cute girls or astronauts!"
I should have posted this 2 weeks ago, but got delayed. In other news, this post on prayer by John H is amazing, and "The Hammer of God" by Bo Giertz is the best Christian novel ever written, ever. (As opposed to this, which is a pile of gnostic, anti-gospel crap... I'll be writing about why it's a pile gnostic, anti-gospel of crap in the near future... but a day is like a thousand years to The Chris and a thousand years is like a day, so that could mean anytime. Of course, it has to be a LITERAL AND PRECISE 1000 years too. Right down to the second. Anyways...
The Silver Ring Thing and the Attack of the Drones
For a while now, the BBC has been broadcasting reports such as this, this and this (video). My initial reaction was, "Why the heck are they bringing in people from a very different religious culture who will not understand secular British culture to teach a message of abstinence? Maybe some of them are seeing it as a great short-term missions/tourism trip. Not only has their approach got the problem of appearing to be religious freaks trying to subvert and indoctrinate young people into their very American legalistic religion, but it is easily picked apart by critics for sending out mixed messages. And the critics are right.
Look guys... what do you want to do? Do you want to proclaim a secular message of abstinence, or do you want to spread the gospel. If it's the former, then do it, but you're gonna have to understand the British youth mindset. (Our schools generally don't teach young people to think for themselves, and unfortunately, neither do many parents. They're drones with a few academic certificates. Critical, individual, and independent thought is not widely encouraged. It is simply taken as a given that young people are going to have sex, since they can't help but go along with what their peers are doing. It would be unrealistic to expect any young person to do otherwise, of course. Trying to make The Silver Ring Thing look "cool" simply looks ridiculous to most people, and at best simply swaps one hardly-thought-out view for another). If it's the latter of the two, then you cannot do it using pledges of purity to bring about saving faith, since "the law kills but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor 3:6). You can only win people to Pharisaism with the Law. If your religion is entirely introspective and focussed on personal obedience, than say, the work of the Saviour, then as soon as your converts start finding out exactly what your Scriptures teach about purity, they'll either decide that they've already ruined it and so going a little farther won't do much more harm, or they'll simply try harder and harder but still finding themselves lacking total purity, and despair. For example, how could a girl who has compromised, whether in thought or deed, ever be pure enough on her wedding day to wear that white dress she had always dreamed of?
I think the answer might have something to do with this:
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
(Ephesians 5)
Christian sexual abstinence cannot have it's raison d'etre in a silver ring. The ultimate reason a Christian has for even bothering to pursue any kind of purity, is not only in commitment to one's future spouse, but because Christ has already given him/her His very own purity and righteousness in his/her baptism. Attempts at purity, sexual or otherwise, are merely attempts at realizing reality, but are nevertheless going to be ridden with falls, so long as one carries one's sinful flesh around. Even those who are technically virgins, such as myself, have suffered compromise and failings. So do I look to my own righteousness and purity? No. That would only end in despair. Instead, I know that despite what I've done, in my baptism, I am clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27), made a son of God and heir of the Kingdom (John 3:3-7), having had my sins washed away in those waters of baptism(Acts 22:16), and by virtue of what God has done for me there, the purity I wear is whiter than snow (Ps 51:7). Forgiveness for past faults and pursuit of purity between husband and wife must have this as its basis, rather than human oaths which are broken far too easily, because the basis of marriage is Christ's redemption of the Church.
The Silver Ring Thing and the Attack of the Drones
For a while now, the BBC has been broadcasting reports such as this, this and this (video). My initial reaction was, "Why the heck are they bringing in people from a very different religious culture who will not understand secular British culture to teach a message of abstinence? Maybe some of them are seeing it as a great short-term missions/tourism trip. Not only has their approach got the problem of appearing to be religious freaks trying to subvert and indoctrinate young people into their very American legalistic religion, but it is easily picked apart by critics for sending out mixed messages. And the critics are right.
Look guys... what do you want to do? Do you want to proclaim a secular message of abstinence, or do you want to spread the gospel. If it's the former, then do it, but you're gonna have to understand the British youth mindset. (Our schools generally don't teach young people to think for themselves, and unfortunately, neither do many parents. They're drones with a few academic certificates. Critical, individual, and independent thought is not widely encouraged. It is simply taken as a given that young people are going to have sex, since they can't help but go along with what their peers are doing. It would be unrealistic to expect any young person to do otherwise, of course. Trying to make The Silver Ring Thing look "cool" simply looks ridiculous to most people, and at best simply swaps one hardly-thought-out view for another). If it's the latter of the two, then you cannot do it using pledges of purity to bring about saving faith, since "the law kills but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor 3:6). You can only win people to Pharisaism with the Law. If your religion is entirely introspective and focussed on personal obedience, than say, the work of the Saviour, then as soon as your converts start finding out exactly what your Scriptures teach about purity, they'll either decide that they've already ruined it and so going a little farther won't do much more harm, or they'll simply try harder and harder but still finding themselves lacking total purity, and despair. For example, how could a girl who has compromised, whether in thought or deed, ever be pure enough on her wedding day to wear that white dress she had always dreamed of?
I think the answer might have something to do with this:
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
(Ephesians 5)
Christian sexual abstinence cannot have it's raison d'etre in a silver ring. The ultimate reason a Christian has for even bothering to pursue any kind of purity, is not only in commitment to one's future spouse, but because Christ has already given him/her His very own purity and righteousness in his/her baptism. Attempts at purity, sexual or otherwise, are merely attempts at realizing reality, but are nevertheless going to be ridden with falls, so long as one carries one's sinful flesh around. Even those who are technically virgins, such as myself, have suffered compromise and failings. So do I look to my own righteousness and purity? No. That would only end in despair. Instead, I know that despite what I've done, in my baptism, I am clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27), made a son of God and heir of the Kingdom (John 3:3-7), having had my sins washed away in those waters of baptism(Acts 22:16), and by virtue of what God has done for me there, the purity I wear is whiter than snow (Ps 51:7). Forgiveness for past faults and pursuit of purity between husband and wife must have this as its basis, rather than human oaths which are broken far too easily, because the basis of marriage is Christ's redemption of the Church.
Monday, July 05, 2004
And then there were three...
While bouncing from blog to blog today, I came accross a link on Brian's blog for the blog of ANOTHER ELCE blogger, Pastor Joel Humann. (Links updated) This increases the number of ELCE blogs to 3. I think I may be the first British Lutheran with a blog, but the other two are consistently of higher quality. Pastor Humann doesn't have comments though, but he's still made an aweXome start. Oh well, I'll try to continue to have my moments. Right now, I am working on or planning 3 upcoming blog posts on very different topics. I'm behind schedule with just about everything. I've hardly touched my Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Latin, or Arabic books since the exams ended. I'm gonna have to be more disciplined with my time if I'm to get my summer academic work done ready for the Fall semester. I'll try to blog more than 5 times during the whole summer though.
Anyways, my list of bloggers I've met has also increased... now it's John D, Pennsy, and briefly, Pastors Paul McCain and Joel Humann.
This only adds fuel to my Blog Commandos fire.
Semi-useful blog post on its way...
Update: Oops... I forgot to include Al in the list of bloggers I've met. Sorry.
While bouncing from blog to blog today, I came accross a link on Brian's blog for the blog of ANOTHER ELCE blogger, Pastor Joel Humann. (Links updated) This increases the number of ELCE blogs to 3. I think I may be the first British Lutheran with a blog, but the other two are consistently of higher quality. Pastor Humann doesn't have comments though, but he's still made an aweXome start. Oh well, I'll try to continue to have my moments. Right now, I am working on or planning 3 upcoming blog posts on very different topics. I'm behind schedule with just about everything. I've hardly touched my Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Latin, or Arabic books since the exams ended. I'm gonna have to be more disciplined with my time if I'm to get my summer academic work done ready for the Fall semester. I'll try to blog more than 5 times during the whole summer though.
Anyways, my list of bloggers I've met has also increased... now it's John D, Pennsy, and briefly, Pastors Paul McCain and Joel Humann.
This only adds fuel to my Blog Commandos fire.
Semi-useful blog post on its way...
Update: Oops... I forgot to include Al in the list of bloggers I've met. Sorry.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Today is a special day...
Not least because John H and his family are being received into membership into the Lutheran Church...
But it's a day when a certain country remembers what it's all about...
IT'S THE KING OF TONGA'S BIRTHDAY!!!! :D
That's right kids, it's HM King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV's 86th Birthday, and today's the peak of the yearly celebrations.
I can't remember if there's anything else significant about today... hmmm....
Ok, happy 4th July to most of the readers of this blog.
Not least because John H and his family are being received into membership into the Lutheran Church...
But it's a day when a certain country remembers what it's all about...
IT'S THE KING OF TONGA'S BIRTHDAY!!!! :D
That's right kids, it's HM King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV's 86th Birthday, and today's the peak of the yearly celebrations.
I can't remember if there's anything else significant about today... hmmm....
Ok, happy 4th July to most of the readers of this blog.
