Logistical Grace

I have a real problem with what some in the Reformed camp call “Logistical Grace”. You know, that special kind of grace that God shows us where all the logistics of life come together so that things work out the way they should? Its not that I don’t believe in logistical grace. Its that I don’t have much faith in it. For example, our bass player’s wife is VERY pregnant. Now, her due date was yesterday. We have a show Jan. 24th. I was very cautious to book a show so close to her due date but they assured me that a show as late as the 24th would be okay. Well, here we are with no baby yet and like, 3 practices to go before the show, which seem to keep getting cancelled because of doctor’s appointments and stuff for our bass player’s wife. So here I am stressing out over all of this. Will the pieces fall into place? The show is at the only large music venue in Lancaster County. If we cancel, what will happen to our reputation at the club? Tickets have been sold. Flyers have been hung. The show must go on.

Why is it I can trust the Lord with my eternal soul but I can’t trust him to work out a few scheduling conflicts?

Just for good measure…

Happy Reformation Day

I’m still here

Again, I haven’t forgotten about this site. I perhaps lack some inspiration to write right now. Again, all my efforts are being directed towards my most recent recording project. My hope is to have that project done by Christmas. However, after Christmas I will be embarking on recording a full length album with The Suburban Sound so in reality, I don’t see a lot of activity coming from this blog in the near future. Sorry gang. Sometimes my heart is into theological musings, sometimes its too focused in on music. Right now its music time.

Still Protesting

A friend of mine has been recently challenged by many claims from the Roman Church. It’s been a real struggle for him. I’ve tried to give him the best answers I could, with a little help from some dear friends, but its a long trying task.
Anyway, a Romanist posted these questions (on his blog I assume) and my friend ended up posting them on his blog. I thought I’d take the time to post them on here and get some feedback from some of you scholarly Protestants! I may be opening a can of worms (since I know some Papists are lurking around here already)…but it is what it is. So here we go! The questions, as originally authored by Brian Cross:

Questions for Protestants

1. Whose determination of the canon of Scripture is authoritative? (If your answer is “the Scriptures testify to their own canonicity”, then, since persons disagree about the content of this testimony, whose determination of the content of this testimony is authoritative?)

2. Whose interpretation of Scripture is authoritative? (Again, if your answer is “Scripture interprets Scripture”, then, since persons disagree about the content of Scripture’s interpretation of Scripture, whose determination of the Scripture’s interpretation of Scripture is authoritative?)

3. Whose determination of the identity and extension of the Body of Christ is authoritative? (If you deny that Christ founded a visible Church, then skip this question.)

4. Whose determination of which councils are authoritative is authoritative? (If you deny that any Church councils are authoritative, then skip this question.)

5. Whose determination of the nature and existence of schism is authoritative?

6. Whose determination of the nature and extension of Holy Orders (i.e. valid ordination) is authoritative?

7. Whose determination of orthodoxy and heresy is authoritative? (If your answer is “Scripture”, then go to question #2.)

8. If your answer to any of questions 1-7 is “the Holy Spirit”, or “Jesus” or “the Apostles”, then whose determination of what the Apostles, the Holy Spirit, or Jesus have determined is authoritative?

9. Given your answers to the above questions, how does your position avoid individualism and the perpetual fragmentation that necessarily accompanies it? (If your answer appeals to the “fundamentals of the faith” or the “essentials of the faith”, then whose determination of what are “the essentials of the faith” is authoritative?)

10. Does not even nature teach you that a visible body needs a visible head? If so, then does grace therefore destroy nature, or does grace build upon nature?

11. Why do you think that your present [Protestant] pastor has more authority than the successor of St. Peter? In other words, why do you “obey” and “submit” (Hebrew 13:17) to your Protestant pastor rather than the successor of St. Peter?

12. Whose determination of the nature of “sola scriptura” is authoritative?

Time keeps moving forward…but do I?

Well I’m all but done in the studio now with my band. I wouldn’t mind redoing some of the horns and whatnot, but all the major work is finished (mixing and all that). I’m hoping to have a clearer mind now to work on some posts for this site. We’ve also got a group going on facebook now so if you’re a facebook user, look up The School of Hard Knox and join the group.

The band is still busy getting ready for a series of shows coming up. All this seems to preoccupy my mind. Hang with us here and we’ll get some threads going soon.
Thanks

Remembering John and Dot

Today is a hard day for my family. July 17th is the day my maternal grandparents John and Dot Logue died. Same day, 7 years apart. My grandpa John Marshall Logue died on July 17th, 1993 from a combination of emphysema and a ruptured aneurysm. My grandma Dorothy Gardner Caldwell Logue died on July 17th, 2000 from colon cancer.

My family was fortunate enough to have my grandparents live with us from 1987 through to their deaths. They were a major part our lives. A constant presence. Their deaths left a void in our house that is still felt there to this day. One can hardly visit my parents’ house and not be constantly reminded of them. Going to the cabin is much the same. The counter which my grandpa spent hours sitting at, drinking, smoking, and watching traffic out the window now makes its home at Camp Iroquois. I know Grandpa would be happy about that.

Growing up, much to my brother and my chagrin, it was like living with two sets of parents. When we did something wrong, not only did we get scolded by mom and dad, but many times Grandma and Grandpa would make their opinions known about our shenanigans. Looking back on it, I wouldn’t of had it any other way.

Grandpa Logue was a man that I must admit I spent many of my days being afraid of. He was a big strong bald man with a raspy voice and the trademark Logue grumpiness. Must be an Irish temper thing or something. He was constantly picking on me, constantly messing with us. I now see the humor in it all and long for those days of being teased by mean old Grandpa. That being said, he was also a loving man. He made it known daily that he loved my brother and me, even if he didn’t come right out and say it. Grandpa taught me how to play chess. He was a Red Rose Chess Club champion. My biggest regret in my time with him is that I never did manage to beat him in chess. After his death, I was honored to be given his chess set. It’s a set I still play with today.

The last day I saw grandpa was the day before he died. I had just gotten back from the cabin with my family. Walking through the downstairs of our house (where they lived), I stopped in at Grandpa’s room to see how he was feeling. He said he was feeling good that day. He asked me to stop in later to tell me about vacation. I never got the chance. I woke up the next morning to find out he was taken to the hospital (not an uncommon thing the last year of his life) and we got the call from my dad later that morning that he passed away. His last words to me the day before were, “I’ll see you later Andy”. I still look forward to that reunion. The last year of his life I watched my Grandpa become a man of God, becoming dedicated to the Lord in faith and practice, taking communion often w/ a local minister who made house calls and my grandmother. It was a great thing to watch. Though I must admit, my fondest memories of him are still seeing him sitting at the counter smoking and drinking and yelling at my grandmother (who had narcolepsy and would fall asleep at random times and would start talking in her sleep very loudly), “Dot, shut up! Shut up Dot!”
It’s been 15 years since he died.

My grandmother was kind of a polar opposite of my grandpa. She was rarely grumpy, didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, was nosy and intrusive, and a whole lot less scary than Grandpa was to a little kid! She was woman of faith as long as I remember, always talking of spiritual things. Apart from my parents, she was the biggest influence on my faith growing up. Grandma was a character all in her own. Her narcolepsy seemed to fit her personality. She could fall asleep anywhere anytime and it was a riot. I still remember times when she would have a “spell” and her dentures would start falling out of her mouth. Hilarious stuff. I don’t mean to make light of her disease, but it was part of what made her grandma. Grandma really came into her own after Grandpa died. After he died, Grandma made her first flight as she flew out to CA on her own to visit my Aunt Jackie, she would go to Virginia for months at a time to visit her mother and sisters, it was great to see. Of course it wasn’t all easy after Grandpa died. There were many times where our dinner was interrupted by her coming up to talk and you knew it was because it was dinner time and Grandpa wasn’t there anymore for her to talk to. I think we kind of forgot that after 50+years of marriage, she was really a lonely lady at times. We were not so gracious as we should have been sometimes I think. Grandma was always patient though. I remember getting my first electric guitar and Pete getting his first drum kit. A grandmother’s nightmare. Not my Grandma. Many summer days when Pete and I would be at home during the day alone while our parents were at work, Grandma would come upstairs and listen to us play our instruments. Imagine an 80 year old lady listening to a couple of really bad musicians trying to play Ramones songs! That’s how she was though. She was always interested in what all her grandkids were up to and she bragged constantly about us all! The last time I saw Grandma was after she was moved out of our home and into hospice. I drove up to see her and it happened to be a time when my cousin Erin and my Aunt Lynda were there as well. The minister of the home she was in was just coming in to give her communion (Protestant communion that is;). My time was spent with her that last day taking the Lord’s supper and talking for hours on eternal things.

I really miss them both. So much has happened in my life since their deaths. Grandpa missed me getting my first duck on a hunt. He missed me getting my driver’s license. He missed my graduation from high school. Grandma missed less because she died when I was 20 but my biggest wish would be that they could have met Heidi and would have been there for my marriage and for Pete’s. They would have loved Heidi and Melissa for sure. I would have loved to see how they would have reacted to a dog like Fleetwood or would have loved showing Grandpa my first house. Every milestone in my life since their death just hasn’t been quite what it would be if they were here to share it with. My family will never quite be complete until we’re united again in Eternity. Until then, we’ll keep remembering John and Dot and the impact they made on our lives.

Responding to the Papal Bull

Greetings all. Its been a while. I must apologize for my silence. I want to assure you , most especially some Roman Catholic brethren who have found their way onto my site, that I am not ignoring you. I am currently recording a project for my band and have been spending all my free time in my dank dark basement editing and mixing tracks. I logged something like 14 studio hours yesterday. I have a July 15th deadline and I’m just maxed out right now. Again, I apologize. I look forward to the challenge of responding to the dialog thats been going on here w/in the last several days!

So until life settles down a bit for me, you’ll have to continue on w/out me. Shouldn’t be too much longer. Thanks for your patience and interest in my threads.

Title my wife’s blog

My wife’s blog is REALLY lame for one reason. She doesn’t have a title for it. “Welcome to my blog” ain’t cutting it. Help my wife come up w/ a slick title.

See her blog here.

John Calvin in the Mountains (Owen and Kuyper are joining in as well!)

I have had many struggles in my life. One of my greatest struggles unfortunately is my failure to live up to the roll God has called me to as the spiritual head of my household. To be an example of a Godly man for my wife and future children. I’ve failed miserable at keeping my household grounded on the Lord. I thank God often that even though I am faithless, He remains faithful. It’s the only hope I have really, that God remains faithful when I am faithless. I feel embarrassed at times because it’s something my wife has to constantly push me to be. Were it not for my wife, I’m not sure I’d get up on a Sunday morning and head to worship on my own accord. I’m not sure I’d lead us in prayer. I’m not sure I’d ever have us study together. Basically, I suck at being a husband.

That being said, recently in an attempt at keeping us grounded in the ways of the Lord, we decided (well, Heidi decided and I knew it was the right thing to do) to have “devotions” together. I hate that term, “devotions”. It seems so clique. “Did you do your devotions today? Yes mother!”. However, I believe that studying together with my wife is bearing fruit in our relationship. We weren’t sure though what to study when the idea first arose. We both cringe at the piles of fluff out there offered up as “devotions for couples” and that sort of pop Christian crap. We wanted something meaty. Something that would occupy our time and stretch us intellectually as well as spiritually. We decided to read out loud together John Calvin’s “Institutes”. This is something that I’ve used as a reference for many years, but never read cover to cover. We know it will take quite a long time to finish the work, but that’s good. This way we don’t have to be picking out new books every couple of months.

So here we are, about 3 weeks into this and we’re only half way through chapter five. It’s been good though. I find that reading it out loud has helped me retain the information much more than reading it myself. Even when Heidi reads sections, I retain it much better. I believe that Heidi is gaining much from it as well.

Anyway (now we’re actually coming to the point of this thread!), I’m heading off to the mountains for my annual “retreat” this Wed. with my wife, the dog, and some friends will be joining us on Friday. Anyone who has read this blog knows that I usually use this time in the mountains to get a lot of reading done. Last year I spent the time studying up on the New Perspective on Paul and the Federal Vision. This year, I plan to keep plugging away in the Institutes with my wife (and maybe I’ll actually finish some long ago started books that I never finished like Owen’s, “The Death of Death”***). I look forward to the time away from the digital life, time I can use to just read.

As usual, God’s timing is perfect. We just read in the Institutes on Saturday how man confuses the creation with the creator. How man can prop up nature as a god instead of looking at nature and worshiping the God. As I spend time in the mountains, my mind is constantly consumed with the wonders of creation. A regenerated person can hardly help but be filled with awe as we see God’s creation. I pray that as we spend the next several days in the middle of God’s creation, we might not worship the creation itself, but be able to worship the Creator more clearly.

***My wife just informed me she will be reading this book while we’re there (yeah right…I’ll believe it when I see it!) so it looks like I’ll be going back to my old friend Kuyper. I hope to finish his essay on Church hiararchy.

Christians For Obama

I stumbled across a group on facebook with the title, “Christians for Obama”. As a Libertarian, I found my interest being peaked. I had to see what this group was all about. Here is a quote from their group information that I found rather interesting and mostly flawed.

” It is time that we as Christians got in touch with the True Gospel of Christ. God cares about the poor and the disenfranchised. God cares about the smallest, the most humble, and the weak. God is calling for a generation of people who will hear His call to “Feed His sheep!” Republicans have mobilized the middle and upper classes against the poor. They have perpetuated the utterly non-Christian notion of “every man for himself.” It is time that our country adopts or readopts policies that keep the Christian principles of “the least of these” in mind. Barack Obama seems to me to be the only candidate for the upcoming Presidential election who gets this.”

There are several things in this short paragraph that is flawed. I’d like to take a moment and address just some of the errors I see.

“It is time that we as Christians got in touch with the True Gospel of Christ. God cares about the poor and the disenfranchised. God cares about the smallest, the most humble, and the weak. God is calling for a generation of people who will hear His call to ‘Feed His sheep!'”

Now I want to be very clear. I don’t believe that God DOESN’T care about the poor. However, this is not the true gospel of Christ. The true gospel of Christ is that man is inherently sinful, that man is incapable of doing anything that can earn merit with God, and that Christ came as a perfect sacrifice to reconcile His people (the Church) to Himself. The Gospel (or good news) of Christ is that Christ made living what was dead (the regenerated soul). That there is a path away from damnation and that path is in Christ Jesus. This Christianity is 101 here. How seriously should we take a group of professing Christians if they can’t even get the Gospel right? If they can’t even identify what the true Gospel is? The true Gospel is not social justice rather it is salvation “In Christ Alone!”

I also find it ironic that they would quote “feed my sheep”. Who are Christ’s sheep? Only the Church can claim Christ as its shepherd. Christ is not commanding that we feed the world. He is commanding that we feed His sheep. How do we know who His sheep are? I would say that we need only look to our local Church congregation. If we see members of our church who are in need, it’s that church’s responsibility to feed Christ’s sheep. Perhaps these Christians would claim that all the world is Christ’s sheep? Possibly. However, their view ceases to be “Christian” and becomes “Universalism”. A good argument against the idea that all the world is Christ’s sheep are the words of Christ himself. Did he not say, “My sheep hear my voice”? Does the unregenerate person hear the voice of Christ and say, “you are my shepherd, I will follow you”?

It is time that our country adopts or readopts policies that keep the Christian principles of “the least of these” in mind.

Again another reference to a verse that is specifically referencing the care of God’s Church. Let’s take a look at the Scripture in its entire context. It comes from Matt. 25. The parable of the sheep and the goats (again support that Christ’s sheep are His Church, not the world universal). This line comes from Matt. 25:40:”The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

Unless you are willing to abandon orthodox Christianity and adopt a Universalistic view on who God’s people are, who Christ’s brothers are, then you must admit that this verse is again in reference to the Church and caring for God’s people in need.

One would be very far stretched to find a reference in Scripture where we are commanded to take care of the poor of the World. Surely no one will find a reference where we are to put the needs of society over the needs of the Church. It would appear as if this group would advocate a much larger and stronger centralized Government. One that they could even use to push a “Christian agenda” on the nation (why else bring up the “non Christian idea” of every man for themselves that Republicans supposedly push?). Their own pope as it were.

Can we as Christians take such groups seriously? They don’t understand what the “True Gospel of Jesus Christ” is. They don’t understand the very Scriptures they quote to support their views. How can we as the Church even consider the validity of such political groups as this group? Unfortunately, many many people are being misled by such teachings on “social justice”.