In case you want to buy us a present
Rachel and I will be having our birthdays in about a month. I will be the big 2-3. She will be entering her last year of teenage existence.

Liturgy and covenant/election
“The more I read Luther on this, as well as various Reformed Anglicans, the more I’m convinced that liturgy is the real key to properly relating covenant and election…However we formulate things behind the scenes in our systematics, the liturgy itself is going to embody a particular understanding of covenant and election that is pastoral and assuring. Liturgy forces us to speak the direct, personal language of the covenant, not the abstract language of the decree. It trains us in very biblical modes of speaking and thinking. It forces us to look at the decree through the lens of the covenant. When a pastor says ‘We are gathered in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit’ he is speaking ovenantally.

Given the Puritan obsession with predestinarian theology, it is not surprising most Puritans rejected liturgical worship forms. I’m not sure about the cause and effect here, though given the political issues surrounding liturgy and RPW in Britian, I’d guess they gave up liturgy to escape tyranny and then then had nothing left but decretal theology…The loss of liturgy within Puritanism meant the loss of covenantal and sacramental objectivity.

A decretal theology, abstracted from the covenant, cannot support liturgical language. On the other hand, liturgical language virtually requires an objective view of the covenant and sacraments.

It looks like Luther really nailed this issue. In fact, I daresay Luther is at his pastoral best in dealing with the struggle to attain assurance. Through his “conversion experience”, he had passed through the valley of the shadow of death, and knew there was no need to return. He would simply take recourse to his baptism and the other objective means whenever doubts assailed him. That’s not presumption; just good tactical warfare against the enemy of our souls.”

Rich Lusk, quoted with permission

Thanks, Tim!

I had nothing else to blog, but this survey saved my day.

1. What is your opinion of Davey Henreckson?Davey is pretty nice. Sometimes he calls me the devil, but who doesn’t?

2. Do you like calico dresses? Not really.

3. More than Davey? That’s impossible.

4. If you had to join a new, non-Reformed denomination, what would you pick? Lutheran? Episcopalian? I’m not sure.

5. What is your opinion of the AAPC controversy? Wilson is like the pope, so obviously we are slipping back to Rome. In all seriousness: people who don’t know what they are talking about shouldn’t be acting like they do. And Steve Wilkins is dreamy.

6. Have you ever chanted? Indeed I have. I even tried writing a chant, but yeah…. we won’t go into that.

7. Have you ever been an acolyte or altar boy? No, but I do know how to spell altar.

Have you ever attended three or more churches in a day? What, do you think I’m totally obsessed with Christianity or something?

9. Have you ever touched Doug Wilson?Yeah, but I couldn’t tell ya what he smells like.

10. Do you wish you lived in Spokane with Tim, Rick, Lynné, and Rachel? Yeah, they’re the coolest. But wait.. I *do* live here! Yeah. It’s the coolest.

New Look
BJ’s blog has a great new look. I went to to Dabney with BJ. Let me tell ya something about him. The guy gets a job at a Christian bookstore, and what does he do? He orders a bunch of Reformed books for the store. Next thing ya know, Ruston is revolutionized.

Finally did it

If I were a wine I would be…


This quiz was created by Krazy K. Take it here!

Sigh

I made my violin student cry, I spent too much money, I smashed my finger in a dresser drawer, and one of my shoes got stuck in the mud. It’s been a pretty good day.

Tim dreams about blogging.
I wouldn’t think it a big deal, but he tells me all these weird stories about what he dreamed. Maybe one of you bloggers can marry him, so he’ll have an even better story to tell. This blogdreaming is pretty lame.

Sarah Hatter has a great post…
found here.

New Blogs
It seems like blogs are a dime a dozen now. I know about thirty bloggers, and it seemed that fifteen started blogging this month. I can’t keep up with reading them, so I almost feel compelled to quit blogging.

Moscow
By the way, I was in Moscow today…so you missed me. I sat with the Atwoods, who sit behind the Wilsons, and on the same row as the Wilkins. I sat next to Remy, who was surprised to hear his blog is now read by the public.