Welcome to the world, Nadia Elauren. May the words of the Scriptures that were whispered to you mere moments after your arrival here ring in your ears throughout your lifetime and be the cry of your heart at the moment of your death.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
I AM A FATHER!
Welcome to the world, Nadia Elauren. May the words of the Scriptures that were whispered to you mere moments after your arrival here ring in your ears throughout your lifetime and be the cry of your heart at the moment of your death.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
The love of the brethren
Had a pretty Merry Christmas. Hope you did too.
Mostly relaxed for like 4 days straight. Slept in. Took naps. Received an espresso maker from my parents (thanks so much!) and made like 6 mixed drinks in the span of 60 hours. Mmmm.
Yes, for me, espresso drinks = mixed drinks. Keep your martini, I'll have a macchiato.
And then on Christmas Day, we called tomorrow in Japan and talked to the pastor who arranged for us to be hosted for 4 days and nights among his congregation in Okinawa last Christmas. And he remembered us!
And then we talked to the family who had us over for Christmas dinner and hosted us one night and they told us they and their kids missed us over Christmas, asked about us, wished aloud that we could be there. And that they pray for us every night in their bedtime prayers.
That is AWESOME. I've been floored often over the last 16 months at the fervency of love that believers can display for the brethren. And we've so often been on the receiving end of that, even among people we've never met before. It's been great and I am thankful to have been reminded of it so recently.
Mostly relaxed for like 4 days straight. Slept in. Took naps. Received an espresso maker from my parents (thanks so much!) and made like 6 mixed drinks in the span of 60 hours. Mmmm.
Yes, for me, espresso drinks = mixed drinks. Keep your martini, I'll have a macchiato.
And then on Christmas Day, we called tomorrow in Japan and talked to the pastor who arranged for us to be hosted for 4 days and nights among his congregation in Okinawa last Christmas. And he remembered us!
And then we talked to the family who had us over for Christmas dinner and hosted us one night and they told us they and their kids missed us over Christmas, asked about us, wished aloud that we could be there. And that they pray for us every night in their bedtime prayers.
That is AWESOME. I've been floored often over the last 16 months at the fervency of love that believers can display for the brethren. And we've so often been on the receiving end of that, even among people we've never met before. It's been great and I am thankful to have been reminded of it so recently.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Snipings of an apostate
Recently Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries linked to a blog by the name of Crossed The Tiber, an apostate from the faith to Roman Catholicism.
I went on over there and took a look at this post in which the Tiber Jumper (his own self-appellation) compares Sola Scriptura to the Islamic doctrine of the Qur'an (which is a bogus and wrongheaded comparison and reveals that the Jumper understands little about the Islamic doctrine of the Qur'an). Dr. White mentioned that he might get some time the following week (which he did here) to respond, but I thought I'd take a look at the Tiber Jumper's blog and personal conversion story.
I left two comments, actually, and then tried a third a little later.
Then the Tiber Jumper emailed me to explain why he refused to post my comments - apparently he had "tired" of the debate and didn't want to debate the issue anymore.
Just as an example, one of the comments had been in response to his bringing up the Canon of Scripture as an argument against Sola Scriptura. I asked the "White Question": If an infallible Magisterium is necessary to produce the Canon of the NT, how did a pious Jewish man living in 50 BC know that Isaiah and 2 Chronicles were inspired Scripture?
The question is an impossible one for the Roman Catholic, and the Tiber Jumper didn't even want to give it a shot. Instead, he canceled the posting of my comment but continued to allow more comments from others, which took 1 of 2 forms:
1) Other RCs writing to support him
2) Other Protestants offering no argument but just sniping or saying little of substance
So, why did the Tiber Jumper disallow my comments on that article and also on this one?
I responded to his email. Here are two excerpts:
And...
I went on over there and took a look at this post in which the Tiber Jumper (his own self-appellation) compares Sola Scriptura to the Islamic doctrine of the Qur'an (which is a bogus and wrongheaded comparison and reveals that the Jumper understands little about the Islamic doctrine of the Qur'an). Dr. White mentioned that he might get some time the following week (which he did here) to respond, but I thought I'd take a look at the Tiber Jumper's blog and personal conversion story.
I left two comments, actually, and then tried a third a little later.
Then the Tiber Jumper emailed me to explain why he refused to post my comments - apparently he had "tired" of the debate and didn't want to debate the issue anymore.
Just as an example, one of the comments had been in response to his bringing up the Canon of Scripture as an argument against Sola Scriptura. I asked the "White Question": If an infallible Magisterium is necessary to produce the Canon of the NT, how did a pious Jewish man living in 50 BC know that Isaiah and 2 Chronicles were inspired Scripture?
The question is an impossible one for the Roman Catholic, and the Tiber Jumper didn't even want to give it a shot. Instead, he canceled the posting of my comment but continued to allow more comments from others, which took 1 of 2 forms:
1) Other RCs writing to support him
2) Other Protestants offering no argument but just sniping or saying little of substance
So, why did the Tiber Jumper disallow my comments on that article and also on this one?
I responded to his email. Here are two excerpts:
And now you refuse even to POST my comment w/ a very relevant question. It is relevant b/c one of the arguments that you raised against SS is the question of the Canon. You claim that an infallible *human* authority is necessary to establish the extent of the Canon. Yet the question reveals that the pious Jewish believer living in 50 BC knew the extent of the Canon *without* an infallible Magisterium. It is an important point against your position - if he knew the OT Canon w/o one, what makes one necessary for me today? And you didn't want to post it b/c you were afraid of some kind of attack in return? If that is the case, why even bring up things like that at all? Why even have a blog such as you have? Why call it Crossed the Tiber? Why not "Roman Catholic Thoughts" and restrict your posts to Roman Catholic subjects, staying away from polemics altogether?
And...
In closing, I don't buy your stated reasons for demurring. I don't necessarily believe you are lying to me, but you are certainly inconsistent, and that is a shame.You are welcome here, Tiber Jumper. I won't delete your comments.
I don't think you are "evil", any more than any other heterodox person out there. I think you are an apostate, and that is more of a shame. I don't bear you any ill will at all but rather the best will, that you would return to the faith of Jesus Christ and His apostles.
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