Baby Countdown!
The Trombone Lesson
by Christopher Meredith on 05/07/2008
So it's been a while since I last posted so here's something I almost forgot I had. This is an ad libbed trombone lesson where the student tries to perfect that famous excerpt from Ride of the Valkyries.
I got this from my trombone instructor in my previous life as a music student. This is the sort of thing that gets funnier every time I hear it.
Baby's First Picture
by Christopher Meredith on 03/14/2008
We went to the doctor today for a checkup and an ultrasound. We got to see the baby and hear its little heartbeat. For those of you who have ever had this experience, you know what it's like and I don't have to explain it. For those who haven't gone through it yet, no amount of explaining would even come close. Just look at this:
I Voted
by Christopher Meredith on 03/11/2008
Well today I participated in the civic religion and voted in the Mississippi Republican primary. It marked the first time I've ever voted, mainly because I've never been impressed with the priests and clerics I've had to choose from. That said, I don't think the GOP would be very pleased with me. I voted for Ron Paul which means I might as well have pissed in the holy water.
New Law Blog
by Christopher Meredith on 03/05/2008
I said a few weeks ago that I intended to post more often about my legal studies. As it turns out, there are some of my classmates who were having the same idea. We've teamed up to start Law School Chronicles, a new "blawg" which is designed to stimulate conversation about legal topics from a wide range of perspectives. So come check it out! The conversation is just beginning.
If you're an MCSOL student and you're interested in becoming a contributor, just let me know!
We're Having a Baby!
by Christopher Meredith on 02/26/2008
How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
Indeed, may you see your children's children
Peace be upon Israel!
Who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
Indeed, may you see your children's children
Peace be upon Israel!
To Anyone Who Uses the Internet
by Christopher Meredith on 02/19/2008
For anyone who uses the internet, I would like to commend to you OpenDNS. It's a free service which is compatible with every internet service provider and can even be set up on routers to provide its service to an entire network.
OpenDNS is a free account-based alternative DNS server. By using OpenDNS instead of your default ISP DNS, you get faster resolutions, which means a faster internet. It can also collect statistics of web traffic on a single computer or across the whole network. It can also be configured to block certain content including pornography and phishing websites.
It's my new favorite service. It has a ton of other features, it's easy to set up, it's free, and it really does make the internet faster and safer. I highly recommend it to you.
TIME: N.T. Wright on Heaven
by Christopher Meredith on 02/08/2008
I just read a great interview that Bishop N.T. Wright gave to TIME magazine. Compared to all the damnable drivel TIME usually publishes about Jesus and virtually anything Christian (you've seen those "Jesus Seminar" interviews around Christmas and Easter), this was a real shot in the arm:
Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven. They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.
HT: Mark Horne
Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven. They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.
New Favorite Website
by Christopher Meredith on 02/06/2008
I finally got a chance to actually read some of this site and I absolutely love it. Some of my favorites:
The Reformed faith has always insisted that gratitude is our only motivation for obedience. It’s guilt, grace, gratitude. Anything else and you are not Reformed.
"God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
Federal Visionists love this verse because it sounds as if God gives grace to the humble. However, this interpretation reverses the classic ordo salutis.
Once a technical definition has been established by the Reformed faith, we must insist that such a definition be the only way that a particular word is ever used, regardless of what the Bible or anyone else says. If we insist that the Biblical usage of words is primary, then we run the risk of contradicting the Reformed faith. This is the road to Rome, Constantinople, Canterbury, and Moscow (not the one in Russia).
The Reformed faith has always insisted upon distinguishing between words and terms. The Bible uses words. Reformed theology uses terms. The difference is enormous. When a word is given a technical definition, it ceases to be merely a word and becomes a term. Once a word attains the status of a “term,” it can never be used as simply a “word.” This is how God works in history.
“O how I love Your law!” (Psalm 119:97).
Federal Visionists love verses like this because they think that David is actually expressing love for the law. However, this is simply neo-legalism.
...and my #1 favorite, in it's entirety:
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’” (Matthew 19:14).
Federal Visionists love this verse because they think that Jesus wants children coming to him during the Lord’s Supper, i.e., paedocommunion. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, Federal Visionists repeatedly wrench verses out of their context to fabricate their wretched doctrines, such as paedocommunion. The Reformed faith has unanimously rejected paedocommunion as heterodox.
The first three rules of exegesis are context, context, context. A brief perusal of this passage indicates that the Lord’s Supper is nowhere in view, either in the near context or far context.
However, baptism is clearly what Jesus was referring to. We can tell this because when Jesus says, “Do not hinder them from coming to Me,” the word “coming” is an aorist infinitive, which implies a one-time action.
Thus, Jesus is saying, do not hinder them from coming to Jesus in baptism (a one-time action), but do hinder them from coming to Jesus in the Lord’s Supper (ongoing action, albeit infrequent).
The Reformed faith has always insisted that gratitude is our only motivation for obedience. It’s guilt, grace, gratitude. Anything else and you are not Reformed.
"God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
Federal Visionists love this verse because it sounds as if God gives grace to the humble. However, this interpretation reverses the classic ordo salutis.
Federal Visionists love this verse because it sounds as if God gives grace to the humble. However, this interpretation reverses the classic ordo salutis.
Once a technical definition has been established by the Reformed faith, we must insist that such a definition be the only way that a particular word is ever used, regardless of what the Bible or anyone else says. If we insist that the Biblical usage of words is primary, then we run the risk of contradicting the Reformed faith. This is the road to Rome, Constantinople, Canterbury, and Moscow (not the one in Russia).
The Reformed faith has always insisted upon distinguishing between words and terms. The Bible uses words. Reformed theology uses terms. The difference is enormous. When a word is given a technical definition, it ceases to be merely a word and becomes a term. Once a word attains the status of a “term,” it can never be used as simply a “word.” This is how God works in history.
“O how I love Your law!” (Psalm 119:97).
Federal Visionists love verses like this because they think that David is actually expressing love for the law. However, this is simply neo-legalism.
Federal Visionists love verses like this because they think that David is actually expressing love for the law. However, this is simply neo-legalism.
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’” (Matthew 19:14).
Federal Visionists love this verse because they think that Jesus wants children coming to him during the Lord’s Supper, i.e., paedocommunion. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, Federal Visionists repeatedly wrench verses out of their context to fabricate their wretched doctrines, such as paedocommunion. The Reformed faith has unanimously rejected paedocommunion as heterodox.
The first three rules of exegesis are context, context, context. A brief perusal of this passage indicates that the Lord’s Supper is nowhere in view, either in the near context or far context.
However, baptism is clearly what Jesus was referring to. We can tell this because when Jesus says, “Do not hinder them from coming to Me,” the word “coming” is an aorist infinitive, which implies a one-time action.
Thus, Jesus is saying, do not hinder them from coming to Jesus in baptism (a one-time action), but do hinder them from coming to Jesus in the Lord’s Supper (ongoing action, albeit infrequent).
Federal Visionists love this verse because they think that Jesus wants children coming to him during the Lord’s Supper, i.e., paedocommunion. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, Federal Visionists repeatedly wrench verses out of their context to fabricate their wretched doctrines, such as paedocommunion. The Reformed faith has unanimously rejected paedocommunion as heterodox.
The first three rules of exegesis are context, context, context. A brief perusal of this passage indicates that the Lord’s Supper is nowhere in view, either in the near context or far context.
However, baptism is clearly what Jesus was referring to. We can tell this because when Jesus says, “Do not hinder them from coming to Me,” the word “coming” is an aorist infinitive, which implies a one-time action.
Thus, Jesus is saying, do not hinder them from coming to Jesus in baptism (a one-time action), but do hinder them from coming to Jesus in the Lord’s Supper (ongoing action, albeit infrequent).
And This is Why We Have the Electoral College
by Christopher Meredith on 02/06/2008
Living with Federal Vision
by Christopher Meredith on 01/28/2008
Reed DePace has just written an open letter of sorts to Federal Vision advocates in the PCA. He writes it from a position of charity. In part, he writes:
Do you really want peace? Do you really want to get back to pursuing the first things, the proclamation of the good news of our Savior?
Consider whether or not now is time to withdraw, to withdraw only until such time as God in His providence: persuades us, persuades you, or persuades us both of something better.
This admonition, for FV advocates to leave and go where they're wanted, is not new. Now, however, it appears that those that have been making such suggestions may just get their way.
In my opinion, this will ultimately be a good thing even though I think in the short run, everybody loses. As Pastor DePace points out in his letter, there is a lot of arguing and not a lot of convincing going on. This particular fight does not appear to be winnable in the forum of debate.
So what then? Doug Wilson recently gave a conference here at Immanuel. During our church's conversation with him, in the context of questions about what is and is not permissible on the Sabbath, he suggested that we concentrate on robust Sabbath living and rejoicing in the Lord's Day and in 20 or 30 years, come back and ask questions about what is and is not permissible. The point he was making was that focusing on rules detracts from the Lord's Day as a day of rest, refreshment, worship, and joy.
I think that applies beautifully to the present conflict. The debate should continue, certainly. But while that is happening, the rest of us who take joy in the Reformed doctrines of covenant and all the attendant results should live it. We should teach our people what their baptisms mean; we should feed our children as soon as they are capable of eating; we should encourage robust covenant renewal worship and fellowship. We should levy our publishing houses, literary publications, Christian schools and universities, multimedia resources, and pastors' conferences to further this goal. Then in 30 years it will be abundantly clear whether treating our children like believers will cause them to presume themselves into damnation and whether feeding children from the Lord's Table will rain judgment down upon their heads.
In 20 or 30 years, the fruits of both rich covenant living and strict subscriptionism will be much clearer. In 20 or 30 years, when the children (who are now singing at the tops of their voices, raising their hands and drowning out the adults at the doxology, and feeding on Christ in the Eucharist week by week) have their own children who are doing the same and are doing it in joy, love, and admiration, we will have a vindication of a kind that could never come in an ecclesiastical court.
Do you really want peace? Do you really want to get back to pursuing the first things, the proclamation of the good news of our Savior?
Consider whether or not now is time to withdraw, to withdraw only until such time as God in His providence: persuades us, persuades you, or persuades us both of something better.
Consider whether or not now is time to withdraw, to withdraw only until such time as God in His providence: persuades us, persuades you, or persuades us both of something better.