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Let Sleeping Mountains Lie

3/31/2014

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Today's post is a "guest" post! Our own dearly beloved Nate Reckrap* has put his mischevious journalistic mind to the task of telling in humorous fashion what would ordinarily be a rather plain story. Okay, brother Nate...you're on!
                                            Let Sleeping Mountains Lie

A wise man once said, "Let sleeping mountains lie." (Or was it "sleeping dragons"? Either way, it doesn't matter much for the purpose of this story.)

A wise man once said, "Let sleeping mountains lie."

The two generals either had never heard this, or simply ignored the advice. Camping on either side of Mount Ree, which runs north and south, the generals were on the prowl.

General Curiosity, leading a fine, fat army, was clothed in outrageous garments of black and white splotches.

General Runty, head of a trim little army, was dressed entirely in black with just a spot of white at the throat.

The latter general's notion of fighting was a little more stealthy that that of the heftier general. General Curiosity kept leading charge after pouncing charge over the crest of the mountain. Young Runty struck back repeatedly, sending the older general back into camp. When Runty attacked it tended to be around the foot of the mountain rather than over the top.

It cannot be said exactly how long this combat between the two brave generals was waged before the inner depth of Mount Ree began to stir. Slowly, gradually, out of deep, sweet sleep, the mountain began to heave. Near the head of mountain, two muddy pools were uncovered, brown with stirred up silt.

Still, the two generals continued to attack and counter attack. General Curiosity cresting the mountain again and being driven back. General Runty crouched, ready to spring...

Suddenly, the mountain laughed!

Ah, what dreams....what ridiculous dreams I do imagine. For the mountain began to play with the two generals, calling them both affectionally by endearing names like "Curio" and "Runts". The little foot hills wiggled and caused giggles to arise as Runty pounced!

What is this? Mountains laughing and playing? Generals unafraid of rumbling mountains...indeed, generals emboldened by the shaking and twitching of said mountain?

Dreams! Dreams all!

And yet...it is the truth. How can that be?

Why my friends, it is quite simple!

It is thus: I have simply told you a story of how one girl was awaken by the playful antics of her two cats.

[Ever glad to be of service; Nathaniel Nathan Reckrap]
I hope you enjoyed Nate's tale. He's been snickering over the prospect of writing it ever since this morning's coffee...

        Racheal

*Nate: He is affectionately known as my "invisible twin brother". Nate and I have 'co-existed' since I was eight...he's my male alter-ego (ha!), going about rescuing damsels in distress (usually his sisters Isabelle and Francine). Guess that's what happens when you "always play the boy"--you create one who stays with you forever. :)
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The Reality of Angels, Part 2

3/30/2014

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We pick up at the section discusing the "Angel of the Lord".
Because He is identified with God, to hear Him is to hear God and to sin against Him is to sin against God. And yet He is distinguished from God in Exodus 32:34. This is sound reason to believe that the Angel of the Lord is the pre-incarnate
manifestation of the Son
of God, the Second Person in the Trinity. (502)

Furthermore, in the book of Judges, “the Angel of the Lord” does many wonderful things:
     (1) He identifies Himself as Jehovah the Redeemer and Covenant Lord of Israel,       who will use pagan nations to chasten them and to prepare them for the future      He has in store for them (2:1).
    (2) He curses a city because it did not carry out its obligations to the Lord to fight      with His people against their enemies (5:23), in fulfillment of Genesis 12:1–.
    (3) The presence of this Angel with an individual or a nation is the Presence of      Jehovah Himself (6:11–4).
   (4) He announces the birth of Samson, the deliverer of Israel from the Philistines      (13:3, 5). In chapter thirteen we learn that this Angel must reveal His true      identity to a person before He can be recognized (13:16, 21–2).
     (5) He performed miracles (13:19), to attest to His identity and glory.
     (6) He “ascended” into heaven with the flames of the altar (13:20). (503)
From there, Dr. Morecraft transitions us to the fall of angels:
In the providence of God, some angels in heaven, deliberately and “irrecoverably,”
fell from their high and holy estate “into sin and damnation.” (504)

These fallen angels are Satan and the demons. Having fallen from their original created condition in God’s presence: “their own domain, their proper abode” (Jude 6), they remain under the sovereign control of God, who limits and orders their fall and all their sinful actions for His own glory (Job 1:12; Matt. 8:31). (504)
God is indeed sovereign over all the angels.
God has chosen some angels for eternal happiness to the glory of His grace, and He has passed by and foreordained the rest to dishonor and condemnation for their sins to the glory of His justice. (506)

Those angels whom God chose in eternity, were foreordained not to fall into rebellion against God and to be confirmed in a state of perfect holiness, while the non-elect angels were foreordained to fall from perfection into evil and to be condemned for their rebellion against God. (507)
The next topic is the relation between the angels and Jesus. First, Christ's humiliation:
To say that Jesus, is for “a little while,” i.e., from His conception to His resurrection, “lower than the angels,” is to say that “the humiliation of the Son consisted in his identification of himself with inferior and fallen man— humiliation, however, which, as this present verse asserts, reached its climax and fulfillment in the suffering of the cross, [‘that by the grace of God He might taste death for every one’ (2:9)].” 43. Hughes,  A Commentary on the Epistle of Hebrews, 89–90. (508)
Second, the relation of angels to Christ's redemptive mission:
The book of Hebrews makes it clear that Christ’s humiliation and death were for the benefit of human beings, not of angels. (508)

Christ did not come to die to redeem the fallen angels, nor did He assume an angelic nature in His incarnation; rather, “He had to be made like His brethren in all things,” i.e., “the seed of Abraham” (Heb. 2:16–17). (508)
Third, Christ's superiority and headship over all angels:
In this sequence of seven quotations from the Old Testament (1:5-14), the author confirms without doubt the superiority of Jesus Christ over all angels, thus attesting to His divine and messianic Sonship and His divine and mediatorial sovereignty. (510)
Fourth, Christ as the redeemer of angels [I raised an eyebrow over this until I read the section since I'd never heard this put this way]:
“For in what manner do you say that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Redeemer of the good angels? He, who raised up fallen man, gave to the standing angel the power of not falling, thus rescuing him from captivity, thus defending him from it, and in this way redemption was equal to both: paying for that man, preserving this angel.”… Indeed we confess that the grace of confirmation came to them through the Word (Logon), so that they might receive their confirmation from the same one from whom they had obtained their being. For the Father works only through the Son (who is the fountain of all life and grace) in the works of nature as well as in those of grace (Jn 5:17)." 47. Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 1:338. (511)
Fifth, the "angelic" mission of Jesus:
...“the Angel of the Lord.” This name is given to Jesus, not because He is in being angelic rather than human, but because, like the angels, He is the divinely commissioned Messenger of God, the Servant of the Lord, to minister to God’s people by dying for them (Mark 10:45). (511-512)
Sixth, the angels role in the earthly life of Christ:
Throughout the earthly life of Jesus, angels tenderly and reverently cared for Him, and were always ready to do His bidding. ....They ministered to Him at His conception (Luke 1:26–38), at His birth (2:9–15), after His temptation in the wilderness: “Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him” (Matt. 4:11) and in His agony on the Mount of Olives: “Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.["] ...There is no mention of angels attending Him on the cross, for He was abandoned and cursed by God, being covered with our sins for which He was being punished. But they attended
His resurrection from the dead. ....Angels also attended Jesus at His ascension.... And they will attend Him at His second coming, when “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire” (2 Thess. 1:7). (512-513)
We next turn to a brief overview concerning the fallen angels, starting with the reality and work of Satan.
Satan is not merely the figurative personification of the idea of evil, he is a created, living and personal being; but he is not physical, with skin and bone, being “angelic,” and hence, spiritual, invisible and immaterial. He thinks, speaks, conspires, tempts. (513)

"Of course Satan is more than simply a person, according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:15. He is a worthless and lawless person, the personal representative of darkness and unrighteousness.… He represents nothing constructive, profitable or good… 2 Corinthians 6:15 portrays Satan as in utter opposition to the person of Christ and everything He represents; there is no point at which Satan...can harmonize with Christ. Satan is devoted to the work of hindering and destroying the kingdom of God (whether or not that is a realistic aim)."48. Greg Bahnsen, “The Person, Work and Present Status of Satan,” Symposium on Satanism in The Journal of Christian Reconstruction, ed. Gary North, 1:2 (Vallecito, CA: Chalcedon, 1974), 13–14 (513-514)

Or to put it in other words, the unobtainable goal of Satan and the other fallen angels is to separate the chosen people of God from the love of God in Christ... (514)

Satan seeks to reach his diabolic ends by working: on INDIVIDUALS (Eph. 2:2), both in BODY (Luke 13:16), and in MIND (Luke 22:3); through the NATURAL WORLD (Luke 8:23–24; Mark 9:25); in SOCIAL BEHAVIOR (Luke 8:27), and SOCIAL RELATIONS (2 Cor. 2:5–11); in INTELLECTUAL matters (1 Tim. 4:1); in
POLITICAL affairs (Rev. 12–13); in RELIGIOUS affairs, whether in FALSE sects (2 Cor. 11:14–15) or in the TRUE way—by distorting (Gal. 4:8–9) and competing with (Matt. 13:39), the preaching of the gospel. (514)

However, when we think of Satan, we must think of him as a finite, created being, not as a being equal to God in any sense. He is NOT omniscient, omnipotent nor omnipresent. He is under the control, restraint and direction of the Mighty Sovereign of the universe (Rev. 9:1, 5), Who also has him “bound” in “chains” since
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). (514-515)

In the Bible, Satan is given several names: “Belial, the worthless one” (2 Cor. 6:15), “Apollyon or Abaddon, the destroyer” (Rev. 9), “Beelzebul, the dung-god or lord of the flies” (Luke 11:15), “the prince of this world or the god of this age,” i.e., the leader of a destroyed humanity, of a kingdom of unethical darkness and spiritual
death (John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4), the “serpent,” with a crushed head (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 12:11; 20:1–), the shackled “dragon” (20:1). “Satan” means “adversary” (1 Pet. 5:8). (515)

Luke describes Satan as “the Devil,” who is “the ruler of the demons” (Luke 11:15). There are many demons, daimonia, but only one Devil, diabolos, who is king of the demons (Rev. 9:11). ...Just as Christ is the Head of the church, so Satan is the evil leader of the demonic host, who has a large army of wicked, unclean and  vicious demons under his command (Matt. 8:28, 10:1, Mark 5:2f, 9:20, Acts 19:15), (although the devil and all his demons are under the sovereign rule of God). (515)

The Biblical strategy against the destructive work of Satan is threefold:
    (1) Resist the devil with the Word of God, as did Jesus in the wilderness (James       4:7), and the devil will flee from you.
    (2) Use the shield of faith in Christ and in His Word (Eph. 6:11–12, 16), and you      will quench all the fiery missiles that Satan hurls at you.
    (3) Pray (Matt. 6:13), and God will deliver you from the evil one. (515-516)
The reality and work of demons:
As we have seen, demons, or fallen angels, are wicked, unclean and vicious (Matt. 8:28; 10:1; Mark 5:2–3; 9:20; Acts 19:15), and their leader is Satan (Matt. 9:34; Eph. 2:2; Rev. 9:11). (517)

When Satan is called “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), we can learn several things about demons:
     (1) These demons of darkness over which Satan rules are INCORPOREAL      powers of darkness (Eph. 6:12).
    (2) They fill the air or occupy the atmosphere around the earth, who are spiritual      forces WITHIN REACH of us and with whom we must fight (Eph. 3:10–1; 6:12).
    (3) They create an ethical atmosphere, or PERVADING OUTLOOK IN A      CULTURE (Eph. 2:2; 4:17). (517)

The Bible records at least 55 instances of demonic activity...Demon possession, therefore, according to the Bible is an actual occurrence, and not merely a
metaphorical or mythological description. It is not mental illness. ...“Demon possession could have a profound and dominating influence on one’s body (Mark
9:17–26), will (John 13:27), words (Mark 1:23), and mind (Mark 5:1–18). The demoniac could lose control over himself, and that against his will, (cf. Luke 9:39).”
54. Bahnsen, “The Person, Work and Present Status of Satan,” 16. (518)

[Characteristics of demon possession]:
(1) The person possessed gives evidence of being controlled by a force or personality apart from his own personality, that uses his body.
(2) The possessed person manifests bizarre, anti-social behavior (Matt. 8:28; Mark 5:2; Luke 8:27).
(3) He can manifest superhuman strength beyond his own normal ability (Matt. 8:28; Mark 5:3–4; Luke 8:29).
(4) He experiences intense convulsions, seizures and bodily self-harm in destructive and distorted ways (Matt. 17:15; Mark 1:26; 5:5; 9:18, 20, 22, 26; Luke 4:35; 9:39, 42).
(5) He often cries out with a loud shrieking voice (Mark1:26; 9:26; Luke 9:39).
(6) He speaks either coherently or incoherently, (possibly in an unknown language) through the use of the individual’s voice.
(7) Some demon possessed persons confess names other than that of the individual whom the demons are inhabiting...
(8) There is a recognition of and resistance to the person of Jesus Christ (Matt. 8:28; Mark 1:24; 5:6–; Luke 4:34, 41; 8:28).
(9) The demon must obey Christ (Matt. 8:16, 32; 17:18; Mark 1:27; 5:12–3; 9:25, 26; Luke 4:35; 8:32), or a command given in His name (Acts 16:18). (518-519)
And finally, the triumph of Christ over Satan and demons:
The Word of Christ, written and preached, is the instrument He uses as the exalted Christ, to control and overcome evil in the world....His Word still overcomes evil and the demonic in your life, as you believe it, obey it and bear witness to it. (519)
Christians have no need to be afraid of demons, for the following reasons:
First, Jesus gave power over the demons to His disciples (Matt. 10:1; Mark 6:7; 9:38; Luke 10:17; Acts 5:16; 8:7; 16:16f; 19:12). (520)

Second, the New Testament is full of indications that Christians have the ASSURANCE OF ETHICAL VICTORY in their encounters with Satan and demons. (520)

Third, even in the face of severe, physical persecution, the believer wins in his war with Satan (1 Peter 4:11; 5:11; Rev. 9:1–2; Luke 10:19; Rom. 8:35–36; Rev. 12:10–11). (520)

Fourth, not only is the Christian’s victory over Satan and the demonic evident with respect to demon possession, temptation to sin, and persecution; it is also clearly evident with respect to the success of evangelism (Matt. 12:28–29). (520-521)

"The fact is that while Satan is alive, he is not well! His power and kingdom have fallen, and presently he frantically thrashes out his short remaining time. Christ has deposed him, crushed him, and shackled him; Christ’s followers continue to spoil his house. The only lordship he retains is over the despicable elements of life symbolized by dung." 61. Bahnsen, “The Person, Work and Present Status of Satan,” 42. (521)

        Racheal

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The Flurry...

3/29/2014

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Yes, I'm still here. Long time, no type, eh?

Sorry 'bout that, y'all. I should be working, but I wanted to do a post real quick...

Anyway, what's up with this "flurry" business? (I mean, other than the snow we've been having on and off for a good portion of the past week...)

Well, Wednesday (I think it was) after a query to a friend and a enthusastic presentation, there was formed an thrilling plan for early May. We are planning on attending the Family Covenent Ministries conference in Missouri. This year's theme is WWII.

Apparently one of the customs is for attendees to wear period apparel for the theme's era. Anyway, littl' ol' excitable me went bonkers for the whole rest of the day--looking at hair mostly. I have been doing mock-40's hair for many years, but nothing serious. Katherine attempted "victory rolls" on me that afternoon...and well, I don't think we'll be doing that! I have too much hair and they were huge (even though the third attempt were the smallest and best looking). Katherine (our hair artist) is intending on trying the "fluffy-bangs" on me this afternoon. If they turn out well, I may put up a picture. (I decided the victory rolls were just not going to make it up here!) I think the only way we would get honest-to-goodness authentic hair styles would be to cut our hair--which not a one of us would even remotely consider.

Then we have been looking at clothes, clothes, and more clothes! (It's a whole lot of fun--I could pick a whole wardrobe amount of patterns I would like to have...) We kinda-sorta got started on that from yesterday's job--which was a full scale pulling out and photographing all of our patterns. That way we don't have to dig through them all, but can refer to a the photo-file. Nifty idea...It took a good portion of the day to do, but we got it all done! I tried to organize the patterns in the boxes according to era and size, but I don't necessarily know how great that aspect is going to work out.

Today we are playing something along the lines of "Furniture Musical Chairs". (I believe I mentioned this in my previous post.) Anyway, we got the desk from the office moved into the dining room here and I have all the drawers in but one (which needs to be gone through. I have scrap paper, books, and miscellany organized in a handy fashion; but I will have to find another place to put my video camera (and other film stuff like tripod and "the suitcase".)

I think I may need to help Mama move the buffet here in a minute...

        Racheal

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Mollart's

3/26/2014

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It's been a while since I had a bout of Mollart's meningitis (August being the last time). I felt it, without certainty, on Saturday evening--but kept my mouth shut. Sunday, when I got up, the ache was in my neck and the back of my head. I went to church (it was my week and I'd had a rough day previously, so I really wanted to go) without spending much thought on my condition. Sometime during the sermon, I made the diagnosis--the reason I was achy like that wasn't just from sleeping in a funny position. After church, I told Daddy, "I think I have meningitis again...but I'm not saying anything yet."

It didn't take me long after we got home to "say anything". I wasn't feeling very well and was kind of grouchy about it...so I figured I might as well 'fess up' to Mama. Understading that this stuff is a swelling of the meneges around the spial chord and brain, she has insisted the last few days that I rest (which is, for Mollart's [aka acute meningitis] the best thing). I don't really mind a couple days sprawled in my bed, propped up reading mysteries and such like. (I read the "Red Keep" by Allen French again yesterday. I think I have read it to myself at least three times, read it out-loud to Katherine once, and have had it read to me at least twice. If you can't tell, it's one of my favorites.)

Monday I felt pretty good (washed the dishes from all three meals), but spent most of my time in bed. I felt worse yesterday (Tuesday) than I had the day before (unusual). Mama didn't let me finish washing the breakfast dishes, but packed me off to bed again.

Today, I'm feeling better than yesterday, but not all better, so I'm once again not really doing anything. I did wash the dishes after breakfast (and plan on doing the lunch dishes...and supper dishes), but for the most part I still think I'd better keep on the low down. The tension in my neck/base of my skull has gotten worse in the last hour (though it is still quite mild.)

In other news, Mama is in the process of cleaning out her old desk--which is going to replace mine (it has drawers! and won't stick out as far--which will probably be nice since my setup is in the dining room); then the old buffet in the kitchen will be moved to the office area (where the desk is right now). After that, Daddy's green desk (an old table with a single drawer in it) will be moved to where the buffet currently sits. That way Daddy's "office" will be moved out of their bedroom and he will be able to be right there with Granddaddy. Granddaddy gets serious separation angst when he doesn't know where Daddy is. My biggest problem in going to be figuring out where to put all my junk I have piled on this table! :D Seriously though, I think I can organize the doors into a very functional workflow.

I'll probably take pictures when I get set up. Not that they will be very exciting...but it'll be something to blog about. ;P

        Racheal

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"Stuff" Or Rambles...

3/21/2014

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I know things have been kind of quiet around here...but I don't really know what to say of any interest. Daily life continues to be cooking, dishes, a little of that, a little of this, laundry, playing with the cats some, eating (of course!)...you know, stuff that isn't boring but doesn't make for very exciting blog posts.

What did do today that was out of the ordinary (besides reading for the first time this week!! Shame on me!) was that I cleaned my room this afternoon. I really don't spend much time in there most days so I kind of let the dust and mess get out of hand. The cat box really, really needed to be changed so I did that too. Suffice to say, it's much more pleasant in there now. The cats don't care of course, but I do. :)

I know I didn't vaccum the floor as well as I would have liked, but the old Oreck just doesn't like that antique carpet. I'm not sure why...but it doesn't. I do so love our Oreck (we've had it since '97 or '98 and it's gone through many beater bars, bearings and Daddy even replaced part of the cord once), but it is getting old and not as reliable as it once was. Still, I'm thankful it still works!

On a very positive note, Granddaddy was in a good mood today. In other words, he was real easy to deal with. Reasonable and easy enough to talk to. He even said "thank-you" multiple times today...and he kind of chuckled once! I am thankful for that because I "had him" so to speak for most of the day. He was kind of grouchy and out of it yesterday, so today was a nice change.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon going through my current Cow Cavalry timeline. I found a place where I had no audio (not even my stand in narration!) I wonder how that happened?

I considered going through the AfterEffects compositions (most of which I decided not to render until I have Mr. Joe's version of the narration) today, but I settled on returning my nose to God and Government today instead. It doesn't do me much good at the moment to get all wound up over my Cow Cav. project since I can't really go forward with it at present.

Anyway, I think I feel like "scribbling" as Jo March would say...so I think I'll go do that for a little bit. (Granted, George Gershwin doesn't exactly fit your classic "Western" background music!)

        Racheal

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Tuesday's Recap of Monday

3/18/2014

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That may be confusing. Anyway...

Yesterday was one of those days when I simply wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there. However, due to circumstances, I couldn't.

Mama and Savannah were away at Savannah's second appointment with her new Lyme doctor. (I go in May...and I am not looking forward to the blood draw that I'm going to have to have.) Thes results on that is that Savannah has a new protocol to follow. She's feeling a little blue (on top of not feeling well) because her hair is falling out again. She asked me this morning to pray that her hair would quit falling out.

Daddy was gone for a large portion of the day: first to his VA appointment (he had a blood draw)--after which he ate breakfast out and apparently had a lovely morning with a Nam vet. After lunch he took Grandpa to his CAT scan.

Our house guest left yesterday and I can't say I miss him. It's kind of nice to just be us again.

What with all that going on, I kept up with the cooking (speaking of which, I have to go start lunch here in a minute!) and the laundry. In fact, that is what I did of any use yesterday afternoon. Laundy. I watched a movie and did laundry. My brain was in no state to read and writing was out of the question (as was research), so I plopped down and watched a movie. I'll do a review of it over on Reformed Reviews, but some initial thought on it: that same story could be really, really good. 70's movies just aren't very good quality for the most part.

I made "clean out the refidgerator" soup for supper last night and was pleasantly surprised at how decent it was. 

I was "Leola!" multiple times yesterday (from Granddaddy) and I suppose I earned it because I got down-right stern with him a couple of times. He just about flipped his wheelchair over yesterday at one point (getting back into it from the pot) because he didn't reach back and grab the arms of the chair--he just plopped. He barked open the inside of one of his fingers in the process. I was unaware of it until Katherine (who had come downstairs to help) said, "Your hand is bleeding!" I doctored him up while talking to him about how he should let us know when he's bleeding all over the place. He's like a helpless kid sometimes and it's not because he has to be, but because he just doesn't care.

Alright, with that being said, I need to go check the laundry and get started on lunch. :)

Adios for now!

        Racheal

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The Reality of Angels, Part 1

3/16/2014

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I decided to go ahead and start Chapter 6 of Authentic Christianity this afternoon, so here goes!

The creation of angels.
“The angels were created, for whatever exists is either Creator or creature. Since they are not the Creator, they are creatures.” 2. William a Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 4 vols. (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1992), 1:286. (480)
What is the nature of angels? They are created, spirits, and invisible.
Angels are invisible, spiritual and incorporeal beings, i.e., they exist without a physical body. ... These angels are neither divine nor human; rather they are “winds,” “a flame of fire” and “ministering spirits.” The word, winds, in Hebrew and Greek, may equally well be translated “spirits.” They are “a flame of fire,” because “they are totally inflamed with the fire of divine love.” 3. Philip E. Hughes,  A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977) 62. (480)

That the angels are invisible is evident, not only from the fact that they are spirits, but because of such passages as Luke 24:39, where Jesus says, after His bodily resurrection from the grave: “a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (481)

All this is not to say that angels cannot take upon themselves some kind of human form whenever they think it necessary. Not only did they make such appearances in a bodily form in the Old and New Testaments (Gen. 28:12; Acts 27:23–24), but Hebrews 13:2 exhorts us: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (481)
Angels are personal beings:
Angels are personal beings, not impersonal forces, lifeless symbols or figments of someone’s imagination. They are real living persons with intelligence, will and power to carry out their desires. (482)
Angels are holy:
Angels, that is unfallen ones, are holy (Jude 14). (482)
Are angels superior to humans?
Whereas angels have some qualities that are superior to man (Acts 12:10), nevertheless they are not superior to man as beings, because they are not made in the image of God as is man, thus making him the crown of creation (Isa. 6:1; 1 Cor. 6:3; Heb. 1:13). (483)

First Corinthians 6:2–3 impresses us with the superiority of godly men and women over angels: “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?… Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?”
   (1) The saints judge the world now, whenever we assess the world’s thoughts, actions and creations in the light of the Word of God.
    (2) The saints will rule, manage and judge the world, when both Jews and Gentiles will be truly converted and Christianized globally (Rom. 11; 1 Cor. 15:24–25; Isa. 2, 4, 11).
  (3) In the Final Judgment at the very end of history, the saints shall be Christ’s associate judges in the judging of the world, as a function of their royal rule as crowned kings in Christ (Eph. 2:6, 1 Pet. 2:9). (483)
Angels have superior knowledge:
The intelligence, wisdom and knowledge of angels are far superior to the intelligence, wisdom and knowledge of human beings and yet they are not omniscient. (485)

They know God—His character, glory, plans and will—directly, profoundly and intimately, since they “continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10). They know themselves, eternally communicating with each other (Zech. 2:3; Isa. 6:3; Rev. 7:2; 14:18). And they know human beings, having been intimately involved in their lives since the beginning of time. (485)

(1) They do not know, unless God reveals it to them, what God’s will has planned for the future (Isa. 41:22–3; 42:8–9; 44:7–; Matt. 24:36).
(2) They do not know the human heart and inner life, because God reserves this for Himself.
(3) Their knowledge of man’s salvation is incomplete, for into the display of God’s mercy in Christ for man’s redemption, “angels long to look” (1 Pet. 1:12). (485-486)
They have superior power:
Angels also possess power superior to that of human beings. ... Although their power is vastly superior to man’s strength, and although they can do many wonderful things, nevertheless they cannot do everything. ... “This power is undoubtedly always within God’s control, and never truly supernatural, although superhuman.” 14. Dabney,  Systematic Theology, 267–268. (487)
How many angels are there?
The Bible leads us to believe that a vast number of unfallen angels exist to do God’s bidding. (488)

Why does the Bible repeatedly remind us that good angels constitute an innumerable host? 

FIRST, the myriads of magnificent angels in all their beauty surrounding God’s
glorious throne, praising Him and responding to His every wish, “adorn His majesty and render it conspicuous.”16 SECOND, since God has commissioned myriads of angels to guard, protect and minister to Christians, we should never fear or complain, even when things appear to be going against us, for we are in good and strong hands. 16. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1:165. (489)
How are angels different from humans?
Although vast numbers of angels exist and vast numbers of human beings exist, angels “do not form an organism like man-kind, for they are spirits, which do not marry and are not born the one out of the other. Their full number was created in the beginning; there has been no increase in their ranks.” 18. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 146. (489-490)
When were they created?
The older Reformers, such as Brakel of the seventeenth century, believed that the angels were created on the first day of creation week for this reason: since they
were the hosts and inhabitants of heaven, they were created when the heavens were (Ps. 103:21; 148:2). (490)
Where do the angels live?
Heaven is the residence, or home, of the unfallen angels. ... It is the very throne room of God, the immediate presence of God, for in “heaven” the angels continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.” ...  So then, angels live in heaven with God; and it is from heaven that God sends them forth on various missions. (490-491)
After these preliminaries, Dr. Morecraft turns his attention to the angels job--or their ministry.
Angels have a variety of closely related functions assigned to them by God in connection with the saving work and reign of Jesus Christ. (491)
He lists eight different jobs:
(1) They are God’s servants and messengers ordained to carry out His commands...
(2) They are to adorn and to praise God’s incomparable majesty and to render it more conspicuous to man...
(3) “[T]hey keep vigil for our safety, take upon themselves our defense, direct our ways and take care that some harm may not befall us.”21 No Christian in this life will know how many times angels have protected him from harm...
(4) They dispense and administer God’s bountiful generosity to us in a variety of ways....
    (a) They provide us with physical nourishment when we are famished...
   (b) They protect us from contracting serious diseases...
   (c) They assist in the healing of our sicknesses (John 5:4).
   (d) They assist and protect us in our travels (Gen. 24:7, 24, 48; 32:1).
    (e) They keep us from dangers and help us out of them...
    (f) They are connected with and rejoice in the conversion of sinners...
    (g) They comfort us in times of distress (Dan. 9:23; 10:11–12)....
    (h) They assist us in resisting the temptations of Satan (Dan. 10:13, 20; Rev. 12:7;    Eph. 6:12).
    (i) They attend to us when we are dying and gently usher us into the presence of       God at death... 
(5) Angels are used by God throughout history to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ over all of life and all the earth...
(6) Angels are “ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14)...."Observe, 1. The highest honour of the
most glorious spirits in heaven is to minister unto the Lord in the service whereunto He appoints them; 2. Such is the love and care of God towards His saints labouring here below, that He sends the most glorious attendants on His throne to minister unto them in taking care of them." 24 ...
(7) When a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ, he comes “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and  to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood” (Heb. 12:22–4)...
(8) Angels had some role in the giving of the Law of God....

It is important to point out that God uses angels, not for His sake, but for our sakes. God is not dependent on anything He has made (Acts 17:25). He does not need human beings or angels....

21. Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1:166
24. John Owen,  Hebrews: The Epistle of Warning (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, [1953] 1968), 14.
(491-495)


Angels must not divert us from directing our gaze to God alone nor from ascribing all glory and worship to Him alone (Col. 1:16, 20; Rev. 19:10, 22:8–9). (496)
Angel names, kinds and orders. (I admit I took really scant notes in this particular section...)
Apparently some kind of organization exists among the unfallen angels for the Bible identifies different classes and names of angels: cherubim, seraphim, principalities, powers, thrones, dominions, archangel, Gabriel and Michael. (496)

The name “angel” simply means messenger. This name has been given to these glorious beings because God uses them as His servant-messengers to manifest Himself to human beings (Ps. 103:20–1). (496)
That is as far as I made it today, but I passed the 500 page mark!! Lord willing, next week, I will pick up with the section entitled: The Angel of the Lord.

        Racheal

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The Eternal Plan of God, Part 3

3/16/2014

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Last time we looked at election; today we will cover reprobation.

First, the elements of reprobation:
Notice these four basic elements... on reprobation: (1) The individuals passed by and reject-God’s eternal condemnation. (2) God passes some individuals by and refuses to choose them to eternal life, leaving them in the state of misery and ruin into which, by their own fault, they have plunged themselves. (3) He dooms those whom He passes by to the eternal punishment their sins deserve; and He does so in perfect justice and holy vengeance. (4) In God’s decree to pass by and reject some,
God acts absolutely. (439-440)
Second, the biblical authority for the doctrine:
“One hoof of Divine truth,” says the venerable Erskine, “is not to be kept back, though a whole reprobate world should break their necks on it.” 53. Thornwell,  Collected Writings, 2:107. (440-441)
Third, the unity and variety of God's decrees (namely election and reprobation):
First, the ultimate cause of both decrees is the sovereign will of God and the pure sovereignty of His good pleasure. (441)

Second, reprobation has a factor not occurring in election: our election to life is gracious and undeserved; and the condemnation of the reprobate is just and deserved, because of their sins. (441)

Third, in election, people are chosen by God, and saving faith and holiness of life result from His choice of them, Acts 13:48; but in reprobation, God does not create the rebellion in the heart of the wicked, instead, that rebellion is the cause of divine
condemnation (Rom. 11:20). (442)

Fourth, in election, God predestines sinful people to salvation and guarantees the work of saving grace in their lives; but in reprobation God does absolutely nothing to save the non-elect sinner. (442)
There are two components of reprobation:
In an attempt to clarify the revealed truth of reprobation, some theologians have identified two components in this decree: preterition and condemnation. Preterition means letting things stand as they are. To pretermit is to omit, to leave, to let alone (Luke 17:34; 2 Chron. 32:31; Ps. 81:12–13). God’s decision to leave some
sinners in their sin, without bestowing on them the gift of life, was an act of sheer sovereignty. (442)

1. [E]ternal reprobation makes no man a sinner. 2. [T]he foreknowledge of God that the reprobate would perish makes no man a sinner. 3. [G]od’s infallible determining upon the damnation of him that perisheth, makes no man a sinner. 4.
God’s patience and long-suffering, and forebearance until the reprobate fits himself for eternal destruction, makes no man a sinner. 56. John Bunyan, “Reprobation  Asserted,” The Works of John Bunyan, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, [1875] 1977) 2:352. (442-443)
Old Testament teachings on reprobation:
God hardened a large number of Canaanites, and refused to show them favor, so they would recklessly wage war with Israel and be destroyed by her military superiority. “[W]hy did not Jehovah command Israel to teach the Canaanites His laws and instruct them concerning sacrifices to the true God? Plainly, because He
had marked them out for destruction, and if so, that from all eternity.”58. Arthur Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1930), 104. (443)

The case of Pharaoh establishes the principle and illustrates the doctrine of Reprobation. If God actually reprobated Pharaoh, we may justly conclude that He reprobates all others whom He did not predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son. This inference the apostle Paul manifestly draws from the fate of Pharaoh, for in Romans 9, after referring to God’s purpose in raising up Pharaoh, he continues, “therefore” [or “So then” in the NASB]. The case of Pharaoh is introduced to prove the doctrine of Reprobation as the counterpart of the doctrine of Election. 61. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, 110–111. (445)
Jesus Himself taught on reprobation:
On more than one occasion, Jesus distinguished His disciples, whom He chose to be His own, from the rest of the unbelieving world, which He left in darkness. (445)

Jesus went so far as to say that God had deliberately hidden the truth from some people, so that they cannot be saved from sin. (445)
Other New Testament teachings on reprobation:
Romans 9:21–23 assumes two things: (1) God is dealing with mankind as sinners....(2) Mercy can only be sovereign mercy, i.e., bestowed upon whomever God pleases. (449)

No one can escape this unique Stone and its determinative impact. Reactions to this Stone divide the human race into believers (1 Pet. 2:6–7) and unbelievers (1 Pet. 2:7–8). (451)

Verse 8 gives the reason unbelievers stumble in disobedience and unbelief over Christ, breaking themselves upon Him: they were destined by God to this course of stumbling and to this end, doom. (451)

(Jude 4). Notice three things about the deceitful men mentioned in this verse: (1) They were “ordained to this condemnation.” God ordained their blindness, persistent  rebellion and eternal condemnation. (2) They were ordained to  condemnation “before of old,” i.e., in eternity, before the beginning of time. This speaks of the absoluteness and unchangeableness of this foreordination to condemnation. (3) These men are “ungodly men.” The cause of their condemnation was not the pleasure of God, but their own sin against God. (452)
The purpose of reprobation:
God chose to save an innumerable throng of sinners to be saved to show forth “the praise of His glorious grace,” and chose to pass by and foreordain the rest of the human race to eternal condemnation for their sins “to the praise of the glory of His justice.” (454)
Dr. Morecraft then directs our attention to certain clarifications on the doctrine of reprobation, as well as answering objections raised.
First, the revealed truth of the decree of reprobation does not mean that God planned to take innocent creatures, make them wicked, and then damn them. ... “God has not created sinful creatures in order to destroy them, for God is not to be charged with the sin of His creatures. The responsibility and criminality is man’s.”
76. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, 123. (457)

Second, the revealed truth of reprobation does not mean that God refuses to save those who sincerely seek salvation in Christ. (457)

Third, the decree of reprobation does not in anyway contradict the goodness of God. Although the non-elect are not objects of His saving goodness and His special grace, they are objects of His general goodness and His common grace bestowed by God upon all people without exception in this life. (458)

Fourth, the rule of holiness demands that we not only avoid sin, we also are to work to prevent all the sin in others we can. This same rule applies to God, the critics of reprobation say. ..."They say we represent Him as like a man who, witnessing the
perpetration of a crime, and having both the right and power to prevent it, stands idly by: and they refer us to such Scriptures as Proverbs xxiv.11, 12. And when we remind them, that God permissively ordains those sins, not for the sake of their evil, but for the sake of the excellent and holy ends He will bring about, they retort, that we represent Him as “doing evil that good may come.” These objections derive all their plausibility from forgetting that we are creatures and bondsmen of God, while He is supreme judge." 78. Dabney, Lectures in Systematic Theology, 243. (458)

Fifth, the question still remains: Why did not God elect everybody to salvation? The answer is this: It pleased God to display the glory of His grace in the salvation of the elect sinners and to display the glory of His justice in the damnation of the
reprobate, (non-elect), sinners. ...The more obvious question is: Why did God elect anybody to salvation? (459)

Sixth, if God has chosen only His elect for salvation, and rejected the rest of the race, why are we told that God “commands all men everywhere to repent”? (Acts 17:30). By commanding all people everywhere, God is enforcing His sovereign rights and righteous claims as the moral Governor of the world. (459)
Application of the doctrines of election and reprobation:
First, what are the benefits of believing and teaching this Biblical truth of reprobation? (1) It will increase our admiration and adoration of God for His love and His hatred. ...(2) This glorious truth “strips them [men] of all pretensions to merit, shows them their deep and loathsome unworthiness, and prostrates their souls in the very dust of self-abasement.” 80 Nothing is more humbling to the pride of man than the knowledge that the only reason he is not in the ranks of the non-elect is because God graciously decreed otherwise (Acts 13:48). ...To know that every one of the non-elect is absolutely under the control of God should greatly promote our trust and confidence in God. To view the world situation and to see the wickedness that abounds on every hand, and yet to know that it is all included in God’s decree, is comfort indeed. 80. James H. Thornwell, Election and Reprobation (Jackson, MI: Presbyterian Reformation Society, 1961), 82. (460)

Second, while we as Christians must constantly recognize our responsibility to be witnesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ to everybody (Acts 1:8), we must also resign ourselves to the fact that God alone decides the consequences. (460)

Third, "those who misrepresent God’s counsel in general, and the decree of reprobation in particular, as if it were merely the divine purpose respecting a person’s eternal destiny, are guilty of a serious error. No one has a right to interpret the decree of reprobation as an iron decree, determining only the final destiny of the lost, who are then viewed as inexorably shut up to this eternal state of perdition, no matter what penitent efforts they may put forth. ...Accordingly, we should not thus conceive of the purpose of reprobation, as if it were a decree all by itself, sustaining no relation to the other decrees in general, nor to the decree of election, in particular. In reality there is not such a dualism between sin and grace,
punishment and blessing, justice and mercy, as if the reprobate were visited only with sin and punishment, and the elect only with grace and blessing." 82. Bavinck, 
The Doctrine of God, 400.
(461-462)
Finally then, how does God execute His decrees?
All of God’s plans happen in time infallibly, inevitably and unchangeably. This is absolutely certain because of the infinitely perfect character of God: “God is not a man, that He should lie...Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19). (462)

Two things must be kept in mind, when we consider the execution of God’s decrees in time. (1) When God’s eternal decree is actually executed in time, the execution exactly corresponds to the decree in the mind of God, with absolutely no deviations,
“according to His infallible foreknowledge”...(2) The decrees of God cannot ever be
defeated or fail of execution, according to “the free and immutable counsel of His own will”: “For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isa. 14:27). (463)

God carries out His eternal plans in the works of creation and providence. In creating the universe, He provides Himself with the “raw materials” to accomplish His eternal “blueprints.”...In governing and providing for His creation, i.e., providence, He causes the creation to reach all of His purposes for it: Having made the world, He now upholds, (or “moves along”), “by the Word of His power” (Heb. 1:2–3; see also Ps. 104). He created the universe “out of nothing,” using no means or “second causes” whatsoever (Gen. 1:1); but He executes the work of providence, ordinarily, by means and “second causes.” (463-464)
To conclude chapter five then...
Emptied as we are by election of all that cannot abide the scrutiny of heaven, we are pointed to inexhaustible treasures at God’s right hand, which are bestowed only upon those who habitually depend upon His grace. Blind, naked and miserable in ourselves, we take the counsel of the Holy Spirit and lean upon the Lord for all that we need. (464)

        Racheal

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Lots O' Stuff...

3/14/2014

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I have been basically without a computer the last week...ever since I accidently put mulitple trojans on my computer last Saturday (I guess it was). I have been on either Daddy or Momma's laptops over the course of the week to check e-mail and such. So...here's the past week's rundown (for those of you who like to hear my day-to-day adventures)...it's been busy enough. :)

Sunday, March 9 

The entire family got to go to church! Granddaddy was in the hospital with a skin infection, so no one had to stay home with him.

After lunch, which was a tad later than usual because we stopped at the hospital for a few minutes, I sat down to an enjoyable two hour conversation via Google Hangouts with a brother in another state. The subject: a joint film production. I landed the grand ol' spot of director! I have a large hunk of research to take care of (which will be easier now with my computer back [or my "baby" as Daddy just called it! :D] We have determined the subject of the film, but I'll save the details until I can give you a better, more succinct description then that which would ramble off my fingers at the moment.
 
Monday, March 10

A busy, busy day. :)

First, Grandpa's trip to the dentist. I don't know about you, but dentists don't scare me. Never did. I never could understand why people are afraid of them (maybe because I've never had a cavity? Not that that should be much worse than having dental surgeries--of which I've had a couple.)

I took notes on the way home to remind me of what stories I wanted to tell once I got my computer back. :)

Mama sat in the waiting room the whole time and I took care of wheeling Grandpa into the rooms and helping him transfer. He doesn't need much help, less than Granddaddy in fact--a lot less. (He actually works at it, unlike the G-Dad).

Anyway, Grandpa went to the dentist to have a root removed from his gum. The tooth had apparently broken off at the gum, so the root needed to be removed to keep it from getting infected, etc.

The doctor was probably about half way through the extraction when I kind of siddled around to where I could see, saying, "Mind if I watch?"

He didn't really seem overly pleased, but said, "So long as you don't faint."

I responded with, "I won't" and bit the laughing, but snarky comment back about having watched calves be castrated, ear-marked, and branded. I did almost drop the "I'm a country kid" line, but instead, I just grinned to myself.

Anyway, I now know a little better how my dentist removed "that tooth" [sticks tongue where there is no longer a hole--took six years for it to come in it, but it finally did] back when I was 15. It was interesting.

Because Grandpa had a issue with his partials, we were led to the other side of the building where the denturist (is that a word?) would see him. While waiting for him, I noticed Grandpa's tell-tale "I have to go" movements. I did what I know how to do, I hopped up, strode down the hall, into the waiting room, told Mum that Gradpa had to go, continued right on out, opened the door to the van, hopped in, snatched up the john, and retraced my steps. Once he went, I repeated the processes.

I have gotten to a point where such things are just every day practical actions.

Oh, yes, and Grandpa had one of two issues with his partials fixed. The second problem gets addressed in a couple of weeks. He has to get a new impression of the top one and then an addition to it for the tooth that was just removed.

I forgot to mention earlier that Daddy flew to Florida Sunday evening and therefore he couldn't go see Granddaddy in the hospital, so we dropped Savannah off there on the way to the dentist. On the way home, we picked her up. Grandpa and I stayed in the van; him napping for the most part and me doing one of my favorite things--watching people.

There was this lady that came out of the hospital, she reminded me so much of my Aunt Celinda that it wasn't even funny...

Anyway, there were two Chrysler vans parked in front of us, two different years and two different shades of blue; and as this lady came out of the hospital, she started hitting her key fob. Well, from where I was sitting I could see that the older, lighter blue van's lights were blinking. The lady walked up to the new, darker van and tried to get it to open. She tried for probably five minutes (I was wondering if I ought not get out and tell her, "Um, ma'am...I think this van is yours..."). The lighter van's lights were flashing and then all of sudden the back hatch and the side door opened. At that point, she realized her mistake and got in the correct van.

When we got home, as I put Grandpa back into the apartment, I relized that the carpet was wet (again!!) The barn/apartment was flooding with the melting snow. We immediately went to work sweeping the water out of the barn. This entailed doing some chopping of channels into the ice outside the barn where we were sweeping it under the bottom of the frame (there are some places where it doesn't go under ground). I found a hammer with a point on the back (a heavy hammer) and used that to help chop a channel through the frozen ice and river rock in the floor of the barn. Katherine was sweeping water  through that channel to the outside channel (which I went and cleared a couple of times). I ended up splashing muddy water all over myself...my shirt was soaked pretty good as were my jeans. I got dirty and loved every minute of it! Well, except when I fell on the ice (for the first time this winter). I hurt my hip at the time, but it's my knee that shows the most signs of the fall (including hurting and a loverly bruise). When I fell, I didn't even realize I had hit it!

Katherine and I had a quick photo shoot of ourselves when we came in--minus our boots. (I had on my Ariat boots and they got soaked through--besides the water seeping in the seams where they have already started coming apart a bit along the sole seam.)
Picture
My boots aren't usually that dark...
Picture
(See how dirty my face was?? And I didn't realize that the tag was sticking out of my hat; which I had on backwards because it's fairly dark in the barn and I could see better with it that way.)
Picture
Concerning her socks, Katherine pointed out that she wears them over her pants like that to keep them from sliding off in her boots. Heap big sense! (Now, if only I can remember to do that!)
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Those are one of her three new pairs of glasses. I really like 'em!
Like I said, it was a busy day. :)

Tuesday, March 11

Mama left in the morning to pick Daddy up at the airport. Immediately after breakfast, I went on a barn/water recon mission and was happy to report to the other half of the crew that would have had to work on it (Katherine), that it was fine and didn't need our attention.

Granddaddy came home that afternoon and thus life began returning to normal...

I took out three buckets full of ashes that evening (to help Daddy) in my barefeet. Er, yes...kinda dumb I suppose with the ground still being frozen three or four inches under the surface and the water/mud on top being ice water...however, my feet were already dirty and didn't want to take the time to clean them off and go up stairs to get socks. I didn't get frost-bite, so no harm done, right? :D

Wednesday, March 12

You do know the expression "When it rains, it pours", right? Well, that's us.

The pump was acting up. The well is situated smack dab in the middle of the garage, so Daddy backed the car out, lifted the grating, and soon determined that the... the... what'dyacallit had gone bad (starts with a 'c'...that's all I can remember at the moment).

He went to town. When he came back, he had that part (the what'dyacall it ;P) and a new pressure tank! He explained that the what'dyacallit had croaked because the old pressure tank wasn't functioning correctly (and apparently hasn't been doing so for a while).

I helped remove the old pressure tank and install the new one. Daddy thought he had drained the old pressure tank, but it hadn't drained (not his fault), so I was very glad that went the strappage broke that we had just switched places--with him under the tank (it was suspended from the basement ceiling by tough plastic straps) and not me! I think I would have been hurt pretty bad if it had been me under there (what with breaking my tailbone on the pipage behind me and being smashed under however many pounds of water still in that tank).

I imagine it got kind of funny (if anyone had been watching) to see Daddy, with me right behind him, trotting back and forth between the house and the old garage those couple of times for pipe and tools. 

But, back to the basement...I helped by using my horse riding muscles to hold the tanks still while Daddy either removed or put on pipe. Every time Daddy used the pipe dope (I'm serious, that's what the stuff is called!) I joked about Dijon mustard--because that's what it looks like.

Once we got the tank ready, we fixed up a wooden stand of it. I helped by holding onto piece of wood. Daddy ran the power saw. I also ran out and dug out four nice enough looking bricks to place under the legs of the stand (to keep them out of the water when the basement gets wet). Bare handed, of course. By now, you're going to think I don't like to keep either my toes or fingers warm--but I have the same excuse for digging bricks out of the snow with my bare hands as I did for carrying the ashes out in my bare feet. My hands were dirty! (And no water to wash them in...)

Daddy adjusted the pressure switch a little bit after we got the water running again. My job was to turn sinks on and off during that portion of the excitment.

Thursday, March 13

I guess it must have been Wednesday morning, mid morning, when I went up stairs, opened my door and walked into my room and got hit in the face with a pretty powerful mold smell. Well, Thursday afternoon, we went hunting for the source. Daddy went into the 'attic' crawlspace and reported zero mold. I started seriously hunting in my room after that...and I found it.

The baseboard behind my vanity has not been flush against the wall since the ducting went in a couple years ago, and that my friends, is where the mold was. Along that baseboard and the plaster. I took the baseboard to the garage (I have yet to clean it) and then took baking soda and vinegar to the plaster. It's smells a whole lot better in there now!

And...as an added plus...I found my nail-clippers (which the cats had lost)! I thought I had looked back there, but I guess I didn't look hard enough.

Friday, March 14

That's today...what did I do? Oh, yeah...Daddy and I went to the chiropractor this morning! I've really been needing to go (it's been a while, November being the last time I went!) and it felt great--only now I feel like I need to go back again! (Such is the hazards of letting yourself get really out of whack before going...)

After that we went to Rual King and got chicken feed and a pair of rubber boots for me. I didn't intend on getting steel toes, but I did. Well...so long as Miss Ruth's horses don't step on me I should be fine. :) (I look forward to being able to go down and help her around her place once a week or so real soon.)

Then of course, after supper, Mama and I went and picked up my computer.

*gleefully rubs hands together*

Now I can get started on a couple of different research tracks I've been itching to follow all week!

But not tonight...

Also, it so happens that today is my Granddaddy's eighty-third birthday.

Happy Birthday Granddaddy!!
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        Racheal

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Wonderings...

3/6/2014

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I've been reading a bit more lately as you may know, but I've also been doing a little writing and/or thinking about writing/stories/screenplays/etc. Even while I may not actually write (in the way of authoring) everyday, it's generally not overly far from the back of my mind.

I should like to think of myself as a writer. I've never finished a novel, but I have written some short stories; so does that count? I'm not much of a writer, but I can write and I enjoy it. (There is just something about "playing with words" that is so much fun; but it can also be downright frustrating too!)

Anyway, this morning, during that time when I seem to do my most of my profound thinking, (aka when I should be reading my Bible), I got this idea for a post...but I need my readers help. I'm trying to get a feel for what kinds of fiction books young people (from the elementary to the young adult catagory) like to read...and why. The second part of the question may be harder. Why does a particular genre draw you in? (This is where it could get philosophical.) Even if you don't classify in that "young peoples" category exactly, you probably know some of them. What do they read? (Biographies and histories can be added to, but the main focus is the discover the type of fictious literature that kids and young adults read.)

I made a list of ten (sometimes overlapping) genres that I'll put up here (along with some commentary on why I like this one and don't like that one and if I want to write along these lines or don't or can't along others).

Okay, here goes:

1) Historical Fiction
    
This is a broad field. It can include these other genres within it: Romance, Adventure,      Mystery, Thriller, Westerns. This is one of my favorite genres and the one I'm most
    eager to write. (Obviously, both of my unfinished novels classify in this genre.) 
    In this particular genre, which era and/or time period is the most interesting?

2) Adventure
    
This frequently is historical fiction, so I won't say over much here, other than
    adventureous historical fiction (like swashbuckling tales) is by far one of my most
    favorite!

3) Science-Fiction
    
I have read very, very little science fiction. It's definitely not up there on my "faves"      list. I have little to no inclination to write it. [For further discusison, see below.]

4) Fantasy
    
If it's something along the lines of old time fairly tales or the Lord of the Rings, I like      it. I might be interested in trying my hand at writing some someday. [For further      discussion, see below.]

5) Dystopian
    
Until last year, I didn't even know what that was. I have never read any and really      have no desire to. [I guess that means I haven't much inclination to write it either.]

6) Mysteries
    
I love a good mystery (most particularly those written by British authors such as      Agatha Christie and Ellis Peters). I don't feel "smart" enough to even try writing 
    mysteries.

7) Spy/Thrillers
    
Is this more a film category? I'm not sure, but as far as I am aware of I have not read      anything that would classify in this category.

8) Westerns
    
A species of historical fiction and/or adventure, I have read a couple...one of my 
    novels actually started out a Western, but for reasons of my own got switched to
    being an "Eastern", so yes, I would write westerns.

9) Romances
    
As such, unless you count Jane Austen's works, I have not read any. I do like a little 
    'romance' in the stories I read (depending on circumstances), but even then, I don't 
    want that to be the main focus. It's probably pretty obvious that I don't intend on 
    writing anything that falls strictly into this category.

10) Animal Stories
    
Um, no. For the most part. I never liked them as a kid. I don't want to write them. 
    (These would most likely fall in the more elementary reading levels anyway.)

Further Discussion on Science-Fiction and Fantasy

First, let's look at Sci-fi. Like I said, I've done very little reading in this category. I'd probbaly say that C.S. Lewis' trilogy (can't remember what it's called at the moment), is probably the closeset thing I've read to actual sci-fi. It was weird...but that's beside the point. I have noticed that a largish number of young, Christian, homeschooled writers write sci-fi. Why? I don't know. It just makes me wonder a little bit, rather incoherently about a 'something' that I can't put my finger on exactly...

Second, and a little more coherently, fantasy. I have read some (very little) modern fantasy and for the most part it is very autonomous and feministic. It's unsettling. Also, the fantasy stuff that, once again, the young, Christian, homeschooled kids are writing, from the little I have read, seems to be so very dark...oppressive. I recall one story that I started (and never finished because I couldn't find it again), that left me feeling depressed and distraught. Why are Christians writing dark fantasy?

That isn't to say that there isn't a place for evil in your stories--you have to have good and evil. But to write something that leaves a feeling of dispair over your reader?

Anyway, I'd much appreciate your input on this subject. What do you (or your kids or grandkids) read? Why do you (or they) like the particular genre(s) they are drawn to?

Call this research if you like, but I'm just curious...

        Racheal

P.S. I just realized I said I would explain why I like the genres I do...so: Historical fiction/adventure--I like history. Historical fiction helps bring it to life...and adventures? Well, they are interesting! This is not to say that any and all stories in these categories are an immediate "Yes!" because I've read historical fiction that is unedifying (don't ever read "My Brother Sam is Dead"; one of those I actually remembered the name of because it was so bad) and revisionist and feministic. Is not the purpose of reading it to get wrong theology, false philosophy, and lying history.

Mysteries (once again, not any and all)--I have yet to guess "whodunnit". That's part of the appeal. Trying to use one's brain to figure out who did it, to keep track of the clues, to 'read' the characters, to guess the motive, etc.
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