Archive for the 'Personal' Category

Did a wonderful meetup with @WRSA tonight at my home.  He drove much farther than I would have liked to meet me face-to-face and for us to get to know each other better.  It’ll be my turn next time.

What a wonderful man, and wonderful time together.  We talked philosophy, theology, hardware, the state of things in our country, PT, our own history, and good cooking, among many other things.  And I think he enjoyed the chicken and broccoli casserole I made for him.

I’m very blessed that I have people in my life who would make efforts like that to meet me and get to know me.  While cyberspace is okay, it’s no replacement for face-to-face meetings, time together, and simple relaxation with friends.

You MUST do that with your friends, but also make a decided and determined effort to do that with those who are not as close as you would like.  You will need them in the future, and they you.

I recall in seminary training with Dr. C. Gregg Singer discussions surrounding the compromise the early and mid-20th century churchmen made with Darwinism (for more, see A Theological Interpretation of American History).  Being all sympathetic as they were, they wanted a “system” of theology that mitigated the embarrassment young students felt when they went off to college and heard professors knocking their theology of the supernatural.

The Auburn Affirmation is one such compromise, yet there are many, many more in American history (and indeed all of church history).  But in the compromise there was death.  The Scriptures cannot contradict the Scriptures, and the first rule of Biblical hermeneutics is that upon encounter with the difficult passages, Scripture interprets Scripture.  If a particular passage seems to you to say something that contradicts a plainer and simpler and easier to understand passage, then your view of the particular passage is wrong and needs correction in order to maintain a logically consistent system of theology.

So it is with the resurrection.  It isn’t a metaphor, it isn’t a nice story, it’s not trying to teach us something about life.  It’s a historical fact without which there is no atonement or justification for sins.  It’s the Father’s stamp of approval on the vicarious sacrifice of His only Son, our Lord.  If Christ had stayed in the grave, we would too.  Paul says it better than me.

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; ⁷ then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; ⁸ and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹² Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. ¹⁵ Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁷ and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

I recall sitting in class with Dr. Singer wondering what kind of idiot would exchange the resurrection for comfort among the pit vipers in a college classroom, for compromise is never wise and never brings truth or surety.  Compromise is for losers.

Jesus is alive.  He is risen!  Celebrate.

As you might have noticed, no posting on Friday.  Rough weekend too.

It’s been a rough flu season, or upper respiratory infection, or whatever.

It’s been hard to keep the blog going with family from out of town for the week, and during that week we hiked Mount Mitchell, Crowder’s Mountain, Pinnacle Mountain, and mountain biked.  Before that I biked single track at DuPont.  It’s nice to be alone on a cold, cold day at DuPont riding Jim Branch down the mountain.

I thought you might enjoy this picture.

This is Grassy Creek Falls from the top.

Ridgeline was closed for maintenance, and since I didn’t look at the web site prior to striking out Friday morning, I had to find out by meeting a fellow biker on the trails.

I decided to get back down the mountain by riding Jim Branch trail.  I had anguished my way up that trail before, but never gone down it.

It was a rockin’ trail, very fast and rowdy.  But this isn’t surprising since there are no bad trails at DuPont.

It was a beautiful day to mountain bike Big Rock at Dupont last Friday.

I was taking a break near the end of my day at the top of Ridgeline at Dupont last Friday.  It was a beautiful day, and the foliage was gorgeous.  The climb up was intense and an extreme challenge.  Ridgeline is the payoff.

This is a video of the way down the Ridgeline trail back to the parking lot.  Of course, it’s not me.  But watching it reminds me of every jump, every curve, every grunt, and every switchback.  This is the most intense mountain biking I’ve ever done, and one of the best downhill trails in America.

It’s been light posting for several days and may be for a few more, depending on whether power outages affect me.  I’ve been trying to do a bit of hurricane preps.  Of course, I am not affected like those in the direct path of Hurricane Irma and I won’t be, Lord willing.  Pray for them.

My son Joseph was home from Austin, Texas, for the week.  It was an active week, including hiking Mount Mitchell.  We were socked in during the hike in.

On the way out it was a hard driving storm, with the trail turned into a treacherous river.

The weather was beautiful today, and I biked Lake James State Park mountain trails.  These two trees give about two inches of clearance on each side for handlebars.

Of course, that’s just about true of the entire Wimba trail with its undulations, turns and switchbacks.  You’d better aim true and hit your marks, or you’re liable to get hurt.

We always try to stay physically active.  You never know when you’ll need to be in shape.  This past weekend we mountain biked at James Lake State Park.  As we stepped out of the truck to hit the trails, we heard an almost deafening sound coming from the forest.  For those of you who know this sound, it’s a bit like listening to an admixture of a dying calf and a cavitating pump.

It happened to be Cicadas – tens of thousands of them.  This was their year, and I suppose their week, to come up in this region.

It was a good day to mountain bike, but it reminds me of an event several years ago where I once lived.  I saw Heidi with a live Cicada caught between her paws, licking the innards and juice out of the insect.  I said to her, “Things like this are why I have to deworm you, bitch.”  She briefly looked up at me and then returned to lapping up her delicacy.

That reminds me of an event a number of years ago when my oldest son, Josh, sold me a bill of goods.  We were chopping wood and came up on a bunch of tree grubs.  He popped a small one in his mouth and ate it.  Then he dared me to, and of course I couldn’t let my oldest son show me up.  After all, Les Stroud eats tree grubs.

Then Josh handed me a tree grub that dwarfed the one he ate.  I dutifully ate the thing.  It tasted like wood, just wet and squishy.  But I don’t think I’ll be eating any more tree grubs unless I’m in the wilderness in a survival situation.