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Friday, June 28, 2002 posted by Rick 9:42 PM link |
Moving. The Tremaynes are moving tomorrow, from the apartment they are currently renting into the house occupied until recently by the Stanges. The usual crowd of people will be showing up at their place at 9am to help load, transport, and unload their things; you are welcome to participate if your are in the neighborhood. |
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posted by Rick 9:39 PM link |
Busy. Sorry for the missing update yesterday; the webmaster has been occupied with some webmastering tasks which were a bit more demanding than usual, specifically the switch from the old forum to the new forum, and the switch from the old postage rates to the new postage rates. The transition to the new forum went smoothly, and we're happy so far with the improvements brought to the table by the ezboard software. The postage update is still underway, but progressingly nicely. |
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Wednesday, June 26, 2002 posted by Rick 8:47 PM link |
Breakfast. Lightly attended again. Rick arrived at 6:20am, only to find that Laurence was already there, sitting on a stool, sipping coffee and reading the paper. They adjourned to the usual table in the back room; Michael showed up a few minutes later, and that was it for the morning (R.C. was in town but Denise was not, so R.C. was home taking care of children). Topics included: movies; movies; wood putty; movies; trench warfare; movies; movies; cigars; general assembly; movies; heresy and charges of heresy; movies; VCRs; movies. |
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posted by Rick 12:26 PM link |
Weblogging. What goes on here and on the home page probably shouldn't be called weblogging. For our own reasons, we keep the focus narrow and the number of news items low. |
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Tuesday, June 25, 2002 posted by Rick 6:07 PM link |
Basement Tapes. We're about to record the eighth in the series tonight, topic being roughly "What it means to be a man" (shorter title needed for the recording, of course). To get into the proper frame of mind, R.C. will be fortifying us beforehand with some of his legendary sausage-and-pepper sandwiches, generally held in reserve for Steelers games but occasionally brought into service for other manly occasions. |
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Monday, June 24, 2002 posted by Rick 4:40 PM link |
Couples' camp. So many people wanted to sign up for this year's Summer Camp for Couples that we ended up turning down a number of requests to attend (camp is limited to ten couples). It wasn't something we enjoyed doing, and so we decided to try scheduling a second camp for later in the year. Reformation Day weekend seemed like a good bet; the air will be crisp, the leaves will be turning colors, and it will coincide with the annual bonfire. If you are interested in attending, check out the couples' camp page for more details about the camp and information on what is needed to reserve a spot. |
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Thursday, June 20, 2002 posted by Rick 5:04 PM link |
Homeschooling. Not only do we at the study center homeschool our children, we think about homeschooling, and talk about it a lot as well. This combination of practice and reflection has led us to a different understanding of what it means to teach a child, an understanding that is not only very different from that of the world, but different in surprising ways from the understanding held by many other Christian homeschoolers. Which leads to at least two difficulties: (1) So little has been recorded so far about our understanding of homeschooling that there is little reference material available, material needed to guide our day to day activities as well as to share our understanding with those outside the community; and (2) Most of the curriculum materials produced to support other approaches to homeschooling is not well suited for our own approach. We're trying to get the first difficulty addressed by bugging R.C. to write a book about what it means to raise a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; that project is proceeding, and Draught Horse Press hopes to publish the result in the coming months. To address the second difficulty, Draught Horse Press has committed to producing a series of study guides for important books, to be known as the When You Rise Up series, that can be used by older homeschoolers and their parents as they tackle essential topics together. For this series, R.C. has prepared a brief essay on the central goals for educating one's children; this essay will be included in each study guide, along with a set of guidelines for using the guide and the book it covers as the basis of a homeschool class. The first guide in the When You Rise Up series will be a guide to R.C.'s book on basic economics, Dollar Signs of the Times, which is about to be reprinted by Draught Horse Press. Using the book and the guide together, parents will be able to pass on to their children a biblically sound understanding of the fundamental issues of economics. Other guides are planned for R.C.'s books Almighty Over All and Tearing Down Strongholds. We hope that all three of these guides will be available by the end of August. As soon as those are done we will begin to select suitable books by other authors and produce guides for those. Watch this space for news on this project as it develops. |
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posted by Rick 9:27 AM link |
Ice cream. You are all invited to the annual Highlands Study Center Ice Cream Social, which will be held Friday, July 5 at the Sproul compound, beginning around 6pm. Ice cream will be supplied, although folks who are capable of making their own are encouraged to demonstrate their skills for the benefit of the rest of us. And we ask everyone to bring their favorite topping along. In addition to the usual crowd, you'll have a chance to mingle with the twenty-two fortunate ones who secured a spot in this year's Summer Camp for Couples. We can't tell you exactly how long a drive is too long to be worthwhile, but c'mon—ice cream, camping couples, compounded Sprouls? What exactly is it that you'd rather be doing? |
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Wednesday, June 19, 2002 posted by Rick 2:26 PM link |
Re-tuning hymns. In our recent web traversals we ran across an interesting exchange. Apparently there is a college ministry worship band from Franklin, Tennessee, known as Indelible Grace, which likes the lyrics of some of the great hymns but isn't too fond of the music—apparently the tunes don't make it past the relevancy filters found on most modern ears—and so they set about the task of rescuing these grand words from obscurity. The project is turning into a small industry, with tours, a songbook, and even a worship conference. Plus a grant from Calvin College to keep up the good work. What tunes needed renovation? Here's the list of tunes from their debut CD; follow the links and you'll have an opportunity to hear how the hymn has been revamped.
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posted by Rick 9:02 AM link |
Men's Breakfast. R.C. and Laurence are still at the RPC-GA general assembly meeting (which they report has gone very well), and most of the rest of the usual suspects must have been otherwise occupied; this morning only Rick and Jonathan had arrived by 7am. A vote was taken and the location was temporarily changed from smoke-filled, kitchen-challenged Bonnie's to the Shoney's down the street. Topics included: hot water heaters; whether to call ourselves 'anti-industrial' rather than 'agrarian'; postage; little chocolate donuts; staying up late; tone and style in writing; avoiding sexual temptation; the new Willie Nelson song; egalitarianism; what our kids will chide us for in years to come. |
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Tuesday, June 18, 2002 posted by Rick 11:21 AM link |
Hiatus. It's Tuesday night, but no Bible study tonight. Not tonight, not next week, not until the 23rd of July, due to various schedule conflicts. This week Laurence and R.C. are attending the RPC-GA general assembly meeting in Chattanooga. Next week ... well, it must be something equally important. And so on. It'll be worth the wait, though; the topic of the next study will be education. |
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Monday, June 17, 2002 posted by Rick 2:23 PM link |
Quality control. Thanks to a couple of alert readers who were also gracious enough to spend time describing some problems they encountered, we've made a number of fixes to the table of contents pages in the Every Thought Captive archives. Not that we intentionally use our readers as the HSC quality control department, but you're encouraged to send an email to the webmaster whenever you stumble over some error on the website; they're easy for us to fix and future readers can be spared the same frustration you have experienced. |
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Friday, June 14, 2002 posted by Rick 3:48 PM link |
Couples' Camp. We're moving into the final stages of preparation for the Summer Camp for Couples, to be held July 4-6. Final lodging assignments are about to be made; a written schedule is being developed of what needs to be obtained when and delivered where; signup sheets will begin to appear at church on Sunday. Everything seems to be under control so far. |
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Thursday, June 13, 2002 posted by Rick 8:21 PM link |
Seattle. R.C. called from the Christian Leadership camp this afternoon. His class is going fine, but would go better if the power would stay on. Our books and tapes have a great bookstore location, so good that people are afraid to disturb the display by purchasing anything. No word on the weather. |
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posted by Rick 8:17 PM link |
Visibility. It's now up to sixty subscriptions, and we're still getting six or seven requests per day. |
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Wednesday, June 12, 2002 posted by Rick 2:23 PM link |
Men's Breakfast. Somewhat lightly attended this morning: Laurence, R.C., Jonathan, Dakota, Rick. For once R.C. did not send back his biscuits and gravy to be heated further; not sure if that's because the kitchen has learned how to do it right, or because he's grown tired of getting it corrected. Or because he had a plane to catch to Seattle. After a brief interlude, country ham was back on the menu. Discussion topics included: jumping the shark; the state of the upcoming issue of ETC (verdict: on schedule), the shape of the issue to follow (verdict: good), the Reformed Episcopal Church, which Simpsons characters have died, Jonathan's new property, Van Morrison, Jesus action figures, the Tuesday Night Bible Study, cable modems. |
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Tuesday, June 11, 2002 posted by Rick 8:49 AM link |
Visibility. We've gotten over forty requests for subscriptions to Every Thought Captive since revealing how one goes about getting one of those subscriptions. Apologies to those of you who would have asked for one earlier, if only etc. |
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Monday, June 10, 2002 posted by Rick 2:17 PM link |
Summer. It's warmed up around here recently, with some days edging into the low 90s. Summer is a busy time at the study center; we get together outdoors more, and it's also the time for a number of our annual activities (couples' camp, ice cream social). Two young ladies will be joining us as resident students for the summer, and a student from Reformed Theological Seminary will be interning with us as well. The rate at which visitors visit picks up as well; a number of families are planning on weekend stays, and one family is coming to be with us for seven weeks. And of course families continue to move here to join us; one family did so in mid-May, and another will be coming in mid-June. |
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Friday, June 07, 2002 posted by Rick 1:49 PM link |
Community. We used to regularly hold a community Bible study, but no longer; now we are reduced to holding a Bible study for the community. Why? Well, it turns out that the moniker "Community Bible Study" is a registered trademark of none other than Community Bible Study, a parachurch organization that has been conducting community Bible studies for nearly thirty years now. It turns out that they are somewhat protective of their name, and that they write to folks who claim to be conducting community Bible studies, capitalized or not, asking them that they cease and desist from using the term. They wrote such a letter to us, and since it was very nice and polite, and since we're inclined to distance ourselves from all things parachurch, we were happy to oblige. If you happen to see some use of the term on our website before they do, please let us know so we can shuffle the words a bit. |
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Thursday, June 06, 2002 posted by Rick 9:44 PM link |
Beauty is the topic of the May/June issue of Every Thought Captive, and it is a beautiful thing that at long last copies have begun to show up in local mailboxes; subscribers in distant lands should be receiving their copies in the next few days. Yes, we are behind schedule on this issue. Our goal has always been to have an issue in the hands of the post office at the very beginning of its bimonth, i.e. we should have had this one there at the beginning of May. But plans are in the works to put production back on schedule, so if things go well and if God so wills, the July/August issue should follow in a month or so. |
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Wednesday, June 05, 2002 posted by Rick 12:04 PM link |
Men's breakfast. Attendees included Laurence, Jonathan, John, Michael, R.C. and Rick. Topics included: Laurence's days in the Ligonier shipping department; dating and courtship; the September/October issue of Every Thought Captive; classical Christian education; sleep apnea; why can't they ever get the biscuits and gravy hot enough; the upcoming RPC-GA assembly meeting; qualifications for elders; the forum on the website; Jonathan's driveway; how nice is too nice; the recent influx of visitors to HSC; combovers; lawn care; 20 megaton explosions. |
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posted by Rick 11:57 AM link |
Tuesday Night Bible Study. R.C. has completed his six-part series on the Apostles' Creed, to be entitled We Believe. Not only is it the usual solid teaching, it shares a quality with the Ephesians study Our Riches in Christ from last year; the depth of the subject will unfold for you as the series progresses, just as it did for R.C. when he taught it. By the end you'll probably be scheduling a meeting with your pastor to discuss revising your liturgy. The study will be made available on the Draught Horse Press website early next week, but if you can't wait that long, just call 1-877-244-5184 and we'll be glad to send you a copy right away. |
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Monday, June 03, 2002 posted by Rick 8:21 PM link |
College Bible study. Some words from Dakota Tremayne, who is helping Laurence teach the study: "We are studying the book of I Corinthians in the college bible study. It is a verse by verse exegesis, so we will be studying it for quite some time. We are presently on chapter 5. We have been mulling around the idea of changing the name (as if it had one) to the young adult bible study, since the age range is from 15 to 25. Also, we are meeting on Thursdays now, still at 6:30pm, at Java J's." |
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Saturday, June 01, 2002 posted by Rick 4:05 PM link |
D'oh! A faithful visitor to this website informed us that there was absolutely no information on the site about how to get a subscription to Every Thought Captiveor how much one costs. This is especially embarrasing because, uh, subscriptions are free; we want people who want copies of ETC to have them, and so all we ask from prospective subscribers for is a mailing address. We say this in every printed issue of ETC, but, er, that isn't much help to those of you who haven't subscribed, is it? So, for those of you who read this: now you know. I've also added a note saying this to the top of the main ETC archive page, but somehow that doesn't seem sufficient. Suggestions as to how to make subscription information more widely known are welcome; if we end up using your suggestion, as a token of our gratitude we'll give you a free subscription to ETC. |
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posted by Rick 10:05 AM link |
Blessings. It's been a good week for the community. Last Sunday, we welcomed Ken Griffith as a new member of St. Peter, and committed ourselves to helping the Sprouls to raise newly baptized Maili Ailsa in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And tomorrow we are welcoming the Vernots; John and Martha will join the church, and then their four children will be baptized. It's been a sad week as well, as Will and Kathy Stange and their daughter Jennifer leave us to move to High Point, NC, where Will has found employment. (Their son Philip will be staying with us as he continues studies in Virginia.) Will served as elder along with R.C. and Laurence from the beginning; the Stanges were founding members of the church, and blessed a fledgling effort with mature wisdom. We envy the North Carolina congregation that God will soon be blessing with their presence, and we pray that what they taught us during their time here will guide and bless us in the times ahead. |