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Wednesday, July 31, 2002 posted by Rick 12:45 PM link |
Breakfast. This morning we were at Shoney's, given that Bonnie's was shut down for vacation. But breakfast knows no vacation where the Highlands Study Center is concerned. This morning it was R.C., Laurence, Michael (briefly), Jonathan, Kevin, Rick, and visitor Rob Davis. Can't say that the food was any better than at Bonnie's, but R.C. got his French Toast Sticks while Kevin and I enjoyed the absence of cigarette smoke. Topics included: theonomy and theonomists; Yugos; what the St. Peter church building would look like, if and when it is ever built or bought; building a car alarm that uses James Brown samples in place of a siren; direct-to-plate printing; dingbats (didn't we talk about this before?); what mysteries are unfolded as you fold a ten dollar bill in certain ways; Weird Al Yankovic songs; biodegradability; the book The Well-Trained Mind; New Orleans; The Two Towers; the twin towers; exclusive psalmody. |
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Tuesday, July 30, 2002 posted by Rick 3:21 PM link |
Tuesday afternoon notes.
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Monday, July 29, 2002 posted by Rick 10:21 AM link |
Sunday. A good crowd at Sunday morning worship, despite some notable absences (both R.C. and Mark Dewey were elsewhere for preaching engagements), due to the many visitors, including a family from Missouri and a family from Brazil. With families as large as the ones St. Peter attracts, it doesn't take too many of them to fill the pews of a sanctuary. |
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Thursday, July 25, 2002 posted by Rick 8:58 AM link |
Every Thought Captive. The post office seems to have delivered the "Nice" issue in a timely manner, and we're getting some nice comments back about the contents. Meanwhile the deadline approaches for articles that will appear in the Sept/Oct issue ("Holy Catholic Church"), and talk is underway about potential topics for the issue after that. Prediction: look for the Sept/Oct issue to appear in your mailboxes the first week of September. |
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Wednesday, July 24, 2002 posted by Rick 5:18 PM link |
Breakfast. About average attendance, actually: R.C., Laurence, Michael, Jonathan, Rick, and eventually Ken. The food was about average for Bonnie's as well, and so some of us are guiltily looking forward to next week, when Bonnie's will be closed due to vacation and the group will be eating down the street at one of the many, many Shoney's in the area. Topics included: alligators; extremely large crawfish; English k-nig-its; a Seinfeld episode I hadn't seen; Credenda/Agenda's agenda; tepid biscuits and gravy (again); smoking under the stars; John Rutter; driveway drainage; R.C.'s latest squib, whose subject even R.C. couldn't remember; how to argue about education and agrarianism. After breakfast was officially over (i.e. some of the group had to go earn a living), R.C., Ken and Rick spent some time with a survey/topological map of the land being bought and divided it up into a reasonable set of parcels. The meeting with the surveyor to finalize the divisions is tomorrow afternoon. |
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posted by Rick 5:09 PM link |
Tuesday Night Bible Study. After a five-week hiatus, R.C. is back behind the lectern. Fired up, too; the topic of this six-week study is education, so you can imagine there's no lack of passion on his part for the subject. Plus it is a sort of preview of the book on education that he hopes to be writing in the near future. We'll be sure to have this one available from Draught Horse Press the moment that he completes it. |
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posted by Rick 5:07 PM link |
Busy. Apologies for not making an entry yesterday. Things are busier than usual, and likely to remain that way until the end of August. But at least there'll be two entries today. |
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Monday, July 22, 2002 posted by Rick 9:44 PM link |
Fall Camp. Yes, it's true. It only took thirty days for ten couples to reserve their spots for the first annual Fall Camp for Couples, to be held Thursday, October 31 through Saturday, November 2. And as you might expect, we're very pleased by the quick response. If you were thinking about coming to the fall camp, but didn't make your decision in time to reserve a spot, we strongly encourage you to have your name placed on the waiting list; no deposit is necessary. If and when a couple with a reservation finds that they must cancel, we will begin calling down the list until we find a couple who is able to take their place. Although our waiting list for this year's summer camp was ten couples long, in the end each couple on the waiting list was offered the opportunity to attend. |
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Friday, July 19, 2002 posted by Rick 2:30 PM link |
New stuff. To begin we hope will be a somewhat regular feature of the website, R.C. has provided us with a squib about church membership called "Let Your Yeah be Yeah." At the request of a faithful reader, we've also added the current top ten list to a page. And the Chicken Report has been updated as well. |
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Thursday, July 18, 2002 posted by Rick 9:56 AM link |
Newsletter. The July/August issue of Every Thought Captive was delivered to the mailing house yesterday, and so should go into the mail Friday or Monday. As the cover indicates, in this issue we rip off the mask and let our true nature shine forth for all the world to see. It's still the case that we don't put the contents of a newsletter online until the first issue of the next year's newsletters had been published and mailed. But why wait six months? Send an email to the request line with a mailing address, and we'll send you a copy of this issue right away, and put you on the subscription list as well. What could be nicer? |
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Wednesday, July 17, 2002 posted by Rick 9:57 AM link |
Breakfast. Well-attended this morning, considering that R.C. is still out of town: Kevin, Laurence, Mike, Wayne, Jonathan, and Rick. Our regular waitress Sonya was back, after being scheduled differently for a couple of weeks. Breakfasts included: french toast and scrambled eggs; country ham, scrambled eggs, and toast; scrambled eggs and toast; eggs over medium, toast, bacon, grits, and home fries; and something else breakfast-y. Jonathan arrived with copies of the latest issue of Every Thought Captive. Topics included: callipygian; relative merits of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings as a readaloud; sleep studies; living out of packing boxes; R.C.'s latest Top Ten list (extremely funny); impending babies; whether graphics designers are allowed to dress as casually as geeks; the honor of writing the first non-R.C. "Leviathan" column (Laurence, next issue); spices; a privately-operated mail service (fantasy time); a friend's new job; recent visitors; courtship. Topics did not include Seinfeld or The Simpsons; not clear what this portends. |
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posted by Rick 9:33 AM link |
Comments. You'll notice that a new feature has been added to the weblog, namely the ability to add comments to weblog entries; to add one, click on the "Discuss" link. This feature is courtesy of Sensus Plenior, a commenting system for Blogger-based weblogs. It was painless to add, and seems to work pretty well. Our gratitude to Jonathan Barlow for creating it, and for his generosity. |
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Tuesday, July 16, 2002 posted by Rick 2:56 PM link |
Quilting bee. Every other Tuesday afternoon, our good friend Barbara Watson hosts a quilting bee at her home. Many of the St. Peter women are regular attendees: Debbie and Maggie Saenz, Jenny Middleton, Denise and Darby Sproul, Lisa Gauldin, Lauren and Alayna Windham, Samantha and Autumn Tremayne, Kathy and Jennifer Stange when they were still here. At times they have worked jointly on a quilt, but for now they are in the midst of a season of working on individual sewing projects. |
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Monday, July 15, 2002 posted by Rick 6:17 PM link |
Fall Camp for Couples. Assuming that the coordinator hasn't miscounted, there are now seven couples confirmed for the fall camp to be held 10/31 through 11/2. This will be the last time for awhile that R.C. teaches about sovereignty/family/kingdom; next year he wants to teach a simple/separate/deliberate cycle. There's some hope that he will be persuaded to alternate teachings on the two, on a more frequent schedule (quarterly?). Rumor has it that Saturday's entertainment this fall will be an old-fashioned harvest dance for campers, St. Peter parishioners, and friends from the area. |
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Friday, July 12, 2002 posted by Rick 6:47 AM link |
On the road again. R.C. begins another road trip today, on his way to Houston for a Family Conference being held at Grace Covenant Baptist Church. The webmaster is jealous—not about the Houston-in-July part, but about the GCBC part. The HSC contingent at the Orlando Ligonier conference last March was fortunate enough to meet and spend time with Stephen Means and Mike Fletcher, two GCBC stalwarts; no doubt the rest of the GCBC crowd is just as engaging, therefore the jealousy. From there R.C. continues on to Anaheim for the annual CBA convention, to do whatever it is CBAs do when they convene. |
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Wednesday, July 10, 2002 posted by Rick 12:11 PM link |
Breakfast. Fairly well attended this morning: R.C., Laurence, Jonathan, Michael, Rick, Kevin, along with visitors Wayne Beebe and Jay Barfield. R.C. was in fine form; even Monday's lithotripsy wasn't able to get him down. All were properly appreciatie of Jay's family pictures. Topics at breakfast included: the stock market; the War on (Some) Drugs; tax revolts (actually, the lack thereof); dissonance; the multi-tape packaging that Mars Hill uses; the large number of our friends that Jay knew previously; Braveheart (good); home churches (bad); R.C.'s summer travel schedule (extensive); country ham; day laboring; long babies; classical apologetics; hormone therapy; cool lines from Rocky III; the All-Star game. |
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posted by Rick 11:56 AM link |
Recording. Last night's recording for Basement Tape #9 went very well. R.C., Laurence, Jonathan and Rick were there, with visitor Wayne Beebe in the audience. Denise finally made her debut as well. The topic of the conversation was worship, of which there's enough to say to fill at least two tapes, so we'll be finishing up the topic when we do #10. |
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Tuesday, July 09, 2002 posted by Rick 10:23 AM link |
Camp. This year's Summer Camp for Couples went very well, we think. The couples were a delight, the weather cooperated (more or less), and nobody got lost despite ample opportunities. Friendships were struck; T-Shirts were purchased. During the camp sessions R.C. led the couples into deep and sometimes unfamiliar territory, but his teaching was both clear and firmly rooted in scripture, and so they followed him confidently and with eyes wide open. Each day's sessions were done by early afternoon, after which the campers were free to pursue their own interests. Those interests often turned out to be staying around the Sprouls' living room and continuing the discussion. Thursday evening the parishioners of Saint Peter hosted a cookout for the couples at nearby Beartree Lake Park; Friday evening after a pizza dinner the couples joined together at the Sprouls with a hundred or so friends from the area for the annual Ice Cream Social. Saturday evening one group of couples went to the Carter Family Fold to enjoy some local bluegrass talent, while another group went to watch the Kingsport Mets play baseball. Sunday morning we were pleased to have eight of the ten couples be able to join us for worship, and many of them also stayed to attend our Sunday night Bible study. A picture album from the weekend will be posted shortly. If these stories and pictures stir up some yearnings within you, consider joining us for the first annual Fall Camp for Couples, to be held Reformation Day weekend. But try to decide quickly; six of the ten couples who will attend have already reserved a place. |
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Thursday, July 04, 2002 posted by Rick 7:00 AM link |
Camp. Summer Camp for couples begins this morning. Each day there will be two talks in the morning and one in the afternoon; the pattern each day is: sovereignty; family; kingdom. Tonight the church will be hosting the couples for a cookout at Beartree Lake park. Tomorrow night is the annual Ice Cream Social. We'll be busy, and so updates to the site and this weblog will be sporadic. |
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Tuesday, July 02, 2002 posted by Rick 8:33 AM link |
RPC-US charges. This matter of the RPC-US and the charges of heresy that they have made against Doug Wilson, Steve Schlissel, Steve Wilkins, and John Barach, is still unfolding. We at the study center literally don't know what to think about it yet; the "new perspective on Paul" is a theological thread that we're not much familiar with, we haven't yet heard the teachings in question of the four men that were accused , and we haven't seen a detailed explanation from the RPC-US of why those teachings are thought to be heretical. Please don't take our home page coverage of the dispute, or our posting of links to background information, as implying any support for one side or the other. We have friends on both sides of the dispute, and so we are being cautious about investigating the matter. As we turn up particularly useful and relevant bits of information on the internet we will post links to them on our home page, as an aid to you as you work to reach your own conclusions. And if we come to conclusions of our own that are worth sharing, we will share them with you. |
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posted by Rick 8:22 AM link |
Hiatus. The Tuesday Night Bible Study is still on hiatus. It will resume in three weeks, on July 23; R.C. will be spending six weeks teaching on education. |
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Monday, July 01, 2002 posted by Rick 9:43 PM link |
Every Thought Captive. The July/August issue of ETC is about to go to press. The theme of the issue is "Nice", and, well, it is pretty nice—nice cover, nice articles, nicely expanded subscription list since the last mailing only a few weeks back. Those of you who subscribe from this point on will be receiving the Nice issue as your first issue. |