TheLionRampant.net

My mom and grandma are arriving in Edinburgh on Thursday. This is very exciting–not only does it mean we get to go out to eat and other cool stuff, but we get to see family (who are also bringing loads of stuff we’ve ordered from the States and sent to their house) AND my grandma will be fulfilling her life-long dream of coming to the UK at nearly 80. My grandma is so cool; you will all love her (that is, if you’re here to meet her–otherwise if you’re in CA, go meet her there).

So Bryce and I are trying to do a number of things before they come. I am putting the finishing touches on my dissertation and I plan to go pay a ridiculous amount to print out that 53 page paper (two copies!) and get it bound on Wednesday. I also have some research assistant work to do for my supervisor that should hopefully also be completed by the time my fam arrives. Kay’s coming over for dinner tonight as Andrew’s off at a Church of Scotland candidates’ conference. We’re going to the Witchery Wednesday night for dinner (courtesy of my parents’ generous anniversary gift) and Thursday, after my mom and grandma arrive, we’re off to Pizza Express! No cooking!

We’ll be out of town Friday to Sunday and so will miss the arrival of the Hays. We’ll be going through St Andrews to visit Bryce’s sister and her family in Banchory and maybe take in the Braemar Gathering, and other cool “highlandish” things. Then we’ll motor back down to Edinburgh for church Sunday night here at New Restalrig and the Fireworks Concert that closes the Edinburgh International Festival. Besides that, we plan to take some day trips to Glasgow and North Berwick and just hang out in Edinburgh. We’ll post pictures and stories once all the fun ends and Bryce starts classes again and I need to get started on PhD research!

(That’s Scottish for y’all)

What is your favorite heresy? What untruth or half-truth are you most inclined to believe, even though you know it to be false?

I think my favorite heresy is Rationalism–the belief that arose out of 18th and 19th century philosophy and science that says that everything can be explained by logic. Everything we know can (must be) supported by a sound, logical argument, and the things that we don’t yet understand will one day be understood as people build on the reasoning of others.

It is attractive because it puts man at the center of everything. It is up to people to say what can be believed, and we don’t have to believe anything that we don’t understand. The problem with this heresy is that not everything can be explained logically, and just understanding how something works doesn’t necessarily tell us why it works that way. Above all, Rationalism has no place for paradox, yet at the centre of Christianity is a paradox–the Son of God became a man so that we might become sons of God.

So, what’s your favorite heresy?

(the everyday mixed in with the big thoughts)

1. Scotland is cold, rainy, wet, and it’s August.
2. I’m really sad that so many of us Christians don’t really live like Christians; we’re either harping about the decline of morality, the nuclear family, and other peripheral issues and not seeking to live for Christ. How come so many of us are *content* to live mediocre Christian lives and then think that’s OK?
3. I don’t want to get sick (I have a head cold currently).
4. I don’t want to think about this dissertation much more.
5. Most people don’t think about things–most people aren’t deep–most people don’t question things, or for that matter even think about questioning things (not that questioning for the sake of questioning is good either though…). We’re all pretty content to live our lackluster lives (you know that overworn–but still helpful–quote by C S Lewis, that our desires are too weak, we are happy with our mud pies in the slums ‘cuz we can’t fathom a holiday at the sea?)
6. I like to cook and I like planning dinners in advance.
7. I like to sleep in!
8. I wish I wrote really well–poetry and criticism (you know, the stuff I’m going to school for).
9. It’s interesting how friendships grow, change, decline; that’s a new thing for me–being that this move to Scotland a year ago has been our first major move. It makes me wonder what the future will hold.
10. Bryce is my best friend and that means new things to me every day.
11. Isn’t it amazing that God grabs us–dirty and sinful, running from him–by his grace? Wow. Now, how does that change our lives.

Uncharacteristically, I’m concluding the list on an odd number.
Miscellanies: Derek Webb’s coming out with a new album in November–sweet. Saw a theatrical version of “The Screwtape Letters” tonight with Kay and Andrew; good times. Bryce got to see his Canadian dark comedy last night–it was comedic, dark, Canadian–all you could hope in a Canadian dark comedy.

And with that, adieu. Hope you have some little and big thoughts today.

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

“Well,” said the farmer. “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.”

“Praise choruses?” asked the wife. “What are those?”

“Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the farmer.

“Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.

The farmer said, “Well it’s like this … If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you, ‘Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, in the CORN, CORN, CORN, COOOOORRRRRNNNNN,’ then, if I were to repeate the whole thing two or three times, well that would be a praise chorus.”

As luck would have it, the exact same Sunday a young, new Christian from the city church attended the small town church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

“Well,” said the young man, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs.”

“Hymns?” asked the wife. “What are those?”

“They’re okay. They’re sort of like regular songs, only different,” said the young man.

“Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.

The young man said, “Well it’s like this … If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a regular song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you,

‘Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, glorious truth.

‘For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense,
Hearkenest they in God’s sun or his rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

‘Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn chewed.

‘So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.’

Then, if I were to do only verse one, three and four and change keys on the last verse, that would be a hymn.”

by Michael Horton

Labels are often confusing, especially when the jar’s content changes. Grape juice can become vinegar over the years in the cellar, but the label doesn’t change with the changes in the substance. The same is true of the term “evangelical.”

Since “The Year of the Evangelical,” corresponding to our nation’s Bicentennial in 1976, the term (in North America, at least) has come to identify those who highlight a particular brand of politics, a moralistic and often legalistic approach to life, and a sort of ersatz, “corny” style of evangelism. For some, the term encompasses the emotionalism they see on religious TV. For others, hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Then there are the memories many of us have who were raised evangelical: strong, caring family environments; a sense of belonging, with friends who like to talk about the “things of the Lord.”

Regardless of your background, it’s important to understand the meaning of the term “evangelical.”
(more…)

We’ve had a good weekend and a pleasant Monday. Nolan, a high schooler who goes to our church in Pasadena, is in Edinburgh with the drama group from his high school, so on Saturday we joined in the local festivities by going to see his show. It was very good and we had a fun time. Afterwards we met up with Nolan and were planning on catching a quick bite to eat and then perhaps going to see another show. Apparently we underestimated the need to plan ahead. We stopped into a couple restaurants, all of which said that they wouldn’t have a table until about 10pm (it was about 6:15 at the time). We finally just got a baked potato (the only form of ‘fast food’ in Scotland) and then decided on a show to see. We walked to the venue and got there in time to be told that it was sold out. Bummer. It was supposed to be a dark comedy written by Canadians. I don’t know why, but a dark Canadian comedy sounds really funny to me. Canadians are really funny to me. Oh well, I may never know now. We walked with Nolan back to where he is staying and then back to our flat and flopped into bed, tired with our full day of walking.

Sunday we went to church in the morning, which was excellent. David is preaching through Ecclesiastes, which I think is an excellent book that has a lot to say to the post-modern mind. After church we went to the book festival. Ash picked up a couple pamphlets for her research, and as I was standing in line she handed me a book of black and white photography of Scottish landscapes that was cheap, or so we thought. There was a sign by the book that said it was ?7.00. It turns out it was ?7.00 to hear the author speak; the book actually cost ?20.00! Oh well, now we have a cool book that we wouldn’t have bought had we known what it really cost.

Since we were already feeling like suckers, we decided to go leave some more of our money with Starbucks. Then we met Nolan in time to go to the evening service at church. Church was good for the most part, and then we got Nolan a ride back to his place from someone he didn’t know, which I’m sure was interesting for both parties.

Our Monday was spent studying. Ash made a quick trip to the library; I didn’t leave the flat all day. It gets cold when you don’t move around too much, and our heater is making some strange noises again. Anyway, we both got a bit of work done and we able to read together a little bit too.

Tomorrow I’m going to meet with David, our pastor, about a variety of things. I have another chapter of my Christian Ed. project to show him, and I have the sneaking suspicion that he is going to try to get me to do the Children’s Address this Sunday. I’m not a big fan of the Children’s Address, and I can’t imagine that doing a Children’s Address on Ecclesiastes is going to be much fun. But I’m not gonna take this lying down. I am coming armed with backup from my man James Boice. I’m also trying to convince David that we need to institute some changes (at least) in our evening service. He agrees but has run into problems with implementing sweeping changes in the past so he’s a bit hesitant. So to that end I’m bringing along back up from The Man. It’s always fun to hang out with David, plus he always has some delightful Scottish cuisine for us for lunch. I hope he goes with Indian food tomorrow.

Our tentative plans to go home after Christmas and for the month of January (which may include Bryce taking his licensure exams) have been hanging on my acceptance to a conference at our alma mater, Westmont College.

I just found out my abstract has been accepted! Here’s the good news: “This is very unofficial, but consider yourself as a conference presenter. We haven’t had time to go through all the proposals formally, but I know that yours will make a nice contribution to breadth in the conversation. You’ll get more details in a few weeks. The official schedule probably won’t get done until mid-October, so I won’t know what panel you are on until then. Go ahead and make travel arrangements, though. It will be good to see you in January!” The conference should be interesting and I’m excited to be able to meet other Christian literary scholars as well as see our old college and friends back home.

Yippee! :) Now to find cheap airfare!

OK, we’re compiling a DVD wishlist; we don’t have the funds to go out to the cinema all that often, so buying DVDs or having other people buy them for us is our entertainment mode of choice currently.

Here’s what we have on the list so far (compiled by both of us; thus there are some definite “boy” movies and some more “girly” ones too):

Goldfinger (Special Edition)
James Bond 007 DVD collection, Vol 1, Sean Connery
U2 Go Home, Live from Slane Castle
The Godfather Trilogy
Kill Bill, Vol 1 and 2
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (boxed set of all three movies)
Pride and Prejudice (long BBC version)
The Shawshank Redemption
Lost in Translation
Dirty Dancing
My Blue Heaven
Notting Hill
Mansfield Park
Life is Beautiful
Dead Poet?s Society
Meet Joe Black
Fried Green Tomatoes
The Princess Bride
The Gladiator
Braveheart
The First Great Train Robbery

Do you have any great movies you’ve enjoyed that you think we should add to our wish list?

It’s been a while since we’ve updated so I thought I’d give you a rundown of recent events in our lives…

Saturday we had lunch with some people from church at one of the lady?s houses. Lunch was good, then we had a couple hours of British sports. Ash and I each took a stab at crazy golf (miniature golf) and badminton, but decided to leave before we got sucked in to lawn bowling. It was fun, and hot, maybe the hottest day of the summer. And of course I thought it was going to rain so I was wearing long sleeves and feeling pretty sweaty.

After that we went home, got a book to read, and went to Holyrood park to enjoy the sun. By this time it was about 5pm and as soon as we sat down it started clouding over, but we stuck it out for a while. When we returned home there was a message from another guy from our church inviting us to a BBQ at someone’s house who lives kinda near us. We decided that would be fun, plus British folks tend to have a hard time with the old BBQ, so we went. A good time was had by all, hanging out with folks and eating chicken wings (no, not like buffalo wings, just the regular chicken wings with not much meat on them) and funny shaped hamburgers.

Sunday we went to church, came home and had a relaxing afternoon, went back to church were I was leading the evening service, and then hung around church with some people afterwards. We got home at 10:30 and Ash realized that she was supposed to be back by 10 for the online book club chat, oops! So she chatted for a bit, and then we went for a walk since it was a relatively nice evening. Amazingly people were still out and about on the Royal Mile (everything usually closes by 6 at the latest, but it’s festival season). We got home around midnight and were pretty tired, so we hit the sheets in preparation for another week.

So there you go, our weekend in it’s thrillingly international splendour!

We just got Sandra McCracken’s newest CD, “Best Laid Plans”. It’s excellent: thoughtful, well written, rich vocals and music. It has “Age after Age” one of my favourites from when she and Derek Webb played at New Restalrig. Go out and buy it!