Calvin at 500

Posted on July 10, 2009 by arator

John CalvinHappy 500th birthday, John Calvin. All this week Renewing Your Mind has been airing lectures of various aspects of John Calvin’s ministry. Catch the audio at the Ligonier web site, and look for air dates in the “Audio Archive” section labeled from 7/6/09 to 7/10/09. The archives only go back a couple of months, so if you find this post in September, you will be out of providence. And for those of you who think Calvin was the devil incarnate, study up and read something by him before you draw your conclusions. You do know that bearing false witness is a sin, don’t you?

Posted in Christianity | Comments Off on Calvin at 500

The Righteousness of God

Posted on July 7, 2009 by arator

The righteousness of God is that righteousness which His righteousness requires Him to require.

(From Thom Smith, years and years ago.)

Posted in Definitions | Comments Off on The Righteousness of God

Lord’s Day 27

Posted on July 5, 2009 by arator

(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)

72. Is then the outward washing with water itself the washing away of sins?

  • No; for only the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sin.

73. Why, then, doth the Holy Ghost call Baptism the washing of regeneration, and the washing away of sins?

  • God speaks thus not without great cause: namely, not only to teach us thereby that like as the filthiness of the body is taken away by water, so our sins also are taken away by the blood and Spirit of Christ; but much more, that by this divine pledge and token He may assure us, that we are as really washed from our sins spiritually, as our bodies are washed with water.

74. Are infants also to be baptized?

  • Yes. For since they, as well as their parents, belong to the covenant and people of God, and both redemption from sin and the Holy Ghost, who works faith, are through the blood of Christ promised to them no less than to their parents: they are also by Baptism, as a sign of the covenant, to be ingrafted into the Christian Church, and distinguished from the children of unbelievers, as was done in the Old Testament by Circumcision, in place of which in the New Testament Baptism is appointed.

Posted in Heidelberg | Comments Off on Lord’s Day 27

Hot and Dry

Posted on July 3, 2009 by arator

The spring rains are past, and the later rains have failed to come. I haven’t watered the front yard border as I should have, leaving the floral show a bit puny here lately. I decided to focus in on a couple of drought-hearty troopers this week.

tall-phlox01
Garden phlox, or tall phlox has been in home flower borders since before there were picket fences around them. I wonder why they are such an old standard, since they are quite prone to powdery mildew. Since they are two-foot-ish in stature, they fit nicely toward the back of a flower border. If that happens to be just in front of a fence, wall, or shrubbery, then you can bet they won’t be happy. We have only one little clump in the corner of our yard, up against a wire fence with nothing else around, and they seem to do just fine. I believe the trick to preventing powdery mildew on any plant material is to provide plenty of ventilation all around it. Garden phlox thrive in full sun, but ours is positioned just under a Chittamwood tree where it gets light shade most of the day. There are some varieties bred specifically for powdery mildew resistance, but I don’t think this is one. I do not even recall where I got this start, but I bet it was given to me by a friend or relative.

liatris01
Liatris is commonly called Blazing Star, or Gayfeather. There are about fourty species in this genus, so nailing this one down is going to be guess work. We grew ours from seed quite a few years ago, and I guess I could dig into my books and records and find the species name. You probably don’t care anyway, so it doesn’t matter, and isn’t worth the bother. I think it is L. spicata, but don’t hold me to that. This isn’t a real good specimen shot, but there it is.

The interesting feature concerning all in this genus is that, contrary to the nature of most other spiked flowers, the individual blossoms of a Liatris spike open from top to bottom.

Have a safe 4th-of-July weekend. If you don’t hand crank it this week end, it isn’t real ice cream. Remember to be thankful for your freedom, and I hope to see you in the house of the Lord on Sunday.

Posted in Friday Floral | Comments Off on Hot and Dry

The Tongue Is Never Neutral

Posted on July 1, 2009 by arator

shortnsweet02Here’s another quote from Respectable Sins. The thing that continues to amaze me about this small book is the powerful messages that emerge out of such simplicity. It’s not just that it is an easy read, which it is. The marvel to me is that Bridges is writing about things we all know, yet sadly, we fail to apply.

Our speech, whether it is about others or to others, tends to tear down or build up. It either corrupts the minds of our hearers, or it gives grace to them. Such is the power of our words. If I gossip, I both tear down another person and corrupt the mind of my listener. If I complain about the difficult circumstances of my life, I impugn the sovereignty and goodness of God and tempt my listener to do the same. In this way, my sin “metastasizes” into the heart of another person.

Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2007), p. 24.

Posted in Short N Sweet | Comments Off on The Tongue Is Never Neutral

Idolatry

Posted on June 30, 2009 by arator

Here’s the definition my pastor used in his message from Jeremiah 48 this past Sunday evening. God was judging Moab for, among other things, their idolatry. But we moderns aren’t guilty of such primitive nonsense. Or are we?

Idolatry at its essence is the worship of the god of your own making, or trying to use the true God for your own purposes.

Ouch. That’s a bit uncomfortable.

Posted in Definitions | Comments Off on Idolatry

Lord’s Day 26

Posted on June 28, 2009 by arator

(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)

69. How is it signified and sealed unto thee in Holy Baptism, that thou has part in the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross?

  • Thus: that Christ has appointed this outward washing with water, and has joined therewith this promise, that I am washed with His blood and Spirit from the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins, as certainly, as I am washed outwardly with water, whereby commonly the filthiness of the body is taken away.

70. What is it to be washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ?

  • It is to have the forgiveness of sins from God, through grace, for the sake of Christ’s blood, which He shed for us in His sacrifice on the cross; and also, to be renewed by the Holy Ghost, and sanctified to be members of Christ, that so we may more and more die unto sin, and lead holy and unblamable lives.

71. Where has Christ promised that we are as certainly washed with His blood and Spirit as with the water of Baptism?

  • In the institution of Baptism, which runs thus: Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. This promise is also repeated where the Scripture calls Baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins.

Posted in Heidelberg | Comments Off on Lord’s Day 26

The Golden Hour

Posted on June 26, 2009 by arator

The golden hour, sometimes referred to as the magic hour, is the first and last hours of sunlight of the day. In it you have a more narrow light range, one that your camera can cope with much better. Here is a series of shots my wife took around the house last Tuesday, just before sunset. Click on the thumbnails to see a larger image. I am not going to comment on the shots. Just enjoy the golden hour, and give glory to our God and Father, maker of heaven and earth, and the Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. See you Sunday.

pwh_0316
pwh_0339
pwh_0341
pwh_0342
pwh_0325
pwh_0327
pwh_0315
pwh_0321
pwh_0322
pwh_0335
pwh_0332
pwh_0331

Posted in Friday Floral | Comments Off on The Golden Hour

Lord’s Day 25

Posted on June 21, 2009 by arator

(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)

65. Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all his benefits by faith only, whence comes this faith?

  • The Holy Ghost works it in our hearts by the preaching of the Gospel, and confirms it by the use of the Holy Sacraments.

66. What are the Sacraments?

  • The Sacraments are visible, holy signs and seals, appointed by God for this end, that by the use thereof He may the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the Gospel: namely, that He grants us out of free grace the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, for the sake of the one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross.

67. Are both these, then, the Word and the Sacraments, designed to direct our faith to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, as the only ground of our salvation?

  • Yes truly; for the Holy Ghost teaches in the Gospel, and by the Holy Sacraments assures us, that our whole salvation stands in the one sacrifice of Christ made for us on the cross.

68. How many Sacraments has Christ appointed in the New Testament?

  • Two: Holy Baptism and the Holy Supper.

Posted in Heidelberg | Comments Off on Lord’s Day 25

Sentinels of Summer

Posted on June 19, 2009 by arator

Well, it isn’t the summer solstice yet, but it might as well be here in northeastern Oklahoma. The days are hot and muggy, and the grass has to be cut at least every ten days. So it’s summer whether the calendar says so or not. One of the bright welcome mats of summer around these parts is the nearly-wild daylily, Hemerocallis. You know the one I am talking about; that bright sea of  poke-your-eye-out orange trumpets atop three-foot stalks, with floppy sword-like foliage two foot below. These tall sentinels of summer have been back-yard favorites since your grandma was a little girl. They basically came in one color: road-crew-vest orange, and one size: up-to-your-belly tall. Oh, I take that back. You occasionally saw the same size in road-crew-vest yellow. The other thing dependable with the old daylilies was that they bloomed their hearts out, and in a couple of weeks at most it was all over for another season.

That has all changed with modern plant breeding programs. I guess the first great break through was ‘Stella d’Oro’ which, was only about a foot tall and creamy yellow. It was ugly. “U G L Y, you ain’t got no alibi.” It was too short and too not-yellow, and it still only had one bloom period.

happyreturns01
Some years ago my wife and I stumbled upon the gem you see to the right. It is called ‘Happy Returns,’ the name intimating that it is a return bloomer. That’s a big bonus. It will bust a gut blooming for a couple of weeks, and then later when it has had a chance to rest up, it will do a few more blooms later in the summer. It is compact—but not short—at about eighteen inches, and the bloom is truly yellow. It’s not almost-yellow, or mustard-yellow, or creamy-yellow, or that other yellow I’m not allowed to describe. It is yellow, and in our house that translates into beautiful.

The genus Hemerocallis comes from two Greek words: hemera, meaning “day,” and kallos, meaning “beauty.” Daylilies are very beautiful indeed, but each bloom holds that beauty for only one day.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy your yards and gardens. We’ve begun to dig a few new potatoes, and our smaller tomato varieties are very close. Don’t forget to give thanks to God… for everything. See you Sunday.

Posted in Friday Floral | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Sentinels of Summer