Category: General

Roadmap Part 2: The Long Term

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?….
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet;
so Romeo, were he not called Romeo,
would retain that dear perfection which he owns
without that title. Romeo, doff thy name
and for that name, which is no part of thee,
take all myself.

–Romeo and Juliet

By any other name, “long term planning” is really just fantasizing, isn’t it? Very well, in the long term, I plan to have a large, rambling house in a wooded, sparsely settled area. We’ll have eleven children, of whom six will be girls and five will be boys. One of them will be a medical doctor, one a lawyer who works for a major religious organization, one a physicist, one an engineer, and one a theologian. The theologian, of course, will be the oldest. I myself will be the president of a conservative seminary, and Valerie will be head and founder of the nation’s largest midwife association. People will love us and greet us by name as we walk down the street.

Right. Did I mention I’m a direct descendant of Jonathan Edwards? Oh yeah. We Fr… uh, Edwardses have a long history of excellence. (The Frenches and Dobbses, by comparison, are famous for hardheadedness and hyperbole. I have none of these traits.)

Actually, it’s a little embarrassing how close my actual long-term hopes for the future might match the above. Continue reading “Roadmap Part 2: The Long Term”

Roadmap

Princess, I – – Uh, how’s
it going, first of all? Good? Um, good
for me too. I’m okay. I saw this flower
and thought of you because it’s pretty
and – – well, I don’t really like it,
but I thought you might like it ’cause
you’re pretty. But I like you anyway.

–Shrek

Since I seem to be currently unable to provide any of the kind of content that I would like to read (i.e. erudite ruminations), I thought maybe I’d say something that interests everybody else. (But I like you anyway.) So I would like to announce that (once again) I have my whole life planned out. I’m sure this is a relief to all parties. Continue reading “Roadmap”

And the Amazing thing is…

Just as I was sitting down to write the above piece, there was a huge crack of thunder and a previously unannounced overcast day rolled in and began drenching the countryside. I finished my sentence and made a mad dash outside to roll up my windows.

It was thick. The first thing that might actually count as a “thunderstorm” here in Massachusetts. This gave me even further haste and put wings to my feet as I was sprinting to save my unprotected car.

And the amazing thing is, when I go there, all windows were tightly sealed. I rolled them up after dropping Valerie off at the station.

(And you people wonder why I keep my hands clean of everything “practical”…)

[ps. Said “above piece” is currently on hold pending imminent Greek homework.]

I am not dead, honest.

Well, I’ve officially started hearing grumbling from family members that Kyle is saying too many high thinky things on the website and that there is not enough content in the way of what’s going on lifewise for us. I just want you to know up front that I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth and that I had planned to do more writing and haven’t had the chance to clean the apartment properly let alone post real life stuff on the website or write real letters. It has been an extremely busy semester for both me and for Kyle, but hopefully I can take a short break and send a note to you all.
Continue reading “I am not dead, honest.”

Tit for Tat

John Bruce thinks I should be held back a year in school for sentiments I expressed in yesterdays post, which would put me… out of school.

That’s fair, I suppose. It wasn’t exactly fair of me to announce I don’t like somebody while telling you to read what he said. John simply hasn’t made himself famous for being… nice. Or entertaining. In fact, almost all of his best posts stand out for being almost hyper-critical, a steady diet of which can be a little wearing.

Nevertheless, where he aims is generally a target worth shooting. In this case, it’s not so much Glenn Reynolds as the chummy attitude with which the blogosphere treats its celebrities. I’ve seen all sorts of compliments showered on the Instapundit blatantly in hopes of garnering his patronage, without any consideration of whether we really ought to *want* such support.

A few thousand extra visitors can’t be bad, can it? I suppose not – by some miracle those visitors may become returning readers. But Instapundit may very well be being sustained by the very bloggers who are clammoring for his attention. So what’s the message that *he’s* supporting? Among other things, apparently, it’s [libertarian transhumanism](http://mthollywood.blogspot.com/2006/03/so-what-does-glenn-reynolds-believe.html), which could easily be understood as “wacko.”

What, no Instalanch?

[Jon Bruce](http://mthollywood.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-really-hate-to-see-same-dumb.html), a blogger I read even though I don’t particularly like him, has some **very** amusing things to say about Glenn Reynolds, of [Instapundit](http://www.instapundit.com) fame. Let’s just say he doesn’t have a very charitable opinion. Nevertheless, he raises some very interesting questions about the whole Instapundit mystique.

Uncannily, Glenn has failed to link to him.

Who’s Afraid of the Parachurch?

What on earth is a *para*church? “Para” means beside, or alongside, but how can some activity, which is done by Christians, for christian purposes, be “alongside” the church. Isn’t it being done by the church?

Anonymous Hobbes at Castle Sands recommends “The Church Alternative Virus” for our reading enjoyment, which asserts that “that parachurch activity is an aberration, and all Christian ministry should be performed by the church.” And again I’m getting lost here. I mean, I get the point. Jesus Christ founded the church. He didn’t found the parachurch. So why do we have one?

But see, how can something which is done by Christians… okay, I’m repeating myself. Continue reading “Who’s Afraid of the Parachurch?”

Infant Baptism and the Spirit’s Witness

I’m still trying to get my head around the whole infant baptism thing. It’s odd for me, knowing that infant baptism has been the practice of the majority of Christians for most of the history of the church, and yet I don’t believe in it. Some time I’m going to get around to reading the books that William Tighe mentioned in the comments section of this post. But in the mean time, Calvin’s discussion on the witness of the Spirit has gotten my head all turned around. Continue reading “Infant Baptism and the Spirit’s Witness”

Castle Sands

A few months ago I had the strangest opening to what has become (I think) the beginnings of a very nice friendship: a guy gave me a book.

Okay, that doesn’t sound so weird. But the guy who gave me this book was approximately five time zones to the East of me (he lives somewhat North of London), and the book he sent me is currently retailing at around $100. This, I knew, was the beginning of a fast friendship.

Since then, I’ve been paying close attention to a guy who lets himself be known only as “Hobbes,” on the basis that he may soon be going into mission work in a hostile field, where having his religious thoughts easily searchable on the web might be a bad thing. Since I’m currently at the top of the list for Google and Yahoo! searches for “Kyle French.” I completely understand.

At any rate, I dig this guy. He says a lot of things that I agree with, but more importantly for me, he seems to think about things in the same sort of way that I do. That’s a rarity (as, no doubt, you can fathom). There are some disctinctions. You will note in *his* writing a much more stiff upper lip.

So I would recommend, to those of you who enjoy reading what I have to say, that you click over and take a peek at what’s going on at Castle Sands. You might enjoy it. But if you don’t, you may want to brace yourself. I suspect there will be a good deal of interaction between that site and this for a while.

Real Faith

Hobbes at Castle Sands has been reading up on OMF International, the missionary organization founded by Hudson Taylor. He says,

[these]people have more faith than those who hold to the so-called “faith teaching”. What requires more faith? To appeal to immature, gullible satellite TV viewers to sow “financial seed” into a ministry? Or to make no appeals for money and to trust God for such provision?

From the OMF Candidate Documents:

Individually and corporately, members depend on God for the provision of all financial needs, and these needs are brought to Him in prayer. No member is authorized to make appeals for finance either on their own behalf or on that of the Fellowship. No announcement of specific financial needs is to be made except in response to a genuine enquiry.

Yep yep yep.