Okay… so it’s been a while… a long while. Perhaps this blog should be titled The Blog That Almost Never Was. Anyhow… I spent Tuesday through Saturday of this past week sick with mid to high fevers, incessant coughing and little sleep. You could say I was mighty low.

As I generally do when I start a bout of sickness, I gathered some books, my nook, and some magazines and had them stacked beside my bed. Sometimes this is the only extended time I have for any serious reading. But alas, I was much too ill to even think about reading. The first three days all I could do was think about how horrible I felt. Friday arrived and I felt well enough to venture downstairs for the entire day. So I watched a couple movies with the kids and shuffled around the house a bit. At bedtime, I was exhausted. Friday night into Saturday morning was the worst. As I ached, convulsed, coughed and spat up, I began to reflect on “my life” (family, career, current concerns). I became dreadfully aware of how far I have been falling short. I was horrified! I was broken and contrite. The All-wise Maker of Heaven and Earth used this occasion to take my eyes off myself and show me a reflection of myself.

I prayed. I confessed. I begged forgiveness and help. I found both.

Somewhere in the wee hours of Sunday, I fell asleep. Deep and peaceful enough that I dreamt. I awoke physically refreshed. So after showering and shaving, I set about the kitchen to pick up where my wife had left off (she had been caring for me and our eight children who had also become sick over the past few days and was struggling with it a bit herself). After lunch, I downloaded today’s sermon from our church. After the little ones and mama had a nap, I loaded up the family popcorn maker (a Sunday regularity) and gathered the family around the table. The children all munched on popcorn and drank sodas or lemonade, while we listened together and God’s Word was laid before us for our consideration and edification. The text was James 4.6-8~[6] But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (ESV)

It could NOT have been more timely….

For those who are iPhone users and interested (BTW, thanks to Tim Challies) Ligonier Ministries has a new app for the iPhone which you can learn about it here.

I just wanted to make you aware that I have added a plugin to the blog that is streamlined for iPhone/iPod Touch use. It not only allows you to read, but it also allows you to post comments, bookmark, and e-mail. Please let me know what you think of this new addition to the blog.

Also, not much has been posted as of late, but I have been musing on quite a bit of “stuff.” Please stay tuned for upcoming posts. I am also reading, sampling and listening to several books. These updates will be posted within a day or so. Life on the Chesapeake has been quite busy.

in Coram Deo,

The Blauthor

All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.~Psalm 86.9 ESV

“All nations whom thou hast made, and these include all mankind, since they all come of the first Adam — thy creature, and their lives are all distinct creations of thine omnipotence. All these shall come with penitent hearts, in thine own way, to thine own self, and worship before thee, O Lord. Because thou art thus above all gods, the people who have been so long deceived shall at last discover thy greatness, and shall render thee the worship which is thy due: thou hast created them all, and unto thee shall they all yield homage. This was David’s reason for resorting to the Lord in trouble, for he felt that one day all men would acknowledge the Lord to be the only God. It makes us content to be in the minority today, when we are sure that the majority will be with us tomorrow, ay, and that the truth will one day be carried unanimously and heartily. David was not a believer in the theory that the world will grow worse and worse, and that the dispensation will wind up with general darkness, and idolatry. Earth’s sun is to go down amid tenfold night if some of our prophetic brethren are to be believed. Not so do we expect, but we look for day when the dwellers in all lands shall learn righteousness, shall trust in the Saviour, shall worship thee alone, O God, and shall glorify thy name. The modern notion has greatly damped the zeal of the church for missions, and the sooner it is shown to be unscriptural the better for the cause of God. It neither consorts with prophecy, honours God, nor inspires the church with ardour. Far hence be it driven.” ~Charles Spurgeon in Treasury of David

A stranger to our University, observing that undergradu­ates were inside their colleges before midnight, might be­lieve that he had discovered a law of human nature—that there is something in the nature of the undergraduate which impels him to seek the protection of the college walls be­fore the stroke of twelve. We must undeceive him, and point out that the law has a quite different source—the Col­lege authorities. Should he conclude then that the law is al­together independent of undergraduate nature? Not neces­sarily. Careful research would reveal that the law depends on considerable antecedent experience of undergraduate na­ture. We cannot say that the twelve o’clock rule is not based on undergraduate nature; but it is not based on it in in [sic] the way the stranger assumed. —SIR ARTHUR EDDINGTON:

The Philosophy of Physical Science

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This is taken from Dorothy Sayers’ The Mind of the Maker where it prefaces her first chapter bearing the same title as the heading of this post. The point of this quote relative to this blog is to be careful not to draw hasty or mis-premised conclusions, lest the reader unwittingly need to be undeceived.

The domain “prefix” to this blog site is dedicated to Sayers’ work which I found to be delightful in both it’s written and audio form when I read and listened to it a couple of years ago. I guess I associate with her thesis about the creativity of man being derivative of the image of God. I believe she is “spot on.” But please be mindful that I am human. I am often thinking out loud. I am progressing (and, hopefully not regressing nor deviating) in orthodoxy and orthopraxy,and….that, as a friend (I can’t recall who) once said, “we are more tolerant of dead men than we are of the living.” Besides, I am but a humble (though sometimes unintentionally arrogant) carpenter.

The title of my blog bespeaks my proclivities to be inconsistent and “rabbit trailish” (I guess that’s the adventurous hunter in me) while thinking that I have really discovered something novel, or just standing upon the shoulders of those who have gone before, or just borrowing something from someone and giving him the credit; all the while, intending to point to the Truth, Beauty and Goodness (or lack thereof) in our Father’s world. And since we are a bit removed from close friends and family here on the Chesapeake, it gives me an opportunity to think aloud and dialogue with those friends and family, while acquiring new ones, with whom I once sat up late into the evening over chess and coffee, fine wine, or a choice brew.

So…it is with great pleasure that I invite you (as they do at St. Anne’s Pub) to “find yourself a corner, pour yourself a pint and join the conversation.”

Sincerely,

The “Blauthor”