Preserve us a posterity

I'm a bit sick this evening (have a head cold) but this is a topic I wanted to write upon for a while, especially since last week. I haven't had the chance however. In fact, of the 14 things I wanted to accomplish Saturday (yeah, busy day and very draining), this one was of the five that I didn't get to, and it's much more important than them. All this to say, I really want to make this good, yet I won't have much time to really write it out very well. My apologies in advance but I'm taking advantage of the time I've got this evening.

It has to do with the church and God's means of preserving it. Ordinarily, this is done by natural generation, through the children and grandchildren of believers. Sometimes God does work in revivals and brings people to himself who have had no history of religion but the main means for preserving the church is through descendants. That being said, the church has a problem that has existed for thousands of years.

Take Adam and Eve for example. God was certainly a God to them and to their children (at least Abel and Seth) but Cain was a bad apple (pun), though I'm sure his parents cared dearly for him. After this we find the descendants of Adam quickly multiplying at a fast rate and their apostasy multiplying at an alarming rate. The distinguishing marks are made between the "sons of God" and the seed of the serpent. Think about it: during this time, Adam was still alive, for nearly a millennium. He could lift up his shirt and show he had no belly button. He was the oldest man, undoubtedly the wisest (God endued him with knowledge to name the animals and care for them) and everyone could gain instruction from him. Yet the very large majority forsook the God of their father, Adam, and followed their own pursuits. It became so bad that eventually only Noah and his family was left, and God saved them and destroyed the rest of mankind.

Noah was a godly man, "perfect" in his generation, he offered sacrifices to God and I'm sure instructed his children to do the same. Two of his sons appeared to at least consider their father with honour, the other, Ham, mocked his father's nakedness and was cursed for it. As we read of the generations that come after Noah, it is remarkable how the entire earth so quickly falls away from God, until it appears that none is left except possibly Melchizedek (even Abraham was brought out of an idolatrous nation by God himself).

Abraham served God and his son Isaac seems to have followed closely in his father's footsteps. Thank the Lord for this! Yet Ishmael seems to have followed in his mother's, and mocked the promised seed of God (and thereby God himself). To Isaac was born Jacob and Esau, and both didn't seem to follow their father or grandfather at all, yet God was merciful and brought Jacob to himself and renamed him Israel. Esau was left in his sin, his weeping comes too late.

Of Jacob's 12 sons, I only know of one (Joseph) that seemed to follow God wholeheartedly. Not much is mentioned of the others, though the first four (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah) certainly have grievous sins mentioned against them.

Yet God is faithful to His people and years later brings them out of the land of Egypt. It says that they cried for rescue (Exo 2:23) and yet I think it's important to note that it doesn't say they cried to the Lord. But the Lord remembers His covenant and rescues them.

Now let's jump forward a year later when they are about to enter the land of Canaan. The don't believe that God can rescue them from the inhabitants. Think about this: they had God's glory dwelling visibly on the tabernacle, most likely behind them. In front of them was the shining face of Moses. That morning they had eaten Manna from heaven, probably last night they had eaten meat that the Lord had provided, they had seen the fire and smoke of Mount Sinai, they had been rescued from the Egyptians, they had water provided out of a rock for them, their clothes had not worn out, God had wrought great miracles in the land of Egypt, all within the previous year! Yet the disbelieved. What a forgetful generation! Was there not one person who stood up and remembered all that God had done?

Fast-forward some more and go to the book of Judges (which is where I'll stop). Judges 2 describes the death of Joshua and the elders that were with him and then comes the sobering statement in verse 10:

"And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel."

I've contemplated this quite a bit. Was there not a single man who did not take his children upon his knees and explain to them how great Jehovah was and how He had saved the people from their enemies and had given them the law? Assuredly there must have been some, but the general tenor of the people was to apostasy.

The Church has faced a similar crisis all throughout her history. There is a godly generation who rises up and throws of the chains of years of tyranny and bondage. Who holds steadfastly to the Scriptures and staunchly opposes the enemy against all odds. Their children enjoy peace for a time and then, as in the book of judges, there is great darkness once again.

This past summer I had the opportunity to go down to an RP mission which had been abandoned during the last century. It was sobering to think of the thriving community that had once been there and to realize the same thing was happening right under our noses around the country. RP churches that were down to a few, even a dozen or so, old members who couldn't even support a pastor. Where will these congregations be in 10 years? Deceased with their members? Vacant and forgotten as the mission down at Cache Creek? What had happened to their children and their grandchildren? Doubtless many of them moved on from those locations and went to other congregations, in our society it is much easier than it used to be, to go from place to place and spread out across the country. But as a general rule, the membership in churches is declining (not just RP churches) and as the old generation dies off, the new comes along that does not know God.

An example from my own experience is some of the Baptist churches around here. The older members seem to be from an intermediate generation. Their parents fought and held firmly to their beliefs, their children (the ones who are now dying out) basked in the freedom their parents had won, but it wasn't necessarily their own religion, it was the religion of their parents and when things started to waver and to become watered down, they didn't care so much as the things they remembered as being "essential" were held to. Their children tend to be even less discerning and to have wandered into various churches, seeking fulfillment, looking for something that pleased them.

The generation that fights and defends has much more of a personal understanding, they realize how much there is at stake and how much of it is precious. They pass this down to their children, who accept it upon the testimony of their parents but unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't necessarily become their own, but something they hold to simply because they've always held to it. Their children see no strength in the faith of their elders.


There is a lot of important things I want to say in here, but I'm afraid if I get to wordy then I'll lose whoever may be reading it.

This is something that is strongly on my heart. God give us the wisdom to train our children, not just so they may train their children, but that they may train their children to train their children to love the Lord! An instruction of a son or daughter cannot be merely to the end of having them stay true to the Lord all their life but must be more foundational, more far-reaching. There must be a bringing up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, an explanation of doctrines and the enemies that lie without. Their children must take up the Bible as something precious not to their parents, but to them! God must not just be a God of their father and mother, but their God, and a God to their children after them.

Where does it start? A very important place is Family Worship and training: catechizing of children, or in other words, instruction of children. Children who see their parents and grandparents following the Lord whole-heartedly will be able to see that as a visible manifestation of God's power and presence. Their religion cannot be merely accepting the facts because it has been told them so, but they should be shown where it is in the Bible, what the Bible teaches, and what men will try to say to oppose them. First of all, there has to be information to process and that must be taught. Pro 22:6 says to train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it, but I dare say there is more to that verse than appears on the surface.

Training. Do not deceive yourself by thinking Satan has no interest in your child. Can he but turn that one child and he has turned the generations that will come from him (should the Lord not intervene). That is why this training is so vital, and the training must also encompass instructions on how to train their children, and to train their children to give instructions to their children to train their children (the flow of that "sentence" is hideous). Training is incredibly important.

The responsibility of the head of a household is enormous. He is responsible for doing his duty towards his wife and towards his children, he is accountable, in some measure or other, for the safety of their souls! If like the watchman in Ezekiel 36, he "blows his horn" in training his family, being diligent to pray for, instruct them, and help them grow, then he is guiltless. But if he should not fulfill every bit of his duty, their blood, in some measure, is on his head. What a tremendous responsibility belongs to the head! To a lesser extent it belongs to the mother as well, for she will most likely have the most influence upon her children by her manner, character, and instructions.

It is my contention that it is the failure to live up to responsibilities which has resulted in the mass turning away from God that we have seen, both in times past and in times present. O Lord, who can withstand the burden of so great a responsibility!

Well, there is one last, very important thing, and that is God's promise and His working. We can work and labour but unless the Lord builds the house, we labour in vain (Psa 127:1). God has promised to be a God to us and to our seed (Gen 17:7) and we should pray that He might fulfill that promise. Not that we should be slack in our doings, but it is a comfort to realize that after we have laboured all we can, it is God who gives the increase.

May we convey this responsibility to our children. May God impress upon them the fervour we have for them. May He keep not only us, but our children and our children's children. May He preserve a godly seed and remember His promises. May He give us the strength and wisdom to instruct our own children that they may cling to Him as their God, and to His promises as being made to them. May He quicken our hearts and the hearts of our children and may our generations never grow cold. May the children even be more godly than their parents, even unto the end of the world.

Amen.

New Post!

I've been wanting to post for this past week but haven't had opportunity to. This is probably going to be short as well.

First off, as most everyone knows by now, I was accepted as a TA for the Circuits class, which is good news. I was hoping for the position, so thank the Lord for that.

It's good in the sense that I'll be gaining some experience (and I enjoy helping people when I can) but it means that well..... it's ten hours a week more than I was having and being the conscientious TA that I am, I work all the homework problems before coming so I know I can do the problems efficiently. So it's almost like I'm doing homework for an additional class as well as having 10 hours besides eaten up every week. There are few times when I can personally see a TA for a class that I am taking, but God will provide.

Thus, my schedule is adjusted:


Monday
11:30-12:20 Linear Algebra
12:30-1:20 Networks
1:30-3:20 Methods
3:30-5:00 Circuits TA
7:00-8:30 Jonathan's Bible study

Tuesday
9:00-10:15 Dynamics
2:00-3:15 Physics

Wednesday
11:30-12:20 Linear Algebra
12:30-1:20 Networks
1:30-2:20 Dynamics Lab
2:30-3:30 Circuits TA
3:30-5:20 Methods II Lab
7:00-8:30 Home Group Bible Study

Thursday
7:00-8:00 Men's Prayer
9:00-10:15 Dynamics
11:45-1:00 Meeting with Alan
2:00-3:15 Physics
3:30-5:00 Circuits TA

Friday
9:00-11:00 Circuits TA
11:30-12:20 Linear Algebra
12:30-1:20 Networks
1:30-5:30 Circuits Grading

And I have a couple of topics I'd like to speak on, but it's nearly time for my bed and I've not read my Matthew Henry for the day, so I'll take my leave.

He causeth the south wind to blow

I was reflecting a few minutes ago how so many things had been cancelled this week: the schools, basketball games, etc. In fact, I heard it said that everything (including OSU) might as well have been closed down for the entire week because the ice wasn't going to melt anytime fast.

But that was before today. I was reading in Numbers about the quail that God sent to the Israelites and this verse in the Psalms sticks out:
Psa 78:26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind;

Everyone expected the ice to stay around a while (including myself) but when I got up this morning, there was a steady breeze from the south and by noon, the ice around campus had turned to slush, there was no sliding to be done on it any longer. By later that afternoon, the roads had cleared up. All of this snow came and men, with all of their gasoline and diesel powered machines could barely scratch into the top layer while on the roads. Yet God causes a gentle breeze to blow and it melts before His breath. While it seems like an ordinary circumstance, just marvel at the power! The energy required to melt all that ice is immense, more than the entire city consumes in a year most likely.

It was very fun while it lasted. I enjoyed taking a running start and sliding back and forth from the bathrooms, when we went to Tulsa we "skated" on the ice there though we were without skates (I heard someone brought ice skates to OSU and was skating on the lawn by the library). I actually really enjoyed this storm even though the roads were dangerous.

I had Monday off, so I wrote up and gathered material for scholarship applications, then left close to noon to go to the Noell's house for lunch. Only Alan and Liz were there at the time, the rest had gone sledding and they returned with the report that Laura had bumped her head and Nathan (C) had possibly broken his leg (which it turned out later, he did). After lunch, Stephen and I drove Evelyn back to Tulsa. The ride was fairly uneventful (which I say is always good in this weather) and seemed to go pretty quickly. The roads were clear on the turnpike, for which I was thankful. I'm glad to see the toll money is used for something beneficial! They had done a good job of keeping it clean. The muddy spray from trucks in front of me caused me to have to pull over and wipe the windshield with my jacket however. My windshield wiper fluid was frozen and the wipers had ice on them so didn't do a great job on the window.

We dropped Evelyn off near the library and started back. The sidestreet roads in Tulsa were very bad. I was going about five miles per hour and still sliding when I tried to apply the brakes while going down one hill toward a stoplight. We filled up on gas while a truck nearby, who was hauling a backhoe Bobcat, spun his tires trying to get up out of a small dip in the road. He worked at it for about 10 seconds, his tires flipping up snow and mud all around. I think if he would have eased into it, it might have been better, or possibly worked it so he applied the gas, let the truck rock back, go again, rock back, and so on until he worked up a little momentum, or maybe his idea was just to burn away the ice :) He got away anyhow.

On the way back a dual-wheeled truck passed me and sprayed a wall of muddy water onto my windshield. I could not see at all for a few seconds while the wipers worked furiously. Now how am I going to wash this off? Hmm.....

Tuesday my afternoon class was cancelled so I talked with a couple of professors and met Philip and Liz in the Engineering North office. Philip, as a prospective student, was going to be taken on a tour of ARTC so I tagged along. They had some interesting things down there, a webbing machine (which wound up material such as plastic wrap) and a wind tunnel with thousands upon thousands of straws (drinking straws) at the end to let the air out. Some poor undergraduate was probably locked away down there until he finished gluing these things in place.

Then Philip and I headed back to Tulsa for RUF that evening. We arrived and were leaving the car when I spotted a couple of asian girls trying to get the ice off their windshields, with water bottles no less! They were whacking away with these bottles trying to break the ice. I grabbed my ice scraper and we lent them a hand for a little while. "Oh! Thank you!" they giggled. I had the impression that they weren't engineering students ;)

Evelyn met us in the lobby of her hall and we went over the boys dorms, back to Kevin and Bob's. Kevin started talking about Go and Philip went with David to play the Wii in Spencer's room. I joined them a bit later to watch them having a bowling match. Later, Philip, Evelyn, and myself all had a match, Philip won but Evelyn had three strikes. I had none, though a number of spares :(

It was a lot of fun and I was glad to be able to finally see Wii Sports. Then Kevin challenged Philip and I to the old Smash Bros. and creamed us both.

Kevin suggested a Sushi place but with the time allotted, decided to go to Arby's instead so he, Evelyn, Philip, and myself took a ride in his car while he played a Tribute to the greatest song in the world, which was pretty funny.

Bob and....hmm... the name escapes me.... later showed up at Arby's so I finally did what I have been wanting to do for a while: challenged Bob to arm-wrestling. He's shorter than I am, but built like a tank, arms straining at his sleeves and a thick chest. We sat down at a booth and both pushed, and pushed, and pushed. Physicists would have loved to have pointed out that we were doing no work, for there was no movement going on. After a while, both of us felt like we were not able to push any longer, it was a strange feeling. His hand was turning white but he finally gave a tremendous effort and pushed me down. I lost to a good man :) It was a long match. I don't think either of us sustained any permanent injury though ;)

Kevin and Evelyn had to go to orchestra practice so Philip and I hung out waiting for RUF to begin. John gave a good, provoking sermon, but the first part I didn't quite understand what he was getting at. I'm sure there will be a conclusion to it later one. He was beginning on the book of Jonah this week and pointing out that no matter how we try to run, we cannot escape God's will for us.

I talked for a while to Asher, Spencer, and Bob, respectively, and then Philip and I said our good-byes and headed home. We were able to talk for a while on the way home as well, about the sermon, about the providence of God in my coming to OSU etc. I thought it was profitable. We got home past 11:00 however. The ride out of Tulsa was longer than I expected.

I'm going to have to close this post, I'm getting a little sleepy and may think about heading to bed soon. One quote for tonight:

Henry notes that Eleazar and Ithamar (the two remaining sons of Aaron) were to minster "in the sight of Aaron" and says "It is good for young people to act under the direction and inspection of those that are aged and experienced."

I heartily agree. It is a blessing to have fathers and older men and women who are able to guide one. Paul placed a high regard for the older women for example, who were to instruct the younger.

More readings

This past week was good, I did go ahead and drop Economics because I felt it would be too busy, especially if I do end up getting this TA position, on which I haven't heard a thing yet. There was an ice storm. Bible study Wednesday.... yeah. That's about it. The week has been busy, but good, and I'm actually really enjoying the book for my Semiconductor Physics class. We've been going over the introduction to quantum theory.

There have been a couple of things I've been reading lately. I finished up Josh McDowell's book "The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict" and it had some interesting things on modern thinking. It all sounds roughly the same to me. Deny truth, deny absolutes, deny that anything really means anything. A good point that he made was that those who are writing to inform us that writing is only what it means to the reader, have to cope with the fact that they are trying to get their point across, and appear to be offended if you take their words to mean something other than they intended.

Those who claim that the written word only means what the reader makes of it, yet obviously try to get their own intent across without being misunderstood, are living in a disharmonious world-view.


There were a couple of stories about Ravie Zacharias that I found to be pretty amusing:
Dennis McCallum shares a story:
"A friend of mine told me that when Christian apologist and author Ravi Zacharias visited Columbus to speak at ohio State University, his hosts took him to visit the Wexner Center for the Arts. The Wexner Center is a citadel of postmodern architecture. It has stairways leading nowhere, columns that come down but never touch the floor, beams and galleries going everywhere, and a crazy-looking exposed girder system over most of the outside. Like most of postmodernism, it defies every cannon of common sense and every law of rationality. Zacharias looked at the building and cocked his head. With a grin he askes, 'I wonder if they used the same techniques when they laid the foundation?'
His point is very good. It's one thing to declare independence from reality when building a monument. It's another thing when we have to come into contact with the real world."

A very good point.


"As the professor waxed eloquent and expounded on the law of non-contradiction, he eventually drew his conclusion: 'This [either/or logic] is a Western way of looking at reality. The real problem is that you are seeing contradiction as a Westerner when you should be approaching it as an Easterner. The both/and is the Eastern way of viewing reality.'
After he belaboured those two ideas on either/or and both/and for some time, I finally asked if I could interrupt his unpunctuated train of thought and raise one question.
I said 'Sir, are you telling me that when I am studying Hinduism I either use the both/and system of logic or nothing else?'
There was pin-drop silence for what seemed an eternity. I repeated my question:
'Are you telling me that when I am studying Hinduism I either use the both/and system of logic or nothing else? Have I got that right?'
He threw his head back and said, 'The either/or does seem to emerge, doesn't it?'
'Indeed it does emerge,' I said. 'And as a matter of fact, even in India we look both ways before we cross the street - it is either the bus or me, not both of us.'
Do you see the mistake he was making? He was using the either/or logic in order to prove the both/and. The more you try to hammer the law of non-contradiction, the more it hammers you."



Now I'd like to share some more Henry.
Leviticus 19:27 says that the Israelites were not to round the corners of their heads. Henry says "Those that worshipped the hosts of heaven, in honour of them, cut their hair so as that their heads might resemble the celestial globe."

Soo..... does that mean an afro is out? Man! It sounds like those things were in style 4000 years ago!




Now for some more beneficial quotes.
First of all, when reading about the two birds, one being killed and the other dipped in the blood of the slain bird and then set free (to fly towards the heavens as Henry states) it really seems to be a picture, in some sense, of what Christ has done for us. He was a man (like us) and was slain that we might pass through his blood, be cleansed, and then set free, to fly heavenward. The analogy breaks down very rapidly if you press it deeper, but it seemed to be a good picture and a good thing to be reminded of as I read through these Old Testament shadows.




Against a sinful man, Lev 20:5 says "Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family..." Henry points out "The wickedness of the master of a family often brings ruin upon a family; and he that should be the house-keeper proves the house-breaker."
It's a good reminder that the head of a household is more responsible than any other member, his failures affect others in a greater way than ordinarily. He receives the stricter judgement, he watches after not merely his own soul, but those of his family.



Lev 20:8 "I am the Lord which sanctify you."
"Note, 1. God's people are, and must be persons of distinction. God has distinguished them by his holy covenant, and therefore they ought to distinguish themselves by their holy conversation.


Here are some quotes that I had really liked a while back, but I waited to share them.
Gen 31:4 "And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, and he said unto them......" This where Jacob tells his wives what he is planning to do. Despite the fact that he had two wives, Henry makes this very good point:
"Note, Husbands that love their wives will communicate their purposes and intentions to them. Where there is a mutual affection there will be a mutual confidence. And the prudence of the wife should engage the heart of her husband to trust in her, Prov xxxi. 11"

I thought this was an excellent point, especially in today's society where many times, if the husband is a leader at all, he feels he has to make the decisions and "go it alone." There is a point where it is true that the husband has the responsibility, but that doesn't mean the he doesn't seek advice or doesn't care how his wife feels upon a matter. The responsibility for the decision is his alone, the process of getting to that decision belongs to both the husband and the wife. The husband should be sensitive of the wife's concerns and there is a good amount of practical wisdom that God has endowed wives with, sometimes they can see things from a different angle, perhaps God is laying it on her heart that a certain choice is not a good one, the husband should listen and be grateful for such input, and the wife should submit to the decision that is ultimately made but in no wise is the husband a "lone ranger" who has to do everything himself. That is why God made him a helpmate, to help! A good leader will be willing to seriously hear his friend and helpmate.

Which brings up another good quote:
In talking about incestuous marriage relationships between brother and sister in Leviticus 28, Henry says something that I really liked when contrasting it with proper marriage:
"[These] cannot intermarry without defeating one of the intentions of marriage, which is the enlargement of friendship and interest." I very much appreciate the idea of a helpmate and companion rather than a servant who is lower than her husband. The idea of it being an enlargement of friendship is very beautiful and appropriate to my way of thinking.

In a similar way, as the bride of Christ, Christians are called "brothers," friends, or equals. Christ has taken us to be His own beloved people, not as slaves. I suppose analogies break down, but this much seems to work for me.

Twas the evening after the first day. And it was good.

Well, the first day of classes is over. It was busy, but it's good to be back.

I saw lots of people on campus that I recognized, fellow engineers and past classmates. The first class I had was at 8:30 and was Engineering Economics. The instructor was from Argentina and he joked that our class would probably be difficult because they didn't have an instructor who spoke English. He also told us that sometimes his jokes don't translate well into English, so if he makes a joke, he'll raise his hand so we know when to laugh. I think I'm going to like him :)

Then I had a two hour break where I read my assignment for this next class session, checked up on a few things, dropped by the office and talked with Dr Teague, Barbara (the secretary) and Helen about scholarships and the TA position.

Afterward, I spoke with Dr Bunting. Things are very hectic for him right now and he says I'm still a possibility but he's not decided on anything yet.

Then came time for Linear Algebra with Dr Binegar. He went over algebraic interpretations of vectors and then we let out. Unfortunately my next class is almost entirely across campus, from HES to Cordell and I couldn't find the door to get into the classroom. There are three doors on the outside and I went through two of them before finally going through the third and finding it. Luckily he hadn't started yet even though I was a minute or two late. This is Dr Chandler's first semester here and he's teaching Networks. I watched his presentation when he was a faculty candidate and I thought his to be the most interesting and well-presented of all the candidates, so I have high hopes for this class. There were only 10 students enrolled interestingly.

We got out early so I went over to Engineering South and up to the Methods lab room and sat and read for a little while before class started. The professor came in, gave us a little speech and told us we'd probably never see him again. The TA will be handling almost everything. The TA was Moayed, he was a TA from Physics II and recognized me as one of the students who did "really well" in the class.

I then visited Dr Rosenberg (from Physics) and he remembered my name. I picked up my final exam from last semester and reviewed it. There were a few mistakes that I had made but overall I did well in the class. He told me I was fifth in rank (for the semester) and congratulated me. It's better than I'd thought I'd done.

Then I stopped by the bank and made some deposits (they have stacks of checking deposits but whenever I go there I have to specifically ask for savings deposit or withdrawal slips), then to the post office to mail a package (there was a huge line) and then to Walmart in order to pick up groceries for the next couple of weeks.

Finally I got home and was swamped with messages for SafeRegistry, people wanting to cancel, who didn't want to be charged, wanted refunds etc. I called them back but wasn't able to finish before 5:35, which is when I left to go to the J & J residence. The Bible study group was going out to McAllister's at 6:00. I had eaten a late lunch so wasn't hungry, I just had a sweet tea. Or two to be exact (a refill). Two 32 ouncers, for a total of 64 ounces of sweet tea. Now every time I yawn, sweet tea squirts out my ears.

They all went to the BCM to watch some football game, I came back to finish up gathering papers for the next couple of days, bookmarking websites, and finishing up my tasks for SafeRegistry. Tomorrow I just have two classes. Speaking of which, here's my weekly schedule, with Bible studies and meetings in case anyone is interested, they know where I am:

Monday
8:30-9:20 ENGR Econ
11:30-12:20 Linear Algebra
12:30-1:20 Networks
1:30-3:20 Methods
7:00-8:30 Jonathan's Bible study

Tuesday
9:00-10:15 Dynamics
2:00-3:15 Physics

Wednesday
8:30-9:20 ENGR Econ
11:30-12:20 Linear Algebra
12:30-1:20 Networks
1:30-2:20 Dynamics Lab
3:30-5:20 Methods II Lab
7:00-8:30 Home Group Bible Study

Thursday
7:00-8:00 Men's Prayer
9:00-10:15 Dynamics
2:00-3:15 Physics

Friday
8:30-9:20 ENGR Econ
11:30-12:20 Linear Algebra
12:30-1:20 Networks

Now for some quotes:

Note, (1.) We have need to watch carefully over our own hearts, lest fondness for any relation prevail above our love to God, and take us off from our duty to him. It is charged upon Eli that he honoured his sons more than God (1 Sam. ii. 29); and see Matt. x.37.
(2.) Even good men are apt to cool in their zeal for God and duty when they have long been deprived of the society of the faithful: solitude has its advantages, but they seldom counterbalance the loss of Christian communion.

This is Matthew Henry and the point he was making is that our acquaintances should be those who will help our Christian walk and not hinder it. It's also a good point that we shouldn't let any relation or friend take the foremost role in our lives, for that belongs to God. That being said, a Christian companion is of incalculable value.


"You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."
-Screwtape

As is apparent, this is something Screwtape said, and he is right. The easiest way to hell is a gentle one, not being pulled into grievous sins necessarily, but little ones, ones that "can't possibly hurt that much." I thought this was an observation worth noting again.


When commenting upon Exo 21:1-11 Henry says:
"This law will be further useful to us, (1.) To illustrate the right God has to the children of believing parents, as such, and the place they have in his church. They are by baptism enrolled among his servants, because they are born in his house, for they are therefore born unto him, Eze_16:20. David owns himself God's servant, as he was the son of his handmaid (Psa_116:16), and therefore entitled to protection, Psa_86:16. (2.) To explain the obligation which the great Redeemer laid upon himself to prosecute the work of our salvation, for he says (Psa_40:6), My ears hast thou opened, which seems to allude to this law. He loved his Father, and his captive spouse, and the children that were given him, and would not go out free from his undertaking, but engaged to serve in it for ever, Isa_42:1, Isa_42:4. Much more reason have we thus to engage ourselves to serve God for ever; we have all the reason in the world to love our Master and his work, and to have our ears bored to his door-posts, as those who desire not to go out free from his service, but to be found more and more free to it, and in it, Psa_84:10."

And I liked that analogy. Christ would not go free but engaged to serve forever. This should drive us to do accordingly.


Moses, accordingly, rose up early (Ex 34:4), to go to the place appointed, to show how forward he was to present himself before God and loth to lose time. It is good to be early at our devotions. The morning is perhaps as good a friend to the graces as it is to the muses.

This is Henry again, giving a very practical application to a simple observation. I have found that the morning time is one in which I am most attentive. This next semester I shall have more time in the morning than previously I think, and I hope to devote this time to studying and prayer.

There are more quotes from Henry and from Lewis (I finished the Screwtape Letters) but they were too long to put here. I am still enjoying Henry's observations and applications very much.