Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge

Well, this weekend we hit Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge for a dose of environmental science, nature (since we're talking kids here, nature is roughly defined as "dirt"), and taxidermy. Which makes it sound not as fun as it was. Everyone had a good time, maybe (maybe) learned something, and wants to come back in the spring to see some of the nesting, etc. that will be going on. Afternoon well spent.

cute science girl

they look like they're up to something--but I promise you, they weren't

planning his next fishing trip?

that's stuffed, right?

on the Nature Trail

not fans of Craisins

What the Keeping of the Heart Presupposes and Signifies

(NB: all italics original)

Naturally, to keep the heart presupposes regeneration. For without it, there will neither be the ability or desire to keep it. Unless grace has made the heart right, it cannot be maintained.

Man, by the apostacy, [sic] is become a most disordered and rebellious creature, opposing his Maker, as the First Cause, by self-dependence; as the Chief Good, by self-love; as the Highest Lord, by self-will; and as the Last End, by self-seeking.

This soul-disorder is reset through regeneration, "the renovation of the soul after the image of God."

self-dependence is removed by faith; self-love, by subjection and obedience to the will of God; and self-seeking by self-denial. The darkened understanding is illuminated, the refractory will sweetly subdued, the rebellious appetite gradually conquered. Thus the soul which sin had universally depraved, is by grace restored.

That's basic. Every Christian knows that to some extent--maybe not phrased as nicely as Flavel gets it, but the meaning is known. Given that, it's pretty easy to figure out what he means by keeping the heart.

nothing but the constant care and diligence of such a renewed man to preserve his soul in that holy frame to which grace has raised it.

Even tho' the soul has been rectified, been restored, given "an habitual heavenly temper," sin often disturbs it...gets it a little off course, and it needs to be set right again.

To keep the heart then, is carefully to preserve it from sin, which disorders it; and maintain that spiritual frame which fits it for a life of communion with God.

Flavel lists six parts of this, some of which seem self-evident...others, not so much:

1. "Frequent observation of the frame of the heart." Not a morbid introspection, but an honest appraisal of the state of your heart. "The heart can never be kept until its case be examined and understood."
2. "Deep humiliation for heart evils and disorders." Sin affects our hearts. Period. We have to it for what it is--disgusting, disturbing, something to be mourned over and ashamed of before we can move on.

   if a small dust get into the eye if will never cease twinkling and watering till it has wept it out: so the upright heart cannot be at rest till it has wept out its troubles and poured out its complaints before the Lord.

3. "Earnest supplication and instant prayer for purifying and rectifying grace when sin had defiled and disordered the heart." Repentance is essential. It comes, as the catechism says, out of a true sense of one's sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ. Flavel prays as an example to his reader,

   'O for a better heart! Oh for a heart to love God more; to hate sin more; to walk more evenly with God. Lord! deny not to me such a heart, whatever thou deny me: give me a heart to fear thee, to love and delight in thee, if I beg my bread in desolate places.'

   May I learn to pray like that.
4. "Imposing of strong engagements upon ourselves to walk more carefully with God, and avoid the occasions whereby the heart may be induced to sin." It is frequently helpful to be like Job who made a covenant with his eyes. Maybe you have a different organ of 5 to make a covenant with--maybe just your mind, but to guard against some special sin, such a covenant can be "very useful." "By this means holy men have overawed their soul, and preserved themselves from defilement."
5. "A Constant and holy jealousy over our own hearts." We must be on constant watch for the stirrings of affections, the beginnings of temptation, and react against it. Be on guard from the stirrings.

   Happy is the man that thus feareth always. By this fear of the Lord it is that men depart form evil, shake off sloth and preserve themselves from iniquity.

6. "The realizing of God's presence with us, and setting the Lord always before us." When we remember we are living coram Deo (thanks, Dr. Sproul), when we meditate upon what that means--"we dare not let out our thoughts and affections to vanity."

These are the ways in which Christians express the care they have of their hearts. Preventing corruptions from erupting in times of temptation, careful to keep the sweetness and comfort received in religious duties.

This is the work, and of all works in religion it is the most difficult, constant, and important work.

this has nothing to do with anything, but isn't the phrase "refractory will" a keeper?

Keeping the Heart

The heart of man is his worst part before it is regenerated, and the best afterward; it is the seat of principles, and the foundation of actions. The eye of God is, and the eye of the Christian ought to be, principally fixed upon it.

The greatest difficult in conversion is to win the heart to God; and the greatest difficulty after conversion, is to keep the heart with God. Here lies the very force and stress of religion; here is that which makes the way to life a narrow way, and the gate to heaven a strait gate.

So begins Keeping the Heart by John Flavel. The publisher tacks on the subtitle, "A Puritan's View of how to Maintain Your love for God" [sic]. I'd picked that up on a recommendation from a friend last time I was in Greenville, and finally got around to reading it last Lord's Day afternoon (great way to spend the afternoon, btw). Wonderful book--Christian Heritage puts it in a very easy to read paperback. Track it down and read.

Been digesting the work since then, and think I'll try to talk about bits of it here over the next little while. Hope that's okay with all 4 of you.

"The greatest difficult in conversion is to win the heart to God; and the greatest difficulty after conversion, is to keep the heart with God." Ain't that the truth? Each of us has tasted this struggle (unless we're self-deluded, I guess). Why is that? Well, obviously, sin is a part of it. But that's the easy answer. Why is it that we allow--yeah, allow--ourselves to move our hearts away from our Savior, Lord, and King?

I'm sick...

So I'm stocking the shelves with some Previously Viewed titles for sale tonight, and in the general neighborhood of something I'm stocking (maybe Crash) I see an unnerving sight: David Hasselhoff on a horse.

Yeah, Hasselhoff on anything is pretty unnerving. But there's something about the horse that makes it worse.

Movie's called Cowboys Run--don't bother looking for it on imdb.com, it's not there. That's how obscure it is. Yahoo! Movies has it, tho. Click here to see the details. After my discount, would cost me $4 or so.

Heaven help me...I almost shelled out the bucks. How sick is that? Like a moth to the flame, I was drawn to what has to be a cinematic nightmare.

I need help :)

Life is a Highway...

Finally saw Cars last night. Like many others have said, not Pixar's best. But Pixar on an off day is still better than most movie fare.

Decent story, great animation. Good characters--why doesn't Bonnie Hunt get more work? Seriously, can anyone explain this? Overall well done, and the kids loved it (of course). Good way to kill a couple of hours. The little bit they did during the credits with John Ratzenberger is almost worth the rental price alone. (that's probably the movie geek in me talking)

It was still a little strange to watch Pixar sans Randy Newman (tho he did do the score). Other than Rascal Flats' weak, weak cover of Cochrane (why mess with that track?!?!?), the soundtrack was great. Sheryl Crowe rocked out, Braid Paisley got in 2 tunes (a sure-fire pleaser for Frodo and I).

Grade: A-

Want to Blog on Something

...just not sure what.

Finished Ed Burns' Looking for Kitty last night. But don't want to write on it too much. Typical Burns--great characters. Feels like people you've met (or could). Dysfunctional families. People who should be together, but aren't. Or are together, but aren't. And by the end, not sure what to say...other than Burns pulled off a near-miracle: Rachel Dratch didn't annoy me at all.

Could be like everyone else in the world and write about the tragedy that is Ted Haggard. But, bleh. Not sure I have anything to add. Read Ref21 instead.

Thought about writing some poetry. But that resulted in me just reading Donne.

Thought about giving a shot at NaNoWriMo, but...nah. Can't type that much this afternoon :)

Am trying to move data off my dad's Win 95 PIII system. But that's about all I have to say about that.

No cute kid pics, today. (you're welcome)

No TV shows are making me want to write about them at the moment. Well, one...Sorkin :where's the fun? Think Sports Night. Really. Love Perry's work in this show. Just don't want it to be a tragic waste of time.

hmmm...'bout it for now. If anyone has any suggestions to inspire a post or two, well, comment away.

Feeling Poetical (but can't write poetry...)

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
by John Donne

As virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say
The breath goes now, and some say, No:

So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move,
'Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love.

Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears,
Men reckon what it did and meant,
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.

Dull sublunary lovers' love
(Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
Those things which elemented it.

But we by a love so much refined
That our selves know not what it is,
Inter-assur'd of the mind,
Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.

Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to aery thinness beat.

If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th' other do.

And though it in the centre sit,
Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me, who must
Like th' other foot, obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end where I begun.

All Hallow's Eve '06

BatBoy! (can't move the camera fast enough to get the cowl on--which is a shame, 'cuz it looked very cool)

A very pretty Kitty Fairy--Dig the wings

A noble warrior, the Red Ninja loses a little of his mystique when the mask comes off.

The menacing figureLord Vader--he sure has the anger down. Shame I didn't record the breathing noises.

Sorkin's New Show

mostly for girlfriday & taj...or anyone who's been watching Studio 60. If Aaron Sorkin wrote a show about baseball.

(via Alan Sepinwall and Lee Goldberg)

Jonathan Edwards and Friends is Dead

For good reason, TEXpresby had to take down jonathanedwards.blogspot.com alas. I'm going to try to resurrect it in some form over at jonathanedwardsfriends.blogspot.com.

Been Chewing on this for a While Now

GreenBaggins posts this very good quotation on Genesis 45, dealing with forgiveness and God's sovereignty. I'll copy the sentence he highlights, and then urge you read the rest.

Reconciliation comes through forgiveness, and forgiveness through the recognition of God's sovereignty.

Click. Read. Meditate.

My Favorite Wise-Cracking PI

On Oct 23 in Chillicothe, Ohio, Archie Goodwin entered this world--no doubt with a smile for the pretty nurses--and the face of American literature was destined to change.

I'm raising a glass of milk in his honor.

Somewhere I have a long list of wonderful things that Archie has said, but (and I've quoted this before here) this is the only one at my fingertips. Am sure one or two of you could add some in the comments section. But I think this tells enough about the gumshoe that one can understand why he's my favorite, and maybe even want to read some of him themselves.

I would appreciate it if they would call a halt on all their devoted efforts to find a way to abolish war or eliminate disease or run trains with atoms or extend the span of human life to a couple of centuries, and everybody concentrate for a while on how to wake me up in the morning without my resenting it. It may be that a bevy of beautiful maidens in pure silk yellow very sheer gowns, barefooted, singing Oh, What a Beautiful Morning and scattering rose petals over me would do the trick, but I'd have to try it. -- Archie Goodwin

Pumpkin Fest 06 - UPDATED

After a little chat about how part of the image of God is creativity--and the differences between God's creating power and our abilities (ex nihilo vs. using materials; affect of the curse, etc), the kids decorated some pumpkins this weekend (for those keeping score, not the same ones from the trip last week--don't go accusing me of altering images). Carving was thought to be too messy (as opposed to the inherent tidiness of black paint, I guess), so we went with paint.

Kids had a blast.

Samwise with Monster Tracker's Blockhead, his latest obsession

How can someone so sweet create a scary looking witch like that--and look happy about it?

Portrait of a Young Man as an Artist

Got him to sit still long enough to pose!

Will try to update later with a picture of Arnold and his masterpiece, assuming I can get him to pose.

Random Weekend Pic

Revision

One of the things I'm working on is admitting when I was wrong. I was with my thumbnail review of Over the Hedge. I've seen Over the Hedge a few more times, and have to cop to the fact that I like it. Guess I wasn't paying enough attention the first time. This is a fun flick. Not Shrek or Pixar-level, but better than Madagascar and Shark Tale. Still, story isn't perfect--but the characters, voice-work and individual scenes make up for it. I've become quite taken with Bruce Willis' RJ and Steve Carell's Hammy (tho' very little of Hammy has to do with dialogue--mostly animation). There's one particular scene toward the beginning where RJ introduces the rest of the animals to the relationship of Humans and Food. Utterly priceless (the words alone won't do it, gotta have the images).

Not unlike this:

RJ: That is an S.U.V; Humans ride in then because they are slowly losing their ability to walk.
Lew the Porcupine: Wow it's huge!
Hammy the Squirrel: How many people fit in there?
RJ: Usually, one.

...the voice-overs on the credits are great, too.

Revised Grade: B+/A- It's going on my shelf.

Yay Capitalism!

Up in Smoke: Smintair, an Airline for Smokers, Takes Off

Smokers around the world are celebrating the emergence of a new airline, Smintair, or Smoker's International Airlines. The brainchild of German businessman Alexander Schoppmann, the smoker's airline, based in Düsseldorf, Germany, is scheduled to begin flying in March 2007.

Smintair isn't just about lighting up, however. According to the airline's Web site, Smintair "will treat its passengers like the guest of an international Grand Hotel . . . to bring back the exclusivity in flying encountered in the 1960s and [which is] dearly missed by so many." Such things as "telephone, TV, DVD, MP3, Internet" and other in-flight entertainments are being "envisioned" for all passengers.

Not saying I'd fly that airline if given the choice. But I really like the fact that someone's trying it.

Psalm 19:1 in action

(H/T: bluewoad)

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

(click on the picture to be taken to the full-sized picture and explanation)

Not really my kind of movies, but...

Okay, a couple of films I wouldn't normally throw on the top of the pile (and one that I would). But based on what's coming out over the next couple of weeks, I guessed I would be talking about them all a lot at work, so previewed them, and figured I'd share a thumnail or two.

We start off with the Aniston/Vaughn's The Breakup (the movie one, not any of the actual breakups they've been involved with lately). Cute movie. Sucky ending. Aniston was really good--she wasn't Rachel--just a nice, confused gal in a lousy relationship. Vaughn...who will always be Trent Walker to me...was pretty good, too. Really felt for his character--and I almost think we were supposed to root him on more than Aniston. But maybe it's a gender thing. The speech he gave towards the end was eerily like one I've worked on lately. Almost word for word in some places--definitely the same outline. Creeped me out. First Sandler, now Vince Vaughn. I'm going to find myself as one of the Owen brothers before too long.

Best thing about this movie tho? The supporting cast. Always good to see Joey Lauren Adams, even if she's under-utilized as she was here. Justin Long was great (even if he did have a certain Bronson Pinchot-Beverly Hills Cop-rip-off vibe). Jon Favreau was excellent as the best-friend (nah, he wasn't excellent...he was sooo money, baby)--he had the best scene in the flick. Unless he's behind the camera, he needs to be the best friend in everything he does--he can't carry a leading role (outside of Swingers), but he's perfect as best bud. John Michael Higgins was perfect--this guy needs to work more (but he's so off-beat probably hard to find much to put him in)--2nd best scene-stealing here. Judy Davis was her typical self, great. Vincent D'Onofrio reminded me that he's really funny when he's not freakishly-intense. You take these guys out and replace them with whoever from Central Casting and yawn. Without them, Aniston and Vaughn are just...eh.

Grade: B

Okay...Over the Hedge was pretty much a paint-by-numbers computer animated flick. I really don't know what to say about it. Wasn't thrilled with anything, but I really enjoyed it. Most of the voice talents (Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Nick Nolte, Thomas Haden Church, Allison Janney, Eugene Levy...) rocked. That's what carried the film, the characters' voices/expressions. Story was...eh. Animation was okay. Standard Dreamworks stuff. But my kids liked it, and I thought it was miles better than The Wild.

Grade: B

American Dreamz...ummm, wow. What do I say? It was cute. It was occasionally funny. But direction-less. It couldn't decide what it was: Political satire? Reality TV satire? Was it Dark Humor? Light Humor? Just silly? It was a little bit of each, but not enough of any one of those to be really good. Any one of those things done better, and it could've been saved.

Dennis Quaid/Marcia Gay Harden were a decent First Family Knock-Off. Dafoe stooped too low for his broad (overly broad) for faux-Cheney. Hugh Grant's self-loathing Simon Cowell Martin Tweed was a bit too much. Mandy Moore was okay as a self-obsessed, calculating wanna be Carrie Underwood-type (actually more of a Kelly Pickler with a touch more talent). Chris Klein was too cartoony as her rejected boyfriend (ditto for Jennifer Coolidge as her mom and Seth Meyers as her manager). Okay, so I haven't had anything positive to say since "cute." So here it is: Sam Golzari. Perfect. The only redeeming factor, and he's almost enough to make it worth the $3.99 to rent.

Grade: C+

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Not as catchy, IMHO, as the Lego-head stuff, but thought it was sorta fun.

Post of the Day

Today's must read is over at the Macks' stomping grounds, God Change (note to self: add that to blogroll soon): Cheerful Religion.

So, brethren...are you like Whitefield? Why not?

I'm sure not...need to figure out why....