We've made the call that our 2022 Raggant Fiction Festival will cover some of the epics. The festival's title is: Monumental Myths - Lit That Made Western Man. When talking about which epic I wanted to cover my first response was anything except for the Aeneid. Ha. Turns out, due to a number of variables, that I am now very excited about tackling Virgil. As I get going, I found this fantastic looking resource that I'll be trying to do some work in the original Latin text. I told my Latin students in class today that they can help keep me accountable.#
I like guitar, I like "Classical Gas"," and I like this edition: #
It's good to go public with thanks to God for His many gifts. He gives. #
I thank God for giving me the gift of open eyes that I might acknowledge that He is the Giver. #
I thank God for my wife, for her endurance of faith and work, for her relentless desire to bless her people.#
I thank God for my kids, one of whom got married and is now expecting a kid of her own! I am thankful for my son-in-law, my daughter with a new last name, my 16 year-old newly driver's-licensed son, my daughter who loves music and my daughter who loves to play.#
I thank God for our local church, shepherded by men who joyfully sacrifice for the flock, and a flock full of worshipping disciples who are joyful and value-making.#
I thank God for no trips to the Emergency Room for myself (so far this year).#
I thank God for the work of men such as J. Calvin and A. Kuyper. I am thankful for the technology that has enabled me to learn in the now what they wrote then, as well as for some men who are still working and whose blessing technology brings from afar.#
I thank God for the gifts of His Spirit, His Word, His Church, His cosmos.#
I thank God for days/seasons to feast in gratitude.#
George Gilder, in Life after Google, on the pockmarks of self-congratulatory progressive education: "Credentials are the way the old academic order perpetuates itself and its hierarchies. At vast expense, the universities channel students into echoing corridors of an increasingly reactionary educational establishment that imagines that socialist nostrums, identity politics, chemophobia, sterile hedonism, druidical sun-henges, totemic windmills, and great walls of batteries are progressive. To lure them out is a revolutionary act." (Loc. 3250)#
I've traveled with a dozen or so men from our church to a couple T4G conferences. We always had a great time together. It is also true that the Reformed-ish, conservative theological perspective is often very narrow, and I'd agree that it applies to the T4G gist. #
I don't agree with Mr. Sandlin that worldview is more important than theology, but that could be just an apparent disagreement. I'm sure he believes that God's revelation is the source, and the authority, for shaping weltanschauung. But I would say that the problem is a theology problem. The problem is a misunderstanding of God proper, and especially of God's interests.#
The problem is at least implicitly denying that the Creator-Theos cares about time and space, and behaving as if God changed His mind about all the goods in Genesis 1. It ignores the first great commission to man for relationships (be fruitful and multiply) and responsibilities (fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion) on the earth, here and now (Genesis 1:28). That's at bottom a Bible-reading issue, a doctrinal issue, not a philosophical one, as if worldview came apart from God's revelation.#
While such a limited worldview could be connected to one's eschatology, I believe that the theological error leading to the dilution in T4G circles is a form of dualism. All of the headlining T4G speakers act and teach as if what God cares about the most and, therefore, what all of us should care about the most, are "spiritual" things. But, ironically, spiritual fruit is earthy. Spiritual people are husbands and fathers (Ephesians 5:18 then look at the family responsibilities that flow out of the Spirit's filling), not just pastors and missionaries. Spiritual men serve and lead. They redeem the time (5:15), they don't only work on their sentences about eternity.#
It is the Christian confession that Jesus is Lord. It is the Calvinist who (most consistently) acknowledges that God is sovereign. It is a Kuyperian who grasps that the lordship of Christ applies to the rest of the day after our "quiet time" in the Word, and that the sovereignty of God in science and history and families and businesses and education is more than just a token pointing to heaven's throne.#
T4G does exalt Jesus and does preach the Word. And also they do so with a limited expectation of where the incarnate Word and inspired Word apply. Seek the things that are above with the things of earth. #
Anyway, read the original article and let's work to believe bigger than just defending a "privat(ized) theology limited to soteriology."#
At the beginning of any venture there are always questions, but this possible new-paper thing for #Marysville is the type that has a veritable cornucopia of Qs. The kind of columns is key for content, but how about the tools and strategies, such as:#
There's been a lot of positive feedback about the idea of a Marysville paper. What sorts of "columns" might be beneficial? Here's a list for further iteration:#
- Civics. Schools aren't teaching this anymore anyway, ha. This could include exposition and commentary on the Constitution as well as WA RCWs and local laws. Think more The Federalist Papers and less Fox News.#
- Coming Events. If not a calendar, at least some highlights of good cultural things. Since I saw it years ago, I've always liked the Live in Everett site.#
- Things to Do. Sort of like coming events, but more the trails and sites that we live among but typically don't go see. #
- Business Highlight. Tell a story about a local shop. This wouldn't be a paid advertisement, but it would be good exposure. #
- How To. Rather than just another source for consuming, this section could host a variety of tips for crafting, gardening, cooking/recipes. #
- Funnies. Maybe find some community cartoon drawers? #
- Letters to the Editor. I mean, why not print feedback? Criticism can be constructive, and encouragement is, well, encouraging. #
- State Politics and National News. I've put these at the end; local first is still the point, while acknowledging that local isn't the only point. #
I've been thinking again about starting a newspaper (or a newsapp) for Marysville. #
It's an idea and conversation I've had before, but at that time there was the "Marysville Globe." According to Wikipedia the paper was established in 1891. That was even before the internet. For the two decades I've lived in Marysville it was the only local paper I knew about. It's also the local paper I rarely read due to the less than scintillating copy. It might have been bad, but at least it was ours.#
Sometime in the last year or so it disappeared. The url - www.MarysvilleGlobe.com - redirects to the Everett Herald. Bleh. There's just an archive of the Globe available now. #
Which means we've got a real opportunity and zero current competition. #
There's a fantastic book called, Rules for Reformers. It focuses on place rather than media, but one of the principles is finding a city that is both strategic and feasible. It is a place that matters and is also a place that can be taken. A "paper," so-called," isn't a city, but it is a source of information and perspective that could really start a fire. #
So what if we started a paper that was Local first, State second, Nation next? #
What if we loved our city in a way that brought out more of its loveliness? #
What if we provided a biblical perspective on what's happening among and around us, re-presented our Constitutional liberties to the citizens, and pushed our local magistrates to remember their authority and responsibilities to protect us against so much tyrannical overreach coming from the "power" cities of our State?#
What if we celebrated our local businesses - where you could enjoy coffee and beer and more - and promoted entrepreneurial opportunities? #
What if we highlighted the ridiculousness of some of the official positions in our public schools, and also highlighted some of the other educational movements that are actually awake to the deadly dreams of the woke?#
What if we connected churches, not to be under the same roof, but to build a better culture on behalf of the same Lord?#
What if we acknowledged that Jesus is the Lord (Romans 10:9), that He is before all things and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 17), that in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28), and that we will give an account for everything to Him (Hebrews 4:13)?#
So what if we called this venture The Marysville Standard? A friend of mine started working with this name a couple years ago. That name reminds us that we are under a (transcendent) standard, it urges us to set a new standard for local news and editorials, and it recalls the name of the paper Abraham Kuyper started in Holland, De Standaard, the same guy who said that Jesus claims lordship over every thumb's-width in the domain of human existence. That includes Marysville.#
Let me know what you think, if the juice would be worth the squeeze, and how you could help.#
We've made the call that our 2022 Raggant Fiction Festival will cover some of the epics. The festival's title is: Monumental Myths - Lit That Made Western Man. When talking about which epic I wanted to cover my first response was anything except for the Aeneid. Ha. Turns out, due to a number of variables, that I am now very excited about tackling Virgil. As I get going, I found this fantastic looking resource that I'll be trying to do some work in the original Latin text. I told my Latin students in class today that they can help keep me accountable.#
I like guitar, I like "Classical Gas"," and I like this edition: #
It's good to go public with thanks to God for His many gifts. He gives. #
I thank God for giving me the gift of open eyes that I might acknowledge that He is the Giver. #
I thank God for my wife, for her endurance of faith and work, for her relentless desire to bless her people.#
I thank God for my kids, one of whom got married and is now expecting a kid of her own! I am thankful for my son-in-law, my daughter with a new last name, my 16 year-old newly driver's-licensed son, my daughter who loves music and my daughter who loves to play.#
I thank God for our local church, shepherded by men who joyfully sacrifice for the flock, and a flock full of worshipping disciples who are joyful and value-making.#
I thank God for no trips to the Emergency Room for myself (so far this year).#
I thank God for the work of men such as J. Calvin and A. Kuyper. I am thankful for the technology that has enabled me to learn in the now what they wrote then, as well as for some men who are still working and whose blessing technology brings from afar.#
I thank God for the gifts of His Spirit, His Word, His Church, His cosmos.#
I thank God for days/seasons to feast in gratitude.#
George Gilder, in Life after Google, on the pockmarks of self-congratulatory progressive education: "Credentials are the way the old academic order perpetuates itself and its hierarchies. At vast expense, the universities channel students into echoing corridors of an increasingly reactionary educational establishment that imagines that socialist nostrums, identity politics, chemophobia, sterile hedonism, druidical sun-henges, totemic windmills, and great walls of batteries are progressive. To lure them out is a revolutionary act." (Loc. 3250)#
I've traveled with a dozen or so men from our church to a couple T4G conferences. We always had a great time together. It is also true that the Reformed-ish, conservative theological perspective is often very narrow, and I'd agree that it applies to the T4G gist. #
I don't agree with Mr. Sandlin that worldview is more important than theology, but that could be just an apparent disagreement. I'm sure he believes that God's revelation is the source, and the authority, for shaping weltanschauung. But I would say that the problem is a theology problem. The problem is a misunderstanding of God proper, and especially of God's interests.#
The problem is at least implicitly denying that the Creator-Theos cares about time and space, and behaving as if God changed His mind about all the goods in Genesis 1. It ignores the first great commission to man for relationships (be fruitful and multiply) and responsibilities (fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion) on the earth, here and now (Genesis 1:28). That's at bottom a Bible-reading issue, a doctrinal issue, not a philosophical one, as if worldview came apart from God's revelation.#
While such a limited worldview could be connected to one's eschatology, I believe that the theological error leading to the dilution in T4G circles is a form of dualism. All of the headlining T4G speakers act and teach as if what God cares about the most and, therefore, what all of us should care about the most, are "spiritual" things. But, ironically, spiritual fruit is earthy. Spiritual people are husbands and fathers (Ephesians 5:18 then look at the family responsibilities that flow out of the Spirit's filling), not just pastors and missionaries. Spiritual men serve and lead. They redeem the time (5:15), they don't only work on their sentences about eternity.#
It is the Christian confession that Jesus is Lord. It is the Calvinist who (most consistently) acknowledges that God is sovereign. It is a Kuyperian who grasps that the lordship of Christ applies to the rest of the day after our "quiet time" in the Word, and that the sovereignty of God in science and history and families and businesses and education is more than just a token pointing to heaven's throne.#
T4G does exalt Jesus and does preach the Word. And also they do so with a limited expectation of where the incarnate Word and inspired Word apply. Seek the things that are above with the things of earth. #
Anyway, read the original article and let's work to believe bigger than just defending a "privat(ized) theology limited to soteriology."#
At the beginning of any venture there are always questions, but this possible new-paper thing for #Marysville is the type that has a veritable cornucopia of Qs. The kind of columns is key for content, but how about the tools and strategies, such as:#
There's been a lot of positive feedback about the idea of a Marysville paper. What sorts of "columns" might be beneficial? Here's a list for further iteration:#
- Civics. Schools aren't teaching this anymore anyway, ha. This could include exposition and commentary on the Constitution as well as WA RCWs and local laws. Think more The Federalist Papers and less Fox News.#
- Coming Events. If not a calendar, at least some highlights of good cultural things. Since I saw it years ago, I've always liked the Live in Everett site.#
- Things to Do. Sort of like coming events, but more the trails and sites that we live among but typically don't go see. #
- Business Highlight. Tell a story about a local shop. This wouldn't be a paid advertisement, but it would be good exposure. #
- How To. Rather than just another source for consuming, this section could host a variety of tips for crafting, gardening, cooking/recipes. #
- Funnies. Maybe find some community cartoon drawers? #
- Letters to the Editor. I mean, why not print feedback? Criticism can be constructive, and encouragement is, well, encouraging. #
- State Politics and National News. I've put these at the end; local first is still the point, while acknowledging that local isn't the only point. #
I've been thinking again about starting a newspaper (or a newsapp) for Marysville. #
It's an idea and conversation I've had before, but at that time there was the "Marysville Globe." According to Wikipedia the paper was established in 1891. That was even before the internet. For the two decades I've lived in Marysville it was the only local paper I knew about. It's also the local paper I rarely read due to the less than scintillating copy. It might have been bad, but at least it was ours.#
Sometime in the last year or so it disappeared. The url - www.MarysvilleGlobe.com - redirects to the Everett Herald. Bleh. There's just an archive of the Globe available now. #
Which means we've got a real opportunity and zero current competition. #
There's a fantastic book called, Rules for Reformers. It focuses on place rather than media, but one of the principles is finding a city that is both strategic and feasible. It is a place that matters and is also a place that can be taken. A "paper," so-called," isn't a city, but it is a source of information and perspective that could really start a fire. #
So what if we started a paper that was Local first, State second, Nation next? #
What if we loved our city in a way that brought out more of its loveliness? #
What if we provided a biblical perspective on what's happening among and around us, re-presented our Constitutional liberties to the citizens, and pushed our local magistrates to remember their authority and responsibilities to protect us against so much tyrannical overreach coming from the "power" cities of our State?#
What if we celebrated our local businesses - where you could enjoy coffee and beer and more - and promoted entrepreneurial opportunities? #
What if we highlighted the ridiculousness of some of the official positions in our public schools, and also highlighted some of the other educational movements that are actually awake to the deadly dreams of the woke?#
What if we connected churches, not to be under the same roof, but to build a better culture on behalf of the same Lord?#
What if we acknowledged that Jesus is the Lord (Romans 10:9), that He is before all things and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 17), that in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28), and that we will give an account for everything to Him (Hebrews 4:13)?#
So what if we called this venture The Marysville Standard? A friend of mine started working with this name a couple years ago. That name reminds us that we are under a (transcendent) standard, it urges us to set a new standard for local news and editorials, and it recalls the name of the paper Abraham Kuyper started in Holland, De Standaard, the same guy who said that Jesus claims lordship over every thumb's-width in the domain of human existence. That includes Marysville.#
Let me know what you think, if the juice would be worth the squeeze, and how you could help.#
Last update: Wednesday December 29, 2021; 2:33 PM EST.