Well... Alexandra says that I need to do another post, and I think that she's right.  I see her point; my link at the bottom of the page is making the screen blow up.  =P  Not good. 

So anyway, maybe some of you know that I have the SAT on Saturday.  Bleck.  I'm not looking forward to it.  Today I looked at a study-guide thing that I have and the questions themselves don't really look bad... in fact, I'm kinda looking forward to the essay part.  Whee!  Someone has to read my opinion!  *evil grin*

On the other hand, there is very much the problem which Harold Abrahams complained about in Chariots of Fire -- "I get out there and I have 30 seconds to prove myself."  (Excuse me for that not being an exact quote, but I haven't seen the movie in a long time and cannot find the script online.)  Fortunately, I know that there is a whole lot more to me than one SAT... but there is still pressure.  Yick. 

And now I shall steal shamelessly from what Antion wrote before he had his SAT.  "Well tonight I only have one thing on my mind.... SAT's. I am not nervous at all, but to be truthful, I'm scared. I'm scared that I'm now 17 and before I know it I'll be at college, then I'll get a job, then a wife, and then a family. I once wrote an essay about American's and their fears. I said that the major factor behind most every fear is that we simply don't know, and that is what is freaking me out now."  Now of course in my case, I'm 16 and I will not EVER be getting a wife , but change those two facts and the basic truth remains.  It's pretty scary to be growing up. 

Anyway, goodnight!  Hope that you all have a wonderful day tomorrow!

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day on IM, and we began by joking but moved into some more serious subjects.  I reminded him (as if he didn't know!) to keep in mind that I'm not perfect.  He replied, "but you are striving and that is more than i can say about a lot of people i see."

The fortunate thing about having an online conversation with some one is that you don't have to get your mouth shut before you can go on, because I probably looked something like this O_o and said, "it's a lot more than I can say of myself too often".  Which was completely true!  There are way too many times when I, if I am being honest at all, have to say that I am not really making an effort to please God.  Sure, I'm not doing anything BAD, but that isn't what He wants.  He wants me, living for Him with everything I have... striving after Him...

Last night I was reading a prayer from The Valley of Vision and part of it says, "My sin is not so much this or that particular evil, but my continual separation, disunion, distance from Thee, and having a loose spirit towards Thee."  It's a question which I need to ask myself constantly.  Am I striving after God?  Or do I have a "loose spirit" towards Him?  Am I consciously trying to please Him?  Or am I just not committing sins of comission?

I was thinking about it again tonight.  It's a really hard concept to wrap your mind around... that the spirit which moves the body which I'm in now will someday be cut free from its bondage to the earth, free from its shameful craving for sin, and be able to be totally God's. 

That is an awesome thought.

It is enough to keep me striving.

Today we were going to watch a movie (no evening service as we had it in the afternoon!) so Dad asked me to cue it up.

Well, much to Mom's surprise, it was Lady Jane!  Apparently she and Dad had decided that we'd watch Pirates of the Caribbean, which message was not relayed to the cuer-upper, who had merely heard LJ mentioned.  *cough*

Anyway, we ended up sticking with LJ.  So here's a bit of analysis.

They did a very nice job tying up the loose ends (for the most part) and going full circle.  Lovely, lovely.  *gives kudos points*

They never actually showed the severed heads *ughshudderugh* but unfortunately, that's not worth points, it just didn't lose them any. ^_^

Jane was pretty, but she was also sort of a brat.  =P

Guilford was... um... very... let's see.  He really reminded me of Westley from the Princess Bride!

What?  You say that Cary Elwes does have a tendency to look... well... like himself?  What a novel thought.

OK, some more serious thoughts.

The romance which they had going between Jane and Guilford was nice, in a Hollywood-ish fashion, but it really spoiled a lot of other stuff.

First of all, it is completely historically inaccurate.  =P  Jane hated Guilford. 

Secondly, it stole much of what she stood for as well as her reason for dying!  At the end of the movie (right before her head comes disconnected >_<) Jane whispers, "Guilford!"

She did not die so that she could be with Guilford.  She died because she refused to renounce her Reformed faith!

Anyway... now that I have that rant out of my system...

I did have a hard time watching Cary Elwes in a "serious" role.

  In fact, I added a few quotes from the Princess Bride in... "It was a strange wedding."

So it really was a pretty good movie, it was a lot of fun to watch the interactions between characters, especially King Edward VI and and Jane when she is queen.  ^_^

But for a more, erm, historically accurate (I think) and also interesting book, I highly recommend Coronation of Glory by Deborah Meroff.

One other thing about this movie:  I came away with appreciation for the separation of church and state.  Yes, it's been much mis-used, and mis-interpreted, and so on, but the movie gives a very clear picture of some MAJOR problems with what happens when the state determines the religion!

Thus said Archimedes, bragging about levers.  But to move the people of the world, no fixed points are needed.

Honestly, it is FAR too easy to sway people... maybe it's because logic is not much taught in public schools today... maybe people just don't like thinking...

This thought just came to mind yesterday as we were listening to Ya Got Trouble from The Music Man. 

For anyone unfamiliar with the plot of the movie, Harold (the Music Man) is trying to convince the people that they need to form a band.  To aid him in this endeavor, he lights upon the new pool table in town as a cause of all sort of immorality, which will certainly entrance their young people if they don't have something productive to do -- such as being in his band.

His *cough* logic leaves much to be desired.

The grand finalle sums up many of his best points.

Are certain words creeping into his conversation?
Words like 'swell?"
And 'so's your old man?"
Well, if so my friends,
Ya got trouble,
Right here in River city!
With a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P"
And that stands for Pool.
We've surely got trouble!
Right here in River City!
Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule!
Oh, we've got trouble.
We're in terrible, terrible trouble.
That game with the fifteen numbered balls is a devil's tool!
Oh yes we got trouble, trouble, trouble!
With a "T"! Gotta rhyme it with "P"!
And that stands for Pool!!!

How does T rhyming with P have anything to do with the evils of pool?  And what in the world does Plymouth Rock have to do with pool?    The song just cracks me up. 

I've had plenty of experience with people listening to rhetoric more than what the rhetoric is saying...  this is often really, really obvious during quizzing challenges.  The judges are good about paying attention to what the challenges are, but I've heard at least one time in so many words, "I'd just give up and say, OK, you win!"  And it was an awful challenge!  It was just made by a good quizzer, and he knows his stuff, and it sounded educated... but it had nothing to do with the question!

And then there was the wonderful night at youth group a while back when they not only put Antion and me on the same team (big mistake for debates), they also gave us his younger brother Josh.  Antion and I were doing well in defending the point (which we did NOT agree with) that grades are not as important as having fun in school, between telepathy, good notes, and the book of Ecclesiastes, when we hit a lull.  Josh to the rescue:  "Look, JESUS said, 'take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry'." (Luke 12:19)  Talk about out of context; it's from the parable about the foolish man who build bigger and bigger barns and said to himself, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."

It may have been taken seriously by our opponents if we had been able to restrain our laughter.  But we weren't.

I (who pride myself on my logical abilities!) have fallen prey to rhetoric... thanks to CarpeBanana, a few years ago, and the DHMO website.  >_<

So, a warning and a reminder.  Beware of what you hear.  It is easy to take things out of context, easy to be misled if your beliefs are not grounded in the Word of God.  And as our pastor pointed out today, we cannot be grounded God's Word unless we know it, and we cannot know it unless we spend time in it.   Jesus is the "fixed point" and Rock of our salvation, which can move the world.  Don't settle for anything less.

An awesome quote from Perelandra by C.S. Lewis:  "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, here goes -- I mean Amen," said Ransom, and hurled the stone as hard as he could...

I LOVE that quote.  It is so true, and a good reminder when we forget that our prayers are powerful and effective weapons!  James 5:16 says, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."  I was thinking about that verse one day and thought that it fails to comfort me, as I fall so short of righteousness... but then it struck me that we have a great High Priest in heaven, interceding on our behalf... "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." ~ Hebrews 4:14-16  He is a righteous Man, and His prayers for us are powerful and effective.

So here goes.

I mean, Amen.

Little things can have very big consequences. 

I’ve been thinking about this, and it is quite clear through one example.

In 2004 I went to OPC camp for the first time, not knowing anyone.  Well, the kids were terrifically friendly, and I had a great time. 

On the morning when we were to leave, Mom saw a guy on my team, Andrew, wearing a shirt which had something to do with a speech & debate club he was in.  She mentioned to him that I was quite into debating (informally, I assure you), and that was that.

Or so I thought.

That afternoon, as we were leaving, I saw Andrew and said something to him along the lines of, “Hey, goodbye, we’re leaving a day early, it was nice to meet you.”

I was about to learn that Andrew is not a man to be easily shaken from something he was interested in.

I spent the next 45 minutes (I’m not exaggerating, I checked my watch) talking (more of listening) about speech and debate.

Finally, I managed to sneak off, as there were other kids I needed to bid farewell to.

And that was that.

Right.

A few weeks later, while I was in the middle of a Monopoly game, the phone rang.  Dad answered it, and here is what I heard:

Dad: “Hello?  Hello?  It’s who?  What do you…  oh just a second.  Narie, it’s for you.  Andrew.  From camp.”

me:  “Hello?”

Andrew:  *who figured I didn’t remember him*  “Um, it’s Andrew from camp, the guy with the cheer…*

I remembered him.  *cough*  How could I have forgotten!  He invited me to watch a debate.

I accepted, and went, despite the fact that I had bronchitis and felt like a real dork coughing the whole time.  >_<

And THAT was THAT.

No, it wasn’t.

In October that year, I went to an OPC youth rally. 

While we were hanging around downstairs, I met a girl.  I fuzzily remembered her as having been on my team at camp, and having green pompoms glued to her glasses, but I didn’t know her.  And given that kind of prejudice, I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know her!  Except for one thing – she mentioned that she was Andrew’s sister.

Well, as Andrew was one of the very few people whom I actually knew, I decided that I’d better get to know her.  So Madeline and I spent a while together, and then later that night, when I was looking for a place to sleep in the church basement, she invited me into her room.  ^_^  Happy to have a connection, I accepted the offer, and she introduced me to the other girls (yes, she knew them ALL) and so on.

One of them, Abby, was sleeping next to me.  That story went something like this:

Abby: *is asleep*

me: *is almost asleep*

Abby:  *says in her sleep* “I love you.”

me:  *thinks*  That’s funny.

Abby:  *rolls over and smacks me in face*

So Abby was pretty memorable.  I haven’t seen her since, but we talk all the time, and the next year at camp I was inspired to say hello to a kid named David.  Literally all I knew about him was that he was Abby’s brother (I don’t know how I knew that but…) and that he had been complaining about Latin at the rally.  Good basis for a friendship, right? 

Well, we still talk all the time, too.

And so do Madeline and I, and her sister Alexandra and I…

It’s just odd to reflect upon the fact how so many little things have brought me four of my best friends… if David hadn’t complained about Latin, I don’t think I would have remembered him.  I may have remembered Abby even if she hadn’t smacked me in the face, but I wouldn’t have known her if I hadn’t known Madeline.  I wouldn’t have started writing to Alexandra if I hadn’t known her sister.  I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know Madeline (or certainly not so soon) if Andrew hadn’t built some kind of relationship with me first.  And Andrew never would have done that if Mom hadn’t complimented him on his shirt, which wouldn’t have happened if he had worn it not at all, or even a day later…

Psalm 33

11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Jeremiah 29

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

It is good to know that I am in the hands of God, who works out all His plans… even through small compliments!

Disclaimer:  Dangerous things happen when Narie is doing a calc test and listening to the radio.  

However, we cannot portray Him accurately, and while most people would agree with this, I don’t think they understand the full scope.  The best description we have is Isaiah 53:2, “…He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.”  But, people argue, we can portray characteristics.  Well, looking at the typical picture of Jesus, I can see a slim white guy with brown, longish hair (by the way, what is the long hair about?  Whatever happened to I Corinthians 11:14?) and light eyes, looking very meek (at least I think that’s what He’s supposed to look like), and as if I could beat Him at arm wrestling.  Uh… OK…  Apparently, our culture has confused “meek” and “weak”.  I understand how that could happen – they DO sound a lot alike. 

Being meek calls for a restraint of power.  It is not especially meek to refrain from beating up a policeman who has pulled you over for running a red light.  It is meek to be kind to someone who has been nasty to you when you could be mean back and could get away with it.

Jesus had way more power than we could ever dream of – than Darth Vader could ever dream of – than Saruman could ever dream of.  Jesus did not stay on the cross because He couldn’t get down – He stayed on the cross because He humbled Himself to death, even to death on the cross (Philippians 2:8).

So pictures cannot capture this characteristic, and really they cannot capture any characteristic, because as R.C. Sproul points out in his book The Holiness of God, all of God’s characteristics are holy.  His love is holy, His justice is holy, and how can holiness be shown?  We don’t even fully understand what holiness is; it is something set apart from this world, but if we could portray it, it would no longer be different than the world.  All the characteristics which we can picture are human characteristics.

Are we trying to evangelize people about Christ’s humanity?  If that is all that we need to do, then we can throw out the Westminster Catechism, which says that man’s chief end is to glorify God, we can throw out Jesus’ name Immanuel, for what would it matter if He is God?  In fact, if all that we are concerned about is His humanity, then we can throw out the entire gospel, because we are not told, as Douglas Adams said, that a “man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice for people for a change…”  Rather, the apostle John boldly declares at the very beginning of his gospel, that “the Word was God.”

So… pictures of Christ are not accurate, cannot be accurate, and are in fact teaching an anti-gospel message.  This is a dangerous thing, then, to be bringing into the church to “teach” the gospel.  It can leave people with extremely false ideas of what their head should be filled with when they come together to worship God.  After The Passion of the Christ came out, Billy Graham said, “Every time I preach or speak about the Cross, the things I saw on the screen will be on my heart and mind.”  Man-made images are not what should be going through our heads during worship! 

The good news is that we don’t need pictures to teach about Christ.  Jesus Himself said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

Hopefully there will be an entry coming soon about being the face of Christ -- being ambassadors for Him.  More stuff from summer camp '05!

For those of you who don't know me, I'm not terribly patient.  *sigh*  In other words, I'm trying to upload pictures... and... it... is... as... slow... as... molasses.  My fault for trying to upload between 4 and 6 pictures (large ones!) at once, I suppose.

One funny story from my Pastor...

He said that he was at a wedding the other day, and they were finding out who all wanted beer... the guy was going down the table, "Do you want a beer?  Do you want a beer?"  Well, he got to my Pastor and said, "Do you want a coke?"

My Pastor:  O_o "A COKE??  I want a beer!"

Why it is that people think that Christians cannot enjoy things like wine or beer?  True, we are not supposed to become drunk, but Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine!  Surely He would not have done that if He did not think that people should be drinking wine!  And in Acts 2, when the disciples were accused of having "too much wine", Peter did not say, "Of course we aren't drunk, we don't drink alcoholic beverages!"  Rather, he said that they couldn't be drunk, because it was only 9 in the morning. 

*sigh*

*climbs off soapbox*

*is too young to drink, anyway.*

Goodnight!

So, have you ever wondered how many worldviews can be packed into one funeral?  Well, let's start off with a pew of Calvinists and a Lutheran pastor.  Then, add into the mix the fact that the pastor changes words in the service... i.e. "God, who loves His people" was changed to "God, who loves all people"...

So that was bad.

Did I mention that before the service were conversations about how "she isn't really dead, she's here with us?"

OK... and then there was certainly NO mention of heaven vs. hell, just a vague kind of happy place where we will all be forever... and you can just have fun there...

But then, in contradiction of all other views there, a poem was read at the graveside about "I am not dead, I am the voice of the wind, and I am in the flowers..."  

Arg.

On a completely different subject... I got to see the ocean!  It was awesomely cool!

And Bible Quizzing is starting back up!

~~~~~~~~~~

So I will have a lot of quotes for ya'll, but it was weird.  *sigh*

But hey!  I'm home!  And I'm wearing my wonderful swooshy skirt!

One funny story...

Hyarion:  *is eating dessert*  *notices gnat on plate*  *points it out to Uncle Ken*

Uncle Ken:  *squashes gnat*  *ON his plate*  *rubs guts around*  *ON his plate*

Hyarion:     

Uncle Ken:  *does not notice*

Hyarion:  Uh, I think I'm done.

Mom:  *finishes Hyarion's pie for him*

Now Ataralasse and Elpinoine missed the entire thing, so I had to tell them the story yesterday.  By the time that I told it to them, even Hyarion was finding it amusing.  But he explained what he thought was SOOOO gross... and no, it wasn't the gnat itself getting squished on his plate... it was the fact that there was still a gnat-leg on his plate.

Ugh.

Well, with that cheery thought I shall leave you.

*sniff*

I'm not sniffing because I'm saying goodnight, I'm sniffing because I have a cold!

My gracious!! 

In the news about plans to blow up planes, are mentioned mothers who are perfectly willing to blow their children with them.  To quote from CBS News, "Authorities said Thursday the plot would have caused "mass murder on an unimaginable scale." At least one of the 24 people arrested was reportedly a woman with a small child..."  But if you believe what Islam teaches, then what better way to die than to blow up the non-Muslims?  And what's wrong with taking your child with you?

Unfortunately, it's not only these women who will kill their babies.  It's done all the time in America, and it's socially acceptable, not to mention perfectly legal.  And while those who oppose this legal procedure are called "pro-life", those who support it aren't called "pro-death", oh no; they're called, "pro-choice". 

In China it's not even pro-choice:  it's pro-whatever-the-government-makes-you-do. 

As Mom and I were discussing the wrongness of all this... mothers willing to kill their children, we began talking about how the war on terror isn't really a war on the terrorists -- it's a war of worldviews.  Then again, this isn't (or shouldn't be) a surprise.  Paul told us in Ephesians 6:12, "For we do not struggle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces in the heavenly places."

I was reminded of a few things. 

One, Michael Card's song 

The Spirit of the Age

I thought that I heard crying coming through my door.
Was it Rachel weeping for her sons who were no more?
Could it have been the babies crying for themselves,
Never understanding why they died for someone else?

The voices head of weeping and of wailing,
History speaks of it on every page.
Of innocent and helpless little babies,
Offerings to the spirit of the age.

No way of understanding this sad and painful sign.
Whenever Satan rears his head there comes a tragic time.
If he could crush the cradle, then that would stop the cross.
He knew that once the Light was born his every hope was lost!

Now every age had heard it, the voice that speaks from hell.
"Sacrifice your children and for you it will be well."
The subtle serpent's lying, his dark and ruthless rage.
Behold it is revealed to be the spirit of the age!

Soon all the ones who seemed to die for nothing
Will stand beside the Ancient of Days,
With joy we'll see that Infant from a manger
Come and crush the spirit of the age

*edit -- I'm not saying that I agree with all the theology in the song, Spirit of the Age.  But it does have some good points, and it did come to mind. 

And also of a section of the book Whirled Views, by Marvin Olasky and Joel Belz, which I shall just quote: " 'Can a mother forget the baby at her breast,' Isaiah asked, 'and have no compassion on the child she has borne?'  (Isaiah 49:15)  The prophet knew how unthinkable the thought was in the minds of his readers -- or in our minds three millennia and a hundrend human generations later. 

"But we flatter ourselves.  Isaiah's point was actually very different.  We tend to truncate the quote from the prophet because we like to think better of ourselves than we ought.  It may be comfortable to distance ourselves from [a lady who caused the death of her sons]'s of the world, but it's ultimately dishonest to do so. 

"For Isaiah didn't stop where I stopped.  He went on with the sober reminder that even mother-love is not constant.  'Though she may forget,' Isaiah reminds us, "I will not forget you.'  Only God is faithful."

That is the good news in a world which finds murdering children acceptable.  God says to His people, "I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands... I am the LORD your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel."  (from Isaiah 49:15, 16, and 26)