We are most grateful to God. The day began wonderfully, with a joint worship service of Christ Church, Trinity Reformed Church, and Christ Church, Spokane, along with all the early arrivals for Trinity Fest. The Lord gave us a seven day work week, and each week we have the privilege of building everything we do on the foundation of the Lord’s Day. Worship is central. It is central to us, not because we are Christians, but because we are creatures. God made us this way — man is fundamentally homo adorans, worshipping man, defined by who or what he worships. And as Psalm 115 makes clear, we become more and more like what we worship. This happens to everyone — atheists, pagans, animists, idolaters, and Trinitarians. This morning we had the privilege, given to us in Christ, of worshipping God the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, in the authority of the Holy Spirit. God is good, and we were greatly blessed.
This afternoon we had a good time sitting around our table outside, watching the grandkids, and visiting with good friends from out of town. I would mention our friends’ names, but they are visiting here from two states of the union that have been declared hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and I don’t want them to start getting phone calls.
This evening the day was topped off by a performance of Handel’s Israel in Egypt, conducted (wonderfully) by Mark Reagan. The music was one great and glorious God-honoring wall of sound. The University of Idaho’s Ad Auditorium was filled (and hot), but the music was worth it. Great start to the week.
In the meantime, over in the nickel seats, the hecklers continue apace. Dr. Quinlan of the UI posted a piece linking me in nefarious and undefined ways to various murders, both solved and unsolved. This is the kind of cutting edge, crackerjack scholarship we have come to expect from historical scholars at the UI.
Barbara Crouch has announced that she is moving away from Moscow because she doesn’t feel it is safe for her mixed race kids here, a feeling that she pinned on the influence of Christ Church. I am not challenging the legitimacy of her feelings, but think that she has misidentified the source of the threat, which is actually the UI Art and Architecture Department. I know, I know, they have done and said nothing to warrant this accusation, but apparently, taking our cues from Barbara, saying or doing something is not necessary before becoming the recipient of such a charge. Her move is clearly unrelated to the fact that her husband recently lost an election for the office of sheriff.
Melynda Huskey jumped to scatalogical conclusions from my reference to sacramental prune juice, and chided me for language unbecoming to a minister. But I was not referring to gastro-intestinal issues at all, but rather to the dour, unhappy, grim, killjoy countenances displayed by people who actually complained to the University of Idaho that worshippers under twenty-one were going to get a thimbleful of sacramental wine in a religious service. If that is not dour, if that is not being a temperance biddy, I don’t know what is. Maybe they are just sucking on sacramental lemons, I don’t know. This is all speculation, of course. I really don’t know what they are taking, but they must be taking something! Otherwise they wouldn’t give me presents like this — think about it! The set up is just great, and I can assure you I will mention it every chance I get for the next five years or so. Hard-drinking and rowdy Calvinists being harassed by the temperance goody-goodies! This just encapsulates everything we are trying to demonstrate, you know? Secularism, including the religious compromises with it, is fastidious and just no fun at all.
So much for the round up on day two.