A shameless appeal...

... and an announcement.

The announcement being that this blog is going out of style, riding into the sunset, etc., which means that I will periodically check up on it, and possibly update it, but I won't do so very often.  I'll be doing more on my blogger, which is here: http://historicalibrarian.blogspot.com.  I'm going to try to keep it fairly updated with mostly historical and literary stuff, and stuff I'm studying, and probably some current events stuff, as is my want. 

So that's also my shameless appeal.  Please check out that blog and leave comments over there.  As I continue to do work on my thesis (Sir Walter Scott), I'll be updating stuff over there and hopefully writing more.  So check there more than here.

signing off...

The Management

Auburn Avenue Pastor's Conference

These are some of my notes...

LIFE & LITURGY

As Dr. Leithart put it, the point is “Liturgy in life” and “life in Liturgy”.  These are not two separate terms.  They don’t work “in and of themselves”.  They should be meshed together, liturgy is and should be a part of life, and our liturgy should be shaped by life and those things which make up life. (art, music, speaking or rhetoric, food, etc)…

-         Romans 12

-         I John 1

Continuing on that thread, liturgy is full of the art and the life of the world.  The language of liturgy is the way in which “life” is brought into liturgy… it’s what we see and hear… what we do.  So we must remember that life should be full of the liturgy which we have in church.  We should be constantly living our liturgy… our lives should be filled with singing, with dancing, with feasting, with confessing our sins, with forgiving those who sin against us, and in general with the liturgy of our worship.  In the same way, our liturgy should be full of life.  The singing and feasting that we do the other 6 days of the week should be done with even more meaning on the Lord’s Day in worship.  God uses those things which we do in everyday life as MEANS BY WHICH WE ARE TO WORSHIP HIM.  This is the point of the Christian life.  We are living our ENTIRE lives in the worship of God, and every day should be lived out in this manner.  In the same way, when we corporately gather together on Sunday, we are to LIVE OUT our lives in our worship.  We are called together through the Holy Spirit by the blood of Christ INTO the presence of the Father, and we are called to LIVE our worship.  So we are to sing.  We are confess our sins.  We are to make things right with our neighbors and with God.  We are to uncover ourselves and allow God to point out our sins and say “Look!  That needs fixing.  So let me fix it!”  God does not call perfect Christians to Himself.  He calls *sinful* Christians, Christians who know they are not perfect, and need God’s grace and forgiveness.  This points to the crux of our liturgy, in which we are called to eat at God’s table.  He has slain the perfect lamb, and we feast in joy and gladness upon Him who died for us.  His body and blood fill us with new life and the grace by which we can live during the rest of the week as we live out our worship.  Liturgy in life, and life in liturgy.

Of course, as we seeking to implement a liturgy which illustrates this sort of “life”, we must beware of some things.  We must be patient and long-suffering, and this was the point of Jeff Meyers’ lectures.  We must beware of “liturgical reform” and how we go about it.  It’s not something that can just occur overnight, that as leaders in the church we go back home and announce immediately that we are going to start implementing reform in our liturgy and changing dramatically the way we worship.  This is not Christian love, and not forbearance, faith, hope, and love.  We must have faith in the knowledge that Christ’s church is eternal, and therefore we have no need to “hurry up”.  We must hope in Christ, that He will continue to do a work in our congregations, and that He will provide us with opportunities to reform our worship over time.  We must love our congregations and be “long-suffering” in our desire to pull our congregants along in liturgical reform.  There are several things that must be taken into consideration when we finally go about this.  We must know our congregation’s history, we must know what their background is, what their “ecclesiastical background” is, and we must make sure that we, as leaders in the church, communicate with not only our congregants, but the fellow leaders in the church, such as the elders and deacons and other vocal leaders and idealists in the church.  Our liturgical reformation is, once again, not going to occur overnight, but over time, and therefore we must our people’s background, and their situations, in mind when we go about this.  We must love our neighbor and remember our positions as “shepherds of the flock.”  And of course, we must realize that each and every congregation will find itself in different situations liturgically. Some will have a higher liturgy, some will have some liturgy in its basic form, and some congregations will have very little liturgy at all.  This means that our individual churches will not undergo this reformation in the same way at the same time.  That would be bad for that to happen.  We want to remember what our first calling as pastors and leaders in the church is: shepherding and loving the people of God.  This is our calling, and if we are doing that properly, opportunities for liturgical reform will arise, and we may then take advantage of those opportunities. 

One of the places where we as Christians have failed in our churches and in our worship regards the *music* of the church.  We have lost good and glorious and vibrant music, and we need that to revive through our desire for reform.  Worship is the central job of the church, and we should constantly be worshipping God through our liturgy, and through our music.  Our bodies are musical instruments, in fact, the original instruments, and God has given us the art of music as the primary weapon against the powers of darkness.  As James Jordan pointed out, *music* is what David played in order to fight against the evil spirits which plagued Saul.  So we need to reform our music.  We need to revive our singing.  Many, or most, of our hymns are sung as dirges, and that is not what the music of the church should sound like.  In Revelation we read of the angels in heaven singing glorious praises to our God and King.  They did NOT sing slowly and dirge-like.  Our songs, hymns, and psalms should show forth our faith and hope, and our CONFIDENCE that Christ will reign, and that the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of our Christ, and HE shall reign forever and ever and ever… He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Keeping you updated with the very latest...

Here's how I waste my time... reading stuff like this...

http://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/104126/Ten-Likely-Events-in-2008;_ylt=Angb1tjsofWVDFwNydlKGD9O7sMF

Ten Likely Events in 2008

by BW Staff
Tuesday, January 1, 2008provided by

Move over, Nostradamus. When it comes to prognostications, we here at BusinessWeek take a backseat to no one -- especially when there's zero money on the line.

More From BusinessWeek Online: • People to Watch in 2008 • Gadgets to Watch in 2008 • The Best Leaders of 2007

BusinessWeek writers and editors put our eggnog-addled minds together and envisaged 10 events we're pretty sure will come to pass in the next 12 months. Maybe it's our natural tendency to see the cloud around every silver lining, but we can't help but think some of the notable "movements" of 2007 -- full- blare touting of corporate green credentials and social networks, to name two -- will run their course in 2008. Oil bulls will have their way. Airlines will lie down together in green meadows. You get the picture.

Of course, if we really knew what was going to happen, we would start one of those fancy hedge funds. And yes, we knew they were going to run into trouble last year. But we can't tip everything, can we? Then there would be nothing to write about.

Ten Likely Events in 2008
Rank	Prediction
1	Green Crisis
2	Airline Consolidation Begins
3	Bloomberg's Historic Run
4	Bye-bye, CDs
5	Facebook Fatigue
6	Finally, Internet TV
7	The Biggest Bribe Penalty Ever
8	Web Crash 2.0
9	Crude Oil Will Top $100* *Update: Oil reached $100 per barrel on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008
10	Big Brother Fears Return

Green Crisis
There will be a backlash in the green movement after it becomes clear that many of the companies claiming to be green are in fact nothing of the sort. Businesses that proclaim they are "carbon neutral" will find that such proclamations no longer carry much weight among far more skeptical media and consumers.

Airline Consolidation Begins
At least one major U.S. airline will buy another in 2008. The most likely scenario is that Delta Air Lines will go after Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, or JetBlue Airways. When that happens, others will scramble to cut their own deals. Certainly, no airline wants to be left stranded as a solo operator if Clinton or Obama ends up in the White House and taps the brakes on industry consolidation. The main drivers for such combinations will be the shabby finances many companies will see in 2008 and the argument that the U.S. economy and business require a healthier industry. What's more, airlines that restructured in bankruptcy have some new private equity and hedge fund owners that will demand returns.

Bloomberg's Historic Run
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will enter the Presidential race in February, after it becomes clear which nominees will get the nod from the major parties. His multiple billions and organization will impress voters -- and stun rivals. He'll look like the most viable third-party candidate since Teddy Roosevelt. But Bloomberg will come up short, as he comes in for withering attacks from both Democrats and Republicans. He and Clinton will split more than 50% of the votes, but Arizona's maverick senator, John McCain, will end up the country's next President.

Bye-bye, CDs
The music industry is in crisis. The key reason is that CD sales are plummeting. Now, it's going to get worse. This year, the most important retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores and Best Buy, will look to radically downsize their CD sections. Perhaps there will be no more than one aisle, chock-full of mainstream pop titles. Digital music will continue to grow in influence, from iTunes and Amazon.com to ad-supported site such as imeem and fast-growing upstarts like Pitchfork.

Facebook Fatigue
Social network fatigue will set in as people tire of getting yet another invitation from so-called friends to join yet another social network. And, in the wake of Facebook's fumbled social ads initiative, it will become even more apparent there's no obvious way to pitch products on these sites without turning off members. Social features will wend their way into all kinds of Web services, from search to news, but the gold rush in social networks themselves will begin to wane.

Finally, Internet TV
For years, gearheads have dreamed of getting all that video from the Internet onto the big 52-inch screen in the den. But it's a pain. Look for that to change in 2008. While Apple TV has been a dud, Steve Jobs & Co. will make an aggressive play this year for the most important screen in the house. Perhaps Apple will even make a gorgeous TV itself, with all the necessary Net capabilities inside. And if Apple can't do it, someone else will.

The Biggest Bribe Penalty Ever
German electronics giant Siemens will agree to pay more than $1 billion in fines to avoid prosecution by the Securities & Exchange Commission and the U.S. Justice Dept. on charges it paid hundreds of millions in bribes to win foreign contracts. The fine will shatter the previous record fine under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Siemens will also agree to allow compliance monitors to set up shop in its Munich headquarters to ensure the company has cleaned up its act.

Web Crash 2.0
If a recession finally hits, Web 2.0 companies will find there are neither enough ad dollars out there for all of them to survive on, nor enough big corporate buyers such as Google, Microsoft, and traditional media companies to buy them all out. What's more, venture capitalists may decide that momentum looks better for clean-tech investments than for Web startups that depend on a cyclical business like advertising. So more will join the "DeadPool," as the Web startup blog TechCrunch calls its list of failed companies.

Crude Oil Will Top $100*
When will the world see $100-per-barrel oil? Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at London-based Barclays Capital, is betting that 2008 will be the year. Horsnell thinks the prediction is a slam dunk, though he doesn't believe $100-per-barrel oil itself has any great significance. Horsnell bases his prediction on broad fundamentals in the industry, which he says are reflected in the behavior of the futures curve for oil prices. Despite six years of rising prices, demand continues to grow -- especially in China and the oil-rich Middle East -- while new supplies have been disappointing. These are key reasons that futures prices for oil five to seven years out have been moving steadily up in recent years to the $85-per-barrel range at present. Horsnell believes that such prices, which attract relatively little press coverage, are a proxy for long-term, sustainable oil prices. At the same time, the near-term prices, which do get people's attention, have been very volatile, ranging all the way from $50 per barrel to almost $100 per barrel in 2007.

*Update: Oil reached $100 per barrel on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008.

Big Brother Fears Return
For a decade, a Net-happy world has cheerfully shared personal information online, with relatively little mainstream concern over privacy. Now, the issue may come to the fore, as carriers and cable companies deploy click-tracking software and publicity about China's Olympian Internet oversight leaks into the news.

Copyrighted, Business Week. All rights reserved.

An update of sorts...

It’s Christmas break now.  Time for some reflection, I believe.  I’ve successfully made it halfway through my Junior year at NSA.  Looking back, here are some of the highlights:

n      Living with 6 other guys in our own house… this includes our arguments and discussion… our feasts and parties… our pranks… and our Sunday afternoons. 

n      Successfully pulling off the first-ever St. Andrew’s Feast.  Plans are in the works for following years.

n      Taking Hebrew (for one quarter).

n      Helping co-ordinate the NSA Fall Carnival.  T’was splendid.

n      Singing in the Christ Church Chamber Choir.

n      Taking the Rene Girard Elective from Pastor Wilson.

n      Being able to experience Mr. Grieser and Mr. McIntosh in their first years at NSA.  It’s been great fun, and I’m looking forward to more of it.

n      Being able to read I John quite well in Greek.  Very rewarding.

n      Doing a little bit of studying and research on Sir Walter Scott… and preparing to do a thesis of sorts on him… more on that later.

n      Trinity Festival ’07.  Best yet.   Better come next year so you can participate in *that* one.  It will be wonderful, no doubt.

n      Rhime and Reason meetings.

n      Getting to know my class better.

n      Having a car in Moscow… always a nice thing.

n      Thanksgiving back at home for the first time.

n      Studying my fair share of Real Estate “facts and principles” in order to take an exam so I might obtain a Texas Real Estate license before too long. 

n      Eating at West of Paris… and cleaning there… and generally spending time there.  Good times.

n      Tubing down in Lewiston.  In the summer of course… oh, and on the same note, going jet-skiing on a lake north of Spokane.  Great fun.

The Next Week

Finals start on Friday for us here at NSA.  Everything is now due.  Here's a look at what *I'll* be doing over the course of the next week.

Traditio Presentation -- incomplete COMPLETED
Thesis Paper (5 pages) -- incomplete COMPLETED
Online Greek Final -- incomplete COMPLETED
Greek Vocab and Paradigm Final (Friday) -- incomplete COMPLETED
Greek Translation Final (Monday) -- incomplete COMPLETED
Rene Girard Paper (3000-5000 words) -- incomplete COMPLETED
Traditio Paper (1250-1500) -- incomplete COMPLETED
Rene Girard Final (Monday) -- incomplete COMPLETED
Thesis Final Presentation -- incomplete COMPLETED
Thesis Final (Tuesday) -- incomplete COMPLETED
Traditio Commonplaces -- incomplete COMPLETED
Traditio Final (Wednesday) -- incomplete COMPLETED

EDIT:  FINIS!!!

Now, with a list like that, I'd better get crackin' ...

Cheers,

DA