I just found out that my book finally shipped today from eCampus.com. Looks like I'll get it just before my third week in class. Ugh...$70 for a book I'll only use for two more weeks. Welcome to college I guess.

Various Happenings

On Tuesday we decided that we would break the routine by going to Coldstone Creamery. We got a large Stawberry Shortcake for Karlene and I and a Candy Factory of the same size for the kids. We stood in line, drooled as we watched the Creamsmith create our confection and threw a tip in a jar, but received no song (it is the tradition of Coldstone employees to sing a campy little worksong when they are tipped). Feeling a bit gypped by the absence of a ditty, we took our bowls of frozen joy outside and sat in front of the fountain where we proceeded to scarf them down. It was a warm, summer night with a cool breeze coming in now and then. Perhaps it sounds a bit cliche, due to the many paeans of the Beach Boys, but there is nothing better than a California summer.

The boys got about halfway through their ice creams when they decided that chewing the frozen bits of candy bar was just too much to ask of their poor little jaws. They gave up and decided that running around the fountain would be a better use of their time. Kar and I sat there and watched the boys play and laugh. As we watched a group of 14 year old girls walk by dresses in spaghetti strap tank-tops and short shorts, Karlene renewed her vow that if she ever had a daughter, she would not allow her to prance around town dressed like a little whore, to which I concurred. Man, there are days where I'm glad that we had boys.

Just then a group of chain-smoking, scowling punk rockers decided to come up and sit across of us. "Great, good time to go" I thought. So I stood up and walked over to my boys who were now jumping off the great mountain cliffs of the fountain seat and sat down with them. I gathered then into my arms and rocked them back and forth with a playful agression, planting copious kisses on their heads. Josh and Cabes wriggled free then turned to give the "Daddy Monster" a few lively punches, to which I feigned helplessness. This repeated itself for a bit when I discovered to my bemusement that the punk rockers were watching and laughing along with us. "Way to prejudge Rob" I said chastening myself. I gave them a warm smile then announced to my brood that it was time to go home.

Nights like that are so much fun, we need to have them more often.

NEA = DOA

Christopher Manion on the LRC Blog links to two bonechilling pieces by George Archibald about the agenda of the NEA. Ladies and gents, this is not a subtle agenda that the NEA has but an overt, in your face program of social engineering.

Mr. Manion also quotes an American studies teacher at a recent NEA meeting:

"I always tell my students: If I see you in the grocery store five years from now, I will not measure my success on can you tell me Hamilton's financial plan, but can you tell me if you voted,'' Meredith Elliott, an American studies teacher in Utah, said during a round-table discussion at the NEA convention. ``If you answer yes, then I've succeeded as a teacher.''

• Almost three out of four fourth-graders could not name which part of government passes laws. Most students thought it was the president. (It's Congress.)
  
  
• About three out of four fourth-graders knew that July 4 celebrates the Declaration of Independence. But one in four thought it marked the end of the Civil War, the arrival of the Pilgrims or the start of the woman's right to vote
  
  
• More than half of 12th-graders, asked to pick a U.S. ally in World War II from a list of countries, thought the answer was Italy, Germany or Japan. (The correct answer was the Soviet Union.)
  

Regarding this post, I think I found some help.

Keith Mathison commenting on Acts 2:41-47:

"Some have suggested that the words "breaking of bread" here refer to ordinary meals, but if that were true, there would be no reason for Luke to tell us that the disciples "continued steadfastly" in it. It is obvious that the disciples would continue to eat regularly. In the context of doctrine, fellowship and prayer, the phrase "breaking of bread" refers to the Lord's Supper (cf. Luke 22:19).

" Some of the earliest Christian writings also use the terminology of "breaking bread" to refer to the Lord's Supper. The Didache uses this language several times (9:3, 4; 14:1), as does Ignatius (To the Ephesians 20:2).

Take that PETA

Best. Billboard. Ever.

Theologian Alert!!

A little help from theology wonks please. I'm currently writing a position paper to give to my elders regarding the restoration of weekly communion to the service. I'm currently going through the texts in Acts where it talks about the disciples "breaking bread" as often as they met (c.f. Acts 2:42; 2:46a, 20:7-12).

I've read that it has sacramental implications, though I can't seem to find a defense for it. Why is this "breaking bread" eucharistic and not merely a "fellowship meal" (granted, church records show that fellowship meals often ended by partaking of the body and blood of Christ). But how does one scripturally make the case that it is sacramental in nature and therefore should make it a weekly observance?

Any thoughts...opinons...heresy trials?

10 lies that the Bush administration told us about Iraq. Heh, just 10?

My oldest graduated from Kindergarten on Saturday. Normally I don't get weepy at this type of stuff, but seeing him up there in his little shirt and tie reciting the memory verses and Latin chants and songs he learned over the year made me tear up. It also made me realize once more what a precious gift the families have in Nehemiah Christian Academy. Little did we know that what began as an vague idea in 1997 among three guys would now blossom into what we have now.

My boy was awarded the "Best in Mathematics" award, well deserved in my opinon. He is obsessed with numbers and is constantly adding and subtracting. It hasn't always been smooth sailing with Josh, who is prone to temper tantrums and mini-obsessions (whales, ages of people), but I couldn't be more proud of my little boy who daily amazes me with new facts and facets of his learning.

Here's to you J-man. I love you little buddy.

While Dubya's busy getting messages transmitted from the Mothership, maybe he would do well to listen to the voices of his soldiers.

"U.S. officials need to get our [expletive] out of here," said the 43-year-old reservist from Pittsburgh, who arrived in Iraq with the 307th Military Police Company on May 24. "I say that seriously. We have no business being here. We will not change the culture they have in Iraq, in Baghdad. Baghdad is so corrupted. All we are here is potential people to be killed and sitting ducks."

"I pray every day on the roof. I pray that we make it safe, that we make it safe home," Pollard said. "The president needs to know it's in his hands, and we all need to recognize this isn't our home, America is, and we just pray that he does something about it."

Apparantly our fearless leader has been given divine commands straight from the mouth of God. In speaking to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas:

"... Bush said: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."

Hmmm, check that out, my wife has her own national holiday.

What kind of gift does one give to commerorate such a sacred day of observance?

Heh-heh, sorry, I just had to.

From the LRC Blog