Hace nieve!

Your sons and daughters shall Prophesy

This weekend I finished reading (but have yet to conquer the hefty appendixes) The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today. The topic of prophecy was not one that I had thought much about before. This book argues that prophecy in the Old Testament is "God's words", which were not to be questioned; this is why we have many of these prophecies recorded in the Bible. In the NT, apostles took over this role, as their words became Scripture, and they claimed authority from God (I Thes. 4:8 is an example).
Prophecy in the NT (see I Cor. 14:29) was subject to "weighing" and did not have authority equal to scripture. It was a human reporting of something that the Holy Spirit brought to mind, and subject to human error in how the person reported it (for example, the details prophecied by Agabus did not come true), but still a valuable gift for the building up of the church.
The book goes on to talk about questions such as: "Did prophecy cease after the period of the early church?", "How can a wrong view of prophecy lead to abuses?" and "How does/should prophecy function?". The author also believes that some churches today that wouldn't obviously believe in or use prophecy (because they think of it as a scripture-quality revelation that has ceased) and churches that do responsibly allow and use prophecy are actually closer to each in their beliefs than they think. An example he gave of "non-prophesying" churches actually using prophecy would be a sudden and unexplained request for prayer that turns out later to have been needed at that exact time, without the person who requested it really knowing of the situation.
I thought an interesting aspect of this is that misuse of prophecy puts too much emphasis on it without weighing it and it becomes too subjective and people can be easily misled, but when it is used correctly, people would have to know the Bible very well in order to weigh what is said. So in correct use, it could actually encourage people's knowledge of scripture, not compete with it.
I think that I generally agreed with this book, although there are some parts that were difficult to follow, or that I should look over again with a Bible in hand. Also I should read or at least skim the appendixes.
Please comment! Are there any parts of this book's argument that seem unbiblical to you? What teaching have you heard in your church about prophecy?

Christmas List

Every year I am told that I am difficult to shop for and people threaten to get me "nothing" for Christmas, since that is what I reply to "what do you want", so if you need help thinking of a good gift for me, these are some ideas. Links are just for reference- you can probably buy these things from other websites too, so feel free to shop around.

• socks (sorry, practical colors only...well, mostly)
• phone card
• The Complete Instrument Reference Guide for Band Directors
• bathroom organizer for travel
• laptop case- the quilted envelope kind that Grandma Hooyer made for Heidi
  

Music:

• old hymnals (or new)
• church music for piano, or violin(s) and piano
• Brahms complete works for piano solo, Volume 2
• Mendelssohn, anything with Rondo Capriccioso in it
• Debussy Selected Favories

I might add things to this as we go.

Giving thanks

for setting a volleball to a successful spike, in a game, for the first time ever in my memory,
for finding out my student teaching placements for sure
(West Lyon K-12, LeMars middle/high school...which has orchestra),
for apple cider,
for roommates who offer to vacuum when I'm gone for the weekend
and rearrange my flowers when some of them are going bad and check my mail for me when I'm gone,
that I am not my own,
for my 8 students,
that Heather is 19!
for warm winter scarves,
that I know what love is,
for friends in other time zones that will be back next semester,
for small hands,
for Handel's Messiah, and the Messiah,
and many other things and non-things.

God milks cows?

Today I would like to share with you some quotations on various topics from my Econ 200 class (I recommend this class to all Dordt students).

God milks the cows through those called to that work. -Martin Luther (quoted almost once per class period, I think)

My grandmother started walking 5 miles a day when she was 65. Now she's 90 and we don't know where she is. (joke from bottom of test page)

If all Christians sold all their goods and gave to the poor, no Christian could ever run a business, and all Christians would have to work for pagans!

The U.S. will do better if Canada does better. This is a true statement. This is not checkers; this is not tennis. This is not a zero-sum game.

Windows

Stained glass windows are neat. I took this picture today while checking out Carmel Reformed Church as a possible location for an...event.

Book Review: Zechariah

I can't say I'm really familiar with the book of Zechariah--in the whole book only a few phrases stood out as vaguely familiar--but it has proven to be a beautiful read. Maybe if Handel’s Messiah would have quoted text from this book, then we would be more acquainted with the prophetic images in it, as we are with many of the Messianic passages in Isaiah.
Nominations for most interesting images: the giant flying scroll, the evil woman in a basket and the two winged women who carry it away, a “unique day, without daytime or nighttime--a day known to the Lord. When evening comes, there will be light.”, and bells on horses labeled “Holy to the Lord”. I can’t say I understand the whole book, but it was refreshing for it's unfamiliarity and forward-pointingness.

Mission Accomplished!

My recital preparation came to a satisfying end last night. Everything went very well and I was excited for all the people that could be there (it didn't look like a very big group from on stage, which was fine). I actually had fun while I was playing, and I was so glad that people really enjoyed the music. It was also nice to prove to myself that I could do this without the nervousness getting in the way too much.
Thank you so much to Mom and Dad and Heather and Holly and Lynola and Sarah and Mrs. Grimm and Amanda and Nate and Ruth and Jameson C. and Mrs. Rynders and Michelle O.

Expanding Horizons--to a point

Let it be known that, much to the shock of my mother, I have in the course of the last year or so, begun to willingly eat, voluntarily cook with, and even (gasp!) enjoy, peppers (the kind pictured, not the super-hot kind). I actually ate a whole one when Catherine cooked stuffed peppers. It makes me wonder what other previously shunned things I could actually take a liking to within my lifetime. Scary!
However, one does need to be discriminating. How boring it would be if we liked everything. (Plus if we don't like everything it's easier to share).
That's right, I think I'll...um...be sharing and let Nate have all the hut-sput (not sure how to spell that, and it is nasty-smelling cabbage-containing stew for all of you who have never had it).