Welcome


This journal is concerned with encouraging holiness of life in my children and grand-children. Primarily, it is written for their spiritual edification and instruction. To them, it is directed as a survey of the most pressing needs and overlooked sins in our day, as a Church. To others who may stumble past our little window, we welcome you to enter and warm yourself by the fireside, and take some nourishment with us before you continue on your journey. It is indeed, one of our most blessed priviliges, to open our hearts and our home circle to others we meet. We pray you are encouraged to gird yourself with the warm coat of sobriety, holiness, and love as you resume your journey.
The Pilgrim Pundit

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Gunn Brothers are at it again.

Just a line to plug the new movie "indoctriNation", which is an expose on the NEA and the root of our American religion known as Public Education.
Not since Sam Blumenthal's work on the NEA, "Trojan Horse", has there been such an opportunity to expose the lie of Secular education. Puuullleeezze, check it out!
There is a link to the website on the left side of this page which will help you get involved in this effort to wake up those who claim Christ's name, yet still send there children to the prophets of Baal for their world-view training.
#1 issue for the Christian family today. Get your children OUT of public education and into daily family worship.
The first step is the hardest for those stuck on the paps of the American system, but it is worth it! You CAN educate your children better than anyone else. You have everything you need.

"Seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you."
~ Jesus Christ

I hope more folks jump on this band wagon soon.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Thankfulness

The mercy of God really does lead us to repentance.
I have read that verse a thousand times. It always stood out as a very special truth. It is more special to me now than before.

Late last week, my wife was outside with me on a particularly hot and muggy Florida afternoon giving me another fabulously priced haircut, while I grumbled about the weather and such.
Our children were all running in and out of the house, ( leaving the front door ajar, to let in the fresh humid air of course), to see us about various dilemmas. Once, it was reported that brother "A" was not willing to play the game that brother "B" wanted to play, and sister "Y" needed a diaper change. Other times, it was just routine running. In and out. Tripping over the extension cord that we had hooked up to the outside GFI circuit, spilling the 'kit-bag' that houses all those little hair cutting guide combs and scissors. making various normal requests and inquiries of us while we were not busy....
You know the stuff I mean. "Can I have a glass of tea, Johnny just got a glass and he said that you said we could all have a glass anytime we ever, ever want one, so can I please Daddy, can I?"
Or my personal favorite , " Hey Pops, ( he's 15 now you know!), remember the other day?"..."You said that we could go out and shoot one of the guns sometime soon?"... " Well, I was wonderin' if I could get the 30/06, with 165 grain bullets out, and go out back, where you can't see me or the other 6 children ranging in age from 1 to 13, and do a little target practice towards the neighbors property?!?"
As we explained to each one of our dear children, in the most patient words and mannerisms possible, exactly why they could not do this, or that certain thing, at this exact moment, we began to reflect on the joys of parenting and the invigorating affects that it has on one's spirituality.
As we talked, we began to think of all the people we know of who have experienced trial and tragedy in the course of raising their children. We talked about some of the very real and serious cases of other beloved families that had undergone the darkest of trials and the most perilous of journeys. We were focusing on physical trials for the most part, and reflecting on how very glad we were that God had never caused us to pass under that heavy load of adversity which some must endure.
I mentioned a lady we know that lost a boy of 8 in a most traumatic manner. And another family of dear friends who became the parents of a special needs child with Autism and the host of related issues that come with that situation.
We recounted the few narrow escapes in our own family. A 4 year old boy with a fever that turned into a hernia with a strangulated bowel and an surgeon being flown in at 3 a.m. for an emergency surgery. The 1 year old that developed double pneumonia and spent 2 weeks in intensive care. The 3rd degree burn on one arm that resulted from a hasty attempt to start a yard pile fire...with gasoline. The many stitches and sutures and bruises that come with raising 7 boys and 2 girls.
As we spoke about these things, and watched our darling offspring tramping around us, I began to speak aloud the many thanks to God that I felt in my heart, in a form of conversational prayer with my wife. The conversation continued with more accounts of the trials that others had faced, along with the many cases of near-misses in our own family, and all the while I interspersed vocal thanks to God and prayers for continued protection upon our children as we talked and prayed and cut hair. Much repentance for our failures as parents went up also.
As this was happening, my wife and I were both struck with how gracious God is. "He knows our frame." I commented. "He must surely know that I don't have the character to endure such a tragedy, and He has spared us from this thing."
We both grew silent at the reflection of my words.
Surely, I was speaking as a man, we both thought inside ourselves. If such a thing did ever happen to us, we must be found faithful!
We both shuddered at this unspoken, but understood thought. We began to speak again on the possibility of such a thing, God forbid, and the hope that we would be like righteous Job, and not like his wife. Much more verbal thanks, and supplication for continued protection went up as we finished the haircut and cleaned up. Life quickly fell back into the rhythm of things, and we prepared for the Lord's Day that was approaching.
The sermon was from 1 John 5 and we dealt with the subject of prayer that is found therein. During the course of that sermon, we were given several illustrations to encourage a confidence in our prayer life and we were both thinking of the prayers of the previous day, and the thoughts that we shared. At one point, the minister said something about the Sovereignty of God and the wheels within wheels that we often see in our prayer life. Like when you get on your knees to pray, and the door rings with a package from far away that contains the very answer you were needing. Of course the package was mailed long before you began to pray, but would you dare doubt the answer of God in such a thing? He knows our needs, even before we ask them was the point. And He cares for us, and delights to answer the prayer that is in keeping with His moral will. Of course, all the caveats of His Providential Will, sometime being, unknown to us, against the answer that we seek must be kept in mind, etc. But still, in general, we may have a healthy confidence, that all things asked, according to His will, ARE answered.
The rest of the day, we were apprehensive. Not much, but a little.
"Is it possible, that God, in His mercy was prompting us to consider His mercy toward our children yesterday?" we thought.
Silly thoughts, or sound thoughts? After all, we are Reformed, not Charismatic! But, this is real story. Not a camp meeting rendition designed to stir up some emotionalism.
Monday went pretty good and we soon went on with the week in our usual way. My boys were doing some yard work for a friend and I was tagging along, ( because this is the covenant that my wife and I made long ago), too be there for any of those, 'when you walk by the way' moments that might arise. They were using a chain saw and having a difficult time getting it stuck and ruining the new blade. So of course, what does any disabled Dad with a twisted spine do? I grabbed the saw and quickly buzzed through two stumps to show them how it is done....
Tuesday, we called in sick.
My back stayed up all night Monday, talking to me about the reality and meaning of what permanently disabled really is.
Tuesday was miserable. Pain is a poor descriptor for what happens when discs are bulging into nerves and your body is doing things without your consent.
My wife was getting the children settled in mid-afternoon and I was lying on the coach moaning while the baby girl of 11 months was happily chomping on her favorite snack on the floor in front of me. As she was eating, she began to choke and cough a little, like many children before her have done when too greedily stuffing some tasty object into their plump little cheeks. The choking turned to gagging, and the gagging turned to reflexive attempts to vomit up something, as little raspy gasps began to emit from her mouth. I tried to get up, but my back was seizing with every movement. Another child said that something foreign was in her mouth. The hypothalamus gland kicked in and I rose and went to her just as my wife came running over. I quickly went into medical mode and began to delver inverted abdominal thrusts, while alternating with shoulder blade strikes, per my training.
The gasping worsened.
She began to turn a ruddy color now and the tell-tale sinus drain began to flow as her eyes stared to roll backwards. I frantically handed my wife a phone and told her to cal 911.
What? Could this be? We have never called 911 for a choking baby before. We had 9 children! This was routine stuff.
As the dispatcher answered, my darling little girl began to go to sleep with a very pained look on her face as she struggled to breathe. I cried out to God to give me wisdom and mercy as I shouted to the operator that my daughter was beginning to lose her vitals and drift into unconsciousness. She had no answer for what we should do. The manual said to simply lay her down upon her back. No, No! I thought. This can't be. I can't just lay her down. We were running outside now, toward the front of our property, to meet the ambulance that we so desperately wanted to see, but was nowhere in sight.
I laid her down and she began to stop moving. Again, I cried out to God, and snatched her up and fell back to my old training of ab thrusts and shoulder strikes, all the while the operator was yelling that I was doing wrong!
She gasped! She choked! Just a little. Her eyes were struggling to open and she was crying a loud, raspy cry! The ambulance pulled in and the EMT's took her as she opened her eyes and cried and sputtered.
My wife jumped in the ambulance. My other children had the bags packed already, the keys in the ignition, and everyone buckled into our vehicle. I followed my wife and child to the E.R. in silence. Just as they were leaving, they had prepped a tracheotomy kit for punching a hole in the throat of a choking victim.
As we got to the E.R., I was glad to see that my little girl was still struggling and quite improved. By the time that we got the x-ray, she was upset but had normal breathing. An hour later we sat at home together, waiting for the prunes to do their work and send the 'little mystery' out the other end. In all, she never lost oxygen for more than a few second intervals at a time. They said that she should be fine because she kept getting little breaths from the ab thrusts and shoulder strikes throughout the ordeal.
The plastic wrapper came out the next day rather unceremoniously.
She almost took her first steps today after our Church service.She started saying Daddy in a fairly clear pattern this week. She is asleep now. She wore herself out, stuffing her cheeks with her favorite little snacks again.
I don't have a real theological assessment of our prayers last Saturday and this event yet.
I just want to praise the Lord for His mercy and goodness to my family, in letting us keep that little soul near us for a while longer. And I thank Him for all the ways, seen and unseen, that He watches and keeps us all, even when we don't know it.
Surely, the goodness of God leads us to repentance when we consider what we deserve and we see instead, what He gives.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Growing in grace and knowledge.

I am in the midst of a few projects lately that I hope to share here. It is always on my mind to leave a worthy inheritance for my children and my children's children but, since I am a bit of a pauper materially speaking, my plans usually lean toward some spiritual inheritance. I hope that they will count it as a worthy gain. Of late, I am considering several issues related to my ministerial training that have sidetracked my studies of systematics. I am still studying systematics but I have added these projects because of current needs within my Presbytery and my desire to have a consistent testimony before others.

The areas that I am searching out are 1. Orthodoxy versus Orthopraxy, or more simply, why it seems that the Reformed Church has the absolute best theological understanding of Scripture while at the same time having a very poor understanding of personal piety in the area of modesty. Particular concern is in the area of dress, though this seems to be a manifestation of some general misunderstanding on modesty in general.
And 2., The validity of Roman Catholic baptism along with a general consideration of Sacramental theology itself. This is an issue because there has been some question among others within my Presbytery and we are considering a resolution on the issue. I know that many feel it settled during the Hodge / Thornwell debates, but I am not one of them because I am only now entering those debates for myself. I have always felt that R.C. baptism was invalid because of the fact that the R.C. Church is revealed as the seat of the Anti-Christ and because the Church itself is seen as the Whore of Babylon in Scripture. Now I am learning that many Reformers who also held that Rome is indeed part of the Anti-Christ, still accepted her baptism. In fact, it seems that most reformers held this view. I do not. I am still studying and have been swayed to the Hodge/ Northern/ Traditional side by many of the arguments but still cannot fully embrace this view yet.
I hope to soon add some insights on these issues and why they are so important.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Murray on headcoverings

There is an excellent post over at Virginia is for Huguenots. It concerns the almost forgotten practice of all churches during the last 2,000 years. You can check it out by following the link on the left side of this page under the banner for the blogs that I read daily. It is well worth the effort to find out more on this subject if you are not familiar with it. In my family, we had never heard of Christians practicing head covering until about 7 years ago. We thought that only the Amish did that kind of thing. You may be surprised to find that nearly every church in history held that 1 Corinthians 11 is enjoining this practice to every Christian woman.
Certainly, we do not suggest that we practice this today only on the basis that the majority of Christians in history did. Maybe they were wrong. I happen to think they were right, and a careful consideration of Mr. Murray's argument will show this.
The key to understanding this argument is found in verses 5 & 6. The argument cannot be saying the word 'hair' when it uses the word covering. If it did then it would make no grammatical sense. This is in addition to the plain reading of the Greek, which clearly indicates that this is speaking of a piece of cloth, or garment.
If you don't agree, then just apply the same definition and meaning to the following verse... 7 and it would read that all men should be bald when they pray or prophesy?!.... Huh?
Exactly.....
One point of difference with Murray would be his understanding of this applying only to Public Worship. I cannot find that limitation in the Scriptures. It seems to apply, not to a formal understanding of ecclesiastical gatherings, but rather to 'praying and prophesying'. This means that we practice head covering for ladies at any time that she is called to pray or to proclaim the gospel. Since we do not know when this would be.... we err on the side of caution.
At the same time, we would hold that to pray or to proclaim the gospel is a moral duty. If a woman should find herself without a covering at such a moment, she should not fail to obey the moral injunction to pray. Or to share the Good News of Christ's sacrifice.
Hope you enjoy the reading and I pray that we may all be gentle and charitable as we seek to reform our practice to the clear teaching of the Word. After all, that is how Paul ends the argument.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Brief Update

Pain...
Of late my back has been flaring up and I have very unusual nerve pain and dysfunction. Prayer would be appreciated. I am so longing to have some measure of relief that I might seek a proper portion of this worlds needful goods for my family. Disability is not very appealing.
Even so, I am thankful that the Lord has not rendered in kind to the debt I owe for my sins. His mercy and provision are present. We have no lack of the comforts of this modern age. Only pray that I may leave off being the goad to stimulate charity, and that I may be able to provide for some other for a season.
It has certainly been good to see the many ways that God has sustained us, but I do hope that we may be able to soon share in the blessing that comes from ministering to others who are in need. It is a great desire.
For the present we are content to live as the Lord finds fit for us. It is a good life that He has given us and we are thankful.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Pulitzer for Will Grigg

Now that the Pulitzer Prize Board has drafted new rules for online journalism

I can't help but wonder if Mr. Grigg will finally be recompensed for the huge service he is doing for America! I am not joking people. Have you seen the stuff this guy comes up with? Amazing!

Just take a look at this photo

If you are brave enough, you can actually read about the illegal Council of Governors that our Dear Leader imposed by Executive Order on Jan. 11, 2010. I know, I know.... you're probably tired of hearing about this story right?! I mean come on, everyone is broadcasting the largest power grab in U.S. history since the Lincoln Administration. Right?

This is exactly why Will Grigg deserves serious consideration for his work at Pro Liberate
I can't exactly recommend his other blogs, but this one is some serious stuff. Check it out. You'll be glad you did.
That is, if you love freedom. And if you think that the militarization of our country is a bad thing.

A word of warning.
Of late, they have decided to advertise on this blog and therefore, the message of Christendom is much damaged. Even so, the posts here are a real education for a discerning adult.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Soap making and coyote killing.

I had hoped to post pic's of one D.C., ( Dead Coyote ), here today but I will have to keep up the vigil a while longer. Our chickens have been attacked several nights in a row and I set about stalking last night.
Well, stalking actually consisted of pulling the old Chevy van to a prime position for spotlighting! We had grand talks of utilizing the 5 foot hole my children have near the chicken coop as a blind that my 14 and 13 year old would sleep in, along with Dad of course, but the reality of my disability and the weather quickly led to the trusty old van cab! So far, no coyote. It was still a good time though. Something about taking shifts with my boys on "watch' reminded me of my law enforcement days.
We are making more progress in our non-hunting skills though. Recently, my wife decided to invite another friend over for soap making. When she canceled on the day that they were supposed to start I did what any husband would do. I tried to get out of helping myself! Actually, I was very happy to be able to share the joy of our first 'soaping' as a family event. We were thrilled at the results and plan to do it more.
Here are some pic's of the event:

This is the manual that we are using to learn our new favorite skill.
Below are the ingredients and equipment that we used. The goggles were not used, and the gloves only used to rinse. The vinegar is the important item here! It neutralizes lye if there is an accident. Thankfully, it was as simple as making a cake.
Here is the Grand Soap-mister, herself! Is mister a male term? Hope not. Anyway, this is my wife using a stick blender to bring the soap to 'trace'. That is the term used for the thickening process that all soap makers look for.
This is a shot of very light trace. You add the essential oils at this point and continue stirring until you get runny pudding. then you are ready to pour the soap into your molds.
The moment of satisfaction! We are finally using the molds that I bought on eBay over a year ago! Better late than never. We are thrilled at the results. Easy stuff!
I will post some pic's of the finished product soon, along with the first reviews of the soap.
Trust you will have a good Lord's Day and hope to update soon. Time to prepare for Worship and the Day.