Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure: Save from guilt and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands; Could my zeal no languor know, Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grade;
Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyelids close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown, See Thee on Thy judgement throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.
Welcome to a new America! Yesterday we re-elected President Barrack H. Obama. Yay to an Indonesian President and his powerful machine! I believe this will inaugurate a new era in our country and his 2nd term will fundamentally transform this country into a new country, dare I say USSA?!
Many things are working together to transform this once a great country. Among other things in the last decade I have noticed the following changes took place:
A liberal agenda to push GLBTQ movement into the mainstream America.
The explosion of extreme environmentalist movement.
Increase activities of Feminist movement with their push for legalized abortion (i.e. pro-choice movement).
The breakdown of family structure.
The dumbing down of American students.
What is going on here, and where are we going from here? Last night I watched this movie that a good friend of mine sent me. It is a long movie, but it helped me connect the dots. If you’re concerned about the future of our country, you gotta have to spare a little over an hour to watch this movie! It is worth watching, and it will prepare us to stand guarded. Please read these posts that I wrote in the past, too:
(Originally posted in 2011, reposted in 2012)
Happy Reformation Day! What are you talking about? What is being reformed, and what do you mean by “Reformation Day”? Last year I wrote this post to answer all of these questions: http://gunawan.net/blogn/happy-reformation-day-2
The event that triggered the Christian Reformation movement happened almost 500 years ago, and many have changed since then. The question now is: “Is the Reformation Over?” Dr. R.C. Sproul of Ligonier Ministry answers this question here.
Yesterday Tryphena started her 1st grade at Fresno Christian Schools. We had a convocation in the morning to kick-off the new school year with prayers, praise, and a welcoming speech the the superintendent Debbie Siebert. What a great way to start a new year!
The theme for this year is taken from Philippians 1:27 “Only let your manner of life be worthyof the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel…”
We hope that we as parents made the wise decision to send Tryphena there, even though at times it seems foolish to spend so much every month on tuition while we can send her to a public school for practically next to nothing. Last Thursday we attended an orientation for new parents, and Principal Bennett who had spent a great amount of time in public schools highlighted the mission of Fresno Christian. Some of his points resonated with me, “….we are not afraid to teach our students how this nation was built. It was built based on Christian values, a view that is not popular in public school.” He also said, “….we teach our students that God created the world and everything that’s in it. They don’t teach this truth at public school. They only mentioned, ‘there’s a theory out there’. Here we teach the Biblical truth, but we also tell our students, ‘there’s a theory out there.’ ”
“We relate everything we teach with the Biblical teaching. When we teach reading and literature, we relate the story and analyze it from the Christian values. When we teach Math we remind our students these truths come from God.”
Sending her there however, will place her in the “hallway”, to borrow C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” where she will interact and be exposed to different stripes of Christianity. We will need to prepare her to walk out from the comfort of Reformed room and interact with others in the hallway. The praise environment during the convocation yesterday was so foreign to her. Luckily, however, it was not as cheesy as this video 🙂
Yesterday Tryphena gave a piano recital where she played 2 pieces: “Sunlight Waltz” by Catherine Rollin, and “Appletree Waltz” which she played duet with her teacher.
Many times I met people, even leaders in their churches, who didn’t have any idea what Reformed theology is. It appalls me to realize that most of the professing Christians do not have any knowledge of their root in the 16th century Reformation movement. Most of them live in the “here and now” self sufficiency attitude, disconnected from the past and the communal sense of the communion of saints that transcends over time.
A few years ago we had a trainer came to my office to train us on a new software program. I picked her up from the airport, and during our trip to Visalia we talked about church. She was a lay leader and a Sunday school teacher in her church- an Evangelical Free Church in Wyoming, but she had no idea what Reformed Christian was. Continue reading “What is Reformed Theology?”
Last Tuesday, June 26, we went for a 1-night trip to the Bay Area. First we went to the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose, then from there we spent a night in Fairfield. On the following day, before leaving for home, we went to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield.
Tryphena enjoyed her time at the children’s museum where she spent most of the time in the water section and the bubble area. She also spent about an hour making a corn husk doll.
From there we drove to Fairfield in Napa Valley and spent a night there, courtesy of Inter Continental Hotel. On Wednesday we went to Jelly Belly factory. I would like to take a tour to Budweiser brewery located just around the corner from Jell Belly factory, but due to the lack of time and interest from the majority party we didn’t go there. From there we headed home and picked up Mr. Baron from his hotel.
“That you have found me… among so many millions is the miracle of our time! And that I have found you, that is Germany’s fortune!” -Adolf Hitler
I just finished reading “In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin”, a nonfiction book by Erik Larson that tells in somewhat graphics about the ascent of Hitler from chancellor to absolute tyrant. In 1933 President Roosevelt appointed a new ambassador to Germany, and the book was based on first-hand eyewitness experience of the Dodds family living in Berlin. There are a few things that I saw as striking resemblance of what happened then with what is happening nowadays:
On the surface everything was fine, but underneath a foundational transformation was taking place.
Everything changed quickly in one day without warning.
People were immune to their surrounding. They applauded evil as good and good as evil.
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Last Tuesday, June 26, we went for a 1-night trip to the Bay Area. First we went to the 