pinakidion.*

of a Split of a Split…

For those wondering at home, the splits that I am aware of at the moment are:

Chicago International Church of Christ - Jay and Denise Chiappetta
Madison Group (name not known) - Jay Shelbrack
Toronto International Church of Christ - Tim and Lianne Kernan
International Christian Church of Northern Ireland - James

This, of course, is in addition to the other splits
Phoenix International Church of Christ - Chris and Sonja Chloupek
Stockholm International Church of Christ - Anu and Argo Lips

Combine that with:
Savannah Church of Christ - Now Buzz Banadyga (used to be Steve and Lisa Johnson)
Salt Lake Christian Church - Jay and Angie Hernandez
Eugene Church of Christ - Jeremy & Amy Ciaramella
Central New York Church of Christ - Chris and Theresa Broom
La Ceiba Church of Christ - Nelson Bernardez
San Pedro Sula Church of Christ - the Escobedos
Tegucigalpa Church of Christ - Daniel and Janeth Aquino
Église du Christ de Montréal - Daniel and Gillianne Brisebois
Quebec City Church of Christ (planted by Montreal recently)
Santo Domingo Church of Christ - Angel and Luz Martinez

What do you have? Considering that all of the above churches have claimed ‘discipling’ from Kip, I’d say you have a cohesive group of folks with a common doctrine, purpose, and polity. In other words, a church. (More specifically, a denomination.)

And add in sympathizers in Novosibirsk, Wichita(KS), Seattle, Boston, and Los Angeles..
Note that just because there are sympathizers in a city, it doesn’t mean the church claims discipling from Kip. The listed churches above claim or have recieved discipling from Kip - after the two letters. The only possible exception is Santo Domingo, they have only received money.

This, of course, is completely different from the largely unaffiliated Atlanta Christian Church led by Steve Sapp and Kindred Howard. They also helped fund the Martinez’ in Santo Domingo, but I’m sure that Steve Sapp has no inclination to be discipled by Kip. He did not want to be discipled by the Elders in Atlanta.

I have been thinking about my blog for awhile. I have been thinking about why I write, what I write, and the like.

The Vast and Empty Subculture
As far as the ICoC and the blog, I remember when Gordon Ferguson showed up in 2004 to comment on a reaction to one of his papers. I remember when Steve Staten appeared earlier this year to take issue with my use of the name Thomas for Kip. I also remember talking to both of them in Kansas City . A person in India wrote a post about Kip being “totally crazy” and another woman somewhere in the US wanted me to post a five page response to what has happened to her in the ICoC subculture. A friend here even asked me to post a letter of his experiences in the ICoC. I have written a couple times to a former member of the ‘doomed’ Milan planting and spoken in person to current members of the ICC in Milan. I even called the church in Houston to tell them that a member of the New Orleans Church of Christ board was in a hotel in town. I asked them to contact him so that he could get a hug and maybe some help. My church ended up helping three families in New Orleans - Shane and I almost took a road trip to help.

I’ve corresponded with Henry Kriete a few times and even had an accidental Reply All that basically told everyone of any stripe of leadership in the ICoC subculture that it’s a shame that Henry is made the villian for stating plainly what they supposedly were believing all along. Since then, some leaders seem unwilling to criticize the content of the letter, so choose instead to attack his character. As an aside, let me mention that the ICoC subculture’s habit of revising history (and this comes from critics and members alike) will become evident in a few years as we try to continue to come to grips with what has happened since 2003. I’m sure someone will eventually write a book that explains that Henry is some kind of anti-hero. I’m also sure that someone will write another book declaring him the only honest ICC minister. Both are overstatements in the extreme.

Outside of the blog, I have written to members of this subculture in several states and five countries worldwide. I have written to folks in the Stone-Campbell tradition that seem to be leaders and even dialogued with the editor of the Christian Chronicle. I received a letter from a Church of Christ minister in Arkansas about my church’s website in which he demanded that the word ‘pastor’ should be removed and we should have ‘associated with the International Churches of Christ’ in huge letters on the site. When I asked him what we needed to do in order to change and repent of our past, he stopped writing. I’ve written to ministers of several demoninations and even arranged to meet with some in town.

Why do I write about religion in general and the ICoC subculture specifically? It matters to me. I have a sixteen year investment in the ICoC, the last 14.5 as a member. Although I want less and less to do with the ICoC, I still care about God and my relationship to him.

Dira
I never read Lord of the Rings. I read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wadrobe over 20 years ago. I have only read three novels that have anything to do with the Fantasy genre - they were all by Robert Aspirin. The main source of inspiration for the creation of this world (in addition to understanding God’s process of creation) is the long, long history of playing role-playing games. When I say RPGs, I mean the pen and paper ones. (I also have not played MMORPGs except for an occasional visit to a MUD in 1993.) I still miss sitting in a room with friends describing a world that was full of adventure. As I got older, I began to look at the stories in this world, instead of the action. I thought about personal stories like the wench-turned-priestess, the urban wizard. I also thought about the personal issues in a world with multiple sentient species like the plight of half-elves in human society.

I still have the pink notebook of Binam, the second massive universe I created. It has less detail than Dira, but it dealt with life on a binary planet where interplanetary travel was commonplace, even outside the binary planets themselves. Using all the TSR(R) accessories I could find, I worked to create a world where all things were possible - magic, astral projection, travel through various planes of existence, and curiously, a detailed exploration of the Abyss. I still flip through that notebook from time to time. I remember a neighbor of mine played a character named Alexander that I made into the God of War in Binam. He seemed to think that was befitting the guy that drove the Orcs out of his country.

After that, I worked briefly on a world called Backara. It was my first experience with a low magic world, and it sounded like a great place to visit. Unfortunately, two of the main founders, soldiers for the British military, passed away. The website is gone and all I have are a few emails and notes. I worked on the Gainar in that world, a merchant class that dealt with all kinds of goods and prone to use clockwork devices. It’s from those initial musings that the Gainarii of Dira were born.

Dira was born out of these experiences and fueled largely by my visit to Rome. Seeing the buildings and learning the culture while visiting the ancient sites excited the creative juices and I began writing immediately. Up until the Rome visit, I was looking of Free RPGs and playing with the rules, but not really creating.

Like Tolkkien, I like inventing languages. Unlike him, I was happy to have at my disposal some tools that would have saved him at least a decade of work. The Hesberian speak a variation of Latin. The grammar is a little simpler, short vowels removed, and a few tiny things shifted here and there. Spoken, it sounds like Latin or Greek in places. In other places, it even sounds more like Kswahili, though I used only Latin words in creating the language. Why create a language? It seems fundamental that to understand a group of people, you first need to learn their language.

Unlike many things, I intend to work on Dira for years to come. I actually enjoy it and unlike any other endeavour, I’ve tried to quantify mundane things like crop production rates, food needed to support a population, the effects of war on a society, the fundamental nature of magic, etc. It’s not that it has to be realistic as much as internally consistent. Gravity should be the same everywhere and so should some others things. I even found a computer program to generate the entire planet. Unlike other programs, I can infinitely zoom in to specific latitudes and longitudes to create detailed maps. Denizens of Dira need to be able to take some things for granted. So far, they can assume that magic comes from a crystalline substance, the Empire/Republic has made contact with all ken on the planet, magic does not work west of the Awrelian Demarcation, Mavinian Traders are not to be trusted, and mathematics is the universal language.

All in all, it’s a great place to play. Who knows? In a decade or so, I may even tell stories from this world instead of stories about the nature of this world.

My Life and Times
This year, I’ve looked more at my own life and made it public. In the past, I spent so much time commenting about certain things, I never revealed anything about me. Since I stated that this blog is a journal, it seemed strange that I was treating it differently.

I’ve enjoyed chronicling the life of my son and the evolution of my marriage. I’ve also enjoyed noting certain events and what I was doing and how I reacted. I look forward to reading these things to my son when he is older. I also look forward to making a personal book out of everything I’ve written in this online journal.

Someone once told me that they enjoyed reading about some of the non-religious items on here because it provided an insight into how I think. I still am not sure the right emotional reaction to that, but it feels good. It’s not exactly praise for what I’m doing, but it’s different than saying I care about you. In any case, I am grateful.

pinakidion.*
All of this got me thinking about the past of the blog and its future. In the end, I came to the conclusion that I still do not write in order to be famous. I do not write because I think I am some great teacher in the ICoC subculture, though I entertained those thoughts for a while. I do not write for any other reason than for the sake of writing. Writing my thoughts and feelings is helpful in many ways. One way is to help me become more emotionally healthy. The other is to provide a records of first drafts. Yet another is the refinement of the writing craft by the sheer act of volume. (I really wish I had a spell checker here - my dyslexia always makes the grammar weird in places and the misspellings make it worse.)

I wish the best for anyone that visits here for 2006. May God grant you peace and guidance in the year to come.

A recent news story demonstrates the problems involved in religious and political authorities trying to control bloggers.

Of note in this article is that the reporter points out that blogs have no guarantee of accuracy and are often self-indulgent and boring. Being mostly free in speech, bloggers have no one to provide oversight or demands for accuracy, integrity, and all those other things that make newspaper columnists squirm.

In case you have not been informed, a blog is not a trusted news source for anything. As with newspapers and other accounts, without corrboration, a blog is simply an online diary of experiences and thoughts. As no one except God (and maybe Zaphod Beeblebrox) has the gift of total perspective, blogs have no promises of anything.

Having four days off, I spent some time thinking about what I think of God and how I treat Him. Because of my spiritual heritage, I always this nagging doubt that I am not doing something right. To that end, let me say that this will not end by a rededication to God and a pledge of more time and/or better quality of time with Him. I am determined to be transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2). In part, that means breaking thought patterns that lead me away from God. It is because of the sacrifice of Jesus that I can approach the throne of God with confidence (Heb 4:16) not the quality and/or quantity of my time with him in the past.

But I digress.

In thinking about God, I realized that I have treated God in different ways throughout my life. Some of these ways have a good intent and a kernel of biblical character to them, but somehow got twisted just a little. I attribute this twisting to my own character and conscious choices as much as anything else. Here are some of the strange ways I’ve thought about God (and sometimes still do) :

• God is my dog.
• God is my Santa Claus.
• God is my warden.
• God is a stand-up comic.

God is not my Dog
Dogs are known for many things, but their chief virtue is loyalty. I have seen dogs loyal to people that treated them in some really bad ways. It amazes me that a dog can wag their tail and run to meet their owners without regard to past treatment. (I even wrote a short story about it some time ago called Damascus.) In short, a dog seems to be always happy to see you in any situation.

Many dogs are also sources of comfort. A dog will listen to your problems and say nothing in return. A dog will express affection. A dog allows you to give it a hug. A dog will not nag you about eating an entire quart of chocolate ice cream. A dog does not criticize. Even if a dog makes a mistake, they have a way of looking remorseful that can melt away anger. Studies show that dogs have a positive effect on health and quality of life. It’s no wonder: they are great companions.

It is biblical to see God as both loyal and comforting. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is all about the God of all comfort. God has compassion for his people. He really cares. When you are distressed, He is the source of comfort. It is incredibly reassuring, especially when troubles have come up in my first year of marriage, issues with my church, family dramas, and the like. God is the one that stands in the empty places of my life providing the reassurance I crave in those times.

However, because the literal voice of God doesn’t answer from the clouds, it is also easy to see him as a dog. Unlike a dog, God has something to say about my life. In Hebrews 12, He says that discipline is not always pleasant, but that it is for my benefit. The New Testament is covered with instructions and models of a righteous life. Paul says to run the race of life as if to win (1 Cor 9:24). Jesus, Himself, said to love God with my entire heart, mind, soul, and strength and love others as myself (Mat 22:16). A dog only wants a little love every once in a while - and that is where I can get into trouble.

More than that, though, it is sometimes a stuggle for me to see that God owns me, not the other way around. God doesn’t need anything from me(Acts 17:25). He doesn’t need me to feed him, provide shelter, or give him obedience training. Sometimes I have seen my time with God as doing Him a favor. I can rationalize that God needs time with me because he is somehow worried about me if I don’t spend time with Him. God has great love for me and he cares for me, to be sure, but he doesn’t greet me with big sad puppy eyes and an accident on the carpet because I’ve been away for a couple days. Again, God delights in me and took special care when he created me in my mother’s womb, but my time with Him is for me, not for Him. (In many ways, it is like the sabbath; the sabbath-rest was created for humans, not humans for the sabbath-rest.) I believe He enjoys time with me and even laughs with me about some of my personality quirks, but he is not a needy pet craving attention. He can get along perfectly fine without me or my opinions on how the universe should operate.

God is not My Santa Claus
There’s a Christmas play I used to watch that had a unique twist on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. There was a theme of being a Santa Claus to someone and that everyone needed a Santa Claus. I am certain that the intent was to express care and concern for others, but my view of Santa is a bit unorthodox. Santa keeps a naughty list and a nice list and you do not know which one you are on until you wake up Christmas morning. Santa does not want to be seen giving you good things or giving you a lump of coal - it’s all in secret. Santa flies by night. Santa shows up at the last minute to ask me what I want, even though he’s been watching me in secret all year - shouldn’t he already know what I want? Again, this is just me. I realize that the intent of Santa is not to analyze him this way.

However, because I can see Santa this way, it ties in to how I have looked at God in the past. As far as presents go, it similar to the first point. The only difference is the idea that God will give me good things for being on my best behavior. In essence, good behavior equals good gifts from God, bad behavior equals a lump of coal from God. Unfortunately, there is only one judgement from God, so if I look at God as Santa Claus, I have to wait until the Judgement to see if I get a lump of coal or not.

I get anxious sometimes that I am not on God’s nice list, or worse, belive that I am on the naughty list. Compounding this anxiety, I have no real way of knowing which list I’m on. (Am I really one of the elect?) This leads me to try and do a lot of nice things so that I can comfort myself that I am really on the nice list. Worse yet, I’m not really certain when the good that I do will counteract whatever I did to be on the naughty list in the first place. Unfortunately, all this effort to be ‘good’ comes from a desire to make myself feel better, not God. It’s like praying publically with eloquent prayers, I will have already recieved my reward, a patched-up sense of self-esteem (Matt 6:5). The good news is that God gave me the greatest gift when I was His enemy (Romans 5:10). When I was quite obviously on the naughty list, he gave me the sacrifice of His son.

The other way I can see him as Santa, is that he never really gives anyone a piece of coal. Sure Santa keeps a naughty list, but that is for the really, really bad people like Idi Amin, or Hitler, or Stalin. Since I am not as bad as they are, I must be on the nice list. After all, keeping 5 out of the 10 commandments is pretty good, right?

Trouble is, that sin separates us from God (Isa 59:2). It is true that some sin does not lead to death (1 John 5:17), but the flesh desires things contrary to God (Gal 5:17). Regardless of the nature of the specific sin, it is contrary to the Spirit of God. Sin stands in opposition to God and I cannot serve them both. It takes effort to fight against sin. I may be forgiven, but that doesn’t make my desires vanish. God wants to teach me to keep from making the same mistakes over and over. In other words, I am forgiven of the debt, now He is helping me deal with the consequences of my debt. It is of great comfort to be forgiven, but it is not an excuse to be lazy. As mentioned earlier, I want to run in such a way as to get the prize - not because I have to win, but because I want to win.

God is not My Warden
My wife used to work as a secretary to a warden. She couldn’t tell me a lot of things that happened at the facility, but some days we had a good cry together. Wardens see all the ugly things in a prison. They are not allowed the luxury of dealing with their own feelings until a solution is found. They have the keys. They determine the measure of freedom for each prisoner. They are the final authority and they are in control of everything at the facility.

A warden is also responsible for the rehabiliation of each inmate and seeks to help each one attain the skills he/she needs to be a productive member of society. They set up enrichment programs, arrange for work-release opportunities. Some even strive to fund a library and GED programs. In the end, no matter how benevolent the warden, no inmate is free - each one is subject to the authority of the warden.

Jesus has been given all authority (Col 2:10) by God who is beyond all authority and power. I believe it is important to be reverent to God because of his authority (1 Peter 1:17). Like Jesus, a Christian should live in submission to the Father (Hebrews 5:7). In my mind, there is no doubt of His power and authority over all things, even Satan and his angels. Where I can have an issue, is forgetting that I am free. I am also prone to forget that God hasn’t separated me from the world (1 Cor 5:10), he has placed me in the world to grow right where I am (1 Cor 7).

In my heritage lies the practice of celebrating ‘Old Christmas‘.

In Rodanthe, a few families gather on January 5th to celebrate Old Christmas. There’s usually an oyster roast with music and dancing. Part of the celebration revolves around Old Buck. Every year a family is entrusted with the care of Old Buck, and it is seen as good luck to be chosen.

Old Buck was, according to some, a wild bull that gave folks trouble until he was shot and killed. Every year two folks don the guise of Old Buck to particpate in the celebration. A troublesome bull like Old Buck never really dies, you know.

My family celebrated Old Christmas in name only - there was no oyster roast or dancing and song on Jan 5. However, this year my father and I are going to try to observe it in some way. I have things here for Jasper to learn about Old Christmas and I look forward to teaching him about it through the years.

As is my weakness, I enjoy starting things much more than finishing them. When I get tired of the details, it is overwhelmingly tempting to continue ‘research’ to avoid the work required to finish.

Shane, I hear you laughing at me. Mock me all you wish, I am immune to your taunts.

Anyway, while I’m home, when I’m not holding the baby or taking care of my wife, here are a few things I have been working on:

1. An Outline of Greek Grammar

Textkit offers a short little public domain book called Greek in a Nutshell by James Strong as a resource. I want to brush up on my Greek, so I am editing this little book for modern consumption. The text sounds over a hundred years old and some ideas do not reflect research since its publication. For example, the concept of a mora to explain pronunciation.

I do not believe I am a Greek expert by any means. Taking three semsters of it in college does not make me a scholar. I understand it and I enjoy my Greek-English Interlinear, but outside fundamental Greek-English issues, take it with a grain of salt. (I consider the Disciple as a Verb thing to be a fundamental misunderstanding of elementary linguistics.)

2. Stepping Stones

I hope to have chapters 3 through 6 written by the new year. I have been feeling low lately, partly because of lack of sleep. Along those lines, there is : “Pray and sing for an audience of two” 1 Corinthians 14:14-16 (For Chapter 3), “Control yourself, do not be controlled.” 1 Thess 5:8 (For Chapter 6)

3. Dira

I have to update the Encyclopedia Hesberica with new entries from this website. I also need to start working on various histories within other provinces. There is a new map that is computer generated, so I can zoom in on various regions as needed. Because of a new map, the Ogdans cannot physically be southwest of Esbra - that needs to be changed. I also need to figure out where the Secota live as well. Other internal consistencies need to be determined as well, especially the powers of the Gnosceti. Part of the their teachers’ primary text has been written in order to explain them better in the Encyclopedia.

4. Household Stuff

My house is cold all the time. I need to finish putting plastic on the windows. I did one, I need to do four more. I need to arrange Jasper’s room and get the TV in there working.

Anywho, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. I should be at home, feel free to call me anytime except Sunday.

When Jasper was born, I began to learn a lot about genetics.

We researched Goldenhar’s and family and friends feared the worst from the pictures of severe cases online. He had everything tested from spinal bones, to kidneys, to eyes and ears, and his nose, of course. He even had his hips ultrasounded because they were concerned that he could dislocate it too easily. The result of all this was surgery on his closed nostril and now, the hearing aids.

Now that we know how to help him, I am learning a lot about hearing.

Hearing requires four mechanisms working together. These mechanisms are: the outer ear, the middle ear, the inner ear, and the auditory nerve. To this point, we know that the auditory nerve and the inner ear work just fine. The bone conducting hearing aid effectively bypasses the middle and outer ear. His outer ear has obvious issues; his ear canals are narrow little corkscrews and he has skin tags outside. When he is seven they can either surgically implant half of his hearing aid, or straighten the canals. Because we do not know the state of his middle ear, the outcome of straightening his ear canals is unknown. Maybe he will go to Boys Town one day to test the middle ear. Until then, I am glad that he can hear soon.

I have also learned a lot about medical insurance.

Hearing aids are not covered. Thanks to the Lions Club, I may not have to worry about that. His birth apparently cost my insurance company over sixty-two thousand dollars. Amazing. My wife’s stay was twenty-five thousand dollars. I’m sure that Blue Cross/Blue Shield is hoping that nothing else happens with my family. They are very nice, but I am coming to realize that insurance companies are in the business of selling policies, not caring for policyholders. I added my family, so they threw out my payments toward my deductible and made me start over. Our family has an individual deductible instead of a group one. (Thank goodness it is only $250 each).

I have mostly learned that we are truly wondrously made. Psalm 139:13-14

When David remarked that the human body is wondrously made, he had no idea of some of the systems of the body medical science has illuminated to us. He didn’t know how the eyes truly work. He didn’t know about the three little bones in the ear that disturb the fluid in the middle ear to produce vibrations. He didn’t know that there are miles of blood vessels in each person. He had no way of knowing about stem cells and how adaptable they are.

Learning about how my son is fearfully made has made me appreciate so much about life. He is physically quite strong for a two month old. He has crawled a little bit and can hold his head up for quite awhile. He can support his weight with his legs. He can reach and grasp things. He knows when he is watching football…

Okay, the last one is a bit of conjecture on my part. I admit that he may not be ready for the intricate details of the middle linebacker position. He does, however, know that Daddy loves football. That’s good enough for me.

It is also amazing to think about the human brain. How God created it and designed its function will likely occupy mankind for ages to come. Experts think that a two-month old’s vision is mostly black, white and red and limited to a range of five feet. Yet, he can recognize me, his mom, the cat, and the TV. Oh yes, he can recognize the TV. He really does quiet down for a football game or shows with animals. He doesn’t quiet down so much for me, but he does get excited to see his mom. He’s indifferent to the cat, but the cat is indifferent to everything, so no one loses in that transaction.

Anyway, despite the limitation, his brain can recognize many different shapes. Over the next few months, his brain will begin to process sounds and words. He will be able to attach meaning to words. He will also be able to learn the difference between speech and other sounds. For example, he’ll know that the cat’s meowing is not made up of words, but he’ll recognize when my wife and I are talking. He will even babble to practice making the sounds he hears.

Truly amazing stuff. All of this draws me close to the God of Heaven that made each one of us. We are fearfully and wonderful made.

Undaunted, Kip has now aimed his sights at Phoenix and San Francisco.

In his latest sermon, he explains that he is not drawing lines in Phoenix, God is. According to him, the church in Phoenix has become lukewarm and he is only doing his Christian duty in helping out the Chloupek’s splinter group. He lists those going, including noted personalities from Portland.

The Phoenix situation has, apparently, caused some heatburn in Euguene. A couple there had issues with what Kip was doing in Phoenix. He went to Eugene, as the overseeing evangelist, to straighten it out. It was not clear to me how it was resolved, so I will not speculate.

San Francisco, apparently, is now evil because of the name change to the Bay Area Christian Church. Despite a strikingly similar theology to his own, the new Handbook ($12 + postage) apparently does not mention missions work to Kip’s liking. For this reason, they are apparently lukewarm as well.

Of couse, this isn’t drawing a line, either, this is God’s righteous judgement on them.

Who’s next?

If you’re a fan of Kip McKean, the title might be A New Hope or The Return of the Jedi. If you are a critic, you may use Revenge of the Sith. Considering what I’m about to report, this seems more appropriate.

Kip has visited his splinter group in Phoenix recently. He sent down seven couples to help with the Phoenix International Christian Church. He also visited one of the churches in Honduras, in direct conflict with the efforts of the South Florida Church (mostly South America) and the LA ICC (host the website and yearly conferences).

Kip also mentioned a group from Stockholm. My sources tell me that this is also a splinter group, not the current leadership.

So what?

Keep in mind that Kip also lists places that people visit from in his weekly rantings. He’s mentioned Kansas a few times, as well as Illinois, Minnesota, Wyoming, and other states where I know people. This is 1983 all over again - move to the city, receive training, then go out and plant and/or reconstruct wherever you go. Although certainly not vast, it seems the clone army has been mobilized again.

I used to be one of those clones, so I know.

Do I think there is some great conspiracy afoot? No. The Gang of 84 made it clear sound like they were arguing over turf, not really doctrine. Kip is simply going out and claiming his turf and the Gang of 84 is left scrambling to keep theirs. The result is a lot of fighting over something that is owned only by God. Kip is trying to build power, most other high eschelon leaders are trying to hold theirs. Both sides have this perverse sense of owning people’s hearts and souls.

I find it ironic that the cheif architect of the discipling system and the man that literally wrote the book on it, has a faction in his own backyard made up of people that think he’s not teaching it right.

I say two sides, there’s really three. The third is the great mass of churches maintaing neutrality by ignorance or deliberate effort. Ask a lot of ICC folks and they generally could care less about Kip. They also could care less about many other major figures. These are the folks I truly care about. I hope they are never caught up in this crazy mess.

Some critics have said that the whole group should just disband. I still do not believe this to be right because it punishes the wrong people. However, I am feeling like there are certain people at the top have too much influence. Kip is one of these people and that is why I write about him.

Keep praying. I am.

Confirmation just received that my son’s inner ears are in good shape. Since his auditory nerves are also in good shape, this means that the recommended course of treatment is a bone-conducting hearing aid. Basically, it will use the bones of his head to carry the sound to the inner ear because the shape of his outer ear and ear canals hinders delivery through the normal method.

We’ve now applied to the Lion’s Club to get help paying for the hearing aids.

In case you’re wondering, he’ll have a headband on at all times to keep the hearing aids in place. I do not believe they are going to do any surgery, again, because the need for hearing aids should be treatable once he is 7 years old.

Just wanted everyone to know.

If you’ve seen Monty Python’s Dead Parrot Sketch on TV, the title makes more sense. For those that avoid culturally and mentally enriching TV, the title refers to the pet store owner telling the customer(Cleese) that he was in Bolton not Ipswich. When the lie was revealed, the owner claimed that Ipswich was the palindrome of Bolton.

The world’s longest palindrome that contains no proper nouns (except Panama) is located here.

Who knew that a decagram was part of the Panama Canal?

Epilogue

I know, I don’t watch LOST or Survivor or much else on TV these days. I do watch Crossing Jordan. Otherwise, I’m all over British Comedies, the History Channel, and the occasional episode of America’s Funniest Animals. I believe that television programming has degenerated past the point that I care much for watching it. Ugh.

However, I admit I do not read as much as I would like. After seeing The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe yesterday (courtesy of my church), I would like to read the books again.

Then again, maybe I’ll actually finish writing a book.

My son goes in for the second round of hearing tests today. It is hoped that the tests today confirm that a bone-conducting hearing aid will work. If he gets a hearing aid, it will be the headband type. Because of the potential surgery to correct his ear canals later in life, I do not think they want to surgically implant the hearing aid.

The test could be an hour, it could be six - he has to be asleep when they do some of the tests. Actually, he has to be still, but as the recipient of my genetics, his ability to be still is about zero.

Please pray. At issue is also the fact that hearing aids are not covered by medical insurance.

I avoid politics because of how it affected me in college. In fact, I do not watch CNN or FoxNews or any other news program. I filter my news through cross-referencing CNN stories with the BBC and Al-Jazeera. I’ve been known to listen to NPR, but don’t tell anyone. I may lose my relationship to God because I’m not a Republican.

I also listen to Focus on the Family on Christian radio. I’ve even read a couple books by Dr. Gibson. However, a few days ago, I hear yet more about “the war of Christmas” and how one school district allows the display of Labafana(sic), the Christmas Witch. Oh no, is the school district combining Wicca with Christmas? Are they being inclusive to the neo-pagans within the school district? Is the end of the world coming as we know it?

No. Not only did AgapePress and the Liberty Counsel not do their research, they spelled her name wrong. All over the internet and blogosphere, there’s an outcry of how bad ’secularists’ want Jesus out of Christmas and they quote this story. Mr. Staver of the Liberty Counsel made the comment now echoed all over FoxNews and Christian radio. It’s picked up and good Christians everywhere start praying for the state of Wisconsin.

For the record, here is the story of La Befana. It’s similar to the “Fourth Wise Man” stories and is certainly no worse than Santa Claus. Unlike Santa, though, the story of La Befana mentions Jesus and his birth. In a sense, it is more Christian than Santa (unless you equate Santa to Saint Nicholas).

Also for the record, the War of Christmas officially began in 1922 when Henry Ford wrote the International Jew. In Chapter 7, is the first mention of anti-Christmas celebrations. If there are earlier mentions, please let me know. Later, in the fifties and sixities, the John Birch Society blamed the Communists for ruining Christmas. They were extreme enough that Sen Goldwater distanced himself from them. Now Bill O’Reily claims that George Soros and Peter Lewis are funding this war on Christmas as well as other vast left-wing conspiracies.

Thinking about it, I’m sorry I brought the whole thing up. Lunacy in the name of God is not reserved solely for the ICoC subculture. Ugh.

I’m 34 today.

I remember when I was about to go to college and I wondered what my life would be like. I thought that the year 2000 was so far away. I couldn’t conceive of what the 21st century would be like.

Thanks to my cousin, I grew up reading Ray Bradbury. I watched Star Trek and Dr. Who. I also watched the old Twilight Zone episodes in b/w. My vision of the future was shaped by many of those things. I still believe in the tremendous potential of tomorrow. I never thought the Klingons and the Federation would be allies, but wonder of wonder, they did.

I started programming computers (if you can call writing in BASIC programming) at age eight. I still fram on them twenty-six years later. I tried to write short stories at age eleven and I still try to write them. I created an entire universe on Airport Rd complete with pro football teams from Jupiter, Vulcan Jedi, and a desert planet with vast oceans just a few feet below the surface. Today, it’s a variation of the Roman Empire.

Over three years ago, I moved to place where I knew absolutely noone. I jumped in the car and drove here, planning on finding a hotel once I got here. I had no other real plans, but I felt free for the first time in a long time.

Now I am married and have a beautiful son. I have friends, one of which told my wife that I saved his life. I have a good friend that puts up with me and all my grand schemes of our business. I have a wonderful wife that plans and schemes on my behalf. She loves me with all her heart.

For my birthday this year, I wish for nothing more than to remember the good things in my life everyday.

A good friend once told me that I have an old soul. I believe that to be true. I believe I aged four to one beginning my second year at NC State. There are too many things to count to recall them here. I do not believe, however, that I have had more difficult experiences than most. I do believe that I have been blessed with truly unique memories. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

An ancient Eqyptian blessings says, “May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk.” At times, I feel the emptyness. At other times, I feel the shadow of the Almighty upon me. Sometimes I am haunted by the shallow echo of my own footsteps, other times I see my Father defending me (and winning).

As with most things, I feel conflicted. Looking at the next 34 years of my life, I cannot guess at what lies ahead. My view of the future is quite hopeful, despite my fears. Whatever happens, I know I am not alone, even if I feel it…

…and that is the wellspring of my life.

As always, this is a rough draft

I hope you’ve enjoyed your study of 1 John and learned that you can say with confidence, “I am walking in the light.” As we mentioned last time, being honest means speaking the truth with integrity. Without security about your salvation, it is very difficult to be honest about your walk as a Christian. Those without security try to do various things to overcome this and they are all harmful.

For example, a Christian friend you know may belive that they have to do a certain amount of things each day in order to ’stay saved.’ These folks cannot admit to their fear of losing God, nor can they speak honestly about their Christian walk because they perceive a great need to perform. If they are not meeting their own expectations, they can try to overemphasize small deeds or avoid sharing certain areas of their lives with others. As we read in 1 John this past week, “perfect love drives out all fear.” If you start to become afraid that you are somehow not doing enough or that you have drifted away from God, go back through 1 John to get your confidence back.

I say this because as we move into what a Christian does, it can become too easy to believe that we are saved by what we do instead of what God has done for us. Let me repeat that: you are not a Christian because of what you do, you are a Christian because Jesus paid the price for yours and my sin on the cross.

On the other hand, it can also become to easy to believe that what you do is unimportant. Just like our own parents trained us and expected certain behavior from us, God expects the same. the motivation of God is not control, acheivements, or some kind of gradebook. Instead, as we learned in 1 John, his motivation is love for each one of us. God seeks to train us to lead a life that not only glorifies Him, but gives you life as well. A good life doesn’t mean you will not have problems. God, through his love, seeks to train us to handle our problems when they come. As you will learn throughout life, you will reap what you sow. If you sow righteousness, you will reap great benefits.

Stepping Stone number two is:
A man reaps what he sows.

Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. –Galatians 6:7-9

Put another way, if you plant tomatoes, do you expect eggplants in the spring? In addition to being honest, it is helpful to recognize that your actions have consequences good and bad. Being honest about yourself allows you to deal with these consequences in a healthy way.

More later…

There are two forms of chess played throughout the Republic. One from is called Swords and Arrows. It is popular in the Western edge of the current Republic, but considered something of a novelty further East and in Esbra City.

Playing games is a part of the Hesberican way - various games are more or less popular among the different classes throughout the Republic. Gambling is considered a form of mental laziness and is illegal. This, however, usually means that the bath houses and taverns play dice and knucklebones in back rooms. It isn’t known how popular various dice games are, but most citizens of the empire carry at least on set of dice (those with more money) or knucklebones (from pigs) with them.

Senators, Generals, and Equestrians, however, tend to carry token for playing chess. Most winehouses have tables with a twelve by twelve checkerboard on top. The most common form of chess usually requires a 12 by 8 table, but the size can vary depending on agreement of the two players.

However, instead of blank tokens and a king for Esbran Chess, Swords & Arrows requires two kinds of tokens in addition to the King.

The rules are:
An eleven by eleven board is used, there are six Sword tokens and five Arrow tokens.
Arrows are places on the back row in every other square (first square empty)
The Swords are placed on the row in front of the arrows, also on every other square. (first square occupied by a Sword).
The King (or General) is traditionally placed in the player far right square on the back row, but can be placed anywhere on the back row.

The Swords can move on the diagonal.
The Arrows can move sideways, forwards, or backwards.
The King (or General) moves like an Arrow piece
An opponents piece is captured when it is flanked on two sides or two opposing corners.
The King (or General) cannot be captured, but can be surrounded on four sides to be immobilized.

The game ends when the King (or General) cannot move, or when all the opponents Swords and Arrows have been taken.

Strategy for the game is fairly complex. Frequent players refer to the stages of play as: opening, skirmish, battle, and endgame. There are many different openings with various names. Entire strategies are sometimes referred to as ‘gambits’ and there are much fewer of them. Experienced players can usually identify an opponents gambit fairly early. This allows them to employ one of the various ‘defenses’ also named.

Unlike Esbran Chess, there is only one definitive work on Swords and Arrows written hundreds of years ago by Enekedian, an Ikan philosopher.

This may not work. If it does, then I’m going to keep the site changed a certain way.

Site keeps getting hacked. Yay

I know the cause. Thank you. I do hear you and I will upgrade when it’s available. I have a lot to do, okay? My job’s proxies block the wordpress site, so I cannot upgrade. You didn’t have to delete the entire site.

The Steppins Stones series I mentioned some time ago is coming along. I worked out most of week one. If you need a hint, think 1 John.

I have limited access to the blog these days, so I haven’t posted drafts as is my custom. Instead, I bring you the In Depth exercise from Week One. The In Depth exercise is for those folks repeating the course or otherwise already familiar with the content. It’s not so much busywork as a different perspective on the topic at hand.

In week one, (the homework for those that asked for it), there is some setup and orienting information about 1 John. In essence, since 1 John is a letter, understanding it requires many of the skills used to understand any letter (or longer email). The In Depth exercise provides a letter written from a father to his son that provides examples of some issues in understanding epistles in the New Testament.

This is the draft, by the way, so it needs real polish.

In Depth - Week One: Letters in the Bible
This exercise is not required, but is provided to demonstrate some of the issue you may face in reading letters or epistles in the Bible. Below is a Letter from Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield to his son. This letter is the third in a series collected by historians called, Letters to His Son on Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman.

LETTER III

LONDON, December 2, O.S. 1746.

DEAR BOY: I have not, in my present situation, time to write to you, either so much or so often as I used, while I was in a place of much more leisure and profit; but my affection for you must not be judged of by the number of my letters; and, though the one lessens, the other, I assure you, does not.

I have just now received your letter of the 25th past, N. S., and, by the former post, one from Mr. Harte; with both which I am very well pleased: with Mr. Harte’s, for the good account which he gives me of you; with yours, for the good account which you gave me of what I desired to be informed of. Pray continue to give me further information of the form of government of the country you are now in; which I hope you will know most minutely before you leave it. The inequality of the town of Lausanne seems to be very convenient in this cold weather; because going up hill and down will keep you warm. You say there is a good deal of good company; pray, are you got into it? Have you made acquaintances, and with whom? Let me know some of their names. Do you learn German yet, to read, write, and speak it?

Yesterday, I saw a letter from Monsieur Bochat to a friend of mine; which gave me the greatest pleasure that I have felt this great while; because it gives so very good an account of you. Among other things which Monsieur Bochat says to your advantage, he mentions the tender uneasiness and concern that you showed during my illness, for which (though I will say that you owe it to me) I am obliged to you: sentiments of gratitude not being universal, nor even common. As your affection for me can only proceed from your experience and conviction of my fondness for you (for to talk of natural affection is talking nonsense), the only return I desire is, what it is chiefly your interest to make me; I mean your invariable practice of virtue, and your indefatigable pursuit of knowledge. Adieu! and be persuaded that I shall love you extremely, while you deserve it; but not one moment longer.

Some parts of the letter make sense, even though this was written over 250 years ago. A father is writing his son about his stay in a town called Lausanne. He apologizes for not writing sooner. He thanks his son for writing back about the government of Lausanne. He tells his son about a complimentary letter he received from a Mr. Harte. He mentions another complimentary letter about his son that was from a friend to another friend. He then closes with an expression of his love.

However, there are some issues here that require more information. He mentions a previous letter - is that letter available? Why is he curious about the government in Lausanne? What is the father’s ‘present situation’? Why is the son in Lausanne? Who are Mr. Harte and Monsieur Bochat? What does OS and NS in the dates mean? What is ‘natural affection’? What does the last sentence mean, it seems really odd?

Some historical searching will give you all of Stanhope’s letters (covering over 17 years) including the first one that explains his interest in government. An internet search on his name reveals that in 1746, he was appointed as one of the King’s secretary of state. Other searches can reveal some of the other facts as well.

However, the question of OS and NS requires a bit more study. It wasn’t until the British Calendar Act of 1751 that Great Britian used the Gregorian calendar. Like other Protestant countries in Europe (and the colonies), England still used the Julian Calendar until this act was passed. Lord Chesterfield was writing from England, which in 1746, was still using the Julian Calendar notated as “O.S.” His son was in a place that adopted the Gregorian calendar already, so when he made reference to the date on the letter from his son, he used “N.S.” to denote the Gregorian calendar. Clear as mud? Well, folks in Arizona and parts of Indiana probably understand this concept a little better.

Imagine if emails from a friend were dated 10 days old the moment they arrived. That’s the situation that Lord Chesterfield and his son were in. Because custom was to date the letter, there was a translation issue right from the beginning.

I hope this little exercise demonstrates some of the things to keep in mind when reading epistles, or letters in the Bible.

So you’re going to say nothing about other churches anymore, right? That presents a problem when you just have to point at yourself and say, “Look at ME! I am out-baptizing you.” Never fear, the solution is simple.

Get other people to say it and publish on your website. (Here is the original article, I quoted on a separate page in case it gets deleted.)

Do I believe these responses? I don’t see much reason to doubt them. They all sound like they are written by Kip, but then again, I sounded like Kip ten years ago. In case there was any doubt about the destructiveness of ICC discipling, here’s written proof. Did Kip really strive to equip us by discipling or did he simply tell us when and how to do things?

I heard something on TV that I could barely believe. I heard Dr. Dodd from the Westside Church preach a sermon on Worship. In his closing remarks he basically said in tears that his job is to equip, not to do everything. It echoed similar sentiments from the minister of my church that he cannot force anyone to do anything though he is tempted often. All he can do is equip.

Is it really equipping if we all sound the same?

Many of us, and that includes me, spoke the same way for so long. We sounded the same, we acted the same. We all had ‘d-times’, ‘quiet times’, ‘commitments’, ’studies’, ‘back-burner people’, ‘kingdom dreams’ and we all overused the words ‘awesome’ and ‘flat’. (Experts among us would use both in a sentence — That was flat awesome.) That’s why it is important for those of us that are refugees from the ICoC to deliberately use different words. (We also need to use something else besides the NIV, try the HCSB or the NET translations.)

Ezra Pound also shouted “Make it new!” A better quote may be Romans 12:2.

Anywho, more good news later. For now, sorry to post an unpleasant news item first thing on Monday.