I kept waking up last night with weird dreams. There is only one I remember because it kept restarting every time I fell back asleep. It was about a little baby girl with three big sparkly eyes. The third eye was between her mouth and her nose. I kept freaking out and waking up and then falling asleep again…. The pregnancy books say that pregnant women have vivid dreams but this was way too much. Argh.

It’s been almost 2 months since the pictures were taken but they’ve finally been scanned in! Here is Baby, 9 weeks old.

June 5, 2006

June 6, 2006

I long for the day when people stop venerating these iconic documents [Westminster, Heidelberg, etc.] and start using them as they use other historical theological sources. This would be true to our heritage as “Reformed” churches.

If we want to be an enclave of ecclesiastical romantics living in the 17th century, a tribe of irrelevant theologues, then by all means let’s continue to multiply conferences and books on the glory of Westminster. Let’s attack anyone who suggests updates and changes. If, however, we desire to minister to people in our world, we need to stand on the shoulders of our glorious forefathers in the faith and do what they did—preach, write, and formulate answers from the Bible for the people of our generation!

Read the rest at Jeff Meyers’ blog….

And, of course, no camp would be complete without books…. I picked these up from the Biblical Horizons table (all by James Jordan except the last two).

• Judges: A Practical and Theological Commentary
• Through New Eyes: Developing a Biblical View of the World
• The Sociology of the Church: Essays in Reconstruction
• Crisis, Opportunity, and the Christian Future
• Trees and Thorns: Studies in Genesis 2-4
• Covenant Sequence in Leviticus and Deuteronomy
• The Touch of Affliction: The “Plague” of “Leprosy” in Leviticus 13
• Leviticus 1: Translation and Commentary
• The Revelation of Jesus in Revelation 1:12b-16 and Its Relation to the Structure of the Book of Revelation
• A Brief Reader’s Guide to Revelation
• Thoughts on Sovereign Grace and Regeneration
• Historical Perspectives on Justification
• A Canonical Inquiry: An Investigation of Two Possible Canonical Structures of the Books of the Bible
• The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism by Peter Leithart
• The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science by Tom Bethell

Maybe this baby better stay inside a little longer.

Yesterday, we drove from a weekend in verdant Portland, where I drank the moist air and a soul-slaking sermon of Word-waters, back home to the barren wilderness where my lips crack and my skin parches and flakes … so this is probably a good time to finally blog about attending the Reformation Covenant Church Family Camp 2006. I was going to wait to blog about this until the camp lectures were available for download at the RCC website but they aren’t yet, so keep checking.

I got high every day on the 3-tiered universe and tri-layered reality and symbolism interconnected throughout the Bible and centrality of communion to everyday life. Aaah. Who needs coffee listening to that? The adrenaline rush was more powerful than any caffeine. It was so good to hear after what seemed like forever without it.

The speaker, James Jordan, is one of the latest in a long line of great men including the Apostle Paul, Augustine, John Calvin, and Peter Leithart … and my dad, too. I was so nervous talking to him I made a total idiot of myself, but oh, well, that’s what I am anyway.

James Jordan & Me

In one of the talks, he mentioned a quote from N.T. Wright and didn’t say where. But, oh, the joys of likeminded bloggers! I found the quote online. (Emphasis mine.)

NT Wright, Simply Christian

The Bible is, in short, the staple diet of Christian worship, as it is of Christian teaching. But, as one of the most famous stories of scripture makes abundantly clear, even scripture isn’t the very center. When the risen Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus, their hearts burned within them while he talked about the Bible. But their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, when he broke the bread.

As precious as Bible teaching is, even from the Second Person of the Trinity Himself (!!!!) it’s not as good as Communion with Him (Luke 24:13-35). Preaching can be good or bad, but nothing beats Communion.

I just got another shipment from my old classmate Austin Storm’s lovely little bookstore … and I got great discounts, too. I still love Amazon, but you can’t beat his fast personal service (complete with IM), and even Amazon can’t beat a lot of Austin’s prices. For Christian books, Sky Cow Books is the way to go.

• The Case for Covenant Communion by Rich Lusk, Douglas Wilson, Peter J. Leithart, James B. Jordan, Jeffrey J. Meyers, Tim Gallant, Gregg Strawbridge, Robert Rayburn, Ray Sutton, Blake Purcell
• Numbers Through Judges [CD] by James B. Jordan
• The Collected Works of Flannery O’Connor by Flannery O’Connor
• Paedofaith: A Primer on the Mystery of Infant Salvation and a Handbook for Covenant Parents by Rich Lusk
• Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis by James B. Jordan
• Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History by Richard M. Hannula
• The Meal Jesus Gave Us: Understanding Holy Communion by N.T. Wright
• Simply Christian by N.T. Wright

A couple weeks after we got married, being unconvinced after a couple positive pregnancy tests, we went to the doctor and had yet another test, which turned out positive yet again.

As soon as the doctor told us it was positive, he asked, “Was this a planned pregnancy?” Ben blurted “Yes” and I blurted “No” in the same breath. The doctor and nurse looked at each other and he asked, “Are you happy about this pregnancy?” and we both said, “Yes.”

I didn’t realize till after we got out that he was actually asking whether or not we wanted to keep the baby. Ben said yes because he didn’t want to hear the spiel about “If you want to kill your baby, then you can….” We didn’t take any of the pamphlets they offered us.

A couple weeks after that, I was being asked a battery of questions by a nurse. Have you or anyone in your family had this or that or the other of umpteen million diseases? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, yes (grandfather had diabetes), no, no, no, no…. Then we got to the section about STDs and sexual health. She really, really, really wanted me to take an AIDS test. I told her I was sure I didn’t have it. The questions got more and more specific so finally I told her my husband and I both didn’t believe in premarital sex and we had just got married in April and neither of us had any other “partners” before the wedding. She didn’t believe me at all. Her incredulity was almost hilarious … and she continued recommending tests. “We will keep your results completely confidential.” I wondered, translated, if that meant, “We won’t tell your husband.”

Fastforward a couple months.

A couple weeks ago, Ben and I heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. It was so exciting and I was in tears as the doctor explained that the baby’s heartbeat was really fast compared to the adult heartbeat but that it sounded perfectly healthy. As I wiped the gelatinous goo off my stomach and got my clothes back on, he confirmed the due date with us and talked about getting a pediatrician, etc.

Then he mentioned a “simple blood test” that would tell you if the baby might have Down Syndrome or spina bifida, etc. After explaining that the test has crazy high false positives, he said the test had to be taken before 20 weeks … “in case you want to terminate your pregnancy.” I felt so sick walking out of there each time and I feel sick just remembering.

“Congratulations! There’s your baby’s heartbeat! You have a healthy baby! Now, if you wanna kill your baby, go ahead, but just make sure it’s before 20 weeks.”

Pregnancy is a disease and doctors are saviours that can cure it by abortion.

When I read Genesis 9:8-17 the first time, I was wondering what was going on with all the repetition so I tried breaking it down. Three days and quite a few hours later, this is what I got. (Thanks to Bro Ben and Cos Chris for patient interaction.)

7 times, God repeats His covenant … SEVEN TIMES!!
3 times, God speaks.
3 times, God promises no more world-destruction by flood.

The structure was quite complex but in a beautifully simple way. I agonized over it for a long time but I think I got a valid structure down. To see more details, take a look or download.

I’ve sorta charted the Creation Story for my own fun and edification. (You’re welcome to take a look if you like … and even download it.)

A cursory reading of Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 (which is where chapter 1 should have ended) seems to reveal at least two structures. The first and more obvious structure, like the 10 Commandments, is one which the second half corresponds to and develops on the first half.

“God said” 10 times in the course of creation, once a day except for twice on third day and four times on the sixth day. Seems like more work went into creating Earth as opposed to the Waters Above and Waters Below.

Day 1 - Day & Night
Day 4 - Rulers of Day & Night

Day 2 - Waters Above & Waters Below
Day 5 - Life in Waters Above & Waters Below

Day 3 - Earth
Day 6 - Life on Earth

The second structure, which I’m not entirely sure about but seems to be somewhat obvious anyway is a triple set of double days.

Day 1 - Dividing Day & Night
Day 2 - Dividing Waters Above & Waters Below

Day 3 - Waters Under Heaven, Plants on Earth
Day 4 - Light on Heaven & Earth

Day 5 - Life in Waters Above & Waters Below - Blessing & Dominion
Day 6 - Life on Earth - Blessing & Dominion Mandate

There are lots of lovely little chiasms sprinkled throughout … I know I haven’t caught them all. Man, I wish I were reading this in Hebrew.

This song has been stuck in my head for the last couple weeks. Thanks a lot, Berek. (Read the subtitles!!)

I wanna learn Swedish. Who wants to go to Sweden with me?