How to confront Bible mockers...

It's true that there are and have always been those who marginialize and or deny the authority, infallibility, or divine authorship of the Bible by either their lifestyle or direct statements. How does a believer confront these people? Calvin says that coming back with tons of arguments to counter all of their nit-picking of the Scriptures is not the way to counter. The problem is not that there are not logical answers to all their questions...the main problem is that despisers of the Bible do not know God and have not the Holy Spirit showing them the truth of the Bible. But of course....Calvin says it better.... (worth the careful read)

"Yet they who strive to build up firm faith in scripture through disputation are doing things backwards. For my part, although I do not excel either in great dexterity or eloquence, if I were struggling against the most crafty sort of the despisers of God, who seek to appear shrewd and witty in disparaging scripture, I am confident it would not be difficult to silence their clamarous voices. And if it were a useful labor to refute their cavils, I would with no great trouble shatter the boasts they mutter in their lurking places. . But even if anyone clears God's sacred word from man's evil speaking, he will not at once imprint upon their hearts that certainty which piety requires. Since for unbelieving men religion seems to stand by opinion alone, they, in order not to anything foolishly or lightly both wish and demand rational proof that Moses and the prophets spoke divinely.

But I reply: the testimony of the Spirit is more excellent than all reason. For as God alone is a fit witness of himself in His word, so also the word will not find acceptance in men's hearts before it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit. The same Spirit, therefore, who has spoken throught the mouth of the prophets must penetrate into our hearts to persuade us that they are faithfully proclaimed what had been divinely commanded....

Some good folk are annoyed that a clear proof is not ready at hand when the impious, unpunished, murmur against God's word. As if the Spirit were not called both "seal" and "guarantee" (2 Corinthians 1:22) for confirming the faith of the godly; because until he illumines their minds, they ever waver among many doubts!"

Saint Jeoire-Prieuré and Tartiflette

John, Laura, and Rebecca are here and we've had a blast just cooking and talking together. Yesterday afternoon, we went to a little town known for its vineyards and countryside, Saint Jeorie-Prieuré. The town was at the end of Chambéry bus line number 8 so we got off and walked through the countryside.

Here we are waiting together for our bus.

Grapes on the vine.


The town from the hill that we were on.


John and Laura...

Savoie hillsides and skyline

Idyllic little castle in the middle of vineyards with Massif de Bauges in the background. (Click on the picture to see it up close, its real purdy)

66% of the people in this photo are named John Huntley.

Dipping down with papa.

We found this old wine cellar door (at least that is what it looked like) with dark purple grape-clusters hanging over the door. And the gals stopped for a pose.

Once we got home from our Savoie promedade we made a Savoie specialty called Tartiflette. Here Ruth is spreading crème fraîche (a thick 30% fat-content creme) on the potato/bacon/onion mixture.

After that, you take the local reblochon cheese, cut them in half, and put it on top.

Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes or so and...Voila! It was super-rich and super good. A good meal to end a good day of romping around the countryside.

Getting ready for Uncle John and Aunt Laura....

Our wonderful brother John and wonderful sister-in-law Laura will be traveling down from Germany to stay with us for a few days. They have been living in Munich and studying German in language school just like us. They are finished with that and after their visit with us they will be moving to a little town in Bavaria, and John will be doing some research in connection with the local University. So today we skipped out of class and were getting the appartment cleaned and went grocery shopping (4 times actually because on a bike we can't carry all we needed for this week!) We are so excited to see them tomorrow morning.

We plan to make the local Savoie (the region of France we live in) specialty called Tartiflette. Its basically potatoes, cubed bacon, cream, onion, and topped off with the local specialty cheese reblochon and baked in the oven. Sort of like hot-dish with high fat content, a hot-dish is a casserole (for our southern relatives) Click here for the recipe.

How many groceries can you put in your bookbag and in the basket of your bike? Adam found out the answer.

On a side note, we have been letting John try new foods, we tried peas today and as you can see he prefers all other foods to peas. Ahhh...a real chip off the old block.

Jour de Patrimoine and our friends...

Last Saturday was a European Union holiday known as Jour de Patrimoine or "Heritage Day". Basically the people in all the cities in the EU throw a party in different parts of the city and highlight traditional culture of a particular nation. The party in our part of Chambéry was in the park that our aparment looks out over, so we didn't have to travel very far at all. Our part (quartier) nation was Portugal. The party was similar to ones in the states: there were games, face painting, and a concessions stands that sold everything from lollipops and wine (which children can legaly drink but not purchase) to french fries and hotdogs (yes hotdogs). The best part of the time was to visit with our missionary friends here in the city since most of everyone came out to visit.


Our friends the Fays

Our friend Traci and her youngest, Eli, making paper lanterns.

And of course some traditional Portuguese music and dancing.

We had a wonderful time talking and enjoying a change from the routine. At night, the party changed into a Karaoke time with almost all of the songs being American pop songs from the 60s and 70s. There is nothing quite like a woman singing the beegees in a heavy French accent at 10 o'clock at night (we could hear the music from our balcony, because the park is right beside our apartment building). What a way to celebrate heritage day! But as they say here, "ehh...c'est la vie!"

When its all you want...

One of my (Adam) favorite Puritans, Thomas Brooks, in his book Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices talks about spiritual warfare particularly in the way the enemy works on our minds. In the chapter that I'm reading right now...he is talking about marks of a truly born again person, so that we can biblically face the devil's accusations against us. Or in other words, what is a true Christian like in their thinking and actions as opposed to someone who is only deceiving themself? Brooks says that one of the true marks of a believer is that they just love Jesus, and are generally happy that they have Him even though they may lose many other things in this present life. Lisen to him say it.

"True grace will enable a soul to sit down satisfied and contented with the naked enjoyments of Christ. The enjoyment of Christ without honor will satisfy the soul; the enjoyment of Christ without riches, the enjoyment of Christ without pleasures, and without the smiles of creatures, will content and satisfy the soul. "It is enough; Joseph is alive" (Gen. 45:28). So saith a gracious soul, though honor is not, and riches are not, and health is not, and friends are not, it is enough that Christ is, that he reigns, conquers, and triumphs. Christ is the pot of manna, the jar of oil, a bottomless ocean of all comfort, content, and satisfaction. He that hath him lacks nothing: he that lacks him enjoys nothing. "Having nothing," said Paul, "and yet possessing everything." (2 Cor. 6:10)"

An hour and a half?!

That's what we said when we got back from a very pleasant visit to the apartment-home of a couple (Max and Elodie) who lives on the fifth story of our apartment building: "Did we really just have a conversation in French for an hour and a half?!"

Adam met Max a few weeks back when he held the door for Max (who was carrying a big load of stuff into the building). Max was really friendly and invited us over to visit sometime. Tonight, we went over to their apartment and had such a good time.

Elodie had made some delicious tea, as well as an amazing tarte aux mirabelles (mirabelles are small, yellow plums). John sat contentedly on my lap the whole time, as long as I was giving him small bites of the tarte. He absolutely loved it. Finally, he was so full that he could not eat another bite, but could only make a couple small burps.

This is not the actual tarte from tonight (I forgot to bring a camera), but it's one just like it so you can see what a "tarte aux mirabelles" looks like.

We sat at a low table in the living room area, drinking tea, eating pieces of tarte, and just talking about our lives and interests. Max studied geography and Elodie studied philosophy, and they both enjoy reading a lot. So it was fun to talk with them. Although our French is still quite elementary, it was encouraging just to be able to hold a conversation.

Oh, one more fun little cultural thing that happened: we brought some cookies (our favorie standby, Mrs. Wagner's amazing melt-in-your-mouth cookies), and I guess maybe they just don't have plain cookies like that here (at least not very often), because they politely asked us, "Oh, so how do you eat these? With jam? Or with chocolate?"

Ah, cultural dessert differences...

Verbs, verbs, verbs....

No one has ever accused the French of having too few suffixes in their verb system. Today we reviewed the verbs in French by drawing out a family tree as it were (Ruth's is pictured above). While this is by far not the most complex system in all the world's languages...it is a bit more complex than English (as far as suffixes go). But we are enjoying our language study and slowly all the forms (and even slower) all the irregular forms are making their way into our brains, and hopefully there to stay.

(click on the picture if you want to study too)

Best Nounou Ever!

Nounou is a French word for a nanny or babysitter. Becca is definitely the best nounou ever. She plays with John and takes care of him while Adam and I go to French class together (thanks to her taking care of him, we get to be in the same class for a few months, which we truly enjoy).

We come home from class to a happy little boy, who has always had a great time with his nounou. We're so grateful to Becca for coming to help us for a few months, and we love having her here and just all being together.

Gallopaz

Some friends of ours in Chambéry organized another "husband-hike" on a local trail here in the Alps. The destination: Point de Gallopaz alt. 1681m (which is almost exactly one mile up). Our verticle ascent was only 800m (2400 ft.). There were four of us this time and all of us are involved with Bible translation work in some form or another. We had a great time talking to each other on the way up (when we weren't out of breath) The day was foggy so the view wasn't perfect but of course the journey is more than half the fun. JD, Kory, Paul and I had a blast getting to know each other better.

A home-made wooden water chute at the trail head.

You don't need French to understand this sign. This was at the trailhead so we thought that our day was over, but there was a map that took us around the logging area (even though they don't work on Saturdays).

Heading up into the final part of the trail which opens up into a big cow pasture. We lovingly named it, "Cow Pie-radise hill"

Nearing the "pointy" summit....

The cross at the summit, it was very cloudy so we really didn't have much of a view except for a couple of times when the fog cleared, but it is nice to have lunch on top of an Alpine mountain with nothing else but wilderness all around you.

Our friend Paul with clouds behind him, we actually were above the clouds at the summit.

On the way back down we had some views that we didn't see on the way up.

Beautiful pine forests on the descent.

The tiny little village/town. That is the whole town if you can believe it. They have a mayor's office and a little school: so if you grow up here you will be able to at least read, write, pay taxes and get married. The cable that is going down the front of the picture is the cable that they send the cut trees down the mountain (at least that was our theory)


Our four walking sticks that we left for the next hikers.

Our friend Kory tries his hand at Alpine yodeling. Not bad....

I had a wonderful time and am thankful that Ruth (and all the other wives) let us go on this little hike and see this wonderful part of the world while we are still here.

The Glorious Monotony

It's true. Most of all our lives are spent on things that we do everyday. Washing diapers, washing dishes, making meals, having conversations with your family, washing some more diapers... But, of course, because we have regular routines (that sometimes we can grow tired of) doesn't mean that those things that we regularly do are not glorious. I remind myself of this often by saying that when I was a little kid in elementary school...my school report cards were never sent to President Bush. President Bush was never tearing open an envelope to see how I fared the previous semester. And the reason for this is obvious...my grades, in the overall scheme of things, were not that important to take up his time. Only issues that are significant to his role as president are duly considered, and my little marks didn't make the cut. Although even if he did, I'm sure that he would not have appreciated my steady stream of "C"s that I received in "Citizenship" (aka behavior in class)

But Jesus says in Mattew 12:36
"I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account of every careless word they speak."

Amazing, huh? Every little word you have ever said will have been taken into account and judged. (and remember the verse before that says that what we say accurately reflects what is going on in our heart, especially careless words)

Mr. President never received my report cards but......the Creator, the Judge of all, who lives in an unapproachable light, who will judge men fairly without favortism will look at every word I've ever said and evaluate it. What an amazing thing that shows about the value of our seemingly insignificant lives. That if all our words and all our little actions are worthy of being evaluated by the only true God, then our words are very significant and very important. This is so because we are made in the image of God. God wants us to use our lives to honor and glorify Him by reflecting His virtue. Our lives in all their little monotonies have great dignity because we are made in the image of the One who has all dignity and majesty

So...if you are bored with the "same old same old" of your week, take heart.... you will receive a reward from Him later, and what you are doing is not insignificant....for it is significant to Him.

Click here to check out this verse (1st Corinthian 15 :58) that says the same thing.

Here is a little video of one of my routines. The situation is that Ruth takes care of John during the night (which is tiring work) and since John goes to bed early, he also finally gets up early and that is when Ruth stops working and I start. So early in the morning I hold John and he plays while I read the Bible. I'm reading and being with him so I'm happy and he is happy to be held by me. It's a glorious monotony.

All ought to what?...

A buddy of mine here in France lent me (Adam) a book by a Puritan named George Hamond. The book is The Case for Family Worship. I've only read the preface and introduction but it is faring well. Before tackling the issue of the necessity of having worship and teaching times within the family he starts off a bit by talking about worship in general. This little sentence caught my mind.

"He who pays no religious worship to the Deity owns no God, and he who says that he acknowledges a God, but that he owes no worship to Him, entangles himself in a wicked and foolish contradition."

He is saying two things:

1. If you claim that you are a Christian and do not worship God, then you do not know God at all, because if you claim to have been encountered by the one who created all things/forgiven all of your willful rebellion and do not worship and honor Him, then your claim that you have encountered Him does not stick. Because if you know him then you would honor Him. Its like after you have been in a car accident...you are very cautious and careful afterwards because you have been encountered by the reality of car accidents. You change your behavior because you have truly experienced something. So, in the same way, men and women who have truly been encoutered (aka been born-again) by Him will worship and honor Him.
   
2. What is the contridiction that he mentions in the second half? It is this: If you claim to acknowledge God then do not worship him, then you do not understand what the implications are for your life that there is the existence of an eternal, all powerful being who created you and is infinitly more valuable than you are. Put plainly: "If God is, then you will logically worship Him. If you don't worship Him, then you really don't believe in Him." Deity is to be worshipped.

So the final question remains...
Are you worshipping God truly from the heart?

Lebanese Bulgur

Hello all, still trying out a couple new recipes, here is one of Ruth's that has particularly been well received by myself (Adam) and Rebecca. The only semi-different ingredient is bulgur, the rest are as common as grass. You can probably find bulgur in a whole-foods store. Here in France it is cheap as dirt so even more reason to make this dish.

It yields enough for 6 (or at least 3 way-over-stuffed people with some left over, as was the case in our place)

Bon appétit!

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup olive oil (yes 2/3 cup olive oil that is why it tastes so good, but we are going to experiment with half or less of this to see how it works)
• 3 small onions chopped (the onions here are little)
• 4 garlic cloves mashed or minced
• Handful of fresh basil leaves
• 2 cups of bulgur
• 2 cups of tomato seeded and chopped
• 3 cups of vegetable broth (water 2-3 boullion cubes)
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 6 tablespoons of tomato paste
• salt and pepper
• 3 pinches of cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons of chopped dried parsley

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook until lightly brown, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.
4. Stir in the tomatoes and basil, cooking two more minutes
5. Stir the bulgur into the tomato mixture, make sure the bulgur is coated well.
6. Stir in the hot broth, reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes, covered.
7. Add the honey, tomato paste, salt, pepper and cayenne to the bulgur mixture.
8. Continue to cook covered until the bulgur is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed, about 25 minutes.
9. Turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes or so.
10. Sprinkle the parsley over the top

It stores and reheats very well, filling and relatively cheap to make.

The Reformation Museum

If you haven't seen Ruth's post from yesterday please read her post below this one. Ruth's birthday present to me was the admission to the International Museum of the Reformation. I really love reformation history so I was very thankful for the gift. The Museum is located right beside the church where John Calvin preached and since this year marks the 500th birthday of Calvin...there were special displays about him. Here are a couple things that I saw there.



The pulpit that Calvin preached from.

Calvin's mug....

A letter that Calvin wrote to his friend and fellow Genevan reformer Farel.

First edition of one of Calvin's commentaries...

Theodare Beza's (Calvin's student who followed him around, and Calvin's first biographer) copy of Erasmus' newly published Greek New Testament with his notes on the left-hand margin.

A letter from Martin Luther (I think written to Calvin)

Three anecdotes about Calvin that I learned at the museum

1. Calvin was a pastor. He preached on average nine times every two weeks. People back then would take their lunch to the church to come and listen to him during the week. Sunday services were obligatory for everyone in the city, but these weekday services were not and people loved to hear the Bible preached. He preached through the Bible so I imagine you would have to preach a lot to get through it.
2. Calvin loved the people in his flock. The black plague hit Geneva when he was a pastor. Of course, many of his people contracted the plague and were dying. Calvin visited these dying people and everybody knew that this was a big risk. The city coucil took a vote to force Calvin to stop visiting these people because they considered him too important to the reformation through his writings. A young pastor willingly took up the responsibility. Calvin later wrote to a friend talking about the council's decision saying that if the young pastor takes ill then he will ignore the council and start visiting the people anyways. Such is the love of true pastors.
3. Calvin suffered. People who were not Christians hated his stances on certain moral issues; like that husbands should not take a mistress (which was allowed by law at the time). Many times people would yell at him shoot muskets at his house and mobs of people demanding outside his house that he would be given up so that they could toss him in the icy river. He usually worked from bed because he had some sort of horrible intestinal problem that did not allow him to get up from bed, often he dictated his books to a secretary. He married a lady who died after 8 years of marrage, and she had one son with him who died when he was a baby. Calvin suffered a lot and it gave him a love for the glory of God and for the world that is to come.

So this was my trip. I had a blast learning about this great turn in history which was in reality a turn towards the absolute authority of God's word.

Becca's here in Chambéry!

What a wonderful day! We three (Adam, Ruth and John) travelled by train from Chambéry to Geneva, where we spent some time in the historic town and then went to the airport for the highlight of the day -- meeting Becca, newly arrived from MN! She's going to stay with us for three months, Lord-willing, and we are SO happy to have her here.

Adam may post some more pictures of Geneva later, but here is my (Ruth's) contribution of photos from today for the time being:

The first train ride John has ever taken (and the first "real" train ride Adam has ever taken!)

Back at John Calvin's church in Geneva, I relived some happy memories that happened around the pillars out front when I visited with Magdalen friends some years ago:

John felt right at home with his face stuck in a cutout of John Calvin...it was great because a German tour group was surrounding the cutout at the time that Adam was holding him behind it and when I was calling to John, "John, John, look at the camera!" I think they were saying in German, "Ah! His name is John, too!" Well, I don't speak German, so I am not sure...but I think that's what they were saying:

John and I walked around Geneva and checked out the "Reformers' Wall" sculptures. It was beautiful weather, and John had lots of fun:

Meanwhile, while we walked around town, Adam spent some time browsing the Museum of the Reformation, which had a special John Calvin exhibit currently going on:

Finally, the most exciting moment of the day...meeting Becca at the Geneva airport!!! She's finally here!!! John was tired from getting up before 6:00 a.m., but not too tired to overcome his excitement at seeing Aunt Becca:

Having stayed up all night on the plane, Rebecca snoozed briefly while we hung out at Starbucks (fun after 3 months in a Starbucks-less city!) while waiting for our train that would take us from Geneva back home to Chambéry:

On the train home, Johnny rested contentedly on Aunt Becca's lap: