November Psalm Sing

After a few delays, we finally got around to hosting another psalm singing gathering last Saturday.
 
We had a really nice time of singing and visiting with our dear friends, some of whom we haven't seen in a while; Jett and Evelyn and their children were here, and Joseph and Carolyn and their children had just flown in from Colorado. After the singing and visiting we had dinner, dessert, and family worship together. 

We worked on three tunes: St. Lawrence, St. Mary, and St. Neot, which we sang to Psalm 72, Psalm 22, and Psalm 69, respectively.  As usual, we had lots of beautiful little children present :) and you'll hear them playing in the background.

We were missing two of our bass singers, so we had to shuffle some people to different parts, but Jesh (who always knows best) thinks that we blended pretty well with the new arrangement.  Still, I missed hearing Sam sing tenor.




As always, you can download these recordings to your own computer at www.archive.org/bookmarks/snikwad.

Why I Didn't Vote

I've always felt a little uneasy about voting for the "lesser of two evils" in our country's elections, but it wasn't until I went through a membership class at the RPCNA (Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America) that I finally became fully comfortable with abstaining from voting.  The RPCNA has a strong history of political dissent, and while their stance has changed slightly over the years, the RPCNA Testimony still has some interesting things to say about the Christian's responsibilities regarding voting.

Here is a blog post I came across the other day, by Rev. Eshelman of the RPCNA, that quotes the relevant portions of the Testimony.  I haven't done any exhaustive study on the topic of the establishment principle (though I intend to, someday, when I get the time), so I reserve the right to change my views in the future, but for the time being, I would say that I am in agreement with the portions of the RPCNA Testimony quoted in this blog post.

A Reformed Voter's Guide

Edited to add: see the comments section for a link to another article with similar conclusions, this one written by an FP.

Excellent Lecture on Christian Education

My brother Caleb, knowing that I would be interested, sent me the link to this lecture by Rev. David Silversides of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland.  Mr. Silversides argues for the necessity of a Christian education for our children.  I stayed up late after the children were in bed to have a listen, and it was worth it.

Do We Need Christian Schools?

Mr. Silversides made some excellent points.  Here is an outline of his lecture, copied and pasted from Sermon Audio:
______________________________________________

The argument and emphasis presented here is for the

consistent godly nurture of our children which

necessarily involves a strictly Christian education.

Positive and biblical reasons are given, and some

objections to an exclusively Christian education are

answered.

Some basic questions:

1. Who tells us what to do with our children?

2. Who does God hold responsible for the care of his

children?

3. Is the nurture of children ever neutral?

4. Does the bible say we must have schools?

5. If we have schools must they be Christian ones?

Some objections:

- The hot house objection. Are you not creating a

hot house for your children?

- Won't children rebel against such a stifling

stricture?

- Are we not in danger of doing the Holy Spirit's

work?

- State education didn't do me any harm.

______________________________________________

I especially appreciated Mr. Silversides' handling of his third point, and his responses to the objections (not all of which are listed in the above outline).

Let me know what you think!

Half an Hour of Unschooling

You may have heard me say that I'm "unschooling" my boys for the time being, except for our more structured studies in Bible and math.  Have you wondered what "unschooling" is?  I'll give you a hint--it's what most parents are already doing with their small children: talking to them and showing them things--only kicked up a notch or two.  Check out this post on our new homeschooling blog for an example.

Half an Hour of Unschooling

I hope you all have an excellent Monday!