Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Chris Blum's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Friday, December 17th, 2004
10:15 am	I've recently been rediscovering all the miscellaneous songs and spin-offs of the wonderful band Burlap to Cashmere. For starters, Steven Delopoulos just released two songs that can be downloaded for free in mp3 format at Eb+Flo Records' website. And I don't know how I missed these three songs all these years, but I just discovered that Burlap to Cashmere, before anyone had left, did three miscellaneous songs on "various artists" albums - "Daisies & Roses" on the album "Roaring Lambs," as well as "From Above" from the album "Streams," and "Silent Night" with Jaci Velasquez on "One Silent Night." I've also known that Josh Zandman and John DeGrazio, former Burlap members, had formed solo careers of their own, but for some reason I never checked their stuff out. Their talent is unbelievable! Many of John's songs can be heard on his site, and some of Josh's can on his site as well. I particularly like "Breathe Again" where Josh featured Steven on vocals. Needless to say, I'm excited to discovering these scattered songs of theirs, and also look forward to Burlap's site eventually being updated, which they say is coming sometime here. Oh, and in case you can't already tell, in the world of music, Burlap to Cashmere (including any and all spin-offs) is my life. Check some of it out - it's deep and poetic. (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 11th, 2004
9:44 pm	It's nice that it's the weekend now, after that Calculus I final yesterday evening from 5:30-9:00. I still need to study for French and Search, but it's nice to have one of them behind me. Plus I decided that when I finish each test, I'm going to reward myself with some KFC :-). I also think I'm going to start studying presuppositional apologetics again now, since I had kind of taken a break on it, but recently got into another discussion on it with Paul Manata, and thus soon realized how much I still have to learn! On that note, I'll be getting to bed pretty soon here, since I'm going to Riveroaks tomorrow morning, which is invaluable in my life. (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 9th, 2004
11:22 pm	"Now hush little baby don’t you cry Everything's gonna be alright Stiffen that upper lip up little lady I told ya, daddy’s here to hold ya Through the night" (Comment on this)
6:47 pm	Well, I've got exams coming up really soon now, including the Calculus I final tomorrow, which will be nice to get finished. That class was a lot harder here than in high-school or in the University of Cincinnati class. We've tentatively scheduled the first Puritan Board meetup! Right now the thoughts are that it's going to be on the weekend of January 28 in Jackson, MS, since Fred and Patrick will already be there at Reformed Theological Seminary, and Sinclair Ferguson is teaching a series at a free men's conference at First Presbyterian Church that weekend. So that should be great! KFC is like my new all-time favorite place to eat. It started with a classmate writing and presenting her English essay relating to its founding, and that made me want to go there once, and somehow I got hooked like never before. Now I can't stand the fried chicken on campus anymore! On that note, it's off to do some more exam-studying and PB-surfing... (Comment on this)
Friday, December 3rd, 2004
2:26 pm	"...I let you go, I let you fly Why do I keep on asking why? I let you go, now that I found A way to keep, somehow, More than a broken vow... "...I close my eyes I'd give away my soul To hold you once again And never let this promise end "I let you go, I let you fly Now that I know, I'm asking why I let you go, now that I found A way to keep, somehow, More than a broken vow..." -Josh Groban, from "Broken Vow" (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 1st, 2004
6:47 pm	And how could I forget...Thanksgiving was great. It was nice seeing my family again for awhile, and some of my friends from church. Mark and I kept each other up a few nights playing Halo 2 to death. Steve, Kevin and myself also got to have an overnighter at my house and play Halo 2 even more! Plus we all ate one-third of a whole habanero pepper, which was funny in light of Steve's aversion to spicy food! The next day we went to Steve's house for a sealed-deck Magic tournament, and we used Fallen Empires! That was neat for a change, as well as the fact that I built a Thallid deck. Well, I'm off to play some racquetball with Dan... Current Music: "Closer" by Josh Groban (Comment on this)
5:18 pm	Wow, I've never had to study for several simultaneous final exams before, since I never had that in high-school! The Espresso's keeping me alive through it all, though. :-) Not to mention that the Bengals just beat Cleveland 58-48, making the second highest-scoring game in NFL history, the first of which was in 1970! I'm also excited because next semester I get to take three different courses in the French department! One of them is a historical class, "Paris: Myth & Reality," of which I got one of only 11 spots! Well, off to more Espresso and work... (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 21st, 2004
1:47 pm	Today I got to attend Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA) for the second time. John Schultz, a member of Riveroaks whom I know from Puritan Board, was the person who made me aware of the church, and my first visit was several weeks ago with my parents during Family Weekend at Rhodes. After that, John got me in-touch with a couple, Tom and Rhiannon Berdeja, who are just looking into Riveroaks themselves and live fairly close to Rhodes. Today I went with them, and enjoyed getting to know them and their serious appreciation for the Reformed faith. The early service was good, and it was refreshing to experience biblical worship, followed by an excellent sermon by Senior Pastor William Spink, Jr. on Romans 9, which helped me to connect the different parts of that chapter in a way I had not previously done – for Paul first talks about the falling away of national Israel, and speaks of his personal anguish because of it, and then makes a point of saying that the falling away nonetheless does not mean that God has not kept His promise, for the purpose of election is not carried about merely through physical descent. I had never before realized how all the talk on sovereign election in Romans 9 is chiefly brought up as an explanation for the external falling away that Paul talks about early in the chapter, all relating to his own anguish and the spiritual nature of the kingdom. Seeing the continuity of the various themes in that chapter also made it natural to take life principles out of it that Pastor Spink pointed out, such as the fact that, like Paul, our certainty and hope in election need not nullify our sorrow for those in our lives who are lost, and even those who are reprobate, since they are not “enjoying God forever” even though they are “glorifying Him.” After that, Tom, Rhiannon and myself went to the Pastor’s Class, taught by Pastor Spink, to “help those interested in learning more about Riveroaks and the PCA.” It was an overview of the concept of authority, both Scriptural and confessional, and their relation to each other and the church, and a brief comparison between the Covenant Theology hermeneutic and the Dispensational hermeneutic. It was also a good time to briefly get to know a few other people in the church, which I look forward to further doing in the future. (Comment on this)
Friday, November 19th, 2004
4:00 am	Well, I'm pulling my second all-nighter tonight. It was already 2:30, and I have class at 8:00. So I figured I'd stay up to do all my Calculus homework, then be ready to get breakfast by 7:00. So for these few remaining hours I'm browsing some more Puritan Board, and listening to more of my new favorite band...the O. C. Supertones! Their lyrics are as blatantly Reformed as Derek Webb's, just in a different way. Today I also checked out Fred Greco's new site at TulipFaith.com, and it's great! Well, off to more Supertones... (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 11th, 2004
7:02 pm	I've been having to do more work and studying this past week, especially in French. I was also able to put up 50 flyers around campus opposing Arlen Specter for Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee because of his warning against Bush not to try and appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court in the coming years. All the flyers got taken down that day by someone who also sent me a hate e-mail, to which I sent a charitable and intelligent response, and then put up 50 more that night. I also got to write an essay for the Opinion section of the weekly Rhodes newspaper, and I chose to write on Ron Reagan's false dichotomy between the "religious" and the "practical" that he spoke of on election night. But after all, what sort of philosophical consistency can be expected from a liberal atheist who admires Buddhism, anyway? As my friend Paul Manata so eloquently put it once, "Sin makes you stupid." On that note, I'm planning to get Derek Webb's new album soon, which I've heard is excellent, though stylistically different from "She Must and Shall Go Free." (Comment on this)
Friday, November 5th, 2004
1:30 am	The trailer for Star Wars: Episode III is out, and it's awesome! It begins with Obi-Wan's words to Luke in Episode 4: "For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times...before the Empire. A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force." Knowing myself, I naturally had to put a theological spin on it: For many years the Puritans were the protectors of truth and faith in the old world, before the dark times...before the revivalists. A young minister named John Wesley, who was a pupil of Whitefield's before he turned to Arminianism, helped the Holiness Movement spread out and destroy the confessionalists. Wesley was seduced by the shallow side of the church. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2004
4:00 am	W! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2004
1:05 am	I'm really enjoying and benefitting from continued study, discussion and debate on presuppositionalism and theonomy...and Gary North is hilarious! Current Music: "Where I Began" by Caedmon's Call, from "40 Acres" (Comment on this)
Monday, November 1st, 2004
1:30 am	Praise be to God for everything He is and has created! Everything I'm doing right now is all simultaneously magnifying and emphasizing in my mind the dominion He has over everything... ...for all of our thoughts and emotions and creations are from, through and to Him, and He has beautifully designed His creation, beautifully ordered His providence, and magnificently ordained the plan of redemptive history in every way. The objective truth of His word and His Son are completely and totally rational and sovereign at the same time, in that the minds of His children can be perfectly enlightened to His truth in a perfectly logical, rational way, and yet at the same time that enlightenment comes solely and strictly through the completely sovereign act of His regeneration, which is beyond us. The fellow companions He has given us, especially our fellow sisters and brothers in Him, are indescribably priceless as well, and reflect the beauty and perfection of Him and His relating to us...thanks be to the Lord God! (Comment on this)
Friday, October 29th, 2004
5:33 pm	Mushrooms are like my new favorite food...I'm getting them in everything I order here that I can. Other than that, more country music as I study more theonomy...and wait for the night of election day... (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 27th, 2004
7:25 pm	Lately, my alone spare time has mostly been spent studying Theonomy and getting acquainted with Johnny Cash's music. I love Cash's songs so far, and I'm enjoying thinking through the doctrine of Theonomy, reading Bahnsen's articles on it and discussing it on Puritan Board...which reminds me, yesterday was the day I first joined Puritan Board exactly a year ago - and yesterday I had my 1000th post, which is weird! I can't believe I've only been a part of that community for a year - it seems like it's been such a large part of my life. Current Music: "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" by Johnny Cash (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 21st, 2004
9:06 pm	I'm getting better at Mario and more addicted to country music, all at the same time! Well, I'm getting ready to do some French and Calculus homework, and then watch "The Empire Strikes Back" in the Amphitheatre, to follow up "A New Hope" last night. Current Music: generic country (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 19th, 2004
9:27 pm	Today I got back from fall break, which was pretty short - but at least it was a break. On the Greyhound bus, I finished Pratt's book, which was nice. The people you see on Greyhound buses can be amusing. I'll have to start some of my French work pretty soon here - but in the mean time I'll keep amusing and scaring myself at the same time by dwelling on how I'm (gasp) getting somewhat into country music. It started with me getting back into Russ Taff and being told about Mindy Smith. Then I met someone on the Greyhound bus named Tony Canali, who was getting ready to sign with Mercury Records the next day (the 16th) to do country music. As the bricks fell in place, I passively watched myself fall into the pit of country music. Until next time... Current Music: 105.9 FM, Memphis country music (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 10th, 2004
11:20 pm	Greg Bahnsen was a wonderful teacher, preacher and debater...and Seinfeld was a wonderful show. (Now you know what I did tonight.) Current Mood: mellow (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 6th, 2004
10:32 pm	This evening I was outside on a bench reading Richard Pratt's Every Thought Captive, a practical introduction to presuppositional apologetics. While I'm understanding the biblical and logical consistency, effectiveness and relevance of the points in the book, God providentially showed me tonight that I need to become more clear on their application. Someone sat down next to me and asked me what I was reading, and upon showing him the book, his disgust and amazement was apparent in his comments and his mannerisms. This eventually led into an informal discussion of the issue of religious commitment, and while a couple questions I posed to him along the way left him without an answer, as a whole I simply wasn't able to effectively communicate what I had been studying. Eventually he left, he said out of disgust and offense at my claim that God would providentially use events such as 9/11 for ultimate good. He did, however, mention possible further discussion in the future. I believe God put me in that situation to solidify ever more firmly my seriousness and dedication to studying apologetics right here and now. Although I fully know that it was the deep reality of total depravity that was causing the disgust and blindness to the truth, and that nothing but the grace of God will change that, the experience made me more determined than ever to actively heed God's instruction through Peter to "regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Pet. 3:15, ESV). I plan to do this through an increasing commitment to memory of Scripture especially relevant to the task of apologetics and the Christian worldview's relation to unbelief, and through a more constant reading and listening of helpful related materials by Pratt, Bahnsen, Van Til, etc. On another note, I'm starting to get more comfortable and familiar with learning French overall, and some of the foundational grammar rules and basic vocabulary are becoming somewhat easier to grasp. I pray that I'll continue to increase my learning in that subject. Well, off to bed...with my friendly neighborhood Walkman, of course. ;-) (Comment on this)