Christopher Chelpka

“The Top 6 Places To Try Sparkling Banana Milk” and other ridiculous headlines with this food hype generator.

Whenever I read Isaac Watts, I feel like I see in him the kind of pastoral disposition I want.

His heart is always evident, but he’s never effusive. He’s a careful scholar, but for a broad audience. He is creative in the theological connections he makes, but he’s never wild. A good example of this last one is the connection he makes between the Trinity and the office of deacon in his book on the Christian church. He says, in part,

let them remember and rejoice, that they represent the Character of our Lord Jesus, as he is intrusted with all Supplies from the Hands of the Father, and distributing unto the Church invisible.

In case you’re curious, here’s an outline of the rest of his sermon on deacons:

1. the office (the work of deacons, the reason for the office, the duration of the office, the way in which they become installed),
2. how they may perform their duties well,
3. encouragements in the task.

You may be familiar with Samuel Miller’s book on on the ruling elder. As far as I know he didn’t write a parallel work on deacons, but in 1869, such a work appeared, with a nod toward Miller’s work, written by James M. Wilson. It’s called The Deacon: An Inquiry into the Nature, Duties and Exercise of the Office of the Deacon, in the Christian Church. (Miller does address the distinction between elders and deacons in his book.)

I found a hard-copy of Wilson’s work this while perusing the shelves at RTS-Orlando. Yay for physical libraries! His book does as the title promises and includes tons of data from Reformed and Presbyterian history. He uses exegesis and historical examples to prove his points.

Here are a couple of things I noted:

Wilson is decidedly in favor of putting all the temporal needs of the church—both individual and corporate (my distinction, not his)—in the hands of the deacons, who are subject to the session. No trustees! But I wonder, does he really think that everything temporal belongs to the work of the deacons? This seems unscriptural and impractical. I don’t think I’m misreading him, but it’s hard to imagine he’d hold such an extreme position.

On the necessity of the diaconate, he says that ensuring that this ministry is completed well and according to the will of Christ is important and should not be neglected. Why? Because it “concerns, intimately, the activity and efficiency of the Christian church in the promotion of the great ends of her organization: the diffusion of the gospel in its purity; and the accomplishment of those works of charity and benevolence, by which she is to reflect before the world, and upon it, the image of the grace and compassion of her beneficent Redeemer.” (55)

“No one is afraid to climb the heights, at least not if they have brave hearts and high courage. But the heart that is little from lack of love does not dare to undertake any great task, and does not venture to climb the heights.” (Margaret Porette)

No lack of love for Leo!

I learned a lot at the Paideia Center’s conference on the Trinity this week. Thanks to RTS in Orlando for hosting us. Here are some pictures I took of the campus.

Is Sunscreen the New Margarine? - Outside Online You can guess what this is about. And you already suspected it was true you, didn’t you?

Post-vacation: here’s what I’m doing now.

Thanks to an @appademic article, I found and read “On Intellectual Craftsmanship” by C. Wright Mills today. At the end of my vacation and the start of a big research project, this was a perfectly timed.

A few feral chickens by the night blooming cereus.

I went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with two of my kids and about forty other people from church. The raptor free flight was, as always, amazing. We got to see the first public flight of a red-tailed hawk. And these are some of pictures I took of a great horned owl.

Snow in Tucson! My sweetie and I had fun taking the kids to play in the white stuff this morning.

With the new screens, the iPhone is almost a Klingon P.A.D.D. now. Should Apple go all the way?

My son wants to know why K’Tesh is wearing the Roblox logo.

Twenty years later, I’m relearning this awesome game and playing it with my son. Wow, time flies.

I added a kind of blogroll to my Now Page. Blogrolls are a great way to discover and help others discover useful things.

Now I have a now page.

I am determined to play the first movement of the a-minor Saint-Saëns cello concerto in tune and up to speed before the end of my vacation. Watch out! 🤨

Good news! You don’t have to wait until 2019 to start reading the Bible.

Magnets: A Common Apple Magic Trick

As a young kid, I thought magnets were about the coolest things ever. Here in my 30s, I feel the same way.

Leo is having a very cute Christmas.

Christmas Eve fondue!

I’m trying to learn how to use GitLab. I know it’s designed for developers, but I think it may be useful for my church as a repository for important documents, a wiki for sharing various policies and guidelines, and maybe as a project management tool too.

What do you think? Do you think it’s a good idea?

Any advice, articles, or videos you’d suggest for a total noob? The intro support videos at GitLab were a little too advanced for me.

Feel the fun.

Salt River Canyon

I just added Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ by Andrew David Naselli and J. D. Crowley to my I Recommend page. 📚