by Phil Johnson
t's the day after Thanksgiving, and it would be gauche to complain on such a day, so let me just say that one of the things I'm most thankful for is that this week is finally nearing an end.Here's the short version, without whining: Tuesday, after being socked with a $2,000 car repair and an expensive root canal for Darlene, I came home to discover water under the kitchen sink. The garbage disposal was leaking. While fixing it, the plumber discovered arterial occlusions in the drain line, and tracing that problem to its source, he found a major obstruction under my front lawn, just this side of the street, where (of course) it's my job to fund the repair. That turned out to cost more than the car repair and root canal combined, and it meant plumbers were running in and out of the house until about 3:00pm on Thanksgiving Day. I'm sure it wasn't exactly a great holiday for those plumbers, either (except for the extra pay, of course)—so I'm truly not complaining.
But I do hope disaster is through with me for the week, because first thing this morning, I'm leaving with nine other members of my family for a week in England.
It sounded like a good idea when we planned it. I have to be in England next week for a board meeting. Last spring I commented on how lovely England is around Christmastime and how nice it would be to be there with the whole fam. Someone overheard me, and they all decided to come along. It should be fun—but then Thanksgiving Day should be fun, and look where that got us.
And as we all know, things don't typically go well when I travel.
Anyway, regardless of how it all turns out, I'm sure it'll be one of those memories we all treasure and talk about for years to come. I am thankful—truly and deeply thankful for countless blessings, including the abiliy to travel at all.
I'm taking a couple of books to read on the way. Both of these are written by people I count as friends. One is Knox's Irregulars, by J. Wesley Bush, erstwhile blogger and international man of mystery. When I started blogging in 1995, Bush was already famous as a blogger. He wrote his blog, Le Sabot Post-Moderne, from Ukraine, where he live-blogged the "Orange Revolution." We knew him then simply as "Discoshaman."Now he's written this fantasy science fiction novel which, I'm told, is full of Calvinistic easter eggs. I'm not usually a fiction reader, but I've read enough of the Discoshaman to know I'd better prepare myself to be entertained, amused, and amazed.
Incidentally, Mrs. Discoshaman is a celebrity blogger in her own right: Tulip Girl. Thanks to her for sending me this copy of Knox Irregulars—from Nairobi, of all places. That's where the Bushes currently reside.
My other reading selection on this trip is God Without Parts, by my friend James Dolezal. He's a Research Fellow at the Craig Center for the Study of the Westminster Standards at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He and I share several common interests, one of which is a fascination with certain disputed points of theology proper—especially classic attributes such as aseity, impassibility, and the simplicity of God.I've thumbed through the book. Every page I scanned intrigued me. Can't wait to read it.
In the meantime, HERE's something you can read right now by yet another friend of mine. It's a book review of Miraslov Volf's disturbing screed titled Allah: A Christian Response. The review is by Paul Dan, who has ministered in Eastern Europe and has firsthand knowledge of recent (and historic) developments in Islamic-Christian relations there.
Read Paul's blogpost and the attachments. What Paul Dan is describing is the tip of a very lage iceberg, I fear. I expect it won't be long before secular media, the political climate, evangelical ecumenists, religious intellectuals, and academic pundits like Miroslav Volf and Phillip Jenkins drum up some kind of public-relations campaign to pressure conservative evangelicals to accept "Chrislam"—or something in that vein—as a legitimate form of Christian discipleship. In reality, Christian-Islamic syncretism represents a fatal capitulation to Islamic aggression. But it's already a growing trend, and one that certainly bears watching.
I'll be in touch, Lord willing.
I bought my copies (one English and another interlinear) from Barnes and Noble years ago. I would rather have given the profit to a Christian company.
