Good Enough for Paul and Silas, Good Enough for Me!

I've been doing some work on genealogy, hopefully in a way that will promote stewardship of the gospel (so I don't conflict with 1 Tim 1:3-4, and Titus 3:9). It has been great! I've been reading through Grandma Braymen's diaries and the quote below was at the back of the one from 1964. This year was filled with journal entries about conflict over the children's Sunday School curriculum. She noted in her journal that Grandpa read through some of the curriculum with her and after pointing out some errors in comparison with what the Bible teaches he encouraged her to write a letter to the pastor. Here is what she wrote:

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15)

It was good for Paul & Silas - it is good enough for me.

July 14, 1964

Greetings to Rev. --

I am a Bible teacher, a Bible student - unfit spiritually to teach otherwise. God wants me to teach - & I believe it (she taught children's Sunday School).

Why I object [to the new curriculum]. [There is] no comparison to Bible lessons.

Omission of risen Christ, conversion, parables, prayer, Holy Spirit, salvation, sin, virigin birth, Easter, resurrection, ascension, miracles, Pentecost, "born again", ...1st church at Jerusalem, Christians 1st at Antioch, many more.

[The] Bible is [the] study of God's relation to man. (She then listed out some of the content of what they were studying and then wrote the following.) [This is] making Jesus in man[s] image.

I'm with Grandma on this one! The Baptist Faith and Message puts it well when it describes the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible by saying the following:

"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a the perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation."

Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.

John Peter Mahnenschmidt

In doing some genealogical research I have found that my great, great, great, great, great (that’s 5) grandpa on my mom’s side, John Mannasmith (c.1770-1826) had a cousin who was a pastor. He was the first known German Reformed Pastor to minister in Ohio. Anyhow here are a few passages about his conversion, life, and death from The Fathers of the German Reformed Church in Europe and America by Rev. H. Harbaugh, D.D.:

“As early as his sixteenth year, he was instructed in the doctrines of God’s word, according to the Heidelberg Catechism, by a colleague of Mr. Otterbein. This proved the means of great and decided blessing to him, moving him earnestly to turn to God in heart and life. He sought and found the Lord to the comfort and satisfaction of his spirit; and the grace which he experienced in his own heart powerfully moved him to exhort others to seek reconciliation with God. Repentance and conversion were the themes on which he dwelt in all his exhortations, and his honest efforts were owned of the Lord to the good of many.” (pg. 207-8)

“The following notice of his demise we take from a religious paper, without knowing the name of the writer. Coming from a stranger, a member of another Church, it is the more valuable. He says: ‘The Rev. John Peter Mahnenschmidt has gone to his blessed reward. He died July 11th, 1857, in Canfield, Mahoning Co., Ohio, aged 74 years. He entered the ministry of the German Reformed Church when but eighteen years of age, and labored until within a few months of his death. He was very successful in winning souls to Christ – was evangelic in his views and preaching. He was a pioneer of the German Reformed Church in the West, having established the first church of his denomination this side of the Alleghanies, and the first in this region of Ohio. He died as he lived – firm in the faith, and with an assurance of a glorious immortality.’ So dies the faithful servant of Christ, falling asleep in jesus, with the sweet and certain hope of a glorious resurrection. ‘They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.’” (Pg. 219)

Harbaugh, Rev. H. The Fathers of the German Reformed Church in Europe and America, Vol. III (Lancaster: J. M. Westhaeffer, 1872)

Emerging Brilliance!!! Kurt Rosenwinkel

For my birthday last night over twenty of us went to Chuck E Cheeses'. Whenever people would ask me what I thought of it before we went I said, "I think it will be awkwardly fun." Well, it was a blast...in total we accumulated approximately 2,500 tickets!!! Wow.

Well, I'm not so much into the Emerging Church, but I am into the "Emerging Brilliance" of Kurt Rosenwinkel!

Today Linds and I are headed to NYC for a fun day there. Tonight we are going to go to the Village Vanguard to see Kurt Rosenwinkel play! Awesome!!

Here's a quick clip of him playing (in order for the soloing at the beginning to make sense you may want to watch it twice):


Then tomorrow morning we are going to Redeemer Presbyterian to hear the Word preached. Promises to be a great weekend!!

I'm still planning on posting something on unity...it's just been a busy couple of weeks.

Need Some New Shoes??

Here's another video with my cousin Isaac. Pretty good stuff;)

My Cous is a Crazy Juggler!!!

The first video below is the most recent video. I don't endorse the song, but man, my cousin is an awesome juggler!

The second video is a little older, and I've posted it before...but it's worth reposting! Also, I would recommend the music Bela Fleck and the Flecktones...good choice!

National Archives and Art Gallery

Last Saturday we were able to go to the National Archives and the National Art Gallery. Our feet and backs could only handle a small part of the art gallery so Lord willing we'll be headed back in the near future to finish her off! Here are some pics!

Alfredo Pina's bronze model of Richard Wagner 1916

Auguste Rodin's bronze model of Gustav Mahler 1909

Lindsey in front of Gilbert Stuart's oil on wood painting of George Washington c. 1821

Me in front of the Declaration of Independence

Lindsey in front of the Constitution of the United States of America

Me in front of the Bill of Rights

Lastly, here's Lindsey in front of one of only four originals of the 1297 Magna Carta.

[Sorry that some of the pics are dark...or over exposed...we couldn't use flashes in some of these places.]

Skipper and Crew

Here's a pic of my sister and I out canoeing with my dad in the backyard in the middle of the winter. My dad is holding a chimney sweeping brush in case you were curious...

My Sister and I

Here's a good pic that I thought I'd share...of my sister and I when we were little;) I can see a little of my niece in those eyes!

Happy 4th B-day Trix!

Our cat Trixie turned 4 yesterday. Her present was a few cat treats;) She only ate one.

By the way...she's not the only B-day girl this month...mom:)

My Birthday This Year!

Well here's a belated pic from my birthday this year. I am officially 6 and 3/4 birthdays old [I was born on leap year 2/29/1980]. This is a pic of my folks and the Marks and us at Ohana's Steakhouse.

The next one is of me and Linds [for those of you that don't know me that's my wife!] Check out that German chocolate cake she made. That's my favorite!

Brother Eric on the Front Page!

Check this out...my brother-in-law Eric Newman was on the front page of the local paper today. The pic below was taken in the middle of a timed fire fighter physical agility test that he was doing. Eric had the fastest time in the entire group! Awesome!

Two things! First,the orange thing around his chest is a strap that the guy behind him was holding because the load was pretty heavy. Second, this task was done after multiple heavy lifting in other tasks in the middle of the test.

Snowed in Sunday Worship!

[UPDATE: Turns out Valley Church had services. Still the plows hadn't come yet and we only have one car...an honda civic that slips on everything and and would get stuck pretty easily. So we didn't brave the conditions. Besides after watching the news I just assumed that every church cancelled. Wrong assumption I guess:)]

Well, we couldn't get out for worship at a local church this morning, I woke up early this morning and every church cancelled services. But we could worship at home. So here's the family worship time we had this morning.

Preparation for worship: Prayers from the Valley of Vision

• I read...Meeting God [p. 148] favorite line: "Strengthen and give thee no rest until Christ shall reign supreme within me."

• Lindsey read...Christ Alone [p. 23] favorite line: "Here, it is my duty to be as Christ in this world to do what he would do, to live as he would live, to walk in love and meekness; then would he be known, then would I have peace in death."

Scripture Prayer

• Ephesians 3:14-21 favorite line: verse 18-19, "to know the love of Christ that suprasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Prayer

• Lindsey
• Me
• Lindsey

Scripture Reading
• Hebrews 7-10 Favorite lines:

o 7:3 "[The priesthood in the order of Melchizedek...namely Christ] Having neither beginning of days nor end of life"

o 7:24-25 "[Jesus] holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."

o 8:10, 12 "...I will be their God, and they shall be my people...I will remember their sins no more."

o 9:22 "...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."

o 9:26, 28 "...But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself...Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

o 10:31 "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Exposition/Preaching of the Word

• We listened to Ligon Duncan's Sermon on Titus 2:1-10.

Singing Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs [Lindsey is an excellent pianist!]

• My Jesus, I Love Thee [no. 405] Favorite line: "I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me, and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree, I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow."
• Take My Life, and Let It Be Consecrated [no. 310] Favorite line: "Take my moments and my days; Let them flow in ceaseless praise."

Soli Deo Gloria
Noah

My Cousin Rocks @ Juggling!

Check this video out. If I'm not mistaken he's juggling to a great band Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Isaac is seriously one of the best jugglers I've ever seen. He juggles at family stuff all the time. It's great! I guess he's practiced so much in the yard that he has killed the grass in patches...check him out!

Wowsers!