THE CHURCHWARDEN

"On land, on sea, at home, abroad, I smoke my pipe and worship God" Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750

November/ December 2002
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Published with the belief that God acknowledges no distinction between the secular and the sacred.
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In this issue:

The Frugal Angler
Why Not Refinish A Split Cane Rod? by Reed Munson

SOME IMPLICATIONS OF SOVEREIGN GRACE - Rolfe Barnard (1904-1969)

Quotation, Charles Dudley Warner, 1862

My Pipe
Notes By the Editor

*THE CHURCHWARDEN 2003

Sixty hour work weeks, commitment to a newly organized Reformed church, plus parental health problems are making it nearly impossible to maintain a strict publishing schedule for the CW. My options are: go out of business, so to speak, or publish whenever divine providence allows me the time to do so. I strongly feel the latter choice is the better one. Thus for 2003, THE CHURCHWARDEN will be posted online whenever I have the opportunity to put together a decent issue. Unfortunately, that's the best I can promise right now. Hopefully the Lord will make it possible to publish the newsletter more often than I can envision at the moment. I had always thought life would slow down as I got older. Well, it doesn't happen that way, friends. Not at all. I'm 47 and busier than ever.

*TERRY HAGLEY, estate pipe purveyor

I regret to inform readers of THE CHURCHWARDEN that Terry Hagley has passed away. Mr. Hagley was, in my estimation, the most honest estate pipe dealer on the web. He always represented his briars accurately, gave them a fair price, and offered a respectable return policy. He could be trusted without reservation. Terry Hagley certainly will be missed by his customers. Please keep his family in your prayers.

*CAKES AND FLAKES

No, I'm not referring to politicians, CEO's, religious leaders or bait fisherman; I'm talking about pipe blends. Since March I've been enjoying a variety of cakes and flakes, and thought they would provide worthwhile content for next year's tobacco reviews. Look for a cake/flake evaluation in the next CW.

*THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION

The ESV began its competition in the Bible market in 2001. How well this version is doing in comparison to other competitors such as the NIV is unknown to me, but the translation rightly deserves to be considered a primary Bible for Calvinistic and Reformed Christians. Essentially an evangelical/Reformed revision of the old RSV, the ESV corrects most of the RSV's infelicities while retaining its excellent readability. I strongly recommend the ESV. It's my favorite translation.

*JAMES D.G. DUNN

Some readers may be wondering why I included James Dunn in the CW picks list of the last issue, especially since he is one of the chief advocates of the so called New Perspective on justification. The reason is simple: When Dunn is good, he's very good. He's an extremely sharp biblical scholar who forces me to think exegetically. And that means I won't always agree with the man. With respect to the New Perspective, Dunn is more restrained than N.T. Wright, but he is still fundamentally flawed in some aspects of his view on justification. I refuse to follow Mr. Dunn's theological trajectory on that issue. Nevertheless, Dunn never fails to stimulate an earnest wrestling with the text of Scripture. Therein lies both his value and the reason why I advocate his books to discerning readers.

*SPONG IS WRONG

John Shelby Spong found his way onto the CW picks list mainly because he's laughably wrong. When regarded as theological dark humor, Spong's literary output becomes tragically hilarious (which is not as contradictory as it sounds). Taken seriously, however, his books are sheer lunacy. He's so liberal even some of the liberals regard him lightly. Personally, I find Spong to be an articulate, albeit amusing, spokesman for liberalism's inevitable and logical conclusions. He's almost prophetic in that sense and, thus, well worth reading. Keep in mind, though, the man warrants much prayer because his beliefs are taking both him and his adherents straight to hell--and that's no laughing matter, not at all.

*THE THANKFUL FISHERMAN

Time is something I don't have much of lately; the days of all day fishing trips are over for awhile. I'm pretty much limited to grabbing only a few hours here and there as I can snatch them. Yet, I'm learning to be thankful for those brief respites I do get to enjoy on the river instead of whining about the ones I don't. God could take away fishing altogether, but He hasn't. He is, however, occupying my weeks with matters more important than catching trout. Maybe the purpose is to wean me from a certain measure of idolatry, maybe not. Perhaps the point is totally different; I don't know. But griping against divine providence won't help any, and if God wants to reduce the number of rendezvouses with trout I'm far better off to quietly submit to His sovereignty.

The Lord isn't totally bent on spoiling the fun of flyrodding, though. Actually He's given me a fair amount of hook-ups when I have been able wade the waters. In fact, I've landed right around 350 fish since early spring. Just this morning, for example, I nailed a nice rainbow and a beautiful native brookie within the brief span of 60 minutes. You'd better believe I was praising the Lord.

I'm thankful, too, for the understanding that God wants me to become a saint, not a trout bum. I love the romantic idea of perpetual trout bummyness; I can easily envision myself as a crazed lunatic wandering the earth in search of the ultimate lunker. However, such a lifestyle is hopelessly impoverished compared to the pursuit of biblical holiness. Certainly I'm hardwired to fish for trout; it's a fundamental aspect of my character, my personality. I intend to cast the long rod until I die--but, by God's grace, not at the expense of His displeasure. So if He has to mess around with my fishing to make me more of a man of God, dare I complain? No! I must be thankful. To Him be the glory.

*EGGS

Eggs are liquid chickens.

*HUH? Quoted from Quodlibet at-- http://www.quodlibet.net/

And Jesus said unto them, "And whom do you say that I am?" They replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the ontological foundation of the context of our very selfhood revealed." And Jesus replied, "What?"

*SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION

Recently I've been reading about a faithful preacher of the Gospel named Friedrich Kohlbrugge. He was a Dutch pastor, born in Amsterdam, and lived from 1803 to 1875. Christ saved him in 1825 and later, testifying about the matter, Kohlbrugge said, "Power I have not to save myself; I found no power in myself to keep God's commandments. No matter how much I tried to attain it, I found no power in myself to turn myself to God; no power to utter a single cry; no power to break with just one sin, weak as the web of a spider or as a thread that has been perished; no power to resist the world and its indignity; and there where I was without power I have experienced that the Lord is the power of all his people."

Indeed Christ alone is the power of God unto the fulness of redemption, for apart from Him we are hopelessly enslaved to sin, totally bereft of any ability to make the slightest right move toward a genuine relationship with God. This we know--at least theologically--and freely acknowledge Jesus as the way, the truth and the life, understanding that no person comes to the Father but by Him.

Yet, whereas we place zero confidence in ourselves for conversion and justification, we often rely on our own efforts at sanctification. There is a natural tendency to twist the apostolic exhortation of working out one's salvation with fear and trembling to working for it. What Kohlbrugge eventually learned in this regard, what became a primary emphasis in his pastoral ministry, is the absolute necessity of embracing Christ as the source, strength and sustenance of sanctification. Likewise, we must--and will--discover the same truth for ourselves, one way or another.

More of Jesus is the believer's most pressing need; nothing is greater. But how do we get more of the Lord? The answer, of course, weknow quite well. There is no Christ but the Christ of Scripture. Intimacy with Him is directly proportional to familiarity with the Old and New Testaments. That being the case, may I encourage you to resume the life changing discipline of Scripture memorization? By regularly committing verses to memory you can carry the sanctifying influence of Christ within your heart even when you can't carry the Bible in your hand.

Trying to live the Christian life by our own endeavors will always fail, Divine providence constantly forced Pastor Kohlbrugge to rely exclusively upon Jesus for progress in practical holiness. Then and now, for him and for us, the Son of God comes to the child of God only by the word of God. Fill your mind with Scripture and you will always have ready access to the Savior and Sanctifier of your soul.

*MYSTERIOUS TOBACCO

Does anyone know anything about St. Bruno Ready Rubbed ("A Distinctive Blend Of Mild Virginia and Other Fine Leaf")? It's a British blend, 250 grams of which were brought over from England by a fly fishing friend of mine who visited there in September. I'm smoking a bowl as I write and find the tobacco to be excellent for a pouched mixture. The description on the package is accurate as far as it goes. The Virginia element is pronounced, but pleasant. "Mild" is an appropriate assessment of the blend's smoking quality. But what about the "other fine leaf?" I have no idea how to interpret that part. Nor do I know if St. Bruno Ready Rubbed is available in the United States. If you could enlighten me with additional information I would be grateful.

*DIVINE PROVIDENCE AND A PIPE

Who says God doesn't care about the more mundane things of human existence? Last week, upon visiting a favorite tobacco shop in Northampton, my only desire was to secure a tin of Caledonian. I can honestly say before God and man I had no intention of picking up another pipe. But when divine providence puts a suitable fly fishing briar right in front your face for the meager price of $18.00, the best response is not necessarily self denial. The pipe is a small thick-walled, light weight, no name hunk of wood that verily begs to be enjoyed--and possibly lost--on a trout stream. I own a few pipes I regularly smoke while fishing, but probably shouldn't for a variety of reasons. Yet this one seems nearly ideal for the purpose. I thank God for being so kind as to put it in my path, for concerning Himself with the minor details of my daily life. Nothing escapes His attention.

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