...4 days...

my exams are coming up fast. I think I am going to spend the rest of tonight studying 727 systems and grilling some great meat. Come over if you want some.

...5 days...

and all my classes are finished. Four finals are done, two are left to do, and Troy has fallen.

Will Person X ever stop posting?

INTRODUCTION: Welcome back to Part 2 in our # part series “The History of the RPCNA”. Last time if you recall, we went from Luther to Knox. This installment focuses on various changes enacted by the Scottish General Assemblies and Scottish Parliament until the end of the 16^th century. SOLI DEO GLORIA.

PART 2:

The first legal steps towards changing the Church in Scotland began in 1542. That year, the Parliament in Scotland made it legal to read the Bible in the common language. The biggest changes however took place in 1560. The Scottish Parliament asked John Knox, John Spottiswoode, John Willock, John Row, John Douglas, and John Winram (known collectively as the “6 Johns”) to draft a confession for the Scottish Church. This confession was accepted by Parliament, and it provided a stable Reformed basis for the Scottish Church. This Scots Confession of Faith was only replaced eighty-some years later by the Westminster Confession of Faith.

That same year, Parliament abolished any papal authority in Scotland, and they repealed all pro-Catholic or anti-Protestant legislation. Parliament passed an act in 1567 that provided protected Protestants from injury for their beliefs. Also, Parliament passed an act saying that no prince could be given authority in Scotland if they did not swear an oath to maintain Protestantism. The first General Assembly of the Scottish Church met in 1560, with only 42 representatives, including half of the 12 Protestant ministers in Scotland. By 1567, the Reformation had flourished, and there were 252 ministers in Scotland.

In 1567, one of Parliament’s most important acts was to declare what power they knew they did not have. Parliament declared that the Scottish Church had the sole power to choose its own ministers. This act was one of the first of its kind where the government admitting to not having control over the Church.

However, soon the Church would soon have to decide about the Church was to govern. Under the guidance of John Knox, the Scottish General Assembly had provided 2 temporary church officers, readers and superintendents. These officers were meant to be able to aid in leading the church until more ministers could be ordained. However, at the Convention of Leith in 1572, Episcopal supporters were able to get an officer called a “Bishop” allowed in church organization. These “Bishops” were called “tulchan bishops” because their purpose was to garner the revenues of Episcopal offices for the nobility (a tulchan was the skin of a calf stuffed with straw placed in front of a cow while it was being milked in order to induce it to give more milk).

In 1578, Andrew Melville led the fight against the office of bishops in the Scottish Church. That year, Melville was Moderator of a General Assembly that wrote the Second Book of Discipline for the Church, which set forth a Presbyterian form of church government for the Church in Scotland. Though Parliament did not ratify it, it was considered in the Church to be a legitimate standard for the Scottish Church. In 1580, the General Assembly declared that there was no Biblical basis for the office of bishop, and, in 1582, the General Assembly passed an act which said that no lay person could attempt to appoint any church official.

However, the struggle between Prelacy (the form of church government that includes bishops, often just called Episcopalian) and Presbyterianism came to a head in late 16^th century. In 1584, Parliament passed what Presbyterian supporters called the “Black Acts”, which condemned all anti-prelatic as treasonous. They further went on to declare that the king was had authority over all “states and subjects within this realm” and they declared it unlawful for the General Assembly to meet without the consent of the King of Scotland. For the following 8 years, the Church in Scotland was a confused mix of Presbyterianism and Prelacy, with some supporting the acts of the General Assembly and others the acts of Parliament and the king.

The king allowed the General Assembly to meet in 1592, and they elected Robert Bruce Moderator. The Assembly made a list of requests which it then presented to the king. Parliament met a month later and approved an act that instituted Assemblies, Synods, and Presbyteries, upheld the most important portions of the Second Book of Discipline, and declared the “Black Acts” to have expired. Some of the compromises reached in this act, called the Great Character of Presbytery, were that the General Assembly should meet at least once a year, with the king or his commissioner choosing the time and place; lay patronage was allowed, but only Presbyteries could ordain and install those prospective ministers; and the observance of Christmas and Easter was ended. Supporters of Presbyterianism recognized this as a step in the right direction, though they acknowledged that Parliament was not actually conferring rights to the Church, only affirming its rights.

However, it was not long before King James was trying to force Prelacy into the Church of Scotland again. In 1598, he managed to get the General Assembly to agree to a commission that would consult with him and be given the right to vote in Assemblies. In 1599, the Assembly also agreed he could nominate who and how many this commission would be, and the commission was given Episcopal titles. Finally in 1607, “Perpetual Moderators” were introduced, bishops who would be moderators while they held their ecclesiastical position.

I hope you enjoy this second installment of the series. If you have questions or want clarifications, just comment them.

...6 days...

and my schedule is filling up. I did get a chance to visit Andrew and Nathan's blog yesterday for the first time in a while. Reading more than one of their posts at a time can be quite dangerous. I read two and laughed my head off. Then I had a really hard time getting to bed because it rolled into a corner with my eyes pointed down, so I couldn't see where it was, or where I was to get get it back on.
...
If your head is seperate from your body, which part of it is you?

...7 days...

I got out of bed this morning and started crying. Tears were just pouring down my cheeks and I couldn't stop. So I dopped up. Took some Chorpheniramine Maleate, ate breakfast and went to work. I cried all the way to work and went through like five kleenexes before my drugs kicked in. Fortunately they helped spot my sneezing and runny nose too. Unfortunately they really knocked me out. I was in a sleepy daze the whole time at work, and half way through my class right afterward. I just heard the Cranberries on the radio for the first time!!! sweet. I wonder if this station plays Evanescence too.

Eight days

till the end of the semester. Wow, that is coming up quick. And I still have four exams and two projects. Caleb and Eric will be happy to hear that I picked up a bunch of wire at the Lafayette church workday!!! I think I'll save most of it to use when I go home next week. Guess what mom. I actually took some medications last week! My allergies were killing me and I was sneezing lungs out at work, so I finally popped some antihistimine pills. So now I only fall asleep and give people the wrong change cause I am drugged.

Person X strikes again, but I promise its better

INTRODUCTION: Back by popular demand, it's Person X. To make up for the nonsensical post last time, I'm initiating a new series, "The History of the RPCNA" . This will be the first in a # part series. I decided to start with the Reformation in Scotland. SOLI DEO GLORIA

PART 1:
IN 1517, Martin Luther set into motion a chain of events that would radically change the face of Christianity. A decade later, a young Scottish noble named Patrick Hamilton went to Germany where he soon accepted Luther's teachings. Hamilton came back and began to teach other but Catholic clergy quickly stepped in and arrested him. On February 28, 1528, Archbishop James Beaton burned Hamilton at the stake, but news of Hamilton's martyrdom and his teachings spread throughout Scotland.
Throughout the 1530s, Archbishop Beaton executed any Scots he found spreading Protestantism. In 1539, James Beaton died, and his nephew David Beaton took over as Archbishop of St. Andrews. David Beaton followed his uncles pattern of persecuting Protestants. In 1546, Archbishop Beaton presided over the trial and execution of George Wishart. Wishart was originally outlawed from Scotland for teaching Greek, and was summarily arrested when he reentered Scotland spreading Protestant ideas. Wishart was charged with heresy, and, despite answering each charge with Scripture, he was burned at the stake. One of Wishart's guards for approximately 3 years prior to Wishart's death was named John Knox.
In 1547, a group of Protestants stormed the castle at St. Andrews and captured it. Soon after St. Andrews was captured, John Knox joined the Protestants there. Not long after his arrival, the men there called him to be their pastor. Knox soon began to get at the heart of the Reformation, describing how far and in how many ways the Roman Catholic Church had strayed from true Christianity. However, Knox was captured when St. Andrews was recaptured a few months after Knox's arrival. Knox was made a galley slave, and after his release he went to the European Continent. There Knox served as a pastor to an English speaking church in Germany and spent time in Geneva studying under Calvin. Returning from the Continent in 1555, he spent most of the next 17 years in Scotland vigorously preaching against Catholicism. Knox's fearlessness and speech skills even in the face of the most powerful rulers of Scotland made him the leader of the Reformation in Scotland.

I hope you enjoy this first installment. If you have questions or want clarification, just comment them.

Breakfast at night?

I didn't have to work today, so I took advantage of the nice weather and had a great jog around W. Lafayette. Titus 3 and Proverbs 30 are both really cool chapters. And I got to do a study on both today. Then I came over to green gables for a pitch-in breakfast at night. It was great. I would be able to sleep in tomorrow, but I have a 6:30 class, so I better get to bed.

Sim checks are done

and my next flight will probably be in a KingAir in a few weeks. After that all I have left is 30 hours in the 727-200. I am officially ready for school to be over. At least for this semester. I got word back from one of the scholarships I applied to a while back
......and........
I didn't get it. Probably because I am not female or a minority. Oh well... The Cranberries just came on my yahoo music player so life is good. lol It doesn't take a lot to make me happy.
Just a blurb in the life of Josh.

DumDuhDUM DUH DUM

My final sim checkride is tomorow morning. Pray that I wouldn't do anything bad and fail. Off to bed.

Here is a bit of excellent writing.

go here and see what you think.

wwWWOOOOOOOooowwwWWOOOOoowww

the tornado sirens went off while I was at work for the first time. It was pretty cool. Managers running around looking for flashlights and babies crying and customers getting worried and me thinking about the sovereignty of God and enjoying it all. Nothing cool happened like our roof getting ripped off or anything, but it was exciting anyway. Afterwards I got to take one of my supervisors home and we had a fun ride through the aftermath of the storm.

Right now I am listening to the awesome thunder and wondering who found out the password to my blog. At least person X is nice.

The Day No Pigs Would Die

Well, the title just about says it. Today, no pigs would die, because person X skipped dinner in favorite of soccer and chocolate chip cookies. Person X is not Josh.
You know, I've always appreciated the way that sunlight makes things visible. Otherwise, it would be dark all the time.
And here's a shoutout to all my dog food gangstas, Cannned or Dry, We Neva Die!
Josh is the man. When I grow up, I want to be just like him. I'm currently screening all those ladies who wish to marry him. And yeah, the line goes around the block. So ladies, I'll process your application soon.
This dog food gangsta is out.
Yo!

I almost got a counterfit bill at work today

This lady gave me a ten that looked really odd so I was like whatever and I got out the pen that identifys counterfit bills. The lady was like "I just got it at the bank" as I marked on it, and it came out good so I looked at it harder and I fond out.......
It was from 1934!!!!!
I was amazed. "How do they still have these in circulation?" Anyway I promptly took it out of circulation by trading a twenty for it and another ten. It is so cool.

The hedgehogs (my soccer team) lost in the first round of the playoffs this evening.

whew

I think I flew better this morning than I have all semester which is really good cause my check flight is NEXT WEEK! Then I am done with the 727-100 sim forever and I move on to the -200. I am a little worried though, cause usually when I have a great flight my next one isn't so good. Man, I can't believe there are only three more weeks left in my junior year. Life is coming at me at breakneck speed and I can't stop it. I can only hang on for all I am worth and try not to waste any of it. CARPE MAÑANA!

we all clapped as Ross cartwheeled across the court.

Yay! I have all my pictures from spring break now. Here we are on the bus to winter park's base camp. 

ready to go! 

Jared icing up on the ski lift. 

Mr. & Mrs. Hart at the end of the day. 

pray for me

so much to do and so little time

Last week I was looking out over our hill

and saw all our bushes still and brown, locked it the deep sleep of winter's icy hand. As I looked out I had a vivid feeling that everything was concentrated in a great exertion, straining against the cold wintery brown to break forth into a bright new spring. That night, as I slept, the rain came. Sweet and slient, each little drop was like a tiny key, disolving the bonds that held spring captive. Washing, invigorating, colorizing, it unleashed one delicate green bud after another until I woke up to a new woods. They were beautiful, vivid green, overflowing with birds and flowers, and smelled oh so sweet. Isn't God awesome?

And I really like the way HE made pigs too. Ross and I grilled up half of my ribs on Saturday and they were soooooo goooood. Andrew went shopping for like four hours so he had to miss them. Maybe he can get in on the next round.