A Night To Remember...

On Monday we took the boys to the L.A. Arboretum. The whole time we were there all Sammy wanted to do was go "fishing" like daddy. Fishing consisted of taking a long stick and just hanging it out into the water with a flower on the end of it as bait. He would just sit there hopelessly waiting for a fish to bite. Unfortunately fish don't eat flowers and there was no hook on the end of his stick. But his passion and patience were a sign that he was ready to go.

Tonight when I got home from work we sat down for family dinner as usual, and Sam kept talking about fishing. Well I couldn't help myself any longer. I pulled Marianne out of the room for a parent conference and asked if I could take Sam out that evening for a night fishing adventure. Castaic Lagoon is open 24 hours for fishing and I knew that if we left right away we could fish sunset and into the evening. So that's what we did. And am I glad we did. Sam was so excited. On the way he kept saying "I sure hope we catch some fish! But if we don't that's okay 'cause we'll try our best." He must have said something to that effect 10x on the way to the lake.

When we got there the sun was just going down. I set up one pole for powerbait and the other with a kastmaster. I cast out the powerbait and then began to cast and retrieve the kastmaster. On my second cast I got hit. It was small so I let it run and then called Sammy over so that he could try my pole (wink wink) about 5 seconds after he had the pole he yelled out "Dad I think I got a fish!" "Well reel it in" I said. He did a great job and caught a nice little trout. 10 minutes later we caught a second, and 15 minutes after that a third (unfortunately dad dropped the extra slippery third and it got away). Nevertheless the trip was a success and we were home by 9:30 with dinner for tomorrow night.

Man it feels like I've been waiting forever for the boys to grow old enough to fish. Now that it is here it is even better than I imagined.

Meredith G. Kline (1922-2007)

In 1971 Dr. Meredith G. Kline dedicated his masterful work "The Structure of Biblical Authority" to his most influential professor Cornelius Van Til with these words...

"His theological insight and prophetic witness have been a conscience, if not canon, and his warmly human and gracious godliness has been an inspiration for the life which is in Christ Jesus."

Dr. Kline died last night, or rather was privileged "to share in the first resurrection" (Rev. 20:6), and I could not more succinctly and accurately express my feelings for my most influential professor than to dedicate back to him his own words.

Your theological insight and prophetic witness have been a conscience, if not a canon, and your warmly human and gracious godliness have been an inspiration for the life which is in Christ Jesus. I knew you but a little, but I have loved you much.

The name of this blog "Strange Detergent" is in fact taken from one of the many quotes which rings in my heart. Dr. Kline has joined that great cloud of witnesses which testify to us of the faithfulness of God's promises now perfected in Jesus Christ. And so as in life, he now testifies in death to the glory of his Savior.

I pray that his Christ centered biblical and covenant theology would resound to the glory of the Savior whom he loved in life and now loves in life eternal. He would not want his name to live on (such is the mentality and the mantra of the men of this world whose desire is to make a name for themselves), rather he would have the name of Jesus to be exalted. The only name in which weary pilgrims may find relief for their souls in the strange detergent of his blood, the only font in which sinners lose all their guilty stains.

His students remember with a sense of holy awe his prayer's before class. Here is a sampling...

“We thank Thee that all the necessary resources are indeed available, for we ask of Thee in the name of Jesus. We so come, and ask of Thee in his name, and we pray O Lord, Thou would receive us this day into Thy favor and stretch forth Thy hand upon us with blessing.

We thank Thee for the word of the prophets, which keeps lifting up our eyes unto things most important, those heavenly things, where our citizenship is, with Christ Jesus. We are so prone to be caught up in the mentality of the men of this world who are indifferent toward Thee and who even scoff at the reality of Thy presence, and Thy coming, and Thy final judgment. But we know that Thou art the living God, with whom all men have to do, and before whom an accounting shall be given. We are persuaded out of Thy Word that there does come a day when the preaching of the gospel shall cease and all must stand before thee, the great day of resurrection, of judgment. And we pray that we might be gripped by the seriousness of history, and of our lives, and of our ministry.

We pray then, that Thou would speak to us through Thy Word in this calling to be persuaders of men, that they should be reconciled to Thee through Thy Son, Jesus Christ. So bless us in our studies."

~ Meredith G. Kline

The One That Got Away

Last weekend, myself and a few guys from our church went on a one night mini fishing-camping trip to Pyramid lake. This is our second year going, and I am hopeful that it will become an annual venture. Besides the fact that we all love to fish, there is just something about sitting around the campfire roasting lil' smokies and marshmallows, and just shooting the breeze. I always come back more tired than I left, but somehow always feel refreshed. I guess it's just the refreshment that comes from hanging out with some brothers in Christ enjoying his good creation.

Last year we fished trout exclusively, and we did fairly well. Of course the DFG had just stocked and so there were plenty to be had. This year the DFG was supposed to stock but never showed up, so the trout bite was non-existent. We fished about 3 hours on Friday afternoon without so much as a nibble. A couple of guys down the way had landed 5-6 Stripers (Striped Bass) in that time on anchovies, so the plan was to pick up some anchovies and see if we could get in on some of the Striper action the next morning. But I decided that I wasn't really interested in fishing Stipers. Fishing for Stripers is what we call "bait and wait." Essentially, you just load up a hook with a chunk of bait, cast it as far out as you can, and then wait.

I prefer a more active kind of fishing, something that requires a little more finesse. That's right, I'm talking about fishing for Largemouth Bass. Now fishing Largemouth Bass ("Hawgs") is both fun and frustrating at the same time. On the one hand it is fun because it is an active cast and retrieve kind of fishing, and when you get one on I am convinced that there is no better fighting fish pound for pound. They see-saw back and forth in the water, they run, they dive, and best of all they jump clear out of the water and shake their heads ferociously trying to get free. In my opinion, that jump is one of the prettiest things an angler can see. On the other hand, fishing Hawgs can be frustrating as well because they are incredibly fickle. The presentation more often than not has to be perfect, and even when it is you're not guaranteed a hit (Especially in SoCal where the lakes are all over-fished and the bass have had every conceivable thing thrown at them). I have been skunked more times fishing for Hawgs than for any other kind of fish. But maybe that's what keeps me coming back. Maybe it is their sheer allusiveness that I find so tempting. All that being said, when you actually hook a few bass there is a real sense of accomplishment. So back to our fishing trip...

I Carolina rigged a 4 1/2 inch robo worm (Aaron's Magic) with a #2 wide worm hook onto a two foot liter topped with a 1/8oz rock hopper and headed off down the shore. I found a nice spot with good cover next to an unused boat dock and began to cast. My first retrieve was uneventful except for a near hangup. My second cast was not as good as my first, but still alright. As I crawled the plastic across the rocky bottom I suddenly felt that tap that stops a bass anglers heart. Almost instinctively I dropped my rod tip slightly to slack the line, and then WHAM! I set the hook high and hard. The bass dove immediately and I let him run a bit before I started to reel him in making sure to keep the line taunt in the likely event he would break the water. Sure enough, out he came, breaking the water and shaking his head violently. Back down and then one more run and he was tiring. I brought him in, reached down, grabbed his lower jaw and pulled him out of the water. It was a nice little hawg, short and fat, but a good fighter. He was probably 1 1/2 lbs but I didn't think he met the legal 12 inch limit so I set him free to be caught another day.

I would catch two more bass, one about the same size, and then a nice one about 3 lbs. But neither of them fought as nice as that first fish. I released the smaller of the two and proudly carried my catch back to the boys. They were happy for me and I think a little jealous. I put the bass on our stringer with their multiple but much much smaller Stripers. When we were ready to leave I asked Daniel to take a picture of me with my catch. I had told Benny that I would take a picture for him if I caught a big fish. I went down to the stringer and pulled in the bass. I put the Stripers in a bucket and started pulling the stringer off of my Hawg when it suddenly slipped all the way through the stringer and off into the water. It was gone.

So the big one really did get away. Those allusive bass, even when you think you've got them caught, they still manage to escape. Fortunately, Kwang had taken a picture with my bass as if he'd caught it, so at least I have a pixel record of the catch somewhere.

I can't wait until my boys are old enough to man fishing poles of their own!

JDF