Spurgeon got it....

“A Welsh minister who was preaching last Sabbath at the chapel of my dear brother, Jonathan George, was saying, that Christ was the sum and substance of the gospel, and he broke out into this story:—A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had done he went to the old minister, and said, "What do you think of my sermon?" "A very poor sermon indeed," said he. "A poor sermon?" said the young man, "it took me a long time to study it." "Ay, no doubt of it." "Why, did you not think my explanation of the text a very good one?" "Oh, yes," said the old preacher, "very good indeed." "Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn't you think the metaphors were appropriate and the arguments conclusive?" "Yes, they were very good as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon." "Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?" "Because," said he, "there was no Christ in it." "Well," said the young man, "Christ was not in the text; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text." So the old man said, "Don't you know young man that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?" "Yes," said the young man. "Ah!" said the old divine "and so form every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. And my dear brother, your business in when you get to a text, to say, 'Now what is the road to Christ?' and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis—Christ. And," said he, "I have never yet found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if I ever do find one that has not a road to Christ in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savour of Christ in it." Now since you say amen to that, and declare that what you want to hear is Jesus Christ, the text is proved—"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious."

(From “Christ Precious to Believers” - a Sermon (No. 242) Delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 13th, 1859, by the REV. C. H. Spurgeon at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.)

My stress reliever.....

At our last men's home fellowship I was talking with some guys about what we do in our free time to relieve stress. Bass fishing is my stress reliever. It's just good quiet time to reflect on life and liberty and to enjoy Our Father's world.

And since Castaic Lagoon is only about a half hour away that is my usual spot. It's a tough lake, but it is open 24 hrs so I can fish even after the boys go to sleep. So I usually end up there at least once a week. Here are some recent pics for those of you who were interested. I take pictures because I never keep the fish. I practice catch and release with bass. I want to be able to catch them again another day. Some recent pics all in the 3-4 lb range.

Ron Paul 2008 ~ For the Love of Liberty

A good overview of what distinguishes Statesman/ Congressman Ron Paul from the rest of the pack.

Lovin' Life at the Lagoon...

Okay, it's another fishing post. But that is what Blogging is all about right? Things that you love. Well, I love my boys and I love fishing, and I really love fishing with my boys. And this was a special trip because it was Ben's first trip out, and we could not have picked a more perfect evening.

It all started this afternoon when I decided it would be a good evening to take them up the the lagoon. So I went by Sports Chalet to pick up some mealworms thinking that we might hit some bluegill. Unfortunately when we got to the lagoon I realized that the mealworms were dead. So we were left to fish for trout.

Fortunately, our friend Tony was at the lake and had been slaying trout for the last hour. He let us know that they had just stocked and that the trout hadn't really spread out through the lake yet. Well, I put on a gold Kastmaster and the hit was on. The boys caught 10 trout between the two of them. I allowed them to keep 3 each for dinner tomorrow night, the rest we left to catch another day (or to be food for the Bass that daddy will catch another day).

The best part of course is just watching their faces as they are reeling them in. Ben caught the first one and was so excited. (Above is a picture of Ben with his first fish: A proud moment). Of course when they are 4 and 5 it's a lot of work for dad. I tried at first to give them each their own pole. That was a nightmare. I was just putting out one fire after another. After about half an hour I decided this was gonna drive me crazy. So we moved to a spot where the boys could run around a bit, while I fished. Then when I would get a bite, I would call one of them over to catch it for me. They had a blast. Every time they touched the pole they had a fish on.

I can't wait for the day when Nate is old enough to go. I think 4 is just about right for the first fishing experience. They are old enough to reel in a fish and hopefully they are old enough to remember it forever. The day I am really looking forward to is when they can all handle their own rigs, tie on their own lures, and cast for themselves. I'm really going to enjoy fishing with them then.

Ben's Bunch

Sam's Stockers

The Fishing Crew

Dinner!

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