No Grasp of Your Reality

The Session of Olive Street Presbyterian Church (we changed our name) has once again decided that they are unable to try Sarah and me, and have referred the trial to Presbytery. Maybe they think that since we’re in a new Presbytery, they’ll get a different answer. I’m not sure why it took ten months to figure it out, but there we are.

The last time they did this, their reasoning was that they didn’t have enough active members to conduct a trial. Now, it seems that they’re doing so because they conclude that they need the members of the court to act as witnesses. I have a tough time believing that the Philadelphia Metro West Presbytery is going to reject this any more gently than Heritage Presbytery.

One odd item of interest is that Wayne Brauning, our former pastor, is referred to as “an additional witness”. He was already listed as a witness on the indictment. Of course, the indictment was delivered one year ago… it doesn’t surprise me if they’ve forgotten.

The body of the message from the court moderator follows:

The Court has concluded that in light of BCO 32-17, we must refer the matter of Olive Street Presbyterian Church v. Thomas III & Sarah Albrecht for decision to Philadelphia Metro West Presbytery.

Accordingly, the record of the case as it stands at this point will be referred to RE Grant McCabe, Stated Clerk, Philadelphia Metro West Presbytery.

The Indictment continues, as will the prosecution. However the Prosecutor will call additional witnesses: RE Jim Sauer, RE Ray Doreian, and TE Wayne Brauning.

All other matters in relation to the complaint will continue under the venue of Philadelphia Metro West Presbytery or its Commission, as the Presbytery decides is appropriate.

TE Dale T. Van Ness
Moderator

Yesterday

The children were playing and I asked them to stop and pick up a few toys before going on to the next thing.

Tabitha: “Mom, we’re still playing.”

Me: “Pause play.”

Tab: “Mom, that’s not a sentence.”

Today

Thomas is teaching Tabitha to play Battleship while the little guys take a nap.

As you can see, he’s needs a little work on learning the rules (like one guess per turn)… and strategy.
Thomas: “Like if you say, J3,4,5,6 - then I would die and have to put my ship on the coffee table.”

Tabitha: “J3,4,5,6!”

Thomas: “Aw! You killed my ship.” (Puts red pegs in the ship and sets ship on the coffee table.)

So, last night’s trial session was cancelled due to rain. We had some strong rain come through the area, and it knocked out the power at our prosecuter’s house. I guess he assumed that the power was out at the church building as well, so he called around to people to cancel the meeting.

Oddly enough, after the twenty minutes of strong winds, it turned out to be a beautiful night. Thomas came up to me and said, “Dad!! We stayed up all night, and it’s morning again!” It had gotten so dark we had turned the lights on the in the house, and when the storm passed, we just caught the sunset.

Anyway, I guess I need to clear my calendar for the trial to be rescheduled for May.

green tea in my cup
cold awakening my mind
how i miss Japan

Youtube has a video “Stupid in America“, a 20/20 expose of public schools in America. I know you all know my opinion of the public school system, but I think you should find the 40 minutes and watch this video.

After sending in our last complaint to the Session regarding their having delayed the trial for 10 months, we received a letter from them saying that the trial will resume on July 18, 2006.

Interestingly, while they’ve chosen to resume the trial, they also rejected our complaint about the delay of a trial. When questioned on this, the Clerk of Session replied that resuming the trial was the answer to the complaint. We complained about the delay, therefore, they ended the delay. However, this doesn’t really solve the problem. Our complaint said that the delay was fundamentally problematic. If I was beating my wife, and was reprimanded on that, it’s not sufficient to me to simply state, “Well, I stopped beating her… isn’t that enough?”

Anyway, that’s a different issue, and one the Presbytery will have to deal with. Right now, we’re focusing on the trial, and continue to ask your prayers regarding this situation, and our church and the Philadelphia Metro West Presbytery.

Weird Al has posted his new song online, entitled “You’re Pitiful“. It’s a parody of that annoying “You’re Beautiful” song.

I’m going to go out on a limb and make a prediction. After all the lastest health fads like Atkins and Tae Bo, America is in need of a new health fad. Submitted for your approval, “Sumo health exercises“.

When Sarah and I travelled to Tokyo together (twice in the last couple years), we were blessed to be able to worship at Mitaka Evangelical Church. I found this inteview with Ralph Smith, the pastor of Mitaka, on WordMP3 via Mark Horne’s blog. It’s short (about 10 minutes), but it’s an interesting interview about missions in Japan.

By the way, this is what an “aside” looks like. These are where I can put random little musings like the following: During my upcoming trip to Japan in August, I’m planning to hike to the top of Mt. Fuji. Now, I’m a bit worried about trying to get my 300 lb frame to the top of the mountain, but how bad could it be?

I’ve realized that I’ve let my website lie fallow for too long, and it was starting to looking aged. I changed the theme, updated my photo software, and cleaned up some of the other odds and ends.

While I don’t want to use it as an excuse, work has been extremely busy. I got back from a Tokyo trip this past Tuesday, and I’m scheduling at least two, maybe three more trips by the end of the year. That schedule is, of course, all revolving around the new baby girl that’s scheduled to arrive at the end of September. I’m glad to say that the reason I haven’t been writing is because of the many blessings that God has been giving.

Yes, hard work is a blessing. The office environment has been difficult, since work has been a bit slow over the last few months. I’m very blessed to have lots of work to do well into next year.

Anyway, one change I’ve made to this blog is the ability to add minor little additions called “asides” without having to think up grandiose headers for them. Honestly, this feature is perfect for most of the miscellanious links I find around the Internet that I like to share. So, expect more updates with less content. (Who cares what I actually think anyway?)