The Doctor is in.

May 2022

Acts 20-28 in Four Hours

I had only two of my four lessons on Act 20-28 ready to present at the start of the month. Covering nine chapters in four hours proved to be significantly easier that trying to cover one chapter per hour. How would I have found enough useful content to fill nine hours?

I noticed that someone had made a nice poster and had placed it outside the Emerald Heights dining room. It was good to see the attendance grow from the first session (pictured above), to the fourth session. Having now covered Matthew in ten months at one hour per week, and Acts in seven months, I wonder what I might be asked to teach next?

These were the final studies offered in the high-tech auditorium/classroom I've taught in during recent years. A major remodel will mean a new venue when I am invited back.

Once again, the teacher learned more than his students. I own eight commentaries on Acts, not counting the many general commentaries like Matthew Henry. (At one point I did quote that Welsh Nonconformist minister; “Let us never expect to be quite safe until we enter heaven.”)
I found I only had time to review John Stott's and I. Howard Marshall's books.

Here are brief excerpts from my 55 to 62 minute presentations given each Thursday morning this month at the Emerald Heights Retirement Community in Redmond. I was anxious about these lessons since I could not get motivated to begin my study and writing during the pandemic.

I finished preparing my fourth talk on Monday the 23rd. But I still found the need to polish it to remove typos and add clarity. It ran to 18 pages at 14pt type. But I like to print my notes with a 16pt font. When I made the change, I discovered I had 26 pages! The week earlier's 22 page lesson ran over by two minutes. I had to make some last minute edits to shorten it.

On Acts 21:20-21 Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians

As Jesus had predicted, false teachers had already gained a foothold in the young Church. Paul had pointed out their errors in many of his letters. We call them Judaizers, although that term comes from a single reference in Galatians 2:14. They spread lies about Paul, because he did not insist that Gentile Christians conform themselves to the whole Jewish ceremonial law that Jewish Christians followed.

The leaders Paul met with, like Jesus' brother James, knew that his teaching was orthodox. Jewish Christians were still expected to obey the Law of Moses, not to earn salvation, but to be faithful to the laws and traditions of their people. It was the lower bar set for Gentile Christians that the Jews and Judaizers hated.

On Acts 26:9-11 Paul gives his testimony before King Agrippa

Jesus was, to this audience, not some quasi-mythical figure obscured by the passage of centuries. Jesus the Nazarene was a contemporary of King Agrippa’s great uncles – and for that matter of Paul himself and of literally millions of people still living in Galilee and Judea and the surrounding region. His death had occurred only about thirty years earlier.

Instead, Paul set the stage for the account of his miraculous conversion. Could there be any less likely candidate to be sovereignly snatched into the Kingdom of God than Saul of Tarsus, the chief persecutor of Jesus’ followers?

On Acts 22:17-22 Paul's Defense outside the Antonia fortress

Paul returned to Jerusalem a Jewish Christian – some call this being a completed Jew – and this is important to everything we know about Paul and his teaching here in Acts and in all of his letters. He was still a devout Jew, worshiping in the Temple – a disciplined Pharisee, now of the very best kind, while also being a model Christian non-Jews could trust. He wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, in chapter 11, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

But in these early weeks of Paul’s new life in Christ, he realized that he had a very big problem. To the body of believers, he was still hated as the chief persecutor of the infant Church. But God said go! And like a soldier in wartime, Paul’s orders trumped his fears.

But at this point of his stirring testimony, he lost his audience in an instant. He said the “G” word – Gentile. To these rigid Jews, this was even worse than saying, “Samaritan.” Now you’ve done it Paul.

On Acts 26:19-23 Paul's method when making his defense

Paul was not evasive. He didn’t spin his side of the story to gain sympathy or to plead for his freedom. His defense had shifted from a recounting of his personal testimony to an evangelistic sermon. Festus represented the power and authority of Rome. Agrippa represented the Jewish nation whose temple and high priesthood he oversaw. But Paul was being scrupulously faithful to the One who had, to paraphrase his own words, ’…rescued me from the domain of darkness, and transferred me to the kingdom of His beloved Son.’

Paul was no innovator. He was no Muhammad or Joseph Smith, or like any of the false prophets and teachers in his own day that invented stories that mislead the people. Paul pointed to Moses and the Prophets in his defense. If he had time, his oration might have begun to sound like Jesus’ walk to Emmaus on that first Easter Sunday morning. We’ll see when Paul gets to Rome that he’ll follow that same method with the Jews there.

Mothers Day, May 8th

I tried to photograph Nancy, the matriarch of our growing clan, in the same setting as my retirement picture last summer. But the kids were a year older, a year more active, and there were a few more of them.

Cynthia stayed home, but otherwise the whole gang arrived. Cousin Rob was still staying at Susan's. Sue also invited Tramoya and her 18-month-old daughter Nailani.

As I'd expected, Nancy was greatly moved when Susan passed on the Rutherford family mantle clock to her. I'd asked Susan earlier if she was prepared to part with it. She jumped at the chance to surprise Nancy with it as a Mother's Day gift.
It will find a prominent home in our dining room or new library.

I Finally Got My Retirement Dinner

Due to COVID, SPU did not hold a faculty retirement dinner in 2020 or 2021. We who retired during those years were briefly recognized toward the start of the 2022 SPU Faculty Retirement Dinner.

Only five of us retired last year, but this year nine very distinguished faculty members are retiring and were properly praised in speeches by their colleagues.

Nancy and I enjoyed a fine buffet dinner and a table with Drs. Franz, Wong, Stewart, and Sawers from the business school along with Dr. Michael Paulus, Dean of the Library.

While I may always feel awkward as the only "Instructor Emeritus" and as the only emeritus faculty member who never had to climb the faculty tenure ladder, I am sure that my faculty peers do not see me in any kind of second class status. I still marvel at how I ended up with an amazing 44-year career in the academy when there were times in 1989 and 1990-91 when such a future seemed impossible or to have come to an abrupt end. God is good and does give us the desires of our heart. (Ps. 37:4)

Any Time with Galen Takes Grandpa to His Happy Place

Joel and Jean let Galen have a visit with us so that they could have a dinner date while catching Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at the Cinemark Lincoln Square Cinemas nearby.

Galen was well behaved with me and with his cousins.

I later spent a Thursday through Saturday with Jean and Galen.

On Thursday afternoon, after my final Bible study class, Jean picked me up and drove me to their house. Joel was at a week-long Star Wars convention at Disneyland with his dad. Both of them are devoted to the Star Wars fandom. Both have cosplay outfits and both are into creating their own droids.

Overnight visits to Berrydale are mini-vacations for me. My main responsibility was to entertain Galen so Jean could rest and get her regular tasks done. It also gave her some time to practice her lines for her first, non-online, post-COVID acting opportunity. She has been cast as two characters in GreenStage's summer outdoor performances of Shakespeare's Henry V.

On Thursday night, I watched three episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. This Paramount+ series is very well done, but on a network to which I don't subscribe. On Friday night, I watched two episodes of The Boys, an Amazon franchise. Under normal circumstances, I love super hero shows. But it turns out that most of the super "heroes," called The Seven, on The Boys are secretly evil. I will not continue to follow that series. But next chance I stay over at Joel and Jean's, I'll enjoy getting caught up on the new Star Trek series.

Jean's photos below make me look like I've lost weight. I've been trending lower, but maybe it's more the cell phone camera's doing?

April (and May) showers bring May flowers and more

Bluebells sprang up all across the north yard in May. Unlike all of our neighbors who work, or more often pay, to have their yards maintained, our low maintenance north yard looks quite lovely.

Nancy's climbing roses (right), already fill a third of our second floor deck with color. We see them out of the Great room windows.

The white lilacs were in bloom in the northwest corner of the yard.

I trimmed plum and mountain ash trees along our south fence line to provide more sun for the Walla Walla Sweet onion patch.

Someday, my gardening will not have so many losses. Construction in the Library hid my tiny Lavender plants so I forgot to water them. That initial crop was lost.

But I have at least 300 more seeds, so I put 50 or so more in the refrigerator. Lavender is one of those perennial plants that require "cold stratification" in order to sprout.

My Bell pepper seedlings also did not survive being put outside. The Serrano peppers look like they might make it.

On the other hand, all of my potatoes have come up and seem to be flourishing.
The horseradish is growing like a weed, as expected.

Don's doctor restricted his diet to favor his kidneys, so he chose not to take any of my tomato plants up to his lake cabin. So I added them to fill out my tomato patch. I have many more Gardener's Delight cherry tomatoes planted than I had originally planned. Most are in the ground, but six are in pots.

I transplanted green onions into the special long planters I'd bought for them. My second try at basil went outside to join the parsley and oregano. It also looks like three parsley plants from earlier years have bolted and I should be able to harvest their seeds this season. The next parsley plants would then be the third generation of my own plants. I also planted more Zinnias.

On this last day in May, I transplanted twelve pitiful pepper plants to their waiting pots, five Serrano peppers and seven Bell peppers.
If they don't survive the transition, I'll give in and buy some at Carpinito Brothers in Kent.

From the Seattle Times on the 30th:
If you or someone you know has been unusually stressed about the fate of your tomato seedlings this month, it's not without cause. This May has been one of the coldest and wettest on record in the Seattle area. As of this morning, this May is now the wettest we've seen since Truman was president. So far this month we've been deluged with 3.84 inches of rain, surpassing May 1977 for the second-wettest Seattle month on record. Seattle has also seen unusually low temperatures for May, with an average temperature of 52.4 degrees this month.

Potatoes	Half of my Marigolds	2nd year green onions, bulb onions, and leeks	1st year green onions
Walla Walla Sweet Onions	4 of 23 Tomatoes	Oregano	Horseradish

Days with Charis and Valerie

Charis is slowly learning her letters. I work with her on her letters when I read to her. Thomas plays a more school-like game with her.

Like probably all siblings, these two can be very playful and loving together, at least when they are not wanting to play with the same toy or when Valerie climbs into the area that holds Charis' toys.

I was delighted that Valerie ran to clutch my leg when she spotted Luna. Charis is not nearly as anxious about the big dog.

As the weather turns and I am more relaxed because I'm not preparing Bible lessons, we'll spend more time outside, including finding a place in the yard to pitch a tent, and maybe even build a playhouse.

Annie and Nancy get more done at home when the kids have fun at a park.

Taryn Sleight Weds Trevor Rockney
Sunday, May 22, 2022, Roslyn, WA

My great niece Taryn, Jon's daughter from his first marriage, got married this month. I was planning to attend the wedding, but had a cold I needed to shake before I taught my final Bible class. Randy drove Nancy to Roslyn near Cle Elum. She took these photos with her Canon point-and-shoot camera. I've learned how to "adjust" these shots with Photoshop.

Trevor works at Swiftwater Cellars in Cle Elum, so I'm sure I would have enjoyed the refreshments.

Nancy's prayers for good weather were answered this very rainy May.

Bits and Pieces

Nancy and Annie have been installing the woodwork in the Library all month long. She may walk with two canes, but if the installation is up at our nine foot ceilings, Nancy climbs the ladder to carefully install the crown moulding. The final two of five bookcases have not moved to the north wall of the library, but the construction phase is now complete. (See below.)

I have a series of medical visits to schedule for June. I'm overdue to see my doctor, dentist, and eye doctor.

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

I've discovered two new YouTube offerings that I really enjoy. The first is Sir David Suchet reading the Bible, an amazing effort by this outstanding British actor. The other is just about anything by Psychologist and speaker/author Jordan B. Peterson.

I bought a used copy of Dr. Peterson's book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. It's the first book in recent years that I intend to complete. (I note that I also have three Julian Stockwin Kydd novels sitting on my shelf still unread.)

Sir David Suchet

The Library

The last nails went into the crown moulding above the window on the 31st.

The window on the south wall of the Library looks out through obscuring bushes toward my garden.

Two bookcases go on the east wall and one on the west wall. Two more bookcases will go along the north wall with the old stereo receiver between them. Wires (hidden behind Nancy here), go to six pairs of speakers around the house, 1) living room, 2) family room, 3) master bedroom, 4) upstairs Great room, 5) my basement office/man cave, and 6) here on the north wall of the Library I'll wire a pair to the "B" output of the receiver.

The elegant double doors open out into the dining room. We'll put Uncle Jack's dining room set here in the Library and when we have a large family dinner, we can add it to the table(s) running east to west through the dining room.

We'll put Grandma Jean's blue recliner chair in the southeast corner where I hope to do a lot of comfortable reading. Annie's secretary desk will move to the southwest corner.

I hope to have finished photos in my June journal.

My Quotes from May

Quotes from Plato.	He who is of a calm and happy nature, will hardly feel the pressure of age.	Of all the Gods, Love is the best friend of humankind, the helper and healer of all ills that stand in the way of human happiness.	Poverty doesn't come because of the decrease of wealth but because of the increase of desires.
	At the touch of love, everyone is a poet.	A house that has a library in it has a soul.	He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.
	God is not the author of all things, but of good only.	A nation will prosper to the degree that it honors it's teachers.	A man is not learned until he can read, write, and swim.

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