Sunday Citation

"Complacency can exist even without any belief in works. For many sinners are so drunk with the sweetness of their vices that they think not upon God's judgment but lie dazed, as it were, in a sort of drowsiness, and do not aspire to the mercy offered to them. Such sloth is no less to be shaken off than any confidence in ourselves is to be cast away in order that we may without hindrance hasten to Christ, and empty and hungering, may be filled with his good things. For we will never have enough confidence in him unless we become deeply distrustful of ourselves; we will never lift up our hearts enough in him unless they be previously cast down in us; we will never have consolation enough in him unless we have already experienced desolation in ourselves."

-John Calvin in Institutes, 3.12.8, p. 762, in the chapter titled "We must lift up our minds to God's judgment seat that we may be firmly convinced of his free justification"

Psalm 8 and the Image of God

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had the pleasure of sitting under Dr. T. David Gordon's preaching Sunday night. Dr. Gordon, author of the recently-released Why Johnny Can't Preach, has been one of the most influential men in my life (after my dad, brother, and a few others) with his media ecology class, lectures, conversations, articles, and now preaching.

Dr. Gordon preached on Psalm 8, which is a Psalm that explicitly praises God, but doesn't stop with that. Unlike many modern praise choruses, the psalmist recalls the grounds for such praise, including God's "glory above the heavens", the "work of his fingers", and several verses praising God for making man in God's image.

The psalm juxtaposes two aspects of man. First, when compared to the moon and stars which God has "set in place", man seems small and insignificant: "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" But then the psalmist rehearses the place of "glory and honor" man has been given: "Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [Hebrew word is Elohim] and crowned him with glory and honor."

After an exposition of this psalm as praising the created order and how it is fulfilled in Christ, Dr. Gordon gave some points of application. Since we, as fallen sinful creatures, cannot rightly fulfill our duty to exercise dominion over creation, we need to remember that Christ's work as the last Adam is complete and perfect. No matter how we fail, Christ has accomplished it.

Also, because we have been created in God's image - which entails a special place in creation and characteristics that find their source in the Triune God, we should aspire to the image of God in which we have been created. Dr. Gordon specifically pointed out how we have so gotten used to the "banal," but we can and should aspire to cultivate, appreciate, and create beauty. The aesthetic beauty, after all, finds its source in God the Creator. Genesis 1 shows that God saw his creation as "good" and "very good." God's good creation included beautiful things and practical things ("pleasant to the sight and good for food"). Man has also been given the gift of creativity.

Being "creative" doesn't mean one has to be an artist and create beautiful paintings or impressive architecture. Creativity also includes artisans, who make more practical things. In either case, because we are made in the image of God, we should cultivate creativity, grow in our appreciation for it, and mature in our discernment regarding it. General example areas include food, drink, music, language, art, craftsmanship, and intellect.

Another example would be me improving upon my listening to and summarizing sermons. Maybe he should write a book on how Johnny can't listen and process sermons correctly. Speaking of which, I heard through the grapevine that Dr. Gordon's next project is something along the lines of why Johnny can't sing hymns (how pop culture has re-written the hymnal).

New Blog Alert

After a lengthy deliberation on a blog title, theme, and content, our friend Jimmey has entered the blogging fray. You can find him over at rattlingbrain.blogspot.com. He's got a lot of things rattling around in that brain of his, some of which you can now read at his blog. Welcome to the blogosphere, Jimmey!

Are There Any Songs About Pennsylvania?

There are songs about Virginia, California, Tennessee, Georgia, and even West Virginia. But are there any about Pennsylvania (not including the Steelers' "Here We Go" chant/song). I can't think of any, though I wanted one for this post's title. I don't usually do updates like this, but I decided to today.

We had a fantastic weekend in western Pennsylvania. We got to be a part of Brittany and Kory ceremoniously leaving, cleaving, and uniting in marriage on Friday. It was a beautiful ceremony and lively reception, followed by us driving the happy couple to their hotel at the Pittsburgh airport. I was also honored to escort Mom Steele and Mama Maclay down the aisle. Elizabeth, the Matron of Honor, looked positively stunning. I wish we had brought our camera battery charger, or else I would be showing you! Hopefully I can score some pictures soon.

We spent the day Saturday recovering from the wedding - all of us felt like we had been run over by a truck - by hanging out with extended family at the Steele homestead. We enjoyed worshiping with the Steeles at their church (Hillcrest PCA) Sunday morning, and ran into Ed DiPanfilo (spelling?), a relocated member from our church in Virginia Beach! Small world.

After lazily but gloriously lounging all afternoon by the pool, we made the trek to Slippery Rock to worship with some close college friends at Grace Anglican Church, part of the newly-formed, conservative, orthodox Anglican Church of North America. This was our first experience with the Anglican church, and we loved the traditional liturgy that boldly speaks of our sin and Christ's atonement. There's nothing quite like getting on your knees for corporate confession. We also had the pleasant surprise of sitting under Dr. Gordon's solid preaching, with the Rector on vacation. Following the service, we went to the North Country Brewing Co. for good food, great drink, and even better conversation (I highly recommend their Mother's Milk and McLeod's Ewe brews).

From start to finish, it was a great weekend.

Sunday Citation

"This morning, hauling up a great unclassified beast of a fish, I thought of Christ coming again at the end of the world and how it is that in every age there is the temptation to see signs of the end and that, even knowing this, there is nevertheless some reason, what with the spirit of the new age being the spirit of watching and waiting, to believe that-"

-Thoughts of main character Dr. Tom More in Walker Percy's Love in the Ruins, p. 387

Congratulations Brittany and Kory!

Brittany and Kory tie the knot July 3, 2009.

In Praise of Scripture and the Church

Just wanted to pass on two links I found helpful/provocative/convicting/edifying/entertaining. Both from Kevin DeYoung, coauthor of Why We're Not Emergent and the forthcoming Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion as well as the author of Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will (alternate title: How to make a decision without dreams, visions, fleeces, open doors, random Bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc.).

First up is a post called "I Like What the Bible Teaches." DeYoung's argument is that "Christians should not only believe what the Bible teaches, they should like what the Bible teaches." He specifically points out two commonly disliked biblical teachings: complementarianism and hell. Predestination, particular atonement, and common grace could also be easily added to the list. But he explains that even when "we say things like 'If it were up to me I wouldn't have a hell, but God's word teaches it so I believe it' we are not being extra pious, only extra insulting." Acknowledging that though we may wrestle with difficult biblical truths, it is wrong to have a begrudging acceptance: "Don't we trust that God is good? Is not the law of the Lord our delight?" The purpose of believing and delighting in what God's Word teaches is God's glory, not our preferences. It's not about us, and we are not better judges or teachers than God.

"The Bible is true and the Bible is good. When we accept its truth without actually liking it, we have only come half way to mature faith. We are like kids saying "I'm sorry" while rolling our eyes, like a husband getting flowers so his wife won't be ticked, like a lover skimming through a letter from her beloved when she should be cherishing every word and every truth in her heart. Read the Bible. Believe the Bible. Delight in all that it affirms. Anything less is not good for your soul."

Second is an excerpt from his forthcoming book Why We Love the Church. It's a fun little madlib about church angst vocalized by postmoderns, emergents, emergelicals, evanjellyfish, hipsters, and many twenty-something white middle class Christians. It's comical, but also sad and frustrating. I'd repost it here, but I'm sure that would violate copyright rules. So click and read, and then buy the book.

Repost: Happy Canada Day!

In honour of my heritage, I wish you a happy and warm Canada Day. I know my dad will be flying his Canadian flag proudly to-day.

To celebrate, I will pass the day by listening to great Canadian music like The Band, The Guess Who, Men Without Hats, Steppenwolf, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Our Lady Peace, Matthew Good, Finger Eleven, Canadian Brass, and maybe even a little Nelly Furtado. Nickelback does not count as "great" Canadian music. I will also try to incorporate as many British spellings of words into my communiques.