PCRT 2008

Two weekends ago (April 18-20), I had the opportunity to attend my second Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology. I had such an amazing experience last year, and I went into this thinking that it would probably be a good experience but it couldn't be as good as last year. And yet, it was.

The theme was Precious Blood:Christ's Atoning Work, and the main speakers were Richard Phillips, Robert Godfrey (president of Westminster Seminary CA and one of my personal Reformed hero favorites), Joel Beeke (president of Puritan Reformed Seminary), and Derek Thomas (professor, Reformed Theological Seminary).

Messages began Friday evening and continued through Saturday evening. It's a tiring weekend, but it is a time of learning and spiritual growth and blessing. Joel Beeke spoke Friday evening on Necessary Blood, and Saturday began with Dr. Godfrey on Redeeming Blood, then Derek Thomas on Atoning Blood, followed by breakout seminars led by the various speakers, and finally, my favorite, Dr. Godfrey on Offensive Blood.

There are contemporary theologians who would accuse God of "cosmic child abuse," and the speakers in this conference addressed this heresy and instead presented the biblical accounting of this profound doctrine of Christ's great sacrifice on our behalf. The whole conference is full of great thoughts, but the one that most touched me and actually brought me to tears was during Derek Thomas's address on Christ's Atoning Blood. He was describing the nature of Christ's suffering, and while I've heard this explained since I was a child, Thomas cast it in yet another light.

He reminded us of the Aaronic Blessing in Numbers 6:24-26: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Not having grown up in a church that used a liturgy, I love these blessings. Our pastor frequently closes our service with this one. And to understand that this is God's blessing for us, this is reality and not just some wish or prayer uttered by the minister, is deeply meaningful and touching to me. Thomas explained that Christ experienced just the opposite of this blessing on the cross: "The Lord curse you and drive you out; the Lord look away from you and cast His anger upon you, the Lord forsake you." I thought about how horrible it would be to think that this was reality--to hear these words and not the beautiful blessing of Numbers. And I realized that this was what Christ experienced for me.

Of course there were really no light moments, but Dr. Godfrey is always delightful to hear, and his sense of humor makes his messages winsome as well as inspiring. What a great weekend! I look forward to next year's conference when the topic will be justification. In light of the controversy over N.T. Wright and the New Perspectives on Paul, it will no doubt be profound as well.

Movie Fun: And the Winner Is . . .

Thanks to all of you who participated in my movie fun contest. The winner is one of my dearest friends--Julie from Columbus--who is also my person of honor in my wedding. And it makes sense that we would love the same movies because we've been friends since ninth grade. That's a lot of history. Congratulations, Julie! Your prize will be arriving soon.

And the answers:

1. Notting Hill--Julia Roberts plays a movie star (a real stretch!) who falls in love with a London bookstore owner. (You will find that books and bookstore owners recur in my favorite movies.) In a great twist of irony, her character begs the "regular" guy to love her.

2. Sleepless in Seattle-- Movies about young widows and widowers with children have also been a favorite of mine. Here Tom Hanks's character explains to a radio talk show host how he fell in love with his now deceased wife and why losing her has left him sad and empty.

3. You've Got Mail--What could be better? Meg Ryan has my fantasy career: children's bookstore owner in NYC. And here she speaks for all true book lovers about how amazing children's stories can be.

4. Jerry MaGuire--A young widow (Renee Zellweger) falls in love with the pre-crazy-still-with-Nicole Tom Cruise (Jerry MaGuire) that I once liked very much. I felt like the writer of Renee's character, Dorothy, read my mind. Dorothy wears this great black dress on her first date with Jerry, and what woman wouldn't be swept off her feet by this compliment?

5. Shakespeare in Love--Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Clever quotes from Shakespeare plays incorporated into the script. England in the 1600's. Need I explain further why I loved this movie so? And this is Gwyneth Paltrow's character waxing eloquently on her desire for that great love that everyone wants (and that I have found!).

6. Toy Story--It's just the most ingenious, creative movie made for kids and adults ever. And those little creatures in the toy game at the Pizza Planet are hilarious!

7. Elf--Will Ferrell and this movie crack me up every time I watch it. It's become a Christmas standard along with #9 at our house.

8. Steel Magnolias--This was the last movie I ever watched with my sister Kristi before she died, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. We sat there and sobbed together, and a few months later, I comforted myself with the thought that Kristi had experienced "thirty minutes of wonderful," and so had everyone who had been privileged to love her.

9. It's a Wonderful Life--I just love this story. If you've never watched it, you must not let one more Christmas pass without seeing it.

10. Lord of the Rings/The Two Towers--Not really one of my favorites, and definitely not my favorite of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I love this line because it's spoken by my favorite character, Sam Gamgee, and Katie and Jonathan would repeat this line, in rhythm, more times than I can count.

11. Beauty and the Beast--The best Disney love story, hands down, with Belle being the best Disney princess. She's beautiful AND smart AND loves reading books. You'll never catch Cinderella or Snow White with a book--and definitely not Ariel.

12. Pride and Prejudice--Elizabeth played by Keira Knightley has to be the best! And how insightful and honest of her to recognize her own flaws holding her back from her true love, Mr. Darcy.

13. When Harry Met Sally--It's New Year's Eve, and Harry realizes that he does love Sally. And when he finds her at that New Year's Eve party, feeling as miserable as he does, this is what he says to her. And he proves once and for all that men and women really can't be "just friends." And Sally, played by Meg Ryan, quickly comes around and acquiesces to Harry; even though she's mad as can be at him, she can't help but love him.

14. Pretty Woman--It's a great moment. Both Viv (a former prostitute who knows she can do better) and Richard Gere's high-powered, wealthy businessman realize at the same time that he's just as bad off as she is. And you just know that together, they're going to work out all of those issues and have a great marriage. Yet another Cinderella story.

15. Horton Hears a Who--Again, not one of my favorite movies, but definitely enjoyable. And this line is uttered by a little fluff-ball creature named Katie. We all said this line at our house for at least a couple weeks after seeing the movie.

Movie Fun

I was researching award-winning blogs today and ran across this idea. Below are fifteen of my favorite lines, many of them from my favorite movies. Guess which movies they come from (without googling the lines or reading others' comments), answer in the comments, and the person who gets the most correct will win a prize (so I really hope it's someone local that I see often): a complimentary copy of both the Better Than Life book and CD, which has absolutely nothing to do with movies. Winner will be determined one week from today.

1. After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.

2. Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together... and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home... only to no home I'd ever known... I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like... magic.

3. When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.

4. That's more than a dress. That's an Audrey Hepburn movie.

5. I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all. No... not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that... over-throws life. Unbiddable, ungovernable - like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. Love - like there has never been in a play.

6. The Claw is our master. It decides who will go and who will stay.

7. We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.

8. Mama, I don't know why you have to make everything so difficult. I look at having a baby as the opportunity of a lifetime. Sure there may be risk involved, but that's true for anybody. But you get through it and life goes on. And when it's all said and done there will be a little piece of immortality with Jackson's good looks and my sense of style, I hope. Please, please I need your support. I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.

9. Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.

10. Po-tay-toes! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew... Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish.

11. Ahhh, Isn't this amazing / It's my favorite part because, you see / Here's where she meets Prince Charming / But she won't discover that it's him / Till chapter three.

12. I could more easily forgive his vanity had he not wounded mine.

13. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

14. Q. So what happens after he climbs up and rescues her?
A. She rescues him right back.

15. In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies.

Have fun! Are you surprised at some of my favorite movies?
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Survival of the Mommest

Given the somewhat pathetic, whiny tone of my last post, I thought I should follow up with the sequel, the Friday that followed the pitiful Thursday night.

Friday was a good day, the day parents were included in the junior visit to Trinity College. I arrived on campus shortly before 9:00 AM. The students had been gathered for a welcome and devotional time, and I was somewhat gratified to see the look of happiness (and relief, perhaps?) on Katie's face when I walked in the room during the admissions department presentation.

Parents and students were split up and taken on tours of the campus. It's a quaint, small campus, and the dorms were okay. Katie thinks they're good, so if she ends up there, then all that really matters is that she finds them livable. The dorm rules were definitely different from Cedarville College's eighties-something dorm rules, the last dorm rules I ever gave much thought to. Of course guys and girls live in the same building, but they only live together on one floor, with the guys in one wing and the girls in the other. The question is no longer, "Are members of the opposite sex allowed in the rooms?" but rather, "How late may members of the opposite sex stay in each others' rooms?" I'm just not going to think about that very much.

The highlight of Friday's visit was meeting with the art department's representative, an enthusiastic young professor who told us about the new facility dedicated to the art and communications departments that will be opening this fall. She's had the responsibility of ordering the equipment (including Macs for the graphic design emphasis) for the new facility, and we were pleased to see the commitment to the arts at this small liberal arts college. In fact, one of the front-page stories in the student newspaper was the problem that students don't support sports events well, and my tour guide, a baseball player, somewhat plaintively explained that AFTER the arts and communications facility is finished, then attention will be paid to a baseball field. This lack of sports zeal definitely warmed our artsy hearts.

We also had an opportunity to hear from the financial director (yikes!), and I'm still trying to grasp the sticker price of a four-year private college education. And we talked to a rep from the music department who described some of the choral opportunities for students who want to participate. It sounds like Katie would get to keep up with her music love if she wanted to at Trinity.

And so Friday ended up being a good day. It's hard not to feel the excitement of academia and to realize that Katie will get to experience all of this soon. And I will survive; other moms have made it, and I will too.

Tomorrow Katie goes to a college fair here in Grand Rapids. Henry's going to take her to that one. It will be a good initiation to dad duties, and he probably won't experience the trauma I underwent.

Growing Up

Here I sit, all alone in a hotel in Tinley Park, Illinois, faced with the reality that my little red-haired girl is growing up. It's spring break, and we decided that it was probably a good time to jump into college-visit mode, since we have only a little more than a year to go till my Katie ventures out on her own. Her first visit: Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois, just southwest of Chicago.

While this is what I've been training Katie up for all these years, it's a little scary thinking that there will come a time--not too far in the distant future--when I won't hear her singing, giggling, walking through the house with her cell phone attached to her head or have her available as an ever-ready shopping companion all the time. I started drilling her on the order of life (go to school, go to college, get a degree, get married, have babies) when she was about four, with an emphasis on the go-to-college part, so she's only following through with what she's been taught. But sitting here all alone, with Katie and her girlfriend with the other visiting juniors down at Navy Pier, my Henry back in Grand Rapids, and Jonathan away with his grandparents visiting family in West Virginia--it's a little more alone time than I bargained for.

So tomorrow is a day of visiting classes, touring the campus (it's quaint), and talking with the different college reps. I don't know how Katie feels about all this, but I'm thinking I'm a little too young for having a child in college. And when it's all said and done, we'll hit the outlets in Michigan City on the way home--just like always. We firmly believe that the mother and daughter who shop together can never really be far apart from each other. And maybe she'll think about that and seriously consider attending a local Christian college (Cornerstone maybe?)that will allow her to stay close to home and still fulfill the life order we've talked about.

A Strange Habit

Area Eccentric Reads Entire Book

GREENWOOD,IN—"Instead of spending hours on YouTube every night, Mr. Meyer, unlike most healthy males, looks to books for gratification," said one psychologist.

I'm always the last to know about the best Websites. This week I was reading an industry magazine, and it quoted this article from The Onion, a paradise of satire and sarcasm for those who enjoy that kind of thing.

One of the questions that frequently arises in the publishing industry is whether print material, as we know it, will continue to be in demand. With technology such as Amazon's Kindle and newspapers dying away because of online news sources, it's a real concern. This article addresses, in a humorous way, the phenomenon of a young person actually reading a book. Enjoy!

Tradition

Last weekend, South Christian presented its spring musical, one of my favorites,
Fiddler on the Roof. Katie and her friend Sarah played the central character Tevye's two youngest daughters.

I've watched the movie several times, seen the play performed live several times, and am quite familiar with the music, but as I watched it this time (completely impressed by the young man, Jon Berry, playing Tevye--can't wait to see him next year!), I couldn't help but think about how much could be learned from one of the central themes: the role of tradition in the lives of these early twentieth-century Jews living in a village in Russia. Tevye tells the audience early in the play that "without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as--a fiddler on the roof!"

The events of the play that unfold demonstrate that in a world that is constantly changing, traditions are only as strong as those who cling to or dismiss them. Marriage customs are called into question as each of Tevye's three oldest daughters progressively break with form. The first couple forms their own match without the help of the town matchmaker but still seeks Tevye's permission and blessing. The second daughter, who marries a young Jewish radical Communist forerunner, seeks Tevye's blessing but tells him they will marry without his permission. In both instances there is poignant humor as Tevye soliloquizes, weighing tradition against
norm. He cites all of the traditions, and then calls them into question, opening himself to a new way of thinking as he says, "On the other hand . . ." In both instances, Tevye is able to convince himself to break with tradition and accept his daughters' marriages.

His third daughter, however, marries a Russian who is not a Jew, and it's interesting that Tevye can't bring himself to accept this breach of tradition. Tevye declares his daughter dead, but he is still treated sympathetically. We still like him; in fact, we feel sorry for him. Is it because, perhaps, there is something more at stake here than a broken tradition? We sympathize with Tevye because his third daughter is asking something of him that he cannot give.

And then I thought about what a wonderful learning experience about tradition versus biblical principles this could be for the students participating in the play, many of them from Reformed churches. After becoming Reformed, one of the first things that made an impression on me was the role of tradition in church. As someone "from the outside," who did not grow up in the Reformed church, I've observed that this is one of the most difficult things facing Reformed people today: distinguishing tradition from norms. What does God require, and what is simply something we just do because we've always done it that way? And I've seen two radically different reactions
by church groups who have some difficulty distinguishing tradition from what God requires.

In one instance, tradition is elevated to the level of dogma, so that church members
are found faithful not just for how they live out the doctrines of the Scriptures but by how well they keep traditions too. In other Reformed churches, dogma and tradition are also placed on the same level of authority, so that when a church decides it no longer wants to keep a tradition, it throws out doctrinal standards as well. The baby goes out with the bathwater. Catechisms, confessions, and forms of subscription are quaint relics of the past, much like the oil lamps from Great Grandma that we display in our china cabinets. Nice to look at, but fairly useless and irrelevant.

What Tevye shows us is that when practice is based on tradition, we have to be willing to open ourselves to new ways of thinking, new ways of doing things. Although we may not like it, tradition can be changed, and we mustn't dismiss those who decide to blaze new trails, as long as their choices are in keeping with Scripture. But when there is a breach of something deeper than tradition--something binding us like biblical principle--we ought to take a stand for what is right, and it may mean division and separation.

At any rate it is a wonderful musical with great universal themes, humor, romance--a play "laden with happiness and tears."