Whilin' Away the Hours

March for Women's Lives
The photos on Bunnie Diehl's latest blog entries seem like they came from an alternate universe, a mirror image of the true universe, in which good is evil and evil is good, beauty is ugly and ugly is beauty. Oh, wait. Nevermind.

The perverted agenda of the marchers is sickening but I know the plot development of this story and I have some news for them:

"'For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed. They will build houses and inhabit them; they will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, and their descendants with them. It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,' says the LORD."

Amen

18 years ago today...
Kiddofspeed - GHOST TOWN - Chernobyl, a very eerie photo essay. I hope Elena was right on her assessment of the risk involved with this trip through the "dead zone" but I understand her desire to visit. I don't remember a time when I wasn't attracted to abandoned old homes or graveyards. Wandering through a cemetery, I can completely lose track of time reading the inscriptions on the grave markers and pondering the lives chisled out by dates and synoptic sentiments. The brevity of life is always startling and rude. And yet, the course of time and history is the tapestry of the Sovereign One and I feel no sense of desolation or despair as the individual threads sewn are knotted and snipped. I know that when the last stitch is completed, the tapestry unfurled will be beautiful beyond expression.

What Mark Said!
"Seminary students are not going to be impressed with "he's just a Barthian" cliches in response to real arguments. "

From the latest Trinity Review:

"The next step in Paul's argument is to assert not only justification by belief alone..."

Verily, verily, there is rejoicing in the pit this day for John Robbins hath admitted Screwtape and Wormwood to the Table!

Robbins cites Romans 2:17-29 and by simple assertion, claims that Paul is here denying corporate election to salvation. "Paul here denies that there is any group justification, corporate election to salvation, or corporate salvation." Not so! Rather, isn't Paul indicting the nation for failure to be the light of the world? Paul is delivering a verdict of "covenant-breaker" to ethnic Israel. "You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?" But what would Robbins have me believe? That salvation is atomistic and outside the corporate body of Christ?

Robbins goes on, "Furthermore, Paul attacked the Jewish misunderstanding of the covenant by denying that God was the God of all loyal, circumcised Jews because he had entered into covenant with Abraham:" What? Paul denied that God was the God of loyal Jews? Ahem...Paul isn't speaking to loyal Jews. Besides, how does Paul's argument that God is the God of gentiles as well as Jews prove that there is no corporate election?

"Physical circumcision, to which the Jews looked for assurance of their favor with God..." Look out! JR is sounding vaguely NPPish in speaking about the ethnic boast of these covenant-breakers. "...had no part to play in Abraham's salvation - and it has no part to play in the salvation of his children either. 'For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law [and no one does], but if you are a breaker of the law [and everyone is] your circumcision has become uncircumcision'." Really? No one keeps the law? Not even Simeon, Zacharias, or Elizabeth who were righteous in God's sight? Robbins is, of course, thinking of Romans 3:10ff. But by now we're all familiar with Schlissel's observation that Ps.14 speaks of both the unrighteous and the righteous. So, that simply isn't what Paul means. He means that the seal of the covenant brings blessing only when the covenant is kept.

Etc., etc., etc.

For a good antidote to JR, I recommend ?Judge Me, O God?
Biblical Perspectives on Justification by Peter Leithart

Very cool!
John has some good news!

Faith and works...
The grace of God in Christ is the only sufficient cause of salvation. Justification is not a sufficient cause of salvation since salvation consists in the simultaneously received coordinate benefits of justification and sanctification. These benefits are received by union with the resurrected Christ by the instrumentality of Spirit wrought faith. Justification and sanctification are not distinct acts but different facets of a single act. They are to be distinguished but they cannot be separated because their locus is the Person of Christ.

The relation of works to faith to justification as described by Calvin below is relevant to current discussions but interestingly, in our day, the places of faith and works have been reversed. While I would hesitate to "gloriously extoll" works (to do so really shouldn't be troubling because in Christ, we are His workmanship, or His poetry [poiema] and our works proceed from the Holy Spirit [WCF XVI III] ), nevertheless, the falseness of the accusation that faith is degraded by positioning good works as a necessary condition for justification stands.

"I forbear to say what sort of zealots for good works they are who thus carp at us. Let them rail with impunity even as they wantonly infect the whole world with their own foul lives! They pretend to be grieved that, when faith is so gloriously extolled, works are degraded. What if, rather, these were encouraged and strengthened? For we dream neither of a faith devoid of good works nor of a justification that stands without them. This alone is of importance: having admitted that faith and good works must cleave together, we still lodge justification in faith, not in works. We have a ready explanation for doing this, provided we turn to Christ to whom our faith is directed and from whom it receives its full strength. Why, then, are we justified by faith? Because by faith we grasp Christ's righteousness, by which alone we are reconciled to God. Yet you could not grasp this without at the same time grasping sanctification also. For he 'is given unto us for righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, and redemption' [1 Corinthians 1:30]. Therefore Christ justifies no one whom he does not at the same time sanctify. These benefits are joined together by an everlasting and indissoluble bond, so that those whom he illumines by his wisdom, he redeems; those whom he redeems, he justifies; those whom he justifies, he sanctifies." Inst. 3:16:1

"Thirdly, he calls him our sanctification, by which he means, that we who are otherwise unholy by nature, are by his Spirit renewed unto holiness, that we may serve God. From this, also, we infer, that we cannot be justified freely through faith alone without at the same time living holily. For these fruits of grace are connected together, as it were, by an indissoluble tie, so that he who attempts to sever them does in a manner tear Christ in pieces. Let therefore the man who seeks to be justified through Christ, by God's unmerited goodness, consider that this cannot be attained without his taking him at the same time for sanctification, or, in other words, being renewed to innocence and purity of life. Those, however, that slander us, as if by preaching a free justification through faith we called men off from good works, are amply refuted from this passage, which intimates that faith apprehends in Christ regeneration equally with forgiveness of sins." Calvin's Bible Commentaries, 1 Cor. 1:30

So here is a little homegrown Modus Tollens to illustrate the above Calvin:

if justification, then sanctification
no sanctification, no justification

if sanctification, then good works
no good works, no sanctification

if justification, then sanctification then good works
no good works, no sanctification, no justification

if justification, then good works
no good works, no justification

In contrast, Lutheran theology, while it does not deny that good works will flow from faith, denies the conditional necessity of good works for salvation. Lutheran and Reformed theologies part ways at the point of covenant. Lutherans hold to a testamentary view which is a one sided arrangement. "Naked faith" is instrumental on this view and salvation depends entirely on justification so that justification and salvation are conterminous. The Reformed view is that of a monopleurically established and dipleurically administered covenant in which obedient faith is instrumental. Repentance and new obedience are necessary conditions of salvation so that, while in no sense the ground or cause of justification, there is no pardon of sin without them.

Peter Lillback, in his WTS Covenant Theology lectures agrees that Lutheran doctrine allows no consideration of works in it's formulations for justification/salvation but that the Reformed certainly do. That seems to be substantiated in the following:

Article IV, "Of Good Works," of the Formula of Concord 1580

2. We believe, teach, and confess also that good works should be entirely excluded, just as well in the question concerning salvation as in the article of justification before God, as the apostle testifies with clear words, when he writes as follows: Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, Rom. 4,6 ff. And again: By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast, Eph. 2,8.9.

In contrast, the WCF XVI teaches that (non-meritorious) good works are a means to an end:
II. These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the Gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life.[ROM 6:22]

Compare Concord:
1. Accordingly, we reject and condemn the following modes of speaking: when it is taught and written that good works are necessary to salvation; also, that no one ever has been saved without good works; also that it is impossible to be saved without good works. Epitome of the Formula of Concord 4. 16

to Turretin:
"This very thing is no less expressly delivered concerning future glory. For since good works have the relation of the means to the end (Jn. 3:5, 16; Mt. 5:8); of the 'way' to the goal (Eph. 2:10; Phil 3:14); of the 'sowing' to the harvest (Gal. 6:7,8); of the 'firstfruits' to the mass (Rom. 8:23); of labor to the reward (Mt. 20:1); of the 'contest' to the crown (2 Tim. 2:5; 4:8), everyone sees that there is the highest and an indispensable necessity of good works for obtaining glory. It is so great that it cannot be reached without them (Heb. 12:14; Rev. 21:27)." Inst. Of Elenctic Theology 17.3.12

to Ursinus:
"good works are necessary to salvation, not as a cause to an effect, or as if they merited a reward, but as a part of salvation itself, or as an antecedent to a consequent, or as a means without which we cannot obtain the end. In the same way we may also say, that good works are necessary to righteousness or justification..." Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism pages 484 and 485

or Calvin:
"Those whom the Lord has destined by his mercy for the inheritance of eternal life he leads into possession of it, according to his ordinary dispensation, by means of good works. What goes before in the order of dispensation he calls the cause of what comes after. In this way he sometimes derives eternal life from works, not intending it to be ascribed to them; but because he justifies those whom he has chosen in order at last to glorify them [Romans 8:30], he makes the prior grace, which is a step to that which follows, as it were the cause." Inst. 3.14.21

More later...

It did me old heart good
yesterday to hear my pastor say that Romans isn't about justification (though it's in there) but rather, it's focus is eschatology.

Providence
I heard a wondrous story at our Ladies Mission Guild meeting today. One of our OPC missionaries to Uganda had been feeling "stressed" over the time it cost him to carefully allocate the meager deaconal funds available for relief in the region. But, his 'tude received an adjustment as he observed God's strong right arm in action.

He was sent to check on an elderly couple who needed help. They lived on a small farm 30 miles off an unpaved road. The wife was totally blind. In spite of this Christian woman's blindness and old age, she was known for bringing gifts of food and visiting ill or needy neighbors. The aged Christian husband had a melon sized hernia yet managed to work their small farm, providing sustenance for his family and neighbors in need.

The OPC missionary arranged for the man to have surgery to repair his hernia. After the surgery, he visited the old man in the clinic. A Muslim man shared the clinic room. The missionary found the old man's wife sitting on a mat on the floor cooking for them & caring for them. The Muslim man asked to speak to the missionary as he was leaving. He said he had been so amazed & touched by the care of this godly old wife, the other Christians, and the Church that he wanted to meet with the missionary to hear more about Jesus the Christ.

The surgery cost approximately $52.00 American. The work of the missionary was undoubtedly tediously bureaucratic at times, but the value of that Muslim's soul in Christ is...priceless.

Rubber meets road...
David Englesma concluded his review, "The Account of a Fallen Seminary and a “Falling” Church with the following myopic, rationally obtuse statement:
"If the reputedly conservative Reformed and Presbyterian churches in North America, now put to the test regarding their confession of the heart of the gospel—justification by faith alone—and with it all the doctrines of grace, are to maintain the gospel of sovereign grace, they must reexamine and repudiate the doctrine of a conditional covenant that all of them embrace."

Not so! Rather, "If a church did not preach the condition and did not insert the threat in the preaching as well, then, what God has instituted as the means for the gathering of the elect, would be fruitless." Theodore Beza

As Cornelius Van Til said, "Don't take the paradox out of scripture!"

Gataker
I've got to make time today to read Gataker & Imputed Righteousness, Message 17514 on the Warfield list.

Orwellian alliances
What a strange alliance David Englesma, John Robbins, and O. Palmer Robertson make. But allied they are against the OPC and Westminster Theological Seminary, PA. Engelesma makes some stunningly vacuous accusations against them in The Account of a Fallen Seminary and a “Falling” Church, a review of Robbins' & Robertson's screeds.

Just for fun, here are the damning quotes & citations from the article juxtaposed with a few other quotes:

" But Shepherd clearly rejected justification by faith alone. According to Shepherd
'Good works were necessary as the way of justification, and not simply as its fruit. Walking in the way of obedience was necessary to maintain justification. The sinner seeking justification might just as well be told to follow Jesus as to believe in Jesus' (Justification Controversy, p. 30). Engelesma

"Those whom the Lord has destined by his mercy for the inheritance of eternal life he leads into possession of it, according to his ordinary dispensation, by means of good works. What goes before in the order of dispensation he calls the cause of what comes after. In this way he sometimes derives eternal life from works, not intending it to be ascribed to them; but because he justifies those whom he has chosen in order at last to glorify them [Romans 8:30], he makes the prior grace, which is a step to that which follows, as it were the cause." Calvin

"good works are necessary to salvation, not as a cause to an effect, or as if they merited a reward, but as a part of salvation itself, or as an antecedent to a consequent, or as a means without which we cannot obtain the end. In the same way we may also say, that good works are necessary to righteousness or justification..." Ursinus

~~~#~~~

"In the course of the controversy 'Mr. Shepherd affirmed that a person could lose his justification. He proposed that an individual who was elect according to the election of Ephesians 1 could become non-elect if he did not continue to walk in covenant faithfulness' (Justification Controversy, p. 22).

'Shepherd was known to teach that the branches to be cut off in John 15 first were savingly united to Christ' (Justification Controversy, p. 57)." Engelesma

"But if it be asked respecting individuals, 'How any one could be cut off from the grafting, and how, after excision, he could be grafted again,' bear in mind, that there are three modes of insition, and two modes of excision. For instance, the children of the faithful are ingrafted, to whom the promise belongs according to the covenant made with the fathers; ingrafted are also they who indeed receive the seed of the gospel, but it strikes no root, or it is choked before it brings any fruit; and thirdly, the elect are ingrafted, who are illuminated unto eternal life according to the immutable purpose of God. The first are cut off, when they refuse the promise given to their fathers, or do not receive it on account of their ingratitude; the second are cut off, when the seed is withered and destroyed; and as the danger of this impends over all, with regard to their own nature, it must be allowed that this warning which Paul gives belongs in a certain way to the faithful, lest they indulge themselves in the sloth of the flesh. But with regard to the present passage, it is enough for us to know, that the vengeance which God had executed on the Jews, is pronounced on the Gentiles, in case they become like them." Calvin

"Mark then how the faithful ought to be provoked: and that this also is to teach us always to continue, to walk on in fear and carefulness, when our Lord showeth us that they whom he hath called, oftentimes make and show themselves unworthy of their calling. To the end therefore that we do not tempt him, and that we may be ready to receive that which he teacheth us, mark wherefore it is said that he rewardeth our services: not because we merit any reward." Calvin

Just in...
I received God & Adam by Rowland Ward in the mail today. I meant to buy this last spring when it was first available but I didn't quite get to it.

The back cover synopsis:
"Reformed writers of the 17th century spoke with one voice on a covenant with Adam. If this is not rejected outright today, it is often misunderstood as if God was a contract God who cut a deal with man on a sterile legal basis. This is a severe distortion of the classic viewpoint."

Something tells me Ward isn't going to play nice with Meredith Kline. But I hear he's not uncritical of Norman Shepherd either so this should make an interesting read.

Naturally, I turned to the chapter titled "The Question of Grace and Merit" first. This section is loaded with quotes proving that, historically, the Reformers denied merit and affirmed grace. Here is one quote:
"Did Adam besides these sound faculties stand in need of God's grace? He did, whereby namely he might be preserved in that his integrity of nature, and might be furthered to those actions... But what kind of grace was that? Such a one, whereby if he would he was able to live holily, yet not whereby he would perpetually and constantly cleave to God; for if he had received this grace undoubtedly he had persevered." William Bucanus, Institutions, 108-109.

Here is a 16th century man (d. 1603) affirming degrees of covenantal grace. Now, that is interesting!

Husbands can be mean little boys sometimes...
My mean little boy sent me the photo from this site in an email today (warning, visit the site at your own risk). I innocently opened the email...

I know I'll have nightmares tonight.

12 people
and a leg of lamb smothered in garlic, curry, and chianti.

I slept soundly last night. ;-)

Good Friday
Excerpts from:
The Fountain of Life opened up: or,
A Display of Christ in his essential and mediatorial glory.
Containing forty-two sermons on various texts.
The Works of John Flavel, Volume I
Sermon 33. The fourth excellent Saying of Christ upon the Cross, illustrated.
It was such a desertion as left him only to the supports of his faith. He had nothing else now but his Father's covenant and promise to hang upon. And indeed, as a judicious author pertinently observes, the faith of Christ did several ways act and manifest itself, in these very words of complaint in the text.

For though all comfortable sights of God and sense of love were obstructed, yet you see his soul cleaves fiducially to God for all that: My God, &c. Though sense and feeling speak as well as faith, yet faith speaks first, My God, before sense speaks a word of his forsaking. His faith presented the complaint of sense; and though sense comes in afterwards with a word of complaint, yet here are two words of faith to one of sense: it is, "My God, my God," and but one word of forsaking. As his faith spake first, so it spake twice, when sense and feeling spake but once: yea, and as faith spake first, and twice as much as sense, so it spake more confidently than sense did. He lays a confident claim to God as his God; "My God, my God," and only queries about his forsaking of him, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" This is spoken more dubiously, the former more confidently.

To be short, his faith laid hold on God, under a most suitable title, or attribute, Eli, Eli, "my strong One, my strong One," q. d. O thou, with whom is infinite and everlasting strength; thou that hast hitherto supported my manhood, and according to thy promise upheld thy servant; what! wilt thou now forsake me? My strong One, I lean upon thee. To these supports and refuges of faith this desertion shut up Christ: by these things he stood, when all other visible and sensible comforts shrunk away, both from his soul and body. This is the true, though brief account of the nature and quality of Christ's desertion....

Though God took from Christ all visible and sensible comforts, inward as well as outward; yet Christ subsisted, by faith, in the absence of them all: his desertion put him upon the acting of his faith. "My God, my God", are words of faith, the words of one that wholly depends upon his God: and is it not so with you too? Sense of love is gone, sweet sights of God shut up in a dark cloud? well, what then? Must thy hands presently hang down, and thy soul give up all its hopes? What! Is there no faith to relieve in this case? Yes, yes, and blessed be God for faith. "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his servants, that walketh in darkness, and has no light; let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay himself upon his God," Isa. 50: 10."

Getting our liturgy fix...
A group of like-minded ~~here~~ friends from Covenant are planning to attend Christ the King REC on Good Friday. Our congregation has a good relationship with Father McNamara and Christ the King so I think it will be fun for a little delegation of us to visit on Good Friday. Our sister OPC, Redeemer, actually has joint Good Friday services with several Reformed Baptist churches in the area but those of us planning to attend Christ the King are also looking forward to a more traditional liturgy.

Where are the prunes?
Yahoo email lists are totally constipated! It's frustrating to send an email to a group and then wait 10-12 hours for it to be posted. Grrr... I wonder if the blockage is attributable to the rampant virus outbreak in Yahoo mail? I get dozens of infected emails in my Yahoo account each week. Yahoo is fairly good at sorting them out so that the infected emails are delivered to the "bulk" file. But, I wish there were a way to opt out of the sorting process. Recognizing a virus laden email is usually pretty easy and the simplest precautions make all the Yahoo calisthenics unnecessary.

What St. Ignatius really said
"Ignatius, who is also called Theopharus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fulness of God the Father, and predestinated before the beginning of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory, being united and elected through the true passion by the will of the Father, and Jesus Christ, our God: Abundant happiness through Jesus Christ, and His undefiled grace." [ Ignatius a.d. 30-107 The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians] (emphasis mine)

Traditionally, it is said that Ignatius and Polycarp were fellow-disciples under John. The Antiochene Acts speak of Ignatius as "the disciple of the Apostle John, a man of apostolic character in all ways... So then with much eagerness and joy, in longing desire for the Lord's passion, he went down from Antioch to Seleucia, and from thence he set sail. And having put in at the city of the Smyrnaeans after much stress of weather, he disembarked with much joy and hastened to see the holy Polycarp, bishop of the Smyrnaeans, his fellow-student; for in old times they had been disciples of John. And being entertained by him on landing, and having communicated with him his spiritual gifts, and glorying in his bonds, he entreated them to aid him in his purpose--asking this in the first place of every church collectively (for the cities and churches of Asia welcomed the saint through their bishops and presbyters and deacons, all men flocking to him, in the hope that they might receive a portion of some spiritual gift), but especially of the holy Polycarp, that by means of the wild beasts disappearing the sooner from the world, he might appear in the presence of Christ."

New site:
David Bahnsen has a new website: DLBTHOUGHTS.COM. Looks good!

Rotten fruit.
Jesus and Paul - The Word and the Witness was abysmal, a travesty, an abomination. Peter Jennings was so transparently agenda driven that his credibility as an investigative reporter is laughable. Jennings is a despicable joke.

I naively hoped for at least a shred of historical & interpretive integrity but the 3 hour Holy Week "special" boiled down to an exposé of a "dead charismatic messiah figure" and a "wacko prophet of doom" along with their greedy, hate mongering spawn, the Church. The scholars were breathtakingly jaundiced in their denials of the bodily resurrection of Christ, the suggestions of delusion in Paul, the hyperbolic description of the struggles between Paul & James, the tacit denial of the plenary inspiration of the scriptures, etc. Jennings made a show of choosing fringe loonies to typify Christians. In one exceedingly embarrassing segment, he interviewed a priest (if memory serves) who explained the shrine of Tre Fontane which contains 3 "springs of water" at the site traditionally believed to be where Paul was beheaded. Paul's head, he explained, bounced three times and each bounce produced a spring of water. Jennings observed that the "springs" were motor driven and mockingly said, "That's cheating!"

N.T. Wright, one of the few conservative evangelicals featured, was denied the opportunity to offer anything of importance from his many scholarly works. His most significant contribution, IMHO, came during the segment transitioning between Jesus & Paul. "Did Paul found the Christian religion?" The consensus of the group was yes, the misogynistic, homophobic, racist, sexually repressive, delusional prophet of doom did indeed found Christianity as we know it. In a clip that could only have been a "Momentary Lapse of Reason" on the part of Peter Jennings, Wright compared Jesus and Paul to a scientist who invents a cure and the physician who applies the remedy to patients (or something very similar). But all in all, Wright was not permitted to offer anything significant to the discussion, not on the historicity of the resurrection nor on covenantal continuum. Nothing.

As I said in comments from Monday, my "reactionary" side wishes that Wright would disassociate himself from the Higher Criticism intelligentsia but I must remember that God has placed him in among the wolves for a reason. I admire him for it but I regret that he becomes guilty by association.

Interesting? Aggravating? Infuriating?
Jesus and Paul — The Word and the Witness will probably be all that and more tonight at 8pm ET. I'm familiar with a few of the named scholars [Spong!?! Yipes!] and I suspect many of them will be coming from a liberal perspective. However, think what you will of N.T. Wright, he presents a strong case for a "Christotelic" redemptive-historical hermeneutic in Paul. I hope he's given the opportunity to "show his stuff". I'll be interested in what E.P. Sanders has to offer as well. But Spong!?! I'll try to refrain from throwing rotten tomatoes at the television...simply because I would be the one cleaning up afterward.

I can affirm these:
Affirmations on Covenant & Baptism
by Tim Gallant.

Of course, each person will read these with his own set of presuppositions in place so that even the most basic affirmations such as, "1.1 Justification occurs through the instrumentality of faith alone" could become a point of contention. Anyway, just having a concise outline is a useful tool in the "Great Debate."

Whirlwind weekend
Our presbytery was a success! That is, we managed to feed & house approximately 50 men (and a few wives) with no major complications. I had serving & KP duty Saturday with several other ladies and one gentleman (a good set of muscles are important when one needs to move of 50 + lb roaster of potato soup). We had fun while we worked. The kitchen is "the" place to be.

After we were finished, I raced home to bake a "Kugel" for our Passover Seder with the Colvins and three other families from Covenant. It was a full house but we had an empty place for Elijah according to tradition.

The Seder itself was wonderful. It is decidedly Messianic with the ritual breaking of the "second" Matzah in a stack of three known as the "afikomen". It is then hidden as if buried until the end of the meal. The children search for it and the meal cannot conclude (with the eating of the afikomen!) until it is found as though resurrected. Astonishing.

I loved this poem at the beginning of the Seder:

Beneath the bloodstained lintel I with my children stand;
A messenger of evil is passing through the land.
There is no other refuge from the destroyer's face;
Beneath the bloodstained lintel shall be our hiding place.

The Lamb of God has suffered, our sins and griefs He bore;
By faith the blood is sprinkled above our dwelling's door.
The foe who seeks to enter doth fear that sacred sign;
Tonight the bloodstained lintel shall shelter me and mine.

My Savior, for my dear ones, I claim Thy promise true;
The Lamb is "for the household" --the children's Savior too.
On Earth the little children once felt Thy touch divine;
Beneath the bloodstained lintel Thy blessing give to mine.

O Thou who gave them guard them--those wayward little feet,
The wilderness before them, the ills of life to meet.
My mother-love is helpless, I trust them to Thy care!
Beneath the bloodstained lintel, O, keep me ever there!

The faith I rest upon Thee, Thou wilt not disappoint;
With wisdom, Lord to train them my shrinking heart anoint'
Without my children, Father, I cannot see Thy face;
I plead the bloodstained lintel, Thy covenant of grace.

O wonderful Redeemer, who suffered for our sake,
When o'er the guilty nations the judgment storm shall break,
With joy from that safe shelter may we then meet thine eye,
Beneath the bloodstained lintel, my children, Lord, and I.

Yes, the infant firstborn of the Hebrews were saved from death by the covenant sign that dark night, sans cognitive faith. For them, the sign was efficacious by God's promise and faithfulness, period. A common argument among the Reformed is that the grace of the Covenant expands and becomes more inclusive in the new administration yet are we to believe, as some suggest, that in this one respect - the efficacy of the sign - it has become more selective and narrower?

Sora made an absolutely decadent chocolate torte for the dessert course of our meal. But it was completely without leavening! Light yet rich and chocolatey... mmm.

After church Sunday, a few of us gathered for a meal with Tim and Kristin who will be relocating to Dayton in a few months. Yes, Wright Patterson AFB...why else would someone voluntarily move to Dayton? ;-) Anyway, it was fun getting to know them. Happy house hunting you two!