We celebrated John Calvin's 500th Birthday with a Pastor's Talent show at the Pastor's Conference at Hastings College in Nebraska. Jim Anderson from Newton First Presbyterian even wrote a song in tribute to Calvin that was performed by about 20 of the pastors. It was a lot of fun. Of course Calvin himself would have been more excited to know that we celebrated his birthday by studying church history, pastoral care, and scripture. We learned about the unique contribution of John Witherspoon as a Presbyterian who was the President of Princeton University and a leader in the American Revolution. As a leader of the Revolution Witherspoon called Presbyterians to start by fasting and confessing their own sins and to remain loyal to the King while they continued to move forward with their conviction of justice, liberty and human rights. It is interesting that even on the edge of Revolution, Witherspoon who was strongly influenced by John Calvin, called for self examination as they taking such a momentous step of war.
As I am writing this blog in my dorm room in Weyer Hall, I am listening to John Calvin's Institutes. In his chapter on Repentance, Calvin himself says "Repentance is the resurrection from death to life." Later Calvin writes "Repentance and forgiveness are interelated... Repent that your sins my be forgiven... Repentance indicates what direction man must face to receive grace." Sometimes people who trace their roots back to Calvin are called long faced Christians. And yet Calvin's purpose in focusing on sin and repentance is not condemnation but to open us up to God's grace and new life in Christ. In his sermon, yesterday Dr. Bill Carl challenged us to rejoice in our faith and even in those times when we struggling, to thank God that we are alive and in relationship with Christ. Calvin's influence is everywhere in the conference.
While we have learned alot we have also had opportunites to exercise as well. This afternoon, I played tennis with Bill Carl and discovered that he is as competitive on the tennis court as he is dynamic and thorough in the classroom and pulpit. Luckily, I was on his team. I also played a little two-on-two volleyball to keep my skills sharp for when I come back to Friday night vollyball at Covenant. Blessings and peace to all who read this and Happy Birthday to John Calvin.
We celebrated John Calvin's 500th Birthday with a Pastor's Talent show at the Pastor's Conference at Hastings College in Nebraska. Jim Anderson from Newton First Presbyterian even wrote a song in tribute to Calvin that was performed by about 20 of the pastors. It was a lot of fun. Of course Calvin himself would have been more excited to know that we celebrated his birthday by studying church history, pastoral care, and scripture. We learned about the unique contribution of John Witherspoon as a Presbyterian who was the President of Princeton University and a leader in the American Revolution. As a leader of the Revolution Witherspoon called Presbyterians to start by fasting and confessing their own sins and to remain loyal to the King while they continued to move forward with their conviction of justice, liberty and human rights. It is interesting that even on the edge of Revolution, Witherspoon who was strongly influenced by John Calvin, called for self examination as they taking such a momentous step of war.
As I am writing this blog in my dorm room in Weyer Hall, I am listening to John Calvin's Institutes. In his chapter on Repentance, Calvin himself says "Repentance is the resurrection from death to life." Later Calvin writes "Repentance and forgiveness are interelated... Repent that your sins my be forgiven... Repentance indicates what direction man must face to receive grace." Sometimes people who trace their roots back to Calvin are called long faced Christians. And yet Calvin's purpose in focusing on sin and repentance is not condemnation but to open us up to God's grace and new life in Christ. In his sermon, yesterday Dr. Bill Carl challenged us to rejoice in our faith and even in those times when we struggling, to thank God that we are alive and in relationship with Christ. Calvin's influence is everywhere in the conference.
While we have learned alot we have also had opportunites to exercise as well. This afternoon, I played tennis with Bill Carl and discovered that he is as competitive on the tennis court as he is dynamic and thorough in the classroom and pulpit. Luckily, I was on his team. I also played a little two-on-two volleyball to keep my skills sharp for when I come back to Friday night vollyball at Covenant. Blessings and peace to all who read this and Happy Birthday to John Calvin.
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