A precious reconnection with my friend Bill, and other than that it was largely symbolic. I am talking about spending a few hours at South-West Presbytery after a 20 year absence. It was interesting to me that the men being admitted to the fellowship were still registering their opposition to the "recreation clause" of the Westminster Confession of Faith that forbids Christians from doing anything that is selfish or pleasurable on the Sabbath.
From my long removed vantage point, this one admission of the weakness of the document that drives a creed based church is enough to call the whole document into question. Calvin clearly failed to see the significance of New Covenant Theology in the treatment of the Sabbath laws. This flat transition from old to new is what ultimately creates the issues that make conservative Calvinism the creature that it is. I love these guys but am so thankful to be out of that dreary box.
I have found some candidates for gifting a valuable part of the library I was gifted at the beginning of my ministry. I am thankful for my education, and for the ministry and grace I was given, and for the decisions that led me out of Dixie into the not so wild west of Arizona. The fifty plus miles from my home to Sun City west reminded me how large the metropolitan area of Phoenix has become in the last several decades.
The two men who were actually present during my four years in Presbytery and both preaching till they are 70 and it helped me to see that it is possible to be happy still working past the traditional retirement age. Thank you Bill for being the most gracious pastor I have ever met.
No comments:
Post a Comment