New Calvinism?

I thought this pertained in some way to my little movie review of Whatever Works.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0327/Christian-faith-Calvinism-is-back

I loved reading this! There were a lot of interesting bits, but I selected a few blurbs that I liked.
If you have a moment you should read the article!

"By most logic, the stern system of Calvinism shouldn't be popular today. Much of modern Christianity preaches a comforting Home Depot theology: You can do it. We can help. Epitomized by popular titles like Joel Osteen's "Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential," this message of self-fulfillment through Christian commitment attracts followers in huge numbers."

"What critics see as a grim and fatalistic doctrine, however, Calvin saw as good news: that God's purposes can be fulfilled despite man's sinful ways."

"The BlackBerry-wielding Millennials who worship here say they crave teaching that challenges them – "preaching for PhDs," as one puts it. Ask them what books they're reading, and they won't mention "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." They'll reel through names of 17th-century Puritan preachers like a pack of baseball cards."


"New Calvinists talk about their sin a lot. Despite that – or rather because of it – they exude not guilt but great joy. Their explanation: If we play down our sinfulness, we'll play down our gratitude for the magnitude of God's love and forgiveness."

Make Way For Ducklings!

When I was a child I used to love the story Make Way for Ducklings. I remember looking over the pages and examining the beautiful brown-ink illustrations on cream-colored paper. I still have this book sitting on a shelf in my house. A couple of weekends ago when we had our wonderful houseguests I read the book as a bedtime story to the children.
Anyway...
At the entrance of our neighborhood there is a large pond inhabited by your typical pond creatures--including four ducks, two of which are male Mallards. This morning as I was leaving for work, the ducks were crossing the street to reach a nice little patch of bushes on the other side of the road. I had to stop my car and wait for them to waddle across.
In the movie You've Got Mail Meg Ryan's character says at one point, "So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?"
I happen to like it when things I see remind me of what I read. Because, we're all symbols of symbols of symbols right? Typology and all that.

Tomorrow is my birthday. Daniel's already given me my presents. This was a big birthday, folks! A real big one! I got an Apple desktop and Photoshop CS3 to go along with it. I never thought I'd ever own an Apple OR Photoshop and I am so excited. I really need to take the time to sit down and play with it because I have't hardly at all. I'm very intimidated by it, actually.

Netflix.com is becoming quite a habit for me. We've been streaming video like crazy--all BBC/Masterpiece Theater. Daniel and I are particularly enjoying a series called Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. It's very clever and political, and I think I only enjoy it because Daniel does. I think that because I've tried watching the show on my own and I really don't plug in to it very well by myself.
My recommendations of what I've seen (if you're interested!):
I watched a wonderful, wonderful 11-epidsode adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.
I thoroughly enjoyed a 4-episode adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters. Currently I'm in the middle of Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now, and it's pretty good. Not my favorite so far.
I've also watched hours and hours and hours of 30 Rock. So funny.

I also found a Jane Austen PodCast on itunes where I can download podcasts of someone reading her books! With a British accent!!

I made homemade Tiramisu and it is awesome.

Easter was great. Very low-key. But great.
Hope you all had a joyous Easter!

xoxo-KG

Thinking and Singing

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,
Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that helf Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Quotable

Lurking as usual, I came across a blog written by a member of Redeemer who (up until last year) was in youth group!

Smarty pants. I like it. (Bolded words are my doing...)

'[Modern] Evangelical Christianity seems to be a harbour for distributors of a cheapened version of the faith. Christianity is portrayed as a quick fix for life's little problems. Self-help is the name of the game, and God is the guru who will set you right. Or that's what we're told. Joel Osteen is one such preacher, a man who preaches a theology of prosperity. He tells us that faith and righteousness will bring us favour from God, and in turn, this will manifest itself materially. Our health will improve, we'll be more productive at work, our stress levels will go down, we'll have happier lives, because these are apparently the signs of God's blessing. This is an incredibly reduced gospel. In fact, there's really not much gospel involved, to be perfectly honest. This is merely Christianized self-help, the American dream, with a Jesus-Fish stuck on the bumper. Like so many other things in our culture, we've taken something, stamped it with God's seal of approval, and supposedly claimed it for Christ, in all of it's postmodern, secular glory, ignoring the fact that it remains virtually unchanged. Is this "taking every thought captive?" Is this "renewing your mind?" No, it's just sugarcoating. Extremely popular sugarcoating.

'We are challenged by Peter in his first epistle to pursue spiritual growth. So many people are still content to stay within the bounds of "Jesus loves me, this I know," never maturing past that point. (The aforementioned principle is indeed a wonderful one, but our faith has so much more to offer...) The "prosperity gospel" seems to be nothing more than "Jesus loves me and wants me to have an expensive car, perfect health, obedient children, and a carefree life," as if these are the benefits of the Jesus Club. I am always reminded that Christ himself specifically told us that we would be persecuted, reviled, and cursed for his sake. "To die to self and so to live" is the phrase that I think of, one that implies that the life of the Christian is not exactly "7 Keys Towards Improving Your Life." I am a slave to Christ, not a country club member. But my master is Yahweh, the creator of the universe. He has given me something much greater than the "American Dream," and has promised me an inheritance of incalculable worth.'

You can read more here.

A Sigh

See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!


Romeo and Juliet
2.2.23-25

Better.

The lack of blogging yesterday was due to the fact that I was in bed feeling awful. I woke up yesterday morning feeling dizzy and nauseous. Once I actually got up the nausea attacked me full force and I spent several hours running to and from the bathroom. Around 1 PM the vomiting (and etc.) ceased, but I felt rather precarious the rest of the afternoon. Therefore I opted to lie on my back all day and avoid moving my tummy at all. The sick feeling never really went away until this morning when I woke up.
It's strange, I've felt so run-down lately but today, a day after being very ill, I feel so good, so energized, so...fine.
I laid in bed as long as I could stand this morning. I was afraid of getting up and feeling icky again, so I was a bit late in getting around. But once I finally arose, I spent some time reading and studying the Scriptures (which I know has a lot to do with my current joy and energy).
I've been keeping a plain, black, moleskin journal as I read the Bible. Journaling is a good thing. Whether you do it on the computer or write the words by hand, I've found the act of journaling through my spiritual life rewarding and encouraging. It has reminded me time and time again of the goodness of God acting in my own life, my own story. And we must remember His grace and mercy to us, His daughters, His sons.
For example, during my first semester of college I remember going through a lot of spiritual turmoil. It was the hardest struggle I'd ever faced in my walk with God, and at the time I felt I'd never been farther from Him. About a year ago, as my parents were packing up their house and preparing to move to Slovakia, I had to get a lot of my books and other belongings from them. When I was going through my old books, I found among them the notebook I kept during my first semester in college. As I read through the words I wrote, it was obvious that I was struggling spiritually--but it was also apparent (though I may not have realized it at the time) that the Lord was with me and that the Holy Spirit was guiding me and comforting me. I could see that my heart was crying out for God and He was hearing and answering my prayers. Some of the words I read I had no recollection of writing, they even seemed as if someone else had written them. It was amazing to be able to look over a portion of my life that told me things I could have never remembered if I hadn't written them down. And it was encouraging to my spirit to see that the Word of the Lord is living and active, and that He was and is actively working in me, sanctifying me.
This morning, as I was reading through my current journal (it dates back to just after I was married), I had a similar experience. Several months ago I read the book Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss. In my journal I had written an excerpt from the book that ministered to me immensely during that time in my life, and it still does today. It was sweet and good to read it and be reminded of it:

"'Yes I am tired,' she said, 'But what of that? It is only a question of days now, and all my tired feelings will be over. Then I shall be as young and as fresh as ever, and I shall have strength to praise and to love God as I can not do now. But before I go, I want once more to tell you how good He is, how blessed it is to suffer with Him, how infinitely happy He has made me in the hottest heat of the furnace. It will strengthen you in your trials to remember this, my dying testimony. There is no wilderness so dreary but that His love can illuminate it; no desolation so desolate but that He can sweeten it. I know what I am saying. It is no delusion. I believe that the highest, purest happiness is known only to those who have learned Christ in sick rooms, in poverty, in racking suspense and anxiety, amid hardships, and at the open grave.'

"Yes, the radiant face, worn by sickness and suffering, but radiant still, said in language yet more unspeakably impressive:

'To learn Christ, this is life!'"

Feeling a little Quotesy?

"Conflict is a permanent aspect of the faith until Christ returns. Those who seek to eliminate the conflict between the Church and the World are acting contrary to the Faith."

-D. Cass

"Jesus, alone, knew the nearness of the Father. 'I am not alone, for the Father is with me.' It is tempting today to allow aloneness to turn to loneliness, anger, resentment, or despair. Be not afraid. The same Father who was with Jesus is your Father too. You may be left alone, but you are never truly alone. The Father who loves you is with you.
"'I am not alone, for the Father is with me.' We are not defined by our friends, precious though they may be. We are not defined by our marital or family status, much as the world may demand this. We are not even defined by our Christian denomination (or non-denomination). We are who we are because we are the Father’s. We are his because we are Christ’s inheritance, redeemed by his blood and filled with his Spirit."

-More D. Cass

Take heart.
You can hear his sermons at: www.redeemerpres.org

Clicky.