CCC Gainesville | Blog
Jerram Barrs marked me good. I don’t live out the biblical vision he gave me like I wish I did–but I still am moved each time I come across his life and teaching. He was recently interviewed about his new book.
“Echoes of Eden,” Covenant Seminary professor Jerram Barrs explores why certain books, movies, and plays resonate with something that’s deep within us. In the process, he provides a framework for thinking biblically about art; he shows readers how, as Christians, to read and evaluate literature; and he reveals what some of our most influential writers have in common — from Shakespeare, to Jane Austen, to Tolkien, to C.S. Lewis, and J.K. Rowling.
“ONE THING I ASK OF THE LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” (Ps. 27:4). This glorious stance finds parallels elsewhere. Thus in Psalm 84:10-11 the psalmist declares, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”
This is not quite the same as saying that the psalmist wants to spend all his time in church. The temple was more than a church building, and synagogue buildings had not yet been invented. This was a way of saying that the psalmist wanted to spend all his time in the presence and blessing of the living God of the covenant, the God who supremely manifested himself in the city he had designated and the temple whose essential design he had stipulated. This necessarily included all the temple liturgy and rites, but it wasn’t a fine sense of religious aesthetics that drove the psalmist. It is nothing less than an overwhelming sense of the sheer beauty of the Lord.
But there are two further connections to be observed:
(1) The psalmist’s longing is expressed in terms of intentional choice: “this is what I seek” (27:4, italics added); “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (84:10, italics added). The psalmist expresses his desire and his preference, and in both cases his focus is God himself. We will not really understand him unless, in God’s grace, we share that focus.
(2) The psalmist recognizes that there is in this stance abundant security for him. While it is good to worship God and delight in his presence simply because God is God, and he is good and glorious; yet at the same time it is also right to recognize that our own security is bound up with resting in this God. David wishes “to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple,” for “in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock” (27:4-5). “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,” we read, for “the LORD God is a sun and shield” (84:10-11).
When Halloween rolls around, there’s a good chance someone will throw in a “Happy reformation day!” at the end of a conversation. Today does commemorate a significant event in the history of every protestant church worldwide. Nearly 500 years ago, an average monk made a statement that changed history.
Read about it here, and take a look through the archives if you have a minute. An excerpt:
What better reason for remembering this day. No, not Halloween. Rather, October 31st, and specifically October 31, 1517, as it marks the date of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. On this date, an obscure Augustinian monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenburg, because that was the usual custom of advertisement for the people’s attention. It was in effect a public bulletin board. Luther nailed the document up at noon sharp because that was the time of the most frequent feasts.
Full article: This Day in Presbyterian History
For the last several months we’ve been mulling over a slight but important change in the way we handle references to God in our gatherings. This Sunday, you might notice some changes in the way the service’s content is presented. For those interested, we wanted to make you aware of our policy moving forward:
For clarity and consistency, we will attempt to reflect scripture and songs as conveyed in the English Standard Bible and/or the Trinity Hymnal, where applicable. This includes both the worship folder and the overhead projection.
This means specifically:
- Pronouns referring to the Trinity are not capitalized; this is in accordance with the majority of Bible translations, with the general rules of the English language, and with the original Greek and Hebrew texts.
- Names of all members of the Trinity are capitalized, as are other proper nouns, even where they are not in the Hymnal or other popular music texts.
If you’d like to reflect on this subject, we found this overview from Randy Alcorn to be helpful. Glory to God. See you Sunday!
“If we are examining the roles of the persons of the Trinity in prayer, it may seem logical to start with God the Father. But there is another logic to the gospel in that our spiritual life begins subjectively with our being subdued by the gospel of Christ. Thus, God speaks to us by the word of his incarnate Word. We are converted by the message about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for us. Faith in Christ has its primary expression in prayer. It begins with our looking to Christ, and then faith grows as we receive the word of Christ and respond in prayer and godly living in the world.”
–Graeme Goldsworthy, A Biblical-Theological Perspective on Prayer
Gather Sunday from 6-7pm to pray.
