Well dear friend I finally did it. STS-133, the final mission launch for the space shuttle Discovery, was inspiring to watch from up close and personal. My wife and I got invited to attend by some friends and we were 3 miles from ground zero at the Kennedy Space Center. It was a perfect launch right on schedule! We heard there were 150,000 in the Cape Canaveral area for the launch, but we had some of the best seats in the house just 3 miles from ground zero. It was 3, 2, 1 and then the bright flames ignited and off she went. It started out slow and seemed to simply levitate in place for a bit. Then the flash got brighter and we began to hear the sounds of ignition. Not more than a few seconds later and she had passed the launch tower. Smoke was everywhere. Then the shuttle started picking up speed and she lifted into the air heading out over the Atlantic with that huge plume of white smoke following her through the air. Then we started to hear a low rumble that grew in intensity in waves and in a few seconds it was louder than the finish line at the Daytona 500! The hot wind was blowing in our faces and the shuttle quickly reached speeds of over 2000 miles an hour. Then the external tanks dropped off and a few minutes later she was gone. At least gone to our view, but we still heard the communications with NASA as the Shuttle reached the "no return" point and was off to outer space! The whole thing lasted about two minutes but what a rush! God bless Discovery and may those brave men and women have fantastic success and a happy return. Hopefully, we'll catch the reentry in just over a week.
On another note - just finished a Biography of Jonathan Edwards by George Marsden that was superb. And, I also finished a book entitled Reformed Theology in America: A History of Its Modern Development edited by David Wells. Both were excellent reads. The Edwards Biography was superb in its research and depth. Like the other Marsden books I have read, this one did not disappoint. Edwards is shown to be a man of brilliance whose absolute dedication to Christ is incredibly inspiring and humbling to this reader all at the same time. Edwards' ability to see through the bologna and hit the issues head on is impressive. His brilliance comes through at every level. His theological and philosophical insights are clearly discussed along with the great issues that proved challenging for him personally and at the family level. His wife is shown as the incredibly gifted woman and partner that she proved to be along with his wonderful children. Edwards' pivotal role in the Great Awakening is without parallel in America. His blend of heartfelt religious piety with a firm and consistent commitment to orthodox and historic Calvinism make him one of the last of the Reformers and Puritans to have such a powerful influence on the world stage. While we celebrate Edwards' contributions we mourn the liberalism that has eroded the church. We also mourn the basic departure from his legacy (and the gospel he loved) of the modern conservative Reformed and Presbyterian churches in an effort to "reach generation X". This not only should be seen as an insult to generation X (I guess the gospel is not quite good enough for this generation right?) but also an embarrassment for the modern leaders and pastors in the PCA and other conservative reformed groups.
The Wells' book was also very good. It has a an all star cast of contributors and covered three basic schools of Reformed theological development in America: the Dutch school, the Princeton theologians and the Southern Presbyterians. All of these groups are discussed in terms of their theological contributions and emphasis as well as their philosophical insights. The Dutch focus on engaging culture, the Princeton focus on doctrinal consistency and faithfulness, and the Southern focus on piety and church development are three key areas that the modern Reformed church is struggling to balance. My sneaky suspicion is that most pastors are hugely ignorant of the great heritage we have in all of these three traditions because most are busy trying to just get through their days as pastors. Few of the PCA pastors (my denomination) have much vision beyond their church doors and local communities. Unfortunately, those who do have a larger vision too often have drifted away from the roots that are inside the church doors (in its history and heritage) and as a result are drifting from the Gospel into the world. Don't get me wrong, we haven't abandoned the faith yet but we just don't believe it is the answer to the modern problems. So rather then deny the faith, the typical modern PCA pastor just ignores it and goes on with whatever program or fad happens to be the latest thing in vogue coming down from the denominational leadership. Perhaps if we as a denomination knew who we are and had any confidence in that old time gospel then, just maybe, we would be more faithfully engaged with our non-reformed and even non-Christian neighbors. The assumption of the book seems to be that when the Reformed churches depart from her roots it not only is bad for them, it is bad for the church at large, and bad for the culture. This book is helpful in bringing clarity to a number of great Reformed leaders in our history. The other great strengths of the book are the extensive footnotes and the superb bibliography for those interested in further study. I highly recommend this book!
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