Minneapolis is wonderful. My sweet friend Sarah and I have been having a lot of fun. She is quite the trooper, having come here less than two weeks after having knee surgery and wobbling around Minneapolis on crutches! Yesterday we spent the morning/afternoon together. She graciously came with me to buy a new lens (50mm1.8) at a sweet camera exchange shop here. Then we went together to a Somali Restaurant for lunch, called the East Village Grill. I've been there twice before and it was a wonderful. :) here's a few shots of our wonderful meal and time together.
It's been amazing thus far. Last night, Julius Kim spoke on Calvin the Man, and Why I care. Incredible sermon about the glory and goodness of God in the life of Calvin as a pilgrim and a shepherd and servant of the church and world. Amazing reminders about the sufficiency and clarity of scripture, which are ironically undermined in churches today who rest instead on feeling and reason. He also gave an amazing description of providence as: God's powerful, personal and purposeful care of our lives.
Piper told us the conferece was borne from this quote, of which I didn't catch the source:
"Most people are walking through the theatre of God, blinded to His glory."
I'm praying that this conference would serve to take the blindfolds of for me, and magnify God's glory in my heart and mind through His word and through seeing and being encouraged by Calvin's love for it.
And he began the conference on this quote, which he hopes to end it as well. He wanted to show that this is not ultimately a conference about Calvin, but about the glory of God in Christ and seeing that through his eyes
"In the cross of Christ, as in a magnificent theater, the inestimable goodness of God is displayed before the whole world. In all the creatures, indeed, both high and low, the glory of God shines, but nowhere has it shone more brightly than in the cross, in which there has been an astonishing change of things, the condemnation of all men has been manifested, sin has been blotted out, salvation has been restored to men; and, in short, the whole world has been renewed, and every thing restored to good order.”
–John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel According to John
