Iona Has Come

Newborn

Labor was tough, 

but Greg was very supportive.

Sutter Davis has an excellent birthing center. 

http://www.sutterdavis.org/services/birthing/

 Two Dolls

Greg's Girls

We loved singing around the piano

in the evenings.

Another Gift

Little Lady

October 31 is Reformation Day

Friday, 31 October is the birthday of all Evangelical and Bible-believing churches. On 31 October 1517, Dr. Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation with his bold stand at the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Freedom and Productivity

Western civilisation has been blessed with the greatest freedoms, productivity and prosperity ever known in history. The liberty, standards of justice and creativity enjoyed in Western civilisation is a direct result of the Protestant Reformation of the 16^th century.

Reformed Theology

Peter was in the library to use their internet and came upon the book, "Encyclopedia of American Religious History." As a general book viewing the Reformed tradition from the outside, it is interesting to see how it summarizes the Reformed tradition (i.e. Calvinism, Presbyterianism, Dutch Reformed, German Reformed, etc...). It gives five distinctives that characterize Reformed teaching. 

The first is God's sovereignty, especially as it plays out in salvation.

The second is the doctrine of human depravity. 

The fifth is the importance of doctrinal formulations and orthodoxy. 

But the third and fourth distinctives are especially interesting, due to the tendencies in some contemporary Reformed circles to move away from them, especially the fourth:

"Third, Christians in their personal behavior must be obedient to the laws of God that are revealed in the Bible. The church, too, should conform itself to the mandates of Scripture and eradicate all ceremonies that lack a clear biblical precedent.

"Fourth, the Reformed tradition has consistently emphasized that religion is not merely a private affair, but demands an engagement with society. Church and culture function together in creative tension. Despite its fallen state, the world belongs to God, and Christians must help to transform it into the image of God's kingdom." (volume 2, p. 598-599)