- RSS FeedSubscribe
- « Previous PostThey Were Ready
- Next Post »Hello from Savannah
Hello From Orlando
- 01/26/10
- 23
Let me give you a brief update as to what I’ve been up to the past couple of days.
On Sunday night I hopped aboard a plane and jetted down to Orlando, Florida for some meetings with the good folks at Ligonier Ministries.
Flying from Toronto to Orlando is, obviously, an international flight and, hence, all kinds of draconian new TSA-mandated rules apply to it. It used to be that a flight from Canada was little different than a domestic flight but for having to pre-clear US Customs—something that took only a few brief minutes. But over the past month things have changed.
I have to assume that the heads of the TSA sat down one day and said, “Flying is miserable, but not quite miserable enough. Let’s talk about things we can do to make it even worse.” And then they mandated those rules to countries like Canada who fly to the US. On Sunday night my time in the airport involved standing sequentially in eight(!) different lineups and having my passport and boarding pass checked eight different times (not necessarily corresponding to each of the lineups). The entire process took fully two hours, even though there were less than half a dozen flights to be screened, and left me sprinting down the concourse in a full-out run to make my plane (which, thankfully, I did).
I know that the security people are tasked with the rather thankless job of keeping us safe in the air and I am truly grateful for what they do. In fact, I always stop to thank at least one of them for keeping us safe up there. But anyone can see that the current system is woefully inefficient and unsustainable. If Sunday night, a slow time for travel, is so problematic, I cannot imagine what things must have looked like on Monday morning. This is going to make people just give up travel, figuring that it is just not worth the frustration. They are going to have to fix the system.
Once we left the ground we immediately hit pretty significant turbulence which meant that they were not able to serve drinks, though the flight attendants did walk up and down the aisle to hand out extra air sickness bags. All these factors led to two different medical emergencies with passengers lying passed out in the aisles, a call for doctors to identify themselves, and so on. It was truly a bizarre experience.
For all that it was still a good enough flight (better than I deserve, right?) that allowed me a few hours of reading, disturbed only by the giggling of the guy in the next seat who was very much enjoying some Sandra Bullock movie. We arrived in Orlando safe and sound and only thirty minutes behind schedule.
Yesterday I met up with the people of Ligonier Ministries and spent the day with them. Highlights of the day included a tour of the new St. Andrew’s Chapel which really is stunning (as I know you can tell from this grainy iPhone picture of it). They have done an amazing job of constructing a new church that maintains a classical feel. In a day when so many new churches are constructed with a utilitarian feel it was nice to see one that has been constructed with an eye to beauty.
Though the same property will soon house the offices for Ligonier Ministries and the Ligonier Academy, those buildings are still being renovated. So we headed over to the current offices just in time to see Dr. Sproul tape an interview with Dr. Stephen Myer, one of the founders of the Intelligent Design movement. It was fascinating to watch the exchange between the two of them; it was the kind of discussion that left the rest of us feeling a little bit dumb, I think. I’ll let you know when it airs on Renewing Your Mind. Here’s an ultra-grainy shot which brings my horrible photography skills into full collision with the iPhone’s low-light limitations.
I love to get little behind-the-scenes glimpses at different ministries and it was a real joy to meet many of the godly men and women who serve at Ligonier. I’m looking forward to spending another day with them today.
Here’s one last thing I just had to grab a shot of. As we were driving from one place to another we went pass a bear-crossing sign. I had no idea that bears were a problem in Florida. So here is evidence of that fact. Sadly, there were no bears crossing yesterday.
For those wondering, A La Carte may make an appearance this week. But when I travel I find it very difficult to spend the time necessary to collect and assess the links. So I’ll do what I can, but make no promises.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
Published in 2008, this book
This is a guide that calls men,
This review of the bestselling
New to the site? You can get
This is a guide written
Comments (23)
Tim, being a local “feller”, I’m quite spoiled and blessed to be within an hour of Sanford and thus St. Andrews’ massive front doors. Thanks for reminding me of how great it is to be living here.
“They are going to have to fix the system.”
Um, how about some sommon sense rules? But that ain’t gonna happen. The government has become inept.
Thanks for the pics. I would love to visit Ligonier and St. Andrews; maybe some day.
Be blessed in the Word, and be edified and encouraged. No better place to be to hear the truth, and to grow in the race and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I envy you.
Tim, if you had been at our house in Eustis, FL a few weeks ago, you could have had NIGHTLY encounters with a bear in our neighborhood!
Welcome to American security theater! I’m not sure that anything TSA does really makes anyone safer, but it makes most folks feel safer. It seems really good at making sure that no one tries to attack an airplane the same way someone else did. Beyond that, I don’t see what good they do.
I live in Tallahassee, FL…saw a bear crossing the road near a local lake just last month.
Tim,
I used to feel that way about church buildings.
But, of course, our history in Puritanism is that of plain meeting houses, and I for one don’t want to forget that. Buildings cannot enhance the worship of God, but they can detract from it.
In this new and better covenant, simplicity and I would say frugality, are the orders of the day.
I have to agree with Ken. My first reaction to that building is that it is beautiful and…a lot of money that could go toward missions, and perhaps used more effectively for the kingdom. I am not a legalist on this matter but I too believe frugality should be the order of the day.
”..a lot of money that could go toward missions, and perhaps used more effectively for the kingdom.”
RC addresses this whole subject very well in one of his teachings on How God instructed His people to build the Tabernacle, which was unbelievably expensive, and yet the people gave their substance to the Lord. And then even the Temple. Another portion of truth is the expensive perfume the woman anoited Jesus with, and the disciples thought it would better used for the poor.
I think it all comes down to what our hearts value, doesn’t it? I mean value most. For we all value the Lord, missions, the lost being saved, Christ’s presence, the Bible, and so on.
I would imagine we all simply need to draw our own lines as to how we each feel we need to give unto the Lord.
I had a sister in Christ the other day say she was going to cut such and such out for the Lord. That’s great. If you want you can seel all you have and give it to the poor, and live a simple life, and eat peanut butter sandwiches and scambled eggs, and broccilli.
This to me will always be a very subjective debate within the Body of Christ.
A church that looks like a church. What a breath of fresh aire.
Don,
GOod thoughts. I happen to disagree with RC on this (and not much else, incidentally!). You are right —there will always be a subjective element.
Historically, however, I think we see when the church becomes concerned with cathedralizing itself, it inevitably drifts from its focus on Scripture and mission. JC Ryle’s Knots Untied and a host of other works of his put forth this view.
A church can look like a church, and be beautiful, yet simple.
Tis is not at all a comment on St. Andrews and what they have built, but rather a mindset that seems to have overtaken our more confessional churches. I just find it a bit strange when we trumpet the Puritans in so many regards, that we neglect their counsel here.
Hey TIm. I didn’t know you were such a travelouger. This reminds me of the apostle Luke and his little voyage logs. Thoroughly enjoyable.=)
One thing Tim, please let us know how much hassle you get coming back into Canada, eh.
One thing Tim, please let us know how much hassle you get coming back into Canada, eh.
I do not anticipate any. Canada is always glad to let me back in!
“Buildings cannot enhance the worship of God, but they can detract from it…:
Completely false, and a sad symptom of the main fault of Puritan/Zwinglian thinking, which has far more in common with the anti-incarnational heresies of Judaism, Islam, Arianism and Gnosticism than with the true gospel. As bodily creatures, God has, from the time of the Temple onward, understood the goodness of, and our need for, glorifying Him through all our faculties, including the material and physical.Mercifully, those of us who left Calvinism for traditional Lutheranism no longer have a ‘history of Puritanism’ to steal that away from us.
I am one that misses your A La Carte and looks forward to it daily! Thanks for letting us know that it may make an appearance this week.
Don’t be too sad about no bears crossing the road. My son was behind a woman who collided with a deer crossing the 401 a couple of mornings ago. Thankfully she was fine, but the car was totalled.
Tim, you convicted me with your comment that you thank airport security workers. I’m travelling to Minneapolis on Monday, so I’ll try to remember your good example.
I’ll also take the airport’s “arrive 3 hours early” advice seriously.
Safe travels!
“I just find it a bit strange when we trumpet the Puritans in so many regards, that we neglect their counsel here.”
I think that speaks exactly what RC feels. He admires and esteems the teachings and example the Puritans give us, but when it came to using our gifts to make beautiful art in the Church, he would disagree with them.
Once a gain subjective.
I just finished reading Exodus, and the fine detail of God’s construction of the Tabernacle, and it was an eye opener for me.
If the Lord blesses His people, and the people want to build a beautiful place to come together and worship their Lord, and to have a sanctuary which exhibits the Gospel and the glory of the Lord, then it is a good thing, I think.
And yet there are surely small mud huts that are used by our brthers and sisters in third world nations to come together and praise the Lord and learn of Christ.
And at the same time, I agree Ken, that we, the wealthy can over do it. There’s no doubt about that.
May the Lord give all His local churches the wisdom to know how to be good stewarts of our mammon. Amen.
Three thoughts re: Don’s comments:
1 - The tabernacle was a part of the OT shadows that pointed to and were fulfilled in Christ. It does not stand as a how-to guide for the NT church.
2 - There are two things that sum up the difference between OT and NT worship: more simplistic / more powerful. The simplicity of the worship - in spirit and in truth. The power of the worship - “the new covenant in MY blood,” Jesus said; and as seen through the sacraments.
3 - If I am not mistaken, the only “architectural” beauty described in the NT is the beauty ascribed to the living “church”, the bride of Christ, as found in Rev. 21.
I am most definitely not a “NT only” believer; but it seems a stretch to me create ties between our church buildings today and the OT tabernacle.
It is not about the stones of the physical building - it is about the “living” stones that make-up the body of Christ. As the old hymn by Isaac Watts states “How sweet and awful is the place with Christ within the doors.”
If you don’t think so, check out pages 13-16 of Ken Ham’s latest book here:http://books.google.com/books?id=aHEmMUH4EPUC&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=ken+ham+UK+church+buildings&source=bl&ots=OKHIAOdrg2&sig=AIY3fjUYbv9w4H3CSxY7ZnI2Udc&hl=en&ei=8kJfS8yvD5HOM5mdxN0L&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCMQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=&f=falseIt shows that He Who walks among the candlesticks (His churches) does not threaten to withdraw on account of a humble meeting place.
And who exactly determines what is “plain” and “frugal”? I for one am a great fan of the Puritans and have been in some of their remaining “meeting houses”. While they were plain in the sense that they were not ornate like many Catholic Churches, they were not plain in the sense of cheap and ugly! Some of the craftsmanship in the woodworking is breathtaking. I think it is quite possible to have beauty and simplicity at the same time. I for one am thankful that Saint Andrews chose to build something to the Glory of God that doesn’t draw attention to itself through its ugliness and “mall-like” appearance.
”.. it seems a stretch to me create ties between our church buildings today and the OT tabernacle.”
I’m not talking about ties. I was simply overwhelmed with God’s instruction to His children, of how he wanted the Tabernacle built.The details were exquisite with gold, fine linen, more gold, and on and on God gives incredible detail how to build this magnificient place.
So, I thought is it alright for God’s people to build a place with great beauty even today? Sure. That’s my point.
And like you said about the New Jerusalem, an incredible city of great beauty as well. Yet, the Bride is the the residents.
The Church is God’s beloved people, and they will gather to honor Him in many ways and places in this earth.
The Church will have disagreements on this until the Lord returns.And I would add that any building is just that, a building. When the brothers and sisters of Christ come to the building to adore Him, and Hear Him, then this building serves a wonderful purpose, whetehr it is a Cathedral, or a small house in Nepal.
I have visited the National Cathedral in Washington DC, and it is an architectual masterpiece. And yet it has become a den of thieves, and a home to abominations. This building is a digrace to our Lord: http://dlsands.blogspot.com/2007/10/praying-for-peace-at-washington.html
Thanks for your thoughts Mike.
All the comments in general are why I said in mine that I was not a legalist in this matter. Their certainly is liberty. That pharisaic tone sure did creep up all of the sudden. Take this whole conversation to Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma. Talk about a strong church with no concern over structures. They have not allowed those types of things to be a hindrance to them. But again, their is liberty! Good comments by all!
Tim, catching up on my Google reader, and thoroughly enjoyed this post (for several reasons). Thanks for sharing the woes and and the weal (and the photos too)… db