About the Calvinist

I should at some point mention a few words about the Calvinist, aka, Peter Jessen. Peter is the Head Holy Honcho (yes, that is his official title; he has three large “H”s embroidered on his Sponge Bob pajamas) over at First Presbyterian Church in Franklin. This church of apparently very accepting people has been around forever, and so has Peter. Just kidding, of course, though the Calvinist is old enough to be my father.

The Calvinist is actually quite smart (Princeton Seminary aint for slouches), and has a wonderful vocabulary. He is well-travelled and well-read, and, despite a proclivity for horrible puns, is a good conversationalist.

Most importantly, the Calvinist is one of the most theologically informed Pastors I know (present company excluded, of course). This is a great encouragement to me, since I tend to think that most of our problems relate to having a false or at least small view of God. Peter is a big-God-er. That is, his view of God is very large, which makes his view of man, ummm, ... not so large. This is not to denigrate mankind’s worth, but to mistrust mankind’s powers. And I try to walk the same road.

Unfortunately, much of American church leadership is dominated by a rather small view of God, and a large view of man’s methods and power. These small-God-ers would rather plan than pray, and many of their plans seem to succeed on some level. I do not begrudge them their strengths, but I do hope that the Kingdom will not only always have a few men like Peter, but that their tribe may increase (Sponge Bob pj’s and all).