After introducing ma belle, Cheryl and Brittany to Joel Beeke, his wife, his brother and his wife, he said to Cheryl, “What troubles it must be for you being married to someone with so much imagination.” I first met Joel in Cambridge a year and a half ago. He was kind enough to write a perceptive endorsement of The Betrayal. He admitted that he had only had time to skim the book in manuscript before writing his endorsement but that he read it with enjoyment on the flight over to Geneva. Had short chats with Michael 
Horton, Phil Ryken, David Hall, Steven Lawson, and others.
astors First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina. His text was Philippians 3:7-15, and he challenged each of us to value our relationship with Christ far above all other things. Of Paul he made the observation that two paths lay before him when confronted with the stalwart Stephen: destroy Christ’s Stephen, or bow before Stephen’s Christ. His application of the text on the surpassing excellence of Christ: Gathered here in Calvin’s church are many dozens of pastors, 6 seminary presidents, 27 seminary professors, 1 archbishop, and authors collectively of over 300 books. Do we consider all these things no better than dung compared with the excellency of being known by and knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.
or glorious views of the city and the lake, others to hear a Canadian choir rehears in the Auditoire, others stopped at a café for a Calvin biere, only to be caught in a violent thunder and lightning storm and get absolutely drenched.
In the 6 PM service, the Rt. Rev. Henry Orombi, Archbishop (Anglican) of Uganda (you have read about him in the news if you have followed any of the American Episcopalian controversies) spoke from Matthew 24:45-51--"Who is the faithful servant whom the Master has set over His household?" Dr. Orombi became a Christian at age 18, and considers himself a spiritual descendant of faithful English missionaries of the late 19th Century, many of whom were martyred there for their faith. He focused on the spiritual decline and darkness of Europe, and the worsening spiritual condition of the American church. It was striking to hear this man of God ask us (pampered Americans that we are), "Where is your boldness for the Gospel?" He challenged the ministers present to feed Christ's sheep by faithfully preaching His Word.
have been loved forever by a loving heavenly father who chose us not for what was in us but for what is in Christ. I would summarize his emphasis like this: Rather than allowing predestination to become a point of controversy we ought to see it as the ground of doxology. He quoted from an oldie Dan Fogelberg (sic) pop lyric paraphrased as: before the fishes were in the ocean, before the stars were in the sky… I’ve been in love with you. On a far higher plane, so it is with the infinite, electing love of the Father toward his children. Certainly God is absolutely sovereign in predestination, but here we see a loving heavenly father loving unworthy wretches from all eternity, and organizing all human history for out adoption, redemption and sanctification, in Christ. It was one of the most thrilling sermons I have ever heard or read on this foundational doctrine, recovered by Calvin and proclaimed from this very pulpit. 
We enjoyed an unforgettably wonderful Sunday in Calvin’s Geneva, and can only imagine what great blessings abounded from this place and pulpit in those 25 years wherein Calvin preached some 4,000 sermons. Several of our number dispersed to stroll about the old town before worship, visiting the Reformation Wall erected on the old fortified wall of the city in 1909, Calvin’s 400th birthday celebration. It is perhaps useful to reflect that not a single adult who participated in that commemoration and the unveiling of that wall is here at the 500th. Ryan Gross commented about the four figures depicted on the wall, “Farel, Calvin, Knox and Beza appear to be well but are considerably taller than I imagined.” Ryan knows of what he speaks; he’s 6’ 7”! Pictured next to Calvin's statue is 14-year-old Johnny Scharer, whom we have used to remind all of us how old Calvin was when he began his studies at the University of Paris in 1523.
Au revoir, Paris: Bert our Dutch, English speaking coach driver was 17 ½ minutes early! I knew right then I was going to like this fellow, and parked and ready in front of the Hotel Minerve. Paid the bill, loaded the coach and we were off for Geneva.
Arrived in Geneva about 4:30, the coach driver taking us right to the old town and the Saint-Pierre where Calvin preached over 4,000 sermons, the bell tower chiming continuously as we took it all in. We talked about Farel’s anathema called down on Calvin if he would not stay, and about the humility of a man twice Calvin’s age eager to put the best man in this most strategic city. This is Calvin territory everywhere one turns, and Geneva is not unaware of his 500th. Walked past the Hotel de Ville where the City Council voted to accept Reformation Christianity in May of 1536, and where the various decisions were made that would so shape the progress of reformation in the city and throughout the world. Here the council voted to condemn and burn Michael Servetus (Calvin was not even a citizen of Geneva until 1559).
Modern Reformation, special John Calvin quincentenary issue, June/July, 2009, features an article by Douglas Bond, On The Road: In the Footsteps of John Calvin. Click here to order a commemorative copy of the magazine http://twitpic.com/5kk63. Below is an excerpt:
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