Graduate Christian Fellowship on Facebook

If you use Facebook, take a minute to visit our new Graduate Christian Fellowship Facebook group page. We're already starting to get members, and I'm meeting all kinds of new people who are interested in GCF. Join the group if you'd like to get invitations to our events!

The Fall into Prada

This Saturday, GCF hosted a movie night in which we watched The Devil Wears Prada and discussed it in relationship to the Bible's Fall-into-Sin narrative. The pictures are still hiding on the digital camera, but I thought I'd share some thoughts anyway.

The second time through Devil was still enjoyable. I really appreciate the movie on a lot of levels, not least of which is that it stars Meryl Streep as an evil, evil lady in high heels, the editor-in-chief of Runway, the premier American fashion magazine.

As Adam and Eve were tempted and fell into sin, so is Anne Hathaway's character tempted and falls into fashion. The main difference? In the Bible, the Fall is followed by the Curse. For the world, the Fall is just a coming of age story. Part of Christianity is the idea that we lost something irretrievable when sin entered the world. For Ms. Anne, whatever was lost is worth it in comparison with the gain.

The movie itself is worth renting for a priceless scene in which Streep chastises Hathaway for believing that her choices somehow exempt her from the fashion industry. "What you don't realize is that sweater you're wearing is not blue, it's cerullion," she says, explaining that the 'blue' sweater actually started in one fashion designer's coterie before being copied by other designers and then filtering it's way down through the department stores into the bargain bin where Hathaway's character discovered it. "What you don't realize is that you didn't choose that sweater. It was chosen for you...by the people in this room."

And it is the same way with Sin with which we are always already entangled; it was chosen for us by our parents so long ago.

Thank God for Jesus Christ.

Mundelein!

I'm in Mundelein, IL right now, at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, attending Grad and Faculty Ministry's annual staff conference. We're having a blast, but there's hardly any time to do anything other than move from event to event. I only have a few more minutes before dinner time.

I got here a day before the conference started for some "Chapter Building" training. I've walked away with some new insights I hope to implement this coming year, including starting some regular Grad Christian Fellowship Nights with dinner, singing, frank conversation, and Scripture. I'm looking forward to the possibility!

Scott McKnight is our plenary speaker for the conference. He talked last night about how we have so individualized the Gospel that we've missed the fullness of Christ's reconciliation of ourselves with God, each other, and the world. It was a powerful reminder of God's expansive work on our behalf in his Son Jesus.

I've got to run, but I wanted to be sure to post this update before it got too hectic again (or it got added to a to-do list and not attended to). Please pray for the rest of our time and for safe travel Thursday (3/8) afternoon.