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by on 8.11.08

a little eclectica

I am in the midst of rebuilding my lawn after having a new $eptic $y$tem installed, so I am too busy for blogging. But let me note a few things of interest to me lately…

Nasa is Taking Shots at the Moon

There are places on the Moon where the sun hasn’t shined for millions of years [sic]. Dark polar craters too deep for sunlight to penetrate are luna incognita, the realm of the unknown, and in their inky depths, researchers believe, may lie a treasure of great value.

NASA is about to light one up.

For Church History Buffs
  • Christianity Today’s Liveblog provices a list of favorite Church history sites. Two I knew about, but three are new and look promising.
So, what do you think of Video Games?
  • The Canadian Christianity site has an article that raises some concerns about the addiction of many to gaming. A real concern, I think, but a typically too weak response in our child-centered era. (I think every branch of conservative Christianity is too weak on this, including Fundamentalism.)

And last, for now…

What gives with this Muslim-Christian conference?
  • And did the Christians involved give away too much in the process? And what should a prominent Minnesota Baptist pastor say to another prominent Minnesota Baptist pastor this time? [Probably he should say more than he will say, I reckon.]

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Filed Under: Church History, Issues, Separation, Space, Worldliness
by on 6.18.08

listening to sermons on my way to camp

and blogging about them out of doors, with the sounds of my family enjoying themselves and me obsessively reading the latest in the unending fundi-neo wars…

A friend of mine asked me to listen to two messages preached recently by two men of similar age and relatively similar standing in the world. So my son and I listened to them on the way to camp. Here is our take:

  • One preacher knows what worldliness is; one thinks its very complicated.
  • One is clear; one is vague.
  • One is proud of his heritage; one isn’t so sure.
  • One is determined not to allow corruption any possibility of infiltration; one thinks we need to think it over oh so carefully.

One wonders what kind of impact these differences will have on the Christian church in the next few years.

~~~

I’ve also noticed another preacher taking potshots at this space. I’ll not name the preacher, or where it was done, but it is typical of the individual involved. May God help him.

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Filed Under: Issues, Preaching, Separation, Worldliness
by on 4.26.08

a brief history of the wcc

In an earlier post, ‘stages in the history of visible church unity‘, I left off on the point noting the emergence of the World Council of Churches on the one hand and the International Council of Christian Churches on the other. What follows is a bit of an expansion on that, again from my 28 year old Church History class notes.

Edinburgh 1910 – World Missionary Conference

  • Turning point towards WCC
  • International Missionary Council

[From this also flowed two conferences…]

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Church History, Issues, Scholarship, Worldliness
by on 3.30.08

an outline of classic liberalism

More from my 1980 Church History class notes:

The old modernist movement came to be known as ‘classic liberalism’ (as opposed to a lesser known ‘new liberalism’ that emerged after WWI). The following is a brief outline describing them.

1850-1914 Classic Liberalism

Result of:

  • Darwinism
  • Higher Criticism
  • Immanental subjectivism of Schleiermacher, Hegel, & Kant

[The roots in Darwinism and Higher Criticism are, I think, fairly well known. The philosophical background in immanental subjectivism is probably less known and understood. To understand modernism, I think one would do well to grasp especially the influence of the three men mentioned here.]

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Church History, Worldliness
by on 3.15.08

more excellent stuff on culture

By Kent Brandenburg … check it out here: Culture Decay—But Who Cares? part one.

Since this is part one, I assume there is more to follow. A key paragraph:

Like I said, we knew self dominates the world, but what’s different is that now Christians are also about self. A lot of terrain on the Christian blogosphere is dedicated to defense of selfish pursuits. They have staked out their love of booze, the movie theater, dance, rock music, dating touching, and a casual dress philosophy. These are all activities, which have historically been rejected by Christians, but not anymore.

Lest anyone misunderstand the emphasis, be sure to note this paragraph also, commenting on critiquing worldly externals:

So yes, the insides matter the most, but his outsides are also wrong. They conform to the world. His externals haven’t been transformed by the renewing of his mind. His body isn’t a living sacrifice and isn’t acceptable to God. In addition to his spiritual feebleness, he’s also not fashioning himself in a godly manner.

Good stuff, Kent, keep it coming.

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Filed Under: Culture, Separation, Worldliness
by on 3.8.08

a word on worldliness from the UK

Peter Masters, the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, publishes the Sword & Trowel, a revival of Spurgeon’s magazine. I have subscribed for the last year and found spiritual benefit from every issue.

Just yesterday, I received the #3 issue for 2007 (I think Canada Post stores them for me). In an article entitled “The Holy War: Do we dodge enlistment?”, Masters says we are in a battle with demonic forces for the soul of the church. He echoes the concerns I regularly express concerning worldliness.

I’d like to share a couple of pertinent quotations for your consideration. They may not set well within certain circles.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Quotables, Separation, Worldliness
by on 2.16.08

Ezra and the world

The Jews were exiled to Babylon between 605 and 586 BC. The first deportation should have served as a warning to the nation, but their continued rebellion to God resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and final exile of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar in 586.

Seventy years after the first deportation, in keeping with Jeremiah’s prophecy, the Jews began to return. This return and the subsequent rebuilding of the temple occupy Ezra 1-6. In rebuilding the temple, the Jews were enticed to cooperate with the Samaritans, descendants of the remnants of Israel and intermixed with other nations who worshipped the true God and many false gods as well. The leaders of the Jews in the first return strongly rejected this entanglement, though it cost them years in rebuilding the temple:

Ezra 4:3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”

After 20 years, the temple finally was rebuilt. Another fifty-seven years passed. Now Ezra led a second return to the land. Did he find a holy people, separate from the world?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Separation, Worldliness
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