Uganda and A World Net of Lies

I saw something this morning that drove me to sit down and write this even if it meant being late for work. It started with a podcast at a website which frequently praises the efforts to politically Christianize Africa. Uganda frequently comes up. The Christian Right in America has had their eyes on it for some time.

Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (6) The Reformed Tradition

I'm including a link to Part 5 because I noticed many seemed to miss it in the flurry of subsequent and unrelated posts.

Thus far in discussing Restorationism we've looked at the Stone-Campbell Churches of Christ, briefly at the Anabaptist legacy and I've mentioned the Restorationist impulses and elements found with the Reformation.

The Lutheran and Anglican wings had a very limited view of Restoration. The Reformed wing went further and yet it could be argued this impulse was severely arrested with the development of specifically Reformed creedal and confessional standards. In addition the mainstream Protestant wings of the Reformation never repudiated the Medieval Sacral order. They wanted so-called Christian societies, a Protestant Christendom.

Thanksgiving 2012

For those who haven't read it yet or for those who are interested, here's a link to my 2010 article on Thanksgiving.

As is usually the case, I approach these questions in a different manner. I'm not binding your conscience, nor do I want to ruin your day but it's interesting to observe the responses I get when I tell people I couldn't care less about the American holiday of Thanksgiving. This year will be no different, it's just another Thursday and I'll most likely be at work.

Being counter-cultural in this case is viewed as being somehow anti-Christian. To me it just further exemplifies the confusion in most people's minds regarding these issues of Kingdom, culture, and state.

I realize virtually no one will accept my argument. I realize very few will accept my arguments in general. But as always, it's something to ponder and meditate on.

Answering Questions #21- Conscientious Objector Issues

A friend in Turkey recently wrote to me regarding a Christian man who is in a difficult situation. Many countries have conscription and Turkey happens to be on that does not have a provision for conscientious objectors. The penalty varies but if he refuses to do the mandatory 'service' he might be looking at anything from a few months up to a year or so in prison. He has a wife and child.

The Geography of Division as Demonstrated in the Electoral College Map

Another interesting link and a comment I posted with some information some might find to be helpful. Some other worthy commentators also contributed to this thread.

My comment follows:

Election Commentaries

Here are some comments I put up at Green Baggins, a Reformed website. They will interest some readers.

But for context you'll need to visit the link: Random Election Day Thoughts

And there's another link mentioned in the comments that I also commented on.

5 Christian Responses to the 2012 Election

The author is someone I often disagree with. Ironically I used to attend his church several years before he took over. Reformation21 doesn't allow for comments, hence the discussion thread over at Green Baggins.

Here are my comments, which you can also find if you visit the Green Baggins link.

Veteran's Day 2012

Here's a link to a 2010 Veteran's Day post.

Sorry about the spacing on the Vance piece. I didn't go through and fix that. The paste function often does that...add spaces.

Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (5) The Anabaptists and The Constantinian Shift

The Church of Christ represents one aspect of Restorationism that I at least in principle would seek to emulate... a commitment to Biblicism and more specifically a New Testament oriented Biblicism.

With this comes a certain posturing toward history and doctrine that on some level I do appreciate, though in many cases I do not come to the same conclusions they do.

Another grouping to consider would be that of the Anabaptists. This would include the various Brethren groups in addition to the better known Mennonites.[i]