Inbox: Christian Kids in State Colleges (II)

For as 'woke' as the environment supposedly is – he's been appalled at the Establishment-friendly narratives (that while sometimes critical of the United States) in the end defend it and justify American policy and conduct in such contexts as Vietnam and its other more recent wars. And so while a Right-wing adherent would be critical of what's being said, a New Testament Christian is left offended by what is in the end a defense of the Establishment regime and its countless episodes of imperialist theft and murder. And it would only be worse in the context of a Christian college.

The Unity of the Brethren before The Thirty Years War

Through the efforts of my son I was able to read Peter Brock's The Political and Social Doctrines of the Unity of Czech Brethren in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries (The Hague, Mouton & Co., 1957).

Copies can be found but it's a somewhat rare and expensive book. This is one of Brock's early works and probably not his best known. Recognized as an authority on pacifism, he specialised by focusing on many of the groups in Eastern Europe such as the Unity of the Brethren or Unitas Fratrum.

Kids Leaving Home and Middle Class Assumptions (I)

As my children are all now in early adulthood and yet living at home, we have been forced to wrestle with some of the assumptions in the culture about kids leaving. These questions are coming from both within and without the Church.

Cheap Grace and Peace with the World

I happened to catch a news story the other day about Amy Grant and how she has completely caved to the Sodomite ethos that now dominates this culture. She is hosting her niece's lesbian wedding at her house. We've certainly come a long way from the early days of CCM. That now seems innocent, wholesome, and even steadfast.

Public School is Not an Option for Christians (I)

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/12/1121999705/sex-education-school-kindergarten

Parents need to understand the sodomite-feminist ethos is omnipresent in the culture and in the public school. It's something much bigger than the agenda of specific sex-ed classes. Pulling your children from these sessions is not enough. Christian parents must get their children out of public school. This is not negotiable. If it was at one time, that day is now long past.

Feeling Better About America

Visiting a church last Sunday I wasn't terribly surprised when there was mention of the Dobbs v. Jackson case and the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Evangelicals are celebrating this ruling and several others that have come down at the conclusion of the Supreme Court's recent 2021-2022 term.

A Final Appeal: The First Reformation Applied to the Contemporary Context (Part 2)

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XVIII)

While our Biblicist theology is necessarily high and has high regard for revealed mysteries and supernatural efficacious elements and means – our ecclesiology is about as low as it gets – but this in no way implies casualness or irreverence.

The Blind Facilitators

https://www.aomin.org/aoblog/christian-worldview/where-we-stand-how-church-history-can-help-but-only-so-far/

Though he's a bit late to the discussion I'm glad to see some other Christian leaders come to the realisation that persecution and state oppression are going to look different in the 21^st century. The technological leaps are such that old methods of underground life are going to be quite different in this new age. I think the biggest struggle for White and all those who run in his circles will be the end of middle class life and affluence.

The Legacy of First Reformation Separatism versus Magisterial Protestantism's Establishment Ethos (1517-1914)

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (X)

There is value in a further elaboration of this contrast between the First and Magisterial Reformations and thus as an exercise it's worth briefly surveying the latter's historical and ethical legacy as it transitioned from the Renaissance era into modernity.

Bad Analogies of Masculinity: The Warrior Ethos vs. New Testament Manliness (Part 1)

It is undoubtedly true that today's young men need encouragement and in many cases a bit of a 'push' toward adulthood. Lingering adolescence has led many to say (and not without reason) that 30 is the new 18. In other words, many young men are not ready to start adult life until an age that in past generations was already seasoned adulthood, usually including a family, house and probably something akin to journeyman status in a career.

Investment and Insulated Exploitation

Few Christians I know would shake down or extort their fellow believers. They wouldn't threaten to cut their utilities or drive them from their homes if they didn't fork over money to them. Would they?

The Feminist Surge: A Result of Ecclesiastical Confusion, Middle Class Assumptions and Para-church Inroads (Part 1)

It's a growing trend and yet few seem to notice. Some have been lulled to sleep by the ever present 'hum' of our frenetic culture. Others are changed even transformed by their failure to reflect on society and their place in it.

Others (I think) are tired of the fight or perhaps think that there are such 'bigger' issues and battles to be fought that this one is not worth the required energy or the possible divisions such an examination is bound to create.

Evangelicals, Finances and Social Norms

Listening to Christian Financial Programmes one usually hears something to the effect that you should drive your vehicles into the ground. Don't trade in a vehicle until you have to and avoid the car loan at all costs. Even among the often rather affluent Evangelical world few are able to buy cars outright. Most people end up having to finance.

Debt is certainly something we as Christians should try to avoid. With modern capitalism this is becoming increasingly difficult. Our society and its financial model are built around debt, credit and interest. These financial instruments have changed the very nature of 'demand' and it affects all of us whether we like it or not.

Inbox: Middle Class Values

What practical choices do you make that are odds with Middle Class life? How are they perceived?

I greatly appreciate the spirit of the question being asked and obviously such concerns resonate with me. On a practical level it is however difficult to answer as I believe each person has to work out these things for themselves.

Urban Christianity: Chelcicky vs. Keller

Tim Keller is but one among many who argues that Christians ought to live in and focus on the city. It's the centre of culture and the focal point of ideas and activities. If we're to live out the Dominionist ethic (he seems to argue) then the city is the effective place to carry this out.

Identity Politics and the Myth of Cultural Marxism

The nightly news seems to be dominated by police shootings. A seemingly endless stream of racial tensions have dominated American culture over the past couple of years prompting a call to revisit the unresolved questions of the Civil Rights Era. A new generation is wrestling with the issues, and minority communities have been forced to grapple with the reality that a Black president did not signify the end of racial tension. In fact many have come to believe the election of Obama has inflamed simmering passions and instead of moving our culture closer to a state of peaceful coexistence, things have taken a bad turn.