my burg

Bible reading for weekend July 9 -- 11 July 9 -- Jeremiah 5 and Matthew 19 July 10 -- Jeremiah 6 and Matthew 20 July 11 -- Jeremiah 7 and Matthew 21 ================    "Thus says the LORD: 'Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, "We will not walk in it."'" (Jeremiah 6:16) FAILURE OF THE ELITES (ch 5). The leaders of Jerusalem and Judah also have fallen away from the Lord. The prophets (so-called), priests, scribes, judges, and royal officials alike are all on the moral skids. Education in and of itself will never save a society (v 5). These elites are more interested in sex and extra-marital affairs than in leading with righteousness. Popular opinion holds sway, and there is no remorse or shame, for "they love to have it so" (v 31). SOCIETY-WIDE FAILURE (ch 6). Note how widespread is this apostasy: "For from the least to the greatest of...

Bible reading for weekend April 9 -- 11 Apr 9 -- Proverbs 27 and 2 Thessalonians 1 Apr 10 -- Proverbs 28 and 2 Thessalonians 2 Apr 11 -- Proverbs 29 and 2 Thessalonians 3 "Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away." (Proverbs 27:10)  FRIENDSHIP (ch 27) . Our families have an important role in God's plan, but so do our friends and neighbors (vv 9-10; see vv 6, 14, 17). Cultivation of good relationships will bear fruit now and in the future. The application of the extended proverb, "know well the condition of your flocks" (vv 23-27), applies not only to farming, but also to public service, to the ministry, and to friendships generally. By our care for others we cultivate righteousness and invest in our own future. Good friendships are a big part of the good life (Mark 10:29-30). As you read ask yourself, what does it...

"As political philosophy derives its sanction from ethics, and ethics from the truth of religion, it is only by returning to the eternal source of truth that we can hope for any social organization which will not, to its ultimate destruction, ignore some essential aspect of reality. The term 'democracy,' as I have said again and again, does not contain enough positive content to stand alone against the forces that you dislike—it can easily be transformed by them. If you will not have God (and He is a jealous God) you should pay your respects to Hitler or Stalin." ~ T. S. Eliot, "The Idea of a Christian Society" in Christianity & Culture

Update 9/14/2018 : imagine my chagrin when I discovered that you can't disable comments on Facebook!  Notifications, yes.  You can block others one at a time, but you can't stop comments wholesale.  In light of this I will either disable or delete the account entirely, or most likely, just use it for family, humor, and non-controversial stuff and post the articles I am reading somewhere else...  "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."  (James 1:19-20 ESV) I'm increasingly convinced that social media is not contributing to a reasoned and civil discourse in our country.  Recently, a popular (popular with some, and unpopular with many others) pastor/theologian posted a number of theological statements about social justice as taught in the Bible.  There was a lot of material to evaluate.  But social media posts came out -- bot...

In the early years of the publication of Christianity Today , Carl Henry, serving then as editor, delineated five tenets on Christian social and political action.  I think this is a sound and balanced approach: 1.  The Bible is critically relevant to the whole of modern life and culture -- the socio-political arena included. 2. The institutional church has no mandate, jurisdiction or competence to endorse political legislation or military tactics or economic specifics in the name of Christ. 3. The institutional church is divinely obliged to proclaim God's entire revelation, including the standards or commandments by which men and nations are to be finally judged, and by which they ought now to live and maintain social stability. 4. The political achievement of a better society is the task of all citizens, and individual Christians ought to be politically engaged to the limit of their competence and opportunity.  5. The Bible limits the proper act...

Oxford (UK) city skyline I've recently enjoyed articles by Alistair Roberts in the U.K. and his insights into the state of evangelicalism in our country.  In the first article he describes the decline of the impact of evangelical scholarship, and in the second he describes the influence of what he calls " Manichaean social justice ideology." "Lessons From the Collapse of American Protestantism" "Currently we face another critical juncture in the development of the American public square and Christians’ place within it. An increasingly dominant secular liberalism antagonistic to orthodox Christian faith will only accelerate the process of squeezing evangelicals out of public life." "Further Thoughts on How Social Justice Ideology Fuels Racism and Sexism" "Rather than adopting a gentle approach to navigating the differences between groups, seeking for ways for people with different values and beliefs to live together i...

The following paragraphs are taken from the conclusion of an article by J. Gresham Machen, originally published in 1933 in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science .  Machen is addressing the relevance of the Christian message to American education early in the 20th century.  He answers the question of what responsibility the church has in working for the betterment of society...  "The message will not be enforced by human authority or the pomp of numbers.  Yet some of you may hear it.  If you do hear it and heed it, you will possess riches greater than the riches of all the world. "Do you think that if you heed the message you will be less successful students of political and social science; do you think that by becoming citizens of another world you will be come less fitted to solve this world's problems; do you think that acceptance of the Christian message will hinder political or social advance?  No, my friends, I will pre...

From my bookshelf I picked up again the classic little work, The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think (SPCK, 1963; Servant Books, 1978), by Harry Blamires.  This author was encouraged to write by none other than C. S. Lewis, his tutor at Oxford.  Writing from mid-twentieth century Britain, Blamires examines our wholesale surrender to secularism and how to recover a uniquely Christian approach to thinking and dialogue.   "We twentieth-century Christians have chosen the way of compromise. We withdraw our Christian consciousness from the fields of public, commercial, and social life.  When we enter these fields we are compelled to accept for purposes of discussion the secular frame of reference established there.  We have no alternative -- except that of silence.  We have to use the only language spoken in these areas." (p. 27) "We have stepped mentally into secularism.  We have trained, even disciplined ourselves, to think secularly about s...