Center for Cultural Leadership
Andrew Sandlin discusses the role of God’s law in society. I will just quote the concluding paragraph:

Finally, what we should we as Christians surrendered the Christ’s Lordship be doing today? Christians in the West today must be incrementalists in their attempt to bring society into greater conformity to God’s will (Mt. 13:31-33). They must gain victories a little at a time. Politics is only one component of that attempt; re-Christianizing the arts, media, technology and education is more vital and pressing than re-Christianizing politics, which is a reflection of a society’s culture. And the preaching of the Gospel is more vital still. Nonetheless, Christians should work peacefully within the structures of constitutional democracy (a form of civil government reflecting clear Biblical principles) to gradually reform the civil realm. In this, I believe that the great 19th century Dutch pastor and theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper was on track. And Greg L. Bahnsen was equally on track when he wrote:

The good news of Christ’s kingdom is that Jesus Christ graciously
and powerfully saves man in the fullness of his created sinful existence. He is a prophet, declaring God’s will for ignorant men. He is a priest, interceding to God on behalf of polluted sinners. He is a king, ruling over all men and all areas of life. The coming of the kingdom, therefore, brings the progressive rule of Christ over the world, the flesh and the devil (1 Cor. 15:25).

Endeavoring to re-Christianize politics is not the main dimension of this general work of re-Christianization (it is less important than evangelism, e. g.), but it is one part of it, and Christians dedicated to Christ’s Lordship in all things should engage in or support it. In today’s society this includes legal protection for unborn children, a Biblical definition of marriage, barriers to invalidly coercive redistributions of wealth, and checks on and balances of political power.

Just read the excerpt for this at discerningreader.com and think I will have to put this on my ‘book wish-list’. Here is the blurb from the book - but the excerpt from the first chapter is much better.

Fall in Love with the Family of God

Putting in their hour or two on the weekend, many Christians take the rest of the week off, neglecting the church and her needs. It’s not a serious relationship. Some shop around, looking for a church that suits their lifestyle. It’s dating, with no assurances, no obligations.

Bestselling author Joshua Harris calls Christians to stop playing the field and commit, just as Christ is committed to us, His bride. In his new book, Harris explores the ramifications of Ephesians 5:25-32, which proclaims the intensity and the breadth of Jesus Christ’s love for His church. God has designed us to build our lives around a local church; we cannot be indifferent or uninvolved. Rather, we must be in love with and committed to God’s plan and purpose through the church. Are you dating the church, or are you committed?

God has designed us to build our lives around a local church; we cannot be indifferent or uninvolved. Rather, we must be in love with and committed to God’s plan and purpose through the church. Are you dating the church, or are you committed.

This is an interesting read. I am going to have to print it out and study it to see if I agree with the author’s statement that because of our post-revivalist prejudices we view our salvation as a supernatural point in time rather than as a pilgrimage, that our salvation is truly more akin to the wandering of the Isrealites in the desert.

From John R. Muether’s “Looking for a Good New Book?“

Reading Bunyan reminds us that stressing a moment of conversion is a revivalist prejudice. Writing in pre-revivalist times, Bunyan describes nothing in Christian’s dangerous journey as a conversion, not even the release of his burden at the cross. Bunyan is uninterested in any such moment. It serves no purpose in his description of the Christian life.

Bunyan likely would have agreed with Calvin and other Reformers, who defined conversion as the entire Christian life, not just one moment. If, then, we reduce conversion to a particular experience, this likely diminishes our appreciation of the pilgrim character of the Christian life. Evangelicals struggle with Pilgrim’s Progress because they misunderstand Bunyan’s account of salvation.

From the July 2004 New Horizons online magazine

Peter Leithart makes an interesting case on the need for Christians to interact with their culture - even if this means voting:

Should Christians vote in this year’s Presidential election? The question is a reasonable one. All of the candidates have glaring flaws, and the candidates that you find most agreeable have no chance at all to win the election. Your vote seems to make no difference, and with no good choices it might seem best to simply drop out in protest.

He later says:

Scripture demands that we be uncompromising in the midst of corrupt political regimes; but it does not require that we drop out. Christian disillusionment with the political system arises, paradoxically, from too exalted a view of what politics can do. If Christians are disenchantment with politics, it is because we were too enchanted with politics to begin with. Politics is not now, and has never been, a solution to the problems that America or any other nation faces.

So now my question is who to vote for this year. Of course, Kerry is out. I really have reservations about Bush, but I cannot see myself voting Constitution (or whatever it is called) Party. And as much as I empathize with the small government principled approach of the Libertarians, I am not sure I can endorse their candidate either. So… what is a bear of little brain to do?

Leithart concludes:

Participating righteously in a corrupt political system requires a great deal of wisdom and discernment. But we often approach this and other issues without the mature insight that Scripture demands. In our sins, though we profess to be wise, we are fools, and our foolish hearts are darkened. Confession of sin is therefore a crucial POLITICAL act.

The Tale of the Proposition Head, Or, How Logic and the Sentences of Reason Saved the World from All the Nasty Compromisers, Heretics, and Unreasonable Poofters Trying to Destroy the Beautiful Paradise of Reason, Truth, and Perfect Intellection.

Once upon a time there was Logic, and Logic created the Proposition Head. And the Proposition Head was fruitful and multiplied and the earth was filled with nasty-tempered men who loved schism and self-absorbed piety and falsely called it peace and truth and the whole point of the Gospel. And the Proposition Head caused a great city to be raised, and it was called the City of Propositions after its founder, who being a Proposition Head could not have been expected to produce something other than a tastelessly ugly structure of bare naked ratiocinations–that government of the propositions, by the propositions, and for the propositions might not perish from the earth. And the City of Propositions waxed great on the earth and its Truth strangled the life out of Goodness and Beauty, proclaiming them superfluous and an exceeding dangerous pathway to mysticism and irrelevant culture-stuff.

Read the rest over at Societas Christiana!

I took the 5 youngest kids to the Sunnyside OCRC Reformation Day ‘Event’. This year the topic was “The Reformation in Switzerland”. I believe this is the third year we have gone. It is always enjoyable to fellowship with believers at another church and this church church in particular. (Maybe more on that later).

The evening started with some songs, then Mr Rice gave a talk on ‘The Swiss’. He shared and showed examples of some of the things that the Swiss are famous for. Things like, Swiss Chocolate Bars, Swiss Cheese, Swiss Chard, Swiss Miss, … He then continued on to more serious topics about the history of the reformation in Switzerland.

There was some more singing and then the event that everyone came for (no not the food) Reformation Jeopardy. Categories included Name that Face (Kirsten thought they all were George Washington), Name that Town, Dates, Reformers, and Doctrines.

The Swansons, who were the ones kind enough to remember to invite us this year, provided us with the study guide that was put together for the event and from which the questions were taken. We should have studied more :)

Going in to final jeopardy we had 80 points, the other side had 90. The final question was name the 4 reformers in this statue. We only put 20 points on the line. The other side put 80 - and we won by them loosing.

The prize? First in line for dessert. Wohoo!

Afterwards there was some good discussions, since it is only days till the election there was quite a bit of talk on that subject. Interesting that Bush was not being considered as “THE” candidate. No, Kerry was out of the question. But they were discussing Michael Peroutka from the Constitution Party.

DiscerningReader.com has another good article this month on issues facing the church. I am always ‘provoked’ to think by what they and their sister site ChristianCounterCulter.com write (I still remember being pleasantly shocked by their article - “What Would Jesus Drink” and have a link on my home page to “where was god on september 11“)

On October 31, 1517, a Roman Catholic priest named Martin Luther started quite a fuss in Wittenberg, Germany. Seems this radical Roman Catholic priest had been reading the Book of Romans and concluded that Paul wasn’t teaching what had long been regarded as "orthodox" doctrine. In his excitement, he began talking about his "new perspective" informally among peers. They were less than sympathetic. In fact, they grew to despise him because he was not on "their side." He had abandoned the true faith.

The article makes some fine points then concludes:

And the moral of our story:
Truth that leads to real reform is almost always resisted by the "defenders of orthodoxy." And those who endeavor to promote it are often vilified. Best to "wait on the Lord" who will reveal all things in His good time.

Selah.

Here is the question that confronts us today:

Are we willing to make a fuss for the sake of ongoing reform? Or do we cherish our confessions so much that we will blindly follow them at whatever cost?

More to the point,
do we see ourselves as radical followers of Jesus?
or radical followers of our confessions?

Remember our dear brother Martin, and his radical "Oktoberfuss."