Some interesting links

“When Preference Becomes Precept” — Jeffrey J. Ventrella

“I remember my first visit to a Reformed church all too well. There I was, very wet behind the ears. Searching the Scriptures had convinced me that the “doctrines of grace” truly summarized the gospel, and I desired with all my heart to worship the sovereign God.

“So I searched for a church that confessed these great Reformational truths. I found one. Upon my arrival at the small church, I was ‘greeted’ by a nerdy guy carrying a stack of books. What he lacked in social skills he made up for in aggressiveness. He approached me quickly and started the interrogation: ‘Are you new here?’ Obviously I was. ‘Do you study theology?’ When I said yes, his breathing became laboured and he started to sweat. Then came the coup de grace: ‘Are you infra- or supra-lapsarian?’ I replied, ‘Neither; I’m vegetarian!’—but my humour was lost on this poor fellow.

“This story illustrates a sometimes humourous, sometimes disturbing phenomenon in today’s conservative church circles: the resurgence of the hyphenated church. A hyphenated church is one which, whether officially or unofficially, judges the orthodoxy or at least the ‘real maturity’ of people on the basis of their adherence to a preference that has been elevated to the status of an essential precept. It becomes a litmus test within the congregation.” [keep reading]

What is worldliness? — it’s much deeper and much more pervasive than we tend to imagine

Call the Sabbath a Delight — some good articles on the Lord’s Day

God’s Other Kingdom — Gene Veith. The Fourth Commandment also charges, “Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work…”

The Limits of Christian Political Influence — “Over against both quietistic inaction and the legislation of biblical morality we suggest a ‘third way’ for evangelicals living in a pluralistic society” (John Warwick Montgomery).

Women Lust Too

The Curious Case of How the United Church of Christ Lost Jesus — the dangerous unintended consequences of politically correct tinkering with the Bible’s original language and the language of Christian creeds.