Why Christian activism seems liberal

Elsewhere I have blamed futurist eschatology for minimizing the Church’s call to focus on social issues and address the needs of the poor. But there are more causes than that alone; for instance, Derek Webb of Caedmon’s Call.
Josh Horne at the Smoak House has posted a dissent from Webb’s solo album, Mockingbird, which he finds [...]

N.T. Wright and the dominion mandate

Mick found a great quote from N.T. Wright’s book, Evil and the Justice of God (pp. 138-139). Wright, a highly esteemed Anglican bishop, is not a full preterist, but what he says is very much in line with stuff I have written. One of the many books I’m going to eventually get around to reading [...]

And the Lord spake, saying, “What was I thinking?!”

Preterists who deny a physical Resurrection of the Dead have been accused of being gnostic (because we supposedly believe that only spiritual reality matters and that the physical world is evil). Yet those who demand a destruction of the physical universe and the replacement with a spiritual new heavens and new earth are surely closer [...]

Iambic tetrameter

The heavens and the earth have passed
The new has dawned, the night complete,
The day of judgment come. At last
The rule of Death dies in defeat.
The fear, the tears our fathers knew
Awaiting the Redeemer’s call
Have dried, has fled. The Life broke through;
Death’s victory was snatched withal.

All hope fulfilled and joy made whole
By overflowing life within,
Those purchased [...]

Pretty handy

Sometimes money makes the world go round — at least a few more revolutions for a few people.
Someone known only as “Anonymous Friend” has given $100 million dollars to the Erie Community Foundation. This organization “is a collection of charitable endowments operating under the administrative umbrella of a single public charity.” The anonymous donor apparently [...]

How true Christians live

When the Church of Jesus
When the church of Jesus shuts its outer door,Lest the roar of traffic drown the voice of prayer:May our prayers, Lord, make us ten times more awareThat the world we banish is our Christian care.
If our hearts are lifted where devotion soarsHigh above this hungry suff’ring world of ours:Lest our hymns [...]

Why eschatology matters

Josh’s blog has something important to say on this.
‘Nuff said.

Are you getting tired of this yet?

I’ve always rolled my eyes when I encountered the “Revelation” nuts in the church: obsession with the day’s headlines, thinking that they elucidate the details of the fulfillment of end-times prophecy, this bugs the ever-loving stew out of me.
I realize I’ve been talking a lot of eschatology lately. I don’t want to give the impression [...]

Libertarian limitations

Generally speaking, I am of the opinion that, all time and culture considerations aside, the political philosophy held by most of the Founding Fathers matched the basic ideals of the modern libertarian philosophy. The core belief of libertarianism, ignoring the distinctions of all the various permutations of it as well as the whole anarchist strand, [...]

Putting our money where their mouths are

What would it take to wipe out hunger and give all poor nations a chance at development?
Better yet, why aren’t more Christians asking this question?
This is something that’s been in my mind of late. Thoughts of children suffering and dying and their parents helpless to prevent it are so burdensome that only my strong defense [...]