LEGATO...

Between the Dallas shootings, the Hillary mess, and so much more, I've been thinking about the relationship of the Church in America to the moral decay and lawlessness in our society. Now, if you think about it, most culture-minded Christians assume that our national problems are largely a byproduct of the failure of churches to "transform" their surrounding culture. They are absentee in their cultural mandate. Having written a great deal on the cultural mandate, I see that  connectivity as well. However, I want to suggest that the real problem is not "with" the church and its cultural program. The problem is instead "within" the Church. Let me explain this nuance. When Paul, for example, says in 2 Tim. 3:1-4 that "in the last days difficult times will come", then gives his long list of difficulties, it is natural to think he is decrying the state of affairs in the culture. But read vs 5. The treacherous people Paul is talking abo...

*Perhaps you already know that the surname of one of America’s premier twentieth-century Reformed-Presbyterian theologians is the Dutch word for “fox.” “Vos” was his name. Geerhardus Vos. A friend supplied me this “foxy” quote as an encouragement in clarifying the issues surrounding NL2K (a modern construal of N atural L aw + 2 K ingdoms): [87] From this, however, it does not necessarily follow, that the visible church is the only outward expression of the invisible kingdom.  Undoubtedly the kingship of God, as his recognized and applied supremacy, is intended to pervade and control the whole of human life in all its forms of existence. This the parable of the leaven plainly teaches. These various forms of human life have each their own sphere in which they work and embody themselves. There is a sphere of science, a sphere of art, a sphere of the family and of the state, a sphere of commerce and industry. Whenever one of these spheres comes [88] under the controlling influe...

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil, God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." Dietrich Bonhoeffer   "It does not require a majority to prevail but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set bush fires in people's minds." - Samuel Adams "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson "If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.  There may be even a worse fate. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Winston Churchill

How does the contemporary church derive its responsibility to develop all levels of cuture to the glory of God from an ancient command to rule over the animals? There are three ways. I. Historical development. Man’s stewardship would eventually lead him from his humble agrarian beginnings to develop all the earth’s resources as a means to advance worldwide civilizations. For example, a man needs to harvest his wheat. But to do so he needs a plow. To make a plow he needs other tools that he makes from the earth’s resources. To help him make his tools he needs workers. To care for his workers he must pay them. His ability to pay them is based largely on economic conditions, which leads him to theorize on the relationship of economics with politics, social ethics, and religion. This leads him to form cultural and educational institutions that seek a synthesis of such ideas. II. Grammatical relationship. In Gen. 2:15 the Hebrew word translated “cultivate” is ‘awbad’, which means “to work o...

Uganda is a land of Orphans. They are the result of two main causes: brutal dictators who killed their parents and the loss of parents from the AIDS epidemic. Twenty years of rebel activity by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) has created a humanitarian upheaval in Northern Uganda that has displaced 1.7 million people who don’t have access to humanitarian aid. Especially hard hit are the children. It is estimated that 935,000 children have been displaced from their homes (OXFAM, 2006). Many orphans live in one of the 230 displaced persons’ camps which offer limited supplies. Many simply wander the streets. Uganda has the highest number of AIDS orphans in the world. AIDS AND UGANDA ORPHANS *There are 2 million orphans in Uganda (UNICEF, 2003). *By 2010, it is estimated that the number of children orphaned by AIDS will nearly double as more parents die (UNICEF). *Around 1 million people live with AIDS in Uganda and over 1 million children have lost one or both parents due to AIDS (Global H...

Kenya in Need Political unrest erupted in many parts of western Kenya on December 30th, 2007, immediately after the Electoral Commission of Kenya declared incumbent President Mwai Kibaki the winner of the election held on December 27th. Kibaki’s main challenger, Raila Odinga, rejected the result and claimed he won the election, alleging it was rigged in Kibaki’s favor. Ethnic groups perceived to have supported Kibaki have borne the brunt of the violence, mostly in areas of Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces where they are minorities. Residents of those areas voted overwhelmingly for Odinga. The official death toll is reported at about 600. The results of political unrest have been hard on Kenya. A nation that was working to move beyond its humble tribal beginnings toward a mature society has been set back many years. The struggle for a stable national life is intensified by the fact that most of the people who fled political violence in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, the country’s breadba...

Ok, let me be more specific. If Adam's orginal cultural mandate from God was not to transform a fallen creation, but to build from the creation a godly civilization, what does a uniquely Christian civilization look like? Could it be that such an expression is to be found in the Church, the Body of Christ? Taking the question further, are the Quakers right? I'm not saying yes or no to these questions, but asking.

MANY OF US SPEAK OF THE NEED TO TRANSFORM CULTURE FOR CHRIST. BUT THE 'CULTURAL MANDATE' WAS GIVEN PRIOR TO THE FALL OF MAN (GEN. 1:26-28), WHEN THERE WAS NOTHING TO TRANSFORM. HOW OUGHT CHRISTIANS INTERPRET THE CULTURAL MANDATE TODAY ACCORDING TO ITS ORIGINAL CONTEXT? COMMENTS WELCOME...

from Dr. Gary Cass... The “Reverend” Barry Lynn and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) are it it again. Known for their over-reaching attempts to silence Christians who are speaking out for our Christian values, Americans United is calling on the IRS to review Liberty University's tax-exempt status. Liberty University, founded by the late Jerry Falwell in 1971, is the largest evangelical university in the world. Known for its conservative theological and political views, the school has become a training ground for many outstanding Christian leaders. Why has AU complained that the school is in violation of their tax-exempt status? Because Liberty revoked its recognition of a student-run Democratic club. On May 15 Liberty alerted the club that they would no longer be recognized by the university. Since then, many have questioned the university’s intentions. Americans United argues that Liberty's recognition of a Republican club offers GOP candidates support ...

I am a 70 year old American. Yesterday I took part in the first political demonstration that I've cared enough to join since 1961. I went to a TEA party. In my career I was fortunate enough to travel to over 50 foreign countries, and I developed a deep respect and love for the greatest country on the planet, the United States of America. My feelings now are for my government, not my country. They are anger, frustration and shame: • Anger that my government, the administration and the Congress are spending money at a rate that will destroy the future of my children and grandchildren. • Anger that my government, Democrat and Republican alike, will not exercise the fiscal responsibility that we private citizens must. • Frustration that my government will not listen to the warnings. • Frustration that politicians promise reform and responsibility, and once in office, these promises are forgotten. • Frustration that our elected officials are more concerned with re-election than the welf...

In thinking a bit more on the tenuous state of the culture-war, and many Christian’s weariness in it, we should think on a comment by my old friend, Dr. John Frame [Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida] on the efficacy of God’s control over his creation. Frame notes, "To say that God’s controlling power is efficacious is simply to say that it always accomplishes its purposes. God never fails to accomplish what he sets out to do. Creatures may oppose him, to be sure, but they cannot prevail. For his own reasons, he has chosen to delay the fulfillment of his intentions for the end of history, and to bring about those intentions through a complicated historical sequence of events. In that sequence, his purposes appear sometimes to suffer defeat, sometimes to achieve victory. But…each apparent defeat actually makes his eventual victory all the more glorious. The cross of Jesus is, of course, the chief example of this principle"...