http://undergroundexiles.com an online theology co-op for evangelicals and radicals Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:35:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Idol of Relevance. Great post from C.J. Mahaney, talking about the contemporary obsession with relevance in the church, and how despite our obsession (or maybe because of it) the church has become irrelevant by our determined efforts to redefine ourselves in ways that are more compelling to the modern world ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/13/the-idol-of-relevance/ Leviticus 20.1-5 is the final text I'll ask you to consider: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Say to the people of Israel, 'Anyone of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who give any of his children ot Molech shall surely be put to death.  ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/12/fear-god-save-babies-leviticus-201-5/ So I had another conversation this morning at church before the service started surrounding the question of free will.  There is a dear, dear lady at the Well who walked up before church started and noticed that our pastor had a copy of Erasmus and Luther's debate on Free Will.  ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/12/another-misrepresentation-of-calvinism-and-embracing-heresy/ Psalm 82.3-4 is a passage that parallels Proverbs 24.11-12 in many ways: Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute.  Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked." Through passages like these God is calling his people to intervene whenever the vulnerable ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/11/fear-god-save-babies-psalm-823-4-luke-1030-37/ While Proverbs 24 gives us the general command to intervene on behalf of those who are being killed, Exodus 1 provides us with a very specific example of this command in practice.  A new king has come to power in Egypt, and fearful that Israel's phenomenal growth will threaten Egypt's ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/10/fear-god-save-babies-exodus-117-21/ While orphans, widows and abortion-vulnerable children are all "in distress" - and generally unwanted by society at large - the circumstances surrounding their distress are very different.  It is one thing to provide food and shelter for people in need, and another thing entirely to intervene on the behalf of ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/09/fear-god-save-babies-proverbs-2411-12/ The book of James is a practical book about meeting practical needs.  It even provides a practical definition of true religion, found in James 1.27: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/08/fear-god-save-babies-james-127/ If you read the Bible from beginning to end, you will encounter over 14,000 different words, and the word abortion doesn't even make a single appearance.  To be completely straight forward, Scripture says precisely nothing on the subject, yet you are reading an article called "Fear God, Save Babies".  Is ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/07/fear-god-save-babies/ I recently interviewed with a church on the South Carolina coast, and the conversation with the gentleman I would have been working with left me a little upset. On a good day, at most I'm a four and a half point Calvinist.  Other days, I'm maybe a three-point or at most ... http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/10/06/calvinism-ariminianism-and-why-cant-we-get-along/ Obviously, I've not posted in a while.  I just haven't had anything to say, and don't see that changing for a bit.  I'll update more when I actually have the desire to write. http://undergroundexiles.com/2008/07/13/long-time-no-post/