Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Christians responding in love to widespread suffering will grow the Church, history shows


In 165 AD, during the reign of Marcus Aureilus, a devastating epidemic swept through the Roman Empire. Some medical historians suspect that it was the first appearance of small pox in the West. During the 15-year duration of the epidemic, from a quarter to a third of the empire's population died from it, including Marcus Auraleius himself in 180 in Vienna. Nevertheless, Christianity grew during this time due to the loving response of Christians in the midst of widespread suffering.   
Vince Kluth of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church quoting Rodney Stark's The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History

Monday, September 2, 2013

Joel McDurmon on What Christians Should be Doing on Syria

Via Joel McDurmon of The American Vision:
If you really care about Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya and every other hell-hole governed by a despot or in the grip of civil war, there is only one appropriate response. You pray to the God who makes wars to cease from the ends of the earth to bring peace (Psalm 46:9); pray for the gospel to take root and flourish in those nations; and send out missionaries there if you can. These are the only weapons that will ever do those places any good. All others will reap yet more destruction and misery in the years to come and our nations will bear much of the responsibility for it.
I'd like to add, "Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27)

Glenn Greenwald on Obama's virtual pledge to ignore Congress

Always insightful, Glenn Greenwald from The Guardian explains:

 To the contrary, there is substantial evidence for the proposition that the White House sees the vote as purely advisory, i.e., meaningless.
Recall how - in one of most overlooked bad acts of the Obama administration - the House of Representatives actually voted, overwhelmingly, against authorizing the US war in Libya, and yet Obama simply ignored the vote and proceeded to prosecute the war anyway (just as Clinton did when the House rejected the authorization he wanted to bomb Kosovo, though, at least there, Congress later voted to allocate funds for the bombing campaign). 
And then he gives us this nugget:
There are few things more bizarre than watching people advocate that another country be bombed even while acknowledging that it will achieve no good outcomes other than safeguarding the "credibility" of those doing the bombing. Relatedly, it's hard to imagine a more potent sign of a weak, declining empire than having one's national "credibility" depend upon periodically bombing other countries. 

WCF Chapter One "Of Holy Scripture" Sunday School (Sept.-Oct. 2021)

Our text for Sunday School (also "The Confession of Faith and Catechisms") Biblical Theology Bites What is "Biblical Theology...