Linkathon!

London says:

Thanks for posting the link about “the poor”.
Never heard of that guy before, need to check his writing out further.

Babylon's Dread says:

The irony of a guy named Ham building a modern ark grabs me.

Dallas says:

Where do southern baptists go?

The seems to be a split in that chart. I would wonder if the “other Baptist” and “other evangelical” are just a matter of brand differentiation. At least around here if you are to send me in blind to those three classifications, I would have a hard time telling the difference. Also, as I’ve mentioned here before, it took me over a year to find out that I was even in an SBC church… it just really wasn’t advertised around here.

The lower options really seem like a more concrete running away from the SBC.

WenatcheeTheHatchet says:

There’s been a distinctly Cold War anti-Marxist application of “the poor you will always have with you” that has arguably reached its shelf-life. 🙂

Ryan Ashton says:

I did not like the thoughts expressed in “Must I Join a Church to be Christian?” Not a work about abuse, spiritual or otherwise. I often feel like articles such as Mr. Robinson’s purposefully overlook people in my situation, where going back to the very thing that’s harmed me does more damage.

Now, BJU does require I go to a church on Sunday, and even have people go through each room and look in the closets to make sure people aren’t hiding or still in bed. So I have essentially been forced to go. (And there are certain churches blacklisted.)

But if I were to have it my way, I wouldn’t be going at all. Knowing and being friends with Christians is nice, and sharing life with them is essential, but being lectured to for forty-five minutes and then leaving while families file out to have lunch with each other and I go back alone to wherever it is I came from has never struck me as a particularly valuable use of time, energy, gas, and—most important of all—hope.

Em ... again says:

read the first link and thought, “don’t they go to heaven, like the rest of us?” been too busy for my age lately and my brain is fried… however…

re: the poor from the article linked: “I reckon Jesus actually meant the OPPOSITE of what we usually take him to mean here. It seems to me that Jesus was actually advocating generosity and action to eradicate poverty, rather than hands-up-in-the-air, shoulder-shrugging apathy.” was Jesus advocating eradication of poverty? i don’t think so…
yes, he was advocating generosity… but a buck in the beggar’s cup isn’t what he had in mind IMV …
furthermore, i seem to remember something about the early Church pooling their assets – sharing equally – but wasn’t there an admonition – those who don’t work, don’t eat?
could be wrong on that
yes, i know we have a very hard working poor among us today and we must do everything we can to make sure all have food and shelter… BUT,
with regard to the folk who are completely down and out – the ones that have been licked by life’s cruelties?
what is wrong with them doing a little work around town? to restore to them a tiny bit of self worth and a way to say thank you?
to contribute what you can even when you, yourself, need help? is that demeaning? i don’t think so… the alcoholic with the missing teeth and the tin cup can’t be of any help to us? i bet if we set our minds to it, that there is – i bet they have stories to tell and some wisdom, too… toss a few coins in his cup by all means, but as you walk on by, don’t feel like you’ve done your Christian duty … or so it seems to me today – dunno –
maybe i’m confusing Christianity and social work … dunno, do i?

Martin Luther's Disciple says:

Jean,
The issue is that the American church refuses to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified to the Church and for the church. At best, in an evangelical church you will here about Jesus for the lost and stories of Jesus and the lost – testimonies by the former lost — but you will never here Jesus Christ for those saved folks in the pew – that is all past action – history.

So, they will talk about anything else.Watch TBN – they speak about Satan much more than they talk about Jesus and if the speak to the Christian, it is always using the old testament.

I guaranty look on you tube, do a search of your favorite CC or SBC type church – and you will not hear the pastor preaching Jesus TO the church.(somebody – find me your favorite guy – preaching Jesus, not about Jesus.)

That is why Brexit is the topic of the day – and it will be something else next week.

Dallas says:

Ryan, I’m pretty sure they do purposefully overlook those situations. Though they would probably be the first to fall back on the crutch that there is no perfect church… the image they put forward of the church that you must join us their ideal of what a church looks like. They probably think their own church looks that way…

Martin Luther's Disciple says:

Peter J. Leithart’s article “Too much Bible” was right on … as are all of his articles..
A couple of comments caught my attention.

1.) “The premise, sometimes stated explicitly, is that Evangelicals have had too many biblical scholars, not enough historical theologians.” – it made me wonder, do evangelicals, especially of the independent type like CC even dip their toe into historical theology? Is it even offered in the Bible colleges or the Schools of Ministry?

2.) “Evangelical theologians do of course employ Scripture, but I daresay there is more, and more profound, biblical exposition in Barth than in most Evangelical systematic theologies. I daresay that Scripture was theologically formative for Barth in ways that few Evangelical theologians can match.” and yet the evangelical, if they even know Barth consider him a liberal – someone to stay away from.

Owen says:

So, I read the article about “the poor you have with you always”.

I find myself wondering where he got the idea that those reading Jesus’ words are jumping to the conlusion of “give up the fight” against poverty.

“This verse is often used as an attempt to take the wind out of all the rest of Jesus’ commands to work for justice and to love mercy.”

Am I missing something? I’m not meaning to rail on the author, I thought it was a well-written article. But is that attitude really that prevalent? Because when I read that passage, I read it to mean ” I (Jesus) will not always be here. The poor will be. And you (Judas, and everyone else) will have endless opportunites to help them.”

I read with interest the author’s reference to the Torah. I’m no Bible scholar, but it makes sense to me that Jesus would reference that in His response. I just don’t get how anybody reading the passage where Jesus said “the poor you will have with you always” could take that to mean that trying to help the poor is not worth it, which seemed to be the premise the author was writing against.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, I may be. But I don’t see the point of the article, only because I don’t understand where he’s coming from. I agree with him, except for his beginning.

Rob says:

Old men are also invisible in church. My dad was in an assisted living facility for 2 years before his death. Not one single call, visit, or card from the church he belonged to for 35 years. Not one!

Mom was in the hospital dying. We had to beg for a pastor to come visit her. From her church of 30 years, no one gave a hoot. At her funeral, the pastor didn’t even mention her kids or grandkids. Obviously, he didn’t even know her.

I’m sure older women are viewed as not too smart, not capable of leadership, out of touch, etc.

Single people and old people, have no valule in church (unless they have money.)

PS. So, skip the funeral. Loved ones can get together and celebrate a life, without the sterile religious ritual.