I’m A Yankee Doodle Dandy

with James Cagney

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Our Post-Christian Culture

My bookshelves are loaded with countless titles that take a look at post-Christian this and post-Christian that. For years I had a sneaking suspicion that these books were a little over the top. A bit of hyperbole goes a long way. However, over the last decade or so, it’s finally dawned on me how apt the phrase, “post-Christian” is to define our own culture here in the good ol’ USA.

All the books from George Barna and his various associates that warned the church repeatedly that you can’t continue to lose generation after generation of professing Christian youth have proven most observant and/or prophetic. Of course, the church abdicating her various other responsibilities to the wider culture, not to mention the loss of any sort of distinctive Christian home, have certainly helped us achieve our present situation.

(I can remember countless comments I’ve heard over the years from folks of older generations who would often tell me something along the lines of, “In my day, we didn’t go around talking about our faith like  folks do today.” Two thoughts: First, if that premise is true, then it explains, in part, much of the loss of our culture to the secular world. My other thought is that I only wish that there were more folks today taking a stand for their faith… in every sphere of their lives.)

At any rate, I’ve read several great articles recently that focus on what “post-Christian”really means. Two fantastic articles that are well worth reading are both by James Emery White. (You can find the links below)

The Old Testament tells us that the Tribe of Issachar  consisted of men who knew the times in which they lived and were able to advise Israel regarding what it should do. The Church today is in need of  godly men and women who have not checked out but who, like foreign missionaries, know the culture in which they live, and can help steer the church as it seeks to faithfully represent our Lord and to share his Gospel with a dark and decaying world.

By the way, one of the ways to be a faithful member of the Tribe of Issachar is to subscribe and read (cover to cover) WORLD Magazine.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

The 2012 Tipping Point by James Emery White

Here’s an excerpt…

America as a nation is now, without doubt, decisively post-Christian. This does not mean is it non-Christian, or anti-Christian, simply post-Christian. To be post-Christian means that the very memory of the gospel is fading. This declaration has nothing to do with who won the election. It’s not even about the overall statement the nation made through the election on social issues. It’s about reminding those who may be in shock over the various votes and decisions that this was simply a reflection of who we have become.   Religious “nones” now make up one of every five in our nation.  To use a biblical metaphor, we have gone from an Acts 2 culture to an Acts 17 culture; we no longer live among the God-fearing Jews of Jerusalem, but reside firmly among the populace of Mars Hill.

Click here to read the whole article.

You will also want to read, Future Shock, also by James Emery White.

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Chick-fil-A Day

It seems like every day I wake up, our culture has taken another giant step away from anything I recognize… even from the days of my own childhood (and while at 46 years of age I do feel old sometimes, my childhood wasn’t that long ago). Times, they are a changin’. I get that. But like the world of computers and internet… the change seems to be exponential and often without much reflection.

The latest maelstrom is over remarks made by the CEO of Chick-fil-A. Having now read the remarks he actually made, I’m scratching my head, wondering why all the fuss. I recently read something John Piper said to the effect that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to address the subject of homosexuality, even compassionately, without being demonized. Well, it doesn’t appear that the CEO of Chick-fil-A even had that topic on his radar screen yet he and his company are still being demonized.

My understanding is that August 1st is going to be a day to boycott Chick-fil-A for these atrocities against humanity. I plan on eating there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on that day. It seems to me that making so much over the remarks made by the Chick-fil-A CEO trivializes legitimate acts and words of discrimination. I feel (truly I do) for any group that is discriminated against… but is simply ”feeling” discriminated against always the same thing as actual discrimination? This particular case doesn’t seem close to resembling discrimination and hate speech.

If all I have to do is “feel” discriminated against to raise the issue, then I would like to charge the media, pop-culture icons, etc., with discrimination and hate speech against Christians who still hold to classical, biblical orthodoxy. Such religious discrimination seems to be the only officially acceptable form of discrimination in today’s world. And don’t even think about arguing with me… because this is the way I “feel.”

I think James Emery White’s post today clarifies and sums up everything I’m trying to say… only much, much better. Here’s an excerpt…

Every now and then an event comes along that offers a unique reflection of our world. A mirror, if you will, of what our culture has become.

 

One took place this past week through the catalyst of three words from the CEO of a restaurant chain: 

 

“Guilty as charged.”

 

Dan Cathy, president and chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A, gave an interview to Baptist Press. Correctly saying that there is no such thing as a “Christian business,” he did offer that organizations such as his can operate on biblical principles “asking God and pleading with God to give us wisdom on decisions we make about people and the programs and partnerships we have.”

 

Then came the match that lit the fire.

 

When asked about the company’s support of the traditional family, Cathy simply said, “Well, guilty as charged.”

 

Click here to read his whole piece… it’s worth your time and effort.

 

Here are a few other links to articles about this same issue…

• Squawking Over Chick-fil-A byEric Metaxas at Christian Post
• Chick-fil-A Day at Baptist Press
• Chick-fil-A and the Irony of the Tolerance Police by Denny Burk
• The Chick-fil-A Firestorm by Gene Edward Veith

 Grace and Truth,
Dale

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A Prayer for Civic Righteousness

O God, thou great governor of all the world: We pray for all who hold public office and power, and for the life, welfare, and virtue of the people who are in their hands. Strengthen the sense of duty in our political life. Grant that the servants of the state may feel ever more deeply that any diversion of their public powers for private ends is a betrayal of their country. Purge our cities, states, and nation of the deep causes of corruption which have so often made sin profitable and uprightness hard. Breathe a new spirit into all our nation. Give our leaders new vision and set their hearts on fire with large resolves. Raise up a new generation of public men [and women] with the faith and daring of the kingdom of God in their hearts, who will enlist for life in a holy warfare for the freedom and the rights of all people. Amen.

Taken from The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home, 1965

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Prayer for Our Country

Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way.

Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that  through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Taken from The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home, 1965

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How Should We Then Live? (1-3)

with Francis Schaeffer

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Ronald Reagan’s 1986 Thanksgiving Radio Address

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