I don't want to make mountains out of mole hills dare I make myself a hypocrite.

But the weaker brother arguement is tiresome, reread Beeke's article becasue I am with him in every point.

I love what you quoted on Calvin and I remember what you said about the black suit or the gray suit, etc. I hear you on all that!

BUT (and I encountered this on the Puritan board too). I'm talking about today's secular cesspool of a world we are living in. Not Calvin's day and the abstaining of certain meats and honoring certain feast days - I know he's targeting the RCC.

I'm talking about the world, the devil is the prince of this world and as in pilgrims progress we are fleaing from the city of destruction and vanity fair. And there are the unsaved who sit under the proper catechism and calvinistic beliefs but use 'Christian liberty' as an excuse to live for the world today and worry about their soul tommorrow.

I was also thinking about the ballroom dancing, I'm not sure how that was looked at during the Puritan era, but fallen man can take the most seemingly innocent thing and turn it into something sordid over time.

Again Pilgrim, we are talking about fallen man.

Let's bring it back to the NRC or the FRC or the HRC for that matter, more conservative denominations. One reason there is a promotion of abstaining from worldy entertainments is not as a precondition to salvation becasue avoiding these things will not open up the heart but to prevent an infiltration of secular norms and worldviews into our Reformed circles.

Doesn't the Bible warn against mixing with the world throughout?

How about liberal chruches that make a mockery out of chritianity with hokey theme parks and all types of lame forms of musical worship and praise without any real substance

SO I'm not talking about the temptation of weaker brethern - I'm talking about reveling in sinful man-made God-dishonoring vein, idolistic wordly pursuits - the kind we can all agree on.

How can you frown about such an endorsed seperation.


Now, why you had to counsel those in the NRC who should have been told to flea to Christ I don't undertand???

PS - I do think you are sincere, I don't think you are
trying to have God and the world. The fact that you would devote yourself to these dialogues is quite telling. ANd I do understand where you are coming from with Christian Liberty and I know the NRC is pretty militant, but I give them credit that they are fairly insulated from this evil world - and that's really how I view the world. Sure GOd's creation is beautiful but as Calvinists we can see the depravity all around us in society.

How much are you on board with Beeke's little blurb.

ANd I just want to apologize if I'm coming off as having any authority or having any kind of righteous standing. I'm constantly getting in my own way.

PSS - As Christians would you say our faith is in exercise a majority of the time? or maybe simply during CHristian exercises? or is it a small percentage? Is this case by case or something we can even quantify? because I think that also comes into play when counseling the elect and the dispositions of such. It seems like the Bible and those who were saved were meek, needy, downtrodden, downcast, charitable, humble, etc. like described in the Beatitudes

GOd Bless!

AC

Last edited by AC.; Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:25 PM.
The mercy of God is necessary not only when a person repents, but even to lead him to repent, Augustine