Techno Gnostics

…there will always be natural limits to the humanity and size of our churches. The optimum size of human communities that are bonded by face-to-face relationships, we are told, is around the magic number of 150 to 200. So as soon as any human community goes above that number, whether in the direction of a megachurch, with its tens of thousands, or a megacity with its tens of millions, it requires coordinating in ways that are other than face to face and fully human – whether lightly through the interconnections of the social media or more heavy-handedly through authoritarian political control. The nature and impact of that form of coordination then become critical.

For better or worse, these different ways of bringing and holding people together have their own identifiable dynamics that in the end will always determine the quality of the larger community. Modern megacities have reached a size that creates intrinsic problems of their own, and there can be grandiose hi-tech forms of the church that have similar problems. They will appeal to the techno-gnostics who lionize the brilliance of disembodied video images and abstractions and disparage what St. Francis humbly called “Brother Ass.” But they will never prove to be the wave of the future. The neighbourhood parish church is not just the church of the past but the church of the future. Scorned and overshadowed though it may be at times, it will never be outmoded while humans are humans and have bodies.

Os Guiness in Impossible People

To Obey or Not Obey?

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The chickens are coming home to roost. The church has experienced weeks of ‘online church’, we face (pun intended) the possibility of forced masking in worship as well as vaccine passports for worship services. Look at the Bill of Rights. Our liberties have been stripped from us. Our right to refuse medical treatment is under threat, our right to freedom of thought, conscience, privacy and religion is imperiled. Our right to peaceful assembly is gone. As are the rights to freedom of association, movement and freedom from discrimination.

The time for decisions is here. The trouble is, our collective Christian minds are creaky and stiff from disuse. Our body, feminine, soft and nurturing in form, but lacking the complementary male strength and roughness of virtues such as courage due to a matriarchal dominance of the church (often in spite of male leaders), is frozen in a semi-recumbent position. What will we do? Well, the women of both sexes will bleat on their social media platforms about doing the right thing and rail at any Christians who awaken enough from slumber to question whether we are in fact in the beginnings of a living totalitarian nightmare. “Obey the Government! Romans 13!” exclaim these newly minted experts in theology who, with their theological position, could no doubt justify yellow stars with the word Jude written in fancy lettering vaccine passports.

Since our minds are seized shut from lack of use and no call of action will get us to actually do anything, we’ll resort to one of our favourite feel-good pastimes. We’ll sing. But we’ll avoid the old hymns of the faith. It’s a bit hard to sing “Stand up for Jesus” when that might require backbone. We’ll no doubt sing lustily some inane and trite modern evangelopop. How about “Who the Son sets free, Oh, is free indeed”? But we’ll do it from our living rooms wearing a mask hoping the State will set us free once the population has been compliant enough and buckled under the State’s loving#kindness.

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Calling a Spade, a Spade

A Whole New World

Traditionally, in the West, lying has been seen as a vice and not a virtue. However, thanks to the growing influence of Critical Theory, this perspective has been flipped on its head. Instead of living by the truth and seeking to understand God and the world as they really are, our society seeks to impose outrageous lies upon us. In many ways we have cooperated with these lies without realising it.

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The Resistance – The Word and Prayer – Part 2C

Yesterday we sought to give some practical suggestions which will help Christians make the Word and prayer central to their households. This is an essential step as we build the Christian Resistance and seek to see New Zealand turn back to Christ. As each family cell in the Resistance is led by men who prioritise the Word and prayer, we should expect to see God working great things. His Word will not return to him empty but will achieve the purpose for which he sent it out (Isaiah 55:11). And we know that purpose: it is that the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).

4. Hold to the Sufficiency of Scripture Practically

It is also vital that as we read the Scriptures we hold to the sufficiency of Scripture. And I don’t mean just nod intellectually to this concept. I mean actually believe and act upon it. The Apostle Paul wrote these words that most Christians know by heart. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Paul argues that Scripture can be applied so that the man of God can be complete and equipped for every good work.

Do we know what to think about helping the poor? The Scriptures are sufficient for developing a robust and Christ-honouring approach. Do we want to know how Christians should respond to the COVID-19 lockdowns and potential vaccine mandates? We should search the Scriptures. Do we want to know whether redistributive tax policy is a Christian approach to government? We have the Scriptures which enable us to be equipped for every good work, whether it is in politics, family life, work-life, economics or science.

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The Resistance – Word and Prayer – Part 2B

Yesterday we sought to argue for the need for a commitment to the Word and prayer as a foundational step in building Christian Resistance. These are the weapons we have given the battle against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Today we continue with some practical changes we can make to family and personal life.

What practical changes can we make to our lives to build our resistance on the supernatural power of the Spirit and the Word? The following list is obviously not exhaustive, but I hope there will be something of value for you in what follows.

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The Resistance – Word and Prayer – Part 2A

What ought Christians to do in these times? The Church in the West is weak. The enemies of Christ seem strong and own all the cultural spaces. What ought we to do? Last week we saw that the first order of business is Christian repentance both individual and corporate. We are in this mess, not because Christ is weak, not because his kingdom is failing, but because we have squandered the inheritance handed down to us by men and women who belonged to generations more faithful than the most recent ones. Today we continue our series “The Resistance”, exploring the needed Christian response to the times we live in. In Part 2 we consider the need for those in the Christian Resistance to commit themselves to dependence on Christ. This means prayer, particularly for wisdom and courage and a renewed appetite for His Word, looking at how God’s people of old have responded to times like these.

We must commit ourselves to dependence on our king. This means prayer, particularly for wisdom and courage and a renewed appetite for His Word, looking at how God’s people of old have responded to times like these.

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Evangelism and the Lordship of Christ

Evangelism, like apologetics, should be pursued as an expression and outgrowth of the lordship of Jesus Christ over all things, extending his reign through the witness of the Christian believer.

Joseph Boot in The Mission of God: A Manifesto of Hope for Society