Culture | The Breadline

Perhaps this can be a new feature: A “medley” of interesting stuff found online? On Mondays (my “day off”) I try to catch up on my blog reading (I use Google Reader to gather lots of posts in one place). I can try to share somethings here with my own brief listing… but don’t look for it until I break away for lunch! — pdb

• Dr Russell Moore has a post today on the diminished presence of references to blood in our hymns and worship “Is Your Church Loosing Blood”. His blog typically addresses ethical and theological questions (in a superb way). I plan to add a link for him to my blog roll. Here’s his opening…

American Christianity is far less bloody than it used to be. Songs like “Power in the Blood” or “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood” or “Are You Washed in the Blood?” are still sung in some places, but fewer and fewer, and there aren’t many newer songs or praise choruses so focused on blood. The Cross, yes; redemption, yes; but blood, rarely. We’re eager to speak of life, but hesitant to speak of blood.

• The west coast Ligonier Conference appears to be underway, and Alex Chediak has posted some notes on Dr Michael Horton’s address. (Alex has his own blog here.) The outline mentions 3 things that are “killing us softly” which include: enthusiasm, pragmatism, and consumerism. Chediak writes,

Three things that are having a tremendous effect on turning us from a historic faith towards a more amorphous spirituality — epitomized by the trivializing of God, our human condition, and the salvation wrought by God in Christ for us. God has a supporting role to play in the movie of our life – but the move is about us.

• And Kevin DeYoung has a prayer by Samuel M. Zwemer (c. 1923) for Muslims, and a colored map of Muslim lands on a recent post here.

• Finally, let me share this news from Minneapolis: Pastor John Piper is taking a leave of absence from all ministry, from May 1st to December 31st. The official announcement can be found here. This is not a sabbatical — a period of extended time away from normal ministry for pastors (typical after 7 years in ministry).

In our adult Sunday school class we’re doing a mini-series on Pluralism. Yesterday, in unmasking the false tolerance so prevalent in today’s culture, I quoted the wise educator/author Dorothy Sayers. Read it and learn; read it and weep for those caught in the clutches of “tolerance.” — pdb

The sixth Deadly Sin is named by the Church Acedia or Sloth. In the world it calls itself Tolerance; but in hell it is called Despair. It is the accomplice of the other sins and their worst punishment. It is the sin which believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and only remains alive because there is nothing it would die for. We have known it far too well for many years. The only thing perhaps that we have not known about it is that it is mortal sin…
— Dorothy Sayers

[quote taken from online sources; originally from her essay: The Other Six Deadly Sins: An address given to the Public Morality Council at Caxton Hall, Westminster, on October 23rd, 1941 (long out of print)]