Category Archives: Culture commentary

Homosexuals who profess Christ

Posted on August 18, 2010 by PaulVK

I thought JR Kirk had a good piece on his blog. I entitled it “final thoughts” but I doubt this will be the last time he writes on it. I like his blog and find it helpful. Here is the … Continue reading →

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The American Political Left’s ambiguous relationship with Pacifism

Posted on August 13, 2010 by PaulVK

http://www.cpjustice.org/files/lovingourenemies.pdf From the Center for Public Justice. When I read this I thought of this group (Calvinincommon.org). When I listen to the American political left I hear a deep ambiguity about the use of violence. On one hand I hear … Continue reading →

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Jesus' culture war

Posted on July 12, 2010 by PaulVK

I wrote this for CRC-Voices for a thread on church and politics. Because of our “one square inch” tradition it is important for us to pay some attention to the question of getting specific with the mission of the church. … Continue reading →

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Red State and Blue State Cultures

Posted on June 18, 2010 by PaulVK

This quote that gave rise to our vernacular of red-state and blue-state In other words, we are at the fundamental schism in American cultural, political, and economic life. There’s the quicker-growing, economically vibrant, but also more fractious and more difficult … Continue reading →

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The Conventional Wisdom god

Posted on June 4, 2010 by PaulVK

I’m doing 1 Samuel 4 this Sunday for my adult Sunday school class. Samuel is an incredible book. It is so deep and nuanced in its story telling. At this point in the story we know that things are very … Continue reading →

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What's behind the fashionable use of the word "bigot"

Posted on March 30, 2010 by PaulVK

This is a response to a CRC-Voices discussion So if you own a person on the basis of color you’re a bigot, but if you own them on the basis of debt you’re not? The use of the word “bigot” … Continue reading →

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Of Rights and Grace

Posted on March 18, 2010 by PaulVK

Again, another response to a CRC-Voices post. I suspect the word “grace” is often misapplied when we demand the benefits of it for ourselves or those we ally with. Grace can only be asked for in an request from a … Continue reading →

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The Idolatry of Capitalism

Posted on December 15, 2009 by PaulVK

This got posted on CRC-Voices: “The record of history is absolutely crystal clear that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that … Continue reading →

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Church: Accessible or Counter-Cultural? Learning to love, working community

Posted on December 7, 2009 by PaulVK

Scanned two disconnected articles this morning. One was a blog post retelling some of the events surrounding Jonathan Edwards getting kicked out of his church. I first pondered this episode when I was reading Marsden’s excellent biography of Edwards. It … Continue reading →

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How dare we love the human destoyers of the world?

Posted on December 3, 2009 by PaulVK

This was a follow up post from this one in a Calvin-in-Common discussion. Tonight l lead a small group discussion on the end of Colossians 1. As I was going through I thought of this conversation. The debate as to … Continue reading →

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