The similar phrase 'Worldly Christianity' is one used by Bonhoeffer. It's J Gresham Machen that I want to line up most closely with. See his Christianity and culture here. Having done commentaries on Proverbs (Heavenly Wisdom) and Song of Songs (Heavenly Love), a matching title for Ecclesiastes would be Heavenly Worldliness. For my stance on worldliness, see 3 posts here.

Weddings


We are not so often at weddings but this summer there are three or four. We're off to a family one in South Wales this week and last week the son of one of my deacons, Josef, was getting married to Emma in Meole Brace near Shrewsbury. I was reading and praying and the preacher was Paul Yeulett, Emma's pastor. It was also good to see Mark Stocker of Spring Road Evangelical, Southampton, there, where Josef has been studying enginneering for the last few years. For various reasons the service was conducted by Phil Cansdale, the vicar of Holy Trinity, Meole Brace.

One of the joy of the reception afterwards was seeing various people I knew and half knew. They were from various churches mostly in that broad Reformed evangelical stream, which I'm part of (Childs Hill Baptist, Shrewsbury Evangelical, Southampton, Wycliffe Independent Sheffield, Emmanuel in Cardiff, Durham Presbyterian, Alexandra Road Hemel, Hounslow West Evangelical, Milnrow Evangelical) though from other churches too. Josef and Emma first met on the CCIW camps in Tywyn.

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