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.

Lord's Day September 1 2019


It was great to be preaching oncne again last Sunday. We looked at John 4:13, 14 in the morning - very evangelistic - and at the silence of Jesus before Pilate (Matthew 27) in the evening. We started with communion. Our two deacons are still away and so we were a miserable number at the start but then four men joined us and more or less doubled our numbers. In these situations one just has to ask quick questions and give out the elements as best you can. Three turned out to be Dutchmen (two just about to start at the seminary and one son) adn the other was an Iranian believer called Mohammed. I love it when I get opportunity to preach to people called Mohammed! At the table I used some notes I have from J C Ryle to focus minds. I spoke to the two children in the morning on Christ being made sin. In the evening there were two under 8s present so on a whim I got them to write down how many times I said silent or silence. The tallies differed widely but it must have been between 45 and 55 times or so, In the end we were not a bad number am (or pm either). It wa snice to have some members back for lunch. I noticed again how diverse we are congregationally - Filipinos, Nigerians, Jamaicans, the Dutchmen, the Iranian, a Ghanaian, an Indian, a Colombian, a New Zealander, etc. The hymns went well.

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