miscellany [ mis-uh-ley-nee], noun
1. a miscellaneous collection or group of various or somewhat unrelated items
2. a miscellaneous collection of literary compositions or pieces by several authors, dealing with various topics, assembled in a volume or book

It's been awhile since I noted anything truly worth sharing, but this week is truly an exception. I'm going to share a single article in hopes that you will read and re-read it. It is pointed, thought-provoking, and spot on (in my opinion). Pr. Peters has done the church another great service with this piece.

We're All Liberal Protestants... Southern Presbyterian R.L. Dabney--pastor, theologian, and Confederate chaplain--famously pointed out, “American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader.” Though written over a hundred years ago, Dabney's observation still holds. American conservatism doesn't really conserve anything, it just slows down the pace of our cultural, theological, and ideological move to the left. This is not news. Pr. Peters similarly writes, "Conservative has become a term to describe the pace of change rather than its direction. I get it...We welcome a slow and more deliberate pace to all that is changing and with it a moment to catch our breath. But that is not what it means to be a conservative in any aspect of things. Conservatives conserve." And yet, plainly, cultural, theological, and social conservatives have repeatedly demonstrated that we are NOT good at conserving.

Peters again writes, "Underneath liberal Protestantism are the essential values of radical personal autonomy and an absolute individualism as the core and foundation of all moral values. These things are not the essential values of orthodox and catholic Christianity. That is the problem. In addition to this is the whole idea that the church is nothing more than a voluntary association, created and defined by the will of those who choose to belong. The same penchant for government by poll has given way to doctrine and practice by poll. The Scriptures are merely advisory in this understanding. Doctrine is subordinate and accountable to our autonomous individual consciences. The reality is that most of us subscribe to and practice in our daily lives the very moral and political language of liberalism and our agreement in doctrine and truth is more a felicitous inconsistency we celebrate than an essential foundation of or identity to our religious beliefs and identity."

Please go thoughtfully read the rest of his post. Consider how it affects your views of Scripture and doctrine, church practice, social issues, and politics. The creeping cancer of liberalism affects every aspect of our lives in ways we conservatives either wish to ignore or are woefully ignorant of. We must be more thoughtful and more deliberate.