What's Next? Some Thoughts, Some Optimism

What's Next? Some Thoughts, Some Optimism

It's possible that the 'empire' is degenerating into tribes, while the churches' 'tribes'--denominations, may be uniting into a more metropolitan organization. The British Empire is no more, nor the French, nor the Japanese. Frantic efforts to unite Europe seem to have failed. Even national currencies are failing. The key to tribes is perpetual war, and we have that, politically with Chicago politics. In the meantime, there are native churches everywhere, not dependent on missionaries from outside. The tribal shibboleths (catechisms, confessions, etc) have fallen by the wayside, it seems. Jane Jacobs thinks that cities are the natural currency-issuers. The internet is the new Gutenberg. Some thoughts. If true, how would one act? Maybe this? http://www.biblicalhorizons.com/biblical-horizons/no-21-the-dominion-church/

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Restating. The church started out after the Resurrection as a small sect/tribe in the big Roman Empire. The Roman Empire fell and nations and nation-states arose, with bishops are national churches side by side, as Jachin and Boaz. Now there are wars upon wars, nation-state bankruptcies, general lack of allegiance to 'states,' while the church is everywhere. That 'states' and 'nations' are resorting to more and more force shows that they have lost allegiance, and if/as/when currencies fail, what will come?

More on this if desired. Here's a study for the US Army. http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubid=867 Creveld's book on the Decline of the Nation State is online. Barzun wrote about this in 'Dawn to Decadence'--epilog. For SF treatments, Heinlein's Friday or Gulf is good, and Flynn's 'In the Country of the Blind' is great.

Also see Jordan's 'Crisis, Opportunity, and the Christian Future. http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Opportunity-Christian-Future-Jordan/dp/0984243917

There's more to Rich Bledsoe than this, but take a look at the centrality of the church here. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2005/07/some-words-from-rich-bledsoe.html Only the church as the Lord’s Supper.

Finally: Who Rules the Land? http://www.biblicalhorizons.com/biblical-horizons/no-20-who-rules-the-land-the-meaning-of-the-noahic-covenant-part-2/