Re: [asa] Youth leaving churches because of old earth

> I cant do it justice here, but it has to do with legalism and/or a
> legalistic attitude.  Some of Swindoll's friends were missionaries who went
> to work in the Amazon basin.  One day a relative sent them a jar of peanut
> butter - something not available in the Amazon.  They very much enjoyed
> this.  The other missionaries (called the peabut butter missionaries later
> on) made a big deal out of this and  harrassed them about it - telling them
> how unspiritual it is to enjoy such luxuries, and how if they wanted to be
> dedicated missionaries they would have to become more ascetic.

This type of thing was addressed in a sermon at my parents' church.
The pastor held up a bottle of Texas Pete hot sauce as an example of
something that is not strictly necessary, but is a not unreasonable
"luxury" that he liked. Shortly afterwards, a bottle mysteriously
appeared in the church office with reference to Luke 16:24 attached
("Father Abraham, please send Lazarus with a drop of water...). Not
unreasonably, suspicion fell upon my father. An extra large bottle
later featured Daniel 3:19b ("He ordered the furnace heated seven
times hotter than usual ").

Motions to require a YEC position get submitted in many years to the
PCA, but my impression is that a definite majority favor sticking with
the current compromise position. At the individual presbytery level,
it probably depends very strongly on the regional dynamics. I've been
primarily in places dominated (with regard to number of members) by a
few rather university-associated, urban churches, with several much
smaller churches out in the surrounding region. This is probably not
normative.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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