Remaining without spot from the world

Tom over at Sheep & Goats has a post on a book entitled "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience- Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?" by Ronald Sider, a professor of theology and contributor to Christianity Today magazine.

Tom mentions that Jehovah's Witnesses do not suffer from many of the same problems as Evangelicals have picked up over the last century, as they have stuck closely to the Biblical commandment to be "without spot from the world." The article is a good read.

Shunning

Tom Sheepandgoats has written an excellent post defending disfellowshipping (more popularly known as shunning) in the Christian congregation.

So it is with Jehovah's Witnesses today. They could not be more unlike in personalities, backgrounds and talents (besides the factors already mentioned) yet they enjoy unshakable unity. God's spirit makes it possible.
We're zealous to safeguard this unity. When a person leaves JW tenets, he begins to lose the thinking that makes such unity possible. Some lose it instantly. More
often, it happens over time. But it does happen.

Baptists yearn for church discipline

One of the things that Jehovah's Witnesses face much criticism over is their practice of "disfellowshipping". Much of the criticism comes from born-again and evangelical "Christians". Yet there is a movement arising in the Southern Baptist Convention that is seeking to re-claim the practice of church discipline that was historically a prominent part of the Baptist movement.

The Baptist Press reports:

"Prior to the last century, Baptists "practiced church discipline on a large scale" and regarded the practice as a normal part of church life, according to church history professor Greg Wills."

and also this:

"The return to church disciple has been gaining momentum for several years."The decline of church discipline is perhaps the most visible failure of the contemporary church," R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., wrote..."

Yes, Jehovah's Witnesses have been vindicated once again for using only God's word for direction, and following its scriptural advice on discipline, rather than the theologies of men. I wonder what the next thing Baptists will realise they have abandoned that their Anabaptist forefathers promoted - unitarianism, mortalism? I doubt it.