I think the key to the most recent post, the quote by Jan Markell, is the last sentence of the second paragraph. As I've reflected on the emerging and post-modern movements in Christian circles, this may be my biggest concern. To refresh, she writes:

...and not a word about the fact that only our Lord's return can solve these overwhelming problems...

I really applaud the desire of this movement to address some of the current issues, global hunger, AIDS, etc., but I believe we must not begin thinking that proper politics is the answer to the crises of the world. There is only one perfect political Kingdom and that is the one of our Lord Jesus Christ when He returns. It appears that these movements are trying to make the world perfect to prepare for the return of Christ, and the Bible seems to say that things are going to get worse and worse before the Lord intervenes and we usher in the millenial age (especially in my apocalyptic worldview and biblical interpretation).

Therefore, addressing these and other issues of the day is important, I would say necessary if the Spirit has given you a heart for a specific area, but we can't get mixed up into thinking that our work here will bring on the return of the Lord any quicker or delay it any longer if we do or don't address these man-made (I use this term here not to mean that an individual's sin necessarily causes them suffering but rather that the Sin of Man - Adam - is the cause of this world being out of whack - another issue for another time) issues. This is postmillenial thinking, correct?