Emergent Tulsa Cohort

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2008-05-27T09:12:00.001-07:00

this blog is pretty much inactive.
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thanks!

Theology on Tap!

2007-07-24T04:05:00.000-07:00

Everyone is invited to join us at Theology on Tap!

Theology on Tap is held at McNellie's (409 East 1st Street) every 2nd Tuesday of the month, the next meeting is August 14 at 8 p.m. They meet upstairs. The topic this month is on the Eucharist, and Fr. Gregory Gier from Holy Family Cathedral will be speaking.

He will speak for about 20 minutes then he opens the floor for questions/comments. Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion. The group understands that everyone is on a journey of discovery of God's will in their lives and many are searching...just who is this God and what is the church and how does this all fit in with my life?

People start gathering at 7, have supper or a beer and mingle. Come hoist a brew and ponder the mysteries of God!

The next meeting will be September 11, same place, topic: Charismatic movement.

August 2nd Cohort - Carlton Pearson

2007-07-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

August 2nd

Where: Agora (51st and Memorial Fontana Shopping Center)
Time: 10:30 (arrive at 10:00am) - noon (then lunch)

Presenter: Carlton Pearson
Topic : Carlton's Story and what he's thinking about

See you then!

U2 Eucharist

2007-06-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

In response to the movement to Make Poverty History, Trinity Episcopal Church will celebrate a special U2 Eucharist at 5pm on June 17, 2007. This U2 Eucharist will feature music from U2’s catalog, including such favorites as Where the Streets Have No Name, Yahweh, Love and Peace, Pride, and One.

The U2 Eucharist has recently received international media attention, from newspapers to BBC World Service presentations, for its innovative use of the band’s biblically rich lyrics and social justice message, for its ability to bring together people of many different generations in a context of worship, and as a tool for raising awareness and empowering communities to respond to the Millennium Development Goals.

Every nation in the world has endorsed the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and global AIDS, and many churches, including the Episcopal Church, have endorsed them as well. Accordingly, the offering will benefit ChildHope, which through its work is also engaged in realizing the Millennium Development Goals.

Cohort this Thursday

2007-06-05T07:45:00.001-07:00

Jimmy Doyle will be our presenter.

If you don't know Jimmy, he always has very insightful things to say.

Agora
10:30am

see you then

Rethinking Family

2007-04-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning the Emergent Cohort for Tulsa is meeting. 10:30am @ Agora (Fontana Shopping Center) with lunch to follow.

Topic: Rethinking the Family for the 21st Century.
Discussion Leader: Mark Riddle

What does it mean to lead a community of people today as together we raise kids. If you read this far and the thought entered your head, "This topic doesn't apply to me" because you aren't a youth/children's pastor or your children are older, then I would suggest that you are simply and completely wrong. I don't say this as a way to convince you to come, rather I say this to point out that you have been infected by compartmentalized thinking that has led to the abandonment of children in our culture.

Also, Slogan's like, "It's the parent's job to spiritually raise kids" may have been helpful to raise awareness for congregations and parents in the past but it will no longer work in the future because it's probably never actually been true. We'll be talking about why tomorrow.

Hope to see you there!

Preaching Reimagined

2007-01-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

At our next gathering, Thursday, February 1st, we're going to spend some time thinking through preaching, trying to converse around some themes Doug Pagitt highlights in his book, Preaching Reimagined. While you probably don't have time to buy the book and read it, there are a couple reviews that I think are worth a quick read before we gather. Here's one from the Christian Century and another from The Ooze.

We'll see where the conversation takes us! Look forward to seeing you there!

ETREK in OKC

2007-01-22T13:36:00.000-08:00

ETREK is a learning opportunity that is the brainchild of Spencer Burke (of the Ooze.com fame). ETREK offers you the chance to have ongoing dialog with others who are on the journey of following Christ including some of the great leaders in spiritual formation and ministry including people like Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet and our own Mark Riddle.

Well, ETREK is taking a road trip to OKC this winter/spring and you can get on board for a mere ~~$249~~ UPDATE! The price has now been reduced to $199. Confirmed conference call guests include Frederica Matthews-Green, Karen Ward, Phyllis Tickle, Earl Creps, Dan Phillips and a surprise guest to be named later.

For dates and details check out Todd's blog (Todd works with Spencer on this and is largely responsible for most of the legwork).

Also, be sure to take note of the Renovare Conference in OKC at the Crossings Community church on February 16-17.

Exiles: Living Dangerously in a world seeking safety and happiness

2006-12-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

I (Mark) am so pumped about this month's discussion. If you haven't attended the cohort in a while, it would be great to see you there!
It is always good to see you each time we get together.

Topic: Exiles: Living Dangerously in a world seeking safety and happiness.
Presenters:
Paul Littleton - Senior Pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Sapulpa
Wade Hodges - Preaching Minister of Garnett Church of Christ in Tulsa
Format: There will be brief presentations (5-15 minutes) by Paul and Wade and then discussion with everyone present.
Location: Agora - in the Fontana Shopping Center (51st and Memorial)
When: Thursday Dec, 7th. 10:30am
Contact info: Mark Riddle - 918.407.1545

More on the Topic:
For the past few years the topic of "Worldview" has been on the tongues of a lot of church leaders. Modern. Post-Modern. Biblical. etc etc. Worldviews are said to be the lenses through which we view the world. These lenses inform the way in which we interpret our experience. In the past year or two several folks I know have stopped talking about worldviews all together. (it's been a long time since someone has even said "postmodern" in my memory at one of our cohort meetings too!)

Since Story is the language our culture speaks, and I'd argue has always spoken, the language of "scripts" has taken root. What is the story we live out of? What is the script we live by. This is very different to me from a worldview, or construct of belief, but rather a more internal understanding of who I am and I understand how I relate to the world and who I belive God to be influence how I engage life, others and the kingdom.

Walter Brueggeman would suggest that our script is a technological-therapeutic-militarist-consumerism that promises safety and happiness. That is the story most American live into. Geoff Holsclaws has said, "Brueggeman is not saying that this is merely a worldview that best articulates how to promote safety and happiness, but also that is molds and shapes us into thinking that safety and happiness (individual safety and consumer happiness) are the greatest values, rather than, say, justice and peace.

So? Why Exiles as the topic??????
So the church has folded the North American script into the gospel and that has tremendous implications on what we do as the church. This has huge implications for how we understand the role of power and the church.In Walter Brueggemann's "The Prophetic Imagination" says that the church needs to find a way of moving from a position of dominance to a minority position. We'll talk about this and how the prophets speak to that and the role of God's people in that transition. Paul will compare the Biblical understanding of Exile in the prophets and the people of God (who lived within that story and script) and how what it's implecations might be for the American church. Wade will work through Brueggemann's stuff on Exile and point out several disciplines that will help us find our way in our state of cultural dislocation. He'll also be pulling in some stuff from Mike Frost's new book, "Exile", which he says is very good by the way.

In short: Exiles must cling to dangerous memories, make dangerous promises, offer dangerous criticism, and sing dangerous songs.

See you thursday!

Steve, Wade, Paul and Mark

Cohort Gathering Thursday

2006-10-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone The cohort is on for thursday... more on what the topic is soon.

Visit with Sally

2006-09-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Sally Morgenthaler is here in Tulsa. Sally is an influential author and thinker and she's leading a workshop at Phillps Theological Seminary September 12-13. [Here's a post about the event] She's also going to be at McNellie's pub downtown tonight (Tuesday, September 12th) at 8:00 conversing with the Tulsa Emergent Cohort. You are invited. Come down, have a brew and enjoy the discussion.

Emergent Gathering

2006-09-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Oct. 9-12
Glorietta, New Mexico

Here's the official LINK.

There are several folks who are planning on going to New Mexico from Tulsa. This can be a good spot for conversations about getting there etc.

I've made my flight reservations already.
I know that Todd Littleton from OKC has also.

Andrea from Garnett Church of Christ is planning on going.
Danny Grimes is very interested.
So is Lisa Brownwood.

Christians in Politics

2006-09-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the notes from today. (Pdf alert) These were taken from a podcast from the Woodland Hills Church.

I thought it was a great discussion with a minimum of bloodshed.

Cohort Meeting this Thursday!

2006-09-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hello People!

Gathering This Thursday!
Sept 7th
10:30- 12:00 (Lunch after too if you want)
Agora Fellowship (in the Fontana Center at 51st and Memorial)

Presenter: Wade Hodges - Teaching Pastor at Garnett Church of Christ

Topic: Civic Religion - What does it mean to be a Christian in America?

questions on how to get there Contact Jeff Taylor @ jeff@agoratulsa.com

IMPORTANT:!!! There were several folks who showed up at Panera last month! If you know of someone who did, please contact them and let them know we have changed locations for now!

Also:
Is anyone interested in going to Santa Fe for the Emergent Gathering?

more info here:
http://www.emergentvillage.us/events/the-gathering

Timothy Jones Reflects on Darwin

2006-08-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

[This was originally found in the comment section to the previous post. I thought it deserved more attention than that.]

For what they're worth, here are the reflections that I wrote after our meeting on Thursday ...

A few days ago, I decided to read Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man in its entirety. I’m not quite certain what demon possessed me when I made this decision. I’m not, after all, a fan of Mr. Darwin’s ideas, and The Descent of Man isn’t exactly the most exciting book to grace my shelves.

I suppose that the primary reason I decided to read The Descent of Man is precisely because I disagree with Darwin, and it annoys me when people pounce on someone else’s ideas without paying attention to what the supposed purveyor of mistruth actually said or wrote. For example, growing up in a series of fundamental Baptist churches, I heard over and over how rock bands like Van Halen promoted excessive drinking, promiscuous sex, and senseless debauchery.

When I began listening to Van Halen, I discovered that what the band actually promoted was excessive drinking, promiscuous sex, and senseless debauchery, but that they sounded really cool while doing it.

Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best example.

Still, I think it’s a good idea to read what an author says before deciding that his or her ideas come from the depths of hell. I suppose this is why my bookshelves sag beneath the weight not only of biblical scholars with whom I agree but also of writings that I could do without—right-wing political rants, a trans-gender translation of the New Testament, the works of Frederick Nietzsche, The Da Vinci Code, an Asian cookbook, pretty much anything that shows up in the inspirational section at Wal-Mart … oh, and Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man.

Here’s the claim that Charles Darwin makes in the closing chapters of The Descent of Man:

Sexual selection depends on the success of certain individuals over others of the same sex, in relation to the propagation of the species. … The sexual struggle is of two kinds; in the one it is between individuals of the same sex, generally the males, in order to drive away or kill their rivals, the females remaining passive; whilst in the other, the struggle is likewise between the individuals of the same sex, in order to excite or charm those of the opposite sex, generally the females, which no longer remain passive, but select the more agreeable partners. … Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.

If I understand Darwin correctly, here’s what he was getting at: When two people pursue an intimate relationship with each other, it isn’t because of love or even lust. All of humanity’s capacities for courtship, flirtation, and romance are merely social tools that we have evolved for the sole purpose of preventing the extinction of our personal DNA. If Charles Darwin had visited a few singles bars instead of spending so many years on the H.M.S. Beagle, he would have realized that this is a stupid idea, of course. If these social tools have evolved so precisely for the sole purpose of spreading our genetic code, they shouldn’t require an excessive number of margaritas to reach their maximum effectiveness.

Which causes me to wonder something: “Did Charles Darwin really believe this?” I mean, did Darwin ever say, in some moment when he and his wife found themselves flushed with pleasure in the afterglow of intimate union, “You know, honey, the only reason that I did this with you is because you seemed like the best choice for passing on my genetic code”?

If Darwin did say anything of this sort, I can almost guarantee you that many cold nights passed before he saw another opportunity to send his DNA into the next generation. As it turns out, he and his wife had ten children together; so, either Charles never made that comment or his wife was an extraordinarily forgiving woman. (By the way, Charles Darwin’s wife was also his cousin and—if you look at photographs of Charles and Emma—neither of them seems very likely to produce blissful flutterings in anyone’s underwear. So, unless you enjoy psychotherapy, I wouldn’t dwell too long on the thoughts I’ve presented here.)

Here’s what I suspect, though: Deep inside, even Charles Darwin knew that something more was happening in those moments of passion than a desire to keep his DNA from following the dinosaurs down the pathway to extinction. There is magic and wonder and mystery in this mysterious intertwining of a man and a woman. There is something in the sexual relationship that defies scientific explanation. There is something—dare I say it?—holy that happens between the bed-sheets.

Deep inside, every human being already knows this. It isn’t shame or religious repression that causes first-graders to share their sexual misinformation with each other in such hushed tones; it’s the instinctive awareness that this mysterious country on whose borders they so gingerly tread is a sacred place.

And, yet, the temptation remains to reduce our sexuality to a mechanical process or a series of sure-fire steps: Place Part A into Part B while touching Part C, repeating until Events A and B occur in succession … sure, this may work on paper, but who wants to share life’s most intimate moments with someone who’s making a list and checking it twice? The full pleasure of the relationship is greater and more mysterious than the mere physical process. What humanity craves isn’t a more mind-blowing orgasm but to know and to be known in nakedness of flesh and vulnerability of soul. Yet, Western humanity lives in sexual frustration because we have reduced our sexuality to measurable quantities—how large is yours? how long did it last? how many times did you do it?—while our souls starve for something more profound than any caliper can calculate.

It seems to me that many Christians are frustrated with their faith for similar reasons.

Let me explain: Faith is a process of living in God; it is a mystery as undefinable as the wind; it is not merely a momentary event of justification, but “an ongoing history, born new every morning” (Karl Barth). And yet—with the commendable goal of bringing more people to faith in Jesus Christ—Christian faith has been reduced to a series of rational stages and logical arguments.

I can still see the tracts that I handed out as a child, trying to plant the seeds that would save the world by handing out these scraps of paper to unsuspecting householders: “God’s Simple Plan of Salvation,” “Four Spiritual Laws,” “This Was Your Life,” “Admit, Believe, Confess”—all of them, reducing the infinite mystery of faith to a series of laws and steps and badly-rendered comic strips.

In the context of such reductions, faith shrinks from a living awareness of God’s grace lavished into my life through Jesus Christ to an intellectual ticket to escape the torments of Hell. Simply put, evangelical Christians have inflicted on faith the same reductionism that Charles Darwin inflicted on sex.

Yet, deep within, I think we know that we’re missing something.

Evangelical publishing companies are, of course, quick to provide the magical curriculum that will fulfill our inner emptiness, and denominations pack our calendars with programs for guaranteed success—the spiritual equivalent of How to Have Mind-Blowing Orgasms in Only Thirty Days, or whatever other book happens to cower beneath the “Relationships” banner at Barnes and Noble at this moment.

But not everyone is buying it (no, not the mind-blowing orgasms book—the idea that faith can be programmed or reduced to a specific series of steps). It seems to me that this is what the emergent movement is all about. Is there some mindless disgruntlement in it? Sure—but there’s also something that I call “sacred dis-ease,” a hallowed restlessness by which we are realizing that there is more wonder and mystery and holiness than we have been experiencing. What is emerging from this dis-ease is a nameless yearning, a holy craving, a desire to experience a community that is rooted in infinite mystery. This is, of course, a longing for God, for he is—in the eternal dance of Father, Son, and Spirit—the consummate community of infinite mystery. As such, the goal becomes—at least from my perspective, which is far from the final word—a rooted restlessness. That is, to embrace this hallowed restlessness as a longing for a God greater than our definitions while, at the same time, rooting this restlessness in the particular God who reveals his glory to us in Jesus Christ.

New Location for Thursday's Meeting!

2006-07-31T06:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang,

Sorry for the late email. Here's the info for this weeks meeting. We're trying something new out!

Thursday, August 3.
10:30am
at Agora (driving directions available @ www.agoratulsa.com)
It's in the Fontana Shopping Center at 51st and Memorial.
So you folks at Believer's church @ 47th and Memorial have no excuse not to stop in and say hi! :-)

Jeff mentioned that there might be folks to provide coffee at their coffee bar, we'll wait to hear if that happens. (Jeff will you let us know?) It's no big deal to bring our own stuff if needed!

This week we Dr. Danny Grimes will be discussing his ecclesial journey ( see his website http://www.myecclesialjourney.blogspot.com/ )
Mark Riddle will be interviewing Danny about his recent trip, what he's learning about other "emerging" or "I'm not and emerging" churches around the country and what God's doing in him as a professor / pastor / entrepreneur.

See you then!

Wade, Steve, Paul, and Mark

August. 3rd 10:30

2006-07-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

Dr. Dan Grimes will be interviewed as we process Dan's eccesiological journey to a bunch of churches that are emerging.

more info to come

Welcome the Stranger

2006-07-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

How welcome is the stranger at the Cohort meetings? Personally I can say I am very welcome, but are the laptops and blogs a barrier to some?

In Distrust of Movements by Wendell Barry

2006-06-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

I HAVE HAD WITH MY friend Wes Jackson a number of useful conversations about the necessity of getting out of movements — even movements that have seemed necessary and dear to us — when they have lapsed into self-righteousness and self-betrayal, as movements seem almost invariably to do. People in movements too readily learn to deny to others the rights and privileges they demand for themselves. They too easily become unable to mean their own language, as when a “peace movement” becomes violent. They often become too specialized, as if finally they cannot help taking refuge in the pinhole vision of the institutional intellectuals. They almost always fail to be radical enough, dealing finally in effects rather than causes. Or they deal with single issues or single solutions, as if to assure themselves that they will not be radical enough.

And so I must declare my dissatisfaction with movements to promote soil conservation or clean water or clean air or wilderness preservation or sustainable agriculture or community health or the welfare of children. Worthy as these and other goals may be, they cannot be achieved alone. I am dissatisfied with such efforts because they are too specialized, they are not comprehensive enough, they are not radical enough, they virtually predict their own failure by implying that we can remedy or control effects while leaving causes in place. Ultimately, I think, they are insincere; they propose that the trouble is caused by other people; they would like to change policy but not behaviour.

The worst danger may be that a movement will lose its language either to its own confusion about meaning and practice, or to pre-emption by its enemies. I remember, for example, my naïve confusion at learning that it was possible for advocates of organic agriculture to look upon the “organic method” as an end in itself. To me, organic farming was attractive both as a way of conserving nature and as a strategy of survival for small farmers.

Imagine my surprise in discovering that there could be huge “organic” monocultures. And so I was not too surprised by the recent attempt of the United States Department of Agriculture to appropriate the “organic” label for food irradiation, genetic engineering, and other desecrations of the corporate food economy. Once we allow our language to mean anything that anybody wants it to mean, it becomes impossible to mean what we say. When “homemade” ceases to mean neither more nor less than “made at home”, then it means anything, which is to say that it means nothing.

AS YOU SEE, I have good reasons for declining to name the movement I think I am a part of. I am reconciled to the likelihood that from time to time it will name itself and have slogans, but I am not going to use its slogans or call it by any of its names.

Let us suppose that we have a Nameless Movement for Better Land Use and that we know we must try to keep it active, responsive and intelligent for a long time. What must we do?

What we must do above all, I think, is try to see the problem in its full size and difficulty. If we are concerned about land abuse, then we must see that this is an economic problem. Every economy is, by definition, a land-using economy. If we are using our land wrongly, then something is wrong with our economy. This is difficult. It becomes more difficult when we recognize that, in modern times, every one of us is a member of the economy of everybody else.

But if we are concerned about land abuse, we have begun a profound work of economic criticism. Study of the history of land use (and any local history will do) informs us that we have had for a long time an economy that thrives by undermining its own foundations. Industrialism, which is the name of our economy, and which is now virtually the only economy of the world, has been from its beginnings in a state of riot. It is based squarely upon the principle of violence toward everything on which it depends, and it has not mattered whether the form of industrialism was communist or capitalist or whatever; the violence toward nature, human communities, traditional agricultures and local economies has been constant. The bad news is coming in, literally, from all over the world. Can such an economy be fixed without being radically changed? I don’t think it can.

The Captains of Industry have always counselled the rest of us to be “realistic”. Let us, therefore, be realistic. Is it realistic to assume that the present economy would be just fine if only it would stop poisoning the air and water, or if only it would stop soil erosion, or if only it would stop degrading watersheds and forest ecosystems, or if only it would stop seducing children, or if only it would quit buying politicians, or if only it would give women and favoured minorities an equitable share of the loot? Realism, I think, is a very limited programme, but it informs us at least that we should not look for bird eggs in a cuckoo clock.

OR WE CAN SHOW the hopelessness of single-issue causes and single-issue movements by following a line of thought such as this: We need a continuous supply of uncontaminated water. Therefore, we need (among other things) soil-and-water-conserving ways of agriculture and forestry that are not dependent on monoculture, toxic chemicals, or the indifference and violence that always accompany big-scale industrial enterprises on the land.

Therefore, we need diversified, small-scale land economies that are dependent on people. Therefore, we need people with the knowledge, skills, motives and attitudes required by diversified, small-scale land economies. And all this is clear and comfortable enough, until we recognize the question we have come to: Where are the people?

Well, all of us who live in the suffering rural landscapes of the United States know that most people are available to those landscapes only recreationally. We see them bicycling or boating or hiking or camping or hunting or fishing or driving along and looking around. They do not, in Mary Austin’s phrase, “summer and winter with the land”. They are unacquainted with the land’s human and natural economies. Though people have not progressed beyond the need to eat food and drink water and wear clothes and live in houses, most people have progressed beyond the domestic arts — the husbandry and wifery of the world — by which those needful things are produced and conserved. In fact, the comparative few who still practise that necessary husbandry and wifery often are inclined to apologize for doing so, having been carefully taught in our education system that those arts are degrading and unworthy of people’s talents. Educated minds, in the modern era, are unlikely to know anything about food and drink, clothing and shelter. In merely taking these things for granted, the modern educated mind reveals itself also to be as superstitious a mind as ever has existed in the world. What could be more superstitious than the idea that money brings forth food?

I AM NOT SUGGESTING, of course, that everybody ought to be a farmer or a forester. Heaven forbid! I am suggesting that most people now are living on the far side of a broken connection, and that this is potentially catastrophic. Most people are now fed, clothed and sheltered from sources toward which they feel no gratitude and exercise no responsibility. There is no significant urban constituency, no formidable consumer lobby, no noticeable political leadership, for good land-use practices, for good farming and good forestry, for restoration of abused land, or for halting the destruction of land by so-called “development”.

We are involved now in a profound failure of imagination. Most of us cannot imagine the wheat beyond the bread, or the farmer beyond the wheat, or the farm beyond the farmer, or the history beyond the farm. Most people cannot imagine the forest and the forest economy that produced their houses and furniture and paper; or the landscapes, the streams and the weather that fill their pitchers and bathtubs and swimming pools with water. Most people appear to assume that when they have paid their money for these things they have entirely met their obligations.

Money does not bring forth food. Neither does the technology of the food system. Food comes from nature and from the work of people. If the supply of food is to be continuous for a long time, then people must work in harmony with nature. That means that people must find the right answers to a lot of hard practical questions. The same applies to forestry and the possibility of a continuous supply of timber.

One way we could describe the task ahead of us is by saying that we need to enlarge the consciousness and the conscience of the economy. Our economy needs to know — and care — what it is doing. This is revolutionary, of course, if you have a taste for revolution, but it is also a matter of common sense.

Undoubtedly some people will want to start a movement to bring this about. They probably will call it the Movement to Teach the Economy What It Is Doing — the mtewiid. Despite my very considerable uneasiness, I will agree to this, but on three conditions.

My first condition is that this movement should begin by giving up all hope and belief in piecemeal, one-shot solutions. The present scientific quest for odourless hog manure should give us sufficient proof that the specialist is no longer with us. Even now, after centuries of reductionist propaganda, the world is still intricate and vast, as dark as it is light, a place of mystery, where we cannot do one thing without doing many things, or put two things together without putting many things together. Water quality, for example, cannot be improved without improving farming and forestry, but farming and forestry cannot be improved without improving the education of consumers — and so on.

The proper business of a human economy is to make one whole thing of ourselves and this world. To make ourselves into a practical wholeness with the land under our feet is maybe not altogether possible — how would we know? — but, as a goal, it at least carries us beyond hubris, beyond the utterly groundless assumption that we can subdivide our present great failure into a thousand separate problems that can be fixed by a thousand task forces of academic and bureaucratic specialists. That programme has been given more than a fair chance to prove itself, and we ought to know by now that it won’t work.

My second condition is that the people in this movement (the mtewiid) should take full responsibility for themselves as members of the economy. If we are going to teach the economy what it is doing, then we need to learn what we are doing. This is going to have to be a private movement as well as a public one. If it is unrealistic to expect wasteful industries to be conservers, then obviously we must lead in part the public life of complainers, petitioners, protesters, advocates and supporters of stricter regulations and saner policies. But that is not enough.

If it is unreasonable to expect a bad economy to try to become a good one, then we must go to work to build a good economy. It is appropriate that this duty should fall to us, for good economic behaviour is more possible for us than it is for the great corporations with their miseducated managers and their greedy and oblivious stockholders. Because it is possible for us, we must try in every way we can to make good economic sense in our own lives, in our households, and in our communities. We must do more for ourselves and our neighbours. We must learn to spend our money with our friends and not with our enemies. But to do this it is necessary to renew local economies and revive the domestic arts.

In seeking to change our economic use of the world, we are seeking inescapably to change our lives. The outward harmony that we desire between our economy and the world depends finally upon an inward harmony between our own hearts and the originating spirit that is the life of all creatures, a spirit as near us as our flesh and yet forever beyond the measures of this obsessively measuring age. We can grow good wheat and make good bread only if we understand that we do not live by bread alone.

My third condition is that this movement should content itself to be poor. We need to find cheap solutions, solutions within the reach of everybody, and the availability of a lot of money prevents the discovery of cheap solutions. The solutions of modern medicine and modern agriculture are all staggeringly expensive, and this is caused in part, and maybe altogether, because of the availability of huge sums of money for medical and agricultural research.
Too much money, moreover, attracts administrators and experts as sugar attracts ants — look at what is happening in our universities. We should not envy rich movements that are organized and led by an alternative bureaucracy living on the problems it is supposed to solve. We want a movement that is a movement because it is advanced by all its members in their daily lives.

NOW, HAVING COMPLETED this very formidable list of the problems and difficulties, fears and fearful hopes that lie ahead of us, I am relieved to see that I have been preparing myself all along to end by saying something cheerful. What I have been talking about is the possibility of renewing human respect for this Earth and all the good, useful and beautiful things that come from it. I have made it clear, I hope, that I don’t think this respect can be adequately enacted or conveyed by tipping our hats to nature or by representing natural loveliness in art or by prayers of thanksgiving or by preserving tracts of wilderness — although I recommend all those things. The respect I mean can be given only by using well the world’s goods that are given to us. This good use, which renews respect — which is the only currency, so to speak, of respect — also renews our pleasure. The callings and disciplines that I have spoken of as the domestic arts are stationed all along the way from the farm to the prepared dinner, from the forest to the dinner table, from stewardship of the land to hospitality to friends and strangers. These arts are as demanding and gratifying, as instructive and as pleasing, as the so-called “fine arts”. To learn them is, I believe, the work that is our profoundest calling. Our reward is that they will enrich our lives and make us glad.

This article is reprinted from Orion magazine.
Wendell Berry is a farmer, a poet and a novelist.

Carnival Mirrors, Protesting Protestantism and our Infatuation with being Correct

2006-06-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

You see it all around you
Good lovin' gone bad
And usually it's too late when you, realize what you had
And my mind goes back to a girl I left some years ago,
Who told me,
Just Hold On Loosely, but don't let go
If you cling to tightly,
you're gonna lose control.
.38 special

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
BLAISE PASCAL

“You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
Ann Lamott

I’ve written some stuff about people who copy Rick Warren and it’s certainly fun to go Andy Rooney on someone’s butt. I mean I really was interested in doing a nation wide program for the church called “325 days of Purposelessness”… I wouldn’t have charged anything… and I had a few sponsors lined up, including the United Methodists and the Roman Catholics. I almost had the Southern Baptist, but they had already begun a program called “365 days of Narrowmindedness, Bigotry and rightness” I learned quickly that most other churches had identified a program for their liking as well. Non-Denom’s had “365 days of Doing things my way without those damn controlling people.”

The Episcopal church were deciding between slogans, first,“Whiskypalian’s and really short hair cuts” and “Episc Your Pal” I’m not sure what that means…

Reformed Church of America “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mean.” This took the place of , “It’s ONLY about Scripture! No wait! It’s only about Faith! No wait! It’s only about Grace! Not wait…”

The Weslyans, “Our church is our world”.

The Vineyard church has announced it’s new slogan, “What’s 2,000 years of history when you have the POWER!”

The Pentacostal church has announced, “God provided because I told him he had too.”

The Church of Christ new church growth initiative, “Homeschool acapella choirs touring Church of Christ family reunions will change the world.”

The Emerging church had deconstructed all of the above programs and were now paralyzed by their inability to actually do something, for fear of being deconstructed. This resulted in an inclusive amalgam of all of the previously mentioned programs put together in one ugly idea.

Then there is the Reactionary Church- (which many Emerging churches might look like) This is the church that starts because someone else has gotten it wrong. It is almost always led by a pastor who disagrees on some point or issue or another with his or her predecessor and wants to get it right. It might only be a small issue, that has become big, for whatever reason, say whether Adam had a navel? Or the color of the hymnals, or it might be an issue some might consider larger, should you have to pay money to be forgiven by God for your sins. Most of the divergences in early Protestantism were around the understanding of the Lord’s supper.

Fortress mentality. Doctrinal precision. Once we establish a position, whether it be Calvinism, Arminian we must defend it.

Then we start to give advice based on our position.

Advice is a form a nostalgia.
Dispensing is a way of fishing the past from the disposal wiping it off painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth."
- Baz luhrman

Our advice then becomes absolute.

Look it says now we see dimly. DIMLY. It’s not totally clear. Think Carnival Mirror. Yeah that’s you in the reflection, but you head is not really that big, your waist is not that narrow and your legs are not that short.

From our absolutes comes systemic estrangement.

Systematic estrangement:
It’s important to note that this is a form of systematic estrangement. Part of ones own identity is found in the person or institution a person is leaving. More importantly, part of the motivation for “new things” new churches, new ministries etc are often born from a desire to no longer be the what was just left behind.

In other words, we don’t want to be like them, so we start something else.
Or
We don’t agree in this fine point, so we start something else.

There is something to be said here for our understandings of unity and diversity as we move from mostly homogenious institutions.

This isn’t always wrong, justice for instance.

Like standing in front of a carnival mirror and using the reflection to

Humility at it’s heart is allowing yourself to be wrong sometimes.

Things are not always as they seem. Mystery is omnipresent.

So maybe confession and forgiveness is a good place to start.
Here’s an emergent confession I wrote a year ago or so.

I am historical snob. I love history, but not the last 50 years. For some reason, it’s cool to know about history right now. It gives us context. It brings clarity. But for some reason I get all more infuriated than Jerry Falwell at Tellitubby land or James Dobson listening to the Spongebob Squarepants theme songs while trapped in Carnival Funhouse and maze called the “Wild Wild world of the American Judicial system” …
Regardless… when I’m with my friends I mention Rick Warren and Bill Hybels and I see their skin crawl like a South American missionary with parasites. Why can’t I be respectful (in some way) and honor what our modern “friends” have done?

I’ve sought to understand Jesus in his context, but failed to re-engage him in my own.

Leaving the gospel bland and tasteless…

I’ve read NT Wright and sought to understand Jesus’ context, however I’ve often fallen in the same trap as every other modernist thinker in trying to find a universally pure gospel that has not been dirtyd by cultures, trends, specific geography and context.

In addition we fail to actually act on what we discover about God.

I am often insecure. I used to argue a lot. I loved debate. Calvinism, Arminianism, Openness… are you on a line or above it? We appear confident… but our need to argue gives away our insecurity. We argue because we don’t really know if we are right. IF we can just convince someone else to see it my way, then (ironically) maybe I’ll believe it a little more myself. This leads a lot of problems for the rest of us.
If your insecurity is driving how you engage people then you are not only hurting yourself, but you are hurting others. Like the people in this room.

We are arrogant.
On a hunch, often with great risk to reputation we began to do the unthinkable in our homogenious context, we began to think… in new ways. Some for the newness of a trend, others because the “good news” didn’t seems as good as it once did. Things weren’t right. With our new found perspective came a new reason for arrogance. Many of us are always subconsciously seeking a new and creative way to be proud… it is then that we find ourselves a wonderful new perspective and being a modern pharasee.

Matthew 20

The first will be last and the last will be first? Is it like some kind of cosmic musical chairs? Because when your are last you find yourself first in the story… which changes your thinking… and then you have to move seats?

The mobius Strip – We often get separate ourselves from a side we think is very different from ours… but in the end… we may find we are on the same side and our judgement on the otherside is now judgement on ourselves.

That the tricky thing about Jesus and his parables. Humility and gratitude is where you we must find ourselves.

So. I’m sorry if I’ve screwed things up for you. If there is anything we must learn about this journey we are on… it’s that we must be finding ways of agreement to engage the world… humbly… and with gratefulness.

The key issues for the Emergent conversation as we move forward is a deep sense of humility. I’m as guilty as anyone, and we need to stop picking fights with people, or being inticed into them. Act on your convictions, but hold them loosely.

Gathering June 1

2006-05-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Gang,

We're meeting againg. This time on June 1st. That's right, uno de juno.
Panera Bread @ 71st and Lewis (in the "special" room)
10:30am and go until 1pm.

Topic: Can we stop being Protestants?
Presenters will be Wade Hodges and Mark Riddle

Mark thinks we can stop. Wade thinks Mark's wrong. They will go mano y mano. er... they'll present some ideas.

Is it possible to be what some call Post-Protestant. It seems that we are very good at living our heritage as protestants. We can disagree with the local church/ denom, not reach an agreement that satisfies us, so in protest, we start our own church/denom. For 500 years protestants have been protesting. Our churches today are a reflection of that. Some say Emergent and the emerging church are just the latest reaction and protest of the church today. Churches are being planted, people leave staff positions, others feel isolated from others or stuck. What is a healthy way to proceed? Is it possible to move to a place in which we aren't just endlessly differentiating ourselves for everyone else. This is not a solely theological endevour, it is also an issue of character, and spirtual formation for us as we engage the conversation. Look on emergenttulsa.blogspot.com for more information.

July and August.
We're going to read a book and discuss it together over two months.
The Shaping of Things to Come is the book. Go to amazon and order it if you haven't already.
go here

Looking forward to seeing you all next week!

Steve, Paul, Mark and Wade

Verses from earlier this month

2006-05-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be so slow in posting these... Here are the quotes I handed out that morning.

N.T. Wright, How Can The Bible Be Authoritative?

“When people in the church talk about authority they are very often talking about controlling people or situations. They want to make sure that everything is regulated properly, that the church does not go off the rails doctrinally or ethically, that correct ideas and practices are upheld and transmitted to the next generation. ‘Authority’ is the place where we go to find out the correct answers to key questions such as these. This notion, however, runs into all kinds of problems when we apply it to the Bible. Is that really what the Bible is for? Is it there to control the church? Is it there simply to look up the correct answers to questions that we, for some reason, already know?

Somehow, the authority which God has invested in this book is an authority that is wielded and exercised through the people of God telling and retelling their story as the story of the world, telling the covenant story as the true story of creation. Somehow, this authority is also wielded through his people singing psalms. Somehow, it is wielded in particular through God’s people telling the story of Jesus.

The Bible, then, is designed to function through human beings, through the church, through people who, living still by the Spirit, have their life molded by this Spirit-inspired book. What for? Well, as Jesus said in John 20, ‘As the Father sent me, even so I send you’. He sends the church into the world, in other words, to be and do for the world what he was and did for Israel. There, I suggest, is the key hermeneutical bridge. By this means we are enabled to move from the bare story-line that speaks of Jesus as the man who lived and died and did these things in Palestine 2,000 years ago, into an agenda for the church.

Leonard Sweet, Aqua Church

“The Scriptures point us to Christ. They enable us to locate the North Star. They are not Christ. They are not what we worship. But the compass points to our life work – following Christ.” p.55

“The witness of the Bible is not to get people to believe the Bible to believe God. It does not say ‘Believe in the Bible, and you will be saved…’” (58)

Douglass John Hall, Thinking the Faith

Describing the Reformers’ mantra, “Faith which intends to be Christian must be prepared to listen to and submit itself to the authority of the Scriptures. …(The Reformers intended) to establish methodologically their main theological point.” (258-259)

“Theology lives with and from the Bible, not as a pupil of primary school mathematics lives with a set of ‘correct answers’ but as a storyteller lives with what seems the original and most authentic version of the story he or she is trying to tell, now, under different circumstances. For the disciple community, in other words, the Bible exists as its fundamental source of information and courage.
It is also of course the fount of information… But the informational function of the Scriptures, important as it may be, is secondary and subservient to its inspirational function. …The Bible apparently wants to give, and is able to give more than information – and faith certainly needs more.” (262-263)

Stan Grenz, How Do We Know What to Believe? Revelation and Authrority

“In keeping with the Reformation concern to bind Word and Spirit together, this statement suggests that the authority of the Bible lies in its role as that in which the Spirit has chosen to speak.” (23)

“The ongoing task of the community of Christ is to ask continually, ‘What is the Spirit saying to the church? Or, stated in terms of speech-act theory, What illocutionary act is the Spirit performing in our midst on the basis of the reading of Scripture?” (23)

“A paradigmatic event is a historical occurrence that captures the imagination of a community in such a manner that it shapes the community’s way of conceiving the totality of reality as well as the community’s understanding of its ongoing experience of reality. A paradigmatic narrative is a set of events that connects the community and its participants wit the past and the future. …It fuses past and future with the present in a manner that calls forth a new world in the here and now, so that the community that inhabits this world takes its identity from, and becomes the contemporary embodiment of, the paradigmatic narrative itself.” (25)

“A central aspect of the Spirit’s appropriating of the biblical narrative is to connect us with the primal events that originally constituted the Christian community, especially the life, passion and resurrection of Jesus…” (25)

Stan Grenz, Theology for the Community of God

“The Bible functions as ‘the constitution of an ongoing community.’ These writings provide the foundation for the life we share as believers, that is, for our identity as the Christian community.
Yet we ask, What about the Bible gives it this lofty role? Simply stated, the biblical writings are constitutional in that they are the product of the foundational stage in the history of the faith community… Because they set forth what constituted our identity as the people of God at the beginning, they hold primary status at all stages in the life of the community of believers.” (389)

“In declaring the trustworthiness of the Bible, therefore, we must keep in mind that it is ultimately not the book itself which we are affirming. Rather, we are confessing our faith in the Spirit who speaks his revelatory message to us through the pages of Scripture.” (403)

Daniel Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding

“The real question that is raised for theology by the modern critical mentality is whether the authority of Scripture is properly understood as oppressive. Is its authority an arbitrary datum simply to be accepted by a sacrifice of the intellect, or is it inseparable from the scriptural proclamation of the liberating grace of God in Jesus Christ? Put differently, the question is whether the church has forgotten that its own scriptural tradition contains a powerful critique of arbitrary authority and a distinctive message of freedom.” (42)

“Through the biblical witness, and especially through its narratives of God’s gracious, liberating activity in Jesus Christ, God is newly identified for us and we are led into a new way of life in communion with God and with others.” (48)

This is something I didn't hand out, but found interesting at least...

James Packer

Biblical authority, as historically (and, in my judgment, rightly) understood by evangelicals, a a complex dogmatic construction made up of seven elements as follows.
The first is a view of inspiration as an activity whereby God, who in His providence overrules all human utterance, caused certain particular men to speak and write in such a way that their utterance was, and remains, His utterance through them, establishing norms of faith and practice.

The second element in the historic evangelical account of biblical authority is a view of the principle of canonicity, as being objectively the fact, and subjectively the recognition, of inspiration.

The third element in the evangelical position is a belief that the Scriptures authenticate themselves to Christian believers through the convincing work of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to recognise, and bow before, divine realities.

Fourthly, evangelicals maintain that the Scriptures are sufficient for the Christian and the Church as a lamp for our feet and a light for our path - a guide, that is, as to what steps we should take at any time in the realms of belief and behaviour.

Fifthly, evangelicals affirm that the Scriptures are clear, and interpret themselves from within; and consequently, in their character as 'God's word written', are able to stand above both the Church and the Christian in corrective judgment and health-giving instruction.

Sixthly, evangelicals stress that Scripture is a mystery in a sense parallel to that in which the Incarnation is a mystery - that is, that the identifying of the human and the divine words in the one case, like the taking of manhood into God in the other, was a unique creative divine act of which we cannot fully grasp either the nature or the mode or the dynamic implications. Scripture is as genuinely and fully human as it is divine.

Seventhly, evangelicals hold that the obedience of both the Christian individually, and the Church corporately, consists precisely in conscious submission, both intellectual and ethical, to the teaching of Holy Scripture.

Biblical Authority Notes - Paul Littleton

2006-05-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

I know I didn't pass out any notes today, but I thought I'd briefly jot down my talking points from our meeting.

First, just over 60% of the Bible is narrative. That includes over half of the New Testament (if we at least consider the Gospels as being a form of narrative). Does that/how does that inform our view of the Bible's authority? In what ways are stories authoritative? Does what we read in a book of history differ from a lawn mower manual? Is the Bible more like a book telling a historical story or a manual for human life? What does that mean for the Bible's authority?

Something related that I didn't mention, but that should be considered as well is this: a good bit of the remaining parts of the Old Testament that aren't narrative are poetry. In what ways are poems authoritative?

Second, if I were to write a Systematic Theology today I would likely order my topics differently than most do. One major change that I would likely make is to deal with the Scriptures as a subset in a discussion of the Holy Spirit. To me, the Scriptures, while authoritative, find their authority in the one who both breathed them and continues to make them real to us both individually and as the church - the Spirit of God. Absolute authority rests in God himself. The Scriptures find their authority through and because of Him. Apart from the work of the Spirit the Bible is just another book. Through the Spirit the Bible becomes something so much more, and becomes authoritative for us.

Hopefully Kyle will post the quotes he passed out. There is so much in those quotes that I attempted to say, but that do a much better job than I do.

Feel free to continue the discussion here in comments.

Where All Emerging Conversants Must Go

2006-04-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

Why Fundamentalism and Liberalism Are Two Sides of the Same Coin - Where All Emerging Conversants Must Go

By David Fitch
Nancy Murphy in her Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism, showed how classic protestant liberalism (PL) and evangelical fundamentalism (EF) are really two sides of the same coin. Hans Frei before her, unveiled much the same thesis in his posthumously edited Types of Christian Theology. He put Carl F. Henry (of evangelical fundamentalism) and David Tracey ( the Catholic who nonetheless followed PL’s correlationalist strategies) in the same type and showed how these two traditionally distinct opposites in the field of theology were really doing the same thing. The implication here for both Murphy and Frei was that neither EF&PL addresses adequately the post-Enlightenment and/or post liberal worlds. Scot McKnight more recently has advocated a purple theology, a “third way” between the red and the blue states, and Brian McLaren has made the proposal for a A Generous Orthodoxy which somehow navigates a third way for Christians that avoids pitfalls of either the EF or PL position. All contest I suppose, that we must go beyond EF and PL if we would further the Kingdom of God in our times.

What I often suspect in the emerging conversations however, is that what we are really getting is an ad hoc conglomeration of the PL theology onto some assent of the basic evangelical affirmations. We are not getting a third way that engages the postmodern worlds, or a third way that avoids the pitfall’s of the old dichotomies between EF&PL. As a result, this Emerging conglomeration often yields few solutions to the shortfalls of prior manifestations of these theologies. It often falls short of articulating a faith that engages the dilemmas of our postmodern times.

I know that’s a mouth full. And I don’t have blog space to substantiate it. But maybe if we see how similar these two positions are, EF & PL, and how they both are inadequate to the task of theology at the end of modernity, we might be less tempted by the conglomeration approach and boldly pursue a way that does engage the postmodern issues and does further our faith beyond the pitfalls of PL & EF of the 30’s,40’s,50’s, 60’s, 70’s. So here’s a few examples of how PL & EF are the same and how a conglomeration gets us no where.

1.) Both EF and PL ground knowledge in the autonomous individual using foundational universalizable criteria found in the individual human person. For EF this is the universalizable reason located in individual minds which EF’s are able to use to uncover truth in Scripture and science and even defend Scripture’s authority itself. For PL’s this is the universalizable core religious experience accessible to each human as npart of being human. The problem, in the world after modernity, is that reason is given and limited to contexts. Likewise experience is formed out of cultural and linguistic shaping. To say my reason is right and every one else’s is wrong, or to say my own human experience is universal and the same as anyone else’s on the Eastern side of the world is inadequate for dialogue and truth at best, imperialistic at worst. To escape modernity we must ground our faith humbly and without violence in traditions, embodied arguments, community and the church from which we participate in God’s mission and witness to the world. Only in this way can we display truth in noncoercive embodied ways that present the gospel as good news.

2.) Both EF and PL want to keep Jesus personal and social justice detached from Jesus and the church. For both EF&PL, justice is an abstract universalizable (modern) concept. This means government can do justice as well as if not better than a Christian political body in the world without such power. For both EF &PL then, the government therefore should be an arm for God’s work thru Christ in the world. For EF&PL however, the moral issues are different. EF is for using government to advance personal morality (prohibition against abortion, homosexuality, and easy divorce) while PL seeks to use the government to advance social morality (prohibitive work against war, discrimination, unequal health care etc.). But because of this approach, we negelect to work out any of these issues politically and for real among and in a church body. Some emerging spokesmen are frightened to center the outworking of justice in the local church body. They might fear a withdrawal or sectarianism. This however reveals a lack of understanding that without a Bodily presense in the world, there is little true engagement with the world except via individualist arguments (which is fine, keep pursuing debate on the issues, I am not saying stop). But until we have a church that lives justice, it’s just Jim Wallis arguing against Jerry Falwell.

There are many other examples of how EF & PL are two sides of the same coin. For example, I contend that in response to cultural pluralism, EF’s exclusivisim, and PL’s universalism both lead to forms of imperialism. I believe both EF & PL tend to over-personalize (toward narcissism) the individual nature of salvation in Christ stripping Christ’s work on the cross of its cosmic scope and power. In both cases, these are two sides of the same modernist coin. But this post is already too long so they’ll have to wait for another post. For now I affirm that the demise of modernity has cleared a third way that makes it possible for us to hold firmly to our most precious orthodox beliefs in Christ yet not fall prey to the EF mistakes exposed by PL, and the PL mistakes exposed by EF, of the last century. I believe the emerging churches provide a space for this third way, the way I think we all must go. This is the task of the 5 Theological Issues I have been posting on and will continue to post on.

Link

Kyles Film

2006-04-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

From Tony Jones, National Coordinator, Emergent-U.S.
So many of us continue to miss Kyle Lake. All the time people talk about "tragic" deaths, but his death truly was tragic. And Julie and I grieve to think of Jen and the kids. But Kyle also left a beautiful legacy of life, and a film to that end is just wrapping up -- it's a tribute to Kyle's life and his faith, and I strongly recommend it. And, all of the proceeds will help fund his children's college funds. Here is some more information from the people who are putting this together...

There is no doubt that Kyle Lake, former pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, TX, lived life to the fullest. Both his inner and outer beauty will be remembered by all of us. "Kyle's Film" is a project that we are doing to honor the life and ministry of our friend. Kyle's last sermon was surprisingly very cinematic in its nature. Not only did it detail appreciating beauty in the ordinary things, but engaged a sense of inspiration and an eerie comfort in the wording. With this project, we are not elevating Kyle to a level of worship and admiration, but rather we are celebrating the beauty of God that was seen through Kyle's life.

This spring, we began production on "Kyle's Film", an interpretive, impressionistic, and cinematic short film based on Kyle's last sermon. We filmed everything in 35mm (which is the Hollywood standard for productions and used the same film stock as many recent films- Capote, Crash, etc.) and transferred everything to high definition. Right now we're working on post production and working with some of guys from the David Crowder Band for an original score. For the second half of the film, we are focusing more on Kyle's life through video and pictures of him and his family etc. We should have everything finished up towards May, and the running length should be around 10 minutes for both parts.

We are in the process of also setting up a way for people to pre-order the completed DVD when it is done in May. Congress Clothing will be handling the ordering process through their website, and all the proceeds will be donated to the Kyle Lake Memorial Fund, which will go towards his children's college tuition. You can find all of the information about the film on our website, www.kylesfilm.com, which has a trailer, links to our production blog, and the pre-order page. We hope this film will show Kyle's message of loving God, embracing beauty, and living life to the fullest to as many people as possible.

www.kylesfilm.com

David Fitch on the Bible

2006-04-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

"I'm willing to die for it" vs. "The Bible is inerrant"

I consider the “inerrancy” of Scripture discussion tacky. It brings up “old debates” like dirty laundry that have little applicability to the issues we confront in today’s culture. It is tired, overworked and well-worn conversation. Yet it continues to raise ire … among us evangelicals ... even the emerging churches. Regarding the first of the Big Five theological issues facing emerging churches, THE AUTHORITY OF & INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE AND COMMUNITY, I believe we all are in need of better ways to speak about the authority of Scripture, its nature as a deposit of truth and the way Scripture functions within the hermeneutic of the Community of Christ. I don’t believe "inerrancy" is the key issue here but it nevertheless seems to remain the defining backdrop for how we evangelicals must go forward. So I propose the following comments in relation to “inerrancy” in order to further clarify where the issues lie for we who are looking for ways to go forward at the end of modernity. For those who want to skip the comments on “inerrancy” and get to the point, go immediately to the last paragraph.

1.) The inerrancy defense is now too “liberal”...

2.) The inerrancy defense turns the Bible into a dead textbook of facts.

Read the whole article here

Emergent on CBS

2006-04-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

"A New Kind of Christianity"

"It's not nearly as radical as you think it is."

Link

Maundy Thursday: from Terry

2006-04-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

No Greater Love...

Tonight is a night of endings and beginnings. What we started, the journey we began on Ash Wednesday will be competed here tonight. The journey we start tonight does not end until the Resurrection of Easter. In ancient times this time was called the Triduum, "The Three Sacred Days," which lead us to Easter: Maundy Thursday (with it's all night Vigil of the Blessed Sacrament), Good Friday, and Holy Saturday to prepare us for the Vigil of Easter.

Tonight as a bridge between Lent and the Triduum, we will see the theme of love, our Savior's love for us. We will follow Him as He expressed that love in the washing of the disciples' feet, in giving Himself in bread and wine, in His dying upon the cross.

We will confess our sins, but unlike Ash Wednesday, the focus is on absolution. Forgiveness comes now "in the name and by the command of our Lord". In fact tonight we read of the new commandment, to "Love one another." On this, the very night of His betrayal, Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment: to love one another as He had loved them.

We say our prayers The Altar is made ready. The time of the Lord's Supper arrives, and our Lord is revealed in bread and wine as once He "revealed Himself to His disciples." As much as we would like we can not linger at the Table, for His betrayal is upon us.

Before we know it, the effects of betrayal are played out before our eyes. The symbol of Christ in our midst, the Altar, is stripped bare. The Gospel banners are removed from the Nave, the last ornaments removed from the Sanctuary, and the Reserved Sacrament removed from the Tabernacle. Christ is stripped of His power and glory. He is taken from us, we are destitute and despairing, Good Friday is inescapable. The powers of darkness work upon Him.

We leave this place in silence, no benediction, no blessings, tonight our Salvation is wrought.

Almighty Father, Whose dear Son, on the night before He suffered, instituted the Sacrament of His Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, Who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and Who now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Your View of Scripture?

2006-04-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

At the Emergent Tulsa Cohort last week, I passed out a handout adapted from a post Scot McKnight made several months ago about the way we view the Bible. Our assumptions about what the Bible is and how it works will have a huge impact on the way we read it. That's sort of what we talked about at the meeting. Here's what was on the handout.

Your View of Scripture?
Adapted from Scot McKnight

Sacramental: the Scripture leads us to the Beyond as we read it; heavily shaped by community; not always true. (Marcus Borg)

Inerrant/Infallible: the Bible is never wrong about anything (science, too); always true.

True: you simply confess the Bible to be true and don’t care to say any more than that.

True Christian story, still ongoing: you see Scripture as Story, and it is God’s true Story, and the Scripture prompts the re-use of that Story in our world today in various ways. (N. T. Wright)

True in matters of faith and practice: the Bible is true on these issues, but can be wrong about science or history or other matters.

Infallible, with Tradition: Scripture is infallible; God’s Word, but it is in need of authorized interpretation and the Church’s Tradition is the work of God.

Historical origins: you see the Bible to be the historical foundation of the Church; it is simply historical; not inspired in the traditional sense that it lifts it out of the norm of writing; Scripture is as human as anything we experience, even if God uses it to lead the Church today.

So what is your view of Scripture? You show me yours and I'll show you mine.

How did it go?

2006-04-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

Anyone want to share thier thoughts on today's discussion?

April 6th Gathering THE BIBLE

2006-04-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Our next Gathering will be April 6th.

we are meeting at PANERA BREAD on 71st and Lewis.
10:30am
Feel free to bring friends.

Our presenters will be
Wade Hodges from Garnett Church of Christ and
Jimmy Doyle - Bible Teacher at a local christian school.

The topic will be the Bible.

Is the Bible infallible? inerrant? is it authoritative?
Is it possible to not use these words and still value the Bible as much as those who do? There is a growing number of progressive Jesus followers who are too conservative to use words like infalliblity and inerrancy because they believe these words are culturally biased words.

What is the purpose of the Bible?

Was the Bible meant for individual use, outside of community?
Did Gutenburg ruin the Bible as is argued in this article?
http://alastair.adversaria.co.uk/?p=187

Here's NT Wright on the subject:
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Bible_Authoritative.htm

Come and discuss the ever important and changing role of scripture in the local church.

Wade, Steve, Paul, Mark

Tony Campolo in Tulsa

2006-03-31T13:19:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars and plan to join us for a lecture by

Tony Campolo
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
7:00 p.m.
Sharp Chapel

and

Wednesday night, April 5th, 2006
at First Presbyterian Downtown.

Bible Articles

2006-03-27T15:09:00.000-08:00

Walter Brueggeman Biblical Authority

Appetizer quote "Responsible interpretation requires imagination. I understand that imagination makes serious Calvinists nervous because it smacks of the subjective freedom to carry the text in undeveloped directions and to engage in fantasy. But I would insist that imagination is in any case inevitable in any interpretive process that is more than simple reiteration, and that faithful imagination is characteristically not autonomous fantasy but good-faith extrapolation."

NT Wright How can the Bible be Authoritative

NT WrightThe Bible for a Postmodern World

NT WrightThe Bible and Christian Imagination

Bible Article

2006-03-27T15:05:00.000-08:00

Remember our Gathering on April 6th (details in post below)

There's Something About the Way You Use the Bible There's something about the way you use the bible, something about
July 16, 2004 - 6:17am
There's something about the way you see the bible as a thing to be used at all.
There's something about your intensity and your urgency and the way you have your eyes locked on some distant prize. There's something about the energy you are putting into this. It's making you frantic and in a hurry. You will not be present in a sacred moment. You will not wait. You will not keep silence. You will not admit that you are weak. You will not let things unfold.
You cannot abide, so you will not abide. You will not abide the journey. Arriving is all you want, and the bible is some kind of shortcut for you. You seem to be cutting corners and covering your tracks with memorized verses. You enter every room with a blast of pretty Jesus words and a lot of fast talking.
Somehow you have come to think that the bible is like everything else in your life. You think it is something to master and something you can own. The more you know about the bible, the more power you hope to gain. The more verses you can quote, the closer to God you hope to be.
The bible is your prop and your flag. You wave it around and make sure that it is seen. You highlight it and talk about it and make wild claims about its truth and fight over it and win with it and boast about how you believe every word of it. It is your way and your truth and your life.
Behold, your sacred battle cry: “The Word of the Lord is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
But that verse isn't about the bible. It's about Christ, whom you serve, and whose spirit you are called to carry in your heart. It is only He who is your way and your truth and your life.
That old man that you brushed aside? The one you called a liberal and a wishy-washy Christian? He spent the last fifty years with his hands and his heart in the pages of that sacred book. He has wept over it and searched for truth in its stories. His unanswered questions have increased every year until finally he knows nothing at all but the love of God and neighbor.
He knows something that you do not know.
Those people around the table? The ones you spoke so harshly to that night when you came upon them sharing a meal and pleasant conversation at church? You told them it was a shame when Christians gathered only to eat and talk. You dropped your big black bible on the table with a thud for emphasis. They are some of God's oldest and wisest servants. They have prayed down the walls of prejudice and broken the strongholds of anger and pain with the prayers of their hands and feet. Their meal was a prayer, though you couldn't hear it.
They know something that you do not know.
These people know that the bible is not a self-help book full of easy answers, but a book of stories and wisdom that is meant to lead us into relationship and worship. There are hard and fast truths in it, yes, but they are surrounded by soft truths, and slippery truths, and sometimes truths, and truths that once were true but are no longer true, and truths that are only true if you are in the right state of mind, and truths that are only true if you are not hurting someone, and truths that are true in the moment but not if you are talking about the moment, and truths that can only be lived and should never be spoken, and truths that we cannot hear, and truths that are more than we can bear.
The truths of the bible are utterly beyond anyone who seeks to own truth and who seeks truth above the Spirit of God.
The bible is not a book for those who need a weapon. It is not a book for those who know where they are going and what questions they will ask. It is not a book for those who are in a hurry and looking for the shortest route.
The bible is a book for pilgrims and wanderers. It is a book for children and for those who wish to become children again. It is a book for seekers and searchers and dreamers.
It is a book for anyone and everyone who hopes that the desires of God might be written upon their hearts.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 (NRSV)

Post-Colonial

2006-03-26T06:05:00.000-08:00

So much for Emergent being an Anglo American thing.

Latin America RED DEL CAMINO

Africa Amahoro

Steve Argue on Salvation

2006-03-14T07:41:00.000-08:00

This week I'm doing some work with Steve and it reminded me of this amazing presentation he made on the topics of salvation a year or so ago in Michigan. I had the priveledge to be with him when he presented it and to hear the interaction that followed. Let me know what you think of it.

REFLECTIONS ON SALVATION
OR
“LET’S GET OUR CHRIST ON. LET’S KICK IT, JESUS STYLE.”– Pastor Skip in “Saved”
Steve Argue January 2005
As you listen to my words, I would ask that you would create an image in your head of an infomercial. Picture a stud or babe-like looking spokesperson convincingly telling, showing, and demonstrating to you the necessity of their product and why you should buy it. Now, take that image and tweak it a bit… imagine, the same infomercial displaying all the wonderful benefits of the product but it is communicated by a spokesperson who is a 100 pound weakling looking like
everything but what the “product’ is destined to produce. The writer of this reflection is certainly a picture of this second image. Salvation, in my limited experience and estimation is the most glorious of concepts and I am the most pathetic of spokespersons. I would argue that any connection between this particular concept and this particular spokesperson is certainly absurd or strangely wonderful… or both. Some might even call it mysterious (Rom 16.25, Eph 3.6, 6.19). There are elements of mystery and awe that I hope always moves me beyond the intellectual and the strategic and continues to grip me personally. In this context of absurdity, mystery and awe, I offer some brief reflections…

Where to start
Salvation defined must start with our understanding of God’s person. This is nothing new to us, but I think it is an important reminder that salvation, whatever we determine it to be, comes from one who chooses to reveal Himself and his purposes to his creation. If we were to ask why God would do that, my best answer is; “I don’t know.” Maybe that’s why words like grace and mercy and love are so significant to the Christian. These are embedded in the mystery and
awe of the Creator revealing himself to his creation simply because he chooses to and we are dull, un-anticipating, non-seeking recipients who are awakened to God and his purposes completely and only through God’s efforts.
The real mystery I propose that this is the true mystery of the Gospel. It is the mystery of God breaking in where God is not wanted or at least not known. This breaking in might be seen in grand pictures of revivals or underground churches, but I see it even more person by person. The breaking in is witnessed in the lives of everyday people and even in this one very
pathetic infomercial spokesperson. The fruit of this breaking in is varied. God breaks in when one becomes aware of their depravity; God breaks in when a cup of cold water is given to the least of these; God breaks in when relationships are restored, when compassion is extended, when addiction is broken. The mess we get in is when we try to measure break ins or evaluate their legitimacy. We are tempted to talk about numbers saved or seek out the sexiest testimony
because they bring the most attention or they sound best in prayer letters. When we try to quantify mystery, salvation and the gospel we begin to sound like an infomercial, creatively packaged in a 3-minute “testimony.” The essential gospel
If we are able to embrace the mystery of God’s working in people’s lives and are comfortable with holding loosely what “salvation” looks like, even celebrating different expressions of it, I think we can be more comfortable with saying what the Gospel is. For though the fruit of the Gospel is multifaceted, the central message of the Gospel is evident. The Gospel cannot be the gospel without recognizing God as creator, people as rebels, God as pursuer, Christ’s
incarnation, death, and resurrection, the Spirit’s ongoing presence, and a call to return to God and his community. The creeds and confessions give us the pathway for the essentials of a believing community and these, to me, are more than intellectual ascents, but are central to a revealed worldview that one embraces. They reinforce the elemental or essential teachings that one embraces as Christian (Heb 6). Christian leaders shepherd people in responding to Jesus greatest command…. ‘Follow me.” Our task calls us to be theologians above managers, rock stars, activity coordinators, best buddies or leaders. Therefore, I offer the following considerations and implications…

The Bible

2006-03-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Since our next meeting will focus on the Bible I though I'd link to an excellent post that might fuel our conversation a bit.

It's a bit lengthy - about the equivalent of 8 pages single-spaced - but it's well worth the read when you have the time.

Humanity Notes - Danny Grimes

2006-03-04T17:41:00.000-08:00

Emergent Discussion / Thursday, March 2, 2006 / Danny Grimes / dgrimes@oru.edu

The Human Condition

A Biblical Worldview - 3 Essential Themes

1) The Creation – Paradise Established – Good News Genesis 1:26-31
· imago Dei – Humanity was created in the “Image of God.”

“The imago Dei embraces our entire selfhood in all its variegated functions,
centered and unified in the heart.” Gordon Spykman

2) The Fall – Paradise Lost – Bad News Genesis 3:1-7
· Total Depravity
It means the total inability to get to God on our own initiative - a propensity to evil.
It does NOT mean that we will always do the absolute worst - a total lack of goodness.

Some non-Christians are “good” Christians by behavior – not saved.
Many Christians struggle to have good behavior – but they are saved. What’s up with that?

· So, how far did we fall? Sufficiently to need a savior.

· Was the imago Dei completely erased? If not, was it only damaged?

· The Effects Genesis 3:8-24
SPIRITUAL: Idolatry / Condemnation
INTELLECTUAL: Ignorance
MORAL: Disordered Loves / Desires

3) New Creation – Paradise Regained – Good News Hebrews 9:15
· Redemption / Restoration

· Was the imago Dei completely restored? If not, was it only partly restored?

The History of Redemption
Protoevangelium / Seed of the Woman Genesis 3:15
Noahic Covenant / Race of Shem Genesis 9:1-17
Abrahamic Covenant / Line of Abraham Genesis 12, 15, 17
Sinai Covenant / Nation of Israel Exodus 19:1-6
Davidic Covenant / Family of David 2 Samuel 7:1-17
New Covenant / Person of Jesus Christ Jeremiah 31:31-33

· What is our condition in Christ? Some biblical phrases to consider.
Sinners saved by grace through faith? Ephesians 2:8.9
New Creatures / all things new? 2 Corinthians 5:17
Joint heirs with Jesus? Romans 8:17
Royal Priesthood / Holy Nation? 1 Peter 2:9

Two Human Conditions to Consider
1) Before Christ – Capable of goodness, but lost. Loved and accepted by God as we are, yet pursued and convicted of sin by the Spirit of God.

2) After Christ – Called to obedience, a life of faith and good works – saved by grace through faith. Made holy through cooperation with the Spirit’s process of sanctification. Still loved and accepted as we are.

The Gospel = A Good News, Bad News, Good News Story

Humanity Notes - Paul Littleton

2006-03-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

Great to be with you all today. This obviously isn't comprehensive but examines two specific areas related to humanity that I think are particularly relevant to the ongoing emergent conversation: 1) who are we as humans apart from the Fall (for lack of a better term ;). I'll let Kyle take that one on), and 2) can we even discuss humanity by placing our focus solely on the individual, or must we look at humanity in community?

Humanity

I come from a reformed Baptist tradition, so when someone like me thinks of humanity one of the ingrained thought patterns is what we called “worm theology.” For a good example of worm theology check out the following: http://tonga.globat.com/~holwick.com/Job-book/job25_4.html. Growing up we would sing the hymn “At the cross,” which has the line “for such a worm as I” in the original version. Thus, the story of humanity, for all practical purposes, began at Genesis 3 and the fall. Any proper understanding of humanity was understood through that event.

The story prior to Genesis 3 and two aspects of its relevance and importance for the church.

Genesis 2 is often ignored apart from statements about the image of God in humanity especially as it relates to anti-abortion issues. But this passage also has much to help form our thoughts on things like social justice issues, the death penalty and war, among other issues. 80's pop band Human League had a song titled Human. These words made up the chorus:

I’m only human
Of flesh and blood I’m made
Human
Born to make mistakes

And it isn't simply, or even especially, popular culture that lives with the ingrained idea that to be human is to be “born to make mistakes.” And, interestingly, the “mistake” of that song was unfaithfulness, as if unfaithfulness were a part of our DNA. That's a very Augustinian concept – and one for another day.

N. T. Wright says that Jesus was the true human. Jesus lived out and ultimately fulfilled the mandate to subdue the earth and have dominion over it. He now reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now the body of Christ in the earth continues to carry the mandate to rule and reign with him. This is what it means to be human. In Romans 5-8 Paul makes a considerable argument that glory is where we are headed as an outcome of the obedience of Christ.

2:18 “It is not good that man should be alone.” It is interesting where this statement falls in the creation story. We read this after Adam was placed in a perfect garden, given the perfect job, living in perfect relationship with the Creator apart from any effects of the Fall, which hadn't yet occurred. God had gone through the six days of creation and each step of the way (except for day two) we read, “And God saw that it was good.” 2:18 is the first instance where we read that something in God's creation was “not good,” and this before the Fall of chapter three. Man's existence apart from community was not good.

Thus, to be human is to live in community. It is even argued by some (Dallas Willard, for instance) that living in community is a part of the image of God. In God we see perfect community. As Father, Son and Spirit you have me, you and him; three in perfect community calling humanity to a community that is reconciled to God and to one another. Thus, the community that God intends for humanity becomes reconciled community, which is an important aspect of the message of the gospel – a message that is not simply about sin and guilt, but about restoration to our own status as true humanity.

Next Gathering :: Thursday March 2nd

2006-02-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

Since Riddle hasn't put this up yet, I thought I would take charge.

We are meeting at Nordaggio's at 81st and Lewis this Thursday, March 2nd @ 10:30 a.m.

This month we are talking about Humanity.

What does it mean to be human?
Are we essentially sinners or are we a new creation?
Are we missing the point by spending so much time talking about issues of the spirit that we forget about being more fully human.

Our presenter will be Dr. Danny Grimes and Paul Littleton.

Paul is the Pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Sapulpa and Danny is a pastor of the Bridge and professor at ORU.

They will each give a short presentation, followed by a few questions, then we will break into groups and discuss. (Depending on the size of the group)

Hope to see you there.

Todd Littleton's Presentation

2006-02-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the great time with you last week. I thought I would follow Andy and Kyle's lead and post the outline I had in mind for my part of the panel discussion on "church." These changes maintain and hopefully clarify something of what I hoped to communicate. May we share time again along the way ...

Ecclesiology as a Spiritually Forming Community of Trust in Jesus

Different than programming for activity.
Different than emphasizing individual purpose.
Stresses the communal aspect of faith as the story and metaphors in Scripture describe formation on terms of a communal experience.

Collapsing the Two-Story House

Exposing the myth of hte two-story house - sacred/secular
Moving from the false dichotomy toward wholism
Living out of the Abrahamic Covenant - "Bless the world through you."

Moving Beyond a Utilitarian Ethic

The Commoditization of the Gospel created a disconnect between message and method. No longer mattered "how" so long as you were "right."
Return to an ethic of love as expressed ion the Great Commission. To borrow from Dallas Willard - Avodiing the "Great Ommission from the Great Commission."
"Don't be Rude"

Re-imagining Liturgy, Images, Metaphors, Icons and Sacred Spaces

Connected by Liturgy
Expressed Poetically
Move Slowly

Andy Mullin's Presentation on Church

2006-02-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

Presently Un-“Churched”

#1 People I share common faith with and have a common priority/mission i.e. “the gospel” and God’s kingdom.

#2 People I work with, live with and have deemed trustworthy to share the more intimate parts of my life as well as knowing them well enough to share in the more intimate parts of their lives.

#3 People I share doctrine with, the finer points of how I live my life. People who understand my decisions and me well enough to encourage and challenge me in my set circumstances.

#4 People I sit quietly beside and smile at while the pastor teaches a watered down, middle of the road, least common denominator yet eloquent sermon to ensure his salary and social growth of the church.

Things I miss about church
1) Eating lunch with other couples on Sunday
2) My kids being around other families and discussions about God
3) Having people think I was a good and growing spiritual person and pat me on the back for doing “good Christian things”.
4) The corporate feeling that I was involved with a group of people actively engaged in #1 and worshipping with them focused on one goal. As long as that goal is the kingdom of god and not a building project.
5) A place for senior adults and others with “free time” who care about my family to watch my children grow and invest in their lives.(multiple grandparents and uncles)
How did I get here?
1) My son’s leukemia and our families struggle
a. Difficult to be interested in a worshipping the God of “good times” and blessings, and hearing sermons about how if you do right God will protect you…”the bless me clubs”
b. My own impatience toward pretense and politics

2) Being on Staff seeing “behind the curtain” and interviewing at several more churches for education…

What I struggle with now

1) Am I willing to sacrifice #3 and keep my personal doctrinal issues to myself?
2) Is it possible to truly experience fellowship without disclosing those things?
3) If I do and I am “found out” again can my wife and I handle another rejection?
4) Is it possible to engross myself in #1 and not worry about the rest? Is that naïve or foolish?

Where I am headed

Presently I’m operating with #2 and #3 and a few specific teachers on my ipod.
I’m looking to see God at work.
When I do I hope I have the courage to join him.

Kyle Meador's Presentation on Church

2006-02-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

Here's what I'm bringing with me to our discussion today:

I love the church. I don’t mean to suggest that I love every church I’ve ever visited. Nor am I suggesting that I love every church person I’ve ever known. I mean to say that I love the body of Christ, the bride of Christ. I love who she has been at her highest and best moments in my life.

When I was lost – and I don’t mean when I hadn’t subscribed to the right doctrinal formulations or before I had been baptized – when I was lost, confused, disorientated and headed down a hundred different all paths, each just as empty as the one before – when I was lost the church of Jesus Christ in the person of a Baptist campus intern, a church of Christ campus minister and a couple handfuls of 18-22 year-olds-old drew me into an alternative way of living, a new reality and a regenerating of my life in the power and identity of Christ Jesus. Through their stories, their friendships, their time and interactions I discovered the way, the truth and life which has governed and held me for every year since then. And I am forever changed and grateful.

I love the church. I just don’t like being around her all the time. The language and image of church in our day is amazingly consumeristic, institutional and focused on meetings, gatherings, mental assent and self-improvement. I’m not against improving oneself, politeness and morality or really enjoyable gatherings and shows. But that’s not ‘the church.’ That’s programming, governance, organization, methodology – the means. But the means has become the end and the very point for far too many people. Take away the means – take away the Sunday morning show, the classes and programs and I’m afraid that many, if not most, folks who call themselves Christians wouldn’t know what it meant to be a Christ-ian anymore.

What I need are new images, new ways of imaging the church. The Biblical metaphors are wonderful and meaning-filled. But for the sake of sparking discussion, let’s imagine the church in two different metaphors – one very 21st century, one a bit more rustic and western.

Two images for thinking about the church:

1. Imagine the church as a network, a web of interconnected, interactive relationships. In this network there are open, ‘friendly’, meaning-filled, functional, constructive interfaces between various entities (persons, families, neighborhoods, communities…) These entities, upon entering the network, have aligned themselves to a welcoming, accepting, cooperative rapport with others on the network, based on a common allegiance (to Christ) not necessarily on affinity, likeness or similarity.

a. Embedded in this is image is a theology of hospitality. Members of the body of Christ practice a commitment to accepting one another as they have been accepted by Christ.

b. God shows up within the very interactions themselves in this network. The Holy Spirit works through the interactions, stories, and experiences that are shared and encountered in dealings with each other. It is in these very interactions that transformation of character, conduct, intention, mission and life takes place. As Eugene Peterson writes, “There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus, no wholeness in the Christian life apart from an immersion and embrace of community. I am not myself by myself. Community, not the highly vaunted individualism of our culture, is the setting in which Christ is at play.” (Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, p. 226.)

2. Imagine the church as an outpost of Heaven. If Heaven is the reality where God’s will is fully known, explored, lived out, cherished and celebrated, then the church is an outpost of Heaven – pushing God’s will further, wider and deeper into the reality in which people live. This outpost has many functions...

- As an embassy, sending ambassadors into the surrounding community and world to invite and initiate others into the rule/reign of God. (Consider Eph. 6:12)

- As an alternative society resisting powers which would degrade the inherit worth of humanity, bolster structures of injustice or manipulate humans away from loyalty to God.

- As a center for discovery and expedition, searching for the movement and presence of God in creation, in places of suffering and struggle, in moments of spiritual conversation and in ordinary life. The outpost searches for where God is and what God is doing so that it may join God there.

- This outpost also offers security, refuge, hospitality, acceptance, healing, hope and mercy to everyone. The primary language of this outpost is love; love that would bring Senator John McCain, a good Reformed Pastor and a normal, ordinary Tulsa family to the same dinner table with a militantly liberal feminist, an alcoholic father, a prostitute whose in rehab, and a fanatic anti-government insurgent. (Jesus’ practices of table fellowship dramatically flew in the face of the honor and shame culture of the day. The table became for Jesus (and eventually for the church) a primary way to live out the language of love as Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, men and women came together to share in meals, to interact and to break bread.)

- Additionally, this outpost is a place of commissioning, sending persons into the surrounding community and world to carry on the mission begun by Christ Jesus.

The Church

2006-01-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

On February 2nd when we gather again we're going to be talking about the church.

Here's an article you might check out by Dave Crampton.

"Mission is not intended to originate from churches. It is not the church of God that has a mission to surrounding cultures, but the God of mission who has a church among the culture."

It all starts with God.

Next Gathering: Feb.2nd - The Church

2006-01-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

We'll be discussing the Church next month for our gathering.
We'll have three presenters leading our time together followed by loads of discussion.

Our presenters will be:

Todd Littleton who is the Senior Pastor at Snow Hill Baptist Church in Tuttle, Oklahoma.

Kyle Meador who is a bartender by night at a local Italian eatery and co-pastor by day at Rivendell a not so traditional church.

Andy Mullins - who is the owner of Shepherd Boy Creative and November Sunday. Andy also has served as a youth pastor.

Evangelist- it's not a Christian word anymore

2006-01-13T08:35:00.000-08:00

Guy Kowasaki Author and Business guru writes about being an Evangelist on this blog post:

"Out of curiosity, I went to SimplyHired, a vertical search engine for jobs, and looked for openings containing the keyword “evangelist.” Amazingly, there were 611 matches--and none were for churches. It seems that “evangelist” is now a secular, mainstream job title. Indeed, the first eight matches were for evangelist jobs at Microsoft--go figure."

very interesting in light of our conversation.

The Logic of Evangelism

2006-01-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we talked about evangelism. I tried to stoke the conversation by bringing some quotes from one of the best books on evangelism I've read: The Logic of Evangelism by William J. Abraham.

What is especially striking is the way in which the gospel of the kingdom initially spread. It did not spread because of a carefully designed program of evangelism; nor did it start because the early disciples meditated on the Great Commission and felt that they had better obey it to assuage their feelings of guilt. The church did not begin its evangelistic activity because it was terrified about the prospects that faced those who died without hearing about Christ; the Christian movement was not initiated by a band of professional evangelists eager to sign up a public relations firm and get the show on the road. Rather the gospel spread and the church grew because the sovereign hand of God was in the midst of the community that found itself surrounded by people who were puzzled and intrigued by what they saw happening. Pg. 37

Thus Christ’s death as an atonement for sin becomes in many quarters the heart of the message, and the whole drama of the coming of the rule of God in his birth and incarnation, in his life and ministry, in his death and resurrection, in his ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, and in his continued presence in the worship and ministry of the church are all treated as a kind of scaffolding or backcloth to the salvation of the individual sinner. The impression one receives from the New Testament is very different from this . . . Pg. 59

Evangelism in the early church was rooted in the eschatological activity of God, which was inaugurated in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and continued in the act of the Holy Spirit. Given what God had done in and through Christ and the Holy Spirit, it was only natural that Christians should proclaim the mighty acts of God in salvation and liberation, and that they should found communities committed to celebrating all that God had done. They were propelled by a wellspring of joy and love that was at once irrepressible and contagious. Pg. 92

We can best improve our thinking on evangelism by conceiving it as that set of intentional activities which is governed by the goal of initiating people into the kingdom of God for the first time. Pg. 95

One of the issues we tried to grapple with is the evangelical tendency to make evangelism hell-centric. In Scripture, evangelism is so much more than just making it hard for people to go to hell from your city.

Another issue that came up was urgency. Assuming that keeping people out of hell is not your primary motivation for doing evangelism, then where does the sense of urgency come from? Are hell-centric evangelists more likely to have a sense of urgency than those whose evangelism is motivated primarily by something else?

Gathering This Thursday!

2006-01-09T09:39:00.000-08:00

Yep. We are meeting this thursday
10:30am at nordoggio's at 81st and Lewis.
See you then!
All are welcome.
Feel free to bring anyone who might benefit from this conversation!

Monastery visit

2005-12-26T20:16:00.000-08:00

Well, Dec 28th is almost here. That would be the 3rd day of the Season of Christmas.
I would like to meet everyone at St. Patrick's church parking lot before 8:00 am so that we could arrive at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek a little after 9:00 am. Steve Denton, Dino, Jimmy, and Steve Zedler have my cell phone number if anyone needs to call me. Or before Wednesday, u can email me.

That should get us there in time for the Father Guestmaster to talk to us just before Terce.
Guests are allowed to attend some of the "Hours" of the Divine Office: Prime, Terce, Sext, None and Vespers. The Divine Office and Holy Mass are celebrated in Latin and sung in Gregorian Chant. This is the schedule. We will have to talk about and decide on exactly when we need to return, but I am pretty sure we will be back in Tulsa by 8:00 pm at the latest.

PRIME at 8:00 a.m.
SUNG HIGH MASS: 10 a.m., preceded by TERCE
SEXT at 12:50 p.m.
NONE at 2:35 p.m. weekdays
VESPERS: 6 p.m. during the week

The Father Guestmaster has invited us to eat lunch with the Monks in the refectory, and I have told him to expect 7 guests. And on that, we are guests, and are observing the Monks in their home and lives, they are not about consumer Christianity in any way, so we won't be catered to, if that makes sense. I am hoping to schedule one of the Monks to talk to us about his life there, but they may not have the time.

This will be a great time to step outside of our culture and be alone with God, bring a Bible, prayer list, Rosary, book, or whatever you want to focus on during the day. We could also do some centering prayer if anyone wants to talk about that. I certianly am looking forward to it.

Emergent Friends

2005-12-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

As I was recently looking over several blogs, some of them local, all of whom are critical of Emergent as they understand it. I've been reflecting.

The obvious first observation is the gap between those who are very vocal critic and those who in some way shape or form consider themselves to be a part of emergent.

My first thought is to write some of them off as having been burned by the church and now disillusioned with the institution in some significant way. this is true of some. but not all. I suppose folks who think like this will come with the territory of anything, or anyone who says something new. People who didn't like the old, will lump you in with their disillusionment.

My second thought is that they are very conservative fundamentalist, sometimes evangelical, often republican, who love reason, rationality and scientific thouht (as long as it fits their worldview then they rebuke science.) Since I went to a Southern Baptist University, I often think of Southern Baptist first in this catagory, which is a bit unfair to my SB friends. Generally though, these folks are strongly reformed theologically. Though a high percentage of these folks are reformed in theology they are more often than not, pre-Barthian. Which is interesting too.

Both of these are true. but not always.

Third. Now this is a stretch. But I think there is a strong contengent of people who love Ideas more than they love People. (this can be true of anyone in this conversation either emergent of otherwise) I think this is important because of my next point.

Forth.
Emergent is primarily about relationship. Friendships. Most of the critiques of people who are in the emergent conversation are critiques by folks who are not in relationship or dialogue with folks in the actual conversation. I would contend that these folks would at least have a better framework for understanding what is going on with emergent if they had regular conversations with those folks.
blogs are not communities. blogs are not conversations.
blogs are not condusive for this kind of conversation because they are too slow.

So when a blog declares Tony Jones as the "stupid church person" of the year it's not within relationship. They sit down with Tony and realize they are one the same page on many issues. And to the Stupid Church Person blog, they did a good job finding common ground with Tony in their podcast.

Which leads to an intersting quote I hear recently. "Friendship precedes orthodoxy"
i like that.

what do you think?

Update: Email

2005-12-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to you all!

A Couple quick things to get onto your calendar

Thursday January 12 at 10:30 at Nordaggio's (at 81st and Lewis)
More info will be coming on what the topic will be.

Beginning in February we will be meeting on the first Thursday of the month. There are several youth pastors in town who might be interested in this conversation, but who have meetings with Metro worship on other Thursdays.

also.

The Tulsa cohort lead team
I'd like to let you know that I've invited Wade Hodges, Paul Littleton, and Steve Denton to be a part of the steering team for the Tulsa Cohort. The role of this team is to keep this a communal effort, and give guidance to issues as they arise in the future. This group will also be actively listening to issues that need attention for us all.

and finally.

Invite folks to the conversation.
Please feel free to invite folks to the conversation this January
Everyone on this list is male! and that is not good. So.
Let's change that. Let's invite some female folks to join our conversation. We have a lot to learn from them as well!

blessings

Steve, Wade, Paul, and Mark

emergenttulsa.blogspot.com

A Religious Protest Largely From the Left

2005-12-17T00:47:00.000-08:00

There are a great many folks who are pointing out that so many of the visible, verbal leaders of the conservative religious groups are way too silent about the terrible challenges faced by the (growing numbers) of poor across the globe and in our own hometowns. This article highlights this.

Some of these folks talk about this being a matter of priorities and they're right. Our priorities shape our attitudes towards others, our daily behavior (including spending, working and how we raise our kids) as well as our senses of piety, righteousness and faithfulness to God.

Cutting programs for the poor, finding jobs for the unemployed, and partnering with agencies of compassion and justice are theological issues - just as much as anything else on the 'Right's' agenda. Indeed, what is playing out between the two polarized religious positions is a theological debate which can sometimes be disguised as political in nature.

What's at stake in a very elemental way is what it means to honor God.

So - what does it mean to honor God? In life and doctrine?

Why does he do it?

2005-12-14T06:18:00.000-08:00

It must be the money... oh wait! He's a volunteer... just now part time.
It must be for the popularity and glamour! oh wait! That's not it.

Look at technorati.com and type in "tony jones"

then say a prayer for Tony.

Still on for today!

2005-12-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

We are still on for today!

Hope to see you at Nordaggio's at 81st and lewis at 10:30!

call me if you have questions.

407-1545

Calm in the storm

2005-12-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, Dec 10. Contemplative Outreach 's Tulsa chapter, in collaboration with the Benedictine Sisters of Saint Joseph Monastery are offering their monthly Silent Saturday gathering for centering and contemplative prayer.
I know many Emergent are interested in a more Contemplative or Ancient version of worship and this is a wonderful opportunity to experience a time of peace in this bustling season.
We will meet in the monastery parlor around 9:30 to about 11:30. We will have centering payer and Lectio Divina. St. Joseph's is located just southwest of 21st & Lewis. If you are interested in coming , please be there 15 minutes beforehand to be oriented to the Contemplative method of prayer, and also if possible, email me and I will make a point of looking for you and guiding you to the correct location.
Come - to the quiet.

Next Meeting Dec. 8

2005-12-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

One week until we gather together again.
I must say that I was very encouraged by the number of folks who attended our first gathering.
I'm looking forward to hearing from Paul, Kyle and Daniel as they share a few minutes each on the subject of salvation. Then discussion.

Nordaggio's at 81st and Lewis.
10:30am

See you then

Evening Date Change

2005-11-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

Ok. So I can't make it to the Dec. 16th meeting now. My wife, Pam, has an office Christmas party that night.

Do we want to change the date?
would the 17th work better for anyone?

mark

Jesus The Emergent Pastor

2005-11-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

John Frye has a great series going on at his blog Jesus The Redical Pastor. Check out his posts: Jesus The (First) Emergent Pastor, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

If you don't already have it, I would also recommend his book Jesus The Pastor. It's one of the best books I've read (and re-read) helping me to get a better grasp on the heart of ministry. It's not just for "pastors."

Thinking about Salvation

2005-11-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

Wade Hodges is doing some posting here and here about salvation.

Hmmm. Interesting reading - community, reunion, renewal...

Update: post 3 of his series.

God sends shocking message to Emergent

2005-11-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

No words. Except this guy is an ass.

Here's the
link.

Do I need to learn to love my enemies and be gracious. What's the appropriate response?

Congratulations Harlan and Karin

2005-11-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

Julian Robert Snyder
Born to Harlin and Karin Snyder
on the amazing birthday of November 7th!

Next Meeting Dates

2005-11-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 8th @ 10:30am

Nordaggio's at 81st and Lewis
Paul L., Daniel and Kyle will be presenting ideas on Salvation.
What is Salvation etc.
Their presentation will be followed by significant discussion...
and lunch and Chimi's!

It should be very cool.

Tentative second date is
Friday, December 16th @ 6:00pm
Details to come.
This is a date set in attempts to invite folks who can not come during the day.
If you work during the day, we're looking for your input for this time.

Today at 10:30

2005-11-10T06:17:00.000-08:00

See you at Nordaggio's at 81st and Lewis today at 10:30.
Those working at Metro might want to wait and come for their lunch break.
See you all then.

Marathon Steve has better Escatology

2005-11-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

Steve Argue wrote this in his blog today after running the West Michigan Marathon.

"So, picking up from my last post, I’d like to reflect on one aspect of my marathon that I found stunning. Call this the fruit of 3 plus hours of running and thinking, or the late stages of delirium, but I couldn’t help but conclude that runners have a better eschatology than most churchgoers.

Here’s the scenario: I’m running with the 3.15 pacer and a group of runners who want to make a 3.15 marathon. Why 3.15? For most of them, it’s the time that one needs to qualify for Boston (you need to qualify for Boston, you can’t just run it, which makes this April marathon so prestigious). After a number of miles, one of the runners asks the pacer, “Will you tell us about Boston?” And then the poetry begins. The pacer tells of the fans, the scenery, the rush, the landmarks, the spectacle of it all. He paints a beautiful picture. I’ve run Boston once and his description brought back wonderful memories.

Three quarters into the race, we have a different pacer and again, someone says, “Tell us about Boston.” Another story, more word pictures, poetry… poetry in motion.

There is no doubt that this conversation is motivating us. It’s pointing to us a goal, a dream, and something that many long to be a part of. What amazes me is that we’re pounding out the miles and starting to feel the burn and breakdown of our legs and minds, and we talk about Boston. What will we do there?

… we will run.

Who, after running 20 plus miles, dreams of running 26 more miles?

Runners do.

And that’s why I think they have a better eschatology… a better view of what is to come.

What if runners who qualified for Boston, went to Boston to sit, and relax, and eat junk food? It would seem odd wouldn’t it? I sometimes hear Christians talk about heaven this way. Some day we “leave it all behind” and go to be in heaven and do what we want, how we want it, relax, enjoy “eternity,” “salvation,” “streets of gold… and coffee shops too.” Sounds cute. Even good for a vacation. But for forever? That sounds boring and it’s no wonder to me that promises of “heaven” don’t thrill many (Which is why many Christians threaten people who think heaven is boring… with hell... another thought I’ll post on, in the future).

What if eternity is like the way runners think of Boston? Runners… run. They continue to work and strive and sweat and pursue. They have goals, they have each other, and they have joy… and they share together an amazing experience that brings tears to their eyes. Is this so far fetched? Is not creation and the first garden filled with work and purpose and togetherness and goals and joy? Is not redemption about a recapturing of all God intended in the first place?

I think so.

Eternity must be for active participants, not for onlookers and bystanders.

Active participants are active today because they realize that eternity isn’t somewhere in the future… eternity starts today…

...and I think this is a great eschatology."

I love it! Link to Steve's Blog

Potential Starting Points

2005-10-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I went to a conference in San Diego. At this conference a woman from a nationally published magazine was being interviewed. This woman was incitefull and I couldn't help but feel like she'd been wounded in her past... big time. She did not profess to follow Jesus, in fact, she was somewhat curious about why she was speaking at a "pastor" event.

Immediately before she stepped on the stage we sang a song that said something like "You are my King". When she walked on stage, she commented on this.

"We have to get away from this idea that God is exclusively male." Then she said something like, "Calling God a king in the world we live in only wounds people, and it shows a gender bias"

These comments have been planted in my head for a few years. Everytime I hear the word "Kingdom" I think of it. Beside the fact that there are very few kingdoms left in the world and those that are, are mostly pomp and circumstance with little actual power (ie. the United Kingdom)

So as we move forward, as we move forward in deepening our understanding of this idea of the "kingdom of God" can we also push forward with the language.

Revelation, the term for kingdom of God seems to be "city of God" and though "city" has it's own baggage, I wonder if it's a better substitute.

Then again. I like the idea that no one word (or words) can contain the kingdom.

Summarizing the Kingdom of God is dangerous work. Especially since Jesus himself often didn't give concise definitions, but rather mysterious and often vague parables by which he described an aspect of the kingdom.

In light of this.

Maybe a good starting point for us may be each of us individually picking out a parable and then write our individual thoughts on that parable and the kingdom and then we expand our thoughts in the comments section?

what do you think?

post away!

Emergent Tulsa Cohort

2005-10-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

Cohort meeting on Nov. 10
10:30 @ Nordaggio's
81st and Lewis

I do realize this is not the best time for some folks. Though it works for many.
Please comment on times that work for you. (Thursday's after 8 etc.)

The Gospel according to Jesus

2005-10-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

What is the Gospel According to Jesus?

Often we interpret Jesus through the lens of Paul.

some quotes.

Dallas Willard writes, "History has brought us to the point where the Christian message is thought to be essentially concerned only with how to deal with sin: with wrongdoing or wrong-being and its effects. Life, our actual existence, is not included in what is now presented as the heart of the Christian message, or it is included only marginally."

he goes on...

"To the right, being a Christian is a matter of having your sins forgiven. To the left, you are Christian if you have a significant commitment to the elimination of social evils. A Christian is either one who is ready to die and face the judgement of God or one who has an identifiable commitment to love and justice in society. That's it."

Tony Jones speaking in Pittsburg earlier this month.

"And then back to Paul - evangelical Christians are in love with Paul and not Jesus. We've become Paulophilics and don't even realize we're reading Romans through a contemporary lens. Like the PENAL SUBSTITUTIONARY THEORY OF THE ATONEMENT - this whole idea that one thing can balance out something else like a transaction - it comes from a guy named Anselm and was developed during the same time the Magna Carta was. The whole concept that someone screwed up so someone must pay for it... laws are very important in our society - we're very litigious and we assume that there's an economy of sin, too... only the rest of the world doesn't see the Bible like we do."

Emergent Tulsa Cohort

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Emergent Friends

Update: Email

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Why does he do it?

Still on for today!

Calm in the storm

Next Meeting Dec. 8

Evening Date Change

Jesus The Emergent Pastor

Thinking about Salvation

God sends shocking message to Emergent

Congratulations Harlan and Karin

Next Meeting Dates

Today at 10:30

Marathon Steve has better Escatology

Potential Starting Points

Emergent Tulsa Cohort

The Gospel according to Jesus