Sep 23 2005
Church of the Apostles in Seattle held an emerging church learning party This past Saturday at their meeting space (abbey). I want to play and learn like that too. I’ve been trying to see if some other emerging church folks in W. Michigan would be interested in doing something like this. Maybe I’ll explore this with the EWM cohort.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Sep 23 2005
I am a big fan of the material put out by the altworship folks in the UK. I think they have a really great way of taking the historical rituals patterns and breathing new life into them.
Her are some other alt worship links I’ve come across recently
Sue Wallace: An A to Z of Alternative Worship
planet telex » Blog Archive » Mobile Theology… Liturgy for Closing Service
Popularity: 12% [?]
Sep 23 2005
What if faith is like jazz? After a reading Blue Like Jazz, having a EWM conversation with Steve Argue where he suggested we think of doctrine as being like a song and Anthony Smith sharing a quote from Rodney Clapp
" jazz can correct what James Cone, I am afraid with all too much justification, has called the "the heresy of white Christianity." I think faith is like jazz.
I am more and more convinced that jazz the all American musical form birth from the womb of New Orleans is the way to salvage the theological conversation going on in emergent and modern circles. The tension is between those who say you must belief something absolute, be able to express those beliefs and stand on them to really be called a Christian and those who are hesitant to express the faith in terms of absolutes and certainty.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Sep 21 2005
If you ever want your church to be reviewed like a Broadway show or movie? Then check out this web site Church Review and Guide.
"Well Bob I give it a 7 for worship style, a 8.5 for creativity & 6.4 for bible form. That’s a final score of not recommended"
Well I give this a 
for bias and one sided reviews. But then that’s just one person’s opinion.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Sep 20 2005
Last week I got to hear Brian McLaren in a conversation with two other folks who are not embedded in the emerging church conversation discuss what’s emerging in the emerging church?
When pressed to say what the Emergent folks think the Emerging church should stand for I was gratified that Brian said the following are issues on which the emerging church should take a stand
In describing the emerging church McLaren used these words
missional
integral
conversational
Evangelical
catholic
monastic
global
flawed
immature
a couple other snippets McLaren says
He expects more conversation in Europe and england
NT wright not Brian mclaren
sharing the gospel with gentleness
check out the talks from Brian and other here.
Now the commentary
Many people in the emerging church conversation are satisfied to talk about theology, worship styles and flat leadership models without dealing with the dagger in the heart of establishing real community, classism and racism. I had a renewed hope for this conversation when Brian made it clear that all people but especially Anglo people need to explore and understand the significant role that colonialism, racism and class have played the church’s practice of the faith in history. He described it as "the history that the rest of the world know that we don’t want to talk about." It created the impression that "White Christians think they have right to do anything they want to do."
This was very important for me to hear as it affirmed the discomfort I have felt with a "Negroes welcome" (thanks to Maurice for lending me the language to describe this) attitude from some in this conversation. It looks like this You all can come talk if you want to, on our terms, but we aren’t going to make room for you or include your historical contributions, or recognize your voice or hear your story. If you want that then go form your own sacred circle!
How is that different from the modern church? Hmm… let me think 
its not!
So hope renewed and with some Anglo folks who get (EWM) it and a couple other folks of color now in the conversation I press on.
Thanks Brian for taking the time to tackle a tough but critical issue.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Sep 20 2005
Last week I met a new friend Anthony Smith known in the blogosphere as postmodernegro. He was in Grand Rapids to be on a panel and present a paper a t the Civitas Conference at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.
Anthony is one well read brother. He is conversant in the dialog going on in many spheres of theology from Hauerwas to Cone to Grentz. I was inspired by the breadth andndepth of his knowledge and his inquisitive approach to theological inquiry.
Few people of color that I have meet are able to soak up material from so many different sources and still maintain their connection to their roots. Further more he is able to integrate all this knowledge into a sensible and compelling philosophy of ministry that speaks to the soul. As he said often in our conversations he is practicing Pentecost.
Sure you right Anthony I’m glad you are in the EC conversation
press on bra
Popularity: 8% [?]
Sep 15 2005
blogs4god a christian blog aggregator is back online. Here’s the press release.
blogs4God to rise from the dead
— After narrowly escaping a digital death at the hands of spammers, blogs4God has been resurrected with an entirely new format to serve those who live their online life by the question : ‘what would Jesus blog?’ — In response to ever increasing attacks, and to accomodate changes in blogging syndication technologies, Mr. Peters has teamed up with several other A-list "God-bloggers" to create a system that is more resilient to automated entries for male-enhancment drugs and hot stock tips, and friendlier to the community of Christian bloggers whom the site serves. On September 19, 2005r 19, 2005 As Mr. Peters likes to put it "there is no need for Christian bloggers to hide their light under a basket as long as blogs4God is around." You can visit the site, and even post comments at: http://www.blogs4god.com/ Mr. Peters is a computer programmer who likes to share 20 years experience and Master’s degree in Computer Science on his blog HealYourChurchWebSite.com and is the contributing author to Vincent Flanders’ best seller "Son of Web Pages That Suck."
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! blogs4God.com will rise from the dead and re-open its doors as the "Semi-definitive Portal for Christians who Blogs." The site will offer a variety of user-friendly features such as daily-aggregations, moderated categories, website reviews and ratings, a site-wide search engine and daily blogs on the front page.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Sep 14 2005
Cornel West Princeton professor and Counselor West in the Matrix movies has written a powerful analysis of the lessons exposed by the new Orleans disaster. Ironically the piece is in an English newspaper.
He is challenging us to to move beyond rhetoric to real reform. To realize the plight that still exists for the poor and disenfranchised who are exiles in America. He articulates in typical West fashion the failure of all segments of society to see with eyes of compassion the condition of the least and mount a meaningful
Bush talks about God, but he has forgotten the point of prophetic Christianity is compassion and justice for those who have least. Hip-hop has the anger that comes out of post-industrial, free-market America, but it lacks the progressiveness that produces organisations that will threaten the status quo. There has not been a giant since King, someone prepared to die and create an insurgency where many are prepared to die to upset the corporate elite. The Democrats are spineless.
I think it is time to answer the call to not just talk about the plight of others but to act. To learn to live beyond ourselves in spite of our own brokenness. To sign the pledge. take up the mission not because it is PC but because it is the mission Jesus said he came to fulfill and calls us to embrace. Luke 4:17-19Luke 4:17-19
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
17 he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. He opened it and read,
18 . . To act not because we have to but because we must, if we are to be the followers of Jesus we must.
God help us to be the people we were created to be.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Sep 11 2005
Recent articles in the print press suggest that US Christianity is all wrong. We are making no impact. It seems we are focused on the wrong things. The Christian Paradox excerpt from (Harpers.org) The full article SojoNet: Faith, Politics, and Culture
Move over, politics. Americans are looking for personal, ecstatic experiences of God, and, according to our poll, they don’t much care what the neighbors are doing.
So says this Newsweek article In Search of the Spiritual - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com
There has been a particular falloff in attendance by African-Americans, for whom the church is no longer the only respectable avenue of social advancement,
Even the guru of church research George Barna has changed his direction based on the limited impact that all his research provided to churches has had.
Wayne Codiero has a great story on his blog Mentoring At A Distance: Lessons from the Poor about his recent experience with leaders in the underground church in China. It speaks to the power of the the gospel among the poor and oppressed. Something that is tragically missing in North America Christianity Here’s an excerpt
When the two days were concluded, I had fallen in love with these seasoned warriors. Realizing my own inadequacy to help them in their daunting task of reaching China, I asked, “How can I pray for you? What do you want the most?”
“Pray that we become like you,” was their immediate request. “We do not have freedom of religion. We only have a few registered churches, and the rest cannot attend. We are a persecuted Church. Pray that we can soon be like you!”
“I cannot do that,” I sadly replied. “I will not pray for you in that way.”
“But why?” They pushed back on my seemingly unchristian response.
“You came here after riding thirteen hours on a train. In America, if church is more than thirty-minutes away, people will not go. It’s too far. You have been sitting on a wooden floor without air-conditioning for two days to hear the Word of the Lord. Where I come from, if you cannot sit on cushioned chairs and be in the comfort of air-conditioning, people will find better things to do. You don’t have adequate Bibles, so you memorize what you can gather. In every Christian home, we have an average of three Bibles, but we don’t read any of them.
“No, I will not pray that you become like us. But I will pray that we become like you!”
Popularity: 13% [?]
Sep 11 2005
While many people have decried Kanye West’s comments about the Bush administration and black people there is little hue and cry about Christians who describe the New Orleans disaster as God’s way of cleansing the "sinful" city. So into the void comes on Chicago DJ. Who asks Do you believe in sin?
It is at once a scathing indictment of practice of the Christian faith in North America and a poetic and deeply spiritual response to the unbelievable callous response of some to the death and despair so many have faced.
Popularity: 11% [?]
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