Emerging Church/Emerging Conversation

I won't pretend that I know all the distinctions/difference between the above terms, but I know there has been much going on in the blogosphere lately on the topic.

There are many leaders/speakers within this movement, but two of the folks in the conversation, Doug Pagitt and Brian McLaren, have made some suppositions/statements which I find somewhat disturbing.

To start, I have to say that the part of the movement which is probing what it means to be missional (however that is defined) is something that does interest me, insofar as it searches to find how the Gospel is to be practiced or lived out. It's when in trying to be missional that some folks redefine or reshape the Gospel that I have a HUGE problem.

You see, it's folks like Pagitt who state that John MacArthur preaches a perverted Gospel. Yes he said that--see this post.Pyromaniacs: Different Gospels

McLaren in a recent book, Everything Must Change casts the Gospel as a type of social gospel, where Christ came to establish His Kingdom here on earth, and the Gospel is meant to essentially cure social ills and the human condition. (see a great post by Tim Challies on McLaren's newest book here)

There's a sense in which they feel they have a new lease on the Gospel, that they are trying to invent a "new" way to be a Christian, but this social gospel has been preached before, and as Tim Challies mentions, it has been defeated.

McLaren and Pagitt want to leave behind "stuffy" Protestantism and orthodoxy, but if you do this in abandoning basic understandings of justification, atonement, etc, you have no Gospel at all. Jesus did not come to die so that we could have a better world--he died to save us from it and from the wrath of God!

Were the disciples preaching the Gospel to help create a better world? Did they die for that? Did Paul preach dying to oneself everyday because the people he was preaching to needed a better sense of community? NO! He preached to them because they were sinners, and they needed a savior! When Peter speaks in his letter about being prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have, he speaks of the hope in Christ that we have for our salvation, not some social interpretation of the gospel.

Helping and serving others should be a work that is an outflow of the grace that Christ has shown us--it should be a means, not an end of preaching the Gospel, and that's where I fear that the focus of this "conversation" is moving toward.

We have been told in the Gospel that there is one name by which we are saved, and that is through Christ--He said Himself that no one can come to the Father except through Him. If we begin to make the Gospel into a different focus other than the fact that each person needs to come to Christ for salvation, then the Gospel is not preached.

Suffering and Trusting in God

Now that I've posted something trivial about sports, I'll turn to the topic of suffering and the really great sermon that our elder Chris preached on this past Sunday.

The passage was from 1 Peter 4:12-19, which reads as follows:

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Chris began by stating that Christians who suffer should trust the love of God for a joyful outcome, outlining three points:

1. Be Sure That Suffering Will Come (v. 12)

Suffering in this life, as a Christian, is not a matter of if, but when. Suffering is often utilized by God to test us, to burn away the impurities much like the person who burns away the dross off the gold. Christ told his disciples to count the cost in following Him, because he warned them that as He suffered, so they would suffer. The importance of trusting in the love of God is that we are taken by surprise when we suffer, to the point that we cry out to God, saying "Why is this happening to me? Have you forgotten me God?"

Now, honestly, how many of us have said that when we have come up to suffering or adversity? Many of us have because we forget how God is ALWAYS with us, and is ALWAYS faithful. But God is not only there, but He gives us the grace necessary to rejoice in our sufferings and to cause us to look to God and see His sovereign purpose in it--which is to glorify His name by it (see Rom. 8:18). Notice it is to HIS glory, not yours, that you suffer, so throwing a pity party does not proclaim Him or His gospel in your life.


2. Be Sure That Your Suffering Is For Worthy Reasons (v.15)

It is often that we are bold enough to ask God "Why me" when the suffering is a result of our own disobedience! Peter speaks of evil doing, murder, theft, and even of someone who is a busybody and meddles in another's business. We should not moan in our suffering if we have consciously sinned as Peter mentions. It should be a warning to examine ourselves to make sure that we suffer for worthy reasons.


3. Be Sure That God Has a Sovereign Purpose For Suffering (v. 17)

a. In judgment, God separates the dross from the gold by revealing His glory through the suffering of His Church--in judging His people first, He identifies them as His own, setting them apart for His glory and honor.

b. In producing faith through the suffering, God causes us to put our faith in Him rather than lean on our own understanding or righteousness or flesh. HE must be our portion--we must cling to Christ and in Him alone when we suffer.

c. In connection with the one above, we entrust our soul to God by practicing the faith that He has given to us--this comes in our being sanctified.


In conclusion, Chris reminded us that our motivation for doing good and trusting Him in suffering is that he loves us despite our level of obedience and faithfulness to Him. What a blessed thing indeed!

Trying to Fix Somethin' That Ain't Broke

There are times when you really have to scratch your head at what folks are thinking. I'm not a big fan of women's soccer, but in general, internationally, the U.S. Women have had the best squad since the World Cup was instituted for women almost 10 years ago. So that sets the stage.

Enter U.S. Women's Coach Greg Ryan, who decides to bench his younger goalie, Hope Solo, in favor of veteran goalie Briana Scurry, who hasn't played a match since June (almost 3 months ago) for the semifinal match against Brazil yesterday. You can read the entire story here.


Up until this point, Solo had only allowed 2 goals and had gone the last almost 300 minutes of play (each game has 90 minutes) without allowing a goal during this World Cup. She had played very well. Not surprisingly, when the U.S. lost 4-0, Ms. Solo was frustrated and stated that she would have been able to make those saves.

It is really interesting when someone decides to change something when it seems to be working, but I guess that the coach will take the heat for his decision in the days and weeks to come.

A Close "Call"

My wife, her brother and some church friends of mine went to see Caedmon's Call last night--when they came out onto the stage, two members (Cliff and Danielle) were noticeably missing. Andrew Osenga played a song or two, then revealed that just as they were about to get on the plane from Houston, Danielle went into labor and they couldn't make it for the show. So not only was Derek not on tour with them yet, but Cliff and Danielle was not there either. I was sort of bummed.

But I have to say that my wife and I have a new found respect for somewhat-newly acquired member Osenga (he has been with them for about 5 years since the Normals dissolved). We were both kind of disappointed when Derek left to do his own thing, and thought that Andrew wasn't a great replacement. But he surprised us as he really carried the show last night (he's a suprisingly funny and quick-witted guy), and stepped up--they brought a friend of Caedmon's from Houston to fill in for Danielle (Sarah?) and she did well. Josh Moore was AMAZING on piano, and the percussion stuff was fantastic. It wasn't the ideal that I was hoping for, but I had a great time. If anything, I hope that it shows Caedmon's that this area can produce a pretty good crowd so that they'll come back when they're full strength.

I look forward to seeing them in the spring.

Our Bibles Are Not Antiques

I was in a Christian bookstore last weekend to purchase a concert ticket and I was noticing how many different types of Bibles there were available for purchase in the store; study bibles, devotional bibles, parallel bibles, children's bibles, and numerous translations. Next to the Bibles were the numerous ways to cover your bible, whether by fabric or by leather, zipper case or not.

It got me thinking about a few things--for starters, how many bibles I had in my house (close to six, I think). In addition, looking at the casings in the store, I thought that oftentimes we treat the physical Bible itself as an antique rather than something to be used. We don't mark it up or highlight in it, because it's the Word of God, after all! We put it back in its casing and are very careful to open and close it, because we wouldn't want to damage it--but have you ever seen the Christian with the Bible whose cover is worn and the pages marked up like it was a college textbook? That's how we ought to use it, for as Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16, all Scripture is breathed out by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, and for training in righteousness."

Now, notice the picture to the above right--it is an old Bible and not one that was preserved in glass or in pristine condition. Or this picture, which shows a Bible that has clearly been used.

When my wife and I got married, my dad gave us a table that had been in his family for a long time--it was a table that my parents and I used as a computer table while I was still living at home, but when it was given to us, it became our dining table. Now, we could have put it over in the corner and treated it as an antique, but we were given it so that we could use it.

So before you are quick to be overprotective of your copy of God's Word (notice that I'm not saying you should toss it around like you don't care about it), remember that it's been given to you by God for use and for your benefit.

We Are All Proclaiming Something

I went to men's prayer breakfast this morning and heard a WONDERFUL advocating of family worship. We read from Ephesians 5:22-6:4, a well known (and sometimes misinterpreted) passage of Scripture.

It speaks of the wife submitting to the husband and the husband loving the wife as Christ loves the Church; the visiting pastor (also named David and a pastor of a ARP Church in Blacksburg?) very correctly pointed out that the passage was NOT about the privilege that a man derives from that passage, but in fact the responsibility of men to their families. I am the first to say that I do not practice family worship as I should, and don't pray often enough with my wife--our pastor David pointed out that it takes a real intimacy to pray with your spouse, and this is something that has to be developed through the action of prayer.

The visiting pastor pointed out that there has been a real abdication of responsibility of men/families within the Church when it comes to spiritual instruction and family worship, and certain statistics were thrown out to show how many children leave the faith (being defined as not being a member of a local church) after a certain time subsequent to high school. The percentages were high and some objected to them bringing in examples of the prodigal son, that they don't tell the full story, etc. But focusing in on the numbers or their fallibility misses the point. The passage focuses on the responsibility of the man as head of the family to model and live out his faith by his instruction and discipline. We will be accountable for what WE do--focusing in on the complexity of the situation and other cultural factors will allow us, if we are not careful, to excuse our inaction when it comes to spiritual instruction to the family. We might say, "Johnny has strayed a little bit, but it's that city he's living in--it's too liberal" or "the college he chose doesn't have any good churches nearby" and so on.

But do we ignore the Psalms and Proverbs where it says "train up a child in the way he would go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it?" Do we not try?

I am of a younger generation, and though I do not have children, I am a product of the generation where youth functions and groups were designed to completely fill the gap created by the lack of instruction at home. As time has gone on, more and more "innovations" are put forth to pull more kids in--but if they don't see that lived out at home, there's a disconnect. The whole schematic is backwards. Home should be where the spiritual foundation is laid, and the church in its functions for youth should reinforce what is already or mostly known.

I agree with the visiting pastor--I don't have anything against youth groups--but it asks the youth leader to do more than he's able. If you abdicate your responsibility of spiritual discipline and instruction to the pastors of the local church, do you know what you're saying? "Hey Pastor Bob, would you raise my kids?" Because that's what it really amounts to! You can't shove the kid into youth group (at least the ideal) where the Word is preached and God's commands are advocated and then expect him to come home, see the exact opposite (or at least only apathy toward spiritual things) and be able to process the contradiction! It's like having two parents who have two completely different standards.

And this brings me to the title of this post--we all proclaim something with how we live our lives. Some will say, "I am not evangelist, I don't really know how to witness well" etc. But I would challenge you that are witnessing to people everyday, whether you know it or not--if they know you go to church, even that you are a Christian, you proclaim something. In your relationships, your work ethic, your temperament, and so on.

We as men will be held accountable for how we carry out the responsibility we have been given over our families, and it is something, when I think about it, that shakes me to the core because I know that I have failed miserably in it. But as someone so correctly pointed out this morning, it is not too late to start now.

Christ is not just a part of our life, he should BE our life, permeating our conversation and our thoughts, as well as our relationships with our family. This can only happen through immersion in the Word and gaining knowledge about our God, having His praises on our lips through song and through prayer. What did Paul desire? In 1 Cor. 2:2 he states, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Christ and Him crucified." Let that be our prayer today as we love and minister to those to whom we have been entrusted with, and let the Lord deal with us graciously, and not as he ought.

It's 5 A.M.

And all the rest of my house is sleeping soundly, while I sit eating breakfast and prepare to leave in a few minutes on a 3 and 1/2 hour journey to Southwest Virginia. It's not that I have not had anything to write about--I've got sermons to blog, other thoughts that run through my head, but maybe I've taken a sub-conscious break from blogging because I haven't felt very motivated. The days have all been a blur, and these past few months have been very tiring. A friend of mine asked whether I prefer being in the office or on the road, and I said it was an interesting question--I'd rather be in a different type of work!

My wife and I went up to West Virginia to her family reunion and it went well, though with all of her dad's brothers and sisters aging (he's 67 and the youngest of 12!), less and less are showing up due to death or illness. But it was still a good time--lots of food and visiting. Makes me wish my family could do something like that, but the logistics (everyone being flung across the United States--one as far as Oregon, the other coast) make it very impossible.

I hope to have some more thoughts when I come up for air this weekend. Have a blessed day in the Lord!