We came to Ngatiawa Contemplative Monastery, here near Waikanae, New Zealand, for PassionFest and liked the people so much that we stayed. Its been a week now and we are having a great time. Justin and Jenny Duckworth are the main conspirators. They let me putter around in the kitchen and hassle the heaps of…
Read MoreEmerging Church Jello Begins its Wobbly Descent
Soooooo the emerging church jello plastered on the walls of historical memory by uninformed critics finally begins its slow, wobbly descent, revealing that not all that was said about emerging church leaders was accurate . . . as I have been saying for a LONG TIME. Here's some quotes you might appreciate: "I don’t attend…
Read MoreChuck Swindoll on the emerging church
I just left a comment on Chuck Swindoll’s blog. Dang! I didn’t know he even had a blog until now. Its called Insight for Living, like his ministry. The man is a LEGEND and I have read so many of his books its ridiculous. He was also my pastor in the 80’s and my wife…
Read MoreWhats happening in the church, NOW?
My comments on today’s World Mag article on the death of the Emerging Church. Firstly, I didn’t kill it. Really. I was framed. Secondly, Anthony Bradley does a great job on the article and is reeling in a ton of comments. Well done! Although the comments do seem to degenerate into a little group of…
Read MoreA white guy and a black guy in the emerging church
Here’s a story about the emerging church if anyone cares to listen. Just one of many stories. Its not a very popular one because it doesn’t include any famous speakers or horrible heretics or ten ways to transition your church into coolness. There are also no images and no links but you might appreciate it…
Read MoreWhites Only 1: Listening to the criticism
Sojo Mag published an article today that you probably heard was a’comin’. You can buy it here. The article is called “Is the ‘Emerging Church’ for Whites Only?” Brilliant graphic, btw, and something that was intended to be a little funny and not too serious – so dont any of you white people take offense.…
Read MoreSouthwestern on Emerging Church
Listening to a recent chapel series at Southwestern Seminary where they tackle emerging church. The Grindstone – Ministry and Culture: a Discussion on the Emerging Church (Part 1) [Listen] (Part 2) [Listen] The Grindstone – Christianity and Culture: emerging, emergent, or what? (Part 1) [Listen] (Part 2) [Listen] My notes. Good to see them tackle this subject. Contextualization is…
Read MoreRemembering Michael Spencer, Internet Monk (1956 – 2010)
The blogosphere feels much emptier today with the sudden passing of Michael Spencer who you probably know as Internet Monk. He told us about his cancer but it was still really quick. Way too quick. I didn’t get to insult him one last time. HT: Christianity Today LiveBlog I often posted links to the blogged…
Read MoreCutting John Piper some slack on the emerging church
I was a little harsh on John Piper and his comments on the emerging church and the timing was bad. I posted a response 2 days before he announced his ministry break, and a week before the Desiring God conference. Not cool. He deserves better. My apologies, from one Baptist to another. And on top…
Read MoreJohn Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church
UPDATE: John Piper announced his time off from ministry 2 days after this post. Bad timing on my part. See my follow-up post also – Cutting John Piper some slack on the emerging church. ORIGINAL: John Piper is a well respected pastor and teacher so his words on the emerging church this week are creating…
Read MoreTop 5 Memories from YL/Emergent
My Top 5 memories from YL/Emergent: 1. Glorieta, NM: National Evaluation Forum or New Edge gathering in 1998. We wanted to allow people to respond to the messages through visual and tactile means. So we set up an art studio in a broom closet and installed a resident artist (Derek Chapman) for the event. My…
Read MoreGoodbyes to Emergent Village
Since New Years Day, the focus of this blog has been transitioning to something different – locating and equipping missional entrepreneurs around the world that God loves. Its a movement that doesn’t really have a name but its good. I will not be using the emerging church vocabulary and this blog will be more geared…
Read MoreA Response to Tony Jones
Tony, thanks for your post "Lonnie Frisbee and the Non-Demise of the Emerging Church". Some thoughts of mine in response. The twittersphere condensed the key thought of my post into something i didn't intend to say and there was some confusion. And the title's question mark didn't come out on the URL so the date…
Read More10 types of emerging church that will no longer upset your grandfather
On New Years Eve, exactly ten years ago, I wrote a piece on the 5 types of emerging “postmodern” churches as I saw them. Now, on the eve of the next decade, I want to expand that number to the 10 types of emerging church models that we have been starting, promoting, raising funds for,…
Read MoreEmerging Church Movement (1989 – 2009)?
Update: April 2010. Well this post kicked off quite a bit of discussion and even today that discussion continues. As you read it, please note that I am saying [probably not as clearly as i intended] that i observed the movement to have matured in 2009, and is no longer a "radical and controversial movement,…
Read MoreEmerging Church and Black Rimmed Glasses
Here’s one for the theologs. Guess the person behind the black rimmed glasses? Answer at the end of the post. From the fantastical mind of Todd Heistand, Karl Barth has a beer and a smoke and a chat with emerging church leaders. Nice post, although I cant imagine a room full of emerging church leaders…
Read MoreWhatever happened to the girl who started the emerging church network?
Well, she's in her thirties now so you can no longer call her a "girl" without getting into trouble, but whatever happened to Shannon Hopkins? In the nineties, after being part of the Young Leaders 1998 event in New Mexico [where we first met] she helped to launch a coffee-shop kinda church called Soul Cafe,…
Read MoreHow to speak about the Emerging Church without sounding like a moron
Next-Wave deserve a special mention for November’s incredible array of articles on the emerging church. Sorry for coming late to the party. Very rude of me, especially since they have run my tallskinnykiwi widget to raise funds for next year. THANKS! Charlie’s cover story on What Pastors should think about the Emerging Church was a…
Read More3 Things the Emerging Church Took From the Catholics
What did the Roman Catholics ever do for the Emerging Church? Nothing! The EC had to figure it all out by themselves. Over 2 decades of struggle and experimentation and getting laughed at and being misunderstood. Actually, thats not quite true. A few things come to mind. And since I promised last week to mention…
Read MoreCatholics and the Emerging Church
The Catholic website New Advent sent me a tidal wave of traffic this week with a link to my post “How to estimate church attendance”. THANKS! And thats not all. The Catholics are making themselves felt all over the emerging church blogosphere right now: – Patrick Keenan is running a series called In Search of…
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