Book Review: Why We're Not Emergent

For anyone who is attuned to contemporary Christian culture, the new movement known as, "Emergent" or "Emerging", has been seen, heard, or read. If Christians have not heard of the movement, they have definitely heard of the leading players, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones, Donald Miller, etc. However, the fact that most Christians are not familiar with their teachings or what they are really saying is truly the dangerous part of it. I am pretty attuned to this movement and the articles, books, conferences, and various things that come out of it. Unlike many people who simply hear things at second or third hand, I actually have read their material myself and know not only what they are saying, but the context in which they say it. One of the most disturbing things about western Christianity is the fact that most Christians have no ability (or do not exercise their ability if they possess it) of spiritual discernment. Our churches aren't doing enough to equip believers in the pews with the tools to read something, watch something, or listen to something without being able to discern whether it lines up with the Scriptures. If one were to merely walk into a Christian bookstore and look at what passes as "Christian", it would certainly disturb and frighten anyone who is concerned. Of course, most believers think because it is simply in the Christian bookstore that it must be ok. This assessment applies to the Emergent Church and the plethora of material they produce.

Despite the negatives that pass as "Christian" these days, there is some really good material out there, as well. Ironically, while I was browsing through an advertisement from a local Christian bookstore, I came across the book, Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be). Of course, my interest in this topic drew me to the book so I decided to check it out. After researching, I came to their website and eventually, bought the book and finished it in two days. My overall assessment of this book is extremely positive. Written by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, they do a thorough job of examining various aspects about the movements, especially the theology and teachings from the writers themselves. After reading about 5,000 pages of Emergent material, they examine the basic teachings and beliefs posited by the main leaders within the "conversation". The authors alternate writing the chapters with Kevin DeYoung doing the longer, more theological examination behind their beliefs and comparing it to orthodox Christianity. His chapters are the "meat" here. Ted Kluck writes more "experiential" chapters which are light and add some nice humor into them.

There is not enough space to delve into a specific outline of all that the book entails, but it is definitely worth the read if you are concerned about where the Western church is heading and the dangers posed by those in the Emergent movement. You don't have to agree with everything they say, but read it and consider what they say. If nothing else, at least they are adding to the "conversation". I would highly recommend you get this book!

I've Heard of Contextualizing, but.....

I read this article today here on the pastor who is replacing Rev. Jeremiah Wright at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago and I can't stop laughing. I put it away for awhile and then came back to it and found myself laughing outloud again. I don't remember reading this is in any of my Bible translations or in my hermeneutics class. Does anything good come out of this church? Enjoy!

Barack Obama has finally distanced himself from Rev. Jeremiah Wright after a 20-year relationship, but the pastor who is replacing Wright at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ is likely to be just as controversial.
New Trinity pastor Otis Moss has called Biblical patriarch Abraham a “pimp” and made other statements many would consider offensive.
After Obama called Wright’s comments “divisive and destructive,” a questioner noted that Rev. Moss has defended Wright and asked if Obama would continue attending the church.
“Well, the new pastor, the young pastor, Reverend Otis Moss, is a wonderful young pastor,” Obama responded. “And as I said, I still very much value the Trinity community.”
Moss, the 37-year-old “hip-hop pastor,” as he’s called by congregants, will become head of Trinity in June, after serving as an assistant pastor there for two years.
But a videotape of a sermon he delivered at Wright’s church shows this “wonderful young pastor” referring to “ghetto prophets” and “thug theology,” calling the late rapper Tupac Shakur a “prophet,” and reciting at length lyrics to Shakur’s song “Thugz Mansion.”
Moss also states in the sermon:
· “Jesus has a soft spot for thugs.”
· “God is always using thugs to do God’s work.”
· “Everyone has a little bit of thug in them.”
· Noah was a “thug” who “was drinking much gin and juice and got drunk on the eve of reconstruction.”
· Abraham “pimped his own wife.”
· Jacob was a “hustler” who “stole his own brother’s birthright.”
· Moses was a “thug” and “if he got mad would give you a royal beatdown.”
· Sampson was a “thug” and a “player.”
· David was a “thug,” a “shot caller,” and a “player,” and a man after God’s own heart.
· “Jesus is on the cross being lynched between two thugs. The moment of execution, the moment of murder, Jesus, the son of God, is hanging out with thugs.”
In an interview last month with National Public Radio, Moss refused to distance himself from claims by Wright that the U.S. government was involved in distributing illegal drugs to minorities.
He said: “I think we need to be very, very honest in terms of that our government has the ability to place a Hubble Telescope in the sky but yet we haven’t had the political will to shut down drugs coming into our community. And from that perspective I think that’s something we can look at in terms of policy.”
In his Easter sermon, Moss said Wright was “lynched” by the international media, and compared Wright to Jesus.
In a Trinity church newsletter, Moss maintained that American entertainment companies operate with contempt for the black community, according to World Net Daily.
He wrote: “Currently, there are eight companies controlling 90 percent of everything we hear, read, watch on television or view in the movie theater. These companies operate with contempt and disdain for the black community.”
Moss has also referred to blacks as “lepers” with a “skin disease.”

I'm back....for now!

Well, I haven't been here for a month and it feels good. Having a life, instead of writing on a "blog", is quite nice. I guess we should all try it sometime. Just to keep you updated, here are the fun facts that have been happening in my little world.

1. I got married
2. I went on a honeymoon.
3. I had a blast!
4. I finished my final paper for seminary.
5. My favorite soccer team, Manchester United, is on the verge of winning both their domestic title, as well as the UEFA Champions League.
6. I have been observing and pondering some interesting thoughts on modern Christianity. It don't look good.
7. I got married.

I don't have much more to write right now, because I have to get ready for class. I will try to post some new stuff here soon, as my schedule might clear up a little bit.

Until then...

My Last Week of Freedom

Well, let me first say that I apologize for the long absence. My life these past few weeks (perhaps, months would be more accurate) have been filled with going from doing one thing to another. You see, I'm getting married next week so I have been running around like crazy trying to get stuff done for the wedding, finishing work in advance here at work, as well as getting my school work done. Thus, I have had no time for writing on here.

As far as the the promised posting by Lewis, I will try to make those up here shortly. If I can pop on here before I leave for the wedding, then I will do so. However, it probably doesn't look like it is going to happen before I get back.

I'm excited about marriage and becoming one with the woman of my dreams. God has been so good to me throughout my entire life and has given me one more reason to praise Him. I know marriage is going to be tough at times, but I am aware that it is going to be so rewarding too. I look forward to being in the warm sun of the caribbean next week!

Great Insight from Lewis

In the next few posts, I am going to be putting up various quotes by C.S. Lewis in his great work, Mere Christianity, that show his great insights and wisdom.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

 

All I am doing is to ask people to face the facts--to understand the questions which Christianity claims to answer.  And they are very terrifying facts.  I wish it was possible to say something more agreeable.  But I must say what I think true.  Of course, I quite agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable comfort.  But it does not begin in comfort;  it begins in the dismay I have been describing, and it is no use at all trying to go on to the comfort without first going through that dismay.  In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it.  If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end:  if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth--only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.  Most of us have got over the pre-war wishful thinking about international politics.  It is time we did the same about religion.

Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity (San Francisco:  HarperSanFrancisco, 2001), 32.

Go on and laugh...you know it's funny!

Ravi on Apologetics

"Apologetics is a subject that ends up defending itself. The one who argues against apologetics ends up using argument to denounce argument. The one who says apologetics is a matter of pride ends up proudly defending one's own impoverishment. The one who says conversion is a matter of the heart and not the intellect ends up presenting intellectual arguments to convince others of this position. So goes the process of self-contradiction. "I am convinced, in the words of C. S. Lewis—who in my estimation is probably the greatest Christian apologist in recent memory—that the question of being an apologist is not so much whether you use an apologetic in answering someone's question, but whether the apologetic you already use is a good one."