What is emergent? A generous orthodoxy

what is emergent?

Read the introduction: What is emergent?

“I offer this book with the heartiest sentiments to all the jolly people who hate what I write, and regard it (very justly, for all I know), as a piece of poor clowning or a single tiresome joke.” – G.K. Chesterson (Orthodoxy (Moody Classics))

I came into the emergent conversation probably a little bit later in the game than many. I didn’t even start hearing the name emergent until after college (circa 2003-2004).

As I started tracking blogs and other online conversations I began seeing the term more and more. And once I launched my own blog in 2005 and began making connections with folks in the UK, I started hearing from people who were actually taking part in the conversation.

In March of 2006 Thomas introduced me to the blogs of Jonny Baker and Andrew Jones, referring to them as the “grandfather’s of the emerging church” (and even then I didn’t get their names right).
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What is emergent?

what is emergent?

There continues to be a great discussion across the Interwebs as folks try to nail-down exactly what it means to be “emergent.”

Folks are coming into the conversation from all different places in their lives, as well as at different points in the emerging conversation.

Some people have been discussing emerging Christianity since the 1960’s (or before); some have been in the the discussion for 15 to 20+ years; some picked up the discussion circa 1997 when the initial discussions were taking place that ultimately led to the formation of Emergent Village; others listened in at various points along the way and started to align themselves with the emergent conversation in more recent years (myself included); and still others are on the “outside” hearing criticism from various folks and groups and wondering what its all about.
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10 (additional) spiritual lessons from U2

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been reading “We Get to Carry Each Other – The Gospel According to U2.” A great read from Greg Garrett (who also wrote “Stories from the Edge – A Theology of Grief).

As a closing section in the book, Greg shares 10 spiritual lessons we can learn from U2.

I thought I’d share an additional 10 that I’ve learned along my journey as well. So here they are, in no particular order…
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Happy “unofficial” anniversary to my Life

Three years ago today — I sent a txt message to a beautiful young woman.

The message read, “standby for a knock at your door.”

where I first met Laurie
where I first met Laurie

She didn’t get the message till 4 or 5 hours later and yet she hasn’t stopped getting my txt messages since.

Yup. 3 years ago today I met my wife for the very first time… (in person that is.)
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We get to carry each other

Serving at the Mission

I’m reading the new book “We Get to Carry Each Other: The Gospel according to U2” (by Greg Garrett) right now and it talks a lot about community and how the band has always emphasized helping those around us and the privilege we have to actually GET to carry each other. Yet for some reason we seem to think its a burden to build community, to open up to others, to share and serve.

How different (my) our outlook and lives could be if we saw serving and loving others is actually a privilege – a calling – a purpose in our lives…
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Laundry Love Project :: You’re FREE!

With two Laundry Love Projects under our belt, we are quickly realizing that while the concept itself is sometimes hard to understand in English, it’s even harder to explain to those speaking Spanish (or other languages).

We had twice as many Spanish-only families this month as last month and we found it increasingly difficult to communicate with them throughout the two hours. (It’s nice to see that a smile and friendly gestures can still cross cultural and language barriers.)
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