‘The Emergent Church’ and ‘Barefoot Contessa’ among top 10 things blogger Nick Norelli doesn’t think are cool

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Who’s up for a list?

The lists come out like snowflakes near the end of the year, don’t they? Here are a few you might be interested in:

• Ten Important Archaeological Discoveries in 2008 Related to the Bible - Claude Mariottini (HT: Todd Bolen)
• Top 10 Emergent/Missional/Post-Evangelical Blog Posts of 2008 - Raffi Shahinian (HT: TallSkinnyKiwi)
• Top 11 Holiday Libations - James Poulos
• Not Just Another Christmas List - girltalk

There’ll be others before January 1, I assure you.

Weekend Walkabout: December 13, 2008

26 posts from the week that escaped mention (almost!):

Alan Hirsch Responds to Kimball’s ‘Missional Misgivings’ - Out of Ur

Book Review: Sacramental Life - Trevin Wax

“Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation Through the Book of Common Prayer … takes the reader through The Book of Common Prayer as a method of spiritual formation.”

Changing With the Times - Philip Schroeder

“You all probably know the truism: ‘Methodology changes, but the Message remains the same’ …”

Download Nine Advent Worship Goodies - TallSkinnyKiwi

Evangelicals Lose Ecumenical Friend in Catholic Theologian’s Death - Jeremy Weber

Futures for Anglicanism: aka Breaking Up is Hard to Do (But Sometimes Necessary) - Chris Dierkes

Going Old School, sort of - Launching A Radio Show - Doug Pagitt

Happy Birthday to ME! - Carla Rolfe

“If you’re a fellow 24 fan like me (or know of someone who is), this makes a great Christmas gift idea.”

I Need a Blogging Buddy and So Do You - John Saddington

The Jesus Project - Dan Wallace

“Reading between the lines, it seems that this group will offer up an even more radical fare than the Jesus Seminar did.”

Kate Gosselin of ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8′ Shares Her Favorite Christmas Traditions - Dena Ross

Little Drummer Boy - Jake Bouma

Muslim Lawyer: ‘Christmas is the pathway to hell’ - Cranmer

NRB head: Sex abuse scandal? It’s history. Really. - David Gibson

Obama’s Iranian observers - Erin Manning

“I was never very appreciative of the saber-rattling on the right over Iran; but the threat of a nuclear Iran is a serious one, not something to take lightly.”

Pumpkin Squares - Rebecca Stark

Q Conference Meetup & Discount - Kevin D. Hendricks

“This is not a bells and whistles hipster event with big names and games. It’s a strategic gathering of thinkers and doers who want to see change and bring change.”

Radiocarbon dating contradicts geological time scale, supports young earth - Daniel G, two or three

So long, Sola? - Nic Paton

Ten Differences Between the Reformation and Rome - Guy Davies (Reformation Theology)

The Uniqueness of Jesus’ Birth - Darrell Bock

Vanilla Holiday - Pseudo-Polymath

What?! (Rick Warren on Hannity & Colmes) - Dan Phillips

Xmas Has Pagan Roots ::: So What? - Theophilogue

“The music you listen to, the way your calendar and clock measures time, the names you use to refer to various planets in the universe, etc., all have ties to pagan religion.”

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up - Justin Wise

“You are looking at a picture of some Christians praying over the Bull outside of the New York Stock Exchange …”

Zimbabwe: Time for South African Government To Do Something - Mark Daniels

On Protestants and division

At Emergent Village, Jonathan Brink reflects on the recent Great Emergence conference and some of the points made there by Phyllis Tickle, author of the book by the same name:

“The natural outcome of these theological conversations [that followed the Protestant Reformation] was inevitable: camps. Put two people in a room with a Bible and conflict is inevitable. Put ten people in a room with a Bible and you might just have a riot. Until the Great Reformation there were essentially four major “denominations”: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism. But after the reformation, we saw the birth of more than 26,000 denominations. Why? Because the unintended side effect of the Protestant movement was the birth of divorce within the church.”

Read the entire post: “Children of Divorce.”

Tim Keller on the Missional Debate

View more excerpts at DJ Chuang’s youtube page.

(HT: Url Scaramanga)

A New Kind of Conversation: Blogging Toward a Postmodern Faith

Edited by Myron Bradley Penner and Hunter Barnes. Contributors include Brian McLaren, Mabiala Kenzo (Ambrose Univ.), Bruce Ellis Benson (Wheaton) and Ellen Haroutunian.

An introductory blurb by Bill Reichert is posted  at Provocative Church:

“Take a large portion of theology, with a dose of conversation and a pinch of blogging and you would have the recipe for the book entitled, “A New Kind of Conversation.” This book is an experimental book that enters into a conversation about Post-Modernism with five evangelical leaders and academics acting as the primary bloggers (authors) …”

Tim Challies’ review of Wittmer’s Don’t Stop Believing

Read it at Challies.com:

“Michael Wittmer feels trapped in the middle. To one side are conservative Christians demanding lockstep allegiance to narrow doctrinal statements—statements so detailed that they insist on specific theories of the end times or specific understandings of the spiritual gifts. … On the other side are postmodern Christians who question many traditional assumptions—or maybe even every traditional assumption—but who go about it in ways that discredit their arguments …”

“Dan Kimball’s Missional Misgivings”

At Out of Ur, Kimball, the author of a handful of books including They Like Jesus but Not the Church, voices doubts about the missional church model:

“Not long ago I was on a panel with other church leaders in a large city. One missional advocate in the group stated that younger people in the city will not be drawn to larger, attractional churches dominated by preaching and music. What this leader failed to recognize, however, was that young people were coming to an architecturally cool megachurch in the city—in droves. Its worship services drew thousands with pop/rock music and solid preaching. The church estimates half the young people were not Christians before attending.
 
Conversely, some from our staff recently visited a self-described missional church. It was 35 people. That alone is not a problem. But the church had been missional for ten years, and it hadn’t grown, multiplied, or planted any other churches in a city of several million people. That was a problem.”

Read the whole thing.

Thanksgiving/Weekend Walkabout, Nov. 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

26 posts from the week that escaped mention (almost!):

Advent on your iPhone - Father Z

“Those of you who have an iPhone may want to know about a fun application for Advent for $0.99.”

The Blind Spot of the Spiritual Formation Movement - Craig Brian Larson

“Read books on spiritual formation and you will be hard pressed to find anyone who lists listening to the preaching of God’s Word as a first-order spiritual discipline.”

Check out free downloads from Christian music artist Josh Garrels - Joanne Brokaw

“Like other indie acts with a blatant faith message but an unconventional delivery … Garrels doesn’t quite fit the typical Christian music mold.”

The Day I Schmoozed - Amy Scott:

“Just tell her what she wants to hear.”

Evangelicals Adopting Advent - Cathy Lynn Grossman (HT: SharperIron)

“They’re giving a new, personalized spin to the prayers, candles and calendars to track the building excitement, and set a spiritual tone day by day.”

Faith and Politics - Doug Pagitt

“I was asked by the folks at Conservative Reformed Mafia blog to discuss my thoughts on faith and politics in light of my interest in running for the Minnesota State Legislature. I responded to questions with a video …”

Gordon Brown sells the nation’s soul to Satan - Cranmer

“As Gordon Brown has already sold the nation’s soul to the EU, all further treaties with the Devil are subject to EU scrutiny.”

Helpful Books on Justification - Mark Driscoll

It’s Time to Rethink the Issue of Homosexuality - Ken Silva

“Yes, you read that right; I do believe the time has come to rethink how we’re handling the issue of homosexuality in the Body of Christ. But maybe not like you think.”

The Jelly Bellies of Christendom - Prodigal Jon

“Super Sweaty Pastor – usually wrapped in a monogrammed handkerchief, these beans are slightly salty and super sticky from perspiration, taste like licking a Thompson Chain Reference and smell like a locker room”

Kids and Philanthropy: Teaching Your Children To Be Charitable - Beth Kanter

Logos360 Announced - The Wait Begins - ChurchCrunch

“It is, without question, simply a matter of time before we see what’ll it’ll really do to the digital landscape for Church Management Software.”

Meditations on Thanks and Giving - Carolyn McCulley

“As I prepare for Thanksgiving, one image is burned into my mind …”

National Geographic on Qeiyafa - Todd Bolen

“Much of the story reports what has been covered elsewhere, but there are some problems with the article.”

Of Crusaders and the West - Joshua Claybourn

“Our understanding of society and the individual certainly has its roots in the Crusaders.”

Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day October 3, 1863 - Abe Lincoln/Worship.com

“In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict …”

Q 2009 - Greg Atkinson

“Q is a gathering where church leaders and cultural influencers from the fields of business, politics, media, education, entertainment and the arts are exposed to the future of culture and the church’s responsibility to advance the common good in society.”

Recessions Are Good? - Rob Moll

“Recessions, before the Great Depression, were often viewed as good things.”

Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints (review) - Rebecca Writes

“I’ve reached the age where I think more and more about getting old, and I’ll let you in on a secret if you promise not to tell …”

Twilight (Book Review) - Tim Challies

“Admittedly, this is my first foray into fiction written for teen girls.”

An Unwanted Detour - Suzanne Hadley:

“A week later I sat in a doctor’s office trying to hold back tears.”

Video Interviews with John Lennox - Justin Taylor

“Creator or the Multiverse?”

What is the Church Year? - Mark Daniels

“The Church Year is a human invention. Observing it won’t make us better than anybody else. Nor does keeping it ’save’ a person from sin and death. But …”

50 eXcellent Blog Footer Designs - Hongkiat.com (sorry, had to reach for this one)

“In the eye of a visitor, the footer is perhaps one of the most unnoticeable section but to a designer who knows how important user experience, navigation and designs, they are treated the same.”

You May Be a Hyper-Calvinist If … - Phil Johnson

“Within the militantly Arminian sector of the Southern Baptist Convention, it seems there are still those who insist that ‘by the definition of Phil Johnson,’ James White is a hyper-Calvinist …”

Zane Hodges (1933–2008) - Dan Wallace (I mentioned Hodges’ passing, but it means much more coming from an accomplished Greek scholar):

“Zane taught Greek and New Testament courses at Dallas Seminary from 1960 to 1987. I took him for more courses than from any other NT prof, and learned a great deal from him. His skills with the Greek text were breathtaking. I never knew a professor who could sight-read as well as Hodges (except for Johnson). And he thought through his positions well. I didn’t agree with him on everything; in fact, I would say that I disagreed with him on most of his positions. I was always a bit nervous coming into his class because I wasn’t sure what he would say that hour that might rock my world. But I enjoyed immensely how he structured the courses, how he argued his positions, and how charismatic he was in the classroom. He was a superb preacher and very persuasive. His electives always had the highest enrollment by far of any NT electives at DTS. … Zane Hodges will be dearly missed. But he now knows the joys of his Savior and is finally home.”

Emergentkrise!

This is brilliant, whatever your stance on emergent:

 
For background see this post.
(HT: Abraham Piper >> Andrew Jones)
Creator: Randy Brandt

Emergent decentralizing

Last month, the leadership at Emergent Village decided, among other things, “to streamline, decentralize, and reduce expenses by discontinuing the role of National Coordinator” (see this post).

In the spirit of decentralization, Joshua Case has “declared” himself the new National Coordinator of Emergent, and invites others to do the same in this video (HT: Steve Knight):

There’s also a Facebook group formed for the same purpose.

Read “A Letter from the Board to Friends of Emergent Village,” which describes the EV’s new direction.

“Why I roll with the covenant”

Eugene Cho explains how he went from being the “angry deconstructionist pastor” of a non-denominational church to joining his congregation to the English Covenant Church:

“Some of my friends still give me grief that I chose to partner with ‘a bunch of Swedes’ particularly because diversity and multiethnicty was always an important ecclesiological pursuit for my vision as a pastor and leader.  So, why did I partner with the ECC even despite no truth to the rumors that Covenant pastors receive 50% discount from IKEA?  You might be surprised since many still don’t quite know much about the Covenant denominaton …”

Anticipating emergence …

From ASBO Jesus:

Audio: Ken Silva on Rob Bell and contemplative spirituality

Here’s a link to the Fighting for the Faith podcast featuring Silva:

“[Host Chris] Rosebrough and Silva discuss the way Bell makes a big mess in his sermon as he attempts to exegete — Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. On this program they show you how Bell ends up doing the exact things he says these ‘dogs’ do. And in doing so Bell thereby actually ends up identifying himself as one of those ‘dogs.’”

Brian McLaren discusses his involvement with The Voice New Testament project

… at Emergent Village.

“We did a lot of vigorous and good-natured arguing about many of these terms. Sometimes my opinions were accepted (as in translating “Christ” as “Liberating King” or baptism as “ceremonial cleansing”) and some weren’t (as in translating “Son of Man” as “New Generation of Humanity”). But the process showed me more than ever that translation can’t be separated from interpretation, and the theological biases of the interpreters are a bigger factor than I had realized.”

Next Page »