_____mergents Rise!

Over on the Emergent Village blog, there’s a post talking about all the different sub-groups developing either explicitly or in more covert ways under the “emergent” banner.  I’ll let you go check out the many varieties of the ______mergents for yourself.
It does leave me curious about the denomination I’m affiliated with, and it’s multiple similar [...]

The Wacky Emerging Church: Reason #54

This post is part of a continuing series. You may want to read my list of disclaimers and intro remarks here, if you haven’t done so already.
Reason #54: Walking backwards
One thing I enjoyed about the recent New Conspirators gathering was that they kept asking the question, “What in the world is God doing?”  Sadly, much [...]

The Present Tense

I’ve been reading a book for school called A Geography of God, by Michael Lindvall. It’s a short book with twenty chapters . . . meaning really short chapters. I’m reading the book way too fast - partly because it’s so good, and partly because of a narrow time frame in my school’s [...]

Baptists Unite! . . . or not . . . you know, whatever

A new coalition of Baptist denominations is forming.  Non-Southern Baptists, that is.  New York Times article here.

SoCal fire, pt. 3

I actually don’t have any news to report regarding my immediate family or friends right now - fires are still raging, but things seem to be settling a bit. The weather is improving - less wind, more humidity.
The main thing I wanted to note here is on a little different level. Despite my [...]

Liberalism Gone Crazy in a Major Denomination

Over the past ten to fifteen years, my denomination has engaged in a discussion of how to read the Bible. This has produced a “victory” for those who favor a view of inerrancy. The Bible is literally God’s word, and is completely without error. Meanwhile, those who take even a slightly moderated [...]

Working for "The Man"

Today was my first day back in the saddle with my local ministry context after over a week spent in meetings in denominational environments. In my last post, I mentioned a quick trip to Atlanta. For the past few days I was in some regional denominational meetings in the Portland, OR area. [...]

I’m pretty sure I’ll wake up soon . . .

. . . and when I do, I’ll wonder where my summer went. Wow, it’s continued to be super busy. Transitioning at the Purple Door, welcoming new staff, cranking on school, etc. At the end of last week, I had a quick trip to Atlanta for some meetings at one of the [...]

Mixed messages

So this is the week each year where I clinch my teeth and hold my breath - hoping against hope that something silly or bizarre won’t happen. I also await the annual addition to the long list of things I’m supposed to boycott. It’s the week of my denomination’s big annual meetings.
So far, [...]

Big week

This week has passed by quickly, but certainly not without notice. I’ve been in a bunch of meetings, culminating in some important decisions and new directions for the ministry I lead. It’s exciting, scary, energizing, painful, exhausting, hopeful stuff - an emotional cocktail. I can’t go completely public with the details just [...]