First Baltimore Emergent Cohort

The Baltimore Emergent Cohort will gather–for the very first time–Tuesday night (tomorrow) at 7pm at Champps Restaurant & Bar at the Mall in Columbia.

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The Emerging Conversation: Unabridged

The complete conversation between Worship Leader and five of the emerging church’s leading thinkers where they voice their thoughts to help explain a new generation of worship.

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Scot McKnight Writes about DA Carson’s upcoming book. (Cont.)

Scot McKnight has a copy of DA Carson’s book and is sharing with the Emergent Community summaries of each chapter. He is up to Chapter 5, and will give a reflection of it fully in a separate post at the end.

Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

It’s amazing how people can show their love

I have been back in the pastorate after seven years of doing internet development and a small amount of doctoral work. I’ve also gotten out of the south and am pastoring again in Delaware, just started last July. We’re a young church, pushing 100 on good days, but things are beginning to pick up and move along.

I was sharing with a buddy of mine how different the mindset was up here. He’s pastoring in an old SBC church in a small community east of Atlanta. He rarely gets told good things, but is often criticized. But he’s got a lot of support in the church.

I on the otherhand, have a far different experience. a few weeks ago, I mentioned in a sermon that I really like Peach Snapple Tea. I can’t stand coffee, so for me Peach Snapple is the “nectar of the gods!” The next day, I had a 24 bottle of case at my house. 5 days later, I had another 24 bottle case and another person brought a single bottle.

Today, I baptized a young lady. Her family doesn’t come to church, just her and her children and an aunt. When baptism was over, she was waiting for me with a big bag. We opened it after we had gotten home, and in it was 3 bottles of Peach Snapple, strawberrys, rolls, a fried chicken - complete fried chicken and corn on the cob. I just about cried.

I had to call my friend and leave him a message of how different it is up her, and awesome it is to be blessed by people who care, genuinely care, about you as a pastor.

When you love your people, they’ll love you back.

Propositional Truth

Much of the issue of emerging churches seems to be the claim of a lack of propositional truth. I’ve thought about this issue and began looking at Jesus for a few moments. I have done this without a Bible in hand and a ton of research, just a thought process through the gospels.

There are times when Jesus uses propositional truths. For instance, he states that the only way to God is through him: “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except by me.� That’s a pretty firm statement, it seems to me, about the exclusiveness of Christ as the only way to God.

But quite a few other times, Jesus uses stories, or parables to communicate relavant truth regarding lifestyle changes, teaching, etc. One particular thought revolves around the story of the prodigal son. We far too often hear the story about the prodigal son and don’t think too much about the older son.

In the context of Luke 15 where this story shines, Jesus is teaching and fellowshipping with tax collectors and sinners and the pharisees are in the audience. Jesus uses 3 parables in a row about something that was lost (or lost their way) and then was found. First was a lost sheep, then a lost coin, then a lost person. The stories are pretty simple to understand. But there are no real “propositions� within the stories. If you are a tax collector, sinner or pharisee in the audience, you have to bring meaning to the stories yourself.

We’ve all heard the various 3 points and a poem sermon on the Prodigal son. But Jesus himself never makes any type of propositional and absolute statement to the audience. Well, I should say that Luke doesn’t record one but now we would be arguing from silence which is never a real good argument according to my NT prof in seminary.

So in preaching/teaching to some groups Jesus makes absolute propositional statements. To other groups, they are left to draw truth and application from the stories and parables he told.

What does that mean for our preaching and teaching?

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