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Comment by Nathan P. Gilmour on January 31, 2009 at 3:43pm

In a roundabout way I did too, Jeremy. It just took me a little over a year to migrate.

Comment by Chaplain Jeremy Evans on January 1, 2009 at 2:51pm

Hey All, I migrated here from another board! Hope to get to know some of you soon.

Comment by jcubed on December 30, 2008 at 9:32am

I became aware of the Emergent Church movement in July 2008 and was challenged by a young brother to read some of the books authored by the EC personalities, before I criticized the movement any further. So I took him up on his suggestions. I've read the following books (there are hundreds):

Brian McLaren:
The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth That Could Change Everything
The Last Word and the Word After that: A Tale of Faith, Doubt, and a New Kind of Christianity
Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices
Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope

Rob Bell:
Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith

Shane Claiborne:
The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

To balance out the pro-EC writers, I read Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys who Should be by Kevin DeYoung, Ted Kluck. I am currently reading How Now Shall We Live?‎ by Charles Colson, Nancy Pearcey. For Christmas, my daughters bought me The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception‎ by John MacArthur, which is on deck.

Pro-EC books on my to-read list are:
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality‎ by Donald Miller
A Primer on Postmodernism‎ by Stanley J. Grenz
Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures‎ by Eddie Gibbs, Ryan K. Bolger
The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies by David E. Fitch

Anti-EC books on my to-read list are:
Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air‎ by Francis J. Beckwith
The New Tolerance: How a Cultural Movement Threatens to Destroy You, Your Faith, and Your Children by Josh McDowell, Bob Hostetler
The Rebirth of Orthodoxy: Signs of New Life in Christianity by Thomas C. Oden

Reading the pro-EC books didn't dissuade me or alter my criticism of the EC movement; rather it bolstered what I had read via third-person book reviews or critique. I am glad this younger brother felt it compulsory (to read), because I learned more about this movement that helps me to persuade others from getting involved in the EC movement.

Books and ideology/theology like Shane Claiborne's appear to be, on the surface, in tune with the Gospel. However, after reading The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, I found his revolution very easy to resist. The revolution seems like it is more about being radical, and less about being like Jesus Christ. Shane seems to be infatuated with Gandhi and Mother Theresa. Without actually counting the references, it appears that he quotes more non-Christian sources than he does the Bible or Christian sources.

Comment by Vince on July 5, 2008 at 2:09am

On September 21, 2007, Mark Driscoll was invited to speak at the Convergent Conference at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In this session listen at Pastor Mark explains the major streams of the Emerging Church and specifically, the sub-set of of the Emerging Church, known as the "Emergent Church".

Mark Driscoll Message

Comment by Joanie D. on June 20, 2008 at 8:01pm

So how did the meeting go, Forrest?

Ben, Michael Patton did some long posts about the emerging movement over on Parchment and Pen and I read Dan Kimball's They Like Jesus But Not the Church. In general, it seems like emergers do not want to get all twisted up in doctrine and they want very much to live their faith out in action. They want to focus on the centrality of Jesus and his command to us to love one another and to love God. There is much about the emerging "philosophy" that resonates with me, but I also have no problem with being part of an established denomination. Emergers want to be "real" and not put on the trappings of what a Christian is without the heart behind it. I may not be saying this well, but Dan Kimball and other emerging leaders have written books about it and can explain it much better.

Oh, and Forrest, I know that folks make a differentiation between "emerging" and "emergent." Evangelicals are often very leery of the "emergents." They really don't worry me, though. But hey, I am a liberal, ecumenical, emerging-leaning sort-of-Catholic!

Joanie D.