Welcome

John, Welcome to the East Coast my friend. It has been ages since I posted here. Hopefully that will be a trend I can change in the weeks to come. It would be exciting to get something going in the SouthEast.

Looking forward to stirring things up a bit.

Chris

the adventure begins

today is the day we pack the truck and send it on it's way. we will be leaving behind this chapter of our lives and moving to a new chapter. as we close out the california chapter and open the north carolina chapter i have a great many things to be in praise over, God has blessed me in many ways -

my family; my wife tina, a great and supportive lady whom i love dearly. she supports me, reads what i write and even will help me work out ideas. she cares about what i do, and is a very supportive part of my ministry and my walk. our children, heather and steve, veronica and lauren - three bright spots in a day :). the rest of the family, mother-in-law, brothers, sisters, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunts, cousins and more - a large and supportive ring around me as we move into a new phase of life.

our friends; people who are willing to go out of their way to help us see the possibilities of what community is and can be. the people of connection church and their hearts and spirits.

over the next year i will be growing as a husband, father, friend, pastor, person. i will be looking deep into my personal walk of faith as i seek to start a dmin in 2006 [over at george fox with len sweet] and pastor with the people at connections. this adventure marks a great point in my life and my walk. i thank God for all the blessings he has given to me over this year - as i seek to hold those blessings with respect and grace i ask that all keep us in their prayers.

we will be "off-line" for a while as we have a family time trip across america - we will post as we can [family over posting ;)].

pax

are we ready to be a movement

the idea of a " movement" disturbs me, not that i am 100% against it, but i would be less than honest if i did not say it disturbs me. now, before i go on let me say this is not a rant against "E"mergent of tony and what he is being called to do. tony has asked that we "take a break" for a while and see where things rest in a few years. i admire tony enough to honor that request. after all, he has the rather large task of trying to gather all our voices and see if we can be on a common track - a wide track.

i think, for me, the idea of becoming a movement is disturbing at a core level, because i have felt the sting, slap and insults of the "modern church movement." my concern comes from the idea that some heavy "formality" will form from what i believe should remain informal. as we discuss the possibility of morphing from conversation to movement i am concerned about some very important realities.

who will determine what the movement looks like?
who determined that one group speaks for all?
who will determine what the movement believes?
who will determine who will speak for who?
who will determine how the movement moves?
who will determine why the movement is?

i keep hearing that "many" want us to be more "organized." yet, i do not hear those voices. i hear the voices of those who fear this idea, and they fear it for many reasons. while some may see our voices as "trivial," i hope those who desire a "movement" do not. because if they do, then they are no better then the modern church we strive to move past. if they are unwilling to hear us, then they are no better then those they have questionsed in years past. they have replaced themselves with the likes of mohler and carson. if they are unwilling to bring all voices together, or unable to... [more]

connecting in the southeast

i am in the process of moving to north carolina. in that move, i would love to get this blog rolling and focus on issues that are facing us in the southeast. if you are connected to an emerging ministry in the southeast, i would love if you added your voice to this new collaborative blog.

the idea is to be a place where people can find out what is happening in our area. conferences, gatherings, events, new churches, new expressions - what ever it is - we can be a collaboration of people looking to be a light to those seeking a way in this crazy thing we call emerging - if it's you, cool - join. if you know of others, cool - spread the word :)

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a "new" book?

i just could not resist. it's in my blood. but, it would be a cool book. what do you think? :)

Ken Archer's review

Review of D.A. Carson's Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church:

At the end of D.A. Carson's Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church, Carson leaves us with the words, "Damn all false antitheses to Hell". There is wisdom in this call, perhaps more than even Carson knows. For the struggle to achieve a new synthesis beyond the thesis of modern absolutism and the antithesis of postmodern relativism is one towards which few are seriously working. While this synthesis will come, one day, it doesn't seem to me helpful to critique of group of pastors for not having delivered it yet. The chief virtue of Carson's book is... link

12 Tension Points in the Emerging Church

12 Tension Points in the Emerging Church - andrew jones puts out a very cool list of the tensions that are real between us and the "traditional" church

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