beginning the discussion ...

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
(John 14:6)


First, a few links so we can frame the discussion -- don't read anything into the order of the links. It doesn't imply anything other than a desire to be fully familiar with the subject matter.

Read about what's being called "Emergent Christianity" by clicking here.

There's also interesting reading about post-modernist Christianity here and here.

The reason for the next few posts (if our discussion gets that far) is a column written by Chuck Colson (he of Watergame fame) for "Christianity Today" magazine (which is an excellent rag, by the way.) Read the latest on his on-going argument against the post-modernist movement in the American Church by clicking here.

(I'm proofreading now and, sheesh, that's a lot of parentheses. Sorry. Of course, I just did it again ... I have a habit of using a lot of parentheses, elipses and dashes -- not that there is anything wrong with that.)

I've been enamored of the Emergent movement in the past year or so as part of a deeper look at my faith. Christ is the author of my grand inquisition (maybe that's a poor choice of words ... don't read anything into that, either). I just feel He is calling me to a deeper understanding of why I am a Christian and what that means for the ministry to which He has called me.

To get specific? I want to know why my generation and, more than likely, the one that comes after is so disillusioned by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why do young men and women who were raised on His message and accepted Him as their Lord and Savior so readily dismiss Him for the carnal world?

Why is a message so loving and full of hope falling on ears that are more interested in "easy" answers to tough questions?

I'm growing more and more disillusioned by some of the basic assumptions of those participating in the "emergent" movement. I don't want to get into them too much here, because I have a few more things to read and a few more thoughts to make more lucid before posting them. Plus, I wanted to see if anyone who comes across this is interested in talking and exploring it more at length. We'll see, of course.