Beware

Thanks you, that is hilarious;and your humility in holy.

Having experienced a version of the same thing at our church..www.3dff.com

Heads up. Wait till the hunters get ahold of this.

You said:

“Vision has never used any conjugation of the verb ‘emerge’ in any of our ads”

But the first sentence on your website is:

“Vision is emerging as a different kind of church.”

(:

Dave
Thanks for the encouragement. True, the word emerging appears on our website, but not as a brand name or affiliation. Actually, think I wrote that a few years back when I was working on a video about emerging markets for an automobile manufacturer.

In the article, I was referring specifically to our newspaper ads. The one in question was one which simply described our children’s ministry and how much kids and parents liked it. Hardly the stereotype of emergent.

Great web site for your church, BTW

“Emergent: We’re like pornography. You know it when you see it.”

That’s just hilarious.

A great read, thanks for the humor. I needed a good laugh, after studying the emerging ‘movement’, and attempting to write a paper on it. It’s somewhat futile, and yet that’s the beauty. You’ll know it when you see it, but you won’t be able to remove it and place it under a microscope.

By the way, have we as Christians ever been able to unanimously define anything (okay, maybe a few – but then begins the argument of which)? Why is the emerging church suddenly charged with this task?

Hilarious! I’m happy to see the light-hearted grace with which you receive this criticism.

You guys wouldn’t be interested in opening a branch office closer to Wyoming County, PA, wouldja?

I think Emergent should adopt a policy of always packaging their books in those half-see through plastic sheets that pornography comes in at the local quickie mart.

There is one more option, the people wary of emergentism, are hearing from God.

Funny article, I can’t help but point out that the Bill of Rights is the culmination of secular humanism, very anti-christian.

I like the article as a whole, but I must disagree with your characterization of Precept. Precept at its core teaches that the Bible is to be taken for what it says, studied in context, and applied in life. I never saw “fill-in-the-blank” with Precept; rather it was very open-ended and question oriented.

As I peruse ‘alternative’ Christian sites on the web, I have found a rather disconcerting phenomenon common to ‘emergent’ bloggers. As a whole, you are arrogant, derisive, and extremely judgmental toward those who disagree with you—-which, ironically, you repeatedly accuse the ‘conservative evangelicals’ of being. I’m actually not a churchgoer, and if I were to ever start, I wouldn’t pick one that seems to have spawned directly from an attitude of anger and rebellion.

I read this article earlier and have had a sick feeling in my stomach ever since. How could people that love and follow Jesus ridicule others so blatently. If this is emergence, count me out! I have a great sense of humor, but not at the expense of others. Just because someone hasn’t grown up in the age of computer-technology does not mean that they are morons.

I was heartened to read the many responses, especially from max, that also realize that they must read even Christian material with a “grain of salt”.

Don, I will be praying for God to change your heart from one of anger and rebellion to one of love and acceptance.

Well, it seems the comments have died down so I’ll just thank all of you for your input. The fact that right on this very page some of you describe my article as “gracious and humble” and others as “derisive” or “judgmental” should be instructive as to how subjective interpretation of a text can be. I’m sure much of it has to do with humor, which I believe by its very nature needs to be edgy to be funny. Why else would so many youth pastors tell fart jokes :-)

It was not my intention to imply anyone was a moron, just using some self-deprecating humor about us church people. Ironically, the day after the article came out I sent out an email to our town’s ecumenical council and forgot the attachment. Somewhere Bea Arthur is saying, “See, God got you for that.”

So sorry to disappoint, but no anger or rebellion here. Just trying to humorously point out the absurdity of some fearful or fear-inducing attitudes within the church. I appreciate the prayers, but am confident that the church I pastor is a place of love and acceptance – especially for those who do not experience it in other churches.
Peace,
Don

[quote]As I peruse ‘alternative’ Christian sites on the web, I have found a rather disconcerting phenomenon common to ‘emergent’ bloggers. As a whole, you are arrogant, derisive, and extremely judgmental toward those who disagree with you—-which, ironically, you repeatedly accuse the ‘conservative evangelicals’ of being. I’m actually not a churchgoer, and if I were to ever start, I wouldn’t pick one that seems to have spawned directly from an attitude of anger and rebellion. [/quote]

I think that what you describe as arrogant, derisive, and extremely judgmental perhaps stems from a feeling of hurt at the hands of Evangelicals, etc. That’s an interesting observation. I’ve never really thought about that.

Btw, if you ever start looking for a church home I wouldn’t recommend any Protestant Church…they all pretty much spawned directly from an attitude of anger and rebellion.

Have you ever wondered why all Protestant denominations were birthed in the Modern World? It’s pretty much because someone came along and disagreed with someone else and they said, “I disagree with you and I’m going to start my own church.”

If anything the Emergent Church should be more tolerant and accepting, realizing that we need each other in order to be the Church.

Grace and Peace,

Nathan