When I picked up my current issue of Light and Life Magazine -- published by the Free Methodist Church of North America -- I was a bit surprized, but absolutely thrilled by the theme: The Emerging Church.

In addition to the lead article by Robert Lincoln Hancock: "Microshift: The Changing Shape of the Church", the magazine's tear-out devotional guide -- The Deeper Path -- is exclusively focused on the emerging church, and the many ways in which the Free Methodist Church is already resonating with emergent's core values (as you may already know, I am a Free Methodist pastor who helped plant an emerging church a little over three years ago).

The "teaser" on the cover of the devotional guide reads like this:

In our postmodern, post-Christian world, where absolute truth is suspect and the self reigns supreme, the church must find ways to be relevant and fresh so that it can continue to do its God-given work of reaching people everywhere with the saving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In "Microshift: The Changing Shape of the Church" (main magazine p. 12), Robert Lincoln Hancock tells us new, only recently noticed forces are reshaping our world while the local congregation (according to a Barna Group study) has "virtually little or no influence in our culture."

This issue of Deeper Path seeks to explore the emergent church movement and how we as Free Methodists can share its heart for the lost -- maintaining our unique denominational identity while joining together with brothers and sisters everywhere who are actively engaged in exploring and uncovering new (an ancient) methods of worship and outreach.

The 8-week devotional guide is organized into 8 sections:

1. "The Emerging Free Methodist Church" - -an article by Dick Freed, which parallels the Nine Core Practices of Emerging Churches with Free Methodism's "core values."
2. "The Original Emerging Church" -- a reflective study of Acts2:42-47, followed by an article by David Ashton that summarizes Free Methodism's affirmation of and participation in "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church."
3. "An Emerging Prophet" -- an article by Bruce N.G. Cromwell which draws attention to the important contribution being made by Brian McLaren today.
4. "The Emerging Community" -- a reflective study of Ephesians 4:1-16
5. "Will the Real Church Please Stand Up?" -- an article by Ralph Clark, highlighting how we are rediscovering how to "be" church rather than going "to" church.
6. "The Irreplaceable Community" -- an article by Denny Waymn which draws on recent brain-related research in confirming our need for authentic community.
7. "Body Prayer" -- an article by Kathy Callahan-Howell, which elaborates on concepts explained in Doug Pagitt's book, BodyPrayer; encouraging believers to involve their bodies more in times of prayer and worship.
8. "The Emergent Small Group" -- an article by John H. Bunn, which encourages small group leaders and participants to learn from the emerging church and then challenges them to begin making changes.

Recommended "Look-Ups" in this issue of the Deeper Path include:

• The Celtic Way of Evangelism, by George Hunter
• A New Kind of Christian, by Brian McLaren; and...
• www.theooze.com

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Wow!  Even though Light & Life Magazine does not "officially" represent the beliefs of the Free Methodist Church, this issue and its content is HUGE in its importance to our denomination.  Out here in Southern California, we Free Methodists have been engaged in the emerging church conversation for the better part of four years now (thanks to the leadership of our bishop and superintendent).  And if it were not already, this certain helps set the stage for important denomination-wide dialog and action in the future.  And I couldn't be more thrilled!
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You can subscribe to Light & Life Magazine by going here.  OR... if you'd like a copy of the current issue, I will mail a copy free to the first six (6) people who contact me via email and provide me with their mailing address.

Responsible Eschatology... Where is it?  Who's got it?  Will it ever emerge?

I know that we've had our fill of all that consumeristic, sensationalistic, premillennial hype  But who is doing more with eschatology than merely leaving it behind?  It's really easy for us to point the finger in disgust or even enjoy a good laugh over commercialized 'pretrib', 'premil' portrayals of the future.  But who is continuing to wrestle with the eschatological elements of apocalyptic literature and not just the socio-political ones?  Who is drawing a connection between eschatological hope and our pursuit of  justice with immediacy? 

Where are the eschatological thinkers and theologians within the emerging church?  Which EC pastors even teach on the promised return of Christ?  For that matter -- other than during the Jesus People Movement in the 1970's -- I guess we've preferred to avoid the topic over the past 50+ years:

The modern civilized man is impatient; he takes the short-range view of things.  He is surrounded by gadgets that get things done in a hurry.  He was brought up on quick-oats; he likes his instant coffee; he wears drip-dry shirts and takes one-minute Polaroid snapshots of his children... This breathless way of living naturally makes for a mentality impatient of delay, and when this man enters the kingdom of God he brings his short-range psychology with him.  He finds prophecy too slow for him.  His first radiant expectations soon lose their luster.  He is likely to inquire, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" and when there is no immediate response he may conclude, "My lord delayeth his coming."  The faith of Christ offers no buttons to push for quick service.  The new order must wait the Lord's own time, and that is too much for the man in a hurry.  He just gives up and becomes interested in something else. (from The Decline of Apocalyptic Expectation, by A.W. Tozer, 1897-1963)

And that still pretty much sums it up. I suppose we have entered an age that is tired of sensationalized predictions of Armageddon and no longer interested in serious eschatological inquiry or hope.

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Abba Poemen asked Abba Anthony:  What should I do?  The old man said:  Do not be confident in your own righteousness, do not worry about a thing once it's done, and control your tongue and your stomach.

There are scarce few people who wouldn't agree that the Evangelical branch of the Church is in need of serious evaluation and reform. Influenced far too long by modernity, individualism, and consumerism, many evangelicals are stepping up to the plate to say that "enough is enough!" 

I'm indebted to Joel Scandrett for recently drawing attention to "A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future" -- an amazing document that he worked on along with Robert Webber, Phil Kenyon, and some 300 other folks.  The time for a formal "call" such as this is long overdue.

The entire Prologue to the Call appears below:
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In every age the Holy Spirit calls the Church to examine its faithfulness to God's revelation in Jesus Christ, authoritatively recorded in Scripture and handed down through the Church. Thus, while we affirm the global strength and vitality of worldwide Evangelicalism in our day, we believe the North American expression of Evangelicalism needs to be especially sensitive to the new external and internal challenges facing God's people.

These external challenges include the current cultural milieu and the resurgence of religious and political ideologies. The internal challenges include Evangelical accommodation to civil religion, rationalism, privatism and pragmatism. In light of these challenges, we call Evangelicals to strengthen their witness through a recovery of the faith articulated by the consensus of the ancient Church and its guardians in the traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, the Protestant Reformation and the Evangelical awakenings. Ancient Christians faced a world of paganism, Gnosticism and political domination. In the face of heresy and persecution, they understood history through Israel's story, culminating in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of God's Kingdom.

Today, as in the ancient era, the Church is confronted by a host of master narratives that contradict and compete with the gospel. The pressing question is: who gets to narrate the world?  The Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future challenges Evangelical Christians to restore the priority of the divinely inspired biblical story of God's acts in history. The narrative of God's Kingdom holds eternal implications for the mission of the Church, its theological reflection, its public ministries of worship and spirituality and its life in the world. By engaging these themes, we believe the Church will be strengthened to address the issues of our day.

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© Northern Seminary 2006 Robert Webber and Phil Kenyon

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*** I'd encourage you to read the entire "Call" (roughly 3 pages, double-spaced) and then post your thoughts and responses here.

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Call as WORDdoc           Call as PDF

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image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Betrand Collet
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How willing are we to be STRETCHED by the Holy Spirit?

• Stretched beyond what is familiar.

• Stretched beyond what is safe.

• Stretched beyond our comfort zone.

• Stretched beyond what we grew up believing.

• Stretched beyond our assumptions and presuppositions.

• Stretched beyond our limited understanding of God:

- Why He blesses.

- Who He uses.

- What He allows.

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How WILLING are we to be stretched by the Holy Spirit?

Acts 11:15-18a (NRSV) 
    And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" When they heard this, they were silenced."

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How willing are WE to be stretched by the Holy Spirit?

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photo credit: ©  Jackie Foster, iStockphoto

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A leader of a community asked Abba Poemen: How can I gain the fear of God?  Abba Poemen replied:  How indeed can we gain the fear of God when we have bellies full of cheese and jars of salted fish?

Oh goodie! I was hoping I'd get "tagged" for this, and I did -- by Bob Carlton!  So here are my answers:

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1.  One book that changed your life:  The Idea of the Holy, by Rudolph Otto

2.  One book that you’ve read more than once: A Churchless Faith, by Alan Jamieson

3.  One book you’d want on a desert island: Celtic Daily Prayer, by the Northumbria Community

4.  One book that made you laugh:  On Bullshit, by Harry G. Frankfort

5.  One book that made you cry: The Trail of Tears, by Gloria Jahoda

6.  One book you wish had been written:  POMO NO-MO: Emerging Church Mistakes That Everyone Makes

7.  One book you wish had never been written: The Late Great Planet Earth, by Hal Lindsey

8.  One book you’re currently reading: Confronting the Idolatry of Family: A New Vision For The Household Of God, by Janet Fishburn

9.  One book you’ve been meaning to read:  Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination, by Walter Wink

10. One book you’d like to write: Both Are True: Embracing the Tensions of our Faith and Practice

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I am also now tagging: Cory @ Bald ManBlogging, Fr. Matt @ lex aeternam, Andii @ Nouslife, Robin @ PENSIEVE, Dan @ Danno's Dangerous Mind , Anna @ deep soil, and Mike @ Emerging Pensees.

It's a pleasure to have author, Sarah Cunningham with us here today.  Her book, "Dear Church: Letters From A Disillusioned Generation", recently hit the shelves and will likely do well -- especially among younger and younger-minded readers who have become disenchanted with the institutional church and yet desire to be people of passionate faith and devoted followers of Jesus.

I recently completed an interview with Sarah which we'll use to kick things off today.  Hopefully, you've gotten a chance to read or skim through her book, but even if you haven't,  feel free to post your questions or comments here for Sarah.  She'll be checking-in throughout the day to post responses, and the dialog promises to be excellent.

IN ADDITION... Sarah will be my guest for a special Skypecast this evening, at 7:00pm, Pacific (10:00pm, Eastern). This will be a great opportunity for you to ask questions and dialog with Sarah LIVE ( * a Skypecast is similar to a "conference call").  If you don't yet have Skype, you can get it here for free.

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Okay then, enough preliminaries.  Here's my recent interview with Sarah Cunningham:

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There's a movement taking place within evangelical churches around the globe.  It's a movement that is still "under the radar" in many places, yet one that continues to gain ground.  It's a movement that promises to change the future of worship for scores of congregations by reclaiming a critical part of Christian worship's ancient past: the centrality of the Eucharist.

During the past three centuries, evangelical services and gatherings have been dominated by bibliocentric worship, where the sermon has been the focal point and climax, and the pulpit has remained in its symbolically "front-and-center" location.  This has stood as a clear departure from the far more historically prevalent practice of christocentric worship, where celebration of the Eucharist occupied the central focal point of churches' worship gatherings.

Ever since the culturally tumultuous 1960's, theologians have been pointing out where the Church has missed its mark, and have been calling her to the important work of renewing and retooling. One of the many scholars who have led the way in these efforts has been German theologian, Wolfhart Pannenberg.

In a series of lectures published under the title of "Christian Spirituality," Pannenberg zeros in on the importance of the Protestant rediscovery of the Eucharist:

"People are prone to look for something new, and all to often the new lacks the profound, substantial meaning enshrined in traditional forms.  What is most significantly new, therefore, sometimes occurs as a new look at something one has known long since.  The rediscovery of the Eucharist may prove to be the most important event in Christian spirituality of our time" (p.31).

And it seems that many folks agree, for in many congregations, Holy Communion is not only being celebrated more frequently (e.g. monthly rather than quarterly; weekly rather than monthly), but it is beginning to occupy a more central place within the worship service.

Picking up on the insights of theologians like Pannenberg, a new generation of scholars are continuing to call the Church -- and particularly the evangelical church to reclaim the centrality of the Eucharist. One example that stands out is Joel Scandrett, who recognizes the unique opportunities that postmodernism represents for the Church of the 21st century.  Scandrett has suggested that:

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Abba Xanthias said: A dog is better than I am because it also has love, but it does not pass judgment.