Free Republic

DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) It's summer. It's hot. It's the South. That must mean it's time for an old-fashioned camp meeting. Next week (June 23-26), the bygone staple of the tent revival will be reincarnated on a bucolic North Carolina farm as The Wild Goose Festival. Nearly 10 years in the making, the festival is an attempt to reimagine Christianity for the 21st century under a bigger, wider more inclusive tent.

Just as Barack Obama wants to change what it means to be America, controversial author Rob Bell wants to change what it means to be Christian. The cover story for the Easter Week edition of Time magazine is about Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins. Bell, perhaps the most widely known of a group of young supposedly evangelical writers who emphasize “love” and dismiss the Biblical view of judgment/retribution (referred to in Christian circles as “hell), has prompted discussions throughout the church and, indeed, throughout a wide swath of American culture, about the meaning of Christianity and the basic theological doctrines...

Just as President Obama wants to change what it means to be American, controversial author Rob Bell wants to change what it means to be Christian. The cover story for the Easter Week edition of Time magazine is about Mr. Bell’s book, “Love Wins.” Mr. Bell, perhaps the most widely known of a group of young, supposedly evangelical writers who emphasize love and dismiss the traditional view of judgment/retribution (referred to in Christian circles as “hell) has prompted nationwide discussions about the very meaning of Christianity. Chris Matthews devoted a segment of his Palm Sunday show to a discussion of...

The debate about hell incited by Rob Bell and his book Love Wins is far from dying out. A month into the controversy, two theological heavy weights are just beginning to duel it out about the ideas Bell raises regarding hell and God’s love. Conservative Christian defender R. Albert Mohler, Jr., of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, responded Wednesday to emerging church leader Brian McLaren’s blog post, saying he welcomes McLaren’s rebuttal essay. “Some theological disputes amount to very little and serve mostly as exercises in missing the point, if indeed there is a point. Other doctrinal exchanges are quite...

Martin Bashir is a reporter impatient with evasive answers. He even quotes from Kevin DeYoung’s review and asks Rob Bell to respond. Bashir gives his own take on Bell’s book: “You’re creating a Christian message that’s warm, kind, and popular for contemporary culture. . . . What you’ve done is you’re amending the gospel, the Christian message, so that it’s palatable to contemporary people who find, for example, the idea of hell and heaven very difficult to stomach. So here comes Rob Bell, he’s made a Christian gospel for you, and it’s perfectly palatable, it’s much easier to swallow. That’s...

As is so often the case, most of us first learned of Rob Bell’s new book by means of Justin Taylor and his blog, “Between Two Worlds,” at the Gospel Coalition. Justin reminds me of the steady folks at the National Hurricane Center. He is able to advise of looming disaster with amazing calmness. That is why I took special notice of Justin’s stern warning: “It is unspeakably sad when those called to be ministers of the Word distort the gospel and deceive the people of God with false doctrine.” Why would Justin feel the need to issue such a...

A new book by one of the country’s most influential evangelical pastors, challenging traditional Christian views of heaven, hell and eternal damnation, has created an uproar among evangelical leaders In a book to be published this month, the pastor, Rob Bell, known for his provocative views and appeal among the young, describes as “misguided and toxic” the dogma that “a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better.”

Let me point out that I do believe and profess both statements; however, the latter does not fully nor accurately define the former. The sad reality is that many, if not most people in the United States (and probably globally – more so in the West) believe that a belief in God simply and wholly defines what and who a Christian is. I believe it is not only a condemnation of those who state this – of their ignorance or laziness – but of the Church as a whole, in our ignorance and laziness. A partial explanation of it is...

Early in George Orwell’s iconic 1984 is a particularly haunting scene. Winston, the hero of the story, is confessing to his diary a sexual encounter with a prostitute. Though Big Brother rigidly controls even sexual union and though sex is viewed as “a slightly disgusting minor operation, like having an enema,” still Big Brother cannot remove from humanity the desire and the need for intimacy...It wasn’t too long ago that I wrote about Brian McLaren and got in trouble. Reflecting on seeing him speak at a nearby church, I suggested that he appears to love Jesus but hate God. Based...

“I must add, though, that I don’t believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts. Brian McLaren, "Emergent" Church leader

John MacArthur on The Jesus You Can't Ignore Tue, Aug. 11, 2009 Posted: 04:42 PM EDT We need to pay more careful attention to how Jesus dealt with false teachers, what He thought of religious error, and how He defended the truth, says evangelical pastor and popular speaker John MacArthur.Breaking the stereotype of the gentle Jesus, MacArthur illustrates in The Jesus You Can’t Ignore how Jesus was rarely cordial when confronting false teachings, hypocrisy and self-righteousness in His time. The outspoken, bold and blunt Jesus is the one whom the Church today needs to follow, he argues. The soft and less...

War is hell.” So said Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. By the time Sherman retired from active duty, that saying had become virtually synonymous with his name. Sherman’s contempt for war was well-known throughout most of his career as a soldier. A month after the Civil War ended, when Sherman was at the height of his fame and the pinnacle of his success as a soldier, he wrote to a friend, “I am sick and tired of fighting.” He was not yet finished fighting, however. He spent the next 14 years as commanding general of the United States Army. Those years...

I’ve said this many times: I can listen to a guy preach—put anybody in front of me—and I’ll tell you what his view of Scripture is by what he says. If he doesn’t preach out of the Bible, I know what his view of Scripture is, I don’t care what he says. I don’t care if he wants to die telling me he’s a believer in inerrancy, if he gets up and does not preach the Word of God, that’s his view of Scripture leaking all over the place. Look, every preacher preaches for impact, for effect, for result. You’re...

Controversial Book 'The Shack' Touts Growth Amid Sales Slump For 33 straight weeks, popular novel The Shack has been holding the No. 1 spot on the New York Times best-sellers list for Paperback Trade Fiction and reported a significant growth in sales last month while overall book sales dropped. Thu, Jan. 15, 2009 Posted: 08:29 AM EST For 33 straight weeks, popular novel The Shack has been holding the No. 1 spot on the New York Times best-sellers list for Paperback Trade Fiction and reported a significant growth in sales last month while overall book sales dropped. "During the five...

I Hope I Can Count On Your Vote Congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama. I have many thoughts about this important election and all that has gone with it. At this exciting time I have my own announcement to make. After two years of thinking, planning and dreaming I have made a decision to add a new component to my work and service life: I am going to join the political field and run for public office. So, today I announce that I am running for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2010. While the 2008 election just ended minutes ago, I...

Pagitt and Jones have attracted national attention for calling on Christians to re-consider their theological assumptions. Solomon's Porch is the laboratory for their experiment. Pagitt started the church in 2000 after a stint as the youth pastor at Wooddale Church, a suburban megachurch led by National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) president Leith Anderson. Before moving to its current location, Solomon's Porch gathered in a downtown neighborhood near John Piper and Bethlehem Baptist Church. Piper has publicly criticized emergent, as he earlier had criticized St. Paul pastor Greg Boyd, a controversial advocate of open theism. ...(snip) The limits of Piper's flexibility,...

“Emergent” church guru Brian McLaren is urging fellow emergent Christians to see the U.S. as “others see us.” As part of this Christian enlightenment, he shares on his blog a music video in which two Iranian sisters, posing as broadcast journalists hosting an Iranian news broadcast, sing an anti-American diddy about “demoKracy,” while American bombs cascade on innocent civilians. “An Iranian-born friend sent me the link,” McLaren chimed. “And I can’t help but feel it would do my fellow USAmericans a lot of good to let this video/song sink in …” No doubt.

The philosophy within the emergent movement: 'It's time for us to take back Christianity' By Jane Clifford UNION-TRIBUNE FAMILY EDITOR June 21, 2008 It's not often that you can go out for an evening and enjoy book readings, musical theater and a spiritual message – all in the same place. But that's exactly what happened for those who showed up for “The Church Basement Roadshow: A Rollin' Gospel Revival� Sunday night at Christ Lutheran Church in Pacific Beach.Three guys – Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette – play six characters in their 90-minute show, which is a provocative way...

Emergent Church Spreading Spiritual Cancer Marsha West In the Sixties the counterculture rejected consumerism, individualism, traditional values and ideas, and protested against their parent’s middle class values. Thus began an all out assault on what had made America prosperous for two centuries. Now a similar assault on historic orthodox Christianity is underway that’s gaining momentum. Some Christians believe a paradigm shift is taking place in the Church and as a consequence “everything must change.” This is anything but good news for Christendom, my friends. In a radio interview with Worldview Network’s Brannon Howse, Professor Peter Jones of Westminster Seminary warned...

We live in an interesting era of church history. The once dominant voice of American Christianity is beginning to weaken, being replaced by the strengthening choruses of places like Africa and China. The mega-church mentality and method has been tried and found shallow. Bill Hybels has admitted that his Willow Creek approach over the last ten years was “a mistake.�1 Even as the American church seems to be witnessing a resurgence of interest in the historic and orthodox theology of the Protestant Reformation2, several undercurrents are calling into question these very same orthodox interpretations of Scripture. Probably the most vocal...

MONTREAT, NC — Diana Butler Bass, author of six books on American religious practice, including Christianity for the Rest of Us and The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church, will head the slate of preachers and teachers at this year’s “Reclaiming the Text� conference, May 26-30, at Montreat Conference Center.  The conference theme for 2008, “New Life Emerging from Ancient Texts: Breathing New Life Into the Lectionary,� will focus on connections between ancient texts and emerging contexts.“An emergent church is a congregation that is trying to speak to a new set of cultural conditions,� Bass said.  “It’s not any...

In a city of people not exactly known for having formal religious ties, some 7,400 cheered Tuesday morning as they welcomed the Dalai Lama, Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu and about a half dozen other religious leaders. On the last day of the Dalai Lama's visit to Seattle for a gathering on compassion, he joined Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and other Buddhist representatives — along with some young people — for a panel discussion on spiritual connection. Moderator Joan Halifax Roshi, a Zen Buddhist master, began the morning by asking everyone to "come into collective silence and pray in whatever way...

BTW: Pat Abendroth hosts a radio show on http://www.kcro.com on Saturdays at 5 pm central time, it is a good show BTW BTW I wish there were more pastors like Abendroth here in the Omaha area ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Rob Bell makes me angry: a pastoral response to Velvet Elvis April 14, 2008 [Pat Abendroth, the Senior Pastor of Omaha Bible Church wrote a helpful review of Rob Bell's book Velvet Elvis] Due to its helpfulness and Bell's increased popularity, I wanted to include it here. It is a tad long, but I trust you'll find it worth the read…] Time...

Non-Christians are more receptive to the Gospel today than at any point in recent American history, according to one research team. Tue, Apr. 08, 2008 Posted: 15:19:18 PM EST Non-Christians are more receptive to the Gospel today than at any point in recent American history, according to one research team. "We are seeing a new level of curiosity among those who are seeking out religion – and we rejoice that people are willing to hear about Jesus," said Sam S. Rainer III, who heads Rainer Research. While Rainer said he finds the increased receptivity among non-believers encouraging, the problem lies...

Profile: Mars Hill Bible Church pastor Rob Bell Posted by slangford March 23, 2008 00:00AM Press Photo/Paul L. Newby IIFull of humor: The Rev. Rob Bell, of Mars Hill Bible Church, lets out a big laugh as he speaks to his congregation on a Sunday morning. Bell works on a sermon for weeks, sometimes months, before he delivers it. "A good sermon will exhaust you and inspire you," he says. "You'll say, 'Whoa -- that's a full meal. It'll take me a week to recover from that.'" More photos The Rev. Rob Bell hops up onto the circular stage...

If Jesus walked the earth today, he'd drink fair-trade coffee and fill his Blackberry with non-church activities. So says Brian McLaren, author of more than a dozen books on modern Christianity - most recently Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis, and a Revolution of Hope. In Everything Must Change, McLaren urges an examination of four critical issues: the environment, poverty, world peace and religious understanding. The book is titled Everything Must Change. Do you mean everything? Are we doing anything right?The laws of gravity and the speed of light are just fine. (laughs) But what I'm saying with "everything" is...

Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll preached on the still popular and still controversial topic of emerging churches in his latest sermon. But it’s an issue he normally wouldn’t teach to his mainly twenty-something church crowd in Seattle. That’s because Mars Hill attendants don’t use the language “emerging church” as many Christian leaders label them. The issue of the emerging church, however, was raised when thousands of people, who regularly tune into Mars Hill sermons every week through the Internet, voted to make it the No. 2 most popular topic they wanted Driscoll to address in a sermon series titled “Religion...

Cutting-edge leaders of the emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic streams are convening Thursday evening in Washington state to re-imagine ways to express the Christian faith. Thu, Feb. 28, 2008 Posted: 11:20:04 AM EST Cutting-edge leaders of the emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic streams are convening Thursday evening in Washington state to re-imagine ways to express the Christian faith. Under the banner of “The New Conspirators Conference,” attendees will contemplate what “God is conspiring” through the new generation of Christian leaders to make His kingdom relevant in a rapidly changing world. “As far as we know, this is the first time...

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: A DIFFERENT GOSPEL In their lust for unity the Emergent Church and post-evangelical “Protestants” are right now embracing the Roman Catholic Church as another Christian denomination. But the issue is simple: If, as taught the Church of Rome, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without “the new birth in baptism” then we are now in hopeless contradiction with the Gospel contained in Holy Scripture. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8) Speaking The Truth In...

KEN SILVA THREATENED WITH LAWSUIT OVER TONY JONES In my post Tony Jones Defender I mentioned that during a recent phone call Julie Jones had threatened me with a lawsuit for defamation of character. For those who don’t know she is the wife of Tony Jones, a well known leader in the neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church. Quite understandably she has taken exception to my writings concerning her husband Tony Jones. In her letter, which I published at her behest, Julie Jones went to great lengths to prove Tony Jones is a Christian. Well today in responding to a...

Softer Approach to Apologetics in a Not-So-Postmodern Culture Sometimes, giving pat answers to some of the most common apologetic questions students ask isn't satisfying. Thu, Sep. 20, 2007 Posted: 11:59:51 AM EST Sometimes, giving pat answers to some of the most common apologetic questions students ask isn't satisfying. "What is truth?" and "How can we know Christianity is the true religion?" are two questions that Dale Fincher, author of the newly released Living with Questions, frequently comes across in his ministry career. Fincher is offering students a softer approach to apologetics, a reading that doesn't sound academic and that's more...

America's 50 Most Influential Churches The Church Report is pleased to once again announce this year’s 50 Most Influential Churches in America. Each year, we look forward to working with Dr. John Vaughan and appreciate the input of pastors from throughout the country that provide their insight as to who is really influencing America's churches.   This year’s list has several new churches and you also note movement of other churches through the list. If you have comments, please feel to send us an email to crdaily@thechurchreport.com.   Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, Ill.), Saddleback Church Lake Forest, Calif.),...

Along with unfair stereotypes of other traditions, such are the urban legends surrounding the emerging church—one of the most controversial and misunderstood movements today. As a theologian, I have studied the movement and interacted with its key leaders for years—even more, I happily consider myself part of this movement or "conversation." As an evangelical, I've had my concerns, but overall I think what emerging Christians bring to the table is vital for the overall health of the church. ...snip... A final stream flowing into the emerging lake is politics. Tony Jones is regularly told that the emerging movement is a...

In church circles, some of the hottest words today are "emerging" and "emergent." Last weekend, Christian communications company Zondervan hosted a Seattle conference called "Emergence 2007." The event featured a conversation among four emerging-church leaders: Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill, Dan Kimball of Vintage Faith Church, Doug Pagitt of Solomon's Porch and Karen Ward of Church of the Apostles. Moderator Krista Tippett, host of National Public Radio's "Speaking of Faith," got it right when she said, "The emerging church is not just one thing." There are mega-sized emerging churches, such as Mars Hill with three Seattle- area locations, and smaller...

James L. Evans An emerging Christianity is reshaping faith Christians may believe that they are participants in a "faith once delivered to the saints," but the shape of that faith has varied greatly through the centuries. From the stately and ornate forms of Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, to the humble and plain worship of the Amish, Jesus is followed and revered in a myriad of ways. In fact, so great is the diversity of forms within Christianity, it may be more appropriate to refer to them in the plural — Christianities.Even now a new form of the faith seems to...

An influential Baptist in Missouri believes the Emerging Church movement is one of the most dangerous and deceptive movements infiltrating Southern life and he's out to stop it. Roger Moran, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, is a conservative layman at First Baptist Church in Troy, Mo. But he's also considered the most powerful Baptist in the state, St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper reported Monday. Moran's driving concern is the rise of the emerging church and its threat to the future of the Baptist church in Missouri and across the nation. "Not since the stealth tactics of the...

Appropriate Response to the Emerging Church Movement© By David Kowalksi Looking out of the windows of our homes we respond indifferently to the presence of dirt on the ground. Should that dirt makes its way into our homes, however, our feelings change and we proceed to sweep it out because it does not belong there. In John 2:14-16 [1] , after passing passively through the streets of Jerusalem, Jesus’ passivity gave way to angry expression as he proceeded to sweep clean the house of God. John says in verse 15 that when Jesus saw the money changers “He made a...

ATLANTA (ABP)—Atlanta church planter Jake Myers used the images of beer, candles and theologian Soren Kierkegaard to describe the “emergent conversation” taking place within Christianity, which he said could be a good fit for members of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Myers, who leads an emergent community in the Little Five Points area of Atlanta, led a breakout session during the CBF general assembly. He also serves on staff at Wieuca Road Baptist Church in Atlanta as a church planter and mission leader. The “emergent church” movement is a decade-old movement of Christians—both mainline and evangelical— exploring new expressions of Christianity...

Brian McLaren on The Da Vinci Code An interview by Lisa Ann Cockrel With The Da Vinci Code poised to go from bestseller list to the big screen on May 19, pastor and writer (and Sojourners board member) Brian McLaren talks about why he thinks there's truth in the controversial book's fiction. What do you think the popularity of The Da Vinci Code reveals about pop culture attitudes toward Christianity and the church? Brian McLaren: I think a lot of people have read the book, not just as a popular page-turner but also as an experience in shared frustration with...

Join Cindy Sheehan and Protect Kids from the Pentagon Dear _____________, Buried deep within the No Child Left Behind Act is a provision that requires public high schools to hand over students' private contact information to military recruiters. If a school does not comply, it risks losing vital federal education funds. As if that weren't bad enough, the Pentagon has now built an illegal database of 30 million 16 to 25-year-olds as another recruitment tool. Action 1: Protect our Children - "Opt Them Out!" Sojourners is partnering with Working Assets and others in The Leave My Child Alone Coalition to...

"always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2Timothy 3:7) My favorite TV show as a teenager was Green Acres. On the show was a county agent by the name of Hank Kimball whose job was to answer technical questions for farmers. Mr. Douglas, a misplaced New York Lawyer and wannabe farmer, would often call Hank for advice. Hank, however, was the master of using many words to say absolutely nothing. His advice would go something like this: After Mr. Douglas calls Hank for advice about his sick pig, Hank shows up and accompanies Mr....