Emerging Pentecostal - Latest Comments

Re: Welcome Back…

len — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:45:36 -0000

I tried to interest some of my charismatic friends in one piece of this discussion recently, but it turned out it was mostly others who were interested..
http://nextreformation.com/?p=2364

Re: Welcome Back…

Joe Miler — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:22:35 -0000

Hi, I came to your site because of our shared interest in being a Friend of Missional. I am glad to make your acquaintance and visit your blog. God bless!

Re: Big E, little e, what begins with “E?”

johnohara — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:30:10 -0000

Thanks, Joshua. I'm glad you're a part of this stream in the conversation.

I was inspired by Brian McLaren in "A Generous Orthodoxy," by his hopeful appreciation for the best of what such terms have to offer, and by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones for their use of the term, "Christian," in the titles of their respective newly-published books.

Re: Big E, little e, what begins with “E?”

jreichard — Mon, 26 May 2008 14:01:10 -0000

Hi John:

You are most certainly correct: language is cultural and culture is volatile. For instance, in the past 10-15 years, "evangelical" has become a political term. Definitions are shared by society; we co-create them together. Unfortunately, sometimes our most prized vocabulary becomes pejorative.

Robert Webber lamented the "bathos" of American Christianity... "the sudden descent from the exalted to the ridiculous". So many of our contemporary movements have met with this demise.

We should be warned against "freeze frame" theology, almost all theological movements are reactionary to the culture at hand. Today's Lutheranism, Methodism, Anglicanism, etc. are all theological streams that emerged as reactions to the broader socio-religious culture of their time. The danger is getting stuck in that mode of thinking for a couple of centuries. Clearly, our "emerging" movement is cultural... but let's hope it doesn't end up being as a "freeze frame" theology.

Great thoughts and much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Joshua Reichard
jreichard@vision.edu