Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas my friends!

It’s just past noon on Christmas day. We’ve worshipped with friends this morning. Out of tradition, one person brought oranges and chocolate bars – reminders of days gone by and God’s never ending faithfulness.

Upon arriving home, I shoveled show off the roof along with one morning dove that used our upstairs bathroom window as a means of entering into birdie eternity. For all of ten minutes on the roof, I had a six and three year old shouting out the window for their daddy to be careful and not fall.

With the presents now opened and a few minutes of down time before our next party, I thank God for your friendship. I thank our Creator for the prophecy of Isaiah and others who proclaimed the birth of this child long before he arrived. And then he came in the midst of humble parents, and it’s now been two thousand years. Yet, we continue to recognize.

May your day and week ahead be filled with the recognition that God is in our midst! May we live in the midst of the kingdom, proclaim its reality, and anticipate the completion and full restoration of all his creation. May the kingdom continue to come on earth as it is in the heavens.

As I reflect on the past year, I think of a small handful of people gathering at the Urban Mill, downtown Grand Rapids. One short year later friendships have formed, missional minded people and faith communities are beginning to partner together. All of this comes in response to the Spirit in our midst.

Yet, I also wonder and even begin to marvel at what God has for our future year together. We’ve had a great start. Let us not become complacent believing that we have reached the conclusion to this conversation. For while we love coffee, and thoughtful theology, we have many people among us who need to be invited into this kingdom story.

I challenge you, and I invite you to challenge me, to continually create room in our lives for others. Let us think not only of our own interests, but let us allow the interests of others be a driving force in our lives. Let us increasingly allow the love for God and for our neighbors to dictate the passions and efforts of our lives.

Once again, Merry Christmas! For the kingdom of God is at hand!
Randy

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Upcoming emergent west michigan gatherings…
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Wednesday, January 11, 10:30 a.m. @ the Bite

For those of you who have yet to join us for our monthly conversation, I invite you to join us this coming year! We are not an intimidating group. We’re simply trying to understand and work out the reality of the kingdom in our lives.

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I received the following e-mail earlier this week..
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Hi, Randy!

Doug Pagitt will meet with a gathering of leaders (limited to 20) at the Watermark Grill (on Cascade Rd. about a mile east of Forest Hills Ave) on Friday, December 30, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. You must RSVP by e-mail to Rich Correll at richcpti@cs.com

Thanks.

John Frye

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A few things worthy of reading:

What is the gospel?
by Scot McKnight
http://www.the-next-wave-ezine.info/issue84/index.cfm?id=6&ref=COVERSTORY

Someone recently asked me what Leslie Newbigin book to begin with…
Foolishness to the Greeks or The Gospel in a Pluralist Society.
The first of these two is an easy and short read.

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A place to post thoughts:

http://www.emergentwestmichigan.blogspot.com

Pagitt in town again...

Doug Pagitt will meet with a gathering of leaders (limited to 20) at the Watermark Grill (on Cascade Rd. about a mile east of Forest Hills Ave) on Friday, December 30, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. You must RSVP by e-mail to Rich Correll at richcpti@cs.com

Thanks.

John Frye

Notes from the December gathering

EMERGENT WEST MICHIGAN– 14 December 2005 (via Steve Argue)
“The job of art is to chase ugliness away.” – Bono

EMERGENT– BELONG: ORDER

Members of emergent hold in common four values and practices that flow from them. In the language of a religious order, we call these four values our order and rule:

1. Commitment to God in the Way of Jesus
2. Commitment to the Church in all its Forms
3. Commitment to God’s World
4. Commitment to One Another

EWM Focus on Value 3: Commitment to God’s World

We practice our faith missionally – that is, we do not isolate ourselves from this world, but rather, we follow Christ into the world. We seek to fulfill the mission of God in our generations, and then to pass the baton faithfully to the next generations as well. We believe the church exists for the benefit and blessing of the world at large; we seek therefore not to be blessed to the exclusion of everyone else, but rather for the benefit of everyone else. We see the earth and all it contains as God’s beloved creation, and so we join God in seeking its good, its healing, and its blessing.

PRACTICES

· To build relationships with neighbors and to seek the good of our neighborhoods and cities.
· To seek reconciliation with enemies and make peace.
· To encourage and cherish younger people and to honor and learn from older people.
· To honor creation and to cherish and heal it.
· To build friendships across racial, ethnic, economic and other boundaries.
· To be involved at all times in at least one issue or cause of peace and justice.

A few Questions for us…

1. Emergent folk use “mission/missional/missionally” a lot. How would you define this or explain it to someone? Is this really any different from being seeker-driven or committed to evangelism explosion? How do we keep this from simply following culture, as many critics have challenged?

2. In what way are we tying our beliefs to historical Christianity, in what ways are we pushing underdeveloped elements of the gospel forward (I believe these to be complimentary, not mutually exclusive), and what are we completely missing?

3. What does “commitment to God’s world” look like in West Michigan? What steps can we take? I’m curious to hear from you some of the things ministries are attempting. I think it would be most helpful for it to be explained in a way …

That is framed in a theological/missional understanding (The “why”);
That shows tangible how it embraces a cause for peace, justice, and expression of the gospel;
That the potential to include other ministries for a combined (co-op) commitment.

A few THOUGHTS ON MISSION…

Heb. 1.1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
Heb. 1.2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
Heb. 1.3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

"Crisis"
The Chinese character for signifiying the idea of “crisis” combines two other characters, the one for “danger” and the other for “opportunity” (Guder) As we look at the church, we see a crisis. As we respond to the crisis each tend to lean more toward responding to the danger or the opportunity.

“The struggle to be both faithful and relevant is constant for every church. It is the church’s calling to embody the gospel’s “challenging relevance” (Guder). We might call consider this as expressing a “relevantly counter-cultural” message in word and deed.

“Churching”…
Pete Ward in Liquid Church talks about how “church” has moved from a verb to a noun. In other words, we go to church… rather than church. Might we consider recapture church as a verb eager to “church” in our contexts.

God-centered… god driven
Guder says that theocentric mission (vs. ecclesiocentric mission) is rooted in the trinitarian character of mission. He refers to Lesslie Newbgin, stating that “missionary practice must be grounded in the person and work of Christ, seeded by ‘trust in the reality and power of the Holy Spirit’ and rooted in a practical faith that discerns ‘God’s fatherly rule in the events of secular history,’ … in the revolutionary changes which are everywhere taking place in the life of the world.

apostolic
The church is ‘one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church” (Nicene-Constantinople Creed- 381). The church is apostolic in that it is represents the Apostles’ teaching and because it represents Christ (Guder). “You are the Body of Christ” (1 Cor 12.27).

kingdom of god… received and entered, not built or extended
Guder argues that words associated with the KOG center around the verbs “receive” and “enter” (cf. Luke 18.17, 24-25, 29-30). If this is the case, might this not effect the way we look at the mission of the church. If we are a community that has responded to God (through repentance and faith), we live as a community that welcomes others to this same response.

EXPRESSIONS…

December Gathering plus Experiential worship tonight

EMERGENT WEST MICHIGAN– 14 DECMEBER 2005 GATHERING
To: Emergent West Michigan
Re: December 'gathering' at the Bite
Fr: Steve Argue

Hello EWM journeyer. We’re looking forward to connecting at the gathering on Wednesday (12/14, 10:30 a.m. @ the Bite, downtown).

Over the past few months we have felt a desire to explore the Emergent Order and talk though the four values outlined on the Emergent Village website. We felt that this would be a good springboard for discussion, help us wrestle with core values that emergent declares, and to begin the address the fair challenge made by some who want to know what we’re “for” rather than what we’re “against.”

This month we’re taking a look at the third value. I think our conversation will be enhanced if we give some think time to this value. Below, I’ve tried to quote or summarize this value, raise some issues, and ask a few questions.

This merely serve to get us ramped up to our gathering, and I hope it will inspire more questions and comments. Hopefully it will help us begin to answer the question, “What is emergent for?”
Rock on-
Steve

EMERGENT– BELONG: ORDER
Members of emergent hold in common four values and practices that flow from them. In the language of a religious order, we call these four values our order and rule:??
1. Commitment to God in the Way of Jesus
2. Commitment to the Church in all its Forms
3. Commitment to God’s World
4. Commitment to One Another


EWM Focus on Value 3: Commitment to God’s World

We practice our faith missionally – that is, we do not isolate ourselves from this world, but rather, we follow Christ into the world. We seek to fulfill the mission of God in our generations, and then to pass the baton faithfully to the next generations as well. We believe the church exists for the benefit and blessing of the world at large; we seek therefore not to be blessed to the exclusion of everyone else, but rather for the benefit of everyone else. We see the earth and all it contains as God’s beloved creation, and so we join God in seeking its good, its healing, and its blessing.

PRACTICES:
· To build relationships with neighbors and to seek the good of our neighborhoods and cities.
· To seek reconciliation with enemies and make peace.
· To encourage and cherish younger people and to honor and learn from older people.
· To honor creation and to cherish and heal it.
· To build friendships across racial, ethnic, economic and other boundaries.
· To be involved at all times in at least one issue or cause of peace and justice.


A few Questions for us…

· Emergent folk use “mission/missional/missionally” a lot. How would you define this or explain it to someone? Is this really any different from being seeker-driven or committed to evangelism explosion? How do we keep this from simply following culture, as many critics have challenged?

· In what way are we tying our beliefs to historical Christianity, in what ways are we pushing underdeveloped elements of the gospel forward (I believe these to be complimentary, not mutually exclusive), and what are we completely missing?

· What does “commitment to God’s world” look like in West Michigan? What steps can we take? I’m curious to hear from you some of the things ministries are attempting. If you choose to share, I think it would be most helpful for it to be explained in a way (this might be a good conversation at the EWM Gathering or online here)...
~ That is framed in a theological/missional understanding (The “why”);
~ That shows tangible how it embraces a cause for peace, justice, and extension of the gospel.
~ That the potential to include other ministries for a combined (co-op) commitment.


Additional Reading…

The following steam of conversation has been floating around. I urge you to look, especially at:

· John Hammett’s Article An Ecclesiological Assessment of the Emerging Church Movement. Hammett’s critique is fair and respectful. http://ateam.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/11/23/1418941.html

· Tall Skinny Kiwi on Emergent http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/ (6 parts) Andrew Jones responds to Hammett’s critique.

· Jason Clark gives a good summary of his take from Hammett’s paper. http://www.jasonclark.ws/jasonclark/2005/11/assessment_of_t.html


A final Comment…

Our hope has we look at this order is to stretch a fair critique of all, younger, emerging (I use this word in the broadest sense) leaders and ministries. There is a time to define who we are by what we are not but there’s also a time to define who we are by what we express (which encompasses what we believe and do).

The last thing we need to do is defend an icon called “Emergent” or run to the defense of Emergent Village. If we are emerging out of our historical past and are commissioned by the Sprit and the church (for this is what discipleship is) to express the gospel to younger generations. This calls for listening to the questions even if we are accused of entertaining ones that some deem irrelevant (postmodern or otherwise), responding to the needs that show up on our radar screen even if we are accused of being driven by our culture (as if our predecessors are not), and inspiring others to do the same (which we hold loosely because it may not look the same as we’ve done it in the future).

The “now what?” challenges us as it does any idea or movement. If we are committed to our world because we believe it is God’s world and that he’s bringing healing to every part of it. We do not have the option to be casual spectators but active participants.

I hope our gathering on Wednesday springboards more conversations that steer us this way. I am hungry for it. See you Wednesday. Peace.

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"God is Where the Pain Is"
An experiential worship gathering hosted by His House Christian Fellowship at GVSU (Allendale).

The gathering will open around 7:00pm on Tuesday, December 6 in the Grand River Room (Upstairs) in the Kirkhof Center on GVSU's Allendale Campus.

The event is open to all. The focus of the 10 stations is oriented around the idea that Christmas shows us that God did not abandon the world to pain, but entered into the pain of the world.

“The gospel of Jesus the Messiah was born, then, in a land and at a time of trouble, tension, violence, and fear. Banish all thoughts of peaceful Christmas scenes. Before the Prince of Peace had learned to walk and talk, he was a homeless refugee with a price on his head. At the same time, in this passage and several others Matthew insists that we see in Jesus, even when things are at their darkest, the fulfillment of scripture. This is how Israel’s redeemer was to appear; this is how God would set about liberating his people, and bringing justice to the whole world. No point in arriving in comfort, when the world is in misery; no point in having an easy life, when the world suffers violence and injustice! If he is to be Emmanuel, God-with-us, he must be with us where the pain is.”

-Tom Wright, “Matthew for Everyone” pp.14-15