parables of a prodigal world

This week, two topics dominated the small slice of the blogosphere on which I keep an eye: the economic bailout plan and the imminent demise of "Emerging Church" or "Emergent." If you're unaware of the "economic bailout plan" issue, then welcome back from your tropical vacation. Too many great posts on the issue to link to, but this one's my favorite . If you're unaware of the Emerging/Emergent issue, Christianity Today blogger Url Scaramanga wrote an article called R.I.P. Emerging Church ; Scot McKnight responded over at Jesus Creed ; Alan Hirsch chimed in , as have many others. Actually, the discussion was sparked a few weeks ago when Andrew Jones indicated he would stop using the terms and Dan Kimball examined the issue and decided that he will be using those terms "more retrospectively than futuristically." I humbly added my two cents , though more geared toward a very specific issue regarding the new network to be formed by McK...

September 24, 2008 Mr. Dan Kimball Mr. Erwin McManus Mr. Scot McKnight Organization Yet to be Named (Post-Emerging Church?) RE: The Planned Resurrection of "Emerging Church" Gentlemen, It has recently come to my attention, via a post at out of Ur , that you are in the process of forming and naming a new network, based on the same principals as "Emerging Church" but incorporating a more firmly-defined statement of faith. Specifically, the post reports: "The still unnamed network has agreed to start with the inclusive but orthodox theological foundation of the Lausanne Covenant , and they intend to emphasize mission and evangelism. They appear to have learned from the emerging church’s mistake—define purpose and doctrine early so your identity doesn’t get hijacked." If that report is accurate, I am writing to urge you to reconsider. I have one fundamental basis for my appeal. I, and many of like mind, are convinced that the principles of "Emerging ...

Wanna win a 1-year subscription to a pretty cool magazine? Then keep reading. My allegiance to Jesus notwithstanding, I gotta be honest: sometimes I just don't like people. I received the following comment in response to something I posted last week called Screwtape on Election Year Issues: God Bless Democracy? Dear Mr. Shahinian: I just ran across an article you wrote for Parables of a Prodigal World entitled Screwtape on Election Year Issues: God Bless Democracy, posted on September 13, 2008, http://www.parablesofaprodigalworld.com/2008/09/screwtape-on-election-year-issues-god.html, and I would like to raise an issue that is of concern to Selling Power magazine, which is the use of our trademark. The word "Selling Power" is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for sales effectiveness. For example, your article states: “You are to use the word purely as an incantation; if you like, purely for its selling power.” We do not condone such uses of our trademark. As a pract...