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Van-guard (văn’gärd), noun: “The foremost or leading position in a trend or movement.” the journey forward... exploring the emerging church... navigating spiritual formation... seeking to transform the world... ...through Christ |
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On this page, we explore new ideas in church ministry-- how we can better glorify God by being the body of Christ in a postmodern world.
A Must-Read: Fall Contemporary Issues Conference, Westminster Theological Seminary (Oct 26-27, 2006) by Scot McKnight "...Here’s my point: if you narrow the emerging movement to Emergent Village, and especially to the postmodernist impulse therein, you can probably dismiss this movement as a small fissure in the evangelical movement. But, if you are serious enough to contemplate major trends in the Church today, at an international level, and if you define emerging as many of us do – in missional, or ecclesiological terms, rather than epistemological ones – then you will learn quickly enough that there is a giant elephant in the middle of the Church’s living room. It is the emerging church movement and it is a definite threat to traditional evangelical ecclesiology..."
DA Carson versus the Emerging Church by Bob Robinson In March 2007, Bob Robinson critiqued Dr. Carson's analysis of the Emerging Church movement.
Doing Ministry in a Postmodern Culture
Toward a Proper Christian Response to Postmodernity An in-depth look at postmodernism and how it offers a unique opportunity for the Christian church. by Bob Robinson
"The Christian Challenge in the Postmodern World" by N.T. Wright The
transcript from N.T. Wright's Lecture at the Church Leaders' Forum at Seattle Pacific University,
May 18, 2005.
Excellent resource of articles on the Emerging Church, its leaders, and how we can reform the church for the 21st Century.
Emergent Leaders Respond to Criticism "...We offer this in response to recent criticisms, with the hope that it will cause some to better understand us and others to find hope in a document that they can sign on to..."
A Neo-Kuyperian Assist to the Emergent Church by Vincent Bacote and Daniel Pylman "...neo-calvinism’s emphasis on common grace offers the same vital support to the postmodern-friendly emergent church as it did to the late nineteenth century Dutch reformed church that sought to engage every area of life while maintaining fidelity to orthodoxy..."
DA Carson and the Emergent Movement: Analysis and Response By Scot McKnight In April, 2005, Scot McKnight wrote a very detailed analysis and response to DA Carson's book Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church. This document combines all of Scot's posts from his blog "Jesus Creed" in one place.
"Friend of Kuyper" - Exploring how neo-Calvinism has been and can still be an agent of change for the emerging church.
More by Bob Robinson:
Vanguard Church Blog
Embracing Incarnational Ministry God in the Flesh Sent on a Mission by Bob Robinson
"...Did you realize that
Jesus has two bodies? What? Two bodies? Yes! In Colossians 1, verse 18, we read,
“And he (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church.” Or, as the same writer
puts it in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Cor. 12:27) Jesus was God
incarnate--God in bodily form. And here is a very
Postmodernism: They Say It's Just a Phase by Brian McLaren "...if we people of faith sleep on, calling this transition a minor phase, failing to rouse ourselves at this hingepoint in history ... I fear for our descendants, and I know we will have to apologize to the Lord for our ostrich-like indolence. That's why I want to beat the drum pretty loudly, perhaps to the point of being obnoxious, and say, "This is a big deal! This is significant!"...
Reaching Postmodern Ziggurat-Builders (Today's Towers of Babel) by Bob Robinson "...Most have been traveling a long time on their own or with a group of people who are just as clueless as they are about this God-stuff. But the drive within all of us is always there: to build a “stairway to heaven” (a ziggurat), to connect with God. This is a lot like some people whose story is recorded in Genesis 11..."
by Tony Jones This is the last in a series in Books & Culture magazine of three responses to Brian McLaren's book, A New Kind of Christian (Jossey-Bass).
Doing College Ministry in a Postmodern Context
by Brian J. Walsh "...What happens when we take a Christian and add him or her to the secular university? We'll end up with at least four possible equations..."
Navigating the College Transition
"...The transition from high school to college is a difficult one. Yet it is a transition often overlooked. College-bound high school students are often told that their time in college will be the "best four years of their lives," but the reality can be quite different..."
Making the Most of College (Volume I, 2006) Making the Most of College (Volume II 2007) a series of excellent articles from Comment Magazine. Highly Recommended!
Worldview Formation on the College Campus by Dawn Buckley
Seven Questions about Postmodern Ministry
Se7en Questions with Doug Paggit about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...all areas of life are connected, including faith, time, family, work, body, money, intellect, et al. We believe that the way people live is what is essential and not simply belief. We also hold that a person is not made of three or four parts, but is a whole being and what happens in one area of life effects all the rest..."
Se7en Questions with Stan Grenz about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...American Christianity has in many respects bought into the consumer mentality of contemporary society. But the Christian faith is not another commodity that can be bought, sold, and marketed. Rather, it is the life of true relationships..."
Se7en Questions with Jordan Cooper about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...Online community is real. People crave relationships and community but are scared. We all scream we that the postmodern generation desires community but we forget that we are scared by it at the same time. The same brokenness that makes us crave community, makes us scared of it..."
Se7en Questions with Brian McLaren about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...if we focus on asking good questions and keeping conversations going, conversions naturally occur. At least, that's how it seems to me. Sometimes it's just best to ask questions, like "Tell me about your belief in God," and then just to listen, listen, listen..."
Se7en Questions with Dan Kimball about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...I think the biggest overall and subtle challenge right now that comes to my mind is consumerism. For those who have grown up in the church, we really have taught them to view church like they would if they were on the panel of "American Idol". The expectation of performance, the mindset of "what does this church have to offer me?"..."
Se7en Questions with Karen Ward about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...outreach in the postmodern context needs to be relational, incarnational, honest and just. it involves: sharing (without arrogance or proof texting) the story of what god has done and is doing in the world through jesus christ. embodying that story in how you live your life before god. accompanying others as they enter the story and journey to faith and discipleship, teaching new believers to observe the things, which the lord has commanded (rather than marketing the faith or trying to meet superficial "needs" )..."
Se7en Questions with Stephen Shields about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...a map is used for going somewhere. Systematization of truth and the impartation of information is useless in and of itself. Jesus said that the Bible is built on the two greatest commandments. When our knowledge of the Bible does not move us to love God and others more perfectly, it’s a waste of time. Otherwise James would have written, “The demons believe and then fall down in worship.” A map is used for movement and for traveling.."
Se7en Questions with Tom Sine about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...To understand how the church needs to change to more effectively reach a post modern generation allow me to offer my contrast between what I call the “established church” and the “emerging church...”
Se7en Questions with Leonard Sweet about Postmodern Ministry From GinkWorld.Net "...The root metaphors of the modern world have burned out. The emergence of new metaphors on which to build life and prepare for eternity are what I call the 'postmodern movement'..."
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Ministry Transformation- The Emerging Church Personal Transformation- Spiritual Formation World Transformation- Social Action Interact with Bob Robinson about the emerging church, spiritual formation, or social action by e-mailing vanguard church with your comments. |
Steve
Camp versus Brian McLaren
