That’s what an article at Baptist Bulletin is claiming.
One of the major influences paving the road back to Roman Catholicism is the emerging church movement. Proponents say it’s time for Christianity to be reinvented for a new generation. It must become more relevant to a postmodern generation. They say the best way to reinvent Christianity for the present generation is to reintroduce ideas and experiences from the past. Emergent leaders say God’s Word no longer holds the answers to life’s questions. Experience must become the key factor to encounter spiritual reality.
[The Emerging Church] is a movement born of people who do not want to accept the clarity of Scripture. . . . It allows them not to take a position on homosexuality, premarital sex, or anything, besides “Let’s light some candles and incense, think good thoughts about Jesus, and give to the poor.”
On the surface, its connection to the word mission is obvious. But does a desire to share one’s faith encapsulate the meaning of the word? Trevin Wax addresses this issue in a helpful article entitled “Missional—The New Buzzword.”
One of the problems with the term is its varied usage. The term missional has become a buzzword of the Emerging Church and has taken on a certain meaning. Many from the more traditional stripe, recognizing it as a good word, have also started using it, but often in a different way. Trevin explains, “For many traditional SBC leaders, the term is synonymous with the idea of being ‘missions-minded’ or ‘evangelistic.’”
Here’s his closing paragraph (remember that this a parable):
While the true fundamentals of the gospel must be defended, God hates the sowing of discord among brethren, and dogmatism on disputable matters is a clear violation of Romans 14. When are the leaders of the Amish community going to stand up and deal with this catastrophic problem in their group? When are they going to set aside time to read broadly and educate their consciences to get to the radical center on every issue? When are they going to get aggressive about helping their people do the same, and make the changes that need to be made? When are the leaders going to step up and band together to stop being intimidated by the radical, right-wing fringes of the movement? How can they possibly justify separating themselves even from the leaders within the Mennonite community and other godly Christians around the world? When are they going to shake off the paranoia of purity, get off the slippery slope of disunity, and fight their way back toward oneness and interdependence with the rest of the body of Christ-or die trying? That decision may mean that the Amish institutions would lose so many members that they would end up folding financially and the power brokers lose all their control, but as an Amish leader once said, ‘Our institutions do not have to continue to exist, but we do have to do what’s right.’ Pastor Don, the Amish are a group of people I can never stop caring about. I dearly love them all. But I hate that blasted Amish hyper-separation heresy—with all my heart!”
This move has created no small stir in the Fundamentalist world, where Joe was respected as a musician, leader, and teacher. Joe received an undergraduate degree from Bob Jones University, a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Pensacola Christian College, and taught at Northland Baptist Bible college as professor of Theology, Biblical Studies, and Counseling for ten years. He was also a senior pastor of a Fundamentalist church for eight years.
Here are some Fundamentalist responses and discussions:
John Armstrong, founder and president of ACT 3, was recently taken to task by John MacArthur in the latter’s most recent book, The Truth War. Armstrong weighs in on the emerging church controversy offering a clarification of his position and a critique of those who too hastily condemn without carefully listening.
Most of the critics on the right have not bothered to read this movement carefully and thus these critics level massive broadsides against something that is still quite small and young. I prefer to interact, to listen and to give these friends time. The broadside approach looks and feels like old fundamentalism dressed in modernist epistemology. The more open approach, that wants to listen and learn, gets labeled as “liberal” by people of fear and personal suspicion who react to all new forms that do not fit their notion of how things ought to be.
If you’re still in the dark regarding the emerging church and want to get the perspective of a conservative evangelical leader, you may want to check out John MacArthur’s newly released book The Truth War. You might also find the following articles by MacArthur helpful.
The folks at Church Marketing Sucks just finished a series on innovative churches, which you may or may not find helpful. I post about it here only to inform you of what some are saying, not necessarily to endorse the views expressed.
That’s what an article at Baptist Bulletin is claiming.
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Is yoga appropriate for the Christian? 
Here are today’s bullet points:
On the surface, its connection to the word mission is obvious. But does a desire to share one’s faith encapsulate the meaning of the word? Trevin Wax addresses this issue in a helpful article entitled 
