Parchment & Pen Blog

What happened to the emerging church? I don’t know. For many years, it was the talk of the town. From its advocates to its antagonists, the emerging church gave everyone fodder for conversation. Bloggers knew every day what they were going to blog about. Revolutionists always had a distinguished place in the world. Revisionists had [...]

Not long ago, I met with an old friend of mine who is a “swinger.” For those of you who don’t know, swinging is when both partners in a committed relationship agree to have a sexually open relationship. This guy was married and came in to talk to me about – you guessed it – marital problems. The [...]

In a recent interview with Sally Quinn of The Washington Post, Rob Bell again muddied the waters over the question of the fate of those who’ve never heard about Jesus. In doing so he also greatly misrepresented the evangelical answer to this question. Here are his words: “If, billions and billions and billions of people, [...]

I know. They don’t go by the name emerger anymore. But the attitude is still out there and they need representation on this issue. 10. Because he did not want to be labeled. 9. Because he was not absolutely certain that he could cross since in order to get to the other side, you would [...]

If you don’t like them, lighten up! 10. You refer to your local assembly as “church,” “synagogue,” or “mosque” depending on who you are talking to. 9. Your blog is a rant about how everyone else rants too much. 8. You brag that you have never been pinned down theologically on any issue. 7. You [...]

For those of you who want to criticize the tone of this post, please make sure you read my previous posts on the emerging church. One is listed at the bottom. Take this post in the spirit is was intended and lighten up. Today, at 12:32pm, while most of you were having lunch, the Emerging Church [...]

It was in my expository preaching course that I learned it. It was driven into my teaching psyche and intended to become a part of my basic presupposed knowledge of ministry. Without it, all your preparation would be in vain. Lacking this, your message will fail to do what God actually intended it to do. [...]

With all the renewed conversation about the emerging church that is blanketing the web once again, I thought that I would enter the “conversation” in a somewhat atypical way. Some are proclaiming the death of the emerging church saying, “The emerging church is dead—at least in nomenclature, if not in spirit.” Others such as Scot [...]