tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post6190436666530405786..comments2023-05-14T07:51:18.017-05:00Comments on The Suburban Christian: Typologies of renewal: Three routes, four models, five streamsAl Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04407264726681695790noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-69885236509279664702008-05-04T15:14:00.000-05:002008-05-04T15:14:00.000-05:00Al, What this speaks to me is the exciting time we...Al, <BR/><BR/>What this speaks to me is the exciting time we are living in. The Holy Spirit is moving and there are fresh expressions of "church". Let us sit back and enjoy the ride GOD is taking us on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-52385857419418796772008-04-29T18:52:00.000-05:002008-04-29T18:52:00.000-05:00Al -- This is such a helpful post as I have often ...Al -- This is such a helpful post as I have often thought about and been asked about the emerging church. Some people fear it, others question it, still many embrace it. As I seek to understand it, I can see all of these responses in my own life. But, as you have aptly pointed out, what an encouragement to see God at work in his church, preparing the bride.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-14078074321950781262008-04-28T19:51:00.000-05:002008-04-28T19:51:00.000-05:00cool, i've seen a couple of the breakdowns... nice...cool, i've seen a couple of the breakdowns... nice to have it all in one place with sources and examples cited. good workAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-53169283830793279512008-04-28T15:40:00.000-05:002008-04-28T15:40:00.000-05:00Yes - that's exactly right about the life cycles o...Yes - that's exactly right about the life cycles of reform movements. I have found that theological movements are in great trouble when they begin stressing fidelity to the tradition, rather than fidelity to the truth. "Always reforming" might also be combined with "always conserving," though. It seems like every great reform movement within orthodox (small "o") Christianity hearkens back to either the New Testament or to an older movement that is considered to be closer to the truth. If a movement's teaching is truly original, that's a bad sign. <BR/><BR/>I think about the "what if there was no split" question quite a bit. Protestants who think about such things are more accustomed to thinking about what was gained by the Reformation, and not about what was lost.Michealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05082483107982001471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-4382793695005757852008-04-28T14:37:00.000-05:002008-04-28T14:37:00.000-05:00Is there anything truly new about all this? Probab...Is there anything truly new about all this? Probably not. On the one hand, there's nothing new under the sun. On the other hand, we always live out the faith for such a time as this. Semper reformanda - we are always reforming. And the church necessarily takes new forms in every era, as it ministers in every new cultural context.<BR/><BR/>I went to a Church of Christ/Christian Church college, and I remember that in one of my church history classes we talked about how the Restoration Movement eventually turned into something of a "Restoration Monument." Renewal movements have natural life cycles, and just like in human families or the animal kingdom, life continues through a continual process of birth and rebirth.<BR/><BR/>Regarding Protestantism's genius/curse, it's undoubtedly both/and. It's interesting to contrast Protestantism's endless splits and denominations with Catholicism's multiple orders and movements within it (Jesuits, Franciscans, Benedictines, etc.). It's interesting to ponder what Christianity might have looked like if instead of splitting at the Reformation, if instead Lutherans and Calvinists were more like orders or renewal movements within one, holy, catholic, apostolic church rather than separate churches.Al Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04407264726681695790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-34968904751958391142008-04-28T11:52:00.000-05:002008-04-28T11:52:00.000-05:00As I read all of these ways of analyzing the emerg...As I read all of these ways of analyzing the emerging church "movement", I wonder if there truly is anything "new" about the emerging churches - newer than, say, the other renewal movements that have periodically swept through Protestantism. My own church tradition - Churches of Christ/Christian Churches, part of the <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restoration_Movement" REL="nofollow">Stone/Campbell Restoration movement</A> - was just one of a large number of groups in the early 19th century that were dissatisfied with the then-current Protestant status quo. Depending on your perspective, this continual multiplication of reforms is either the genius or the curse of Protestantism.Michealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05082483107982001471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-58537337478908327262008-04-28T11:30:00.000-05:002008-04-28T11:30:00.000-05:00Yawn.Yawn.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com