The Emergent Church Creed

I believe, but not with absolute certainty,
in a majestic mysterious divine being who cannot be comprehended,
the initiator of Darwinian Evolution.

And in Jesus, whom we agree to follow with a humble hermeneutic,
who was conceived by the Mother Spirit (aka Sarayu from The Shack)
born of Mary who probably wasn’t a virgin 
(it really wouldn't matter if she was or wasn’t)
who was crucified under Pontius Pilate
in order to expose the evils of the Roman Empire and motivate 
us to defect from all Imperial framing stories.
On the third day He/She rose in the hearts of His/Her followers 
(getting hung up in Modernist arguments for or against Jesus' 
bodily resurrection entirely misses the point and the beauty 
of the resurrection narratives) 
He/She ascended into heaven and
He/She is dreaming and hoping that we’ll follow His/Her 
examples of feeding the poor, embracing the “other” and 
non-violent passive resistance and thereby dismantle the 
theo-capitalist suicide machine and create an economically 
sustainable and socially just Kingdom of God on Earth  
(aka Global Marxist Socialism)
so that He/She can return, glorify us and give us all a big group hug.
 
I believe the mysterious divine being embraces all of us in community
through questions and conversations. 
(Answers are not needed and only impede the journey.)
Homosexuality is a gift to be embraced instead of a sin to be repented of,
and that there are also followers of god in the way of Allah, Buddha, and Vishnu.
 
I believe that Love Wins and
that the divine being will ultimately help us all embrace the divine spark 
(Imago dei) within all of us so that we can become one with the great 
mysterious majestic spirit and experience self-actualization, the next 
evolutionary leap and the life of the ages.
Peace out.
Namiste

Emergent Heresy & the death of Osama Bin Laden

Be warned this is only a parody; although it is rightfully the summation of the Heretical Emergent theology. 
Think Theology doesn't matter - it's matters to those who are in Hell right now.

Rob Bell: Osama Bin Laden is in hell? Really? And you felt compelled to tell people this? I have to say that I think love wins, and this story is so much larger. Remember, Jesus painted blood on the doorposts of the universe and has reconciled ALL things to himself. Imagine the hell Osama has already experienced living in that one million dollar bunker on the border of Pakistan. Now that he is dead, I'm sure he'll choose Jesus. I am sure I will see him in the new creation someday.

Shane Hipps: Who are we to judge. Osama bin Laden had the imago dei, that divine spark. He just chose a different sail with which to catch the wind of God.

Rick Warren: I was looking forward to working with Bin Laden to bring my PEACE plan to Afghanistan and Pakistan. It does not matter what people believe, as long as we can all join hands to accomplish humanitarian goals in that region.

Samir Selmanovic: Osama Bin Laden served the same god I do, even though he called him Allah and worshiped Him by murdering Christians and Jews, whom he calls infidels.

Doug Pagitt: Osama Bin Laden is going to be reconciled and restored to God just like the rest of us.

Shane Claiborne “There are some things worth dying for… but none worth killing for.” Even Osama Bin Laden did not deserve to die. After all, I loved the way he lived so simply hiding in a cave. He also made his own clothes like me. How bad of a guy could he be?

Jay Bakker: Osama Bin Laden was born as a murderer. How can we judge him for doing what he was born to do? After all, if loving his Muslim brothers and sisters meant killing Americans, who are we to judge who and how he loves?

why a christian cannot believe in evolution

the primary cause of evolutionary development is - Chance

Chance occurrences - according to the Word of the Lord
are not Chance occurrences


 Prov. 16:33, The lot (like dice) is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the Lord.

Salvation is God doing as God wills, for God's Glory

All whom God chooses to save are lost sinners, dead in their trespasses and sins, captives not only to their own sins, but to Satan himself, not one bit different from those who will spend eternity in hell (see Ephesians 2:1-3). Those whom God saves do not seek Him; they are saved apart from seeking to be righteous (Romans 9:30-33). They are saved not because of what they are or because of what they will be or could be (Romans 9:11). They are chosen and saved, not because of any decision they make for God; rather the decision to trust God is the result of His doing, not man’s (John 1:12: Acts 13:48; 16:14; Philippians 1:29; 2:12-13). Through His Spirit, God regenerates the one dead in his trespasses and sins, giving both life and faith so that the individual is now drawn to Him (John 6:44) and expresses faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, a faith which also comes from God (Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Corinthians 4:7); salvation is thus regarded as the work of the sovereign God—not men (Romans 9:11, 15-16; 11:36; 1 Corinthians 1:30-31; Hebrews 12:2).

Are some distressed that God chooses some and not others? They should not be! When God chooses to save anyone, He chooses one who would never have first chosen Him. 

Michael Horton puts it this way, “Essentially, election is God’s making the decision for us that we would never have made for Him."

We should be grateful that God elects some to salvation; otherwise, no one would ever have been saved. If God looked down the corridors of time and chose those who would choose Him, He would have chosen none, for none would have chosen Him (see Romans 3:10-18). Amen and Amen.

Matthew 7 : 13 - 14

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

This is often the way of Christ, as His way is always exactly the opposite of the World's way even in Salvation. Jesus tells us Going to Hell is easy - everyone can do it, most will do it. But Salvation is hard and its limited (as only a few will even find the path that leads to Salvation, let alone take the path, or suffer the hardship of the path). But Americans demand equality - God you must create us all the same, even, equal! - We demand to be born on the path to Salvation! And Christ says no; most wont ever even notice it, it was far back along the road you came from, there were not large, green exits signs like on the Interstate, you simply never even saw it. 


Beloved sinner - the reason Most miss the path to Christ is focus; Man is curved, by sin, back into himself - imagine a large at symbol "@"Man cannot look outside of himself for help as he his curled up like a snake into himself, he is his own god as he is all he is concerned with...what I want, what I need, what I desire, what I deserve. Man must look outside of himself for Salvation as the requirement for Salvation is absolute moral perfection - and sinner I'm not perfect and you're not perfect so we would be without hope on our own. Yet God wanting to save Men - Men who did not want to be saved, Men who hated and despise Him - He made for them a way for Salvation. He sent a portion of Himself (His own Son) to be this perfection for us - that He would live the life we should and do not, acting how we should and do not, honoring God (the Father) first in all things, as we should and do not - that we may believe in Him and be saved.  


Sinner meditate on this truth today - how unworthy you are, how hopeless with out assistance, imprisoned in Sin, desperate and call out today to the One who can and will help:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

What do you do on Sunday; where do you go? part 2

Is the teaching you receive on Sunday Man-centered, Biblically watered down, Pop psychology focused - Self help, or is your minister's name Oprah...

Then I'd like to invite you to a Church. Where we learn (through Preaching) about God, from the Word of God, which is always in some way about Jesus and what He has already done; not about how much God needs us and what we need to do for Him.

PS- if your teacher does not have a podium, then he is not a preacher; you belong to the first category.  Thanks.

What do you do on Sunday; where do you go?

If your church-like community center offers more than 3 different types of worship experiences to fill up your felt needs and cater to your particular category of musical style...

Then I'd like to invite you to a Church. Where we worship the one and only God. As the Church is not a place where we force the "church" to worship us and our own particular interests.