House Church Talk - Emerging Chruch Gathering

[Chip Brogden]

>And what is our present reality? Some call it
>postmodernism, a radical deconstruction of all our previous
cultural
>assumptions. Others call it post-Christendom, a transition
time for the
>historic church where it finds itself on the margins of
society. Others
>label it a fad, a bad dream that we will someday awaken out
of and get
>back to the way things used to be and ought to be. We call
it Mayhem. Not
>sure how to label it, not sure how to define it, we just
know that we're
>in it and we're not alone.


I just call it being decreased so He may increase (John
3:30).  Or, you could say we're simply being reduced to
Christ.  It's nothing new, the whole universe has been
moving in this direction since the beginning.  We've just
been slow to catch on.


I am your brother,


Chip Brogden
http://www.watchman.net




----- Original Message -----
From: "David Anderson" <david at housechurch.org>
To: "House Church Talk" <House Church Talk  at housechurch.org>
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2003 12:07 PM
Subject: Re: House Church Talk -  Emerging Chruch Gathering


>
>      Hi Bob,
>
> You wrote:
>
> >Everybody is talking about answers for the emerging
church. Everybody is
> >reading the next book that will solve our dilemma.
Everybody is trying out
> >the flavor of the month in hopes that the magic pill will
make sense out
> >of our present reality. And what is our present reality?
Some call it
> >postmodernism, a radical deconstruction of all our
previous cultural
> >assumptions. Others call it post-Christendom, a
transition time for the
> >historic church where it finds itself on the margins of
society. Others
> >label it a fad, a bad dream that we will someday awaken
out of and get
> >back to the way things used to be and ought to be. We
call it Mayhem. Not
> >sure how to label it, not sure how to define it, we just
know that we're
> >in it and we're not alone.
>
> The earliest Christians also faced a brave, new, and
decadent world - yet
> they overcame by the blood of the Lamb. Essentially, word
of mouth was
> the main form of communication as the good news penetrated
the various
> levels of Roman Empire society. But not words alone -
their love also
> caught the attention of onlookers.
>
> >We want to invite you to a gathering (see
www.not-alone.org), a
> >conversation centered around the reality of Mayhem and
what is emerging.
> >Out of this reality is growing an underground movement of
Christ followers
> >who are not afraid of their surroundings and not
surprised at the shifting
> >ground underneath their feet. These are people who
resonate with an old
> >faith in a new world. These are people who are passionate
about words such
> >as community, natural, organic, simple, missional,
monastic, relationship
> >and Kingdom.
>
> Jesus promised we would never be alone and He and one
other are always a
> "majority," in a manner of speaking. True passion for Him
should really
> turbo-charge these other passions, no?
>
> Thank you for the invite, my brother. Sounds very timely.
Hope things go
> well and brotherly love prevails in Cincinnati. Do the
conference
> planners, by the way, view house churches in a positive
light? If not,
> why not?
>
>    YbiC,
>
>        David Anderson
>
> If at first you don't succeed, attempt something other
than skydiving.
>
>
>
>
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