gathering in light

In class last week we discussed James Wm. McClendon’s baptist theological vision. His small ‘b’ baptist vision has five characteristics of the church that standout as a good framework from which any theology should be done. These five points are:

1. Biblicism – Acceptance of the Bible as authoritative in faith and practice, or faith and obedience. This doesn’t necessarily entail literalism or a tight, fundamentalist reading of the Bible. Instead, it points to the particular role the Bible plays in shaping the kinds of disciples the church makes.
2. Mission – A focus on evangelism, every member is obligated to bear witness even if it brings persecution. For McClendon, who writes from the free church tradition, evangelism isn’t equated to a door-to-door style of converting, but rather a holistic approach to embodying the kingdom of God, which does include proclamation but isn’t limited to it.
3. Liberty – The competancy of the believer to stand and face to face God, without the need of a priest, mediator or the state. This resonates deeply with Quaker sentiments about the immediacy of God’s Spirit.
4. Discipleship – A life transformed by the formation of Christ and brought in line with the community of God. For McClendon Baptism marks the entrance into this community.
5. Community – The church shares in a narrated life together, tied to the Biblical story and rooted in the historic testimonies of those who have gone before us. McClendon suggests that the Lord’s supper is the primary sign of this narrative unity.

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I was just emailed by a friend (and fellow Fuller student) who asked me to name my top two or three writing mistakes I see while grading papers and what can be done about it. He’s doing a speech on the topic and wanted to get some feedback from other teacher’s assistants. Here are my three and I am wondering if anyone else has anything they’d like to add?

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Today I had the chance to lead Ryan’s class for the second time this week. On Tuesday we covered aspects from the book Emerging Churches, while today we covered questions and key insights concerning one of Barna’s more recent hit titles, “Revolution.” Here is some of what we discussed in class today (with slides attached at the bottom).

After reading the book I was a bit stumped as to how to present the material and lead a discussion on it that would be constructive, fair and cover the relevant material. Part of my big hang-up with Barna’s presentation is the way in which he presents his material, he’s a modern outsider trying to be a postmodern insider. I don’t fault him for this, I just think he doesn’t really get it. So because of his own starting point his standpoint shifts the way he understands what’s happening in the church and culture in ways that seem to me to be too reductionistic and individualistic. » Read the rest of this entry «

Life seems to be moving at increasing speeds lately, it’s all I can do to keep track of the things that still need done before I depart. I am leaving for England in under three weeks now, and still have tons of books that need read, articles that need to get finished, grading to do, and then of course all the normal (and really important) stuff like spending time with my wife, doing my house chores, working, and blogging!

Technorati Tags: ben pink dandelion, quaker theology, university of birmingham

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I’ve begun to compile a listing of blogs by students who attend or have attended Fuller Theological Seminary. This is meant for any student no matter what you write about, or what your various positions are on theological matters. It’s just a page to help connect Fuller students with each other, share ideas and converse about what you’re learning and thinking about. » Read the rest of this entry «

I hate to apologize for not writing anything meaningful lately because then I have to admit that it’s true, but I am going to do it anyways. Sorry for all these short posts to the notepad but that’s about all I have time for lately.

I’ve got a backlog of articles I want to write, the problem isn’t having ideas for things to say (God helps us all if that day ever comes). No, quite simply the problem is too little time.

But anyways, before this turns into a sob story I am going to tell you what I am working on. I’ve begun a tutorial on Methods in Mission History with Jehu Hanciles, a Fuller professor who did his PhD at Edingburgh and studied under Andrew Walls. At first glance you may not think this sounds like a “fun” class but let me reassure you it’s been good so far. » Read the rest of this entry «

I’ve been asked to review The Scholarship Blog for Reviewme.com. This isn’t the first time I’ve come across this site, it was just this past October that fellow blogger Paul Stamatiou was trying to get enough votes to win a $5000.00 “blogging scholarship” from “Scholarships Around the US.”
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I realized yesterday that I haven’t blogged in quite awhile and realized I needed a little break from it. There’s so much I’ve been thinking about and I’ve needed some space to do it without trying to come up with something worth reading (as if that ever happens here anyways!). Anyways, here are some thoughts on my first quarter as a PhD student, in fact it’s been 11 weeks now since I officially began this new journey, something that continues to cause lots of reflection and prayer.

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Sorry we missed the FAQs last week, I was swamped, but we’re back and I’ve got some great guests coming up in the next month. This segment is officially called “FAQs of a Theologian” and it is where I or my theologian guests answer a question that often gets posed to…well, theologians.  With that said, I’d love for you to drop a question in the bucket, and we’ll tackle it as soon as possible.

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I spent a couple hours this morning creating a customized emerging church search engine using Google’s new Co-op feature. I’ve added tons and tons of websites and blogs that deal with emerging church issues. My sources for this list came from Scot McKnight, Ryan Bolger, The Daily Scribe, Andrew Jones, Jordon Cooper, Adam Cleaveland and Steve Taylor. This is a working project and I will be tweaking it as I receive feedback and what-not. I am sorry if I missed anyone, you can contact me if you’d like to be added. » Read the rest of this entry «