Wonderings and Wanderings

I heard tonight about a new church plant in Jefferson City so I checked out the website to see what it was about.  I was hopeful.  Although I’m on staff at another church, there are more than enough people to love and serve in this community and a lot of different styles and communities are needed to honor the diversity that exists among believers and unChristians. I’m  not a believer in mega-churches so I’m grateful for other churches and faith communities. However, I do have a desire to have more faith communities that, in my opinion, represent God with humility, mystery, and grace and that create a faith community that is about grace and dignity for all and the unique G0d-given gifts that they bring to the table.  That is why I was disappointed to see these statements listed under their “What We Believe” category:

• We are not liberals who embrace culture without discernment and compromise the distinctives of the gospel.
• We are not egalitarians and do believe that men should head their homes and male elders should lead their churches with masculine love like Jesus.
•  We are not relativists and do gladly embrace Scripture as our highest authority above such things as culture, experience, philosophy, and other forms of revelation.
• We are not Universalists and do believe that many people will spend eternity in the torments of hell as the Bible teaches.
• We are not evangelical feminists and do believe that God reveals Himself as a Father and is to be honored by the names He reveals to us without apology.
• We are not embarrassed by the bloody death of Jesus and do believe He died as a substitute for the sins of His people in selfless love.

Sigh…..

After church, I drove a friend to the airport in St. Louis. On my way back, I headed to Columbia for an evening with my Peer Learning Group. They are an amazing group of friends and it has been a highlight of 2008 to connect with them. We came together as a group early in 2008 with a shared interest in church planting and the emergent church. We get together to have fun, to encourage one another, to not feel alone in our dreams and our frustrations, to read and discuss relevant books, and to seek God’s guidance.

It was a blessing tonight to gather for supper and also to meet the newest addition to the group – a 6 month old boy from Ethiopia. One of the couples has two youngs son and just adopted this young boy – going to Ethiopia in October to bring him home. He is adorable and sweet and so easy going.
He is amazingly blessed to be their son.

I’m back to work tomorrow after a lot of days off. Hope I can get into the routine again.