I had the distict feeling that there was deceit in the words and that Ingram used phycological technics to trick. Having the reader repeat “Trust Me” over and over again. He actually says that he asked God a question and God answered. That is talking to God and I do not believe him because there was no fear of being in God’s presence when he answered. I think this is very dangreous stuff and it cost me my relationship. I don’t think my giorlfreind is following what God wants for here life, I think she is following what Chip Ingram thinks she needs for her life.

1. There is no such thing a neutrality in style, or in anything else as far as that goes. Everything is to be submitted to biblical scrutiny and this includes worship styles.

2. There is absolutely no such thing as harmless, neutral philosophy. To crticize people who critcize philosophical departures in ministry without examining he components is an act reckless generalization.

3. To assert that people criticize the components of the emergent church out of fear that they are related or assocatiated with the movement rather than out of a genuine concern that this components themselves are not biblical is both hypocritical and unfair. Hypocritical in that you do not know the motives of their heart and unfair in that you are painting everyone with the same broad brush.

I am in the process of writing a dissertation in the field of hermeneutics. My paper is titled, “The Evolution of Jesus: Hermeneutic Foundations of the Emergent Community.” And even though this movement is beginning to die, the components that led to its rise in the first place will continue to linger and will continue to require direct address long after Brian McLaren and his colleagues have ended their dialogue.

I like to think about Christian faith and belief as more of a bell shaped curve with highly conservative and highly liberal doctrines anchoring the opposite ends of the curve, and also being in a minority of all who claim Jesus as Lord. Most Christians in the pews fall somewhere in the middle.
Trying to draw a vertical line or two and say that anything outside the lines or to the left of the line is just un-Christian make little sense to me. It is great that you believe it, but I may have had a slightly different revelation than you and may not believe 100% the same way you do.
Emerging folks are exploring the whole range of the curve as well as exploring new ways to express this faith in service to the community, in building the Kingdom of God on Earth and in worshiping God in Christ.
Trying to continue to drive wedges between the conservative evangelicals, the liberal emergents, and the liberal conservatives is just not Christ-like in my book. How about a little love for the people toiling in the fields with those who do not hear the message the way you are saying and living it.

Previously I only had the option of getting my information from books by those who say they are Emergent (McLaren, Bell, etc) and those who say they aren’t (but should be [because they fit the demographic] – DeYoung, Kluck, etc). It generally seems that the adherents to the Emergent Village “conversation” are too nebulous (perhaps “double-minded”) about where they stand on certain controversial and even essential topics that the rest of us are left scratching our heads about what’s happening in the “church” and wondering which stylishly hip sheep are genuinely bleating in agreement with the Shepherd and which ones are surreptitiously howling at the moon and/or constructing their own spiritual “reality” with an emergent label. I’ll be praying for wisdom ala Jas 1:5-8. Thanks for the well-crafted stimulus! Grace & peace!