emergentokc

What I've been Up To

2008-06-30T20:33:00.006-05:00

I am glad to see we are going to start meeting again. It seems crazy to think it has been over a year since our group met.

Thought I might share what I've been up to recently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QgotPatoSw

Yes Africa was awesome, and yes I jumped off the bridge. (340ft free fall swing.) So whatcha been up to?

Church Basement RoadShow

2008-05-27T13:21:00.003-05:00

Ever try to get a direct flight out of OKC or Tulsa? Sometimes you can get lucky if you choose the right destination. Most of the time the place you hope to reach is at least one connection away. My friends refer to where we live as "fly-over country." Sure, these friends hail from one of the coasts and generally from cities where direct flights are much more frequent. The result is they tend to fly right over.

One of the drawbacks to fly over country, some critics may think it an advantage, comes when an event you would like to stop somewhere close by requires hours by car if not by plane to attend. Not this time around. Announcing -

"The Church Basement Roadshow" will come to fly-over country July 15 at Braden Park Baptist Church, Tulsa. Make plans to make the short drive to Tulsa. Many from the Tulsa Emergent Cohort will be there. A great occasion to connect and strike up new friendships. And, can you imagine these three in "beards?"

Reworking the OKC Emergent Cohort

2008-04-10T09:45:00.002-05:00

We have had a number of recent inquiries about the status of the OKC Emergent Cohort. It looks like there is interest in meeting regularly again. If you would like to participate, drop me an e-mail - doc.todd@gmail.com.

May postponed to June

2007-05-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

We are postponing May's meeting until June 28, 2007. We will meet at Galileo's in the Paseo District. We will be discussing the realties of global slave trade and its presence in OKC. If you are interested, check out www.notforsalecampaign.org. Sorry if postponing causes an inconvenience to anyone.

May 31, 2007

2007-05-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

Since the last two meetings have been devoid of people, I am curious as to who can make it on Thursday, May 31st?

Where Do Babies Go?

2007-04-24T22:00:00.000-05:00

Since my sister-in-law called to announce that my 2yr old (barely) nephew had accepted Jesus as his personal savior, and the Pope says (the) Limbo is a bad idea, I was wondering where do you gals and guys think babies go? At what point do you think they start going? Just for kicks you could also mention your thoughts on baptism vs. dedication (or whatever your church does).

I choose to think God's grace is big enough for babies. A good arguement might convience me they cease to exist. If there is a baby hell I am sure it is a lake of poopie diapers, and not fire.

March Meeting

2007-03-21T00:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are meeting this Thursday, March 22, 7:00 p.m. at Tapwerks in Bricktown. Upstairs, behind the big wall. Jeff has asked what the topic will be, and we left off last time without planning anything. Maybe beer, food, and conversation this time with topics that are already on your mind? Let me know. And I'm sorry I suck at organizing.

Does Anyone Know?

2007-03-19T22:58:00.000-05:00

What is the topic for this months meeting? I would like to imagine I would have time (take time) to read or think about it before hand.

Robert Webber and Prayer in the Face of Cancer ...

2007-02-23T22:09:00.000-06:00

Robert Webber tells of his own experience with prayer in relationship to his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer. In light of our discussion on prayer and in particular "Intercessory Prayer" this caught my attention.
(HT: Jordon)

Many of you know that I was diagnosed with advanced stage IV pancreatic cancer on August 25th, 2006. Many of you have been praying earnestly for my healing and sending me e-mails to encourage and support me. I have been overwhelmed by the numbers of people who have upheld me in prayer and I want to update you on my condition and say a special word of “Thanks.”

After months in and out of the hospital with ever possible complication (kidney failure, emergency operation for a pierced bowel, massive infections, and chemo/radiation) I was sent home on December 9th with the words “You have two to four weeks left to live). On December 9th I was a virtual invalid. My wife had to bathe me, dress me, feed me and walk me. I slept 16-18 hours a day and rarely moved any place except to my bed and couch. I even went under the care of palpable hospice. However, instead of getting worse and dying as predicted, I gradually began to improve. Now, two months later I am practically leading a normal life. I care for myself, walk without a walker, go out to eat, work out (to pound weights) and write every day. I attribute this improvement, however long it lasts, to answered prayer – yours and mine, my wife. I have literally bugged and argued with God!

So, in light of my improvement, how do you pray? I want to ask God to heal me but what if he already has. But, I’m also reluctant to be presumptuous and tell everyone I’ve been healed given the statistical downside of pancreatic cancer and the fact that we are foregoing any definite tests for now, like a MRI, CT scan or PET scan.

So, here is how Joanne and I solved our dilemma. We live and pray one day at a time. We pray each day and say, “Thank you God for the healing you gave me today. Please heal me tomorrow.” It has occurred to both of us that if we were truly spiritually sensitive, we would have prayed that way all of our lives but it took the threat of imminent death to bring us to this point.

We cannot begin to tell all of you how we have benefited from your consistent prayers. We’re convinced that God is answering those prayers and that all the improvement thus far has come from God’s healing powers and that He is the source of all grace. I am confident that God sustained me today but I’m also painfully aware that I am “terminal,” at some point, in the larger sense of the word, as we all are. Thanks be to God that Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death and we all face a great future.

Please continue your prayers for both of us. Joanne will see her doctor and have some tests done as her stomach tension and discomfort continues. We think it’s “caregiver’ stress but want to be sure. Also, although I’m better, my strength is fragile and I fatigue easily. Some days are better than others. We appreciate the way everyone has maintained our privacy and ask that you continue to do so.

I hope that you all know that the love and prayers you have “sent” our way are being returned to you from us. We are so deeply moved by them on our behalf.

February Meeting

2007-02-16T08:25:00.000-06:00

We're on for next week, Thursday, February 22, 7:00 p.m. at Tapwerks in Bricktown. Upstairs. We're confirmed for the private bar again, so life is good. Dani and Josh are scheduled to make short presentations on prayer, and then we'll discuss it: why, when, how, who cares, silence, frustration, "praise reports" (sorry, I love that old phrase). They've had a little trouble with the heat lately, so if it's cold that day, dress warm. Peace.

Registration Information for ETREK Road Trip

2007-02-01T10:03:00.000-06:00

You may register for the upcoming ETREK Road Trip by e-mailing me - todd@etrek.com.

Registration -
Cost - $199
Deadline - Friday, February 16th
See previous posts for more details

Kicking off thoughts on prayer.

2007-01-26T08:03:00.000-06:00

Sunday I was praying the pastoral prayer. It seemed appropriate to pray for those hurt in the ice storm, those who has lost their electricity, especially in the McAlister area. In that moment I imagined what it must be like to be cold and not have even the ability to plug in a donated heater. What were they doing to stay warm? All those fleeting thoughts in a matter of seconds. For one blip of a moment I had the notion that I should abruptly stop the prayer and say, "We ought to do something." That seemed more spiritual than what I was voicing, more fully human and decent. I didn't. I wonder if it were not God's Spirit interacting with me in prayer, "Tim, you sure do pray pretty. How bout taking up a collection instead."

January meeting

2007-01-21T09:41:00.000-06:00

It appears Icepocalypse '07 is gone so things look good for this Thursday, Jan. 25, to go ahead and meet. We haven't settled on a topic yet, and we'll also want to talk about how we'll handle things this year. We may want different people to present an issue for discussion so the thing doesn't turn into just a book study or excuse to drink good beer (not that there's anything wrong with either of those).

We'll be at Tapwerks in Bricktown. Upstairs. Start at 7:00. I'll be there at 6:30 to make sure everything is set up and to have a beer before anyone else arrives, so if you want to show up early to chat...

ETREK Road Trip Registration Open!

2007-01-15T14:46:00.000-06:00

Registration is open for the upcoming ETREK Road Trip (see ETREK Road Trips Comes to OKC Metro). Contact Todd at todd@etrek.com for more information, payment options and Renovare information. Registration for the Road Trip is $249. UPDATE! Price Reduced - $199

2007-01-08T11:18:00.000-06:00

ETREK Road Trip Comes to OKC Metro!

“Leaders are learners” – this is an ETREK maxim. ETREK Collaborative Learning Journeys (www.etrek.com) will host a “Road Trip” around the subject of “spiritual habits/practices.” Currently ETREK partners with Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, PA to offer innovative educational opportunities. One of the goals of ETREK is to bring learning opportunities “to you.” We developed the Road Trip to include virtually the same features as our regular courses with the exception of travel to a seminary campus and the tuition associated with “courses for credit.”

The Road Trip Format

Ø February 16-17 (optional, $40, separate registration) – Renovare Conference at Crossing Community Church

Ø February 19 – April – 5 to 6 Conference Calls with “practitioners” and noted leaders in the area of spiritual formation/habits/practices.

Ø April – Two Day Spiritual Retreat in the OKC Metro Area with Spencer Burke

Conference Call Guests

We continue to develop our “conference call list.” These have been our past guests. Many will participate in this course. We are waiting confirmation.

Ø Frederica Mathews-Green (Eastern Orthodox) - CONFIRMED

Ø Karen Ward (Lutheran) - CONFIRMED

Ø Phyllis Tickle (Episcopal) – CONFIRMED

Ø Earl Creps (Assembly of God Theological Seminary - CONFIRMED

Ø Dan Phillips (Southern Baptist Chaplain, Centennial Medical Center, Nashville, TN) – CONFIRMED

Ø Surprise Guest in March - CONFIRMED

Details

Cost - $249

ETREK underscores the relational element in learning. For those who are able to attend the Renovare Conference at Crossings Community Church we will take the occasion to “meet” for the first time as a group. (This is optional. The cost is an “add on” taken care of directly through Crossings and Renovare by each individual). The teaching of Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith, and the worship leading of George Skramstraad, comprise the Renovare Team for the event. Those who plan to attend the Renovare’ Conference would meet during the lunch on Saturday, February 17.

From February 19 through the second week in April we will engage in 5 to 6 90-minute conference calls with one of our guests. We will attempt to schedule conference calls every other week. The intervening weeks may be spent in peer calls and/or online message boards/interaction. Spencer Burke, founder of TheOoze.com and ETREK Collaborative Learning Journeys will facilitate our calls.

In April we will share in a “Spiritual Retreat” at a Metro OKC “retreat center.” Depending on the number of registrants, we may be able to cover the cost for the one night stay at the retreat center. Otherwise, it will be an additional cost for each participant.

For more information and registration, contact Todd Littleton: todd@etrek.com or doc.todd@gmail.com.

No Meeting Tonight!

2006-12-28T13:25:00.000-06:00

Nothing but cancellations. We'll not meet tonight. We're back on schedule for the 4th Thursday of every month beginning in January, unless the Rapture happens and we have to begrudgingly admit that LaHaye and Jenkins (among others) were right.

After Christmas?

2006-12-19T10:13:00.000-06:00

We're supposed to meet the Thursday after Christmas. Several of you will be gone. Let me know if you still want to meet. If we only have a few, we can get a table instead of a room. I'm open to meet and was planning on it, so if you were too, either email me or comment here.

Can I Be Cool if I Ditch (Sunday) School?

2006-11-27T10:21:00.000-06:00

I wonder if anyone else is curious about the role, present and future, of Sunday School in church. Seems like most of the ones I've been to over the years have successfully boxed congregants into distinct categories (marrieds, singles, youth, 'prime-timers'...) in order to offer group-specific, bite-sized nuggets of biblical truth...and to eat doughnuts. Now I can understand the value of this if you're operating in a modern church framework. But as this is an emergent cohort (and the promise of doughnuts is not incentive enough to get me out of bed early on a Sunday), I'd like to hear ideas about if and how sunday school can be redeemed from its current manifestation... what would that look like? how do we do it? do we care?

Pete and me

2006-11-20T20:33:00.000-06:00

I met Pete Rollins today at the AAR (American Academy of Religion) national meeting in Washington, D.C. He spoke at a session last night along with Brian McLaren and Phyllis Tickle on the emergent church. He was in the Paraclete Press book display, and was (as you would expect) very gracious and humble. And short. :-) He said he'd love to come and visit the emergent cohort in OKC sometime! He was glad to hear about our meeting venue.

chip

Next Meeting

2006-11-13T00:57:00.000-06:00

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, we will meet this Thursday at 6:30 at Tapwerks. Drinking and eating start at 6:30, meeting at 7:30. We'll be upstairs at Tapwerks in Bricktown. The discussion, based on Rollins's book, is about how to devlelop liturgies at the local level that farily treat controversial issues without being divisive.

Liturgies and Mean Old People

2006-10-28T17:35:00.000-05:00

We spent some time last meeting talking about the question I posed a couple posts ago: should we expect to be able to bring people, especially entrenched fundamentalists in our churches, along with us for this conversation? While most of us would like to believe that we can have an open discussion and a redemptive friendship with these folks, they tend to be the ones who insist we're not "in" despite our best efforts to be generously orthodox. I think the best we can hope for many times is the situation kaleo has: a church who makes room for us even if they don't always understand or agree with us.

We talked about the liturgies in the second section of Rollins's book as well. We'd like to do some locally-written liturgies in our churches that use some of Rollins's method, especially his ability to weave ambiguity into the issues so that caricaturing controversial issues by presenting opposite poles (i.e., gay versus straight, republican versus democrat, etc.) is not possible within the context of the liturgical service. That being said, we asked what the issues were for Oklahoma City. The answers: conservative politics and Christianity sleeping together; gender roles, especially women in leadership; homosexuality (what will the church do?); religiosity that comes from being raised in and around church but never committing to follow Jesus in any meaningful way beyond "I believe Jesus died for my sins..."

Next meeting will be the third Thursday of November to avoid conflict with Thanksgiving. At that meeting we'll talk about what the liturgies might look like.

Next Meeting

2006-10-23T19:51:00.000-05:00

We're meeting this Thursday night at Tapwerks in Bricktown. Last meeting we decided to start a half hour later to allow folks time after work to get things done, etc. We'll start dinner and drinks at 6:30, so the meeting will start at 7:30. We're doing our last session on Rollins's book, but we're talking about the liturgies in the second section of the book. Like to consider what liturgies might look like in our context and what issues need to be addressed with locally-written liturgical services.

Open Season on Pete

2006-10-19T18:21:00.000-05:00

Peter Rollins has posted a link on his blog to the church and postmodern culture: conversation blog. They are hosting a four part discussion of his book How (Not) to Speak of God. Rollins has been responding to some of the comments made. Just though I'd pass that on for those interested.

Bible Schmible

2006-10-16T22:49:00.000-05:00

We spent a good deal of time talking about hermeneutics at the last cohort meeting. Rollins holds a high view of Scripture and that comes through in his book. (I'm aware that "high view" is full of ambiguity, but it appears higher than my own.) After discussing Rollins's view of Scripture as well as N.T. Wright's attempt to negotiate a "third way" to read Scripture between literalism and liberalism, I posed the question: how do we read Scripture in such a way that it provides for the freedom and egalitarianism in which most of us believe? Our group was somewhere between a third and a half female, and I'm really curious to hear from them how they read it in ways that provides for a feminist voice. I'm also curious about how others more conservative than myself but still intrigued by Emergent want to read it. I'll post more about my thoughts concerning Scripture later, but I want to start this conversation before the next cohort meeting.

Next Meeting and Jesus Camp

2006-09-26T10:57:00.000-05:00

After the cohort meeting this Thursday, a group of us is going to see Jesus Camp. It's showing at Quail at 9:50 p.m. Everyone is welcome to go.

Next Meeting

2006-09-23T19:28:00.000-05:00

We're meeting this coming Thursday, Sep. 28, at Tapwerks. We'll have the upstairs again. We'll be eating and drinking and talking and lying at 6:00 p.m. We'll start the meeting at 7:00. Some of you are thinking, "I haven't had time to read the book. I can't go." Come anyway. We'll not cover everything in one meeting, and we're not making this a book study. It's a jumping off point for a conversation. So come meet some folks you haven't met and enjoy the conversation.

evangelicals in the movies

2006-09-14T15:29:00.000-05:00

http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/

this looks interesting. if it ends up showing in okc somewhere, i'm most likely gonna go see it. anyone else think it could be worth seeing?

p.s. for the record, jesuscamp is currently playing at Quail according to okcmovietimes.com. there was some confusion that perhaps it was only showing one night last week but apparently it is in town for at least a little while.

Interesting Conversation in the Land of Oz ...

2006-09-09T17:33:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am watching the Sooners take care of Washington. It was close for a moment and then OU seemed to get untracked and the defense did show up. Really two big plays is all Washington really had (so far). I read Andrew Hamilton in my bloglines subscription. Recently a group hosted Don Carson. You might find his four posts on the occasion also insightful regarding the variations of what it is to be involved in the "emerging church."

Start here and follow through to the four part series.

Lingering Question ...

2006-09-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

I met Alan in Minneapolis a few years ago at Soularize. He has been involved with The Ooze from early on. He must have known Tim asked an important question at our first meeting - "What is the emerging/Emergent church?" Here is a recent post with some thoughts. What do you think? Here's something of a teaser,

Included in our conversations about the emerging church must be a confession of devotion to Jesus. While we must be careful not to question the devotion of individual Christians in established churches, we can fairly and honestly say that the status quo does not regularly cultivate devoted followers of Jesus.

Read Peter Rollins Blog

2006-09-06T11:53:00.000-05:00

You may be on your way to reading the first section of Rollin's book, How (Not) to Speak for God. I thought you might like to see read where some of his thoughts get worked out in real time. Read his blog at - Pete Rollins.

James K.A. Smith on D.A. Carson ... Truth and Objectivity ...

2006-09-04T16:08:00.000-05:00

Nearly all agree there is something of an interpretation going on with the telling of the story of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The gospel in some ways is being interpreted to audiences, interpreted by writers, interpreted via the mediating work of the Spirit. Surely there is much to discuss but I found this quote helpful in trying to put together Carson's critique of the "emerging church" in his, Becoming Conversant with Emergent.

And if the gospel is only interpretation there could be other interpretations, we can't know if the gospel is true. A version of this criticism can be found in D.A. Carson's criticisms of the emerging church. Carson is clearly worried that because folks like Stanley Grenz, Brian McLaren, and other "hard postmodernists" (as he calls them) reject modern notions of absolute truth or "objective" truth, they are giving up on truth altogether. But in his criticisms, it becomes clear that Carson simply conflates truth with objectivity: for Carson, one can only be said to know "truly" if one knows "objectively." While Carson rightly notes that human knowledge can never pretend to omniscience, this doesn't mean we can't claim to know in a finite but real manner. But his affirmation of finite knowledge always elides into an affirmation of objective knowledge. Although he does not define objectivity (quite an oversight, given his project), Carson clearly means this to carry some connotation of self-evident givenness: if a truth is objective, then it is not a matter of interpretation. Thus, if Derrida is not a linguistic idealist but nevertheless asserts that everything is interpretation, then according to folks like Carson, such a claim is antithetical to the (supposedly biblical!) requirement that what is true be objective. If the gospel is an interpretation, and therefore not"objective" then it would seem that it cannot be true." (Smith, Whose Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foccault to Church,p.43)

Cultural Happenings

2006-09-03T15:51:00.000-05:00

Some at the Planning meeting wanted to be made aware of "cool things" happening in town. This rates for me, so I'll throw it out and see who's interested... If nothing else, it'll start a place for others to throw out "cool-er things." The OKC Museum of Art will be hosting a collection of Ancient Egyptian art from The British Museum between Sep7-Nov26 (inclusive). I'm planning on going sometime and usually have to go alone so anyone interested in going as well please email.

a Place to be Kind

2006-09-01T15:46:00.000-05:00

What exactly is the emerging church? I posed the question last night and even though we didn't stay expressly on topic, the answer to the question was floating all over the room. Lots of folks have made attempts at defining it, some of the best ones by critics of the movement. And though Greg and Todd might want to smack me in the back of the head for saying so, I think D.A. Carson in fact gives a decent overview of Emergent. And if your detractors understand where you're coming from, then maybe you're doing something right. This particular paragraph from Carson's website:

The major issue is epistemology—i.e., how we know things, or think we know things. Modernism is often pictured as pursuing truth, absolutism, linear thinking, rationalism, certainty, the cerebral as opposed to the affective which, in turn, breeds arrogance, inflexibility, a lust to be right, the desire to control. Postmodernism, by contrast, recognizes how much of what we “know” is shaped by the culture in which we live, is controlled by emotions and aesthetics and heritage, and can only be intelligently held as part of a common tradition, without overbearing claims to being true or right. Modernism tries to find unquestioned foundations on which to build the edifice of knowledge and then proceeds with methodological rigor; postmodernism denies that such foundations exist (it is “antifoundational”) and insists that we come to “know” things in many ways, not a few of them lacking in rigor. Modernism is hard-edged and, in the domain of religion, focuses on truth versus error, right belief, confessionalism; postmodernism is gentle and, in the domain of religion, focuses upon relationships, love, shared tradition, integrity in discussion.

How we know things, or do not know them, is the major issue for me. I'm not even suggesting that we are unable to know things with compelling amounts of certainty, I am suggesting that even in those instances a little amount of humility goes a long way. Recently Newsweek ran an article on Billy Graham which cause a great stir among some evnagelicals because of the seeming humility Graham demonstrated in reponse to some of religions most difficult questions. Billy is far from being an emergent church advocate, but his approach to relationships seems to fit EC--friendship, conversation.

As I said to Brittany afterward, I think the emerging church is more about atmopshere and ways of relating than it is about dogma. Actually, I didn't say that to her, but it was what I was thinking when I said, "Emergent is being Christian and at the same time being kind and respectful."

First Meeting

2006-08-31T23:17:00.000-05:00

We had a good time tonight at our planning meeting. Nice to see the folks that showed up. Met a few new ones too. The Baptists and Nazarenes were over-represented tonight, but we're expecting more and different folk next month. The next meeting will be September 28 at Tapwerks. We'll meet for food and drink and conversation at 6:00. The "meeting" will start at 7:00. We will be reading "How (Not) to Speak of God." Since the first section of the book is only 71 pages, we'll read that for next time.

I'll let others post their reflections rather than going into my analysis. If you didn't make it, hope to see you next time, and we'll be using this forum as a way of keeping the conversation going between meetings.

Tapwerks Loves Emergent

2006-08-28T00:05:00.000-05:00

Patrick, the manager at Tapwerks, has graciously agreed to open the upstairs for us, slap a "private party" sign on the door, and give us our own bartender every month. That means we'll need to give them some love in the form of food and drink (adult or not). If you're coming on Thursday, you'll find us upstairs. Bring someone with you. I don't know everyone that is interested in this shindig, so if you are aware of people you think might want to be a part, invite them, bring them, buy a beer for them...A couple folks have asked if they need the book. No. Not yet. We're mainly planning things and getting to know each other this time.

peter rollins

2006-08-26T11:35:00.000-05:00

i'm trying to get an interview scheduled w/ rollins for the 'cast i do on wiredparish. if you have questions you'd like asked of him (assuming i get the interview), let me know.

incidentally, the whole 'i do a podcast where i interview authors' is a complete scam. i have over a dozen books i've gotten for free over the last couple of months from publicists. i go into barnes and noble, find some books i'd like to read, schedule an interview, and voila! a few days later, a book arrives. for a bibliophile, this is nigh-unto nirvana!

sa::tm

Planning Meeting

2006-08-19T23:59:00.000-05:00

We'll meet at Tapwerks in Bricktown on Thursday, August 31, at 7:00 p.m. We'll be discussing which night is best to meet, how often (we're thinking once a month), what the format ought to be, and where we're headed. If you can make the planning meeting, we'd love to have your input. If not, send me an email at expastor at gmail dot com. In the meantime, some of us are reading How (Not) to Speak of God by Peter Rollins. It will probably be the book we use for our first few discussions.