The Quest for Holiness of Heart and Life

It has been awhile since my last post because I have been awaiting responses to my last post requesting feedback from those who have been involved in the Pentecostal or Charismatic movements. Regretably I have received none! I find it hard to believe that no one who has been Baptized in the Spirit reads this blog. I know that the issue of the role of the Holy Spirit is a hot button one in the Small Church movement. I continue to invite feedback...this is an issue that I care deeply about and want to learn more. You can respond here or email me directly at: goldengopher72@gmail.com. Thanks and I wait to hear from you.

Welcome to the seventh year of the current millenium (go ahead, count them)! It has been awhile since I posted on my blog...I appologize to my regular readers.

This first offering of the new year was not written by me, but by the pastor of an emergent church in San Diego, California, Ken Hensley and is reprinted here with his permission. I came across it recently and was intrigued by what it had to say about the "feeling tone" of church. It points out for me the disparity between the intimacy that we seek in Christian community and the difficulty in finding it in the mainstream churches. Please comment on this article, I think we can get a good conversation going.

coffee_shop_christianity.htm

Judaism has survived trial and tribulation for over 3000 years. One of the gifts of the Jews to Christians is the "dining room table" as the center of fellowship and prayer. In searching for a new paradigm for being church, perhaps we need to look backwards instead of forward. This article relays a recent experience "around the table".

around_the_dining_room_table.htm

In the background behind much of the conversation about Post-Modern, or Emergent churches is the question of why we need church at all. My friend Ivy Beckwith answers that question by noting that, "Faith is not something that develops in a vacuum. Having faith, understanding faith, exploring faith, and questioning faith are not solo activities. These things are meant to be done with others who are on the same path." (Postmodern Children's Ministry, copyright 2004, Youth Specialties, pg 74).

The following article explores the issue of the structure of an effective community of faith.

the_small_church.2.htm