well the last couple of days have been filled with bizarre encouragement. firstly my response to john macarthur's rant against the emergent movement (part one and part two) drew quite a bit of attention. the guys over at truth matters posted a link. in the comments which follow i am described as "the epitome of what is wrong with the emergent church" and "an arrogant young man [who] needs our prayers."
then the famed ken silva, over at apprising ministries wrote about exactly what brand of heretic i apparently am (there's another copy at christian research network). i love how i am described as "christian" with the quote marks, to imply that i'm not really one of the select elect! perhaps i'll adopt that myself! in an age where the term is synonymous in many people's minds with right-wing fundamentalism and western capitalist imperialism, perhaps it's time for me to start calling myself a "christian"! i kind of like it! silva writes beautifully (though he can't spell my name!) here's a little excerpt:
the quiet arrogance displayed here is ample evidence of the fetid fruit [nice alliteration] of the neo-liberal cult of the emergent church
currently infecting your church’s youth group. these kind of men who
are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth
are the new fires of molech that spiritually obtuse evangelical leaders
are sacrificing your children to.
so how's that for a recommendation? bbq over at our's tonight. bring your kids for the main course!
all this for daring to suggest that interpreting scripture is a complex process! radical stuff indeed!
after all this arrant nonsense it was so great to read a post by my old friend charlie knox (see his post for september 5th) back in good ole northern ireland about the impact i've had on him in person and now through fake. what a blessing!
all this encourages me. alli and i were praying yesterday and asking the lord god for strength and courage to stand firm; to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our god; to keep struggling to find ways to write what cannot be spoken of; to communicate the ineffable; to say silence.
here i stand, i can do no other.
