Mark Driscoll - Emergent No

(This post has been adjusted out of respect for Carla at E-No)  Carla over at Emergent No has emailed Mark Driscoll to ask a few questions.  He didn't really respond to the questions because he's busy, but he did say that some great things are on the way...

I've got a book coming out with Zondervan on the history of our church and our involvement in the emerging church, finishing a counterpoints type of book for Zondervan on emerging church theology with Dan Kimball, Karen Ward, Doug Pagitt, John Burke and myself that will hit the atonement, trinity, and scripture to be edited by Robert Webber. I have also compiled a team of very solid evangelical theologians who are largely younger for a new network that will be launching a web site with blogs, articles, mp3s, podcasting, national theology conferences across the country, and a line of theologically oriented books for missionally minded emerging leaders. So, I hope to make a contribution to the broader church in a big way very soon. You are free to post any of this you like on your site.

Man, I'm pumped.  Good stuff is on the way. 

Read the whole E-No post.

Comments

[petew]

yeah, I was a little perplexed about the whole thought-process behind that email. I guess it's possible that she didn't realize that a) he's the pastor of a church of around 3600, b) he's the founder and one of the leading members of Acts 29, c) he's in the process of getting his second book published and in the process of securing some more contracts, d) he's a father of four with number 5 on the way, and d) he most likely gets emails just like hers on a weekly if not daily basis. honest mistake, I s'pose.

[Scott Michael Ringo]

Yeah really cool that Mark and others are getting down to brass tacks about some serious and solid doctrine. I thought I was going to have to loose the emerging church lingo because it seemed all the solid doctrine guys were just saying "no" and letting the looser doctrine have ec. I wrote about this yesterday and believe it is important that we understand IT IS A MOVEMENT no one can own it. If it is owned then we loose.

Here is my thoughts
What the Emerging Church is to Me

[bob hyatt]

whoo! Carla is a little po'ed at you, man. Have you checked? Looks like you hit a sore spot... or got her on a really off day...

http://emergentno.blogspot.com/2005/08/few-thoughts.html

For what it's worth, I like the way Driscoll's phrase: "yet another bitter group of Calvinists angry at the works of other men"

[bill streger]

there is so much good stuff on the way - from mark, from a29, and so much more. i am so thankful to be part of the network - God is doing some great things through it. emergent-no is an interesting place - i don't comment a lot, just like to read. carla has a good heart, but it does tend to get a little, shall we say, "heated" over there.

thanks for the link, steve!

[bradc]

She asked about Foster and Willard? I don't keep up too closely with these debates, but are they widely considered to be "liberal"?

[bill streger]

pete got banned - that's great! lol. it's good to see Darrin speaking up over there as well.

[Steve McCoy]

My comment is up over there. I'm trying to figure out how to change my post here, for the sake of Christian unity.

[bob hyatt]

look... just to let you know... there's a process everyone goes through when encountering emergent no!

It goes something like this

"Hey, what's this? An anti-emergent site? Wow... better check it out!"

"Whoa! These people are seriously against this thing... but their descriptions don't really sound like what I've experienced. I better clear a few things up..."

"Okay... I just tried to correct a couple of misconceptions and I got totally flamed. Oh well! Try, try again... for the sake of unity!"

"Dang. Seriously flamed that time. No one is even trying to be nice. And it doesn't feel like they even want to see anything good in the emerging church. Huh..."

"Hey! That's just an outright distortion. This needs to be pointed out. It doesn't even sound like anyone here has even taken the time to look at anything other than a couple of authors. I'll just offer a few suggestions... "

"Whaddaya mean I'm a heretic?!?! I don't love God's Word?!?! Where do you get off telling me I don't love God's Word? Now look, just because we see things a little differently..."

"Oh c'mon!"

"Banned?!?! For what?!?!"

And so it goes.

Trust me... There's no talking, no reasoning. Emergent No exists to expose and confront. That's all. Expecting anything else is expecting too much. I wish it were different, but I've been hanging around the site for months and months and I've seen it happen to a lot of people. Just bail out now. :)

These people literally see the emerging church as part of an end-times apostasy... and nothing will ever change their minds on that. They've been quite clear on that point.

[Tim]

I've decided that I'm post-emergent. The whole Emergent "thing" seems so last week to me now.

So what's post-post-modern/post-post-evangelical/post-post-calvinist? Someone please come up with the next hot thing!

Okay, sarcasim back in the holster. I can't wait till emergent finishes emerging. Those who have given up too much will be obvious and the rest can stop using terms that distance themselves from the rest of the church. Then instead of deciding who we're against and who we're not, maybe we can all get down to the mission of making more worshipers. The bickering ("Emergent No"??) is tiresome.

[Steve McCoy]

I'm post-making more worshipers. ;)

Where you been Tim? If you don't post something new on your blog I'm going to start signing up your email for samples of diaper rash ointment. Let's do coffee soon.

[Tim]

I was in a "creative access" Asian country doing evangelism and conducting theological training with underground pastors and translators. It was cool doing the Secret Agent Man stuff.

You're the second person to complain about my lack of blog-ation activity. I'll get something up soon, I just got back on Monday night.

Yea, we need to do coffee. Let me get my schedule worked out for this and next week and I'll let you know. I'll bring pictures of the trip and talk about it a whole lot more than you care to listen. Howzat?

Just to clarify my last post. I think the idea of creating a website just to protest an arguably orthodox movement is a waste of time, creative energy and bandwidth. I've looked at the Emergent movement and I've seen what I like and what I think is dead wrong. I don't need to be a self-appointed watchdog to comment on every thing every EC author writes. Just like I don't keep an eye on all the Arminians or hyper-Calvinists or Dispensationalists or Cessationists or Egalitarians out there. Don't we have more to keep us busy than hunting down and monitoring every little weed that appears in the vineyard?

I think that Asia trip changed my perspective. :)

[Steve McCoy]

All for it Tim. I'll email you my cell.

I agree with your assessment of e-no. If someone wants to be a "watchdog," I wish they would at least be well-read and/or scholarly in some regard. E-no is not that by any stretch.

I didn't know about you going overseas, did I? How dare you keep me out of the loop! ;) I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

[Tim]

No dude, I don't think you knew. When we were planning on meeting Richard for lunch I was going to give you a support letter so you guys could pray for the trip. The meeting didn't happen and I forgot to hook you up. Sorry.

[Steve McCoy]

Good, I didn't have any money anyway.

I'll pray for your trip to meet me for coffee, when that happens. How's that?

[Tim]

:)

[Bob Robinson]

Exciting news from Driscoll. I really like his take on things. It will be interesting to read the "counterpoints" book.

Wow. I guess I won't be trying to dialogue with emergentNo in the near future. Sounds very closed-minded.

[Andrew]

I think there is a way to dialogue with emergentNo...I'm thinking about emergentYes..this way "dialogue" if you can call it dialogue...more like "diaflame" could be cornered at a blog like this....

[Marc]

I gave up on emergent no - there is no balance and no real dialogue. Carla et al are just there to knock anything that has the slightest connection with the EC. It's all a bit sad really.

[petew]

fellas, is this really the way to go? I bear some of the responsibility for this thing breaking out in the first place. I'm not sorry I took up for a good friend, but I'm embarassed by the fact that I let my emotions run ahead and project some intentions or "tones" that on further reading were not there. I'm standing by my posts, but I can also see how she would react the way she did. This medium calls for well-measured words not heated ones...and in my recklessness, I've offended a sister. Regardless of what I think of her site, her approach, her reaction to people who question her...I am not free to turn around and do the same in return. Rather, I'm to show the same kind of grace, forgiveness and desire for reconciliation that God showed me. And since a number of us are pastors as well, we need to give extra thought to the fact that we are set apart as models to God's people of how to do this.

I apologize for the sermonette, especially since it's not my site, but if it were up to me I'd say let's drop this and find ways to heal this breach rather than push it open more, cool? Mind you, I'm not saying back off and only post nice, affirming compliment sandwiches - pursue truth, challenge what is false - but let's try to minimize the "friendly fire" as much as we can.

[iMonk]

Seems there really is a list of those with whom any association is to be tainted.

Spurgeon smoked.
Lewis believed in purgatory.
Steve McCoy makes irreverent short films.

Is there any othrodoxy left?

[randy buist]

I'll agree with Marc on this one, but... I think that we are terribly misguided to believe that Carla or emergentno has thoughts that will be helpful to our dialogue.

This is not to suggest that they are not Christ followers or committed to the ways of Jesus, but! But, they have virtually nothing to add. Their theological reflections don't help emerging church people develop better theolgoy. In general, it lacks much grace and is mis-informed.

I suggest sites such as emerentno serve as a sparkplug that gets us heated, takes our focus off things of the kingdom, gets us off our taks of being missional, living into the kingdom, and being people of goodness and kindness.

Personally, it has done nothing to bring God's glory into my life... I think it's time we stop worrying about defending our theolgoy and get more focused on living and speaking it into people's lives.

[ScottyB]

this an old post but i love your site bro and i love Driscoll