|
Acts
29 and the Emerging Church:
The
“Controversy” in the
Missouri
Baptist
Convention is making its way to the SBC
Various Quotes from Mark
Driscoll, President of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network
Driscoll speaks of Mary and Joseph:
“And to top it all off, God comes to earth. He has a mom whom
everyone thinks is a slut, a dad whom they think has the
brilliance of a five-watt bulb for believing the ‘virgin birth’
line, and brothers who likely pummel him frequently, because even
God would have to get at least one wedgie from his brothers if he
were to be fully human.” (Radical Reformission, p.29)
Jesus telling “knock-knock
jokes?”
“To the religious leaders,
Jesus is a scandal – his followers are felons – and every time they
see Jesus, it agitates them that he is always surrounded by a
crowd, telling knock-knock jokes to miscreants who love his
sense of humor (because his perfection had to have included comedic
timing).” (Radical Reformission, p.30)
From John MacArthur,
pastor and Grace to You Bible teacher:
Mark
Driscoll is one of the best-known representatives of that kind of
thinking. He is a very effective communicator—a bright, witty,
clever, funny, insightful, crude, profane, deliberately shocking,
in-your-face kind of guy. His soteriology is exactly right, but
that only makes his infatuation with the vulgar aspects of
contemporary society more disturbing.
Missouri
Baptist Laymen's Association - Press
Release - March 2008
On March 6, 2008, the Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association (MBLA)
announced that it will re-activate its research and publishing arm,
re-activate its website and begin scheduling a series of informational
rallies across the state as part of a state-wide campaign called
“Missouri Baptists Still Have a Right to Know.”
The announcement came after MBLA leaders met in Columbia with
conservative Missouri Baptist leaders from across the state to discuss
the current state of affairs within the Missouri Baptist Convention.
Among the concerns discussed were: (1) The formation and continued
political activism of the group called “SOC” (Save Our Convention) and
their stated agenda of building a political coalition to move the
convention “back to the center;” (2) The growing use and defense of
alcohol consumption and other such vice, as legitimate “outreach”
methodologies, and; (3) The strong support of the emerging church
movement within the SOC group – most specifically, the Acts 29 Church
Planting Network which claims to be “theologically conservative and
culturally liberal.” (Read more)
Resource Document:
Alcohol, Acts29 and the Missouri Baptist
Convention...
Below is an excerpt from the St.
Louis Post Dispatch:
As Tolliver was speaking, another
group of pastors gathered at a lake house a couple of miles away,
drinking Red Stripe and Fat Tire beer, watching football and
talking shop: the influence of music in their worship services, their
inner-city social justice efforts, the challenge of having so many new
babies
in their congregations.
The young men are part of Acts 29, a network of more than
100 emerging churches across the country that have a conservative
theology but a more liberal take on some aspects of the culture than do
traditional Southern Baptists. The group's focus is on starting more new
churches. The Journey in south St. Louis is one such church, and there
are others across the state — in St. Charles, Eureka, Hannibal, Columbia
and Ozark. (Read more)
Select Quotes From SOC Leaders at the May 15
2007 SOC (Save Our Convention) Meeting at FBC Harvester
Examples of
the divisive rhetoric from the leaders of SOC (Save Our Convention):
David Sheppard: "And basically, we have exchanged one set
of power brokers for another set of power brokers."
Kenny Qualls: "I have no desire to be a part of a
convention in which we swap out liberal Sadducees for legalistic
Pharisees. And then finally, we are concerned that these
two forces -- a political powerbroker machine and
a spirit of legalism -- in our opinion, will lead
to the destruction of the Missouri Baptist Convention and also
potentially to bring harm to our institutions.”
Dewight Blankenship: “What is our purpose? To
break the power hold that a small group has on Missouri Baptist
Convention. Two: To halt the spread of a legalistic spirit
and allow for diversity of opinion on non-essentials.
(Read More)
Point/Counterpoint on the Emerging Church
The founder and president of Acts 29 is Mark Driscoll,
named by Christianity Today as one of the most influential
young preachers in America, with over a million downloads of his
sermons each year. Also known by his peers as “Mark the cussing
pastor,” Driscoll pastors Mars Hill Church in Seattle, which he
planted in 1996.
Stating that, “I myself swim in the theologically
conservative stream of the Emerging Church,” Driscoll claims to be
“theologically conservative and culturally liberal.” Regarding the use
of alcohol, Driscoll writes: “My Bible study convicted me of my sin of
abstinence from alcohol,” at which time he “repented” and immediately
began to drink alcohol. Driscoll’s church website notes that the
church has “beer-brewing lessons whenever a large group of [Mars Hill]
men get together.” This would be in keeping with Driscoll’s view of
Jesus, who, according to Driscoll, began His public ministry at a
wedding, where He “kicks things off as a bartender.” (Read
more)
Baptist Press Articles on the Acts 29
Church Planting Network:
Mo. Baptist board forms investigating committee
Posted on
Dec 15, 2006 | by Norm Miller
(This was the first time Acts 29 was exposed in Baptist Press)
Edwards, however, expressed concerns to
all MBC board members, many of whom take issue with information
appearing on The Journey’s website, where verbiage describing the
“Bottleworks” meeting invites people to “Grab a brew, give your
view…” [Note: The May, 2007 Theology at the Bottleworks was
advertised on the Journey's website as follows: "This
large and lively discussion combines cold beer and hot conversation on
the important topics of the day."]
"Other concerns include a website
statement on the bio of Journey’s Mission Pastor Jonathan MacIntosh
who writes that he enjoys drinks with his wife “at the almost secret
bar beneath Brennan's in the Central West End,” and a picture
associated with an essay by Patrick that shows a small group of people
raising glasses of beer in an apparent toast." [Note: Jonathan
MacIntosh is the Acts 29 Regional Coordinator for the Midwest.]
Regarding the purpose of the loan, an
article appearing in the January 3, 2006, edition of The Pathway, the
official news journal of the Missouri Baptist Convention, states: “In
an effort to help facilitate a center for church planting, the
Executive Board approved with opposition a New Work Fund loan of
$200,000 for The Journey, a St. Louis church that is purchasing the
former Holy Innocents Catholic Church.” [Note: When the MBC
Executive Board approved this loan, it was unaware of any alcohol
issues. It was a full year later when the board finally was made
aware of the alcohol related issues at the Journey.]
(Read More)
Alcohol, Acts 29 and the SBC
Posted on
Mar 20, 2007 | by Norm Miller
Another Acts 29
church (also non-SBC) -- the Seattle-area Damascus Road Church --
sponsors a men’s poker night for which gamblers are encouraged
to bring beer. The website also states: “There is just
something about having food on your plate and a drink in your hand
that makes fellowship that much easier. Whether the food is healthy or
fattening, or the drink is coffee or beer, we desire to follow
Christ's example.”
The alcohol issue goes straight to the top at Acts 29, whose
president, Mark Driscoll -- who is pastor of the Seattle-area Mars
Hill Church -- wrote in his book, “Radical Reformission,” that
abstinence from alcohol is a sin. In a chapter titled “The
Sin of Light Beer,” Driscoll explains that he came to this conclusion
while preparing a sermon on the Lord’s miracle at Cana where Jesus
turned water into wine.
(Read More)
Missouri board votes to de-fund Acts 29
Posted on Dec 14, 2007 | by Staff
The Executive Board of the Missouri Baptist Convention met Dec. 10
[2007] in part to discuss their concerns about alcohol use and
alcohol-based evangelism strategies within the greater Missouri
Baptist family. They concluded by taking significant action on the
issue.
In an historic move members of the board voted by a nearly 3-1 margin
to cut off state convention Cooperative Program support to Acts 29
Network churches/church plants in Missouri. The vote does not impact
MBC churches who, on their own, are assisting Acts 29 churches.
The controversy over Acts 29 began when one church, The Journey,
started holding regular discussion sessions in a bar where some
participants drank alcohol. The "Theology at the Bottleworks" (the
name of the bar) sessions were the focus of a handful of secular media
reports, including one on NBC's "Today" show. Acts 29 is a nationwide
non-denominational organization that receives funding from multiple
denominations.
(Read more)
Roger Moran's Speech
made to the SBC Executive Committee at the February 2007 meeting
in Nashville
“One of the most dangerous and deceptive movements to
infiltrate the ranks of Southern Baptist life has been the
Emerging/Emergent Church Movement.
“Not since the stealth tactics of the CBF have we seen
a movement operate so successfully below the radar of rank and file
Southern Baptists.
“Marked by their fascination with alcohol, their
commitment to theological ambiguity and their embrace of religious
rituals steeped in eastern mysticism, this movement has made its
greatest inroads in the area of “church planting.” And we are now
beginning to see the evidence of what’s to come.
“In my home state, the Missouri Baptist Convention is
on the brink of a near civil war – and at the heart of our struggle
has been the blatant dishonesty of those who are determined that
Missouri Baptists will embrace this new postmodern approach to
ministry." (Read more)
Roger Moran’s Testimony before the MBC
Executive Board
"The battle cry of our Project 1000 days was that
“Truth Matters.” We were
referring specifically to Biblical Truth.
But truth beyond theology -- that is, truth beyond the virgin
birth -- truth beyond the bodily resurrection, should also matter to us."
"Truth in the context of events must matter.
For there can be no unity, there will be no peace, there will be
no oneness of spirit, when the truth about what just happened doesn’t
matter to us. "
"I learned a long time ago
that the natural outgrowth of ignoring a serious problem and ignoring
the concerns of others is that you get more of what you’re trying to
ignore."
-
Roger Moran before the MBC Executive Board September 22, 2006
|
