tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2113520706057661449.post1433037261460548861..comments2023-09-21T07:37:58.714-04:00Comments on Pastor Bob's Musings: COMMUNITIESPastor Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10510081361292855641noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2113520706057661449.post-36001558725522629292007-09-29T11:03:00.000-04:002007-09-29T11:03:00.000-04:00Hi Bob,I've been reading your conversation with Jo...Hi Bob,<BR/><BR/>I've been reading your conversation with John and appreciate you two hanging in there with each other even when you disagree.<BR/><BR/>In many ways, your conversation illustrates the way we talk past each other in the PCUSA, except you are both making an effort to hear each other. For example, what is required for membership. Every church requires SOMETHING for membership... but the what varies widely. For you it is Jesus as Lord and Savior (and some other things)... John points to values of the progressive Christian community.<BR/><BR/>The cynical part of me wants to say you two have little to no common ground, particularly when John dismisses "Lord and Savior". The hopeful part of me wants to say he is pushing back on evangelicals to make us re-think our jargon and get to what-we-really-mean. Perhaps underneath our evangelical and progressive lingo, we might find some more common ground than we think.<BR/><BR/>I don't know if that is the case, but your conversation with John is just the way to discover that.<BR/><BR/>As a conservative evangelical, I believe Jesus-as-Lord-and-Savior to be the very foundation of what defines the Church, but as someone born onto the cusp of modernism and post-modernism, I try to find fresh ways to talk about eternal truths.<BR/><BR/>If you are interested, you can see how this fleshes out in my "Christianity 101" page, worded for those with no background in church. It is <A HREF="http://gspcnet.virtual.vps-host.net/gspc.php?pr=22%22" REL="nofollow">HERE</A><BR/><BR/>And an example of how I talk about the particularity of faith in Jesus Christ is in last Sunday's sermon <A HREF="http://www.gspc.net/Sermons/20070923.htm" REL="nofollow">HERE</A><BR/><BR/>Sorry this is so long... your posts have made me think, and that's a good thing!<BR/><BR/>In God's grace,<BR/><BR/>Robert Austell<BR/>Pastor, <A HREF="http://gspcnet.virtual.vps-host.net/" REL="nofollow">Good Shepherd PC</A><BR/>Charlotte, NC<BR/><A HREF="http://robertaustell.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">Lighthouse/Searchlight Blog</A>robert austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15538633800768108359noreply@blogger.com