Jordon Cooper is a Methodist pastor living in Canada. Jordon publishes a blog that is widely read and he is considered by some an uber blogger. Jordon is a down to earth emergent voice that all should consider in their submerged state. There is a current battle right now, only in it's infancy if you ask me, between emergent types and mainline institutional types, if you would like to know more about this battle, I will send you to the battlefield. Jordon posted this past Wednesday, while he was laid up with a bad back, some thoughts on this emergent "threat". Here is the LINK.

Some questions come to my mind, from Jordon's post. My wife and I are pregnant, our first one, and we are of course anxious with this kid, the unknown, the fascinating change, the upcoming pain, ya know the birthing process. So comes to my mind this emerging generation, people who do not want our church, this irrelevant museum of stale bread. The answer for them is a faithful community that they can be reached by, and then to grow at. That is of course the answer for us all, God desires for us to be with His people, growing in all forms. So the question to us is, are we ready for that painful birthing process? To be a part of it is to be in the midst of the unknown, the amazing new life that will come with change, and pain. Are we, who have these thoughts and dreams of a new body within the Church of God, ready?

These questions are out of order, in sequence, not like in Judge Judy. Jordon also asks - Can you see it? Can you see this context that the church needs to exist in? I think our western culture has arrived in many ways, at the place where we are our own worst nightmare.(Like Newbigin in England) A generation is coming that will not care about your pews, that will not care about your worship, that will not give a rip about your savior, and we have churches that exist today that obviously don't care about them either. (By the way, how did you vote in November?) If a church can remove people on the basis of who they voted for, the more secular world will win, because you can find a place in the world to feel welcome.

What I see, are people craving a spiritual experience. And they want to be loved. And if they can't find that in the church, that is sad, because they will go somewhere else to get it, just like Bob and Susie Churchgoer will church shop till they find what they are looking for.

I don't apologize for having more questions than answers. I sort of use the Socratic method on myself, if that is possible. Maybe it would be possible if I were a two-headed monster.

Randy you suck. You saw you U2, and I didn't. And then you wrote a cool homily on your heart, and made me cry. Did they sing Until the end of the World?