As I've said here before, when I look at church history I see strong, real links between the nonviolent, prophetic, anti-Imperial life that Jesus advocated for his followers, and the charismatic, Spirit-filled life that he advocated for those same followers.
As I said earlier, this year's Cornerstone Festival had a lot of great seminars.
A few years ago, during the process of earning a PhD, Steve Taylor wrote The Out of Bounds Church? to show the ways the church was and is changing.
To give a small introduction to this, for a decade Emergent Village has been an organization seeking to follow God in the way of Jesus.
Today is Pentecost Sunday (yesterday, now that it is after midnight). I feel a little weird writing about it, being something of an ecclesial vagabond in the last couple of years.
Several years ago, a great friend of mine introduced me to 24-7 Prayer International when the organization was just a couple of years old.
I talk fairly often about the early characteristics of the Pentecostal movement, especially its ardent pacifism.
I hope you've had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. In the last couple of years, I've gotten to know people with a strong interest in Celtic spirituality, and have learned some wonderful things.
There is a practice of prayer called the Daily Office that dates back to ancient Judaism, when faithful Jews would gather several times each day and pray.
I'm a big fan of community, especially lately. I'm also very afraid of it. I tend to be a quiet person until I get to know people, and I often feel awkward until then unless we are having a conversation about which I am very passionate.
Jonathan Stegall is a web designer and emergent / emerging follower of Jesus currently living in Atlanta, seeking to abide in the creative tension between theology, spirituality, design, and justice.
Full Blogroll Blogroll & Friends