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Scot McKnight at Westminster Seminary for Discussion on Emerging Church

Westminster seminary had a day long conference with a focus on the emerging church. You can find a copy of Scot's first lecture on this page. A partial audio download is available here. I thought Scot did a great job of giving an overview of those who are part of the emerging discussion. He helps to chart out the diversity and concerns of those within the emerging church movement.

Vineyard Churches in the Great Lakes Region in Google Earth Format

The following is a tutoral for displaying all the Vineyard churches in the Great Lakes region in Google Earth. I am also including a population density overlay which will allow for a basic sense of regional population.

First download Google earth here http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

Then download the KML file which contains the church location list http://www.gillfam.com/maps/Vineyard Churches-Great Lakes Region-10-12-06-final.kml (right click on the link and choose "save target as").

Finally download the population density overlay http://www.gillfam.com/maps/PopulationDensityNew.kmz (right click on the link and choose "save target as").

Once Google Earth is installed, just go to the location that you saved the KML file to and double click on it.  It will now open in google earth.  On the left hand side you will see the listing of churches. 

Now go back to the PopulationDensityNew.kmz file that you downloaded and double click on it.  Now the population density overlay will load.  The darker areas are the regiouns with the highest density.

Link to Google Maps View of all Vineyard Churches in the Great Lakes Region

Click the link below to open a new and larger window which will display all the Vineyard churches in the Great Lakes Region.

http://www.gillfam.com/maps/vin_ch_gl.html

This utilizes Google Maps. The locations have been converted from street address to latitude and longitude. Due to the conversion process location on the image map is approximate though very close.

Scot McKnight Critiques the Book Heretic’s Guide to Eternity

Scot Mcknight finished the 4th part in a review and critique of the book Heretic’s Guide to Eternity by Spencer Burke. I found it encouraging. Not because Scot had a positive review of Spencer's book. Scot actually minced no words in pointing very serious errors. But that was exactly what I found encouraging. Sometimes people will critique the Emerging Church movement for what seems to be an attitude that almost any belief or position goes. It was good to see Scot enter into the discussion with Burke and really point out serious errors but do it in the right way.

Rick Warren interview

Rick Warren was interviewed by a representatives of the Press at a Pew Foundation event. He did a good job of showing that all evangelicals are not alike. He argues that abortion is not the only issue before the church. He thinks that many different individuals and churches correctly focus on different issues.
He talks quite a bit about his PEACE plan which really focuses on reaching out to those who are in need on several levels. Here shares how God started to convict him.
And that was a turning point in my life two-and-a-half years ago, where God basically said to me – and I've never heard God speak audibly; it's in my mind – "The purpose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence. The purpose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence." And in religious terms I had to say, "God, I repent, because I can't think of the last time I thought of widows and orphans." I live in a very affluent Southern California neighborhood. There aren't any homeless people lying on the streets where I live. And I said, "I can't think of the last time I cared about the homeless."
Later he explains the key components of his PEACE plan as:
And the PEACE Plan is an acronym. "P" is "Partner with churches"; you find a church in the area to partner with, or you plant a church if there isn't one there. "E" is "Equip leaders." And we're equipping leaders in a way that is culturally relevant –– not Western-style leadership but Jesus-style leadership. "A" is "Assist the poor," and in assisting the poor, you've heard the phrase, "Don't give a man a fish; teach him to fish." That's not good enough. If all you do is teach a man to fish, what you do is you create a village of fisherman, so they all live on subsistence living. You must raise the economic standard. You must teach them not only how to make a fish; you need to teach them how to sell a fish – teach them free enterprise. That way not everybody's a fisherman and some people can specialize and the economy begins to grow. "C" is "Care for the sick," and "E" is "Educate the next generation."