Top 7 Traits of the Emerging Church

The Emerging Church is a controversial yet vast movement with many facets and doctrines "emerging" from it, yet it's essential for us to look at the basic tenents of what the movement's about so that we're able to discern when a church or group is part of it.
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Reviews posted every Wednesday, topical videos on Friday.

[faith]

Dear Lord Jesus forgive us and help us Father God in the name of Jesus! Have mercy on us! We need you, we can't do it without you and we don't want to miss the mark. Our sins have overflowed the cup of iniquity and we need your strength to escape Babylon. Help us throw away this new technology, get out of sin and be faithful to you (and believe on you instead). Help us love one another and obey you because we want to do what you say. Amen!

[jasonmeinhart]

I love the information in this video. It was extremely difficult to follow because of run on sentences and monotone speaking. Please take this as constructive feedback, only intended to help with future videos.

[georgebernard]

Reguarding Point 6, worship style (as well as worn attire to an extent) is a poor indicator of whether a church is "casual" in other areas. Many fundimentalist churches (such as Southern Baptist, Pentacostal, and some NonDenominational Churches) use contemporary worship but are doctrinally strict. Moreover, many theologically liberal churches (suchas ELCA, PCUSA, and Episcopal Churchs) use Liturgical Music but are generally not doctrinally strict

[frankjames]

number 5. is using the wrong word not inclusivity but conformity which is not biblical to conform with the world or other religions.
number 6. casual is also the wrong word, worldly is the word there and is not biblical either

number 7. experaince focused is wrong word too, it should be self focused (centered) , which is not biblical

[electrahelios]

What characterizes a true Christian faith? From time to time I use the term "true Christian faith", and one may then ask why it is necessary to insert this word "true" before the words "Christian faith". Isn't it enough to just say Christian faith? What is the difference? In our time, there is an incredible amount of human thought, pure delusions and the worldliness of all beauty that has corrupted the Christian faith. You can perceive it as if it is okay for a Christian to believe a little anyway, a little as you see fit. Many pick according to their own taste and taste from a crowded spiritual smorgasbord and do not ask for "label of origin".

This is clearly noticeable if you e.g. see what the Church of Sweden offers today. But many free churches are not far behind. Despite this mess in so-called Christendom, this mix is ​​called "Christian". One can then rightly ask the question whether people are really true Christians when their faith includes this new mix. For this reason, I think it is necessary to distance oneself from the mess by instead talking about truthChristian faith . Perhaps original Christian faith would have worked well too. Or Bible-based Christian faith …

But then what is true Christian faith ? What is it that a true Christian should believe? Well, that's exactly what I'm going to try to explain in a sort of logical summary that follows below. Please note that I am not providing here a complete "table of contents" for a true Christian faith, but I am addressing a number of heavier things that I consider particularly important for such a faith, and for it to be said to be soundly biblical. Also note that salvation is not based on believing all this from the beginning. The counterfeit is based on hearing the gospel message, turning to God, accepting God's free gift in the gospel of Jesus and then trusting that this gift of God in Jesus Christ is the only thing that counts for my salvation. But I am convinced that God's Holy Spirit, our Comforter, will in time lead all true believers into an ever-greater understanding and affirmation of the things that true Christian faith includes.

Eternal truths
A true Christian faith must clearly include a series of firm, unshakable and eternal truths in order to be considered true. It absolutely cannot have a content that is based on people's different opinions and/or feelings. A true Christian faith must be defined by God, and then we need to find out what he has determined.

Of course, it can be the case that a person who has just become a Christian did not have time to grasp these Christian truths right away. But as the believer matures and gains insight, these truths must come into place for the faith to count as a true Christian faith . These are important and fundamental truths that keep faith healthy and active, and keep faith all the way to eternal life with God—the life that is the real goal of a true Christian . I will highlight some such truths that I am convinced must be part of a true Christian faith .

The Bible is the foundation of true Christian faith
The word Christian refers to the person who believes in and confesses to Jesus Christ. It was quite shortly after Jesus' time on earth that the believers in Jesus began to be called "Christians" (Acts 11:26). Being a Christian means that you are connected to Christ. The source of knowledge about Jesus Christ is the Bible, Jesus himself said this:

Luke 24:27: "And he began with Moses and all the prophets, and explained to them what was written about him in all the Scriptures."

The entire Bible is largely about Jesus. He is the Word of the Bible embodied, and the great "secret" about Jesus is that he is God who came to his own creation in human form.

John 1:1, 14: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory"

So the absolute foundation of a true Christian faith must be the Bible with all its texts. It is the entirety of the Bible that constitutes the Truth with a capital "S", or as the Bible itself expresses it:

Ps 119:160: "The sum of your word is truth".

You can then also say that Jesus IS the Truth, which he himself also confirmed:

John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

The apostle Paul also testified to the importance of the Bible:

2 Tim 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God-breathed..."

The apostle Peter also wrote something similar:

2 Peter 1:20-21: "Above all, you must know that no prophecy in Scripture has come about by its own interpretation. For no prophecy has been brought forth by the will of any man, but led by the Holy Spirit men have spoken what they have received from God.”

And Jesus himself emphasized the importance of the Word of the Bible:

Matthew 5:18-19: "Before heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one jot, will pass from the law until all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore cancels one of these least commandments and teaches men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.”

The following Bible words are at the end of the Book of Revelation and thus at the end of the Bible. I think therefore we can say that this warning applies to the whole Bible:

Rev 22:18-19: "For everyone who hears the words of the prophecy in this book I testify: If anyone adds anything to these words, God will put on him the plagues that are written about in this book. And if anyone takes away something from the words that are in the book of this prophecy, God will take away from him his part in the tree of life and in the holy city, as it is written about in this book."

This then means the following: if you call yourself a Christian, then it is the entire Bible that you must base your faith on. If you remove something from the foundation of the Bible and its testimony, it is no longer a question of a true Christian faith . The same applies if you add something that goes beyond the teaching of the Bible. If you remove or add, you no longer have the whole Truth, then you have created a foreign faith, an unhealthy mix, which you can no longer call true Christian faith . A true Christianthus cannot correct anything in the Bible, nor expand it with new ideas. As a true Christian, one can quite naturally find certain texts in the Bible difficult to understand, perhaps even difficult, but that does not give the Christian the right to censor these texts. Instead, one should dig deeper and ask God for increased insight and understanding. A true Christian can also suffer from doubts, but this can also be asked of God for help in overcoming. Doubt must also not be a reason for deleting parts of the Bible's content - or adding to it.

The teaching of the Bible is thus the absolute basis for a true Christian faith, everything else is secondary. Your or my experiences as a Christian must be subordinate to the Bible. We are not called to testify about "what we have been through", we are called to testify about Jesus and his act of reconciliation. This is exactly what Paul felt about his preaching:

1 Corinthians 2:2: "For I had decided, when I was with you, to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him who was crucified."

This or that teaching on the Internet is also completely subordinate to the Bible. If doctrines and teachings appear that are not supported by or found in the Bible, they must be rejected! Science fiction-like ideas that go under the "Christian" banner and that talk vaguely about the end times, about aliens, about hierarchies in the demon world, etc., can - and should! - a true Christian ignore. Such is completely meaningless for a true Christian faith if it is not clearly found in the Bible!

[ronaldfrink]

You made a huge mistake downplaying the dangers of this apostasy and became a heiring yourself sir .