I did just watch this video on the Stand Firm in Faith blog this morning and felt like I wanted to share it with you. One of the reasons for doing so is that I have been preaching through the Book of Colossians at St. George’s on Sunday nights. In Colossians, St. Paul is very concerned that false teachers are deceiving the saints and leading them astray. In my messages, I have addressed a couple my concerns regarding modern day false teachers. While I have not talked about  the “Emerging Church,” I have considered it. So when I watched this earlier, I felt like Driscoll did a great job summing up the “Emerging” landscape, and sharing this  might help you to understand my concerns as well.

As I have posted before, Mark Driscoll is the Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. Early in his ministry he was connected to the Emerging movement, but soon distanced himself for reasons he talks about in the video. Out of this movement starting in the mid to late 90′s, he identifies 4 groups (which he calls “lanes”):

• Emerging Evangelicals
• House Church Evangelicals
• Emerging Reformers
• Emergent Liberals

Driscoll self-identifies himself as an “Emerging Reformer.” By the way, I would consider myself to be the same. While the  first 2 groups give him some concern, it is with the last group, the “Emergent Liberals,” that is really driving his video and my post. If all of this is confusing to you, or you have know idea what I’m talking about, watch the video and it will provide clarity. This is a serious issue facing Evangelical Christianity in America today.

Lastly, halfway through this sermon, he starts preaching from Acts 17 about Mars Hill and how we engage the culture with the Gospel. He has a special focus upon cities. He finishes with a moving presentation of the Gospel.

I want to encourage you to watch this. To do that, you’ll need an hour of time. Please find some time this week to do so.

Shane+