Session # 4:Rock Daddy

1. In the first example Anderson states that Paul having received his message and direction from the resurrected Christ feels that the Christ he encountered goes all the way back to Adam. Paul strongly believes that Jesus is the "second Adam", the one who will make right the wrong that was committed in the beginning. By doing this Paul provides a theological basis for emerging churches who are accused of being just another version of modernity. He basically adds meat to what EC are doing and how they are interacting with PM believers and non-believers. The basic difference is living and acting to the spirit of the Law verses the letter of the Law. Antioch is based on the spirit of the Law and allows for free thinking and interacting, where as Jerusalem is based on the letter of the Law, which focuses more on the rituals and activities and not the state of the believers heart.

2. The implications of an ecclesiology based on grace means that it is because of His love and mercy that we are allowed into heaven, verses based on our actions and ability to follow the commands that He has given us. This is the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Jews need rules and laws to help govern themselves and maintain their focus on God. In the New Testament, Jesus came and took the rules and laws from the Old Testament and expanded on them. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matt 5:17, NIV). This is Jesus talking to the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus took what God originally gave, completed them and then told his followers to go and make more followers of Him.

3. This follows along with what I have been talking about in the previous answers. On pg 59 the response the pastor gives is, "We are too busy doing kingdom of God work to spend time on such issues." This implies that this church or group of people is so busy working on what Jesus told them to do, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:30-31, NIV), that they aren't getting bogged down in the time consuming and energy wasting debates about the details or lack of details in the Bible. I once heard an evangelist on the radio tell about how God put exactly what he wanted into the Bible, no more, no less. He referenced the story of Jonah and how we are not given much detail of when he was in the belly of the great fish. This preacher went on to say that obviously these details weren't important to the lesson that God was trying to get across to us. In the ECM, new believers and non believers both are searching for the truth, the simple, basic, easy to grasp truth. If you are doing kingdom of God work, then you are doing exactly what God wants you to do.

4. I would have to say that through my many years of Sunday School and riding the Joy Bus as a kid, we were always taught to know God. I think that our teachers told us about God, but that they ultimately wanted us to know about him. The fact that ET is revelational is the foundation upon which Paul builds his ministry. It is from his revelation on the road to Damascus that he continually resorts back to, and it is because of this that he is able to create the first ECM. I think in this PM world, people are truly searching for that "a-ha" moment. They want to understand and grasp what Jesus has for them, but are afraid of being singled out or looked down upon by Christians, because we get so wrapped up in the religious part of things.