January 10, 2013

Our cohort will not meet in December, but we will meet on January, 10, 2013. Once we decide on a topic, I'll post it here on the blog. I didn't want you to go a whole month with nothing to think about, so I thought you might find this sermon interesting: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/missionalshift/2012/11/my-sermon-on-what-is-the-missional-church/ Scott Knight was speaking at The Table, a new emergent church in East Dallas. His thoughts on being missional prompt me to ask, "are you more or less missional today than you were four years ago?" (Can you tell that yesterday was election day?)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

We'll meet at 7:00 PM at Starbucks to discuss Phyllis Tickle's latest book, Emergence Christianity. Even if you haven't read the book, you'll find the conversation interesting. All are welcome.

Doug Pagitt at Journey Church Oct. 22

Doug Pagitt will be hosting a discussion of role and future of Christianity and hanging out with the good people of Dallas, Fort Worth, Texas on October 22 7:30pm at Journey Church and Heritage Church. Event is free and open to all. If the stars align there will be music (if you have a lead contact Doug) Doug Pagitt suggests that we live in an exciting time of change in every area of our culture including religion. He suggests that this current period, that he calls "The Inventive Age" is a fertile time not only for new expressions of faith, but for new theology in Christianity as well. Join Doug for an evening of positive conversation about the age we live and the bright future that is ahead. Journey Dallas 13154 Coit Rd. Suite 101 , Dallas, Texas 75240

October 11, 2012 Meeting

The cohort will meet Thursday, October 11, 2012 to discuss McLaren's latest book, "Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed Cross the Road?" Here's a video that covers the main points of the book: http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V01124 Watch the video and come join the conversation. Everyone is welcome.

June 14, 2012 meeting

The North Dallas Area Cohort will meet on Thursday, June 14th at 7:00 PM at Starbucks at Custer and Parker in Plano. To get ready for our conversation, read and think about your answers to these ten questions: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/missionalshift/2012/06/10-questions-to-ask-if-youre-wondering-am-i-missional/ One of the characteristics that distinguishes emergent/missional fellowships from traditional fellowships is their view/approach to evangelism. What do you think? Hope you can come and share.

May 10 - Spiritual Formation

Larry Rathbun will lead the discussion Thursday night about spiritual formation. He'll provide a handout.

Join us May 10, 2012

Larry Rathbun will lead the conversation on May 10. Come check out the new location.

I'm dogmatic about not being dogmatic - April 2012

We had a lively discussion in April regarding the role of dogma in religion. Interestingly, all of the on-line definitions we viewed framed the term(s) in the context of either religion or politics. Why are we so dogmatic about religion and politics, and is that a good thing? Some general observations: all of us have been dogmatic about something at some time in our lives. Most of the April cohort admitted to having experienced a change in what we are dogmatic about. Some of us claim to be less dogmatic today than we once were (or perhaps dogmatic about fewer things.) And of course there were several joking comments along the lines of "Larry, you sound pretty dogmatic about that..." This may become a topic we return to from time to time since we couldn't seem to discuss it fully in an hour or so. Some food for thought: Should I ever be dogmatic about a subject about which God is silent? Can I be dogmatic about just those things about which God is dogmatic? Since I've changed my opinion in the past, should I go easy on the dogmatism today? Is the fact that some of us acknowledge that we've changed our minds evidence that we're getting better, or worse?

New Location

We thought we'd move the meeting to a Starbucks in Plano, so that perhaps a few more might join our discussions. Please note the details in the upper right corner of the blog's first page.