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As most of you know, The Journey made some waves last year. One of the many ways our church connects with our local culture is by hosting discussion oriented events at local gathering spots. One of the events, Theology at the Bottleworks (TATB), takes place at Schlafly Bottle Works, a local micro-brewery and restaurant, caught national attention, and generated more than just a little mis-information about us and our ministries.

I haven't blogged on this topic up to this point because there was more than enough being written already and I really didn't want to add O2 to the fire. And I guess if I am being honest, I would probably have said a number of things that I might now regret, not because they shouldn't have been said as much as the fact that I probably would have said those things out of pride and anger (aka sin). OK, no "probably" there. I would have.

This topic isn't so hot any more and the previous discussions tended to produce more heat than light, so I thought I would post a few follow ups for those who are interested in how God has continued to work through this situation.

In addition to the many unchurched people who found out about this ministry through the local media attention (and consequently found their way to Schlafly to check it out), a number of conservative church folks are taking a second look both at our methodology and at their previous assumptions.

For one, a conservative blogger, Mike Corley, has recently taken a second, closer look at the Journey's missiology. Mike originally posted a strongly worded critique of the Journey that was based mainly on the information (and misinformation) that was being produced in the blogosphere. Mike recently came to St. Louis and visited with Darrin Patrick, our lead pastor, and Jonathan McIntosh, our mission pastor - as well as visiting a Theology at the Bottleworks event - for himself. The results were very encouraging - here are a few links to check out for yourself.

You can catch an audio of Mike's interview of Darrin here.

You can catch the audio of Mike's interview with Jonathan here - also, be sure to read the blog and the comments that follow.

I know Mike's not ready to drop everything and embrace the contextualizing methodology that drives our efforts, but I am impressed that conversation is taking place and people are speaking to understand instead of just condemn. And Mike isn't the only one who is coming around to talk and understand, either.

Bottom line is that this is a clear demonstration of the power of the gospel. Darrin, our lead pastor, really exemplified the "humble confidence" of gospel living through this whole thing and it is very cool to see him building bridges where bombs could have been dropped. If I had been in his shoes, I am afraid I would have allowed my pride to overcome my desire to see the gospel advance in power and bring healing where I would have furthered injury. I would have had the short term pleasure of blasting a few people in my little battle, but I would have missed out on the long term gospel-amazement that comes from watching God win the war.
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