Welcome to Theoskaris and Youth

It's been a goal of mine to get a blog started where I can share some of my thoughts (as if anyone really cares, but hey, it allows me the chance to occasionally vent) about lots of things, but primarily dealing with God and youth. Let me share some things that have been running through my mind lately (kind of a "What's been keeping Jim awake at night?" thing).

1. Why do so many folk in the emerging church movement feel the need to sever communication/contact with those in the modern church? Are we afraid that they will contaminate us? Are we unwilling to learn from each other? I admit that there are LOTS of things in the traditional church that I don't believe are true to the Gospel (e.g. hierarchical leadership structures, separation of clergy/laity, etc.), but I also believe that there are many folk in modern churches who are wanting to faithfully serve Christ, but have never been given the opportunity to really understand what the Kingdom of God is all about. If we aren't continuing the conversation with these folk, how will they ever hear, and if they don't hear, can they ever act?

2. Why are we in the emerging movement so enamored with new forms of worship almost to the exclusion of ministry to our world? Don't misunderstand me--I love many of these new (actually really old but rediscovered) forms and believe they are truly helpful in our search for God. And I know there are emerging communities which are doing both worship and praxis faithfully. However, my observation is that many emerging communities seem to focus heavily on worship, and largely neglect praxis. (FYI--by praxis, I mean the practices and actions that we engage in together.) Why is this?

3. It seems to me that there is a significant shift occurring in our world from understanding Christianity (and especially holiness) as an epistemological problem (e.g. how we define these things) to viewing it as an ontological demand (e.g. how will we live into/practice holiness). If this is the case, what are the ramifications for the church?

4. Why is there such a disconnect between what we say we believe and what we do? Recent research from the National Study of Youth and Religion as well as my own research with students in my denomination shows that students often recognize orthodox beliefs, and many of them actually agree with those beliefs. However, those beliefs don't affect their lives in any substantial way. Why is this?

My hope is to begin to discuss each of these in turn over the next several weeks. Your comments as always are welcome.