At The Gospel Coalition, Courtney Reissig reviews Brian McLaren's new book, Naked Spirituality. I really have no sympathies for the Emerging Church movement, though I do understand where some of these guys are coming from in their polemics against organized and/or traditional church/Christianity. Unfortunately, as Courtney Reissig points out, these men often throw out necessaries along with the things they dislike about "church." These necessary things often include the deity of Christ, the depraved/sinful nature of man, Christ as the only way to the Father, etc. Reissig says some good things in her review of the book, getting right at the heart of the matter; I especially like the following quote partly because I've been reading through Hebrews:
We come into God’s presence not because we say we are sorry or ask for help, but because Jesus is standing at the right hand of the Father saying “look at me when you see their sin. Let my atoning death be their cleansing gift” (Hebrews 7:25). Without that gift, there can be no deeper relationship with God.
