A Night to Remember in Garden Valley

April 11, 2008

Several days ago, a friend of mine called and said he had been invited to speak at Teen Mania’s chapel service on the subject of the Emergent Church. Naturally I was excited that the Lord had opened up an opportunity for my friend to share with the young men and women who are a part of Teen Mania’s Honor Academy.

So last night was the night, Teen Mania’s chapel service, my friend bringin-it, sharing the truth about what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is and why we should be concerned about many aspects of the Emergent Church movement. Michael (my friend) shared with the students at the Honor Academy a message he had titled Critical Thinking. Michael shared the truth that we need to think critically from a biblical perspective when considering the teachings of the Emergent Church. Michael shared how critical it is, as true Christians, that we hold fast to the fundamental beliefs that truly identify someone as Christian. It’s exactly these fundamental truths that many Emergent authors and followers are willing to depart from in the postmodern world we now live in.

As I said earlier, I was thrilled that Michael had been presented with such a great opportunity to share with the interns at The Honor Academy. Thrilled enough to drive a little over two hours to Garden Valley Texas and support Michael from among the students in the crowd. To my surprise, as Michael began to open up his message, he said, “I have a friend from Dallas here somewhere, where are you”. So, somewhat reluctantly, I raised my hand to acknowledge I was there to support him and settled in to listen to what Michael had to say. It was an accurate and timely word.

Michael had also told me that a Q&A session would follow his message but that he would not be able to hang around for it. With that in mind, I had decided I would leave after Michael had finished his message just to have a few moments to visit with him before he got back on the road home.

Well, again to my surprise, those plans changed. At some point near the end of Michael’s message, John Bushnell from Teen Mania asked if I would hang around and field some of the questions from the Q&A session with the interns. I told John that I would love to hang around.

You have to understand, I have a deep passion to see the 18-30 generation understand who Christ is and their place in His kingdom. It’s no overstatement to say that I was awe struck that God would see fit to give me such an opportunity to share my thoughts with the students at the Honor Academy. So, for at least an hour John Bushnell and myself took questions from the interns and addressed them. These students where amazingly open to ask some deep questions and even share their own perspective on some of the issues raised during our time of Q&A.

I can’t even begin to expess with words how awesome it was to poor into the lives of these young men and women. I have to say that as I listened to and got know John Bushnell I was thankful that the students at the Honor Academy had such a man pouring daily into them. I could tell that John shared my passion for young people, for church history, for the bible, for doctrine, for theology, and a passion for Christ.

I could easily continue for pages on how awesome my time in Garden Valley was but I will not. Let me just say in ending this little article that I am continually amazed at how God can use the most unlikely people in some of the most unlikely situations and in some of the most unlikely places to advance His purposes in this world and for eternity.

— Shane Trammel

Posted in Emergent