Wow...

A bit about the event from Tim Conder, the event instigator:

Can you imagine communities that encounter the biblical text as a privileged invitation to collaborate in the process of interpretation? In these same communities — collective and personal imagination, artistic expression, sacramental practices such as the common table and baptism, and other essential practices such as mission, hospitality, and dialogue are not only motivated by the text but also are integral in shaping our reading of the Bible. This is the vision of the “Free for All.”

Sadly, this dream can be rare in its actual expression. Biblical interpretation in our present culture tends to be limited by a few powerful voices who tell us precisely what it must mean (and what it cannot mean), theological overdetermination that also restricts meaning to predefined possibilities, the personal entitlements of individual readers who read the text to reinforce their agendas and loyalties, the apathy of bored readers, or the profuse frustration of silenced perspectives. The result is a devastating disconnect between text and community.

The consequences of the disconnect are dramatic. In many fellowships, the Bible is perceived to be oppressive, sacred but irrelevant, or even trivial by its lack of interpretation or intersection with the actual lives of those in community. In more churches and communities than we care to admit, participants live in the typical anxiety of “don’t ask, don’t tell” environments where they fear to reveal their honest questions about the text and the actual contours of their lives. In addition, many perspectives and experiences are entirely excluded from the interpretative process.

You can find the above section on Doug Pagitt's website. I know I am giving someone I DEFINITELY do not agree with free publicity, but I had to engage this.

I find it funny how "rediscovering" the word of God is always about "rediscovering" that God is a God of "Love" (notice the quotation marks). If I were to go to this meeting and "rediscover" that God is a God of Jealousy and Wrath I wonder what the community would say. If I went into their meeting and said that my "interpretive freedom" leads to understand that we have completely misinterpreted the seemingly clear passages about love and that God is not really a God of Love, what would they say?

It is always interesting to me how people like Doug, and most of those who would find a meeting like this beneficial, seem to believe that they are doing something fresh and something new. They are transforming what we think about Christianity in the 21st Century!

No
They
Are
Not.

They are falling into a trap that was set by Satan himself so long ago: Get them to question what God has said and then interject the "truth" about what God said. It works so well, why would Satan switch to another scheme?

I heard a radio program years ago where a native Romanian (maybe the founder of Voice of the Martyrs was being quoted) talked about persecution. He said that Satan, in Scripture, is depicted in two ways: 1. A roaring lion seeking to devour and 2. Masquerading as an angel of light. He said that in Romania it was easy to fight Satan because he was obvious. He is the one holding the gun to your head or burning your Bible. In America, however, he comes as the angel of light, seeming as though he speaks truth when all he speaks is lies. The man said it was harder to fight him in America because he could be standing right next to you.