tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post8555904142457117821..comments2024-03-09T04:00:18.309-06:00Comments on Know Thyself: Response to a Former StudentKeith Reichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10679244684706964812noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-39101479179097085032018-06-28T06:08:29.300-05:002018-06-28T06:08:29.300-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801805746326298433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-53818903655942278322015-06-09T19:55:38.507-05:002015-06-09T19:55:38.507-05:00Thanks for the comment. I am glad that Antioch is...Thanks for the comment. I am glad that Antioch is working out well for you as it continues to do for many of my friends. I am sure that the church has grown in many ways since I left in 2000. Keith Reichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10679244684706964812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-86167425212086707202015-06-09T17:11:58.466-05:002015-06-09T17:11:58.466-05:00Our family has attended Antioch for 8 years and fo...Our family has attended Antioch for 8 years and for the first 5 or 6 years of our time there I could not agree more with your assessment. For the first few years we would grow anxious and church shop every 6 months. That apparent discontent was rooted in exactly the same emotive facade you detail above. In year 4 I transitioned out of a position at Baylor and into work outside the "bubble". I decided then that I'd rather be at Antioch and work/pray for subtle change than abandon what I felt to be a dynamic, engaged, and theologically sound church body. I don't know that I've been a catalyst for change but I can state that change is apparent. We stuck with life group and I asked my uncomfortable "intellectual" questions, disagreed with interpretations, and voiced my frustration with an over-emphasis on missions (this was a particular hot-button issue for me as I'd seen more than one of my students at Baylor give up a scholarship to rush in to mission work). Antioch continued to grow and as it did I began to see overt efforts by the leadership to engage and empower church-goers right where they sat. I remember Jimmy saying something to the effect of 'sometimes the more difficult calling to accept is that your current job or schooling is both your current ministry field and God's way of equipping you and shaping you..." I remember shouting AMEN in response. Thankfully it hasn't been a one-time deal. Antioch's partnerships with the local business community, other local churches, and Waco-area schools (public and private) are a testament to a fundamental shift that has occurred away from the fervent, emotionally exhausting, and blindly-trusting, church body, to a more discerning and diverse group of believers. I come from a evangelical "spirit-filled" tradition that bordered on manipulative and abusive so I will always be sensitive, maybe overly sensitive, to the ways a church engages and motivates her membership. That being said, while I'm not disagreeing with ANYTHING you've written, I want to say Antioch in 2015 is a LOT different than Antioch in 2010. Jonathan jstoops@outlook.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-1748615013840800252013-06-28T22:52:18.961-05:002013-06-28T22:52:18.961-05:00Beautifully put - not a putdown but a biblically l...Beautifully put - not a putdown but a biblically literate, honest appraisal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-75735061309558460852011-02-24T19:02:27.415-06:002011-02-24T19:02:27.415-06:00I'd love to speak with you sometime, Keith. Ca...I'd love to speak with you sometime, Keith. Can you email me at garyH@cjfm.org if you're still in Waco? We're headed up there this weekend. Our daughter is in Elevate and we have concerns about it. Thanks!mpradiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11324382674731355674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-53682591665706241652010-06-22T16:23:51.217-05:002010-06-22T16:23:51.217-05:00Bold, sweetheart. I love that you stated this so p...Bold, sweetheart. I love that you stated this so plainly and fairly, and that you were willing to share it all in such a public way.Brooke Reichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08652202751576151926noreply@blogger.com