Here on Internet Monk, Michael has made no secret of the fact that he is a huge fan of pastor, author, and professor Eugene Peterson. And I am right there with him in my admiration of Peterson’s writings.
If you would like to go back and read some of what Michael has said about the man and his writings, here are some posts from the iMonk archives about Peterson:
Though best known in popular circles as the author of The Message paraphrase of the Bible, it is Peterson’s earlier works on what it means to be a pastor and his devotional books and Bible studies that I have long loved and treasured as encouragements for my spiritual life and ministry.
The other day I received my copy of Eugene Peterson’s new book, Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ. In this work, Peterson has his readers contemplate the message of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians to help us learn what it means to, “grow up to the full stature of Christ.”
This is the final book in Peterson’s “Conversations on Spiritual Theology” series. Each book is deeply insightful and well worth reading. The other four are:
From our friends at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Tallahassee, FL, here is another of their excellent teaching videos. In this one, Father Michael Petty leads a class on the meaning of the Eucharist in the Anglican liturgy.
St. Peter’s also makes notes available to use while watching. Download notes here.(MOD: With regard to downloading the notes, clicking the link on St. Peter’s page will take you to another link at the bottom of the page. Right click (or Ctrl-click for Mac) to download the PDF file.)
My situation is serious. Sleep is a big issue. I need rest and it is hard to get. This cancer situation is not going to give my old life back. It may take the life I have. I choose whatever mission God has for me, the utmost need is a simple prayer on my behalf.
If what I am going through reminds you of what you have been through what you what been through in the past, I pray for you and hope others will be the same.
I am home most of the time but I am on the road on almost every day to various doctors. Tomorrow I finish my first found of chemo and have a fell week off. I am so proud to have come through radiation and to this point. [Continue reading]
Today’s guest blogger is Jeremy Berg. Thanks, Jeremy!
This reflection from last spring seems a timely word to all who are struggling to make sense of the recent Haiti disaster. May we send our curses in the right direction.
I was doing the annual spring yard clean-up this past spring. My wife had done most of the raking and left them in neat piles for me to come behind and bag up. I’m a manly man, so I didn’t think I needed to wear work gloves to pick up a few leaves. What I didn’t expect, as I thoughtlessly grabbed handfuls of leaves to stuff into the bags, was that she had also pruned the rose bush nearby and buried the thorny branches in the same pile of leaves.
Those of you with sensitive ears, cover them for a moment. I’m about to utter a dirty word.
OBLIGATION.
Let me give you another one.
DUTY.
I confess to being partially accountable for the fact that these are dirty words to many today, for I grew up in the American Baby Boomer generation. We came of age in a society of rules and manners, of authority and expected norms of behavior. And we rebelled, hard.
Today, Chaplain Mike continues our discussion on the Scriptures by setting forth this classic IM post from Michael (1/08) on a foundational issue with regard to the Bible: What is the “canon” of Scripture?
UPDATE: I will not re-run the post on the Lutheran view of the canon (which Michael references below) at this time. However, if you want to read Josh Strodbeck’s post from Jan. 2008, go here.
This post will be followed later by popular Internet Monk poster and famous Lutheran blogger Josh Strodtbeck, who will give us the Lutheran view of the canon. So this ought to be fun, interesting, and make the right people mad enough to call me an “invertebrate.” (Love those flashes of TR rhetoric.)
As some of you know, discussions about authority, who is the true church, what franchise operation did Jesus found and where should we all shop really give me the hives. Inerrantists, some Calvinists, most recent evangelical converts to the RCC and the entire Church of Christ in western Kentucky are all into this. Still, you have to think about these things. So get ready to discover that I don’t think the canon is as closed as most of you, and I am not nearly as afraid of tradition as some of you want me to be. The one thing I know is that on this bus, we’re all fallible, and that makes the subject interesting.
See you in the comments.
I’m no expert on the subject of canon, and I need to spend more time studying the subject, but I get a fair amount of questions from students about the canon and canon-related issues. Without trying to write a polished essay, I have several ideas about the canon I’d like to cover.
MY SPORTING LIFE
I grew up fully immersed in sports. Sports were a part of almost everything I did, every friendship, most activities. I became a jock. I got pretty good at basketball, and played competitively through my junior year in high school, capping off my career with a team that won the first regional championship in school history.
But I was especially focused on baseball. At the time of my conversion, as a senior in high school near Baltimore, I played for a school with a storied tradition. That year we again had a talented team that won our conference, beating out our rival, the school that would produce Cal Ripken, Jr. a few years later. I was honored as County Player of the Year, and there was little I loved more than baseball.
Chaplain Mike posts today’s Open Mic question on behalf of the iMonk, Michael Spencer.
When I received this from Michael and was asked to post it, it reminded me that, often in my work as a hospice chaplain, I read the Psalms for my patients. However, I usually edit my readings. Why? The psalm Michael asks us to consider is a prime example.
Psalm 139 is a perennial favorite for Christians. Who doesn’t love the poetic picture it paints of God’s intimate knowledge and care of his people? Who doesn’t rejoice in its reassurance that we will never be without God’s presence? that he is constantly thinking of us and active in providing for us and protecting us?
But…but…
I guarantee you that I don’t read verses 19-22:
O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
those who speak of you maliciously,
and lift themselves up against you for evil!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Why don’t we feel comfortable reading these verses?
Why do we feel compelled to “pick and choose” when we read the psalms?
Why do our minds try to justify or filter out such phrases as “I hate them with perfect hatred”? And what does a statement like that mean anyway?
How do we understand these imprecations in the light of other Scriptures, like the Sermon on the Mount, that say plainly, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”?
The mic is yours. Use it thoughtfully and let’s have a discussion about this.
Today’s post is from IM First Officer Michael Bell.
This past year has been a difficult one for me medically. In March I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, which for the uninformed means that I stop breathing while sleeping, for up to 90 seconds at a time, up to 60 times an hour. So now I have to sleep with a mask, which I absolutely hate. Then just before Christmas I got a flu bug. While things are not confirmed yet, it appears as if the virus attacked my pancreas. As a result I have become diabetic, and as of this writing the medicines have not been working, I am off work, and I may have to be started on insulin injections. One of the earlier symptoms that I was experiencing was a foggy brain, and making uncharacteristic mistakes at work.
So you might be wondering how I am feeling about this. Well, to be honest, not too bad. I think that recent events in Haiti, along with Michael Spencer’s current health difficulties help me to realize that I don’t really have much to complain about. I have a lovely, loving wife, three great kids, a house, a job, and a church I love.
The diabetes will eventually get under control. I have been losing weight and that should start to help with the sleep apnea. My life continues not that much different from the way it was a year ago.
Michael Spencer faces a much more difficult future. His income has ended, his health insurance is ending, and he faces some very trying times ahead with his cancer. Michael has given so much of himself to this blog over the last number of years.
As a community of Internet Monk readers, I would urge each of us to be a blessing to Michael Spencer. Please consider using the Pay Pal button to make a gift to Michael. Let us see what we can do to meet the needs of one of our own.
Do what you can to get the word out, thanks to all who helped get the book out. It’s almost all new material, so buy it after September and then buy another one.
In our continuing discussion on issues related to the Scriptures, Chaplain Mike re-runs this classic IM post today. (from Dec, 2008)
Hey look! If you read carefully, you will even find another “Bible = loaded gun” metaphor!
Oh. We’re not talking about interpreting the Bible? Well….I am, so deal.
I usually just don’t say anything when I hear Biblical interpretation leave the road and head for the ditches. But doggone it, there’s some fairly basic stuff here that could be very helpful to those of you who genuinely love the Bible.
Just a few notes for those of you who read every day.
1. I am having a port surgically inserted Thursday. Chemo begins the following week. My side effects on 10 radiation treatments were average, if not less. I have no idea what this will mean.
2. My appetite is at an all time low, but I am doing OK. I need chicken soups. After that, ??
3. Depression is a very real adversary. I am God’s servant at this time and for this calling. Pray for me that I keep my eyes on the daily task and leave the results to God.
4 Thank you to all of you who have contributed in various ways. Your generosity has been a great encouragement. My job has been removed, but I have a place to stay as long as Denise is here. My insurance will run out in late February and we are working with our options for the next period of time. That is where your contribution makes a big difference.
To give support, use paypal or write denisespenc@gmail.com.
5.Keep me in your prayers. I am sleeping a lot as I try to regain my balance- a very slow process.
6. I’m a pretty poor visit, but I appreciate knowing you remember me. Pray for God’s grace, God’s strength and Gods will.
Last year, here in Indianapolis, a four-year-old was taken by emergency personnel to the hospital with a gunshot wound. At first, it was not clear what had happened. The family told police the child had shot himself. The police weren’t sure that the preschooler was strong enough to have pulled the trigger of the suspected weapon by himself, and so they wondered if someone else had done it, perhaps a family member.
It turned out the family was correct. The little boy lived in a home with other relatives, at least one of whom had several guns. This uncle left one of his pistols on a bedside table and the child discovered it there. The preschooler picked up, played with it, and shot himself in the hand. Fortunately, his injuries were not life-threatening, though he did nearly sever one of his fingers. All in all, the whole family was lucky, including the little boy’s two siblings, neither of whom were hurt.
In evangelicalism, pastors too often play the part of the preschooler with the pistol.
The Bible is a powerful, explosive tool. When its power is used with wisdom and love, it brings healing, comfort, direction, and salvation. It forms people and congregations into the image of Christ. When its power is used recklessly and without discernment, the Bible can hurt, divide, and destroy. You can blow your own hand off, or someone else’s head. [Continue reading]
Since we’re on the subject of confession, here is a look at the subject from the personal side. Today, Chaplain Mike presents this classic iMonk post that Michael wrote in October, 2008.
Some Christians love to talk about the sins of Obama or gays or the mainstream media, but get really animated when I suggest we need to talk about our own, even if they are listed in the Bible dozens of times.
If the Gospel isn’t grabbing you by the real sins in your real life, just exactly what is the Gospel doing for you? Or you with it?
I don’t like the fact that I can give a really good talk on prayer when I rarely pray.
I don’t like it that I can read Matthew 5:23-24 and, as far as I can recall, never take a single step toward obeying it.
I don’t like that I can sin and then condemn someone else’s sin in almost the same breath.
Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it.
Today’s post is by guest blogger Chaplain Mike.
If you haven’t read 
Today’s post is from IM First Officer Michael Bell.
Big Announcement!
In our continuing discussion on issues related to the Scriptures, Chaplain Mike re-runs this classic IM post today. (from Dec, 2008)
Today’s post is by Chaplain Mike.
Since we’re on the subject of confession, here is a look at the subject from the personal side. Today, Chaplain Mike presents this classic iMonk post that Michael wrote in October, 2008.
