A few months ago, friends of this web site contributed over $600 worth of curriculum resources so my students could study Jesus along with Mark Driscoll. I’ve been using the resources with three of my high school Bible survey classes, and I wanted to do a brief review for those who might be considering the resource.

The resource is produced by Song of Solomon resources, which appears to be the ministry of Tommy Nelson and apparently is known primarily for materials on The Song of Solomon. Information with the curriculum indicates that the ministry is expanding into other types of DVD materials on various subjects featuring many well known teachers and preachers such as Matt Chandler, as well as live events.

The Vintage Jesus series is 12 talks, 30 minutes each, from Driscoll’s book and sermon series “Vintage Jesus.” A sharp-looking study guide accompanies the entire series.

Let me say the good stuff, and then a few criticisms. [Continue reading]

I’m really enjoying the speaking and ministry of Russell Moore, dean of theology at my alma mater, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Here’s a recent talk that may be of interest to IM readers: “Of Sacraments and Sawdust: Toward the Future of Evangelical-Catholic Public Engagement”

From Eternity to Here, by Frank Viola

Let’s be honest.

Guys like me- ordained in the traditional church, collecting a paycheck from the traditional church, investing a significant portion of our life in the traditional church- are supposed to be put off by Frank Viola’s entire project. And depending on what you’ve read by or about Frank Viola, that may be exactly how you feel: defensive about an “open” house church model that dismisses traditional denominations as a selling out of the church.

Viola’s work makes us defensive and rightfully so. Of all the contemporary critics of the traditional church, Viola has been the most effective. He’s not ranted and railed. Instead, he’s done the hard scholarly work to make his case, and offered a full and complete discussion and informed experience for his own model.

But what’s been missing in Viola’s project has been an extensive and foundational Biblical underpinning; specifically a foundational understanding of the church. With From Eternity to Here, Viola has given us that foundational Biblical discussion of the church, and in a compelling and creative way. [Continue reading]

Fr. Ernesto pointed out that I had used the word “proscribe” wrongly throughout the original post. I appreciate that correction, and edited several sentences that might ease the stress of a few readers who may have taken my wrong use of the word to mean I was denouncing all fasting. Thanks Fr. E.

Yesterday’s post of “A New Covenant Lent” garnered considerable strong reaction, particularly criticizing my reading of the Bible regarding fasting. While I’m not very excited about the strange suggestion that I’m preaching a false message of American individualism, I welcome the critical interaction. It sends me back to the scriptures for further consideration and examination of my fundamental point: all old covenant practices (or all practices initiated in the old covenant era, if that’s helpful) should only be continued with a new covenant, Christ-exalting, Gospel centered meaning.

With the assistance of my Accordance program, I looked at every mention of the words fast, fasts, fasted, and fasting. I examined the major passages where the topic of fasting is expanded upon, especially Isaiah 58:1-14.

Here are some of my conclusions and observations.

1. Fasting in the old covenant is almost always conceived of and described as either a corporate act of repentance, with official proclamation within the authority structure of the nations of Israel and Judah, or as an individual action closely tied to prayer, repentance or demonstration of grief. [Continue reading]

I’m stealing this from Tim Brister, but it’s such a great quote for this web site, that I had to have it in the archive.

John L. Dagg was one of the first systematic theologians that Baptists produced. His Manual of Theology is a pastoral work that all Baptists should own. At the end, in a section on The Duty of Baptists, this quote sets him apart from so many in our tradition, and expresses my heart.

“It is our duty to promote the spiritual unity of the universal church, by the exercise of brotherly love to all who bear the image of Christ…We yield everything which is not required by the word of God; but in what this word requires, we have no compromise to make. We rejoice to see, in many who do not take our views of divine truth, bright evidence of love to Christ and his cause. We love them for Christ’s sake; and we expect to unite with them in his praise through eternal ages. We are one with them in spirit, though we cannot conform to their usages in any particular in which they deviate from the Bible. The more abundantly we love them, the more carefully we strive to walk before them in strict obedience to the commands of our common Lord. And if they sometimes misunderstand our motives, and misjudge our actions, it is our consolation that our divine Master approves; and that they also will approve, when we shall hereafter meet them in his presence.”

- John J. Dagg, Manual of Church Order (Harrisonburg, VA: Gano Books, 1990; originally published 1858), 303-04.

UPDATE II: Fr. Ernesto pointed out that I had wrongly used the word “proscribe” in several sentences. I have changed those sentences, and that may have been the problem a few of you were having with my post and comments. Thanks Fr. E.

UPDATE: I’m not denouncing fasting, or any other traditional practice. I’m saying that whatever we do must be new covenant, Gospel centered, Christ glorifying in nature.

As a post-evangelical, I am an advocate of bringing the resources of the broader, deeper, ancient Christian tradition into the starved experience of contemporary evangelicalism. The includes such things as the Christian calendar, the lectionary and the prudent use of the Lenten season of preparation for suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Today is Ash Wednesday, and I would hope many evangelicals would hear the words “Thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return” as a sobering reminder of why we are seriously focusing on the journey to the cross.

My own basic Christian instincts, however, are more Protestant than Catholic, and very much “New Covenant” in applying the Bible in my quest for a “Jesus-shaped” spirituality. I understand the impulse of the Puritans in simplifying Christian practice and devotion.

While I do not share the anti-liturgical, anti-ritualistic direction of Calvinistic Protestantism, I understand it as an expression of something important. I agree with my Protestant tradition that scripture should constantly, but generously judge tradition, especially in regard to practices and rituals such as Lent and Ash Wednesday. While I do not conclude that these practices should be discarded, I do understand the dangers and concerns that motivate that response. An important balance has to be pursued if post-evangelicalism is to be pursued in the Protestant context. [Continue reading]

The past year and a half has been the most personally tumultuous time I’ve ever experienced as a Christian believer. At one time or another in this past year, I have re-evaluated every area of my Christianity, often with many tears, prayers and hours of reading. Much of this has been in response to the questions raised by my recent encounters with Roman Catholicism.

I entitled this adventure “Jesus Shaped Spirituality.” It’s a catchy and provocative label, but I’m not sure I could have come to your church and given a talk on what I meant by the phrase.

Today, I’m at a different place on that journey. I’ve now come to the place that Jesus shaped spirituality has some feel, form and substance for me. I have some confidence and comfort in expressing what I’ve discovered, reaffirmed and began to express to others.

I want to be clear that I am not trying to “return to primitive Christianity” or “reinvent the church.” What I am doing is developing a tool, a grid or filter, to interpret Christianity wherever I encounter it, by asking basic questions about Jesus. If I am going to be faulted, it will be for this: I am determined to be satisfied with nothing short of a Jesus-shaped Christianity, as best I can understand what that means.

This isn’t a staking a claim for a new denomination, but simply an expression of the shape of discovering, knowing and following Jesus as the one who reveals both the Father and the shape of human experience.

What does Jesus-shaped spirituality look like? [Continue reading]

“Part of the problem is that evangelicals really don’t have traditions,” said Carter. “Instead, we have these fads that are built on the strengths and talents of individual leaders. … But a real tradition can be handed on to anyone, from generation to generation. It’s hard to hand these evangelical fads down like that, so it seems like we’re always starting over. It’s hard to build something that really lasts.”- Joe Carter as quoted by Terry Mattingly

What’s your church going to be doing next week?

How you answer that question says a lot about where you are in Christianity.

If you are in the kind of Baptist fundamentalism I grew up in, you know that your pastor is going to preach whatever God leads him to preach, and that’s basically it.

You can usually count on a sermon themed around the national holidays, the election, Christmas and Easter. Other than that, you just never know. (We never picked Pentecost over Mother’s Day at any Southern Baptist church I attended.)

If you are part of the various congregations of the new evangelicalism, you can look at the current sermon series guide and know what your pastor is preaching for the next several weeks. You may be going through a book of the Bible, a topical series on sex and marriage, or a more open series on questions asked by the congregation. [Continue reading]

Every so often, it seems like a good idea to get the basic facts about your Internet Monk straight. I do this mainly for the sake of commenters and others who sometimes make factual errors. I’m often stunned at the weird things people believe and say about me, what I do and what is my real-life ministry.

My name is Dennis Michael Spencer. I go by Michael. I prefer not to be called Mike. I have gone by Dennis occasionally, such as in college.

I’m 52, born in 1956.

I’m the campus minister and Bible teacher for a large Christian school in southeastern Kentucky, I’ve been here for almost 17 years. Most of my students are not Christians. Many are internationals.

I preach 9-12x a month to approximately 300+ students and staff, sometimes in daily chapel and sometimes on Sundays. I teach 4 classes of Bible and one section of AP English IV every weekday. I teach English III in the summer. [Continue reading]

I’m not an economist, I don’t want to argue politics, and I probably had no business posting this. It’s the lack of TV. I have to make up my own punditry.

ABC’s 20/20 did a special on Appalachia this month, which caught my interest for three reasons:

1) They called me and asked me for some assistance. What they wanted (dramatic stories about young people), I couldn’t provide, but I was happy to be asked.

2) I’ve lived in Kentucky my whole life and in Clay County, one of America’s poorest areas, for going on 17 years. This is my home.

3) Part of the original special focused on a “sister” Christian ministry, The Christian Appalachian Project, where we have friends and with whom we do some cooperative donations.

Now ABC has done a brief follow-up in response to the accusations that the special ignored what is really going on in Appalachia of a positive nature and continued promoting the stereotypes that have become all too common in the rest of the country. [Continue reading]

Matt Chandler has been on my list of podcast worthy preachers for most of two years. His preaching at the Village Church is outstanding.

Here’s an example why.

I hesitate to open movies as a topic for discussion when a chunk of my audience is of the generation that thinks Pineapple Express is great cinema, but here’s the question.

What are some films “For and About Hard Times” that the IM audience should check out?

Economic hardship has been a theme for a lot of good stories, books, films and music. Just looking at our Netflix ques for now, what movies have depictions of or lessons about hard economic times?

I especially would like to hear about older movies with America’s Great Depression as the backdrop. Older movies are real treasures, and a lot of us just don’t know about them.

(Facing the Giants does not qualify. Thank you.)

Rather random. Incomplete. Just things I keep thinking.

1. I’m convinced that some of the news media (***cough*** Fox ***cough***) are using the financial situation to create a “panic” audience. That is, they are putting on every extreme, doomsday voice they can, they are ignoring larger context, they are keeping their audiences convinced this is the end of the world, and then they are hauling in the advertisers. I’m surprised that so many Christians are failing to notice the agenda of much of the news media in this situation.

2. I’m not discounting the seriousness of the situation when I make the observation in statement #1. I’m not saying the doomsday team isn’t right. I’m not in any position to say what is going on, but I am concerned that the news and opinion on some venues is being selected with a good deal of bias. The information picture is large and complex. Throwing the worst case scenarios out there hour after hour seems to be a specific tactic with a specific (political) goal in mind.

3. I listen to a good bit of BBC and CBC. It’s not panic headlines 24-7. There seems to be more context. It’s the same crisis, and there are a lot of very unflattering things said about the U.S., the stimulus, the bailouts, businesses, government, etc. But I don’t hear these media outlets playing the situation for panic, profit or politics. [Continue reading]

One of the things I really don’t like about run-of-the-mill evangelical spirituality is the assumption that we’re all basically clones of each other. Cheerful clones. Mentally healthy clones. Good family clones. Conservative political clones. Happy at church clones. Like the same music clones. Clones who cope well. Clones who think alike. Clones who can take a cheerful verse and dissolve any problem in short order.

Let me take a simple thing. I don’t like Fox News. I don’t have a vendetta about it, but it’s inflammatory much of the time, and their overall harping tone doesn’t do a thing for my blood pressure. They do a lot of name calling, cheap shots, girly pics and “true crime” coverage. I don’t live in England, so I don’t want the screaming British media.

What would be my fate if I stood up at my next public gathering with conservative evangelicals and read the previous paragraph? Let’s just say that many judgments would be made on this one item, most of them far from true. [Continue reading]

UPDATE II: Trevin Wax agrees and disagrees with Scot.

UPDATE: Now tell me again, where are they keeping that secret book?

Justin Taylor finds the characterization of the neo-reformed as fundamentalist inaccurate, to say the least.

‘Twas not so long ago, on a Calvinistic web site you’ve all visited, that one could hear a serious call to present one’s reformed credentials if one planned to be part of the discussion.

‘Twas also not so long ago, on more than one Calvinistic web site, that a person disagreeing with the main points of the host would be asked to answer “What is the gospel?”

And ’twas not so long ago, that I said, “I’m not a Calvinist,” an announcement that has now earned me at least a weekly email or two telling me that I am about to leave the faith or become a Roman Catholic.

In my own journey, I had happy days as a Calvinist. My days at Southern Baptist Founder’s Conference meetings as a “Timothy George” type SBC Calvinist were good times. Then there were the bad times. Posts about me at certain flaming blogs. Days of posts about me after the word went out through certain Calvinistic chat rooms that I was leading my audience outside of accepted boundaries. Letters to publishers and my employer, and weirdness on comment threads where my name was invoked as “emerging” and “apostate.”

When I finally swore all this off, it wasn’t to become an Arminian, or a Catholic or a one man band. It was to get the heck away from whatever was/is going on among the newly energized reformation police. [Continue reading]