I received word tonight that Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk, our friend, passed away in his home in Oneida, KY, in the presence of his family. With them, we mourn his passing. With them, our tears fall. With them, we express gratitude that Michael is at peace and no longer suffering. With them, we cry [...]
About Chaplain Mike
Chaplain Mike works with a hospice organization in central Indiana. He has been in pastoral ministry since 1978, serving in churches in Maryland, Vermont, Illinois, and Indiana before moving into chaplaincy work. He is married to a wonderful gifted wife, Gail, and they have four children and three grandchildren. He thinks baseball is the greatest game ever invented, suffers annually as a Chicago Cubs fan, and is looking forward to putting on a cap again this spring to coach his grandson's Little League team. He loves a wide variety of music, spends way too much money on books, is happy to live in a place where there are four seasons, and is a "true believer" in Apple computers, having used them since 1988. Luther is his favorite theologian, Bach his favorite composer, James Taylor his favorite singer-songwriter, Chicago his favorite city, and hiking his favorite form of exercise. He would love to do more with photography and dreams of having a place in the mountains of Arizona some day. His heart has been captured by the grace of God in Jesus Christ and considers himself a post-evangelical disciple seeking a Jesus-shaped life and hoping to help the church do the same. He is forever grateful to his friend, Michael Spencer, for giving him an opportunity to write for Internet Monk.
Weird Uncle Harry — the Music Video
5 Apr by
By Chaplain Mike. Warning: Many of you won’t have the stomach to watch more than a few minutes of this. One thing I have always appreciated about Michael is his courage to point out “Christian” craziness and call it for what it is. Some people object to that kind of truth-telling, thinking it is somehow [...]
Open Mic: A Sad but Necessary Discussion
5 Apr by
By Chaplain Mike. The Roman Catholic Church is having a nightmare, and can’t wake up. No longer can the clergy sexual abuse problem be passed off as “an American problem.†Recent developments in Ireland, Germany, and Italy have gotten the world’s attention and criticism has risen to a new level, even to the point where [...]
Easter Is a Season, Not a Day
4 Apr by
By Chaplain Mike. Many of us in our Christian traditions learned to celebrate Christ’s resurrection on a day—Easter Sunday. Easter is the great Lord’s Day, the climax of Holy Week, the high point of the Christian Year, marked by an explosion of color, wafting fragrance of lilies, majestic sounds of organ and baroque trumpets, bright [...]
N.T. Wright on the Significance of the Resurrection
4 Apr by
Posted by Chaplain Mike. N.T. Wright speaks of the resurrection as the beginning of the new creation. History matters because human beings matter; human beings matter because creation matters; creation matters because the creator matters. And the creator, according to some of the most ancient Jewish beliefs, grieved so much over creation gone wrong, over [...]
Music for Holy Week VIII—Easter Sunday
4 Apr by
For your Holy Week meditations, by Chaplain Mike. “Hallelujah,†from Handel’s Messiah. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Tenebrae Choir, conducted by Sir Colin Davis. He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Luther on the Significance of the Resurrection
4 Apr by
Posted by Chaplain Mike. “It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:24-25) Luther comments on this text and what it says about Christ’s victory over sin and how [...]
Stations of the Cross: The Fifteenth Station
4 Apr by
A Series for Holy Week. Thanks to Jeff Dunn for leading us in these meditations. STATION FIFTEEN The Resurrection Scripture Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is [...]
Music for Holy Week VII—Holy Saturday
3 Apr by
For your Holy Week meditations, by Chaplain Mike. “Pie Jesu,” from Requiem, by John Rutter. Performed by the Monteverdi Choir Würzburg, conductor Matthias Beckert. Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem Blessed Lord Jesus, grant them rest.
Hopeless Saturday
3 Apr by
A series for Holy Week. Thanks to Lisa Dye and Jeff Dunn for this meditation. HOPELESS SATURDAY Scripture He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?†They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t [...]
