Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From February 2009 NOTE FROM CM: I regularly direct people to Michael Spencer’s classic essay, The Original Talk Hard: Defending the Role of the Critic in Christianity. I do this when we get criticism that we are being unloving and judgmental. I’m sure we fall into that trap sometimes, but the [...]
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iMonk Classic: “I Forgive Myself”: The Hardest Words?
20 Jan by
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From February 2009 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 [...]
iMonk Classic: Thoughts on Spiritual Experience
13 Jan by
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From January 2007 I’ve been involved in some good discussions recently on the role of subjective, personal spiritual experiences. How should we deal with personal experiences of God “speaking” or otherwise relating to Christians on the subjective levels of feeling and sensing? Because there is such abuse and misuse [...]
iMonk Classic: The Question Is God, the Answer is Jesus
31 Dec by
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From January 2009 “Anything that one imagines of God apart from Christ is only useless thinking and vain idolatry.” – Martin Luther • • • It’s been a very interesting day. I can’t tell you much about it, but I can tell you something. When a discussion starts about [...]
iMonk Classic: No Big Thing
17 Dec by
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From December, 2007 I want to start this post with a quote from a typical ambitious evangelical church that wants to grow. Get big. Add lots of people. Become “mega.” Get the crowds and their kids in the doors. But I’ve decided not to insult you. If you don’t [...]
iMonk Classic: The Light of a Most Obvious Question
11 Dec by
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From December, 2005 A few weeks ago, I listened to an extraordinary sermon, but not extraordinary in the way you might think. The absence of Jesus in the sermon shook me. Jesus was never mentioned. Not once. Not anywhere. Not ever. Not in any way. Not in the introduction. [...]
iMonk Classic: Skip the Carping this Advent
3 Dec by
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From December, 2006 NOTE: Michael Spencer had many friends with whom he regularly conversed at The Boar’s Head Tavern. Each year they run an Advent blog called, “Go to Bethlehem and See.” I encourage our IM readers to check it out. Today’s classic iMonk post is from the 2006 [...]
iMonk Classic: Michael Spencer Helps Us Prepare for Advent
26 Nov by
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From November, 2008 Original Title: “Riffs: Joseph Bottum on the End of Advent (and the horror of our version of Christmas)” Many years ago, we made a decision to, as much as possible, speak of Advent and not of Christmas, until Christmas. I’ve never been able to hold off [...]
iMonk Classic: Mainlines — We’re Having a Moment Here
12 Nov by
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer Original post: July, 2007 I wrote this piece in July of ’07. It garnered 70 comments and some grousy updates on my part. (You can read the original here.) I’m reprinting the post with a clear comment thread because I feel the sentiment I expressed in this piece is [...]
