I don’t often find much but material to debate and argue against at the evangelical culture war “news” site, The Christian Post, but every once in awhile, something worthwhile appears amidst all the moralizing and political posturing. Case in point this weekend: a CP interview with Ken Myers, called “Is the ‘Culture’ Really the Church’s [...]
Top-Down Authority? or Bottom-Up Faith? or Both?
17 Apr by
I hope soon to read and review Diana Butler Bass’s new book, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (actually I’m waiting for Kindle ebook prices to come down). I’ve heard some interviews with her and have read a few articles, and she has some good insights [...]
Thoughts on Church Discipline and Relational Wisdom
27 Jan by
I haven’t been able to get this “church discipline” discussion off my mind. First of all, thank you to all of you who have made this a vibrant and thoughtful conversation. As I said in my original post, I am agreement with most of you that the disciplinary process as described was inappropriate at best. [...]
MPT Posts on Church Discipline — and I Suggest a Better Way
25 Jan by
NOTE: This post is not about a certain well-known pastor, even though it involves the church he leads. In the discussion that follows, I am not interested in having us talk about this pastor personally. So don’t. Please keep the conversation on the subject of church discipline itself, more broadly. We focus on these articles [...]
The Business and the Work
22 Jan by
I am employed in the health care field. Working as a chaplain for a corporate entity has taught me a great deal, and has helped me reflect upon the make-up of the “corporate church” in America and the nature of its leadership. If you have read Internet Monk over the past two years, you know [...]
The Best Responses to the Driscolls and Youngs
14 Jan by
By far, the most thoughtful and thorough response to all the “sex” hubbub raised by the Driscolls and Youngs and their recent books and publicity stunts comes from Matthew Lee Anderson. I became aware of his analysis when I read the article, “The Trouble with Ed Young’s Rooftop Sexperiment,” at Christianity Today. I encourage you [...]
What Is A Song Good For?
12 Jan by
We were having a good discussion about churches the other day over lunch at work. Not Church’s Chicken, though that would have been appropriate. No, churches, which we have in abundance here in Tulsa. (There is one stretch of road about 3/4 of a mile long with four churches lining the street. Four in less [...]
Lee Adams on the Future of the American Church (1)
11 Jan by
Lee Adams is a regular reader and commenter here on Internet Monk. He blogs at Homilies, Prayers, and Bread for the Journey, and has recently done a series on the future of the American church. I asked Lee if we could share his articles here on IM, and he graciously agreed. We will run one [...]
Guest Post: Quiet Desperation
10 Jan by
NOTE FROM CM: Here is another email I received in response to the Driscoll post. This one is personal, poignant — a real challenge to the church. Having two sons in their 20′s, I often wonder how to help them deal with the kinds of issues today’s author brings to us. The author of this [...]
Ben Witherington on Bad Protestant Ecclesiology
2 Jan by
In his New Year’s Day post, Ben Witherington puts his finger on one of the matters that soured me on evangelicalism. Long a theological question in my mind, it became a personal and vocational issue for me when I served in my last position as a minister in a local congregation. Witherington’s piece is about [...]
