Habemus Papam Franciscum We’re open blogging today on the subject of the new Pope. We invite you to share your thoughts, opinions, hopes, prayers, and concerns. Here are a few links for further reading: Vatican Website Catholic News Service BBC News Coverage Christianity Today
IM: The Oscars Open Mic Edition
24 Feb by
Sad to say, I have not even seen one of the motion pictures that are up for Best Picture at tonight’s Academy Awards. Here is the list: Amour Argo Beasts of the Southern Wild Django Unchained Les Misérables Life of Pi Lincoln Silver Linings Playbook Zero Dark Thirty Honestly, “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” and “Amour” [...]
Scot McKnight on Zealotry
8 Feb by
Our friend Scot McKnight gave permission for us to piggy-back on his discussion from yesterday on the subject of zealotry. In the following excerpt from his post on Jesus Creed, Scot describes what Christian zealotry is and what it does, and he contrasts this approach with those who walk in genuine freedom in Christ. He [...]
Open Mic: What Message Do We Need to Hear More Today — Grace or Holiness?
30 Jan by
There’s a great discussion starter over at the Village Green at Christianity Today: Do American Christians Need the Message of Grace or a Call to Holiness? Three representatives contribute their thoughts: Will Willimon gives a typically Methodist view, advocating for the holiness message and defending it by saying: “While we always need grace—grace defined by us [...]
Open Mic: Losing Our Religion (2)
23 Jan by
Yesterday, we began a few days of discussing the recent stories on NPR’s Morning Edition in the series, “Losing Our Religion.” Our first conversation was about the overall trend of a growing disconnect between younger people and religion in the U.S. More and more of them are identifying themselves as “Nones” — when asked to state [...]
Open Mic: Losing Our Religion (1)
22 Jan by
NPR’s Morning Edition did a series last week called “Losing Our Religion.” I encourage you to click the link and listen to the six pieces. The first is an overview of the phenomenon portrayed in the chart above: the growth of the “nones” — the religiously unaffiliated. This trend has been observed especially among younger people. Two [...]
Open Forum for Bloggers and Writers
6 Jul by
For the past two years, I have had a remarkable unexpected privilege — serving as the lead writer on Internet Monk. It came as pure gift to me out of the suffering of another, our brother Michael Spencer. He was an insightful and original thinker, a pioneer in the Christian blogosphere, a pilgrim who graciously [...]
Open Forum for Mission Workers
5 Jul by
I believe every Christian is involved in the Missio Dei, God’s mission to make his “kingdom come,” his “will be done on earth as it is in heaven” through Christ. Some people, however, have sensed a special call to take up vocations directly involved in mission activity. Like Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13, they [...]
Open Forum on America (Independence Day Special)
4 Jul by
Update: One of our commenters pointed us to a good article that I would commend to you this Independence Day. It’s by Brett McCracken, and is called “Place, Patriotism, and Sehnsucht”. * * * Cue “Stars and Stripes Forever”. After you light the grill and while you’re waiting for the coals to heat up, why not [...]
Open Forum for Readers around the World
3 Jul by
I know, I know. Internet Monk is USA-centric. With the exception of our sister Martha o’ Ireland, we tend to look at things from a rather red, white, and blue perspective. But one of the reasons we love the worldwide web so much is that it’s so…well, worldwide. We love to hear from readers all [...]
