From Chaplain Mike.

A difficult conversation today brought to mind Luther’s Small Catechism and what it has to say about the Eighth Commandment:

The Eighth Commandment.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

What does this mean?

Answer.
We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

Our Open Mic question today is a practical one:

How do you think your life and mine would be different if we lived by this standard? What would it be like in Christian congregations? How might our relationships with our neighbors and the world in general change?

I know the first thing I would do—cry out to God for mercy, using Isaiah’s prayer: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips…” (Isa 6.5)

Your turn.

This brief video from The BioLogos Foundation features Os Guiness talking about “Science and Faith in the Front Lines of the Culture Wars.” Watch it and let’s have a discussion.

Guiness says, “In many ways, the new atheists are partly created by the Religious Right. You can see that in America there is no vehement repudiation of religion until recently. In Europe, the atheism is a reaction to corrupt state churches. Here, you’ve never had that until the rise of the Religious Right.” Part of the reaction against religion, he argues, stems from the poor ways people of faith think about science.

What do you think? To what extent is culture war Christianity, including its commitment to views like “creation science,” responsible for the rise of reaction against religion in the U.S. and an impassioned public atheist movement?

I anticipate some strong opinions. Please keep the conversation civil and respectful.

Today’s Open Mic question is presented by Chaplain Mike.

I read a message by Rick Warren on Christian Post today about belonging to the church. It got me thinking about the nature of the relationship that exists between evangelicals and the church.

Let’s talk about it.

Warren’s thesis is: “When we’re called to follow Christ; we’re also called to belong to the Body of Christ.”

After affirming that the Church is Christ’s spiritual body on earth, God’s instrument in the world, he identifies one of the biggest hurdles pastors face today: it is hard to convince people who attend church to commit themselves to the church family and become members.

Warren blames this on “today’s culture of independent individualism.” As a result, we have many “spiritual orphans who move from one church to another without any identity, accountability or commitment.”

[Continue reading]

Chaplain Mike posts today’s Open Mic question on behalf of the iMonk, Michael Spencer.

When I received this from Michael and was asked to post it, it reminded me that, often in my work as a hospice chaplain, I read the Psalms for my patients. However, I usually edit my readings. Why? The psalm Michael asks us to consider is a prime example.

Psalm 139 is a perennial favorite for Christians. Who doesn’t love the poetic picture it paints of God’s intimate knowledge and care of his people? Who doesn’t rejoice in its reassurance that we will never be without God’s presence? that he is constantly thinking of us and active in providing for us and protecting us?

But…but…

I guarantee you that I don’t read verses 19-22:

O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
those who speak of you maliciously,
and lift themselves up against you for evil!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Why don’t we feel comfortable reading these verses?

Why do we feel compelled to “pick and choose” when we read the psalms?

Why do our minds try to justify or filter out such phrases as “I hate them with perfect hatred”? And what does a statement like that mean anyway?

How do we understand these imprecations in the light of other Scriptures, like the Sermon on the Mount, that say plainly, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”?

The mic is yours. Use it thoughtfully and let’s have a discussion about this.

Chaplain Mike posts today’s Open Mic topic.

From an excellent article posted today at Leadership Journal called, “The Everyday Gospel,” by Tullian Tchividjian comes this quote:

I once assumed the gospel was simply what non-Christians must believe in order to be saved, while afterward we advance to deeper theological waters. But I’ve come to realize that the gospel isn’t the first step in a stairway of truths, but more like the hub in a wheel of truth. As Tim Keller explains it, the gospel isn’t simply the ABCs of Christianity, but the A-through-Z. In other words, once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the gospel, but to move them more deeply into it.

…After meditating on Paul’s words, a friend told me that all our problems in life stem from our failure to apply the gospel. This means I can’t really move forward unless I learn more thoroughly the gospel’s content and how to apply it to all of life. Real change does not and cannot come independently of the gospel. God intends his Good News in Christ to mold and shape us at every point and in every way. It increasingly defines the way we think, feel, and live.

I too have held and heard this incomplete understanding of the Gospel as I have lived and served among believers over the years. Today, I think differently. Now my aim is to continually grow in my grasp of how the Gospel is for me and applies to me, a Christian.

How about you? What does it mean for you, as a Christian, to believe and live in the Gospel?

Today, Chaplain Mike posts this Open Mic question on behalf of iMonk.

“Are the ‘Mere Christianity Christians,’ i.e. Christians who emphasize the smaller, more minimal and broadly efficient vision of C.S. Lewis and some of the early church fathers personified in the Apostles’ Creed, the greatest threat to modern Evangelicalism? More and more apologists are using this term (Beckwith.)

Several voices have used the term ‘Mere Christianity Christians’ as equaling enemies to a justification-centered faith and some even suggest they cannot be Christians.

Is this a real threat, or is it, finally, a coming together across lines to emphasize what is important? What choices does it prefigure or necessitate?”

Today’s Open Mic question is posed by guest blogger, Chaplain Mike Mercer.

With all the talk these days of “missional” churches, this Christmas season might be a good time to take the ministry temperature of the churches represented by our readers here at Internet Monk.

What, if anything, is your church doing during the holidays to reach beyond its walls and serve your neighbors in the community? Any special evangelistic efforts? Special ministries of caring for the poor and needy? Special efforts to visit those who are elderly, sick, shut-in, or confined in facilities? Special programs organized for the express purpose of blessing your neighbors or community?

It’s OK to talk about what you are doing in the church building if it is focused on those who don’t normally attend. For example, we recently took part in a program in my brother-in-law’s church in Nashville that houses homeless folks overnight in the winter, providing a meal, hot showers, and a “store” through which they might get clothing and other necessities free. That’s the kind of ministry I’m talking about—but if it is a Christmas program or concert that is simply advertised to the public, that doesn’t count for the purposes of our discussion here.

How is your church being missional this Christmas?

I’ve been reading a used copy of a book edited by Christopher Hitchens called The Portable Atheist. Hitchens has selected, edited and introduced 47 various selections from atheist authors, philosophers, writers, journalists and so on. They bring forward a diverse variety of discussions of unbelief in a variety of formats: essays, novels, interviews, book excerpts, etc.

I’m impressed when a worldview can marshal its best representative material from a variety of sources into one volume that someone can make a reading or reference project. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the same sort of book, with all the diverse material in the footnotes taking you into the scriptures, Catholic dogmatics and the Church Fathers. An it’s well written and well organized as well.

So IM audience, it’s time for us to edit The Portable Christian. Whom will you submit to be one of the 50 chapters in our book?

Here are the rules: [Continue reading]

UPDATE: Please post on the question ONLY. Do not use this to complain about styles of music.

Catholics, etc can go have a coffee. This is for evangelicals and others to whom it applies.

Here’s my question:

“Who wants 30-40+ minutes of music in worship? Who? Why? I mean…explain this to me. I seriously do not get it.”

Mark 10:46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road.47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”
So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

Sunday’s lectionary lesson for the Gospel is a little “blah” as a preaching text. I’ve heard healing and miracle stories allegorized, turned into prosperity Gospel texts and used for every kind of questionable lesson on faith. I think we can do better.

I have some individual ideas, but none of them are really revving my preaching motor this week. So you take a swing of the bat.

What can we do with Mark 10:46-52 as a text for preaching the Gospel? Ideas. Illustrations. Applications. Themes. I’m open for suggestions.

Testimonies about miracles. I’m not much on them.

At least once a year or so, I’ll have someone want to tell our ministry of mostly non-Christian kids a “miracle” testimony of being healed, delivered from drugs, saved from prison, etc.

I obviously don’t say “no,” but I really struggle with this kind of thing on Biblical grounds. Jesus didn’t primarily use miracles to evangelize, but to show the presence of the Kingdom. It was present miracles, not stories. I know it’s common in mission settings. I know Pentecostals love it. But I have to be honest: I’m pretty uneasy- on Biblical grounds- about how we tell those stories and recall those events. The message- overt and overheard- is often sub-Gospel. Our sinful, prideful, self-seeking need for attention gets in there as well. You know what happens. I’ve heard some testimonies that would send a lie detector up in smoke.

I’ll hear it over and over: “He’s the same God now as he was then, and he can do the same miracle for you he did for me. Just have faith.” Lots of scriptures to quote about believing, bold prayer, etc. I’m not much to take those verses and run. I’ve been jaded, but then the Bible gives me reason to be cautious. Miracles have their place, but we shouldn’t have them on the loudspeaker all the time.

One of the guys who gave his healing testimony was dead in a few months. I don’t want to even check on the testimonies of those saying they were delivered from drugs and crime. I know the score. Averages in that game aren’t encouraging. [Continue reading]

Here’s today’s HYPOTHETICAL topic. A very common situation.

A couple asks to join your church. Well…..a non-married, living together 5 years, parenting 2 of her kids couple asks to join your church. They aren’t married because, basically, of not wanting to lose substantial child support. When that runs out next year, they tell you they will get married and they appear very serious about that.

They’ve visited your church for months. The kids are in the programs. They are in a small group. They are a great family. They just aren’t legally a married couple.

What do you do? [Continue reading]

It’s a simple question for this edition of open mic.

Preaching is ________________. And/Or Preaching is not ________________.

Don’t write a novel or even a short story. Keep it compact and to the point.

I especially hope that this open mic question will involve as many non-preachers as possible. Preachers might not know everything there is to know about preaching. Ya think?

The mic is yours. Feel free to offer answers and to discuss answers in the threaded comments.

UPDATE II: McKnight on Translation Tribalism.

UPDATE: Why the LCMS choose the ESV. I doubt that it was the Piper endorsement.

I have this nagging feeling that the English Standard Version isn’t as good a translation as I’ve previously thought.

My experience with the NLT has me in major regrets that I’ve got my students using the ESV, that there isn’t a cheap textbook version of the NLT, etc.

I’m using the NLT in preaching most of the time, but when I read the ESV for personal study, sermon preps, classes, etc…..something just isn’t right. I’m wondering if I’ve been “marketed.” That is, I’ve bought the impressive ESV marketing version of itself, but the translation isn’t living up to its own press.

Is it really clunky….and awkward? Do people really have problems reading it? Is it stylistically difficult? Does it do all of the things it accuses other translations of NOT doing? Is it just not up to its own press clippings? [Continue reading]

First read the story of Christian protestors at a Marilyn Manson concert. (Slow…be patient)

Then, savor the irony: If you read Manson’s biography, he’s the product of Christian parenting and fundamentalist education.

Marilyn Manson was born as Brian Hugh Warner in Canton, Ohio, the son of Barb Wyer and Hugh Jack Warner. His father was a Roman Catholic and his mother was an Episcopalian. According to his autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, …He was raised in his mother’s religion. Warner attended Heritage Christian School from first grade to tenth grade.

Instead of owning up to one of the unfortunate possible results of fundamentalism, Christians are protesting and denouncing Manson.

So, imagine through the magic of the Internet Monk Research Department, you are able to place an ad on a website that will be read by everyone who attended the Manson concert and saw the protestors.

What would your ad say? (Limit: 350 words)