A word from Chaplain Mike.

Friend of Internet Monk, Michael Buckley, has graciously offered to auction some of his art pieces as a way of raising some funds to support Michael Spencer with his medical bills and needs at this time.

Michael is the artist who did the banner art for the masthead on the IM website.

Here is a good way to get some nice art for yourself while helping a friend.

Click on the picture next to the “Donate” link on the right side of the page. You will be able to preview the art on Michael’s Flickr page.

Thanks for your support!

By Chaplain Mike

OK, so I’m out driving in the country today, on my way home from seeing a patient, minding my own business. I come around a corner where a large Baptist church sits. It’s known as a conservative, no nonsense, indeeeeeependent funnnndamental King James ONLY church.

Been there, done that. I’m a million miles away from that culture now. I’ve forgotten what it’s like.

Until I see the church sign.

Of all the verses in the Bible to pick…

And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

Come again?

You did not put that verse on your church sign, did you?

Wow.

By Chaplain Mike.

In addition to the practice of “long wandering prayer” to which David Hansen introduced me, I find keeping set times of “saying my prayers” important.

For much of my pastoral career, I found that people in evangelical churches avoided, disdained, and even spoke against set forms of prayer. It has heartened me to see a revival of interest in using such forms in recent years, as many have rediscovered the ancient practices, such as praying the liturgy of the hours.

A couple of articles on Internet Monk encouraged me to buy a set of prayer beads (see My Gear, part one and My Gear, part two). I did some searching on the web to find out various ways of using them, and then began to settle on a routine (which I follow as consistently as this lazy, undisciplined man is capable of).

When I go to bed at night, I use the beads to say the Gloria Patri, the Creed, the Beatitudes, Psalm 23, the Lord’s Prayer, the Jesus Prayer, and other scriptures and set prayers. I reserve the final set of beads to utter petitions for myself, my family, my friends, and others that come to mind. And here is what I pray:

• Lord, establish [us] in life

• And Lord, establish [us] in faith

• And Lord, establish [us] in virtue

• And Lord, be to [us] a very present help in times of trouble

• And Lord, help [us] to trust in you with a whole heart, to lean not on [our] own understanding, but in all [our] ways to know you, that you may make [our] paths straight.

This is my prayer for all of you. The Lord be with you.

Chaplain Mike received this update from Denise Spencer today.

It is with a heavy heart that I bring my latest update on Michael. We have learned that his cancer is too advanced and too aggressive to expect any sort of remission. Our oncologist estimates that with continued treatment Michael most likely has somewhere between six months and a year to live. This is not really a surprise to us, though it is certainly horrible news. From the very beginning, both of us have suspected that this would prove to be an extremely bad situation. I don’t know why; perhaps God was preparing us for the worst all along by giving us that intuition.

The combination of the cancer and the chemotherapy is keeping Michael in a very weakened state. He is in bed all day, getting up once or twice only to eat a “meal.” His meals consist mostly of Ensure, with occasional mugs of soup, dishes of ice cream and milkshakes. He’s still taking fluids well, currently preferring Sprite and ginger ale. His tastes do change slightly from time to time, and I try to be ready to jump in whatever direction they seem to be moving. He is in no pain at all, for which I am unspeakably grateful.

Michael went through a period of depression, as I’m sure you would expect. He seems to have come through that now, for the most part. He knows he is dying, and he says he is at peace. Though he will still say with unashamed honesty, “I don’t want it to all be over at age 53!” he has the confidence of knowing that he has run the race God set out for him. He believes he has done the work our Lord intended for him to do, and if the last task God has for him in this life is dying, then he will do that to the best of his ability.

Through all of this, in every phase of illness, diagnosis and treatment, Michael’s faith has not wavered. I know most readers love Michael for, among other things, the transparency of his writings. If I may be allowed such honesty for just a moment, I will confess that I have been amazed at how strong Michael has been spiritually and emotionally from the very beginning of this ghastly journey. Day by day I continue to see the Holy Spirit at work in him, molding him, softening him, giving him a more childlike faith than I believe he has ever known. When the moment comes, I am assured Michael will be ready. I am the one who doesn’t want to let go.

Words can never express our gratitude for every thought, every gift, every note, every prayer you have blessed us with. Please pray for continued peace and strength for Michael, for me, and for Noel and Clay. This is the most difficult thing we have ever been through, and only with God’s help can we make it.

Chaplain Mike received this note from Denise Spencer today:

Michael has finished his second round of chemotherapy treatments. They make him so exhausted that he spends most of his time in bed. His appetite is almost completely gone, too. He’s lost 60 pounds. (Thank You, Lord, for creating Ensure!)

It’s very difficult for Michael to keep his spirits up, as bad as he feels. Still, I’m grateful that he doesn’t have any more side effects than this…at least not yet.

Please pray that Michael will rest in God’s love day by day, hour by hour. And please pray for good health and strength for me as I take care of him.

Thank you so much.

By Chaplain Mike

Introduction
In a vision from another life, I see my wife and I scrambling our four young children into the van and driving out to a house in the country. There, all over the porch and front yard, a recent litter of seventeen puppies cavorts. My kids squeal with delight and go about the task of choosing one, just one, to be our family pet. We’re buying our first home and I have insisted that a home in the suburbs with a big yard requires a dog. Eventually, our hearts settle on a little golden lab mix. We call her “Terra Nova.” Our home will be complete.

Fast forward to January, 2010, to a veterinary clinic in central Indiana. My son, now 22 years old, holds the golden girl that has been a best friend for most of his life while the doctor gently inserts a needle into her leg. Within seconds, she is gone, worn out from old age and kidney failure. We all cry. Who knew this would hurt so badly?

I still look for her when I come through the back door…

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An update from Chaplain Mike…

Last week I put up a post called, “Redeeming a Dirty Word,” in which I tried to say that concepts like “obligation” and “duty” are not the undesirable ideas we have made them out to be in our day.

You might want to go back and review the post, and what folks had to say in their comments. Many couldn’t get their minds around my assertion that the ideas of “grace” and “obligation” are not opposed to one another.

To follow up on that post, I would like to share with you the following quote from Mark Galli in an article on Christianity Today that makes reinforces my point.

I thought it might give all of us, especially those who disagree with the concept of “obligation,” some more to think about. Galli says…

Those steeped in the grace of God know there is no difference between freedom and obedience, and that the spiritual life is all about being compelled. Jeremiah says he cannot hold in the message God has given him (Jer. 20:9). Paul feels obligated to preach to Gentiles (Rom. 1:14). Jesus describes salvation in a parable in which servants compel people to come to a banquet (Luke 14:23). What is the life of faith but one compelled by the love of God to love others? Grace is so extraordinary; it has been known to compel people to do extraordinary things, to do things that fill one with dread, to go to places one would rather not go—like church.

Well said, Mr. Galli. I’m indebted to you. : )

Michael Spencer’s daughter Noel has posted a heartfelt, personal entry on the subject of adoption on her blog, mere musings.

The article includes her own personal testimony, a recommendation of the book, Adopted for Life, by Russell D. Moore, and some challenging words for Christians on the subject.

Check it out.

Today’s post is by guest blogger Chaplain Mike.

In the first part of Practice Resurrection, Eugene Peterson writes about the church at Ephesus and the overall message that Paul communicated to them through his epistle.

“Growing up in Christ,” the big theme of the book, is not something we do alone. And so, Peterson begins with a consideration of “the textured context in which we grow up in Christ to maturity”—the church.

At the outset, he acknowledges that “church” is one of the most difficult aspects of being a Christian for many believers. Nevertheless, it is in and with the church that God has called his children to grow up into the full stature of Christ.

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NOT a current Pic.

If you haven’t read the current post at The Master’s Table, I want to say a big thanks to my FRIEND Clark Bunch for such a kind post.

My situation is serious. Sleep is a big issue. I need rest and it is hard to get. This cancer situation is not going to give my old life back. It may take the life I have. I choose whatever mission God has for me, the utmost need is a simple prayer on my behalf.

If what I am going through reminds you of what you have been through what you what been through in the past, I pray for you and hope others will be the same.

I am home most of the time but I am on the road on almost every day to various doctors. Tomorrow I finish my first found of chemo and have a fell week off. I am so proud to have come through radiation and to this point. [Continue reading]

Today’s guest blogger is Jeremy Berg. Thanks, Jeremy!

This reflection from last spring seems a timely word to all who are struggling to make sense of the recent Haiti disaster. May we send our curses in the right direction.

I was doing the annual spring yard clean-up this past spring.  My wife had done most of the raking and left them in neat piles for me to come behind and bag up.  I’m a manly man, so I didn’t think I needed to wear work gloves to pick up a few leaves.  What I didn’t expect, as I thoughtlessly grabbed handfuls of leaves to stuff into the bags, was that she had also pruned the rose bush nearby and buried the thorny branches in the same pile of leaves.

Ouch!!!

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Today, Chaplain Mike continues our discussion on the Scriptures by setting forth this classic IM post from Michael (1/08) on a foundational issue with regard to the Bible: What is the “canon” of Scripture?

UPDATE: I will not re-run the post on the Lutheran view of the canon (which Michael references below) at this time. However, if you want to read Josh Strodbeck’s post from Jan. 2008, go here.

After reading Mark Shea’s By What Authority? and revisiting Craig Allert’s A High View of Scripture? I started making some notes on my own ideas about the question of canonicity.

This post will be followed later by popular Internet Monk poster and famous Lutheran blogger Josh Strodtbeck, who will give us the Lutheran view of the canon. So this ought to be fun, interesting, and make the right people mad enough to call me an “invertebrate.” (Love those flashes of TR rhetoric.)

As some of you know, discussions about authority, who is the true church, what franchise operation did Jesus found and where should we all shop really give me the hives. Inerrantists, some Calvinists, most recent evangelical converts to the RCC and the entire Church of Christ in western Kentucky are all into this. Still, you have to think about these things. So get ready to discover that I don’t think the canon is as closed as most of you, and I am not nearly as afraid of tradition as some of you want me to be. The one thing I know is that on this bus, we’re all fallible, and that makes the subject interesting.

See you in the comments.

I’m no expert on the subject of canon, and I need to spend more time studying the subject, but I get a fair amount of questions from students about the canon and canon-related issues. Without trying to write a polished essay, I have several ideas about the canon I’d like to cover.

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Big Announcement!

The Book is now listed at the publisher’s website.

Do what you can to get the word out, thanks to all who helped get the book out. It’s almost all new material, so buy it after September and then buy another one.

MOD Update: The book is also available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

In our continuing discussion on issues related to the Scriptures, Chaplain Mike re-runs this classic IM post today. (from Dec, 2008)

Hey look! If you read carefully, you will even find another “Bible = loaded gun” metaphor!

Oh. We’re not talking about interpreting the Bible? Well….I am, so deal.

I usually just don’t say anything when I hear Biblical interpretation leave the road and head for the ditches. But doggone it, there’s some fairly basic stuff here that could be very helpful to those of you who genuinely love the Bible.

So in no particular order…

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Just a few notes for those of you who read every day.

1. I am having a port surgically inserted Thursday. Chemo begins the following week. My side effects on 10 radiation treatments were average, if not less. I have no idea what this will mean.

2. My appetite is at an all time low, but I am doing OK. I need chicken soups. After that, ??

3. Depression is a very real adversary. I am God’s servant at this time and for this calling. Pray for me that I keep my eyes on the daily task and leave the results to God.

4 Thank you to all of you who have contributed in various ways. Your generosity has been a great encouragement. My job has been removed, but I have a place to stay as long as Denise is here. My insurance will run out in late February and we are working with our options for the next period of time. That is where your contribution makes a big difference.

To give support, use paypal or write denisespenc@gmail.com.

5.Keep me in your prayers. I am sleeping a lot as I try to regain my balance- a very slow process.

6. I’m a pretty poor visit, but I appreciate knowing you remember me. Pray for God’s grace, God’s strength and Gods will.

Michael Spencer