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If you are in the post-evangelical wilderness, this is a must read. No review can tell you how encouraged you’ll be by this story.
I’ve got a lot of brief book reviews to write in the next few weeks to catch up after sabbatical, but I don’t want to pass up recommending an exceptional wonder of […]

For starters, let’s have a full accounting of my participation in the Great Translation Circus.
Right behind me is the Thompson Chain Reference KJV that I used in preaching from high school up into college.
Not too far from it is a shelf where I have many of the Bibles I’ve used in my adult life. There’s […]

UPDATE: Sunday, July 6. I’m home. Made it back to Louisville Saturday night and then on to southeastern Kentucky Sunday a.m. I have a week of official sabbatical left, but I’m actually off work until the middle of August. So I’ll be blogging quite a bit both here and at JSS. Expect a podcast soon […]

Here’s the current post at my new blog, and an example of what you will be reading there in the future.
Several days ago, I posted an invitation to discuss Jesus and Gas Prices on this blog. It’s a topic that, to a large extent, will reveal how much we really can engage our imagination with […]

The latest post at Jesus Shaped Spirituality is a basic discussion of how the New Testament speaks of the church.
Remember that most of my writing- aside from podcasts, book reviews and a few odds and ends- will be moving to Jesus Shaped Spirituality. The current address is www.jesusshaped.wordpress.com, but JesusShaped.com will be available soon.
So add […]

UPDATE: Trevin Wax posts this Phillip Yancey/Karl Barth quote.

“I have learned one absolute principle in calculating God’s presence or absence, and that is that I cannot. God, invisible, sovereign, who according to the psalmist “does whatever pleases him,” sets the terms of the relationship. As the theologian Karl Barth insisted so fiercely, God is free: […]

In fifteen minutes, I’ll be on the road to sabbatical week 1 on the campus of Southern seminary.
Look for occasional reports here. Look for some of the fruit of my time away at the temporary home of Jesus Shaped Spirituality.
Thanks for all the Louisville advice. I’m loaded for bea…..books and coffee.
God bless all of you […]

UPDATE: Thanks for all the kind comments. I promise to use whatever gifts I have in this medium to continue encouraging all of you on the same journey, even if not the same way.
Dear Internet Monk Readers,
Over the next few weeks, while I am on sabbatical, I will be deciding the future of this web […]

Podcast 40 Is Richard Dawkins the best atheism can do? (A review of “The God Delusion Debate” DVD.)

It’s time for audience participation.
At the school where I work, we have two weekend worship gatherings. These used to be led by a local church, and so we called them “church.” We have daily “chapel” in the same worship space.
These two worship gatherings need a cool, hip, emerging name. Like “Element.”
Gathering #1 is […]

I think it’s telling that the two most prolific evangelism programs in evangelicalism both approach their audience with questions that Jesus never used.
“Do you know that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?”
“If you were to die tonight, and God were to asked you, why should I let you into my […]

In my last response to commenter Nicki, I want to open up some of the difficulties that flow from her call for embracing homosexuals on the terms which they want. Nicki wrote
Until Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender persons are embraced by the Church as another part of God’s wonderful creation, they will not feel welcomed. […]

Nicki is a commenter at the post What Do Gays And Lesbians Hear? She made some excellent points that deserve response. I appreciate the constructive conversation, and especially the participation of gay friends.
I quote again from Nicki’s comment.
Personally, I believe the only way to understand the Bible, is to understand it in the culture and […]

First, here’s the entire comment from Nicki I am going to be writing about over the next few posts.
Michael,
While I do appreciate your progressive attitude towards GLBT people, I still find that it sends a very patronizing and negative message to GLBT persons. “I hate the sin, but love the sinner” is almost as bad […]