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, [...]
Michael Sends an Update
15 Jan by
Here’s a quick run-through on the facts of my situation. 1. I have cancer and I am receiving treatments for it. On Christmas Eve, a small mass was removed from the back of my brain. That’s the balance center, so my main symptoms are balance, nausea and appetite issues. That are all improving. I have [...]
Year-End Recognition of Important iMonk Articles
28 Dec by
Today’s post by guest blogger Chaplain Mike. Christianity Today ran an article by Collin Hansen today called, “The Top Ten Theological Stories of 2009.” Honored at #10 was our very own Michael Spencer’s series of articles called, “The Coming Evangelical Collapse.” Here is what CT had to say: ‘Coming Evangelical Collapse’ Predicted A fixture of [...]
Has N.T. Wright Ruined Christmas?
27 Dec by
Today’s post is by guest blogger Chaplain Mike. Please keep praying for our Internet Monk, Michael, as he rests in the hospital and continues to undergo tests and wait for results. For updates from Michael and his family, please refer to his page on Facebook. Today, let’s talk about Christmas carols. I love ‘em. In [...]
A Favorite Gospel Word
6 Dec by
Continue to pray for the iMonk and health concerns. Today’s guest post is from Chaplain Mike Mercer… “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people…†(Luke 1.68, NASB) In his wonderful book on pastoral ministry, The Jesus-Driven Ministry, Ajith Fernando quotes a classic seventeenth century [...]
Happy New Year, Advent & Christmas 101
30 Nov by
Guest post today by Chaplain Mike Mercer… Happy New Year! If you or your church follows the Christian Year, you know what I am talking about. Yesterday was the first day of the church calendar, the first Sunday in Advent. The Advent season stretches over four Sundays and ends on Christmas Eve, when the celebration [...]
My Strange Experiences With An Absent Gospel: Gospel Articulations (Part 3)
20 Nov by
I’ve been trying to emphasize the Gospel as the foundational content of the Christian life for many years. While I’ve worked at fresh articulations of the Gospel, there are a lot of familiar articulations of the Gospel that show up in my preaching and teaching with high school students and the adults in chapel and [...]
Preaching for Grown-Ups: Mark 13
15 Nov by
Today’s Gospel reading was Mark 13:1-8. There’s a chapter with “Can o’ Worms” written all over it. When I deal with this chapter, I try to show that the parts of the chapter that are easily understood plainly give us instructions on what we are to be doing and not doing. Hope this message is [...]
iMonk 101: My Annual Halloween Rant (One of them) Revisited
23 Oct by
Originally published at the Steve Brown, Etc. Guest Room Blog. You also might enjoy “The Great Pumpkin Proposes a Toast,” from deep in the IM archives. Here’s a good post on “How to have a great Catholic Halloween.” No Protestants are harmed. It’s OK. The best article on Hallloween remains James Jordan’s “A Different View [...]
Riffs: 11:23:09: Required Behavior Modification and the Gospel
Like any and all Riffs, these are simply some of my thoughts inspired by other posts and discussions. Not a throw down, etc. This morning at evangel, Joe Carter voiced some of his frustration at the way the “law/Gospel” distinction sounds to his ears. I’ve wrestled with this myself on this site. Then, in the [...]