Author Archives: Chaplainmike

Sundays with Michael Spencer: July 5, 2015

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,”I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” • 1 Corinthians 1:18-19 • • • Every soContinue reading “Sundays with Michael Spencer: July 5, 2015”

Saturday Ramblings, July 4, 2015

Hello, imonks, and welcome to freedom! Ready to Ramble? Are you having Watermelon at your cookout this weekend? Need some pointers on how to cut that baby up? Here ya go: Well, this is classy. The Milwaukee Art Museum will display a portrait of Pope Benedict  XVI . . . made of condoms. The museum admitted it wasContinue reading “Saturday Ramblings, July 4, 2015”

Which Way? Religious Conservatism at the Crossroads

Last week’s Supreme Court ruling [Obergefell v. Hodges] which found a constitutional right to same-sex marriage surprised few observers. Whether or not such a right can legitimately be derived from the Constitution, it seems impossible that the court would have voted the way it did had this case been brought before it 20 years ago.Continue reading “Which Way? Religious Conservatism at the Crossroads”

Report from the desert (2): The golden hour

Photographers and cinematographers love “the golden hour” (sometimes called “the magic hour”). This describes the time of light right after sunrise and right before sunset. During these periods, the sun’s light is more diffuse and softer, bathing the world in a pleasing reddish-golden hue. I took the picture above yesterday at McDowell Mountain Sonoran DesertContinue reading “Report from the desert (2): The golden hour”

Merton on Contemplation (2): Contemplative Prayer and Anfechtung

The climate in which monastic prayer flowers is that of the desert, where the comfort of man is absent, where the secure routines of man’s city offer no support, and where prayer must be sustained by God in the purity of faith. Even though he may live in community, the monk is bound to exploreContinue reading “Merton on Contemplation (2): Contemplative Prayer and Anfechtung”

Random thoughts on a Monday as I fly to Phoenix

There will be no posts on same-sex marriage this week. Don’t you think we all need a break from talking about it? By the way, I know what’s going to happen now. You’re going to talk about it. But I really wish you wouldn’t. If I were king, whenever something like this happened, I wouldContinue reading “Random thoughts on a Monday as I fly to Phoenix”

Sundays with Michael Spencer: June 28, 2015

Paul made a lot of sin lists. You know, lists of sins. If you’re a preacher or teacher, you’ve probably used Paul’s sin lists a few times as the raw material for a talk or sermon. You’ve walked through the list, one sin at a time and said a little something about each one. ItContinue reading “Sundays with Michael Spencer: June 28, 2015”

Levi Nunnink: A Lutheran layman’s perspective on the Tullian Tchividjian scandal & Liberate

Note from CM: One of the interesting characteristics of evangelicalism is its Disney-like ability to take classic traditions and turn them into palatable fast-food for contemporary audiences. A smart evangelical pastor might be just one good J.I. Packer book away from planting a new “reformed” megachurch. Tullian Tchividjian, of whom we wrote yesterday, who just resigned theContinue reading “Levi Nunnink: A Lutheran layman’s perspective on the Tullian Tchividjian scandal & Liberate”