Chaplainmike

Creation Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1)

Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. • Proverbs 9:1 Though separated by over two and a half millennia, the authors of ancient Scripture and numerous scientists of today find themselves caught up in a world of abiding astonishment. • Brown, William P., The Seven Pillars of Creation • • •Continue reading “Creation Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1)”

Sunday Formation Talk: Monastic Practices

. . . the following reflections on the basic elements of our daily life spring from a belief that the ordinary things we do every day constitute our normal monastic path to God. • Fr. Charles Cummings For Sundays from now through the fall, we’ll be focusing on the topics of spiritual formation and spiritualContinue reading “Sunday Formation Talk: Monastic Practices”

Saturday Ramblings: Simpsons Marathon Edition — August 23, 2014

Good morning, iMonks! If you have cable or satellite and have the FXX network, WHAT ARE YOU DOING READING SATURDAY RAMBLINGS? Why aren’t you watching the FXX Simpsons Marathon? For the remainder of the month, basic cable newcomer FXX is celebrating its status as the new, exclusive, syndication home of The Simpsons by airing everyContinue reading “Saturday Ramblings: Simpsons Marathon Edition — August 23, 2014”

IM Book Review: Our Great Big American God

Our Great Big American God: A Short History of Our Ever-Growing Deity By Matthew Paul Turner Jericho Books (August 19, 2014) • • • Matthew Paul Turner sent me a preview copy of his new book last week (it’s now available – click the link above), and it ties right in with our emphasis inContinue reading “IM Book Review: Our Great Big American God”

When America Believed In the Bible Alone

It was still “the Bible alone,” as proclaimed during the Reformation, that American Protestants trusted. But it was also “the Bible alone” of all historic religious authorities that survived the antitraditional tide and then undergirded the remarkable evangelical expansion of the early nineteenth century . By undercutting trust in other traditional authorities , the power-suspectingContinue reading “When America Believed In the Bible Alone”

Another Look: Ballyard Religion

Note from CM: This was written about a month after Michael Spencer died in 2010. I was coaching my grandson’s T-ball team at the time and remembering Michael’s love for baseball when I wrote it. It touches on a theme that was also a common concern for Michael and me: the dearth of understanding inContinue reading “Another Look: Ballyard Religion”

My So-Called Evangelical Life (2)

In spite of the televangelism scandals and the failed presidential run of Pat Robertson, the evangelical right remained the political and cultural baseline for measuring the status of religion in American public life. The emergence of groups like Moral Majority, wrote theologian Richard John Neuhaus in the mid-1980s, “kicked a tripwire” in the ongoing church-stateContinue reading “My So-Called Evangelical Life (2)”

Another Look: The Coming Evangelical Collapse (3)

Note from CM: Here is the last of the three “Evangelical Collapse” pieces that Michael Spencer wrote five years ago. I think five years provides a good mile marker at which to look at what he said then, how it compares to the landscape today, and what we might see ahead. We’ll stick to discussingContinue reading “Another Look: The Coming Evangelical Collapse (3)”

One Big Problem with Evangelical Worship

On his blog and Facebook timeline last week, Tim Challies posted the following picture and quote. In my opinion, it represents a point of view that is a constant problem for evangelical worshipers. Challies represents the new calvinist tradition, so the quote takes on a distinct cast, but other evangelical groups share a similar perspective,Continue reading “One Big Problem with Evangelical Worship”

Saturday Ramblings — August 16, 2014

Hello, fellow iMonks. It has been a sad, scary week in the world’s news. Iraq. Gaza. Ferguson, Michael Brown. Robin Williams. Ebola. Kevin Ward. Ukraine. Suffering right before our eyes on the TV screen and a whole world of hidden suffering we can scarcely imagine. With all the bad news, we’ll seek respite in aContinue reading “Saturday Ramblings — August 16, 2014”