Chaplainmike

Drawn to the Religionless

I often ask myself why a “Christian instinct” often draws me more to the religionless people than to the religious, by which I don’t in the least mean with any evangelizing intention, but, I might almost say, “in brotherhood.” While I’m often reluctant to mention God by name to religious people — because that nameContinue reading “Drawn to the Religionless”

Pliny vs. Paul

N.T. Wright launches Paul and the Faithfulness of God in surprising fashion: by examining the NT story of Philemon in its context. He thinks that Philemon reveals that “something very different, different from the way the rest of the world behaved” was taking place through the early Christians. Wright suggests that this account is notContinue reading “Pliny vs. Paul”

Who Is Christ for Us Today?

What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over, and so is the time of inwardness and conscience–and that means the time of religion inContinue reading “Who Is Christ for Us Today?”

No Right Way Once and For All

What you must realize, what you must even come to praise, is the fact that there is no right way that is going to become apparent to you once and for all. The most blinding illumination that strikes and perhaps radically changes your life will be so attenuated and obscured by doubts and dailiness thatContinue reading “No Right Way Once and For All”

Homily for Baptism of Our Lord

In fact, I think we would benefit tremendously from having our identity established in God’s good and gracious acceptance and affirmation of us that comes from Baptism. Sometimes I wonder if amid all of our customary focus on baptism as washing away sin, we have missed the profound words of empowering grace that are spokenContinue reading “Homily for Baptism of Our Lord”

Saturday Ramblings 2.0 – 1.11.14

While you, my iMonk friends, are carefully removing your bagels and English muffins from the toaster, pouring your juice and coffee, and lounging around in your jammies, I, Chaplain Mike, am flying over the heartland on my way from Indianapolis to Tulsa, OK, to visit my friend and colleague Jeff Dunn. In last week’s installmentContinue reading “Saturday Ramblings 2.0 – 1.11.14”

Thoughts about Divorce

Once in a while a statistic comes along that grabs a hold of me, chews me up, and then spits me out, leaving me wondering what just happened. This week had me experiencing another one of those occurrences. To put it into perspective though, I need to back up a number of years. When IContinue reading “Thoughts about Divorce”

A Defense of Megachurches

For those of you who just crawled out from under the rock where you’ve been hiding throughout the 2000’s, allow me to let you in on something: we have not been shy about criticizing megachurches here at Internet Monk. Yeah, and the Pope is still a Catholic, a lot of people like to watch aContinue reading “A Defense of Megachurches”

For Me: The Year of Paul

Thanks to a generous gift from a dear friend, I received my study assignment for 2014 the other day when N.T. Wright’s massive, two volume Paul and the Faithfulness of God arrived on my doorstep. Digesting this is going to take some time, and I look forward to working through it slowly and carefully. MyContinue reading “For Me: The Year of Paul”

What Is the Goal of Preaching?

Do you agree with Rick Warren that, “The Aim of Preaching Is Life Transformation”? Here is an excerpt from his article: If God’s objective for every believer is to transform us into total Christlikeness, then the objective of preaching is to motivate people to develop Christlike convictions (to think like Jesus), Christlike character (to feel like Jesus),Continue reading “What Is the Goal of Preaching?”