Chaplainmike

The Pastor: Tasks, Titles, and Texts

As a part of my studies toward ordination, I have been reading Gordon W. Lathrop’s fine meditation on the ministerial life: The Pastor: A Spirituality. Lathrop states that he hopes his book will provide “a moment of deliberate delight in the central matters of Christian ministry.” Indeed, I have found it to be so. ForContinue reading “The Pastor: Tasks, Titles, and Texts”

The Homily

“I set my people free. I will come to Mount Zion. I will come to those in Jacob’s family who turn away from their sins,” announces the Lord. (Isaiah 59:20, NIRV) Then Zacharias, his father, filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking like a prophet, said, “Blessings on the Lord, the God of Israel, because heContinue reading “The Homily”

Saturday Ramblings 11.2.13

Greetings, my sugar-amped iMonks. As you sneak another Snickers bar from your kids’ trick-or-treat bag, why don’t we discuss the sin of gluttony? Or the greater sin of you not sending me a big bag of Snickers. (Jeff Dunn, Tulsa, Oklahoma) Wait! Belay that bag of Snickers. I am trying to lose weight. And I’veContinue reading “Saturday Ramblings 11.2.13”

The Feast of All Saints

We’ve finally arrived at the end of October when Hallowe’en is upon us, though it seems to have morphed into a month-long festival – the same way that Christmas gets earlier and earlier in the year, now Hallowe’en seems to be the next candidate for increasing commercialization. Leaving all that behind, thankfully, with the attendantContinue reading “The Feast of All Saints”

Randy Thompson on Halloween

Note from CM: I received this email from our faithful reader Randy Thompson and thought it was worth passing along to you. Tokah said it best in the comments today: arguments over Halloween are silly. * * * I suspect you’re sick to death of crackpot articles on Halloween, but I couldn’t resist passing thisContinue reading “Randy Thompson on Halloween”

Riding the Right Wave?

Richard Land, who for 25 years served the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, became president of Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES) in Charlotte, N.C. in July. In a recent article, Land notes that apologetics has been the special focus of the school, and he believes a renewed emphasis upon that discipline in the futureContinue reading “Riding the Right Wave?”

Michael Spencer’s Favorite Halloween Article

Note from CM: This was Michael Spencer’s favorite article on Halloween. Thanks to James B. Jordan for giving us permission to reprint it as we continue our tradition of featuring an annual piece about this holiday. * * * Concerning Halloween by James B. Jordan It has become routine in October for some Christian schoolsContinue reading “Michael Spencer’s Favorite Halloween Article”

“To go through life guessing wrong”

While reading Thomas Merton yesterday on the subject of vocation (No Man Is an Island), I came across this stunning passage: Our vocation is not a sphinx’s riddle, which we must solve in one guess or else perish. Some people find, in the end, that they have made many wrong guesses and that their paradoxicalContinue reading ““To go through life guessing wrong””

In Preparation for Halloween…

On Thursday, we will post our annual classic Michael Spencer Halloween rant. In preparation for that, let’s look and see what some folks are doing to mark the occasion this year. Burning Bad Bibles From The Telegraph, by Tom Chivers Marc Grizzard, of Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, North Carolina, says that the firstContinue reading “In Preparation for Halloween…”

Wilderness Update: Time to Get Real

This discovery of Christ is never genuine if it is nothing but a flight from ourselves. On the contrary, it cannot be an escape. It must be a fulfillment. I cannot discover God in myself and myself in Him unless I have the courage to face myself exactly as I am, with all my limitations,Continue reading “Wilderness Update: Time to Get Real”