Chaplainmike

That Great 70’s Sound Lives!

By Chaplain Mike Some of my favorite music of all time came out of the “Laurel Canyon” folk-rock movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with artists like Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, the Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Here’s one of my NEW favorite bands that hearkens back to that sound. ThisContinue reading “That Great 70’s Sound Lives!”

iMonk Classic: A Theology of Everything

Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer Series from Dec, 2004 This is an excerpt from a post Michael wrote in December, 2004. I think it may provide good food for contemplation and discussion at the start of this Labor Day weekend. • • • I have what I call a “Theology of Everything.” I don’tContinue reading “iMonk Classic: A Theology of Everything”

The Order of Christian Worship

By Chaplain Mike And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts toContinue reading “The Order of Christian Worship”

Relishing Relics

A short post about bones, or, Bring Me the Head of John the Baptist. To borrow a quote from Chesterton contrasting the suicide and the martyr, and the attitude of Christianity to both, The Christian feeling was furiously for one and furiously against the other: these two things that looked so much alike were atContinue reading “Relishing Relics”

R. C. Sproul Jr. Says, “Take Off the Gloves”

By Chaplain Mike NOTE: As many readers have pointed out, the column at Ligonier was written by R.C. Sproul, Jr., not his father. Forgive my sloppy reading. I still find the fact that this was posted on the Ligonier website encouraging. * * * I have always liked R.C. Sproul and benefited from Ligonier MinistryContinue reading “R. C. Sproul Jr. Says, “Take Off the Gloves””

Wednesday Morning

By Chaplain Mike Monday, he spent five or six hours with a friend whose spouse, also a friend, had died. He sat while the grieving husband puttered and dealt with details. He made small talk, answered a few questions, and waited for an OK to call the funeral home. Tuesday, he attended another death, thisContinue reading “Wednesday Morning”

What We Could Have Heard on Sunday

By Chaplain Mike Instead of worship songs like the one we talked about this morning, how appropriate would the following Bach cantata have been in worship last Sunday, as Hurricane Irene was cutting her path of devastation up the east coast of the U.S.? As we remembered our brothers and sisters in the world’s troubledContinue reading “What We Could Have Heard on Sunday”

Someone Has to Put a Foot Down

By Chaplain Mike I haven’t really offended anyone for awhile, but I’m pretty sure that streak stops with this one. Sorry, but somebody must speak up and draw a line somewhere when it comes to what some call “worship” music. Today, I’m writing about one song. Churches everywhere sing it these days. Many, many well-knownContinue reading “Someone Has to Put a Foot Down”

IM Book Review: Counterfeit Gospels

By Chaplain Mike In my opinion, Counterfeit Gospels: Rediscovering the Good News in a World of False Hope, by Trevin Wax, represents the best kind of thinking and presentation that evangelicalism has to offer the broader church today at a level that pastors and serious laypeople can appreciate and find useful. It is written inContinue reading “IM Book Review: Counterfeit Gospels”

A Taste of Fullness

By Chaplain Mike Ordinary Time Bible Study 2011 The Book of Ruth (9) We missed a week in our Ruth study and this morning it is time to go back to Bethlehem to find out what is happening. What have we seen so far? A family from Israel, forced to move to Moab in aContinue reading “A Taste of Fullness”