Chaplainmike

Walking The Broken Road

I have no idea who she is or what her ailment is. She started coming to my church a few weeks ago. She is hard to miss—a small woman with twisted hands and feet and a rag sticking out of her mouth. But there she was this past Sunday, just a few feet ahead ofContinue reading “Walking The Broken Road”

Let’s Discuss…The Lord’s Supper

By Chaplain Mike One of our most popular posts this year so far was our discussion of baptism back in May. It’s time for another. Today, I’d like our iMonk community to weigh in on another primary sacrament (or ordinance) of the Christian Church. Whether we call it Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, orContinue reading “Let’s Discuss…The Lord’s Supper”

That for which Every Heart Yearns

By Chaplain Mike This is the time of year a Midwestern boy like me looks forward to with all his heart. It is, without a doubt, the very best time of year. For this is the season when the three most wonderful words in the English language fill the air. Three simple, sublime words. TheyContinue reading “That for which Every Heart Yearns”

John Stott on Feeling Alive

By Chaplain Mike “It is in these things, then, that our distinctive humanness lies, in our God-given capacities to think, to choose, to create, to love and to worship.” • John Stott, The Contemporary Christian, p. 39 Here is a prime example of the gentle, eloquent wisdom of Dr. John Stott. When asked, “When doContinue reading “John Stott on Feeling Alive”

Angels Unaware

By Chaplain Mike The hospice chaplain walked into the room, finally seeing the patient he had put off visiting all day. It is not that he had been hesitant. The patient, Mr. Gibbs, was scheduled to be transferred to a bed in the hospice unit, but earlier in the day, he heard that they wereContinue reading “Angels Unaware”

A Funeral Rant

By Chaplain Mike I have been officiating funeral services since I was 22 years old, a young know-nothing pastor in the hills of Vermont. My first funeral was for an infant who died of SIDS. That service was held on the coldest, rainiest and iciest day I can remember. Outside. At the cemetery. It wasContinue reading “A Funeral Rant”

A “Chance” Meeting

By Chaplain Mike Ordinary Time Bible Study 2011 The Book of Ruth (7) We have completed the first part of the story told in the Book of Ruth. Chapter one introduced two problems in need of resolution: The provision of food for Naomi and her family The provision of heirs for Naomi and her familyContinue reading “A “Chance” Meeting”

iMonk Classic: A Reformation Day Meditation

Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer From October 31, 2005 Note from CM: On this week when we have been focusing on the Bible, this meditation from Michael Spencer on the state of the church in his region, especially with regard to seriousness about Biblical and theological depth, is a lament and cry for GodContinue reading “iMonk Classic: A Reformation Day Meditation”

A Hymn for Ordinary Time (6): Another for Bible Week

By Chaplain Mike As I’ve thought about hymns to go with our Bible Week emphasis, it strikes me that there are not many songs we sing about the Bible. And that is how it should be. For the point of the Bible is not to point to itself but to the One who revealed hisContinue reading “A Hymn for Ordinary Time (6): Another for Bible Week”

Imagination Poor: A Must Read from Skye Jethani

By Chaplain Mike Back in January, I posted a children’s sermon I gave in a worship service in a quaint old Midwestern Presbyterian sanctuary. In that message, I focused on the surroundings and elements of the service the boys and girls could observe. I reminisced about what I remembered from my childhood about church—light streamingContinue reading “Imagination Poor: A Must Read from Skye Jethani”