Author Archives: Chaplainmike

From Fullness to Emptiness

By Chaplain Mike Ordinary Time Bible Study The Book of Ruth (4) The Book of Ruth was written to show how an unlikely woman, who proved herself to be a woman of wisdom and love, became a “founding mother” in Israel. In the tradition of Israel’s honored ancestors, God providentially worked for her and throughContinue reading “From Fullness to Emptiness”

A Musical Primer on the Ancient-Future Path

By Chaplain Mike If I were to design a course to teach about spiritual formation from an ancient-future perspective, my soundtrack would be the new album by John Michael Talbot, called, Worship and Bow Down. Remarkably, this is Talbot’s 53rd (!) record, but it is different than most of his previous releases. In light ofContinue reading “A Musical Primer on the Ancient-Future Path”

Joe the Plumber Gives a Brief Post-Mortem

photo © 2007 Rasmus Olsen | more info (via: Wylio)Presented by Chaplain Mike First of all, let me say how thankful I am for all of you in our Internet Monk community. You have patiently hung with us as we’ve gone through an absurd number of site problems over the past couple of weeks. IContinue reading “Joe the Plumber Gives a Brief Post-Mortem”

Worship: Robert Webber’s Proposals

By Chaplain Mike As we’ve been talking about worship music over the past few weeks, I’ve been encouraged to go back and review some of the sources that first caught my attention and made the study and practice of Christian worship such a major part of my thinking and ministry. Most evangelicals who have learnedContinue reading “Worship: Robert Webber’s Proposals”

A Hymn for Ordinary Time (3): Two Hymns of Comfort

By Chaplain Mike We here in the iMonk community have been sharing with each other many words about trials and spiritual disorientation lately. This might be a good time to include some hymns of comfort and encouragement in our weekly “Hymns for Ordinary Time” series. One of the lessons to be learned in Ordinary TimeContinue reading “A Hymn for Ordinary Time (3): Two Hymns of Comfort”

iMonk Classic: Singing in the Evangelical Liturgy

Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer September 8, 2009 NOTE from CM: In 2009, Michael did a series called The Evangelical Liturgy, in which he walked through the different parts of a traditional Protestant worship service, discussing the value of recovering our own liturgical tradition. Click HERE to read the series’ introduction Go to theContinue reading “iMonk Classic: Singing in the Evangelical Liturgy”

Augustine’s Inner Conflict about Music

By Chaplain Mike Music has always been a matter of contention in the church. We’ve been talking about that with regard to current “worship wars” and “revolutions” in church music. That is NOT what this post is about. No, I want us to think about another conflict with regard to music in the church, oneContinue reading “Augustine’s Inner Conflict about Music”

Worship Music: Today’s Catholic Principles

By Chaplain Mike Since the Second Vatican Council (1965-present), the Roman Catholic Church has experienced a great deal of change and development with regard to liturgical practice. Along with these changes, the Church has thought and written much about her worship, including the role of music in it. The liturgy was one of the firstContinue reading “Worship Music: Today’s Catholic Principles”

Difficult Scriptures: 1 Peter 5:8

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8, NASB). The devil? The devil made me do it. Between the devil and the deep blue sea. Just how does the devil devour one? Where does he go to prowl? Does Satan still bargainContinue reading “Difficult Scriptures: 1 Peter 5:8”