Chaplainmike

Please, just say it

There is no case that can be made biblically for a woman preacher. Period. Paragraph. End of discussion. • John MacArthur • • • Last week, John MacArthur celebrated 50 years in the pastorate at a conference at his congregation Grace Community Church. During the event, MacArthur accused the Southern Baptist Convention of taking aContinue reading “Please, just say it”

Monday with Michael Spencer: What’s in a Name?

Monday with Michael Spencer What’s in a Name? (2007) Here in Kentucky, most of the Baptist Churches of a certain age have a particular approach to their names. Most choose to go the geographic route, so we have Three Forks of the Elkhorn, Muddy Gap, First Baptist Every-town-you-can-think-of, a couple of thousand “creeks” of variousContinue reading “Monday with Michael Spencer: What’s in a Name?”

Reformation Sunday 2019: Can’t Buy Me Love

REFORMATION SUNDAY 2019 Can’t Buy Me Love (Luke 18:9-14) On this day, in our tradition, we commemorate Reformation Sunday. We recall the work of German reformer Martin Luther in the 16th century, who pointed out abuses, faulty teaching, and pastoral neglect in the churches of his day, and who sought to bring renewal and reformContinue reading “Reformation Sunday 2019: Can’t Buy Me Love”

Saturday Brunch, October 26 2019

Hello, friends, and welcome to the weekend. Ready for some brunch? For American sport fans, this is the best week on the calendar. The NBA has started. The NHL season began a few weeks ago. Football is going strong. AND the world series! This little window in late October (and early November) is the only timeContinue reading “Saturday Brunch, October 26 2019”

Franciscan Friday: Sentimentalizing Francis

Franciscan Friday Sentimentalizing Francis I am reading Adrian House’s biography, Francis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life, and thought today I would share some words from its introduction, written by Karen Armstrong. Like Jesus himself, Francis is often sentimentalized. We like the image of the poetical saint, preaching to the birds and exulting in the beautiesContinue reading “Franciscan Friday: Sentimentalizing Francis”

Evolving Faith

Evolving Faith Pete Enns had a recent post about the Evolving Faith Conference that he recently attended and spoke at. The Evolving Faith Conference looks to me like a gathering of Progressive Christians. See their website here and their speaker biographies here . Now lately some of the more conservative Imonk commentators have tried to labelContinue reading “Evolving Faith”

Getting Ready for Reformation Sunday

Getting Ready for Reformation Sunday Note from CM: Sorry for the delay, but I had a very busy day. I just cleaned a lot of spam out of the comment thread. • • • The Gospel reading for this week is Luke 18:9-14, Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector. He also toldContinue reading “Getting Ready for Reformation Sunday”

Another Look: The “Failed” Reformation

Another Look: The “Failed” Reformation Like all of us, Martin Luther didn’t always remember or apply his own theology in the face of life’s realities. The following story by David Lose illustrates this. This past summer I was visiting Wittenberg and heard a story about Martin Luther I hadn’t heard before that seems appropriate forContinue reading “Another Look: The “Failed” Reformation”

Monday with Michael Spencer: Letting Some Air Out of the Reformation Day Balloon

Note from CM: Should be an interesting week. We just got back from Italy and I’ve been immersing myself in Franciscan ways. This Sunday, Reformation Sunday, will be my first week back in the pulpit at my ELCA Lutheran congregation for the rest of the fall, winter, and spring until Easter. We have invited CatholicContinue reading “Monday with Michael Spencer: Letting Some Air Out of the Reformation Day Balloon”

Greatest Songs of My Lifetime: All Borders Vanish Here

Greatest Songs of My Lifetime: All Borders Vanish Here Our recent travels brought to mind one of my favorite songs of all time, from one of the best singer-songwriters around. Mary Chapin Carpenter’s 2012 album Ashes And Roses is a masterpiece I return to time and time again. She released this album after a timeContinue reading “Greatest Songs of My Lifetime: All Borders Vanish Here”