Chaplainmike

How The MegaChurch Stole Christmas (Day Worship)

Some of America’s largest megachurches won’t be open on Sunday, December 25. After multiple services on Christmas Eve, they are giving their congregations, volunteers, staffs- and thousands of twice a year attenders- the day off to spend with their families. I first saw the story of Kentucky’s two largest mega-churches cancelling services on December 25Continue reading “How The MegaChurch Stole Christmas (Day Worship)”

A Conversation In God's Kitchen

I am reprinting this essay by request and in order to get it into the search engine. If I were writing this today, a few things would be changed, but it is still by best contribution in regard to my own belief about the nature of Christian scripture. Another helpful essay is “Magic Books, GroceryContinue reading “A Conversation In God's Kitchen”

The Light Of A Most Obvious Question: Why Hanging Out With Jesus Is Changing My Christianity

If you enjoyed this piece, you would probably also like this earlier exploration of the significance of the Gospels in the Christian Life. Dedication: A few weeks ago, I listened to an extraordinary sermon, but not extraordinary in the way you might think. The absence of Jesus in the sermon shook me. Jesus was neverContinue reading “The Light Of A Most Obvious Question: Why Hanging Out With Jesus Is Changing My Christianity”

The Christian And Mental Illness

Here are all six parts of the Mental Illness series so you can link them together. I’ve never done a series of this length before, and I enjoyed it. I hope to do some other series in the future.

Advent Blogging Continues

The Advent Blog sponsored by the Boar’s Head Tavern continues. It’s a community project, not just me. Stop by and visit. I’d appreciate your links and mentions on your own blogs.

The Christian and Mental Illness VI: What Does The Gospel Say?

I come to my last post in this series: What does the Gospel say to the mentally ill? What does it say to all human beings about the mentally ill? What does their presence among us tell us about ourselves? How is mental illness related to “true humanity?”

The Christian and the Mental Illness V: The Church and the Mentally Ill

What is the church’s responsibility to the mentally ill? I have concluded that mental illness, despite the potential baggage of the worldview of psychology, is inherently a truthful enough category to be useful in describing a phenomenon in the real world. While there are very controversial and ongoing conversations regarding the Biblical analysis of mentalContinue reading “The Christian and the Mental Illness V: The Church and the Mentally Ill”

RLP: "There's Something About The Way You Use The Bible."

Real Live Preacher penned this short piece in July of 2005. It’s typical of why I admire RLP as one of the finest writers in the Christian blogosphere. “There’s Something About The Way You Use The Bible.” Thank you, Gordon.

"Does The Story Matter?" Revisited

The following essay comes from December of 2004. It is copyrighted, and may not be used except by permission and in its entirety. Do our individual stories matter? It’s an important, humanizing question that I believe Jesus answered profoundly in his ministry. Does The Story Matter?

By Request: "Confessional Essays" From the iMonk

An Incomplete list of “Confessional Essays” published at Internetmonk.com. “The things I thought were so important – because of the effort I put into them – have turned out to be of small value. And the things I never thought about, the things I was never able to either to measure or to expect, wereContinue reading “By Request: "Confessional Essays" From the iMonk”