Chaplainmike

That’s a Bad Idea (1)

This is a book about wisdom and its opposite. • Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt • • • I am a big fan of Jonathan Haidt. We did a series of reflections on his book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion back in July, 2017. The Righteous Mind isContinue reading “That’s a Bad Idea (1)”

Tuesday with Michael Spencer: Jesus Makes Things Complicated for Us

Tuesday with Michael Spencer Jesus Makes Things Complicated for Us Jesus makes things very complicated for American Christians. If you simply follow him around in the Gospels, you are going to get into trouble. Why? Because he isn’t just talking evangelism. He’s talking about a whole life of Kingdom-dominated, life-transforming discipleship. Let me use anContinue reading “Tuesday with Michael Spencer: Jesus Makes Things Complicated for Us”

Another Look: Thoughts on Veterans Day

Another Look: Thoughts on Veterans Day Men go to war for a hundred reasons, But they all come back with the same demons. • Slaid Cleaves • • • None of us who have escaped our nation’s veterans’ experiences on the battlefields can ever truly relate to what they’ve seen and known. We pin medalsContinue reading “Another Look: Thoughts on Veterans Day”

Sermon: The Widow’s Plight

Sermon: The Widow’s Plight As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearanceContinue reading “Sermon: The Widow’s Plight”

The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: November 10, 2018

The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: November 10, 2018 Welcome to Brunch this Saturday. Snowflakes have been in the air ’round these parts this week, and although I took pictures like the one above just last weekend, now brown and gray are beginning to dominate nature’s color palette. With no baseball to buoy my spirit, aContinue reading “The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: November 10, 2018”

November Visions from the Heartland

Note from CM: Mike Bell has taken a sick day today. Enjoy these visions of fall in the heartland. Click on each picture for a larger image. • • •

Did Birds Get Their Colorful, Speckled Eggs From Dinosaurs?

Did Birds Get Their Colorful, Speckled Eggs From Dinosaurs? An article in Gizmodo alerted me to a study from last year (unfortunately behind a paywall) that was able to analyze fossil eggs of certain dinosaurs. Researchers found that birds’ close dinosaur relatives had eggs with traces of two pigments—a red-brown one and a blue-green one.Continue reading “Did Birds Get Their Colorful, Speckled Eggs From Dinosaurs?”

Wednesday with Michael Spencer

Wednesday with Michael Spencer From Standing on My Own Trap Door (2007) I can’t recall the author, but I once read someone who portrayed evangelical Christians as people using all their abilities to get other people to agree to evangelistic sentences. The sentences mattered very much; more than almost anything else. Correctly worded sentences, turnedContinue reading “Wednesday with Michael Spencer”

For Election Day 2018

Note from CM: It’s election day here in the U.S., as citizens go to the polls to vote in the midterms — the elections between our quadrennial presidential decision. Here is a simple reminder from over a century ago of the humble grandeur of this privilege we participate in as Americans. • • • IfContinue reading “For Election Day 2018”

Another Look: To Be Well-Spoken

Another Look: To Be Well-Spoken Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? • Jeremiah 23:29, NRSV • • • One of my personal goals in life is to be well-spoken. I am tired of “lingo.” I reject group-imposed boundaries around how to expressContinue reading “Another Look: To Be Well-Spoken”