Adding a dimension

I was asked again this week: what will our life look like after death?

I had just explained (again) to a group of young people that the plan of God is not to take them to heaven, at least as they likely understood the phrase. Rather, it is to bring heaven to earth. To re-create and perfect this world. And that those in Christ are part of a new humanity to inhabit and rule, with Christ, over this new earth.

So the question naturally occurs: what will this look like? What kind of bodies will we have? What kind of work will we do? What will our relationships look like (to God, to our families, to others)?

How would you answer that type of question?

This was how I tried to answer it: We will likely not really understand that kind of life, that kind of existence, until we actually experience it. Therefore the Bible does not really try to explain it, for to explain something we cannot understand will only lead to more confusion.

The analogy I used was this. I held up a piece of paper and asked them to imagine living life in a two-dimensional world (to use Edwin Abbot’s term, this is “Flatland”).  In this world, they would understand a square, but not a cube. They would understand a circle, but not a sphere. In fact, if they could even imagine a square or a cube they would likely think these things to be impossible, a flight of fancy.

This would be true even if a cube or sphere actually appeared and interacted with their world. Imagine, I told the students, if a tennis ball descending into and then through this two dimensional world they lived in. How would they see it? First as a point. Then as a line that grew larger and larger, and then smaller and smaller. And then as a point. And then nothing. Living in a two-dimensional world necessitates that they experience a three dimensional object in this way. In fact, they would experience pretty much the same thing not matter if the object passing through it was a sphere, a cube or a pyramid.

This video illustrates this well:

I had two points in this.

First, why should we think that, by the simple fact that we experience reality in three dimensions (plus time), that those three dimensions are the sum total of reality in itself?  Perhaps the main difference between the new heaven and earth, compared to what we now experience, is just this: we will experience new dimensions of reality. If so, then we should not expect to be able to understand these things yet. Even if the new heaven and earth is not an opening of new dimensions to us, the analogy can help us understand why scripture gives us so little information about life in the afterlife. We can’t understand what we have no experience of. The best we can do is gain a glimpse by analogy, which is what most of the imagery of the after-life in the scripture is.

Second, this analogy helps us a bit to understand how something can be beyond our physical senses to understand, and therefore beyond our ability to measure or analyze it, and yet still be physical. A cube is not less physical than the square. But to a flatlander, the cube will seem mysterious and ethereal. Persons living in three dimensions are not less physical than flatlanders;  if anything, they are more physical. But any interaction a 3d person has with those in two dimensions will seem (to the flatlanders) to come from an  invisible realm, and will be viewed as mystical, magical or miraculous.

Interestingly enough, this analogy may also remove some of our cognitive dissonance we experience when looking at the paradoxes of the Bible. How can God be three but also one. How can God know the future if our future choices are really free? How can God be everywhere and yet never localized in one place? I don’t have time to explore these here, but you are welcome to give your thoughts in the comments.

 

A few years ago one of the most popular songs on Christian radio was, I Can Only Imagine.  But really, we can’t.  We literally cannot imagine the new heavens and earth. And we’re going to have to live with that for a while.

Reconsider Jesus – The Teacher (Mark 1:21-28)


Reconsider Jesus – A fresh look at Jesus from the Gospel of Mark
A devotional commentary by Michael Spencer
Compiled and Edited by: Michael Bell
Table of Contents

The Teacher

21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Mark 1:21-28 – NIV

In this passage we see Jesus in two roles that are essential to understanding him: teacher and exorcist. Certainly most people are comfortable with the image of Jesus as a teacher and this image influences a great deal of our conception of Christianity. We will discuss the idea of Jesus as exorcist in the next chapter.

Capernaum was a large and important city in Galilee, a headquarters of government and commerce and an international crossroads. Jesus’ choice of this city as his home base for his ministry in Galilee75 shows that he was not a “country” preacher or a recluse. There was a large synagogue in Capernaum and the remains of a later synagogue are still prominent for any visitor to view. Jesus lived in the time when synagogues were evolving from a secular and religious function as a “community center” to a more purely religious purpose.

Being invited to teach in a large synagogue in a prominent city was not something done without thought or significance. This is a clue that Jesus had already achieved considerable notoriety as a teacher and perhaps as a miracle worker. Jesus’ status as a teacher or rabbi is accepted even by his opponents, indicating that Jesus was well known in this regard. I am always intrigued by those aspects of the Gospels that we do not know about, for instance, how did a man from a tiny village with no formal education receive the respect and fame that Jesus did so quickly? It is an indication of what an extraordinary person Jesus really was from the outset.

This story introduces the teachers of the law or scribes who will be Jesus’ opponents throughout his ministry. These men were not copyists but scholars, experts in the traditions by which the Jews interpreted and lived out the Torah.76 As custodians of the interpretation of scripture, the scribes were fulfilling a good and serious function and we should never cast them in the role of “the bad guys.” Their passion was to construct an entire life built around the foundation of the law. In this they left no stone unturned and tried to leave no question unaddressed. Jesus does not oppose them for their function, but, as Matthew 23 stresses, for their misinterpretations and hypocrisies.

As scribes, these teachers based their interpretations on other interpretations of scripture. It was considered essential to place any practice on the clear statement of scripture and the proper tradition of interpretation.77 A modern day parallel to this would be the use of footnotes.

Before the age of computers I used a typewriter for assignments. My heart would always sink when a cruel and malicious teacher would say, “I want the footnotes at the bottom of the page.” In my experience you had to be Albert Einstein to be able to calculate how much space to leave at the bottom of the page for footnotes. I am not sure I was ever able to do that effectively.

But the point was that in the assignment the teacher wanted to know how you used other people’s material. So, every good research paper had footnotes that referenced the original source of the information in your report.

It was a very similar situation in the time of Jesus. It was considered inappropriate to stand up and proclaim, “This is what I say.” If you were a teacher you were expected to read the scripture and interpret it with other scripture. “As it says in Deuteronomy… as it says in the Law… as Moses said.” Alternatively you might quote Rabbi Hillel or Rabbi Gamaliel, or one of the other great Rabbis of the first century. If you taught in this fashion your listeners would nod in agreement.

To teach using an expression like “This is what I say” would have been shocking and rude. When you look at Mark and the other gospels you discover that Jesus did not use footnotes. Jesus taught as one having intrinsic authority. Matthew captures this in the Sermon on the Mount with his repeated use of “You have heard it said… but I say unto you.” :

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment…

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. – Matthew 5: 21-22, 27-28 (NIV)

That is the way Jesus taught. That is why Mark is able to say “The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”

There are some places where our English language struggles to portray the reactions of people. Mark uses a word that is translated as “amazed” or “astonished”. I think an old descriptive term works best here: The people were flabbergasted! Here is an uneducated preacher, who has never studied with anybody, who has been working as a carpenter or stoneworker, and who has now taken upon himself the mantle of rabbi and teacher. Not only that but he has come into your synagogue proclaiming “This is what I say.”

This is why Jesus immediately was a controversial figure. The only way we can imagine the impact of this sort of teaching is if we picture what the reaction of Christians would be to someone who said: “Well, I know the Bible says such and such, but I say…” Yet, Jesus was able to make statements like this and “the people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority”.

However, Jesus did more than teach authoritatively, his actions demonstrated his authority as well. A demon possessed man suddenly arrives in the synagogue in Capernaum. I take scripture at face value that he was demon possessed, and we will discuss that aspect more in the next chapter.

While a lot of people didn’t know who Jesus was, the demons did, and they assumed that if Jesus Christ was in the world their time was up. Notice how demons react to Jesus: “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” What did Jesus do? “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” Mark records that the “impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.” Every time Jesus expels a demon he does it with a single command. Out.

The authority of Jesus. People heard Jesus speak with authority and they saw this authority as Jesus confronted the demonic realm. When you and I come face to face with Jesus Christ in our lives we need to understand something that the people of his time understood: This is no mere man. This is someone utterly and completely unique. This is someone who teaches with authority, like God himself. This is someone who confronts evil and it obeys him like God himself. As we will discuss in future chapters, this is someone who heals immediately, totally, and visibly because as Creator he exerts authority over his creation.

If we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are under his authority. That means we rejoice in the fact that evil has been banished, our sins are forgiven, and our life is totally under his protection. But it also means that in my life I can’t do as I choose and do as I please. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to be a follower of the one who has absolute authority. I speak the way Jesus directs me to speak. He takes authority over my money and I say “Lord, how do I use my resources?” He takes authority over my time, and my relationships, and my decisions, so that I ask “Lord Jesus, what do you want?” The little formula, “What would Jesus do?” is pretty helpful. If we know the Jesus of scripture it allows us to ask, “What does the authority of Jesus Christ mean in this situation?”, and then act accordingly.

—————————————-

Footnotes:

[75] Matthew 4:13 describes Jesus leaving Nazareth and dwelling in Capernaum.

[76] The Torah primarily refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, but can be understood more broadly to mean the religious teaching or instruction that is built around these five books.

[77] Among modern Christians, the role of tradition is well understood by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, but is generally denigrated by many Protestants. However Protestants should also recognize the role that tradition plays in our interpretation as we generally not only cite scripture, but our church statement of faith, favorite historical theologian, preacher or teacher as further authority for our beliefs.

Notes from Mike Bell:
1. What questions or thoughts come from your mind from what you have just read? What stood out to you?
2. Would you be interested in a paper or Kindle version of the book when it is available? Please email us at michaelspencersnewbook@gmail.com so that we can let you know when it is ready.
3. Could you help spread the news about the series and the book to come by posting a link to the table of contents to your social media?
4. Find any grammar or spelling errors, phrases that are awkward or difficult to understand? Also send these type of comments to the email address above.

if only…

P Street. Photo by Mike Maguire at Flickr. Creative Commons License

In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you. (Matthew 5:48, MSG)

•

if only this spiritual life
were about “spiritual things”
i might manage

if only i could cloister myself
to worship, watch, and pray
i might feel competent

if only there were a simple list
rules to guide and bind and lead
i might make the grade

but it’s not just jesus and me…

there are kooks in cars
who cut me off while on their phones
and cause my rage to rise

there are critics in corners
who trash my name behind my back
and rankle my resolve

there are crooks in commerce
who falsely claim and double-deal
and rile my rectitude

and i who am our father’s child
who breathes the air of kingdom new
yet still enfleshed and flawed and frail
must greet and speak and work beside
all manner of neighbor, friend, and foe
and this is where new life must grow —
in soil of human interchange
shaking hands or by hands struck

as heaven’s rain falls on us all

Saturdays at IM — A Retrospective (part 2)

Surfer dudes with a Rambler watching the amazing Pastor Dan as he hangs ten on a gnarly wave.

• • •

The Saturday IM Monks Brunch: October 3, 2020
Saturdays at IM — A Retrospective (part 2)

•

Saturday Ramblings 2.0 – The Pastor Dan Show

After Jeff Dunn stepped down in 2014, I turned the Saturday duties over to my good friend Pastor Dan — Daniel Jepsen — and Saturday Ramblings 2.0 was born. In order to help you know Dan a bit better, here’s some information from his church website bio.

Things you may not know about Daniel…

  • He is often mistaken for George Clooney
  • Using only a typewriter and a bottle of Windex, he successfully defended an Ecuadoran village from rabid terrorist raccoons.
  • He once smuggled gospel tracts into the headquarters of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
  • He writes rap/bluegrass operas.
  • He only passes gas once a year. For an hour.
  • He had a full-ride surfing scholarship at the University of Iowa.
  • He is an expert in origami, a veteran in love and an outlaw in Mexico.

Books written by Daniel…

  • Crowd Control in the Sahara
  • The History of Antarctic Agriculture
  • Do-it-Yourself Brain Surgery

Favorite Activities…

  • Playing full-contact Euchre
  • Teaching Falconry to Mongolians
  • Dominating football games at the nursing home
  • Annoying Accountants
  • Writing weird stuff on the internet

We’ll begin with a video Dan posted back in May of 2015. Here we see our beloved pastor as he works with two women from the the worship team to prepare our hearts through song (and dance) to receive the morning’s message.

Let me tell you, Dan’s the man when it comes to finding material for Saturday morning. He is at once the most serious person I know and one of the funniest. He’s a deep thinker as well as a mischievous child at heart. What are some of the things Dan did on Saturday Ramblings?

  • He helped us appreciate the talent and wit of Steve Taylor.
Chaplain’s note: This was, of course, posted before 2016, the greatest year in world history.

  • Daniel was the first of us here at IM to ponder the multitudinous, magnificent, majestic (and, let’s not forget, moronic) mysteries of Donald Trump, including this image of him in a tub of butter, found by a startled woman as she prepared to butter her toast.
I can’t believe it’s not Trump!

  • Being the fine citizen he is, Dan gave helpful public service announcements, like this one.

Police in northwestern Massachusetts posted an important reminder Monday night:

**Chasing bears through the woods drunk with a dull hatchet is strongly not advised**

The North Adams Police Department is urging everyone to NOT chase bears through the woods with a dull hatchet, drunk. Yes that really did happen tonight. We understand there are bears in the area. If you see a bear, LEAVE IT ALONE and call us. We certainly don’t need anyone going all Davy Crockett chasing it through the woods drunk with a dull hatchet. It is just a bad idea.

•

Dan and I have shared the Saturday duties over the years, but I have never been able to match his level of wit, silliness, and the pure joy he takes in this whimsical, enigmatic, profound life we share. He still contributes regularly to the Saturday Brunch, and since Pastor Dan is, in truth, an excellent chef, we are all the better for it. He will be sharing more with us before the end of year on Saturdays and through more serious, theological posts on other days as well.

Thanks, Pastor Dan, for hours of enjoyment and encouragement on Saturday mornings as you’ve led us on our weekly rambles!

•

Let’s end with a video Dan posted back in 2015. My friends, this is one of the greatest, most magnificent, most insightful, most dispensational music videos ever.

As Dan said at the time: “And what better than to mix some beautiful music with profound eschatology? And who better to mix it up than William Tapley, a Roman Catholic Rapturist who also calls himself The Third Eagle of the Apocalypse and Co-prophet of the End Times.”

Again, thanks to Pastor Dan, frying the whore of Babylon faithfully here at Internet Monk on Saturdays past.

Reconsider Jesus – The Calling (Mark 1:16-20)


Reconsider Jesus – A fresh look at Jesus from the Gospel of Mark
A devotional commentary by Michael Spencer
Compiled and Edited by: Michael Bell
Table of Contents

The Calling

16 And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

Mark 1:16-20 – RSV

When I was eleven years old an evangelist came to our church and met just with the Sunday School department. There were three rows of children lined up, and the guest evangelist gave a twenty minute appeal just for us, complete with an invitation to come forward and be saved. Everyone went forward – except me, little Mike Spencer, and I was the Pastor’s nephew! I can still feel that moment of isolation and the determination to not be manipulated. My best friend was up there. All the other kids were up there too and would go on to be baptized a couple weeks later. But not me. Maybe I was stubborn. Maybe I had my dad’s Eastern Kentucky Mountain recalcitrance. Whatever it was, I would not go up front, and I didn’t like the tactics that were used to try to get me there.

I have heard bizarre appeals, emotional appeals, irrational appeals, mystical appeals, pragmatic appeals and brazenly manipulative appeals. I was turned off by them all, and increasingly started to say so. I didn’t believe in arm-twisting, bribery, scare tactics or crass emotional manipulation.

But as manipulative as these appeals have been, the requested response has been deceptively easy – I’ve now heard it for years: “Come to Jesus….here at the front.” “Leave your seat. Leave your sin. Come to the cross.” And so, at least in my denomination and many other revivalistic traditions, millions and millions of people came to believe they had “accepted Christ” because they had done something. They had left their seats and walked down the aisle. It was efficacious and easy.

Really, really easy.

In contrast, when Jesus says “Come follow me” to his first disciples it means something far different:

At the outset of his ministry Jesus asks people to abandon their security and follow him, defining their entire life by their relationship to him. He is their future and he is their way.67 Today it is popular to speak of “accepting Christ” and “asking Jesus into your heart.” These phrases are not found in the Bible and they define the Christian life in terms that are deficient. When we make the decision to believe in Jesus as Savior, we are answering his call to follow him. Learn from him. Imitate him. Accompany him. While it may be initiated as an event, it is a call to a never ending journey. We can never exhaust the possibilities of what it means to follow Jesus.

I try to resist the temptation of seeing a follower of Jesus as a finished product. We are all called to follow Jesus, so our response to him is constantly the call to move forward, to drop what hinders and to move into the future that is God’s Kingdom. This means that even when I have failed, I can always follow Jesus. The greatest expression of response to Jesus is simply following him. The faithful response of the follower is what Jesus desires: To follow him in order to know him in order to serve him.

I have always appreciated this aspect of the Gospels because it serves as a counterpoint to the increasing tendency to see Christianity in terms of mystical experience or esoteric knowledge. Even a child may follow. One need not be eloquent or gifted to follow. To follow does not require me to be a “Holy Joe” or even especially religious. Jesus simply asks me to follow. Following may mean learning the simplest lesson or making the smallest step or doing the lowliest deed. But I am still to follow.

The men Jesus called to follow him were businessmen. We have some indication from this passage that they were not poor.68 They were however, as the Jews later observed in Acts 4:13, “unlearned and ignorant men.” This is particularly true in terms of formal religious training. Even though Mark often shows the disciples as very slow to learn and confused, he does not mean to portray them as stupid. They are simply typical men who have defined their lives in terms of making a living and providing for their families. They are practical men, not scholars and scribes. We should remember that there is no previous resume needed to follow Jesus. Jesus’ focus is not the religiously inclined, but rather he holds up the unreligious as the ideal subjects of the Kingdom. Christianity does not ask its followers to become monks, scholars, or mystics in order to understand the truth of the Gospel. What God has to show any of us, does not depend on IQ or whether we are spiritually inclined. In a sense, the Gospel is the perfect message for the nonreligious person. Let’s always treasure this truth. Most of the trouble in Christianity has been caused by the religious and the so-called experts!

Jesus also lays out another important truth: Discipleship is transformational. He will take what we are and make us useful to him. “Fishers of men” may have been an image used in Jeremiah 16:16, but most likely Jesus is simply using the available imagery of his followers’ world to describe what the journey will mean. Those who have spent their lives catching fish will become “fishers” of another kind, catching men and women for the Kingdom of God. It is entirely acceptable to look at whatever we are and whatever we do and see it as the very thing Jesus will transform and elevate for his service. We need not desire to be something new and exotic in order to be a useful Christian. God will demonstrate his power and his love by taking the ordinary and making it useful and even extraordinary for him. When God took the staff that Moses held in his hand, and turned it into a snake,69 it was God’s way of telling his Old Testament servant that he could take whatever Moses had to offer and use it. In a similar way God took David, a shepherd of sheep, and made him the shepherd of a nation. God is doing the same through Jesus, taking fishers and making them fishers of men.

Mark also includes an immediacy to the disciple’s response. Decisiveness is a hallmark of humanity’s response to Jesus. In Mark, men quickly react to Jesus as either worthy of faith or worthy of death. Discipleship is not a hasty matter to be pursued thoughtlessly, but at the same time Jesus is not calling us to consider at our leisure and respond when ready. No, “today is the day of salvation.”70 The Apostle Paul makes it clear that we already know enough and have seen enough to respond rightly to the invitation to repent and believe.71 But this immediate response must also be a laying down of our current lives and the taking up of a new one. As we read these names, we realize that these are people with families and obligations just like us, yet they were so changed by Jesus that they left all and followed him. Jesus was aware of what this meant. He told his disciples to count the cost72 and to not follow him with a divided loyalty.73

In the time of Jesus, rabbis were generally sought by disciples who would ask to become followers.74 In contrast, Jesus initiates the discipleship relationship in every instance we know. “Come follow me” is a sentence that rings to the core of what Jesus Christ not only asked of his disciples, but asks of all of us.

—————————————-

Footnotes:

[67] John 14:6

[68] Mark 1:20

[69] Exodus 4:2

[70] 2 Corinthians 6:2

[71] Romans 1:20

[72] Luke 14:28-33

[73] Matthew 8:18-22

[74] Matthew 8:19

Notes from Mike Bell:
1. What questions or thoughts come from your mind from what you have just read? What stood out to you?
2. Would you be interested in a paper or Kindle version of the book when it is available? Please email us at michaelspencersnewbook@gmail.com so that we can let you know when it is ready.
3. Find any grammar or spelling errors, phrases that are awkward or difficult to understand? Also send these type of comments to the email address above.

Food for thought: Why did we ever start farming?

Food for thought: Why did we ever start farming?

This article examines why humans shifted from hunting and gathering to agriculture.  According to some the so-called “paleo diet” is the healthiest way to eat because our that is how our ancestors, going back to 300,000 years, ate and that is how genetically we have evolved to favor it.  Agriculture and its attendant diet only goes back some 10,000 years.  The article quotes Elic Weitzel, a Ph.D. student in UConn’s department of anthropology, as saying:

“A lot of evidence suggests domestication and agriculture doesn’t make much sense,” says Elic Weitzel, a Ph.D. student in UConn’s department of anthropology. “Hunter-gatherers are sometimes working fewer hours a day, their health is better, and their diets are more varied, so why would anyone switch over and start farming?”

One theory says that in times of plenty there was more time to work on domesticating plants.  The other theory is that times were bad and agriculture developed as a necessity to supplement the diet.  Weitzel tried to test both hypotheses by analyzing animal bones from several archeological sites and what they ate as well as pollen analysis of the detritus from the same human settlements.  His data provided evidence for the second hypothesis: There was some kind of imbalance between the growing human population and their resource base, effected perhaps by exploitation and also by climate change.

However this article calls into question some of the basic premises of the “paleo diet”, for example, do we even know what it actually was?  That article notes that for advocates of the palaeolithic lifestyle, life at this time is portrayed as a kind of biological paradise, with people living as evolution had designed them to: as genetically predetermined hunter-gatherers fit for their environment.  This seems to be highly romanticized as life in the Stone Age was probably harsh, with high infant and maternal mortality, and people very much at the mercy of the natural environment.  Seasonal shortages in food would have meant that starvation was common even despite the ability of hunter-gatherers to be highly mobile.

Weitzel notes that looking to the past and seeing how these populations coped and adapted to change can help inform what we should do as today’s climate warms in the coming decades.  He says, “Having an archaeological voice backed by this deep-time perspective in policy making is very important.”

What do you think the coming decades will mean for farming and our ability to feed people?

Another Look: Wisdom and the Fog

Foggy Tennessee Lake (2012)

Wisdom and the Fog
By Chaplain Mike (from 2012)

Many plans are in a man’s heart,
But the counsel of the Lord will stand.
What is desirable in a man is his kindness…

• Proverbs 19:21-22, NASB

• • •

I stand on top of a rise in the road. Before me, a valley stretches, still shrouded in fog. Behind me, the sun has burned its way clear and I can see the ways I’ve come. I can make out a few of the sharper turns, various forks and crossroads where I chose this way or that for one reason or another, spots along the way where the road disappeared into a dark wood, then emerged on scenery wholly new. Well past halfway on my journey, I’ve forgotten more than I remember, and some of what I recall I don’t trust. In some ways I’m more sure of my path, in other ways I’ve never been less able to plot my course.

This week I will officiate the funeral of an old friend. Several years ago, our families attended the same church and we were part of the same social small group. We spent New Year’s Eves together, played cards, laughed a lot, and talked about our families and work. A simple guy, he didn’t talk much, and wasn’t much of churchgoer. We weren’t close, but I was there as a pastor and friend at some important times, and he always seemed genuinely happy to have us in his home. About my age, now he’s gone. Over the years, we’ve only seen each other rarely, and he and the family have had their struggles: finances, house problems, mental illness in the family. Last I heard he and his wife were getting divorced, he had a girlfriend, and it wasn’t pretty. Complications from a chronic health condition took his life suddenly and unexpectedly last week.

And I get to speak words of “wisdom” to comfort his family and friends at the funeral.

Which is a funny thing, because at this point in the journey, I’m not sure I know what wisdom is. I have some hindsight, for sure, and plenty of experience. Maybe that qualifies. I have a deeper trust in the sovereignty of God than ever before, but it is not the kind of trust that can be expressed in “answers.” The thought of God’s sovereignty is like the fog in the valley ahead of me — a mystery that envelops the world but obscures my view. To think that I would appeal to such a concept as comfort for myself or others seems kind of crazy, to tell the truth. People don’t generally expect the guy down in the mail room to be able to delineate the intricate decisions of the CEO. About all I can say is, “I have no idea how to explain it, but I guess he knows what he’s doing.”

Recently we saw another couple who had been members of a congregation where I served on staff in the past. We haven’t really talked for about ten years. They’ve been to three different churches since then. Their son now tours with a punk band and they didn’t seem interested in going into details. They did want to discuss how the husband is making plans for retirement, and since they have been very diligent about money matters, it looks like they’ll move to the Rockies and live the dream. They seemed reasonably happy, but you never know.

On one level, I’m not a big fan of the book of Proverbs. Read in certain ways, it cannot help but promote self-righteousness. Dividing the world into “wise people” and “fools” leaves little room for nuance. Pharisees love it because it organizes life neatly into divinely demarcated divisions and makes the rules and rewards clear. It is elder brother theology par excellence. It scoffs when the silly, sentimental old man loses his mind and runs out to welcome home the wastrel.

A guy with whom I used to coach Little League told me the other day his son and girlfriend and new baby are moving into their house for awhile. It will be a crowded situation with many opportunities for irritation, conflict, and hurt feelings. Been there, done that. I know they didn’t expect this, and I’m sure they are wondering where this will all lead. They have a good spirit about it (or at least they put on a good face about it), and I hope to spend more time with them in days to come. They are some of my favorite people in the world, and I’d love to be a friend and an encouragement if possible.

In the end, I guess that’s what I will say at my friend’s funeral. The world is broken, and I don’t have a lot of wisdom to offer. I won’t pretend to tell you what God is doing. But I know that love is real. I’m here to be your friend today, and I want to encourage you to be friends to each other. That’s how Jesus showed his love to us — by befriending us and laying down his life for us. We’re here to do the same for one another.

It’s foggy ahead, and the way is not clear.

Take a hand and let’s enter the fog together.

Don’t let go.

Robert Frost: The Need of Being Versed in Country Things

Old Barn in Hopewell (2014)

The Need of Being Versed in Country Things
By Robert Frost

The house had gone to bring again
To the midnight sky a sunset glow.
Now the chimney was all of the house that stood,
Like a pistil after the petals go.

The barn opposed across the way,
That would have joined the house in flame
Had it been the will of the wind, was left
To bear forsaken the place’s name.

No more it opened with all one end
For teams that came by the stony road
To drum on the floor with scurrying hoofs
And brush the mow with the summer load.

The birds that came to it through the air
At broken windows flew out and in,
Their murmur more like the sigh we sigh
From too much dwelling on what has been.

Yet for them the lilac renewed its leaf,
And the aged elm, though touched with fire;
And the dry pump flung up an awkward arm;
And the fence post carried a strand of wire.

For them there was really nothing sad.
But though they rejoiced in the nest they kept,
One had to be versed in country things
Not to believe the phoebes wept.

Reconsider Jesus – An update from behind the scenes


Reconsider Jesus – A fresh look at Jesus from the Gospel of Mark
A devotional commentary by Michael Spencer
Compiled and Edited by: Michael Bell
Table of Contents

An update from behind the scenes

If you had read yesterday’s post you would have read the rather sad news that, like all good things, Internet Monk is drawing to a conclusion.

As I mentioned in the comments, producing Internet Monk is an absolutely herculean task. Chaplain Mike’s dedication to this site and the community that surrounds it for over ten years is to be commended.

I personally appreciate all that Chaplain Mike has done here. I also appreciate how freely he has let me write whatever has been on my heart, or not write when circumstances have got in the way which has been more often than not. I am also very appreciative of everyone who have offered so many comments, even those who I disagreed with.

As far as the Reconsider Jesus book goes I will continue to serialize on these pages here. You can do the Math though: Even producing two mini chapters a week will not get me finished Volume One (Mark 1-8) by January 1st.

But I do plan to finish it. I may likely resurrect my personal blog for the final parts of Volume 1. Stay tuned for more details.

I did want to offer a few words on the table below. It is a simplified version of a much larger matrix that I created for working on the books. What I have reproduced below is only the sections covering Volume One.

I have placed an asterisk where I have material from Michael Spencer, and an X where I do not. You will note that I do not have any written Bible studies after Mark 8. This mean that my editing process with be radically different with Volume 2 than with Volume 1.

The written Bible studies are quite formal and largely lacking in illustrations. The audio ones are VERY different. They contain illustration after illustration after illustration. As far as a style goes, the blog posts that you are used to reading come somewhat in between.

I find that the combining the written version and the audio version makes for a much more enjoyable read. The laying out of facts in the written studies are enlivened by some the illustrations from the audio transcripts.

I am very appreciative of those who have helped me get to this point. The transcription team spent countless hours on converting the audio to text. Technology was a lot less advanced when they did that. Scott Lencke provided some early help in compiling and editing. More recently I have been enjoying Dana edits to my work (99% of which I accept). Her command of the English language is extraordinary.

So that is where we are at. I will be sure to continue to update you as I go along.

And please, it would be a huge encouragement to me if you sent an email to MichaelSpencersNewBook@gmail.com and expressed an interest in purchasing this book when it is released.

As usual, your thoughts and comments are welcome.

 

Passage Chapter Title Written Bible Study Audio Bible Studies/Sermons Blog Postings
Preface 2
Why Study Mark * *
Mark 1:1 The Beginning * *
Mark 1:1-3 Roots * *
Mark 1:4-8 The Forerunner * *
Mark 1:9a From Nazareth X *
Mark 1:9-11 The Baptism * X
Mark 1:12-13 The Temptation * *
Mark 1:14 The Signal??? * *
Mark 1:14-15 The Message of the Kingdom * * 4
Mark 1:14-15 The Response * *
Mark 1:16-20 The Calling * X 1
Mark 1:21-28 The Teacher * *
Mark 1:21-28 The Exorcist * *
Mark 1:29-45 The Healer * *
Mark 2:1-12 The Forgiveness of Sins * *
Mark 2:13-17 The Tax Collector * X 1
Mark 2:18-22 The Bridegroom and the New Wine * X 1
Mark 2:23-28 Lord of the Sabbath * *
Mark 3:1-6 The Turning Point – Part 1 * * 2
Mark 3:7-19 The Turning Point – Part 2 * * 1
Mark 3:20-35 The Unforgiveable Sin * * 8
Mark 4:1-8, 13-20 The Seed and the Soil * * 2
Mark 4:9-12 The Hidden Secret of the Kingdom * *
Mark 4:21-25 The Light Meant to be Seen * *
Mark 4:26-34 The Big in the Small * * 1
Mark 4:35-41 The Master of the Storm * *
Mark 5:1-20 The Son of the Most High God * * 2
Mark 5:21-43 The Sick and the Dead * * 1
Mark 6:1-6 The Hometown Prophet * *
Mark 6:7-13 The Sent Out * * 1
Mark 6:14-29 A Prophet Silenced * *
Mark 6:30-44 The Shepherd Feeds His Flock – Part 1 * *
Mark 6:30-44 The Shepherd Feeds His Flock – Part 2 * *
Mark 6:45-56 The One Who Walks On Water * * 1
Mark 7:1-23 The Prophet of Integrity * * 1
Mark 7:24-30 The Unlikely * *
Mark 7:31-8:9a Taking Our Bearings * * 1
Mark 8:9b-13 ? X * 1
Mark 8:14-26 Do You See * * 2
Mark 8:27-33 The Great Reversal End of written Bible Studies X 3
Mark 8:34-37 ? X *
Mark 9:1 – End X Audio Bible Studies continue Other Blog Posts

The End Is in Sight

Path from Murren down to Gimmelwald (2019)

The End Is in Sight

Today, I announce that Internet Monk will cease publishing as a daily blog after New Year’s Day, 2021. Our last active post will be on Jan. 1, 2021, and then the blog will be online as an archive site with access to all available IM posts.

I’ve been considering this for some time. In fact, the original plan was to end IM on the tenth anniversary of Michael Spencer’s death back in April. However, at that time we were just beginning to realize that 2020 might be a year like few others, and I felt that the blog could serve a useful purpose during the pandemic and the other craziness we’ve been experiencing.

Not that I think IM has ceased being useful, but it’s time to move on. In my opinion, twenty years is a remarkable run. We survived the death of our founder and adapted to a number of other changes. Many of us have come to terms with our post-evangelical journeys and, while  we still find ourselves wandering in the wilderness at times, we have learned a few tricks to help us survive.

One aspect of growing older (and hopefully, wiser) is learning to discern when the time is ripe for change. And my life is at one of those impending “change” places. I am just a couple of years away from making decisions about retirement and life after full-time work. It feels to me now like I’m starting to round the bend of a curve. I’m about to see a new landscape in front of me.

While I may be on the curve, I have an idea we will have plenty to talk about between now and January 2, 2020. So let’s just carry on until then.

Near the end of Pilgrim’s Progress, the travelers meet some shepherds and find that they are in Immanuel’s land, within view of the city. There they find some rest, encouragement, a few warnings, and some new friends to send them off on the next leg of their journey.

I hope we will all think of this final season of Internet Monk like that. A time of good food and conversation until we say goodbye and hike down the mountain to the paths God has for each of us.