Saturday Ramblings 7.30.11

One million is a very large number. Well, maybe not when it comes to the government and its debt ceiling. But it is a huge number to us at the iMonastery. We have had one million iMonks visit the abbey since this time last year. One million. That’s not “hits,” that’s not “page views.” One million visitors. That is certainly cause for fireworks.

We have become the place for iMonkies to gather because of the tireless efforts of several people. First of all, Chaplain Mike. Do you know how much he is paid to be editorial director of InternetMonk? The same as the chances of the Cincinnati Bengals winning the Super Bowl this year: zero. Chaplain Mike has a full-time job as a hospice chaplain, a job that is time consuming and emotionally draining. He then spends countless hours writing challenging and thoughtful essays, then selects artwork and formats them before scheduling them to run. Oh, and he also coaches his grandson’s baseball team.

Then there are our writers: Lisa Dye. Damaris Zehner. Martha of Ireland. Adam Palmer. Joe Spann. They were all hand-picked to write for us. I have worked with hundreds of writers, but never with any greater than this incredible group. You may write your appreciation of them by name in your comments if you like. You do like, don’t you?

And we all want to thank iMonk First Lady Denise Spencer for letting us continue what she and her late husband began more than a decade ago. I have to think that Michael is very happy to see us surpass the one million visitors in a year mark. Denise reads most every essay and comment from her home in the hills of Kentucky (when the wind is blowing in the right direction and they can get the internet down there). We want her to write more often—and we’re sure you would love that as well.

And let’s not forget Joe “the Plumber” Stallard who keeps this site up and running, and running well enough to support the large number of visitors we get.

Finally, our sincerest thanks to each one of you. We count it a great privilege to research and write for you. If you are a silent monk (you don’t comment), we encourage you to share your thoughts with us. If you are a frequent commenter, know that there is a chance we are praying for you by name. (Sometimes the writers get into a bit of a tussle over who gets to pray for whom.)

One million. The statistics reset on August 10. What say we aim for two million starting August 11?

Ok. Are you ready to ramble?

Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings 7.30.11”

My View of Scripture (at this point)

Portrait of Matthew, Gospel Book of Ebbo

By Chaplain Mike

Today, I would like to present, for your consideration and discussion, a ten-point summary of my perspective on Scripture (at this point in my understanding).

  • The Bible is from God. It is one of the means by which God has made himself known to human beings. The various books of the Bible were composed and edited and put together under the mysterious method of “inspiration,” by which God worked mostly through normal human processes to communicate his message.
  • The Bible is incarnational. That is, it comes to us in fully human form, taking the words of people written in their own times, from within their own cultures, according to the genres and literary conventions common to their day, and within the confines of their own limited perspectives, to communicate God’s message.
  • The Bible involves a complex conversation of faith over time. The Bible contains multiple voices, a diversity of narrative and theological perspectives, and a development of thought over time. For example, Joshua and Judges present two sides of the conquest of Canaan. Ecclesiastes and Job protest the wisdom tradition represented by a book like Proverbs, which even in its own pages presents several points of view. The “history” of Chronicles presents a different scenario of the same events than we see in the books of Kings. This diversity is only a problem if we expect the Bible to be something it is not—a timeless and perfectly consistent, always harmonizable record that is precise in every detail according to modern standards of accuracy.

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Lest We Forget

Too many good books go out of print, and too many good writers are forgotten.  From time to time we here at InternetMonk need to remember these lost treasures and pass them on to the next generations.  With that in mind, I would like to introduce you to one of my favorite writers.

I see a lot of triumphalist writing these days – all about Strenuous Christianity, Seizing the Land, Name It and Claim It, Praying It Through (whatever that means).  I suppose triumphalism appeals to those who have energy and self-confidence  – they’d say faith, and perhaps they’re right.  But what about the wounded people, the weak in faith, the mentally ill, depressed, lost, and battered – in other words, most of us at least some of the time.  Who writes for us?

Elizabeth Goudge.  She was a British novelist who lived from 1900 to 1984.  She wrote many books for both adults and children.  Some of her best-loved adult titles are The Scent of Water, Pilgrim Inn, The Castle on the Hill, The White Witch, The Dean’s Watch, and The Rosemary Tree.  The first three I think are her best.  Her children’s book Linnets and Valerians has been one of my favorite books for over 40 years.  The Little White Horse is also deservedly popular.  Many of her books have been out of print, but it seems that they’ve been making a come-back in the last few years.

There isn’t a lot of action in these stories, at least not physical action.  The movement takes place within the characters and is psychological and spiritual.  Her people are frightened, broken by war and mismatched relationships, betrayed by themselves and their own weaknesses.  Miss Goudge herself experienced bouts of depression and lived through the horrors of both World Wars.  Nonetheless, the stories are uplifting, the characters have a believable edge, and humor and delight abound.  Her prose is skillful enough to be largely unnoticeable, leaving her free to convey profound truths unself-consciously.

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The Scandal Of Forgiveness

This is the post that will have me burned at the stake, or hanged, drawn and quartered, or at the very least tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail.

The topic was mentioned on here recently about the Irish government’s plan to introduce mandatory reporting of child abuse, with particular reference to the duties of priests as regards what they learn in confessions.  I’m not going to wade into the particular reasons our Taoiseach (the Irish prime minister), Enda Kenny, got so upset or the triggering cause for the situation here in Ireland, nor am I going to address this topic from the legal or practical or political or social or secular viewpoint; if you wish, you may read some references as to why we don’t yet have mandatory reporting and all the to-ing and fro-ing over its introduction at various news gathering sites.  Also, a little clarification: “abuse” is taken generally to mean “sexual abuse” but there are, as the “Children First” guidelines define it, at least four broad categories:

“Because children can be abused in a number of ways, sometimes at the same time, it is not always easy to categories it, but four broad definitions can be considered and may be briefly summarised as neglect; emotional abuse; physical abuse and sexual abuse.”   These are the guidelines currently being considered for translation into statutory law.

Okay, I’m going to bite the bullet and talk about the hardest of hard cases: suppose someone (man or woman) goes to confession and tells the priest “Last night I raped my daughter (or son).”  If I may quote what Donalbain said in a comment: “Should a priest inform on a criminal? How is that a hard subject. Of course they should.”

Well, I’m taking the Catholic Church side that no, they shouldn’t.  (I told you this would get me stoned for blasphemy.)

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John Stott Has Gone Home

By Chaplain Mike

This editor’s note from Christianity Today this afternoon:

John Stott died today at 3:15 London time (about 9:15 a.m. CST), according to John Stott Ministries President Benjamin Homan. Homan said that Stott’s death came after complications related to old age and that he has been in discomfort for the last several weeks. Family and close friends gathered with Stott today as they listened to Handel’s Messiah. Homan said that John Stott Ministries has been preparing for his death for the past 15 years. “I think he set an impeccable example for leaders of ministries of handing things over to other leaders,” Homan said. “He imparted to many a love for the global church and imparted a passion for biblical fidelity and a love for the Savior.”

John Stott was one of my heroes. As a pastor, teacher, and leader in world missions, he had few peers. He was a prolific author whose books have benefited me throughout the years of my ministry. He also exemplified how God can use single Christians mightily by enabling them to devote their energies to the benefit of the church and blessing of the world.

Click the link for Christianity Today above to read their tribute to Dr. Stott.

Meditating on Scripture

By Chaplain Mike

I was convinced at an early point in my adult Christian life that learning, loving, and living the Bible was essential to my Christian growth.

My journey for much of the past thirty-five years has been primarily about studying and teaching the Scriptures. If I had not been a pastor, I would have pursued teaching, and there have been times I regretted not taking that course.

Ultimately however, I developed a conviction that serious Biblical instruction belongs first of all in the church, that it is for all the people of God, and that it should be done in local settings with pastoral sensitivity.

The Apostle Paul has been my biblical mentor in this regard. His New Testament epistles model this approach. Paul did not set up a “school.” He did not write books for the general public. He taught Christ, the Gospel, and the way of new creation to ordinary people in ordinary walks of life who gathered together in local congregations around the Word and Table. The letters he wrote to them are supreme examples of pastoral teaching, shaped to fit each individual congregation’s setting and issues.

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Accessible NT Bible Commentaries

By Chaplain Mike

In my opinion, the church owes a great debt to N.T. Wright in the area of biblical theology. Few in my lifetime have had the kind of impact on NT studies that Wright has. Every serious student of theology should read his “Christian Origins and the Question of God” series that now consists of three books (there will eventually be five):

In addition, his more mid-level theology books provide important perspectives on basic Christianity, the Christian eschatological hope and its implications for today, Christian living and ethics, and the role of the Bible in the church.

Wright is so prolific that you can find other books, articles, and media easily on these and many other topics. The best resource on the web is The N.T. Wright Page.

Today, I want to talk briefly about the NT commentaries he has written for people at all levels of the spiritual journey. It is called the “…for Everyone” series of guides to the books of the NT.

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How Pervasive Is “Biblicism”?

By Chaplain Mike

For this “Bible Week” on IM, I am reading some books I’ve not had a chance to look at before about how Christians relate to and deal with the Scriptures. Tonight I finished Christian Smith’s brand new book, The Bible Made Impossible, The: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture.

Scot McKnight commended this book with these words of high praise: “Here is a genuinely evangelical catholic understanding of scripture.” Scot has been doing a series on Bible Made Impossible over at Jesus Creed, which has prompted some interesting discussion.

In the introduction, Smith sets forth his purpose in writing:

This book addresses Christians, especially evangelicals, who believe that the Bible is a divine word of truth that should function as an authority for Christian faith and practice, and who want to espouse a coherent position that justifies and defends that belief. My contention here is that the American evangelical commitment to “biblicism,” which I will define and describe in detail below, is an untenable position that ought to be abandoned in favor of a better approach to Christian truth and authority.

• Bible Made Impossible, p. vii

More on the problems of “biblicism” later, and the “better approach” Smith commends. First, we need to see how he defines this “biblicism” he says is practiced by many American evangelicals.

Smith understands that this term is often used pejoratively, but he states his intention to use it in a more neutral way, to describe his observations about the way a broad swath of American evangelicalism actually views, speaks about, and practices its approach to the Bible. The “impossible” of the title refers to Smith’s claim that the “biblicism” he sees in the evangelical world “does not work as proposed and cannot function in a coherent way” (p. viii)

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iMonk News Headlines (July 2011)

iMonk News Headlines (JULY 2011)
A *TFC Production

We start the week off here at iMonk with a look at some of the more interesting stories taking place recently in the world of religion.

• • •

Pastor Joins His Own Satellite Campus
Dallas, TX. “Pastors need to get fed too.” That is why Rev. Blaine Narcis of The Pool is now regularly attending a satellite branch of his own multi-site church.

After preaching the Sunday morning sermon live at Narcis’s main church campus in Dallas, the pastor drives thirty minutes across town and attends a Pool satellite congregation that gathers at a later hour. There he joins them in the worship and watches a video presentation of his own message recorded in the earlier service.

This is one of the first known cases of a pastor going to church to hear himself preach.

Why would Pastor Narcis want to watch his own sermon again? “It’s simple,” he said. “When I’m presenting my teachings in person I am so flooded with the Spirit, so ‘in the zone,’ that I don’t even realize everything I’m saying. God is speaking through me to others and I am simply the channel. But I need to hear that Word too, for my own life. What better way than to go to one of our other Pools so I can watch myself preach? I take notes and everything.”

Narcis said The Pool’s elders are considering recording more of the main service using additional TV cameras so that they can also capture the congregation’s enthusiastic worship for replay at the satellite campuses. That way, he suggested, worshipers from the main church can join him later at another site and watch themselves worship. “That’s how we grow, isn’t it?” he asked.

Continue reading “iMonk News Headlines (July 2011)”

It is OK to Lament

Kever Rachel, Bethlehem

By Chaplain Mike

Ordinary Time Bible Study 2011
The Book of Ruth (6)

Today we complete the first part of Ruth’s story with a look at the concluding verses of Ruth, chapter one.

This text has many lessons for those who grieve and those who love them.

So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival. The women of the village said, “Can this be Naomi?” But she replied to them, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! Call me ‘Mara’ because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly. I left here full, but the Lord has caused me to return empty-handed. Why do you call me ‘Naomi,’ seeing that the Lord has opposed me, and the Sovereign One has caused me to suffer?” So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. (Now they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.) (1:19-22)

• • •

Returning to Bethlehem
Naomi’s journey is complete. She has come home. However, at first she finds little comfort in this, for she has returned empty. Coming home merely makes her feel her plight more keenly.

As friends who care about our neighbors, we must understand that our presence is not always comforting to those who grieve. There are times when our presence only serves to reinforce that things have changed, that happier days are past, that we cannot continue on relating as we did before. That doesn’t mean we should not be available to our grieving friends; it just means we must realize that our love can sting even as it promotes healing.

Naomi’s friends express their joyous wonderment at her return, but the rest of the words belong to the one returning from exile. They are words of lament.

  • Naomi expresses her bitterness. She speaks of her name changing from “Naomi” (pleasantness) to “Mara” (bitterness) to reflect God’s bitter dealings with her. Note how she is unafraid, as a person of faith, to attribute her suffering to God and even protest his dealings.
  • Naomi expresses her utter poverty. God has taken her from “fullness” to “emptiness.” Again, note that she has no scruples about attributing this to God himself.
  • Naomi questions God’s justice. “She portrays herself as a defendant in a legal action who has already been found guilty and punished…but who knows neither the charges nor the testimony against her.” (Hubbard)

In conclusion, one applauds the display of Naomi’s humanity by the narrator. Like Jeremiah, Job, and the psalmists, she stood open and honest before God in her suffering. If Ruth modeled devotion, Naomi modeled utter honesty. But one must avoid attributing Naomi’s suffering to some heretofore unmentioned sin, whether done by her, her family, or Israel as a nation. The narrator gives no grounds for doing so. Rather, Naomi’s words point to the mysterious and often (from a human perspective) unjust workings of God. Finally, one must realize that her outburst in fact assumes a positive view of God, namely, that he controls the universe, normally with justice. Her case is an exception—thought not a rare one—but such is the mystery of God.

• Robert L. Hubbard, The Book of Ruth (NICOT), p. 127