When It Doesn’t Make Sense

One year ago I was the happy owner of a 2004 Honda Accord. It had 120,000 miles on it, which for a Honda is practically new. It got great gas mileage, was very dependable–and it had a moonroof. I love cars with a window over my head.

One year ago this month I was busy on a writing project. I was trying to put together a eBook publishing company. And I was preparing for a trip to see a colleague in Atlanta. That’s when the Lord began to stir in my heart to shop for a new car.

“I don’t want to shop for a new car,” I told the Lord. “I am content with my Honda. It is a sharp dark gray and it has a spoiler. I’ll keep this one, thank you.”

But the feeling grew stronger. I went out to a couple of dealers and kicked some tires. But I really didn’t want to to this. Then the day before I was to drive to Atlanta I woke up with an overwhelming sensation that I was to trade my car in that day or I would be disobeying the Lord. I knew I had to do it.

I just didn’t know why.

Continue reading “When It Doesn’t Make Sense”

It NEVER Helps

Anger (detail from Seven Deadly Sins), Bosch

By Chaplain Mike

…the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. (James 1:20, NASB)

In my experience, it never helps.

Anger never improves a situation. Anger doesn’t work. Anger always make things worse. And anger has a multitude of unwanted consequences besides. Anger does not enable us to take forward steps in our relationships. Instead, it sows seeds of fear, distrust, and animosity that take root quickly and become nigh impossible to dig out again. Anger hurts. Anger leaves marks. Anger expressed can accelerate rapidly to emotional, verbal, and sometimes physical abuse. Anger held within and allowed to simmer can lead to withdrawal, alienation, and neglect. Anger turned on oneself can spiral down into depression, self-hatred, self-destructive habits or even actual suicide.

According to Jesus, anger toward another is the emotional equivalent of murder.

You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother,  ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. (Matthew 5:21-22)

Anger is the first condition of the human heart and experience that Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount. Moses, the Lawgiver whose laws Jesus speaks of in this sermon, was kept from entering the Promised Land because of unbelief that exploded in anger. In the Torah, the first sin outside the Garden that Moses wrote about was Cain’s anger, which turned into the actual murder of his brother. When the Apostle Paul wrote lists of vices for the ethical formation of his congregations, anger and related faults are always listed prominently.

“…there is nothing that can be done with anger that cannot be done better without it.” (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, 151)

Continue reading “It NEVER Helps”

Sermon: Walking in God’s Good Works

By Chaplain Mike

Below, you can listen to Chaplain Mike’s sermon, preached at a local Presbyterian church on 1/23/11. The Gospel reading for the day is Matthew 4:12-23.

Other texts we read in the service, supporting the message, were Isaiah 41:17-20, Acts 10:38, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-14.

http://www.box.net/embed/6b60h2f6i9i04vq.swf

Matthew 4:17, 23-25 (NASB)

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

…Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

Jesus Does Good Works of the Kingdom

Healing of the Blind Man, Buoninsegna

By Chaplain Mike

Today’s Gospel: Matthew 4:23-25

God anointed [Jesus] with the Holy Spirit and with power, and…He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38)

only one balm for this world’s pain
only one course can grief constrain
only one way will hope sustain…
love empow’rd by heaven

to all the poor, the blind, the lame
to all fast bound by fear and shame
to all with broken hearts he came…
love empow’rd by heaven

healing poor souls by hell possessed
healing the wounds of those oppressed
healing the weary, needing rest…
with love empow’rd by heaven

jesus, the source of all that heals
jesus, to hearts of faith appeals
jesus, the father’s grace reveals…
through love empow’rd by heaven

i come in sin’s deep misery
i come in need of remedy
i come, no other hope or plea…
to love empow’rd by heaven

heal’d, I stand and cast off shame
heal’d, I bow and bless his name
heal’d, I rise, new life to claim…
through love empow’rd by heaven

as we walk in life that’s new
as we walk, we share his view
as we walk, good works we do…
through love empow’rd by heaven

iMonk Classic: Why Doesn’t The Church Talk About Domestic Abuse?

Classic iMonk Post
by Michael Spencer
From Sept 17, 2009

From Kentucky.com, following a high profile murder that followed a high profile history of domestic abuse:

The news reports of the recent death of Amanda Ross, allege that she was a victim of domestic violence. Based on statistics, it is likely domestic violence is happening across all faith communities in Kentucky. (According to the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, in 2007, over 4,000 Kentuckians were in shelters, including 2,313 women and 1,760 children.) Are faith communities adequately addressing the problem?

Why doesn’t the church talk about domestic abuse?

1. It’s an issue where women and children are the victims of men’s sins (primarily), so it’s an uphill battle right there.

2. Scripture deals with “love your wife as Christ loves the church,” and the application is obvious, but none of Paul’s sin lists or our favorite parables or stories contain a guy who slaps around his girlfriend or a man who beats his wife when he’s drunk.

3. What’s the payoff for the average pastor who brings this up? Counseling women and hearing embarrassing secrets. And then….divorces. We all know how evangelicals feel about those….or, at least most of them

4. Never has the church’s need to develop its own counseling resources with women specializing in helping women been more obvious.

5. Deal with this much, and someone in your church is either going to jail, or to a lawyer. Families will point fingers, phones will ring, emails will be sent and it will all be your fault.

6. You can be sure it’s going to hit very close to home. Maybe too close for a lot of church leaders. Lots of people are going to be wrong. Lots of people are going to be guilty and lots of people are going to admit some scary things. Who wants to go there?

7. Plenty of women and men prefer to hear about how submission will get you through any marriage problem, and they need for that to be right. It’s what they have been told and what they are telling other women. If someone says I’m leaving a man who is hitting me, then a whole lot of problems occur for some people’s version of submission. (I do not believe that is necessary, btw. I think that is a wrong emphasis on submission and a right emphasis is what’s needed. Mutual love in Christ.)

8. You have to talk about emotional abuse, and now the circle just got very, very, very wide. Are you sure you want the women talking about that one? Pastor? Pastor? Hello?

9. Sexual abuse? Religious abuse? Financial abuse? A lot of roads, all with similar dynamics. Let’s just say we don’t want feminists and liberals starting trouble. IOWs, Who are we empowering with this discussion? Uh-huh.

10. And, as everyone knows, we don’t have those kinds of problems. We’re Christians.

A big salute to those churches and pastors who are on the front lines and involved in this issue. They are real warriors for compassion, justice and reconciliation.

For Further Reading: Check out: “Seven Reasons Women Stay In Abusive Relationships and How To Defeat Each One of Them,” by John Shore.

Saturday Ramblings 1.22.11

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and all the ships at sea. Flash—this just in. Today is Saturday, the day we generally reserve here at the iMonastery for cleaning up the piles that have accumulated throughout the week. We like to have a tidy home for the iMonks and all who visit here. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to sweep up, wipe down the counters, and do all that a good Saturday Rambler should.

On second thought, I think I’ll just ramble with you. May I?

Congratulations to iMonk and fellow Rambler Adam Palmer. Adam and his lovely wife Michelle welcomed Constance Palmer to our great family last Saturday. Mother and daughter are doing well, as are the other four Palmer chillins.  Adam is so excited he has yet to argue with my statement that The Long Surrender is Over the Rhine’s best album yet. Oh, but he wants to.

Just because it’s true, does that mean you have to say it out loud? Of course, it seems the current political climate will accept just about anyone but one who is openly Christian. I imagine if Alabama Governor Robert Bentley had said he only considers fellow Wiccans or Buddhists or Druids—anyone but Christians—to be his brothers and sisters it would not have created a stir. But Christians? He might as well have worn an Oregon Duck t-shirt to his inauguration. Things could be fun in ‘Bama for the next few years.

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The Intruder and His World

By Chaplain Mike

This world is ruled by violence,
But I guess that’s better left unsaid. (Bob Dylan)

• • •

One day recently, a dreaded Intruder came uninvited into our life. His coming was sudden and shocking, as though a blast of wind exploded out of nowhere, shattering our living room picture window, sending shards of glass hurtling mercilessly toward the unsuspecting, unprotected family sitting there together.

In a moment, it was as though we had walked innocently through a door, only to find ourselves under deadly attack behind enemy lines, bullets zinging ’round our ears, shrapnel flying haphazardly everywhere, manic foreign voices screaming for our destruction. We had entered a new world, an inhospitable world, a deeply disturbing and frightening world.

The Intruder’s name who rules that world, who shook our world, is named Violence.

In a short span of time, our family learned about and had to deal with a tragic suicide, a frightening armed robbery, and a disturbing domestic violence incident. Over the years, we have been blessedly immune from these kinds of life-altering events. Now, in the course of twenty-four hours, three separate violent episodes hit hard and hurt. Only time will reveal all the consequences.

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A Most Misunderstood Parable

You gotta count the cost
If you’re gonna be a believer
You gotta know that the price
Is the one you can afford
You gotta count the cost
If you’re gonna be a believer
You gotta go all the way
If you really love the Lord.

Count The Cost, David Meece

An interesting and little known fact in publishing is this: If you quote a biblical passage in a book—or on a blog like this—Christians will not read it. Their mind takes their eyes right over it and onto the next part of the text. The unspoken rationale in the mind of the reader is this: “This is from the Bible, and so I’ve already read it.” Crazy, I know, but it’s true. So I want to ask you to stop and read this passage before we get into the meat of what I want to discuss. It’s from Luke’s Gospel.

28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14: 28-33, ESV).

Ok, got it? Thanks for actually reading it. Now, let’s look at how we have read this passage upside-down for so long.

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Surrendering To His Teeth

He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.

(Psalm 91:15,16 NIV)

It was turning out to be one of the hardest days in what was the hardest year of my life. One day in the spring of last year I was coming undone. Emotionally, physically, and spiritually I was at an end. Where was God?

I had spent the morning pouring out my heart over coffee with my friend and colleague Matt. I had then called my friend and colleague Laree and yelled at her for an hour on the phone. Now it was my friend and colleague and fellow iMonk Adam’s turn. (It’s amazing to me I still have any friends or colleagues…)

I saw Adam at our church and dragged him into our prayer room. There I began my lament once again.

“Adam, right here in Psalm 91 it says God will be with me in my day of trouble. Well, today is my day of trouble. Where is he?”

Adam, whose patience is matched only by Job’s, looked at me and said, “I’d give up on him if I were you, Jeff. Obviously he hasn’t come through for you. Who needs a god like that? Now who will you trust? You? How has that worked so far?”

Continue reading “Surrendering To His Teeth”

IM Book Review: Turning Controversy into Church Ministry

By Chaplain Mike

Turning Controversy into Church Ministry: A Christlike Response to Homosexuality
by William P. Campbell
(Zondervan, 2010)

I responded to an invitation to participate in a “Blog Tour” of W.P. Campbell’s book on ministering to those in the homosexual community. In typical fashion, I’m tardy in getting my review out, but I hope the folks at Zondervan will forgive my slowness. You can read other reviews of this book HERE.

Publisher’s Blurb
While some churches debate the issue of homosexuality and others completely avoid it, struggling people fall through the cracks. This is a book for Christians and church leaders who want to rise above the debate and make a difference in the world by thinking, acting, and speaking in ways that express both redemptive truth and Christlike love.

The Author: W.P. Campbell
Campbell, who studied at Fuller Theological Seminary, is senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville, NC. As a Presbyterian, he experienced the controversies in the mainline denomination and has been thinking about this issue for over twenty years. He serves on the advisory board of OneByOne, a ministry that helps churches help those dealing with same-sex attraction.

Internet Monk Review (by Chaplain Mike)
Truth AND Grace—that is the ostensible framework of understanding that W.P. Campbell counsels the church to follow in its ministry to homosexuals and those dealing with sexual brokenness.

Congregations and entire denominations have done a good job of condemning, affirming, or avoiding homosexuality, but how many have fully embraced both the truth and grace Jesus offered? (p.13)

He calls Christian believers, not to compromise truth about sin and holiness, but to move to a place of deeper commitment, where truth and grace work together to minister to the gays in our communities.

Continue reading “IM Book Review: Turning Controversy into Church Ministry”