The Rebel Jesus

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants’ windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
While the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God’s graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

Jackson Browne, The Rebel Jesus

My younger daughter, Leah, came by on Sunday with her husband to decorate my house for Christmas. Once we had the lights and decorations up on the tree (always a live tree, never artificial), Leah went about putting up other sentimental decorations around the house. Doorknob hangers. An angel candleholder. Kermit the Frog decked out in his Christmas vest. And, of course, the creche.

It’s a nice creche as creches go. There is a wooden structure where Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus can reside. Outside are some shepherds—one holding a lamb on his shoulders—and the three wise men. (A couple of years ahead of their time, but let’s not be picky here, ok?) And of course a sheep and a donkey.

I’m looking at the creche right now. It is on a counter between my coffee room (it’s actually a wet bar, but as I don’t really imbibe that often in adult beverages, but drink an inordinate amount of coffee, I made this into my coffee room) and the family room. Right now it is sitting in the dark. I can barely make out the various figures in the scene. If you were to walk into my house right now, chances are you wouldn’t even notice it. Just like those in Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth.

Continue reading “The Rebel Jesus”

Building a Cradle for Jesus

Two Women by a Cradle. Hoogstraten

By Chaplain Mike

Where meek souls will
Receive Him still
The dear Christ enters in.

• “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” Brooks

I am not good at working with my hands to fashion beautiful artistic creations. Never have been and probably never will be. I’m better with books and people and such, and have not developed the fine motor skills, keen attention to detail, and patient perspective and work ethic demanded of a craftsman who works in wood or another medium. I admire those people and what they make. I am not one of them.

Something I do know about is getting ready for babies. My wife and I have had children, four of them, along with three grandchildren, so I have some idea about the process of anticipating and preparing for a newborn in the house. Somehow, a lot of other “important” things get pushed aside when a baby’s on the way, especially if it happens to be the first child.

One’s attention gets riveted on the due date and what must be done to prepare for the new arrival. A room must be readied, furniture procured and arranged. A whole list of “baby stuff” grows and grows as you come to understand what you will need. Doctor appointments must be kept. Mom’s diet and other aspects of her health must be carefully monitored. Inexperienced parents take birthing classes to help them grasp and get ready for the delivery process. Questions fill our minds and conversations: Boy or girl? What will we name him or her? Natural birth? Which doctor? Or should we use a midwife? Which hospital or birthing center, or should we consider a home birth? What are the rules for mom’s maternity leave, for dad’s work, and how can we prepare financially for the changes to come? Breast or bottle feeding? Cloth or disposable diapers? These and a thousand other related matters fill our minds during the season of pregnancy and childbirth.

When a baby is coming, we get focused. We alter heart, mind, and behavior to welcome new life.Continue reading “Building a Cradle for Jesus”

Living In the In-Between

By Chaplain Mike

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

• Hebrews 6:11-12 (NIV)

I am going to confess something here that I normally would not say in general conversation. I’m not always a happy person. I’m just not. I struggle with discontent, anger, regret, bitterness, impatience, discouragement, and wanting to give up. I whine a lot. There are moments when oaths and curses explode through my lips. Some days I just want to go back to bed. There are many times, I’m sure, when people avoid me. They see the sour look on my face and cross the street to walk on the other side. I’ve been known to throw or kick things occasionally. In quieter moments, I may just let out a series of sighs, clench my jaw till my teeth hurt, pace the floor, flip relentlessly through the TV channels, or putter around the house without purpose.

Why? Because I hate to wait.Continue reading “Living In the In-Between”

You Are What You Wear

By Chaplain Mike

An illustration from my pastor’s sermon Sunday:

Not too many years ago, my wife and I were on a rare date downtown Indianapolis. It was in the heat of August, so we were at an outside table on the sidewalk on Washington Street. There we were, enjoying the moment of closeness, when out of the corner of my eye passes an individual in a Star Wars storm trooper costume. I looked around and saw another and then another. And over there was Princess Leah . . . over there three Luke Skywalkers . . . Jaba the Hut! I looked at my wife, and then at my adult beverage, then to the storm troopers.

It turns out the national Star Wars convention was in town that weekend. And heavens! Did they ever dress the part?! Man! Were they were living the story, acting the character, and caught up in the moment!

When it comes to the Adventure we have with Jesus Christ, you should know that it is not only the people in the Bible world who dress differently. They are not the only ones who put on new apparel and live a different story. But each one of you, as you become part of the adventure of Jesus’ life, will dress differently. You will present yourself to the world differently. You live out of a new sense of identity and character.

The apostle Paul says in Galatians 3:27, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

And in Romans13:14 he says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

As one of the characters in Jesus’ adventure, you have a new sense of self, a new identity to live from. And as you allow yourself, as you give yourself the freedom to get caught up in the moment, to live the story, you will never feel more alive.

In Jesus, we have the privilege of living in God’s story of redemption. At times, we may appear to the world as strange and as out of place as the participants in a Star Wars convention. They may think we’re only fantasizing, trying to fulfill a wish-dream, getting caught up in a meaningless display of play-acting.

Nothing is more real. As Pastor Mike said, “Give yourself the freedom to get caught up in the moment. Live the story. You will never feel more alive.”

You can read the whole sermon at Pastor Mike’s blog.

Is There a Church There?

Yeonpyeong Island (AFP/Getty Images)

By Chaplain Mike

Last week’s provocative bombing of Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea made us all feel a little more insecure, even as we read words about beating swords into plowshares on the first Sunday of Advent. Those who welcome the Prince of Peace at this time of year should be on the front lines of praying for peace in this dangerous situation.

At the ministry Open Doors, whose mission is to serve persecuted Christians worldwide, they quote their founder Brother Andrew, who says one question believers should always ask when a crisis occurs somewhere in the world is: Is there a church there?”

Continue reading “Is There a Church There?”

My Christmas Poet

By Chaplain Mike

For years now, a favorite book in my library has been an old worn copy of The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti, published in 1904. A brief note in fountain pen ink inside the cover says that it was given as a Christmas gift in 1908, and a sticker in the back identifies the vendor as a bookshop in Belfast.

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), was one of the most important women poets in Victorian England. A devout evangelical Anglican, she spurned one offer of marriage because her suitor converted to Roman Catholicism, and another because she “enquired into his creed and found he was not a Christian.” She never married or left home.

Her father was Italian and her mother English. Her godmother was Napoleon’s niece. Though she had wide exposure to a variety of people and cultures, her family was relatively poor and she spent most of her life involved in activities at home, with parents and siblings. In the memoir included in the book, her brother wrote, “…the life of Christina Rossetti presents hardly any incident.”

Christina was a scrupulous adherent of her faith. It is said she gave up playing chess because she found she enjoyed winning too much! Though she mixed with many prominent authors and artists in her day, she did not uniformly approve of their works. She pasted strips of paper over certain passages in Swinburne’s Atalanta in Calydon because she considered them anti-religious and offensive, and after doing so, she found herself able to enjoy the poem. After the death of her beloved brother Dante Gabriel, Rossetti became a recluse and stayed home, concentrating on her own religious life. Her older sister Maria, likewise observant, became an Anglican nun.Continue reading “My Christmas Poet”

Advent I—Fervent in Hope

By Chaplain Mike

Text for Advent I—Isaiah 2:1-5

On each Sunday of Advent, we light a candle on the Advent Wreath, gradually turning darkness to light to mark the coming of Jesus. There is no universal liturgy attached to the candlelighting, but this year we will follow a common way of expressing its significance.

The first candle represents Hope. In lighting it, we acknowledge that the ultimate hope for our lives and our world lies in God’s promise of a new creation that he himself will bring.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Continue reading “Advent I—Fervent in Hope”

iMonk Classic: Does the Story Matter?

Classic iMonk Post
by Michael Spencer
From Dec 22, 2004

The other day, we were talking about Jesus’ command to “judge not,” and I said this in a post about how I have learned to think about judging others.

Connected to this is the humility that needs to accompany all claims of knowledge of other persons. Boy oh boy oh boy have I learned this at OBI. I may know the behavior, but I don’t know the story, or the journey. Every day I ask God to keep me humble in what I say about a student’s behavior, because I had a pretty normal childhood, and many of these kids haven’t had the first normal day yet. So when I “judge”- and I have to, as do we all here- I try to keep in mind that I see very very little of the big picture.

A commenter posted the following response.

QUOTE: “I may know the behavior, but I don’t know the story, or the journey.”The story and the journey do not matter. Sin is sin. Saul had a story and journey behind his consulting the medium at Endor. Uzzah had a story and journey behind reaching out to hold up the ark. Ananias and Sapphira had a story and journey behind lying about the money they had given.

The scourge of our age is that no one takes responsibility for their sin. There’s always a story and always a reason and always some other thing that shifts the blame.

But when God says “don’t,” you don’t. End of story (and journey, too.) That’s our problem–we just can’t leave it at that. Relativism and the postmodern mindset has instilled in this generation the idea that motives count more than truth. That’s been wrong since The Garden and will continue to be wrong.

Now, if you noticed that I never said the actions in question weren’t wrong, you are a good and reasonable reader. If you noticed that I never suggested excusing anyone for things done wrong, you are also a good and calm person. I commend you.

It made me think about a story. It’s one of those stories that I think is very important in my life, because I have thought about it over and over, and it always means more each time. It’s a story about something I did wrong, and how my father handled it. It also seems to be a story about God, and it is my answer to the guy who says our stories and journeys don’t matter.Continue reading “iMonk Classic: Does the Story Matter?”

Saturday Ramblings 11.27.10

What a feast we had here at the iMonastery. Thanksgiving is a time when we get together for food, food and more food. Mike Bell joined us, even though 1) Canada celebrated their Thanksgiving last month, and 2) it’s hockey season. Lisa and Damaris both brought great looking pies. We didn’t get to eat them, however, due to the unfortunate pie-throwing incident between Joe and Adam. Chaplain Mike may have overdone it on the turkey, though. Just before slipping into a tryptophan-induced coma he was heard to say over and over. “But Thanksgiving should be on the church calendar.” First Lady Denise Spencer just shook her head and made us all do the dishes before we could move on to other Thanksgiving traditions: the ladies watching football and the men fighting over the Black Friday ads from the paper. But never fear—we still have enough leftovers for a heaping helping of Saturday Ramblings.

A week or so ago I wrote on being God’s Fool, and talked about a modern-day St. Francis, Keith Wheeler. Several of you have asked about Keith’s experience in front of a firing squad. I emailed him about this, wondering if he got a blindfold and cigarette. He responded, “No cigarette, or blindfold!  Just a lot of guns and a countdown at 2 a.m. that ended in the guns being scattered all over the place and the soldiers knocked down, then fleeing and screaming and crying like little girls!  It’s an amazing story of God’s goodness!” I still want to hear the full story. Keith also responded to those who wondered if carrying the cross around the world in dangerous places is really what the Lord would have him to do. He said, “You’re right. I may be wrong.  I may even be misled.  I may get to heaven and Jesus might look at me, laugh and scratch his head and say, ‘Son, I didn’t mean for you to CARRY a cross!  I meant for you to PREACH the cross around the world.’  But I think He’ll continue and say, ‘Thanks for trying!’  Jeff, I would rather miss God’s will TRYING to obey, than sit around wondering, analyzing and doing nothing at all.” You can read more about Keith and his adventures on his web site.

Could it be that Catholic colleges do a better job educating athletes than their non-Catholic counterparts? And if so, why? By the way, the school in this article, Xavier in Cincinnati, is my second-favorite college basketball team. Go X!

Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings 11.27.10”

Another Look: Evangelicalism and Special Seasons

By Chaplain Mike

Note from CM: This article was originally posted on Dec. 2, 2009. As we prepare to mark Advent and Christmas again this year, I thought we might revisit it and discuss how our churches approach special seasons.

When I ministered in suburban evangelical churches (nine years in one as worship pastor), there were two times each year when I struggled most against the infiltration of American secular culture into the church. These two times also happened to be the main feasts of the church, Christmas and Easter.

One would think that, of all times in the year, Christians would keep these two holy seasons sacred, but what I have found is…

1. The way people approach these seasons is defined more by individual and family traditions than by church traditions.
In our busy and mobile society, the holidays are travelin’ times and family get-together times first and foremost. As a pastor and worship leader, I encouraged our people to follow the liturgical calendar to some extent. Inevitably however, we had to push special Christmas events earlier into December in order to successfully “compete” against family gatherings and programs. Or, we found that Holy Week and Spring Break (the true holiday?) conflicted, so that we almost always had to announce and celebrate the resurrection before commemorating when Jesus went to the Cross!

Christmas Eve and Good Friday services were usually poorly attended. Forget about planning additional gatherings or service opportunities during Advent or the time around Easter. The extra effort involved in putting together special ways of commemorating the great events of our faith seemed wasted when we considered how few would participate or attend.

2. Patterns of worship in some congregations vary little from the way worship is practiced during other parts of the year.
One pastor with whom I worked insisted that, except for some decorations and maybe a couple of different songs, worship on special days would be exactly the same as on any other Sunday. His reasoning was that more unbelievers would attend services on those days and that we should therefore show them what it is like all the time. He usually did not change his message but continued the Bible book series he was teaching, the band played mostly the same praise and worship songs, and the “feel” of the service was consistent with other Sundays.

I always thought he missed the point of worship, for one thing. And the importance of God’s family celebrating Jesus and his works in these special seasons. And the opportunity to use the seasons for the spiritual formation of believers. And the fact that we are primarily to reach unbelievers in the world, not in the worship services of the church.

In my experience in evangelicalism, whenever the church calendar has a face-off with the family calendar, school calendar, or community calendar, the church calendar usually loses.

I have had countless discussion with church leaders about this, and I wonder what you think.

Open Mic Discussion
How far should we go in accommodating culture? On the other hand, are there times when the church should simply insist that “this is what we do to fulfill God’s calling in Christ,” and exhort the people in our congregations to make the services of the church their priority? And if we do this, how do we avoid becoming legalistic or domineering over our congregations?