Remembering Jack

Monday was the 47th anniversary of the death of the man many consider the greatest Christian writer of the 20th century. C.S. Lewis died on November 22, 1963—the same day as Aldous Huxley and John F. Kennedy. Lewis was the author of such classics as Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, and the Chronicles of Narnia. He was a renowned medieval English scholar at Oxford (and, in his latter years, Cambridge). But most of all, he was just Jack to his friends. And he had many friends.

Today I thought we would visit with Jack, counting ourselves among his friends. He spent much of his time with companions in local pubs, reading, arguing, discussing, laughing. Imagine yourself in an English pub, and you see Lewis engaged in conversation with J.R.R. Tolkien and Owen Barfield. Wouldn’t it be great to just listen to what Lewis had to say to his friends? So grab a pint, pull up a chair, and listen as Jack Lewis shares some of his thoughts with us.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”

Continue reading “Remembering Jack”

Difficult Scriptures: Thanksgiving Edition

11-13It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14-16Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.

17-19Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.” (Luke 17:11-19, The Message)

This is not a difficult passage of Scripture to understand. Ten lepers come to Jesus seeking to be healed. Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priest, and as they do as Jesus said they are healed. All ten are healed, but only one comes back to thank Jesus.

Pretty straightforward stuff, isn’t it? So why is it, if it is so easy to understand, that so few of us return to thank Jesus for all he has done for us? Or am I the only one who, when reading this in Luke’s Gospel, feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in not returning to say Thank You? If returning thanks glorifies God, should we not make thanksgiving a year-round event?

So in today’s Difficult Scriptures, I want to offer you the opportunity to thank God for what you have received from him. Share with us what you are thankful to God for. Let us all glorify God together for the great things he has done.

Thank You, Lord

Garden of Gratitude, Caroline James

A Prayer of Thanks
By Chaplain Mike

Thank you, Lord,
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…

For life itself, the gift I take most for granted.

For my baptism and introduction to the Gospel when I was but a helpless, trusting infant.

For my family and my heritage.

For my birthplace and upbringing in a good, prosperous, and free land, as part of a generation that lacked for little.

For an incredible variety of friends and experiences over the years.

For protecting me during the foolishness of my youth.

For guiding my steps, though I have been almost totally clueless when it comes to making choices in my life; somehow a way has always been set before me.

For my teachers, formal and informal, who have been second only to my family in shaping my life.

For a spiritual awakening in my teen years that kept me from being a statistic.Continue reading “Thank You, Lord”

Neighbors

By Chaplain Mike

The man’s tears were unsettling. There is something about a man crying uncontrollably that shakes me. His dying wife was in the bed across the room, speaking occasionally, but mostly lying with eyes closed, comfortable but waning. He cried for her. He cried for himself. He cried for the fact that he was losing the life they had shared for decades.

In particular, he was anxious about finances. Long the family provider, he now saw bills filling the mailbox day after day, from the usual utilities to the extraordinary medical bills, and he knew the funds in his bank account were insufficient to cover them. The one area he had always controlled was now beyond his control. As for other matters, he knew he was in over his head. He knew he had to trust the doctors and medical experts with regard to his wife’s condition. And he didn’t worry much about his kids any more. They had grown and were taking care of their own lives now. But the money—he had been careful about that. These should have been their golden years, when the money he had earned and they had saved together would support them in a life of modest comfort.

Instead, he found himself with a futile finger in the dike, water leaking and spraying around it into his face, the wall bulging and threatening to overwhelm him with a torrent of flood waters any moment.Continue reading “Neighbors”

Church Year Spirituality: Faith of Our Family

By Chaplain Mike

When I was a pastor in local non-denominational congregations, I found it difficult to maintain a sense of cohesion and togetherness within the church’s program. Each church, of course, had its own traditions, and they created a certain level of family identity and oneness. But I’m talking about something deeper than when we held the annual congregational meeting or Vacation Bible School or church picnic.

Like many evangelical pastors, I tried to rally us around sermon series. However, it became disappointing to realize that people were not hanging on my every word! So much happened in people’s lives between Sundays that folks rarely maintained the mental connections between last Sunday’s sermon and the one I gave today. I was studying all week long; for the most part, they weren’t. Plus, people weren’t always there every week due to work or family schedules. I tried to create some continuity by writing daily devotionals to go along with the sermon. A few used them sporadically. We tried linking our small group studies to the message with limited success.

I discovered that evangelical Christianity, with its pervasive emphasis on individual faith, was also working against me. If my sermons weren’t “scratching where people itched,” then they just went down to the Christian bookstore and found a book or Bible study for themselves, searched out some preacher on TV, radio or the internet that was dealing with their issues, or even went to another church that “met their needs.”Continue reading “Church Year Spirituality: Faith of Our Family”

Church Year Spirituality: Some Resources

By Chaplain Mike

Over this past week, many have asked about resources for understanding and keeping the Church Year. I have compiled a starter list here in three categories:

  1. Books that give an overview of the Church Year to help individuals, families, and churches grasp its basic concepts and begin participating in Church Year spirituality.
  2. Books that can aid believers in conforming their daily prayer and devotional lives to the framework of the seasons of the Church Year.
  3. Books and resources that focus specifically on the upcoming Advent season, so that we can get a good start this year.

What criteria did I use in selecting these resources? First, I am recommending books that I myself have found useful. Second, others are on my own “Wish List” because I have seen them and they look intriguing to me. Third, I am suggesting links to publishers and their catalogs of resources because I have used some of their materials (but not all) and have found them helpful. The catalogs may enable those in different seasons of life (for example, with young children) to find additional resources to meet specific needs.

Each of us is unique, so you will have your favorites, and some of mine may not resonate as deeply with you. If any in our iMonk community would like to make additional suggestions, please feel free to do so.

My best recommendation for you would be to join a faith community that practices Church Year spirituality. As I will argue in my next post, this pattern is designed to enable Christians to experience his life, death, and resurrection not only as individuals, but also together with one another in God’s family. If you are part of such a community now, you should take your first counsel from the ministers and mentors in your own tradition, for each stream of the Christian faith has its own emphases and detailed practices. Your local church or denominational publishing house may be able to guide you more specifically than I can here.Continue reading “Church Year Spirituality: Some Resources”

Christ the King Sunday

Christ Enthroned, Lenz

By Chaplain Mike

Today is “The Feast of Christ the King” the final Sunday in the church year.

This feast of worship is not some relic from medieval times, when kings ruled the earth. No, “Christ the King” Sunday is one of most recent additions to the church calendar. It was introduced in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in the encyclical Quas Primas as an antidote to the rising secularism that he saw in the world. Europe was reeling from World War I, facing economic uncertainty, and witnessing the rise of dictators who were promising to make everything right. The Pope saw people of faith being taken in by the earthly philosophies and false promises of such leaders. Respect for Jesus as Lord and ruler of life was waning, and so Pope Pius instituted this feast with three hopes:

  1. That nations would see that the church is ruled by Christ, and thus has freedom and is immune from the state;
  2. That leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ;
  3. That the faithful would gain strength and courage as we allow Christ to reign fully in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies.

Continue reading “Christ the King Sunday”

iMonk Classic: Do You Know What Your Church Is Doing Next Sunday?

Classic iMonk Post
by Michael Spencer
From Feb 23, 2009

Note from CM: Here is one of Michael Spencer’s posts on the Church Year and how it might be used fruitfully by evangelicals.

“Part of the problem is that evangelicals really don’t have traditions,” said Carter. “Instead, we have these fads that are built on the strengths and talents of individual leaders. … But a real tradition can be handed on to anyone, from generation to generation. It’s hard to hand these evangelical fads down like that, so it seems like we’re always starting over. It’s hard to build something that really lasts.”– Joe Carter as quoted by Terry Mattingly

What’s your church going to be doing next week?

How you answer that question says a lot about where you are in Christianity.

If you are in the kind of Baptist fundamentalism I grew up in, you know that your pastor is going to preach whatever God leads him to preach, and that’s basically it.

You can usually count on a sermon themed around the national holidays, the election, Christmas and Easter. Other than that, you just never know. (We never picked Pentecost over Mother’s Day at any Southern Baptist church I attended.)

Continue reading “iMonk Classic: Do You Know What Your Church Is Doing Next Sunday?”

Saturday Ramblings 11.20.10

It’s leaf-raking time here at the iMonastery. We are very organized as monks. Chaplain Mike is in charge of gathering all of the orange leaves, Damaris gets the yellows, Lisa the reds, and Adam the browns. Joe and Mike are supposed to pick up all of the twigs, but spend most of their time throwing acorns at the leaf-rakers. Me? Well, I have the most important job of all. I gather up the Saturday Ramblings.

We keep hearing how the U.S. dollar is sinking faster than the Dallas Cowboys. Now we read how the devalued dollar is hurting overseas missionaries. The donations they rely on for their monthly expenses just aren’t going as far these days. Many missionaries are finding it necessary to spend more time fundraising and less time doing the work they are called to do. Is there perhaps a better way to fund missions than what we are doing now?

Looking for a new career? Do you enjoy screaming, heads spinning 360 degrees, vile speech and projectile vomit? The Catholic Church has just the job for you. Seems there is a shortage of exorcists just now. Al Mohler, however, doesn’t see the need for exorcists. He obviously has never been around an Oakland Raiders fan.

Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings 11.20.10”

Church Year Spirituality: The Eastern Orthodox Calendar

Note from CM: In our “Church Year Spirituality” series, I have focused on the calendar of the Western church, and have done so in an intentionally general way. This is the church to which I belong, and so I speak from that perspective. I have not focused on specific differences between traditions within the Western stream, because I am trying to make a general point, and because I think believers should conform their practice to the particular tradition to which they belong and take their guidance about more detailed practices from their own spiritual leaders.

However, several commenters attracted my attention with their interest in the Eastern church calendar. So I have asked Fr. Ernesto, friend of iMonk and one of our Liturgical Gangstas, to help us understand how the Orthodox churches live the Christian calendar.

The Eastern Orthodox Church Year
By Fr. Ernesto Obregon

I was asked to write about the Eastern Orthodox Church Year and our approach to it. At first glance, the Orthodox Church Year looks pretty much the same as the Church Year of Western churches. All Christians celebrate the movable feasts of Palm Sunday, Pascha (Easter), and Pentecost, and the immovable feast of Christmas. Liturgical churches have an additional number of feasts they have in common. So, there is not that much difference, right? Well, yes and no. Though the yearly cycle of the feasts is apparently almost identical, there are two differences in approach that are important to note.Continue reading “Church Year Spirituality: The Eastern Orthodox Calendar”