IM Book Review: Your Church Is Too Small

By Chaplain Mike

Although the church of Jesus Christ is found in many different places, she is one true church, not many. After all, there are many rays of sunlight, but only one sun. A tree has many boughs, each slightly different from others, but all drawing their strength from one source. Many streams may flow down a hillside, but they all originate from the same spring. In exactly the same way each local congregation belongs to the one true church.

Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 3rd Century

Friend of Internet Monk, John H. Armstrong, president of ACT 3, is an adjunct professor of evangelism at Wheaton College Graduate School, author and editor of numerous books, with over twenty years of pastoral experience. Today, we offer the first of three reviews of John’s passionate and provocative new book.

It is called, Your Church Is Too Small, and in its pages John Armstrong describes the “three conversions” he has had in his life.Continue reading “IM Book Review: Your Church Is Too Small”

It’s OK…to Just Be a Christian

By Chaplain Mike

MOD NOTE: Comments are closed.

I hope this will come as a bit of good news to you today. Maybe it will help you stop beating yourself up unnecessarily. I hope it will help us all to that end.

What I have to tell you is…

It’s OK.

It’s OK to just be a Christian.

It’s OK to just be a person who knows and is thankful that God loves you and gave his Son for you.

It’s OK to just be a person of the cross, to know that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again for the world’s salvation.

Really, it’s OK.Continue reading “It’s OK…to Just Be a Christian”

The Appearances of the Risen Christ, 2

By Chaplain Mike

We are marking the Great Fifty Days of Easter with a series of devotional thoughts on the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.

Today we return to the scene on Easter Sunday morning, as described in Matthew 28:1-10 (NIV).

Text

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”Continue reading “The Appearances of the Risen Christ, 2”

Sunday’s Gospel: Joy Comes in the Morning

By Chaplain Mike

Each Sunday, we present devotional thoughts based upon the Gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Today is the third Sunday in Easter.
Today’s Gospel is John 21:1-19.

Gospel Text

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

Continue reading “Sunday’s Gospel: Joy Comes in the Morning”

iMonk Classic: Thoughts on Seeking the Kingdom of God

Each Saturday, IM will post a classic article by Michael Spencer.

Originally posted June 18, 2009

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33 NLT)

1. You won’t get very far in following Jesus if you don’t have some idea of what “the Kingdom of God” means, because Jesus talks about it constantly, and commands you to seek it.

2. Most Christian spirituality has practically pursued this as meaning, “Go to the church and all you need to know of the Kingdom is there.” That’s a very inadequate answer, and you don’t have to be an exceptionally deep Christian to know that.Continue reading “iMonk Classic: Thoughts on Seeking the Kingdom of God”

Saturday Ramblings 4.17.10

Editor’s note: Comments that disagree with the post or its contents are welcome. Disagreeable comments are not.

Saturday Ramblings will be a regular feature here at Internet Monk, our attempt to clean the kitchen at the end of each week. Saturdays are a good day to clean up around the house and yard, putting away the stuff we dragged out throughout the week. We’ll try to present items of note that may not have a deserved a whole post, or that we didn’t have time to get to, or were just too darn busy to write about. Grab a second (or tenth) cup of coffee, put your feet up for a few minutes, and enjoy some Saturday Ramblings.

Antony Flew died this week at the age of 87. Flew, the son of a Methodist minister, was a renowned atheist philosopher until 2004 when he declared that he was now a deist. The change came through his study of DNA and led to his saying, “The most impressive arguments for God’s existence are those that are supported by recent scientific discoveries.” In 2007 Flew released There Is A God. He continued to state he was a deist only, not a Christian. I wonder if his views have changed now…

Jennifer Knapp has come out with a new album, Letting Go. And that is not the only way she has come out. She confirmed long-standing rumors that she has been in a same-sex relationship for some time. Her music has always had a strong degree of honesty and vulnerability, and now she is being open and honest about this very difficult aspect of her life. Christianity Today has a very good interview with Jennifer, and Matthew Lee Anderson at Mere Orthodoxy talks about why this is bound to ignite a firestorm of evangelicals vs. homosexuals comments which will do very little good for anyone, especially the very real person of Jennifer Knapp.

Good news for those who want to experience God, but at times and places of their own choosing. Apparently taking a dose of the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin can give you the same religious feelings you get from a really good worship service. No more hassles of the getting whole family ready for Sunday service. Just add a pill to the morning bowl of corn flakes and you can experience the experiencing of God in the comfort of your own home! Mark Galli of Christianity Today comments on this fantastic discovery. Warning: This article could be dangerous to the minds of those addicted to “worship highs.”

You most likely know by now that John Piper has requested an eight month sabbatical from his duties as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis beginning May 1. Here is there sermon in which he outlines his reasons for this request.

Site news: In case you missed it, we wrote about the changes here at Internet Monk a little more than a week ago. Please continue to pray for us as we transition without really transitioning, if you know what I mean. We want to maintain the continuity of this unique community as much as we can, yet we know we cannot stand still either. We are praying for wisdom and skill in continuing our journey in the post-evangelical wilderness. Thanks to all who have sent along very good comments to Chaplain Mike and myself.

Finally, this is known in advertising as a “tease.” We are close to announcing a way that we can help those among our family who are authors. This is a way you can get your writing published and, at the same time, help the Internet Monk community. We’ll have more information next week–same Bat time, same Bat channel. If you can’t wait until then, you can drop me a note, and I’ll try to get back to you as quickly as I can.

“Man is born broken. He spends his life mending. God’s grace is the glue.” Eugene O’Neill, from The Great God Brown.

OK, You Asked…

By Chaplain Mike

I promise—this will be the end of discussion on the topic of “creationism” for a while.

Too many responders failed to grasp that yesterday’s rant was NOT primarily about creation vs. evolution, but about the culture-war tactics of the “creationists” (ala Ken Ham) who are not really interested in science or even in the Bible, but in winning the moral crusade they think God has called the church to fight.

However, the issue of creation vs. evolution is still there, isn’t it?

So I posted Michael Spencer’s thoughtful and careful explanation of how he came to his position on this. I thought it demonstrated the fact that someone who is a devoted Christian and lover of Scripture can legitimately come to a different conclusion on the subject without the sky falling down.

Many of you asked me about my own views. I have already written a post explaining my understanding of Genesis 1, but I thought today I would wrap up this conversation for now by letting you know what I think.

You asked, so here it is…(drum roll please)Continue reading “OK, You Asked…”

The Appearances of the Risen Christ, 1

By Chaplain Mike

As I said in a recent post, Easter is a season in the Christian year, not simply one day. Easter is the Great Fifty Days!

As one way of marking this season of celebration, we will run a series of devotional thoughts on the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. These will be posted each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from today until the Friday before Pentecost, May 21.

Today we begin with Paul’s “creed” from 1Corinthians 15:1-11.Continue reading “The Appearances of the Risen Christ, 1”

iMonk Classic: To Be or Not To Be, or Why I’m Not A Young Earth Creationist

Written by Michael Spencer

MOD NOTE: Comments are closed.

This is most (not all) of an IM essay written during the early years of this web site (2001 I think.) My children were up to their ears in Ham/Hovind videos and I was feeling very alone in my own reading of Genesis. Things are better now, though the seeds of young earth creationism have borne their inevitable fruit. Hopefully, it will encourage some of you to continue thinking about these issues.

The Roots of My Problem

I have been reading creationist materials since high school. I bought The Genesis Flood when I was a very young Christian. I was converted in a fundamentalist church that contained very few college educated members, but they were aware of the challenge posed by the teaching of evolution. Darwin’s theories were skewered and preached against, in traditional fundamentalist fashion, by preachers who had never read Darwin or sat through a college biology course.Continue reading “iMonk Classic: To Be or Not To Be, or Why I’m Not A Young Earth Creationist”