Positive Press for Evangelicals

Noted by Chaplain Mike…

You might be surprised to find a positive, affirming article about evangelicals in the secular press, but Nicholas D. Kristoff of the New York Times wrote an op-ed this weekend called “Learning from the Sin of Sodom” that praises evangelicals such as World Vision for the excellent work they are doing to meet real needs around the world.

In an addendum to the piece, Kristoff summarized his main point by saying this:

There’s a tendency for liberals to devote lots of ink to decrying conservative Christians, because of their positions on social issues. I disagree strongly with typical evangelical positions on gay marriage, abortion, abstinence only education — but I also think that liberals don’t appreciate the impact of the arrival of evangelicals into humanitarian space or give sufficient credit for that change.

Thank God for rightful recognition given. Perhaps this is a positive sign that the evangelical movement has turned a corner, leaving further behind failed culture war strategies and focusing more on serving the needy and working for justice. At any rate, others are watching and are impressed by the quality of missional work being done by Christians.

In the conclusion to his op-ed, Kristoff challenges secularists and religious alike, encouraging us to abandon some of our ingrained distrust of the other in order to work more in partnership for the common good.

If secular liberals can give up some of their snootiness, and if evangelicals can retire some of their sanctimony, then we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity, like illiteracy, human trafficking and maternal mortality.

Open Mic: What Have We Wrought?

This brief video from The BioLogos Foundation features Os Guiness talking about “Science and Faith in the Front Lines of the Culture Wars.” Watch it and let’s have a discussion.

Guiness says, “In many ways, the new atheists are partly created by the Religious Right. You can see that in America there is no vehement repudiation of religion until recently. In Europe, the atheism is a reaction to corrupt state churches. Here, you’ve never had that until the rise of the Religious Right.” Part of the reaction against religion, he argues, stems from the poor ways people of faith think about science.

What do you think? To what extent is culture war Christianity, including its commitment to views like “creation science,” responsible for the rise of reaction against religion in the U.S. and an impassioned public atheist movement?

I anticipate some strong opinions. Please keep the conversation civil and respectful.

Classic iMonk: Theology, Depression and the Unsolvable Problem of the Right Church

Church Pew with Worshippers, Van Gogh

A note from Chaplain Mike:
This classic iMonk post from January 2009 brings together a few important issues that Michael has written about over the years, particularly depression, theology, and the search for a church home.

I am going to write rather directly to those of you who feel that you are experiencing some measure of mental anguish, anxiety and depression in regard to theology and, especially, the church.

I have in mind, particularly, those who are tormented about the so-called “Search for the true Church.” I’ll be relating at least some of this to the subject of depression, which has been a major part of the menu here at IM this past week.Continue reading “Classic iMonk: Theology, Depression and the Unsolvable Problem of the Right Church”

Update from Michael: 2/22/10

Chaplain Mike received this note from Denise Spencer today:

Michael has finished his second round of chemotherapy treatments. They make him so exhausted that he spends most of his time in bed. His appetite is almost completely gone, too. He’s lost 60 pounds. (Thank You, Lord, for creating Ensure!)

It’s very difficult for Michael to keep his spirits up, as bad as he feels. Still, I’m grateful that he doesn’t have any more side effects than this…at least not yet.

Please pray that Michael will rest in God’s love day by day, hour by hour. And please pray for good health and strength for me as I take care of him.

Thank you so much.

In Memoriam: Morning Prayers

By Chaplain Mike

Introduction
In a vision from another life, I see my wife and I scrambling our four young children into the van and driving out to a house in the country. There, all over the porch and front yard, a recent litter of seventeen puppies cavorts. My kids squeal with delight and go about the task of choosing one, just one, to be our family pet. We’re buying our first home and I have insisted that a home in the suburbs with a big yard requires a dog. Eventually, our hearts settle on a little golden lab mix. We call her “Terra Nova.” Our home will be complete.

Fast forward to January, 2010, to a veterinary clinic in central Indiana. My son, now 22 years old, holds the golden girl that has been a best friend for most of his life while the doctor gently inserts a needle into her leg. Within seconds, she is gone, worn out from old age and kidney failure. We all cry. Who knew this would hurt so badly?

I still look for her when I come through the back door…

Continue reading “In Memoriam: Morning Prayers”

Update: Galli on Grace and Obligation

An update from Chaplain Mike…

Last week I put up a post called, “Redeeming a Dirty Word,” in which I tried to say that concepts like “obligation” and “duty” are not the undesirable ideas we have made them out to be in our day.

You might want to go back and review the post, and what folks had to say in their comments. Many couldn’t get their minds around my assertion that the ideas of “grace” and “obligation” are not opposed to one another.

To follow up on that post, I would like to share with you the following quote from Mark Galli in an article on Christianity Today that makes reinforces my point.

I thought it might give all of us, especially those who disagree with the concept of “obligation,” some more to think about. Galli says…

Those steeped in the grace of God know there is no difference between freedom and obedience, and that the spiritual life is all about being compelled. Jeremiah says he cannot hold in the message God has given him (Jer. 20:9). Paul feels obligated to preach to Gentiles (Rom. 1:14). Jesus describes salvation in a parable in which servants compel people to come to a banquet (Luke 14:23). What is the life of faith but one compelled by the love of God to love others? Grace is so extraordinary; it has been known to compel people to do extraordinary things, to do things that fill one with dread, to go to places one would rather not go—like church.

Well said, Mr. Galli. I’m indebted to you. : )

Practice Resurrection, part three

Chaplain Mike continues his response to this new book.

We’re back after a break to resume our introduction to and consideration of Eugene Peterson’s latest book. Practice Resurrection is a theological conversation on growing to maturity in Christ, based on a study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

In concluding his introduction to the epistle, Peterson draws attention to two texts that bring out Paul’s message.

The first is Ephesians 4.1: “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life [walk] worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” The key word is “worthy.” The word is a metaphor, referring to a balancing scale. Situated as it is, right at the pivot point in the letter, this picture-word describes the exact balance point at which we find wholeness and maturity in Christ. “When God’s calling and our walking fit, we are growing up in Christ.”

The second text is Psalm 68, a passage Paul quotes in chapter 4 of his letter. Peterson writes about how Paul adapts this text to describe Jesus, ascending as King to heaven, receiving gifts of worship (which is the emphasis of the psalm), but then giving gifts to his people as well (Paul’s emphasis). This is extremely significant for Paul, for by placing the emphasis here,

Paul lays out the conditions in which we grow up, namely, in a profusion of gifts: “When he ascended on high…he gave gifts to his people.” The ascended Jesus, Jesus at the right hand of the Father, Christ the King, launched his rule by giving gifts, gifts that turn out to be ways in which we participate in his kingly, gospel rule. This kingdom life is a life of entering more and more into a world of gifts, and then, as we are able, using them in a working relationship with our Lord.

This is one of the best sentences I have read in a long time: “This kingdom life is a life of entering more and more into a world of gifts…” Growing up in Christ is a process of continual discovery, an ongoing exploration and appropriation of the grace of God. We have been brought into a new creation, filled with wondrous benefits and blessings, God-soaked through and through. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1.3).

These two texts complement each other. Specifically, Psalm 68 grounds Ephesians 4.1 and its balance metaphor in God’s grace and generosity toward us in Christ. Without it, the task of “growing up in Christ” would be a hopeless endeavor. We could never “walk” in a way that is worthy of God’s “calling” by ourselves.

However, because our King has ascended on high and brought us into his glorious reign, we can now grow because we live and move and have our being in a new creation that is filled with God’s gifts.

Form for Confession in Lent

Last night in our Ash Wednesday service we used the Litany of Penitence from the Book of Common Prayer. I was impressed with it, as a comprehensive form for confessing our sins before God. I plan on using it throughout the Lenten season in my daily prayers.

Perhaps it can be useful to you as well on your Lenten journey.

Blessings…

Litany of Penitence

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ.
We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness:
the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways,
and our exploitation of other people,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration,
and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts,
and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship,
and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done:
for our blindness to human need and suffering,
and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments,
for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors,
and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation,
and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

Classic iMonk: The Boat in the Backyard

A note from Chaplain Mike:
We will be running some posts from the iMonk archives that deal with the subject of depression. This classic post that Michael Spencer wrote in 2004 tells the intimate story of a father’s depression and a boy who finally understands.

When I was twelve years old, my father bought a small aluminum boat, just enough for two people to use for fishing in the local lakes. He put it in our backyard. It had a tiny motor that sat in our shed. He bought the boat so we could go fishing together, father and son. It was his dream, a father’s dream that I can now relate to as I share ball games and movies with my own son.

The boat never took us fishing. In fact, it never got in the water. It remains there in the back yard, photographed by my memory, waiting for a fishing trip that would never happen. In my tendency to personify objects in my world, I picture that boat as eager and expectant, then confused, and eventually depressed. Its purpose- its joy?- was not to be fulfilled.

Continue reading “Classic iMonk: The Boat in the Backyard”