Cursing the Fall

Today’s guest blogger is Jeremy Berg. Thanks, Jeremy!

This reflection from last spring seems a timely word to all who are struggling to make sense of the recent Haiti disaster. May we send our curses in the right direction.

I was doing the annual spring yard clean-up this past spring.  My wife had done most of the raking and left them in neat piles for me to come behind and bag up.  I’m a manly man, so I didn’t think I needed to wear work gloves to pick up a few leaves.  What I didn’t expect, as I thoughtlessly grabbed handfuls of leaves to stuff into the bags, was that she had also pruned the rose bush nearby and buried the thorny branches in the same pile of leaves.

Ouch!!!

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Redeeming a Dirty Word

Today’s post is by guest blogger, Chaplain Mike

Those of you with sensitive ears, cover them for a moment. I’m about to utter a dirty word.

OBLIGATION.

Let me give you another one.

DUTY.

I confess to being partially accountable for the fact that these are dirty words to many today, for I grew up in the American Baby Boomer generation. We came of age in a society of rules and manners, of authority and expected norms of behavior. And we rebelled, hard.

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IM Classic: Thinking About the Canon: A Post-Evangelical’s View

Today, Chaplain Mike continues our discussion on the Scriptures by setting forth this classic IM post from Michael (1/08) on a foundational issue with regard to the Bible: What is the “canon” of Scripture?

UPDATE: I will not re-run the post on the Lutheran view of the canon (which Michael references below) at this time. However, if you want to read Josh Strodbeck’s post from Jan. 2008, go here.

After reading Mark Shea’s By What Authority? and revisiting Craig Allert’s A High View of Scripture? I started making some notes on my own ideas about the question of canonicity.

This post will be followed later by popular Internet Monk poster and famous Lutheran blogger Josh Strodtbeck, who will give us the Lutheran view of the canon. So this ought to be fun, interesting, and make the right people mad enough to call me an “invertebrate.” (Love those flashes of TR rhetoric.)

As some of you know, discussions about authority, who is the true church, what franchise operation did Jesus found and where should we all shop really give me the hives. Inerrantists, some Calvinists, most recent evangelical converts to the RCC and the entire Church of Christ in western Kentucky are all into this. Still, you have to think about these things. So get ready to discover that I don’t think the canon is as closed as most of you, and I am not nearly as afraid of tradition as some of you want me to be. The one thing I know is that on this bus, we’re all fallible, and that makes the subject interesting.

See you in the comments.

I’m no expert on the subject of canon, and I need to spend more time studying the subject, but I get a fair amount of questions from students about the canon and canon-related issues. Without trying to write a polished essay, I have several ideas about the canon I’d like to cover.

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It’s “Holy Week” in America

Today’s guest post is by Chaplain Mike.

UPDATE: Scot McKnight is discussing this over at Jesus Creed today as well. I encourage you to check out his perspective and those of his readers.

MY SPORTING LIFE
I grew up fully immersed in sports. Sports were a part of almost everything I did, every friendship, most activities. I became a jock. I got pretty good at basketball, and played competitively through my junior year in high school, capping off my career with a team that won the first regional championship in school history.

But I was especially focused on baseball. At the time of my conversion, as a senior in high school near Baltimore, I played for a school with a storied tradition. That year we again had a talented team that won our conference, beating out our rival, the school that would produce Cal Ripken, Jr. a few years later. I was honored as County Player of the Year, and there was little I loved more than baseball.

That was also the spring I met Jesus.

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Open Mic: Picking and Choosing in the Psalms

Chaplain Mike posts today’s Open Mic question on behalf of the iMonk, Michael Spencer.

When I received this from Michael and was asked to post it, it reminded me that, often in my work as a hospice chaplain, I read the Psalms for my patients. However, I usually edit my readings. Why? The psalm Michael asks us to consider is a prime example.

Psalm 139 is a perennial favorite for Christians. Who doesn’t love the poetic picture it paints of God’s intimate knowledge and care of his people? Who doesn’t rejoice in its reassurance that we will never be without God’s presence? that he is constantly thinking of us and active in providing for us and protecting us?

But…but…

I guarantee you that I don’t read verses 19-22:

O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
those who speak of you maliciously,
and lift themselves up against you for evil!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Why don’t we feel comfortable reading these verses?

Why do we feel compelled to “pick and choose” when we read the psalms?

Why do our minds try to justify or filter out such phrases as “I hate them with perfect hatred”? And what does a statement like that mean anyway?

How do we understand these imprecations in the light of other Scriptures, like the Sermon on the Mount, that say plainly, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”?

The mic is yours. Use it thoughtfully and let’s have a discussion about this.

Counting Blessings in the Middle of Difficulty

Today’s post is from IM First Officer Michael Bell.

This past year has been a difficult one for me medically. In March I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, which for the uninformed means that I stop breathing while sleeping, for up to 90 seconds at a time, up to 60 times an hour. So now I have to sleep with a mask, which I absolutely hate. Then just before Christmas I got a flu bug. While things are not confirmed yet, it appears as if the virus attacked my pancreas. As a result I have become diabetic, and as of this writing the medicines have not been working, I am off work, and I may have to be started on insulin injections. One of the earlier symptoms that I was experiencing was a foggy brain, and making uncharacteristic mistakes at work.

So you might be wondering how I am feeling about this. Well, to be honest, not too bad. I think that recent events in Haiti, along with Michael Spencer’s current health difficulties help me to realize that I don’t really have much to complain about. I have a lovely, loving wife, three great kids, a house, a job, and a church I love.

The diabetes will eventually get under control. I have been losing weight and that should start to help with the sleep apnea. My life continues not that much different from the way it was a year ago.

Michael Spencer faces a much more difficult future. His income has ended, his health insurance is ending, and he faces some very trying times ahead with his cancer. Michael has given so much of himself to this blog over the last number of years.

As a community of Internet Monk readers, I would urge each of us to be a blessing to Michael Spencer. Please consider using the Pay Pal button to make a gift to Michael. Let us see what we can do to meet the needs of one of our own.

Classic IM: While We’re Talking About Interpreting the Bible

In our continuing discussion on issues related to the Scriptures, Chaplain Mike re-runs this classic IM post today. (from Dec, 2008)

Hey look! If you read carefully, you will even find another “Bible = loaded gun” metaphor!

Oh. We’re not talking about interpreting the Bible? Well….I am, so deal.

I usually just don’t say anything when I hear Biblical interpretation leave the road and head for the ditches. But doggone it, there’s some fairly basic stuff here that could be very helpful to those of you who genuinely love the Bible.

So in no particular order…

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Update From Michael (Tues 1/26)

Just a few notes for those of you who read every day.

1. I am having a port surgically inserted Thursday. Chemo begins the following week. My side effects on 10 radiation treatments were average, if not less. I have no idea what this will mean.

2. My appetite is at an all time low, but I am doing OK. I need chicken soups. After that, ??

3. Depression is a very real adversary. I am God’s servant at this time and for this calling. Pray for me that I keep my eyes on the daily task and leave the results to God.

4 Thank you to all of you who have contributed in various ways. Your generosity has been a great encouragement. My job has been removed, but I have a place to stay as long as Denise is here. My insurance will run out in late February and we are working with our options for the next period of time. That is where your contribution makes a big difference.

To give support, use paypal or write denisespenc@gmail.com.

5.Keep me in your prayers. I am sleeping a lot as I try to regain my balance- a very slow process.

6. I’m a pretty poor visit, but I appreciate knowing you remember me. Pray for God’s grace, God’s strength and Gods will.

Michael Spencer

The Pre-Schooler and the Pistol

Today’s post is by Chaplain Mike.

Last year, here in Indianapolis, a four-year-old was taken by emergency personnel to the hospital with a gunshot wound. At first, it was not clear what had happened. The family told police the child had shot himself. The police weren’t sure that the preschooler was strong enough to have pulled the trigger of the suspected weapon by himself, and so they wondered if someone else had done it, perhaps a family member.

It turned out the family was correct. The little boy lived in a home with other relatives, at least one of whom had several guns. This uncle left one of his pistols on a bedside table and the child discovered it there. The preschooler picked up, played with it, and shot himself in the hand. Fortunately, his injuries were not life-threatening, though he did nearly sever one of his fingers. All in all, the whole family was lucky, including the little boy’s two siblings, neither of whom were hurt.

In evangelicalism, pastors too often play the part of the preschooler with the pistol.

The Bible is a powerful, explosive tool. When its power is used with wisdom and love, it brings healing, comfort, direction, and salvation. It forms people and congregations into the image of Christ. When its power is used recklessly and without discernment, the Bible can hurt, divide, and destroy. You can blow your own hand off, or someone else’s head.
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