Category Archives: Guest Bloggers

Jonathan Aigner: But contemporary worship brings people to Jesus! Right…?

Reposted with permission from Jonathan Aigner, Ponder Anew • • • Consider this comment I received on the “Modernized Hymns” post. I have tried to avoid God my whole life. I wouldn’t know a traditional hymn from a modernized hymn. I’ve never even stepped foot into a church…until this past Sunday. The people on stageContinue reading “Jonathan Aigner: But contemporary worship brings people to Jesus! Right…?”

Rob Grayson: The night before Christmas revisited

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the land The people were stooped under Rome’s mighty hand; They clung to the hope their oppression would end As they looked for a king they believed God would send. They read in their books what the prophets foretold: A Messiah would save them, as promised ofContinue reading “Rob Grayson: The night before Christmas revisited”

Peter Enns: Is there payoff for the church in reading the Bible critically?

Note from CM: In October, we reviewed Peter Enns’s excellent book, The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It. In that review I wrote, “Enns repeatedly encourages us to stop defending the Bible as something we want it to be so that we might read and benefit fromContinue reading “Peter Enns: Is there payoff for the church in reading the Bible critically?”

Andy Zehner: How to win an argument . . . like a Christian

Note from CM:  Andy and Damaris Zehner have been good friends for many years, and I have participated in any number of vigorous, vibrant conversations with them about matters of faith and life. iMonk readers have the privilege of reading Damaris regularly, today here’s a re-post of something Andy contributed back in 2011. • •Continue reading “Andy Zehner: How to win an argument . . . like a Christian”

Marci Alborghetti: Lessons from Jonah (and the Ninevites) on Prayer

“Oh, look!” I sneered to my husband, the Sunday paper set out before me.  “Pope Francis is calling for the world to pray about ISIS slaughtering every non-extremist in its path.  That oughta do a world of good.” Almost immediately I was hit be a wave of shame so powerful that it swept my breathContinue reading “Marci Alborghetti: Lessons from Jonah (and the Ninevites) on Prayer”

Guest Raises Questions about Premarital Sex

Note from CM: One of our regular commenters asked permission to engage the community in a sensitive but relevant discussion. Contemporary culture is saturated with sexuality, and younger people today have grown up in a world where access to sexual materials and depictions of all kinds is remarkably easy and former societal standards regarding sexualContinue reading “Guest Raises Questions about Premarital Sex”

Miguel Ruiz: First Church of Authenticity and Trends

Note from CM: Our friend Miguel Ruiz will now be blogging at The Brothers of John the Steadfast. This article, “First Church of Authenticity and Trends,” was recently published there, and Miguel gave us permission to run it as well. • • • First Church of Authenticity and Trends By Miguel Ruiz …is it justContinue reading “Miguel Ruiz: First Church of Authenticity and Trends”

Steve Scott: Thinking Outside the Blog

Thinking Outside the Blog: Connecting With Others in the Wilderness By Steve Scott I have an idea. We know that Michael Spencer wrote much about the problems within evangelicalism. So much so that the subtitle of the Internet Monk blog has long been, “Dispatches from the Post-Evangelical Wilderness.” Wilderness, you say? Yes. That place ofContinue reading “Steve Scott: Thinking Outside the Blog”

Jason Stellman: I Fought the Church and the Church Won

Note from CM: This week we are featuring stories of friends who found their way into the Roman Catholic church. The post-evangelical journey takes many different forms, and this is one of them. Michael Spencer himself experienced this in his family when his wife Denise converted to Catholicism, and you will find many articles inContinue reading “Jason Stellman: I Fought the Church and the Church Won”