Author Archives: Clark Bunch

Satur-deja Vu

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Live long and prosper. September 8th was the 55th anniversary of the series premiere of Star Trek. The original series was cancelled by NBC after only three seasons but Gene Roddenberry, the Great Bird of the Galaxy, would eventually get a motion picture and another series on television. Today there are multiples franchises of films and I think we’re up to nine series if you count everything. But it all started this week 55 years ago in 1966 with what Roddenberry described as “Wagon Train to the stars.”

This is the week for anniversaries and we’ve got a bunch of them.

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Pastor’s Notes: Leadership

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I came across a question about leadership this week in a Facebook group. What does good leadership look like? Several options were suggested ranging from control to chaos. It was a Christian group so I assume that Christian leadership was the topic. My response went something like this.

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iMonk Radio Podcast #150

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Criticism of Love is an Orientation by Andrew Marin. He has not blogged since 2016 but this is the stuff Michael is talking about. (There is a Facebook page which has also been quiet since 2016.)

Suffering, how we respond to it, and you don’t have to like it.

Gospel vs. law; can we be critical of pastors?

Discipleship that grows out of the gospel is the big topic for the program. Excellent discussion of Jesus’s disciples before and after the death, burial and resurrection.

Happy Monday

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As the world watched the funeral services of Princess Diana, I was steaming my best white shirt and shining my shoes for a different formal event held inside a church. Near the end of the 20th century Bill Clinton was in the White House, Friends was on TV and Clark and Teresa Bunch said “I do.” The exact date was September 6, 1997, 24 years ago today. I gave Van Til the Monday holiday, three day weekend so I could personally say Happy Anniversary.

This is Happy Monday #443.

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I Will Pray for You

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How often do we say that? Maybe you run into a friend at the grocery store. You talk about recent events, ball games, what grades the kids are in and your friend mentions a relative in the hospital, some big life event or whatever and ends with “pray for us” and begins moving away. “I will” you say as you check your list and keep shopping. Sometimes we get real requests for prayer from people that are seriously hurting. Do we say “I will pray for you” just to make them feel a little better or do we really mean we are going to spend time in prayer with God interceding on their behalf?

“Hey, how are you?” is a casual greeting that doesn’t mean much anymore. We don’t really want to know, and might get annoyed if they set in explaining how they have been. “I will pray for you” needs to be more than that. It would be better left unsaid than casually dismissed in passing. Sometimes we say it in all earnestness but life happens and that person, and the need, slips away. The next time you say “I will pray for you” if at all possible stop and do it right then. It might have to be a 10 or 20 second sound bite if you’re at work or holding up a line somewhere. Saying you will pray is one thing; making it so is something else. It will ensure that you do not forget altogether and maybe you could pray again later as well.

Satur-deja Vu

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Periodic Table of the Bible – This chart divides books of the Bible into groups such as Pentateuch and Gospels. Click on the image to view full size. The year the book was written appears above the abbreviation while the title and writer is listed below. At the time of publication they were giving away self-adhesive cards that will stick to pretty much anything and are weatherproof/dishwasher safe. Click to here to find out more.

There are many things I could do for the price of my morning coffee. That may be true but that money is earmarked for coffee.

-Clark Bunch
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iMonk Radio Podcast #149

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Michael talks about the new website design of Internet Monk. While that website no longer exists there is a ton of stuff archived at imonk.blog.

He talks about what his upcoming book will be about. That is available. Click here to learn more about Mere Churchianity.

Why do evangelicals bring their Bibles to church? Perhaps that’s an odd question for some of you but those with Lutheran or other liturgical backgrounds may wonder. That’s the big topic of today’s podcast.

Pastor’s Notes

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I often tell people that I’ve learned two great lessons in life. I can’t think of the first one right now but the second is that I have to start writing stuff down. The biggest lie I tell myself is that if I have an idea for a sermon illustration or a topic for a blog post I will remember it when I need to. That’s just not true. So I’ve decided going forward that if I have an idea, a clever thought for an illustration, even a single point that might become an outline, I’m going to go ahead and drop them here. Instead of waiting for posts to magically finish themselves I will share ideas that you might see again someday as a complete article.

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Satur-deja Vu

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Hurricane Ida is of immediate concern to anyone along the Gulf coast. What had been forecast to be a category 1 storm just a few days ago now has the potential to make landfall as category 4. The projected path of this storm will place the center just west of New Orleans meaning the storm surge coming in from the ocean will be much stronger than with Hurricane Katrina because of the direction of wind rotation. So while we have known about this storm for several days the forecast has recently gotten much worse. Pray for residents of Louisiana as well as Mississippi and Alabama who will also be directly affected. The relief efforts will begin shortly, give emergency crews time to get in and do what they do first.

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iMonk Radio Podcast #148

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Reclaiming the Mind is now offering every Credo course for as little as $99! “Seminary in your Pocket” is sale priced for clearance. Click here for the entire Credo series currently 93% off.

Reminder: Internet Monk is archived at imonk.blog. It can always be found in the right-hand sidebar.

There is a lack of information on why the disciples followed Jesus. When Jesus appeared on the scene, the Kingdom was at hand. He had his foot in the door, so to speak. The disciples made an immediate response because they recognized the Kingdom was moving.