Author Archives: Clark Bunch

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.

Satur-deja Vu

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Jeopardy is back to looking for a host. Mike Richards, who was just recently announced as the permanent replacement for Alex Trebek, has stepped down after taping only five episodes. Comments that he made on a podcast back in 2013 and 2014 that are both sexist and possibly racist threatened to tarnish the good reputation of the show. He will continue as executive producer; which made his selection suspect in the first place. Imagine if a pastor search committee interview a bunch of folks and then appointed one of themselves. Apparently the producers looked all over and then the executive producer… hired himself. Well now he has cancelled himself, at least as host of the show. Fans are once again voicing their opinions. I thought Ken Jennings was being groomed to host even during Alex’s final season and that was a done deal ipso facto. After a long line of guest hosts Levar Burton, Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings lead the fan based polls. For the time being those five episodes with Mike Richards will air but Jeopardy will begin recording new episodes with guest hosts that are yet to be announced next week. And the search continues.

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iMonk Radio Podcast #147

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Returning from Cornerstone ’09 but that’s not the topic of this podcast.

Michael Jackson’s death and corrupt gods. We need to let the beauty and simplicity of the gospel be seen wherever we are, not be more like the culture.

Larger discussion of sexuality and how evangelicals approach those topics in a changing culture. (Much has changed in the past 12 years.)

Satur-deja Vu

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If you build it, they will come. The line is actually “If you build it he will come” but many people remember it the other way. On Thursday night, as in the 1989 film Field of Dreams, they came. The Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees walked out of the corn and onto an official MLB field for one game in Iowa. Shown above is the actual scoreboard used in the game, which had guys on the catwalk changing the numbers by hand. Those two teams, the same teams that played in the movie, wore vintage style uniforms and played a real game in front of 8,000 fans. Kevin Costner spoke before the game and later stopped by the booth to chat with Joe Buck and John Smoltz.

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iMonk Radio Podcast #146

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Michael plugs Cornerstone 09. I believe we have some audio from that conference that we can share later.

Southern Baptist Convention met in Louisville, KY and Michael feels the denomination is ready to “get over itself.” He explains what that means.

The Anglican Church of North America is a new thing.

The big discussion is on evangelism and questions that many of us have.

Your Jesus is Too Safe by Jared Wilson is still available at Amazon.