Van Til most often appears as the author of Happy Monday. He was introduced in 2014 as the editor of The Master’s Table. HIs bio suggests he is a golden retriever, possibly a blond lab, with a Master’s degree in English. I may or may not have mentioned that Van Til is a figment of my imagination. The reason I bring it up now is that we have started re-posting episodes of the Internet Monk Radio podcast. Sooner or later you may hear Michael Spencer reference Van Til. The idea that Van Til works in my employ is a tribute to my late mentor who referenced a dog named Van Til that served as engineer of his radio program. Before he was a figment of my imagination he was a figment of his imagination. Continue reading
Author Archives: Clark Bunch
Bible Study: Hebrews 2
Click here for the Hebrews 1 study.
Click here to read Hebrews 2 at Bible Gateway. You can easily select the translation of your choice at top of the page.
Click here and look for this icon 
to download audio.
Your Bible probably has little subtitles above sections of chapters that act like road signs describing what happens next or the topics that follow. The wording is often different from one Bible to another and even the places that passages are divided. Even though chapter and verse divisions can sometimes seem arbitrary there is at least agreement about where they go. It is helpful to remember that the original text had no such divisions. Hebrews 2:1 begins with the word therefore so the writer is about to make a point that he’s been building up to. The language of verses 2 and 3 continue this case building rhetoric. To paraphrase: So let’s pay careful attention so what we have heard. The message of angels, described extensively in chapter 1, has been proven reliable. The proof is that those who did not heed their warnings received retribution. In that case (v. 3) how can we neglect so great a salvation? The message of salvation was declared by the Lord, confirmed by eye witness accounts, and further attested by signs and wonders shown by God and by gifts of the Holy Spirit. Continue reading
Satur-deja Vu
Hostess Iced Latte is a real product btw, not a clever parody. They come in Ding Dongs, Twinkies, Honey Bun and sno balls flavors. Brought to you by 2020, the gift that keeps on giving.
Here are some other headlines, memes and true stories you may or may not have seen this week. Welcome to the Satur(day) Deja Vu. Continue reading
Introduction to iMonk Radio Series
I met Michael Spencer in 2003, a few months before Teresa and I moved to Kentucky. I had the opportunity to sit in on his Bible class as part of our campus tour before committing to full time ministry at a private Christian boarding school. I was aware of his blog Internet Monk and looked at the Boar’s Head Tavern every now and then but I did not begin blogging myself until after the launch of Internet Monk Radio. Continue reading
Would You Rather Listen to the Bible Study?
Earlier today I started a Bible study on Hebrews. Here is a link if you need one. Would anyone be interested in listening to that Bible study? I’ve been working on this since last night and have edited this post several times in the process. Click the play button on the embedded audio player below to listen to the Bible study. The download button below will not initiate a download but rather link to Google Drive where the file is located. You can click the download icon at the top of that screen ( 
) to save the .wav file to your device.
Bible Study: Hebrews 1
The first two things we would typically do when beginning a study of a book of the Bible is identify the writer and the audience he was addressing. That’s usually easy to do by reading the first paragraph or two. Sometimes we need to add historical context in order to understanding what was happening in the lives of the intended audience. I’m going to try to keep this introduction short and get into Hebrews chapter 1 instead of dedicated a post to it. I don’t know who wrote Hebrews. If you believe the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews, I’m not going to argue with you. As a well-studied and passionate Pharisee he would have certainly had the background into the Old Covenant. We also see numerous examples in his epistles that relate the ministry of Christ to the Old Testament examples, descriptions of Jesus and Adam as types of first men, and exhortations that that the grace that comes through Jesus Christ is superior to the Law. If you do not believe that Paul wrote Hebrews then I will not argue with you either. In the 13 New Testament epistles written by Paul he clearly identifies himself as the author and the writer of Hebrews is left anonymous. That would be a divergence from his usual style. I will not engage in any debate over the authorship of Hebrews but will defer a statement many Christians would do well to adopt and apply to a variety of topics: the Bible doesn’t speak to that. If it were important for us to know then God would not have allowed that detail to be lost to history. As far as identifying the audience is concerned it is more than suggested by the title. Hebrews is addressed to Jewish believers that have accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah and offers evidence that this was always God’s plan. Continue reading
Satur-deja Vu
This is post #52 of the Satur-deja Vu! Technically we spent a few weeks trying to settle on a title. We tried Week in Review, A Look Back, and other lame generic titles such as Hindsight Being 20/20. It has been a little over 52 weeks (we missed at least one) since Satur-deja Vu became a regular feature here at The Master’s Table. Since then we have gained over 100 followers. Here is a link to Saur-deja Vu #1 if you want to think back to a simpler time. Continue reading
4 Random Thoughts
I thought about calling this post Thinking Out Loud because I want to jot down some ideas but that’s the title of Paul Wilkinson’s blog. The problem with mental notes is that the ink fades so quickly so I often tell people that if I don’t write down it didn’t really happen. These are some thoughts I need to get out there before it’s too late. So in no particular order:
Note 1: I spent some times on the 8 ft. ladder clearing our gutters this morning. They are the old fashioned, uncovered roof gutters and they have gone too long in between cleanings. Then I cleaned up myself, ate lunch, and discovered that The Christian Index had published this: Continue reading
Nazarene, not Nazarite
I was listening to Fred McCoy this morning and he mentioned that Jesus was a Nazarene, adding that he was not a Nazarite and getting one or two half laughs. I have something of a history with getting those two mixed up so it probably meant more to me than anyone else present.
Students at Oneida Baptist Institute have chapel services 5 days a week Monday through Friday and twice on Sunday. Continue reading
Satur-deja Vu
I thought about it, back when I worked with middle and high school students. They had chapel five days a week and twice on Sunday (no joke). I never actually planned it. I can’t imagine pitching that idea to the administration, but many times during chapel services I looked at the width of the aisles, the size of the stage (it was massive) and considered the angle I would need for the ramp. Ergun Caner is a man familiar with controversy. Continue reading
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