Category Archives: Christianity

Memorial Service for Michael Spencer

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UPDATE:  Check out internetmonk.com for transcript/ audio of the memorial service.

Services were held this afternoon for the Internet Monk Michael Spencer.  The Internet has abounded this week with articles of tribute and expressions of sympathy for the family.  David Head and Bill Haynes both did excellent jobs.  David has a remarkable understanding of how Spencer’s ministry reaches a worldwide audience through his blog, and Bill did exactly what Michael asked him to; he preached the Gospel. Continue reading →

Bittersweet

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My dad often says that his crayon box has only 8 colors.  He was once told the color sample he was holding was pumpkin, not orange.  (He came home from work and asked me what color pumpkins were, just to make his point.)  Children do flavors one at a time.  It starts with baby food – peas, carrots, apple sauce – then extends into not letting their foods touch each other on the plate.  Children also have simple emotions; they like to feel one thing at a time and be able to identify it.  At some point during adolescence, we become aware of mixed emotions.  Sometimes things to be celebrated also make us sad.  We cry at weddings, the birth of a child, and graduation.  We also grieve after the death of a loved one, yet rejoice at the same time during the passing of a Christian. Continue reading →

The “Triumphal” Entry

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Several well known statements are found in Psalm 118:1-25: “His steadfast love endures forever,” “this is the day the LORD hath made,” “the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and even others still.  Verse 25 reads “Save us, we pray, O LORD” in the ESV; “O LORD. we beseech thee, save us now!” in the King James.  The Hebrew word rendered in English as save now is hosanna.

All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’s triumphal entry.  Palm Sunday is our celebration of Jesus entering Jerusalem for the last time to observe Passover with his disciples. Continue reading →

Who Framed Jesus?

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I can tell that Easter is near.  Every year about this time, several television specials and news magazines focus on the fact that Christians still believe in Jesus even though they should not.  In about a week, expect Time Magazine (or its equivalent) to run a cover story on how/why the resurrection could not have possibly taken place.  Predictably, they will claim Jesus either 1) did not die  2) stayed dead, or 3) was never alive in the first place.  Each year, several media outlets predict an end to Christian faith, despite the fact that each year there are still billions of Christians around the world. Continue reading →

Life in Mordor

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one does not simply blog into mordor 

Life in Mordor, the Christian blog of Mike Frizzell, has been on my blogroll for a long time.  He left WordPress for a while, went on hiatus, and has now come back home.  Changing hosts (a couple of times) can have a negative impact on a blog, and Mike is in the process of working the kinks out. 

Mike was looking for help, and I jumped at the chance.  The offer still stands if anyone is interested in contributing.  It could involve posting once, occasionally, or daily.  Check out this page  for more info.  You could join The Fellowship (my wife asked if that makes me a troll).  The archive page contains all of his posts listed by category, and also archived by month.  That’s one of those features that gets lost in transition.  The biggest need right now is for a little attention.  Life in Mordor is a work in progress, but it’s progressing nicely.

New Blogroll Friends

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His name is Glen, and he’s lovin’ the Lord and livin’ the Life.  That’s actually the slogan of his new blog Men After God.  Mostly what he does is asks pointy questions to get people stirred up and say what they are really thinking. I have a couple of times.   He wants to start some discussions, so drop by and put in your two cents.

Jesus Greater Than Moses: Heb 3

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Hebrews is easy to preach because its form is much more like a sermon than an epistle (letter).  At the heart of its message is an impassioned plea not to leave the Christian faith for another, and so in order to be convincing the author of Hebrews makes many comparisons between Christ and all the things of the Old Testament he is superior to.  We have already seen that Christ is superior to the angels, and that through suffering he becomes the perfect founder of our faith.  Chapter 3 begins this way:

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,  who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.  (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)  Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later,  but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.  Hebrews 3:1-6

Continue reading →

Ash Wednesday

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Today is Ash Wednesday.  Easter will be in 46 days.  I wrote a decent post last year (not my best ever) titled Ash Wednesday, Lent, and p.s. Mardi Gras.  It’s sort of a Christian Calendar for Dummies.  I’m satisfied to link that for now, and will have some new stuff up before Holy Week.

Classic Internet Monk Podcasts

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In the post Because of Michael Spencer, I mentioned listening to some early InternetMonk Radio podcasts.  A couple of fans expressed interest in those early episodes.  I was mistaken about having the first 50, but do have podcasts numbering 48 – 81.  Internetmonk.com only lists episodes back to #100.  With a little technical assistance from one Cameron Nutter, I have added a page of vintage iMonk podcasts to The Master’s Table.  Classic iMonk Radio is brought to you by special arrangement with Michael Spencer.

*Cameron Nutter is a brand new blogger, with his own post on Michael Spencer he would like you to read.  He has a unique perspective of Mr. Spencer as his English and Bible teacher.  He is brand new on WordPress, and a few visits/comments would do him some good.  If you enjoy the podcasts, thank Cameron; he extracted the mp4 files from my iPod and uploaded them back onto the Internet.

Jesus Suffered: Hebrews Chp 2

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I am preaching through the book of Hebrews, and expect to post on Hebrews many times in the weeks ahead.  While Hebrews looks a little like a letter (epistle) in many ways it is more like a sermon.  That makes it really easy to preach.

I recommend reading Hebrews 2.  When I preach this sermon, I read most of it as the text; it isn’t long.  The writer of Hebrews contends that Jesus tasted death for everyone, and that his suffering has made him the perfect founder of our salvation.  Because of it he is not ashamed to call us brothers. Continue reading →