Intro: Ticks at church camp, liturgical worship vs. “what we grew up with.”
Today’s message: The temptation of self-evaluation. Our roles can create a false self that we try to bring into our prayer life and present to God instead of being who we really are.
The Atlanta Braves victory parade attracted hundreds of thousands of fans. Staged in two locations, the parade began in downtown Atlanta at noon and ended at Truist Park in the Battery at 3 PM. Then the program started, followed by concerts and a party that lasted well into the night. You probably know the Braves won the World Series in 6 games, shutting out the Houston Astros 7 – 0 at Minute Maid Park Tuesday evening. It’s the Braves second World Series title since moving to Atlanta in 1965. They made a remarkable worst to first run in the National League West Division (it’s a long story) in 1991 and won the World Series for the first time in Atlanta in 1995.
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Intro: Update on the book, teaching Mark, Osteen’s ministry lacks Jesus, Losing Mum and Pup,
Today’s program: A letter from a reader and Internet Monk’s response. Choice A: Liturgy, historical connection to tradition, very little Bible teaching. Choice B: Strong biblical teaching, modern worship. Is there a C? Why can we not have the best of both?
Shoutout to Van Til in the intro. Then a discussion of evangelical liturgy and the call to worship.
In the second half: veteran worship and ministry leaders, with skill and experience, being shown the door. Is it just to replace them with younger guys that can be told what to do? The focus on church growth is coming back to bite evangelical churches in the long run.
Intro: Looking for a car. Found a good long distance service. What can you discuss/display in front of other Christians? Origins of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. “Living the Christian Year” by Bobby Gross.
Big Topic: A response to a family with a teenage son, rattled in his faith after going out into the “real world” and deciding to become atheist. How do parents respond to a child raised in a Christian home, including church life and Christian school, who then rejects Christian faith?
Note: This is what he is talking about with the sock and shoe spinning, based on the idea that Moses took off his shoes because he was on holy ground. Spin Me Right Round Jesus is the first song in a long montage so feel free to bale out at any time.
Intro: Michael mentions a couple of blogs authored by his daughter and son-in-law. Keep in mind these podcasts are over a decade old and with the rise in other social media blogging is not what it used to be. These days Ryan Cordle is the vicar of Zion Lutheran Church in Lafayette, Ohio. Here is the website and you could easily lookup the Facebook page. Subscribe to watch live video every Sunday.
Sins of consumerism, might work that thought into something.
Pastoral care; there is a time to lament. Sometimes a wise man says nothing.
Big topic: The emphasis on grace. It’s almost becoming rare to find and a listener writes in to thank Michael for staying with the gospel of grace.
Intro: Michael announces “Jesus Shaped Spirituality” for fall 2010. Amy Welborn going into semi-retirement. Lots of chatter about church buildings.
2nd half: The hard truth in the Gospel/Law debate is that the Gospel alone can do it. You don’t need to learn the Law, receive the Gospel, then go back to keeping the Law.
Information delivery paradigm. I believe this is the article Michael is responding to. Here is the link.
Why We Love the Church. Do we leave room for the church to be wrong?
Big topic: The influence we have on people over time. The church must be a community of believers doing kingdom work.
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.
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.
The Master's Table 