What I Learn from the Missional Movement

Posted on April 17, 2010 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

I recently overheard half of a phone conversation regarding the “missional” movement and the “Emergent Church” which prompted some thoughts. My thoughts gravitated to the two great commands. The first is to love God with my entire being. The second is to love my neighbor as myself. We, as humans, seem to prefer extremes – […]

Stripping away the illusion

There is something in men and women that desires control over our circumstances. We don’t want to be manipulated, we want freedom to forge our own destiny. Christians understand that this desire can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve made a conscious choice to rebel. In […]

Kicked out for our own good

Growing up, when I read in Genesis Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, I always viewed this as a punitive action. I thought that our first parents were being punished for their sin. This morning, as I read this passage, I noticed that the goal in expelling them from the Garden was to […]

Muddy Waters, Mercy and the Fifth Beatitude

The fifth Beatitude tells us that those who are merciful will receive mercy. At first reading this sounds right to us. If you do good to others they will do good to you. It seem natural, like the popular concept of karma. Yet we see that this does not always hold true. How then should we understand this Beatitude?

You are the salt – Part 2

These verses should inform our idea of what it means to be salt in the world. Do we work for economic justice? Do we work for social justice? Do we work to bring physical and spiritual healing to those we encounter? Do we proclaim the good news of Jesus?

No Matter How Bad it Gets . . .

The prophet Habakkuk questioned God about the turmoil he was experiencing in his culture. In the opening verses of the book that bears his name, Habakkuk lists the problems he saw around him. Iniquity, injustice, destruction and violence are listed in his complaint. Do these complaints sound familiar? A brief survey of the news will […]

What is sin?

It seems to me that even those who would not acknowledge the idea of sin still have feelings that they should be better than they are. Almost any sentence that begins with the words, “I ought . . .” would give evidence in support of this assertion.