Don’t quit your day job

Posted on March 23, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 6 Comments

My day job has kept me very busy of late and there has been less time to sit and reflect. Social events and family obligations have also contributed. But none of these tell the entire story as to why I haven’t posted.

This week my thoughts were like a pack of birds in a field. I could see them from afar, but when I got close to one, the entire pack would fly away. For this reason, I haven’t posted since Monday and that post was queued up for a while in advance.

I am reading through Numbers right now for devotional reading. One of the recurring themes in that book is that God does not look favorably on a rebellious heart. God also takes sin very seriously and the remedy for sin is costly. There is no free lunch, someone has to pay.

The good news is that Jesus has paid that price and we can come into relationship with God through Jesus’ work on the cross. I know this, believe this and live in confidence that I am saved from the penalty of my sin.

That being said, when I read Numbers, I am faced with acknowledging that mine is a rebellious heart. I do not want to submit, I constantly want to assert my rights. I want God to do things my way, and my way is defined as anything that pleases me or increases my comfort. The only solution for this rebellion is repentance.

Another part of my unrest is a sense that the world is becoming increasingly hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Maybe it has always been hostile, and I’m just now seeing it. Or perhaps the hostility was hidden behind external conformity which is now out of fashion. But for the first time in my life, I see persecution of Christians as a real possibility in the United States.

The question is, what can one individual do about the chaos that is around him? The correct answer is that on his own, he can do nothing. That is the bad news.

The good news is that when God wants to work, he can use the most unlikely characters to accomplish his will. For this reason, I love the story of Gideon. He was not brave, nor was he a natural leader, but God chose him and used him to deliver the nation of Israel.

Most of us are not called to preach to large audiences, nor are we called to organize a massive spiritual movement. We are called to be in relationship with Jesus through prayer and Bible reading. We are also called to be faithful to obey what he commands. The rest is up to him.

It may turn out that a smile directed at someone who is having a bad day may be used by God for encouragement. A thought prayer quickly delivered for the frazzled person you encounter will make a difference.

The point of this ramble is that God redeems all of life, even the aspects of life that seem to have no eternal value. To be faithful in a difficult or boring job is as much an act of grace as teaching a Bible study. To serve your family in humility is of more value than serving in a church program. Faithfulness goes a long way in God’s economy.

There is an old saying that if you “mind your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” In the same way, I need to mind my own thoughts and actions and God will take care of the rest of the world.

Despite my restlessness, God remains in control.

My reluctant New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 7, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

I’m not a big fan of making a list of resolutions every year. My experience is that they are likely to be broken or forgotten before the end of January. Resolutions are the product of good intent, but often lack commitment and a plan for achievement.

In spite of my aversion to resolutions, I did come up with five for 2013. These are things that I have been thinking about and working on anyway, so I might as well make them resolutions and share them with you. Here they are with some explanation:

I resolve to be open to have my plans changed so that God can bring about something better. Instead of being locked in on what I think I need to accomplish, I want to be available for those around me. People are more important than accomplishment. I do not want to miss out on any opportunity to learn or grow or help someone else.
I resolve to pray more. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:15-16, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. (NASB) I find lots of ways to waste time; prayer is a much better use of that resource.
I resolve to go slower and deeper in my Bible reading. Rather than work on reading the Bible in a year or some other fairly aggressive reading plan, I choose to read smaller portions and spend more time meditating upon them. My current plan is to read one chapter per day. At this pace, I will read through the Bible in a little over three years.
I resolve to be a better steward of the body God has given me. Age and heredity have recently conspired together to force some dietary changes. In addition, I need to be more regular in getting aerobic exercise. Though I am healthy, there are a couple of indicators going in the wrong direction. I hope to show improvement in those indicators by the end of the year.
I resolve to read 12 good Christian apologetics books this year. I would really like to read more than this, but I thought one per month is a reasonable objective. If you have any suggestions as to books which should be on my list, feel free to make a recommendation in the comment section.

What about you? Did you make resolutions? If so, feel free to share them in the comments.

Where preaching goes awry

Posted on August 28, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

This morning as I was reading through Ezekiel this phrase struck me, “. . . then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders.” (Ezekiel 7:26, NASB) The priests had turned away from the Law of God and could no longer bring any advice that was helpful to the people as they sought a word from God.

It’s all about relationship

Inside a religious system, there is a danger that we can miss the intent of Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is about the beginning, breaking and restoration of our relationship with God. It is about relationship first. Jesus supports this understanding in Matthew 22:36-40 when he identifies love of God and love of neighbor as the two great commands.

If the intent of Scripture is to restore and deepen relationship with God, then it seems obvious to me that the intent of preaching should be to restore and deepen relationship with God. The preaching should be geared toward encouraging transformation, but too often we settle for information.

In Matthew 15:8, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13 when he says: “‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.” (NASB) The point is that we can be heavily involved in the teaching and reading of Scripture and not have our hearts changed. We can say and do all the right things but have hearts that are far away from God.

A means to an end

Ravi Zacharias has properly said, “Jesus did not come to make bad men good, he came to make dead men live.” Preaching which imparts knowledge may be helpful, but the impartation of knowledge is a means to an end (relationship) not the end in itself. Proper preaching must present Christ as the means of making dead people live.

I have been in many church services where the sermon gave me a lot of information and did not spur me on to a deeper relationship with God. Proper preaching should challenge me to see the parts of my life that have yet to be yielded in submission to God. Part of proclaiming the good news is to help me to see the need for that good news and my inability to provide it for myself.

It is only through relationship with Jesus Christ that we can become spiritually alive. This truth is at the heart of the gospel and if preaching is not calling dead men to live in Jesus, it is doing nothing of eternal value. Even if the teaching causes men to do good works or religious practice but does not cause men to come into relationship with Jesus, it is of no eternal value.

The final exam

We need to keep in mind that there is no theology test to get into Heaven. Jesus reminds us that the test has only two questions (See Matthew 7:21-23). The two questions are: am I in relationship with Jesus and on the basis of that relationship have I been obedient?

To prepare people for that test is the only proper goal of preaching.

Jesus and the law: What can we learn?

Posted on July 10, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

This post is #15 in the Sermon on the Mount Series.

Based on their own understanding of the law, the Pharisees struggled to see how Jesus’ behavior fit into that law. He allowed his disciples to eat without ceremonial washing. Jesus allowed his disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath. Jesus himself performed healings on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were flummoxed about this behavior and came to the conclusion that Jesus was setting himself above and outside the law that they cherished.

To this accusation Jesus responds:

Matthew 5:17–19 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (NASB)

There are a few things that I take away from this passage:

In these verses Jesus validated what we know as the Old Testament. Answers in Genesis has an excellent article entitled Jesus Christ on the Infallibility of Scripture which details Jesus’ use of the OT in his teaching. Rather than provide a list of references where Jesus used the OT, you can follow the link and read them there.
Jesus saw himself as the fulfillment of the OT prophecy. You can agree or disagree with the truth of this claim. This brings us to the classic C. S. Lewis trilema, where Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic or he is Lord.
Jesus tells us that everything will be accomplished as God has laid it out. There is nothing that anyone can do to thwart God’s plan, the rhetoric from both American political parties notwithstanding.
Jesus takes the law very seriously and we set it aside to our peril. This one in particular causes me to pause and reflect. Do we take the Old Testament law seriously? Are we living out the principles? Like many evangelicals, I can be quite cavalier about things like the Sabbath rest, thinking that we are not under law but under grace. While this is true, am I violating the spirit of the law behind the Sabbath? Am I taking the prescribed rest? Am I resting in the goodness of God to provide?
I am responsible for what I teach the next generation. If I make it acceptable to disrespect the law, I will lose standing in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a huge responsibility.

Biblical illiteracy is rampant both within and without the church today. What Jesus is saying is that we ignore the Old Testament to our peril. When the homosexual community states that nowhere in Scripture is the homosexual act condemned, they get away with this statement because a majority of those who claim to be Christians have never read the Bible. Anyone who has read it without an agenda would know this to be a false statement. It is our illiteracy that makes us vulnerable to this attack.

Jesus is saying that anyone who claims the name of Christ will be held responsible for how he responds to Scripture and how he teaches others to respond to it. We better take that responsibility seriously. There is a lot riding on our getting it right.

Discussion Question: Do you think that we get this right? Do we need to change how we approach the Bible in general and the OT in particular?