What you build and how you build it matters to God

Posted on July 8, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

With 60% of young people walking away from the church, we must evaluate the foundation on which we build and how well we build upon it. The eternal destiny of the next generation is at stake and we cannot afford to continue with such a high failure rate. We must do better.

The Winter of our Discontent – George MacDonald Quote

Posted on December 11, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

While reading George MacDonald’s Adela Cathcart, I ran across this quote and thought I’d share it: “It is not the high summer alone that is God’s. The winter also is His. And into His winter He came to visit us. And all man’s winters are His – the winter of our poverty, the winter of […]

On bread, fish and urban ministry

I thought of a little boy who was going to a church meeting carrying his lunch. It was about two thousand years ago when Jesus was teaching the crowds and the disciples came to Jesus suggesting that he disperse the crowd so that they don’t pass out from hunger. Jesus took that boy’s lunch of bread and fish and multiplied it so that everyone could eat.

The radical call of Jesus

While growing up in the church, I did not grasp the radical nature of Jesus as he encountered the world in which he lived. Jesus defies all of our categories and calls us to something new.

Stumbling blocks: how we live matters more than our words

Parents and church leaders, the best thing we can do for the next generation is to renounce our selfishness and come to meet Jesus at the Cross in humility and submission. We need to confess where we have compromised and seek to recover the ground that was lost. We want to hear the words of Matthew 25:21, “well done good and faithful slave.” We need to live lives that point to the reality of the Gospel.

The Primary Purpose of Man

But the good news is that Jesus came to restore the relationship. And with the restoration of the relationship comes renewed purpose in life. For those who are in Christ, their primary purpose (even though we often forget it) is to bring glory to God, which was man’s purpose in the first place.

Go and sin boldly

I believe it was Martin Luther who said, “go and sin boldly.” The point is not that we are to intentionally sin, but that we cannot allow fear of sin to inhibit us from living life.

Paths of Righteousness for His Name’s Sake

In Psalm 23:3, King David writes, “he leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” While there is benefit to me in walking a path of righteousness, my benefit is not the primary purpose of God’s leading me. David points to God’s reputation and God’s purpose as the reason for the leading. […]