If you are discouraged about church . . .

Posted on October 13, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

If you are discouraged about church, it may be that your expectations are too high.

Church is not a gathering of the mature. Church is not a gathering of the wise. Church is not a gathering of the beautiful.

Church is a gathering of those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.

Freeze Warning: When visitors complain that your church is cold

When the Apostle Paul said farewell to the Ephesian elders, he quotes Jesus as saying, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) Paul pointed to his own work to support himself while among the Ephesians as an example of this. Along these same lines, Matthew 20:28 tells us that Jesus did […]

Good News Elevator Speech

In recent years, the business world has coined the phrase “elevator speech.” Sellers are encouraged to be able to explain their product offering to someone in the elevator in the 20 seconds or so it takes to get to their floor. Most people who have been in the church for a while have been taught […]

Judging the judge: You cannot have it both ways

We complain when God steps in to eliminate evil. We complain when he allows evil. We try to judge the judge, but we cannot have it both ways.

An ordinary guy involved in extraordinary things

Joseph as an ordinary guy. Because he did the right thing, he was used by God to accomplish something extraordinary. We have the same opportunity be used by God.

Evil and death

I ran across this quotation from Nicholas Wolterstorff while reading Philip Yancey’s book Vanishing Grace: When we have overcome absence with phone calls, winglessness with airplanes, summer heat with air-conditioning – when we have overcome all these and much more besides, then there will abide two things with which we must cope: the evil in […]

Toward an Understanding of Christian Stewardship

The main word that is translated steward is οἰκονόμος (oikonomos), a compound of the words for house (οἶκος) and law (νόμος). It literally means one who rules over a household. Therefore a steward is one who manages his masters assets for the master’s benefit. A steward manages the assets of another. Therefore the first question […]