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Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Archives for gift

A Christmas Reflection

Posted on December 24, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

2016 christmas balls

So while we enjoy the gifts that we give and receive this Christmas, let us be continually mindful of the greater gift that lends his name to this holiday. Without him, all our celebration this season would be nothing more than whistling in the dark.

Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: Christmas, gift

Value vs. Talent

Posted on March 21, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Talent

Jesus told the story of a man who went away and gave three servants money to work with while he was gone (Matt. 25: 14-30). The idea is that each servant differed in his ability to handle the money so they each got a different amount to work with. But, they were all required to […]

Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: gift, talent, value

Saint Augustine on Felicity

Posted on May 15, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

In 21st Century America, we are unlikely to encounter anyone who is tempted to erect a statue to the goddess Felicity. Yet, we are in danger of worshipping felicity. Happiness seems to be the primary goal of many we interact with on a daily basis.

Filed Under: Quotation Tagged With: Augustine, false gods, Felicity, gift, goddess, happiness, happy

On mites and absolute value

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

Widows Mite

How do we assess the value of work for the Kingdom of God? Jesus gives us some clues in the story of the widow and her gift.

Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: gift, mite, value, widow

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Red Cross

A victim of friendly fire

It has been said that the church is the only army that shoots its wounded. Sometimes the wounds are caused by friendly fire. It is the responsibility of church leaders to identify and correct this when it happens.

He will deliver

These verses are on my mind as I write this post: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” Psalm 120:1–2, ESV The psalmist starts with the understanding that his prayer is heard. What is his prayer? His prayer is […]

Tune my heart . . .

It is precisely because Jesus died and rose again that I can have hope to be other than I am. For what could I pray if there was no hope that my sin has been conquered? For what could I pray if Jesus did not rise and demonstrate that sin and death are vanquished? What hope have I without the Cross and the empty tomb?

More than you can handle

On the surface, it seems correct to say that “God will not give you more than you can handle.” Paul does tell us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to escape the situation. But it is a huge jump to infer from this that God will not allow you to encounter situations that you cannot handle.

Labor of Love

Why I write Attempts at Honesty

We have gotten a decent amount of traffic so it appears that people are getting something out of reading these posts. With new readers discovering the blog all the time, I felt that it was necessary to articulate some thoughts about why I keep up the blog and some items that are not reasons that I do it.

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  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
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