William Barclay on the Dreams of Men

Posted on March 5, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

“Jesus is the answer to the dreams of men. It is true that so often men do not see it so. They see the answer to their dreams in power, in wealth, in material plenty, and in the realization of the ambitions which they cherish. But if ever men’s dreams of peace and loveliness, and greatness and satisfaction, are to be realized, they can find their realization only in Jesus Christ.”

We have ample evidence that power, wealth and ambition do not bring lasting satisfaction, but yet we seem to be continually drawn to them. Our dreams are too small if that is what we think will satisfy.

On the flip side, we see evidence of those who find their satisfaction in Jesus Christ who are able to withstand persecution and deprivation with grace and, at times, joy.

I am encouraged to shape my dreams with Jesus Christ at the center of them.

Crowds and compassion

Posted on July 24, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

The Crowd

Jesus, seeing a crowd of people had compassion on them. Mark sets the scene in the opening verses of Chapter 8:

“In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. “If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”” (Mark 8:1–3, NASB)

The Physical Need

There are two needs of which Jesus is aware concerning the crowd. The first one is that the crowd had nothing to eat and had been following Jesus for three days.

It is likely that many of the people were hungry when they began following Jesus and they were hungrier still after three days. There was a very real and very urgent need for food.

The danger we have as the church in North America is that we can assume that the government will take care of the needs of the people around us. After all, we might argue, isn’t that why we pay taxes?

While programs for the needy may be a staple of 21st Century politics, there are still great needs that we can meet if we only open our eyes to see them. Like the disciples, we sometimes need someone to point out the opportunities because we are often conditioned to look past them.

When we see a crowd, too often we see an inconvenience. Jesus saw the crowd as an opportunity. In this particular case, it was an opportunity that he did not miss and the result was the physical need of the crowd was met. They were fed.

The Spiritual Need

One of the constant sources of embarrassment to the theologically conservative churches is that sometimes those liberals on whom we look with theological disdain do a much better job of meeting the physical needs of the people around them.

Yet, to only meet the physical need is to miss an opportunity for greater good. If we are right in our belief that our choices in this life have eternal consequences, then we need to be sure to use every opportunity to address the spiritual need of the people around us.

To be smug in our theological correctness without reaching out into the community is contrary to the example of Jesus. Jesus met the physical need as a means of building a bridge to address the spiritual one.

At the very least, we can be praying for the crowds of people we see. Jesus’ words in Matthew 9 are good encouragement:

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”” (Matthew 9:36–38, NASB)

The Provision

In John 6:45, following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus informs his hearers that He is the bread of life. It is easy to see the need for physical bread, perhaps less so for our spiritual needs.

We, as the church, need to offer physical bread in the form of meeting the community’s physical needs. We also need to offer Jesus as the spiritual bread that will satisfy the inner longing for relationship with God.

We can do neither if we do not engage the crowd.

Numbering our days: a reflection on Psalm 90

Posted on July 14, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

Beyond a temporal understanding

I have been reading through the Psalms. Recently I came to Psalm 90 where it says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) This is a verse that has often been quoted, usually in the sense of expressing urgency to get busy in doing work for the Kingdom of God. In this understanding, the emphasis is on the fleeting nature of time and how we have, on average, some 70 years to accomplish things for God before life comes to an end.

If this is the correct understanding of this verse, wisdom would dictate that we discover our calling and work hard at accomplishing the most in the time we have allotted. Ephesians 5:15-16 would seem to support this understanding when Paul writes:

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

I have even heard it said that we should keep a running countdown of the days until our 70^th birthday so that we can be aware of how much time we have left to work for the Kingdom. While the countdown is not a bad idea, I think that it does not capture the whole point of the prayer in the context of the Psalm. Awareness of the brevity of our days has benefit, but the focus should not be on what we plan on accomplishing but upon what God wants to accomplish through us.

Obedience is the key

Moving a few verses back in the Psalm, it can be seen that the context of the prayer is God’s judgment against Israel for their rebellion. In verse 8 it says, “You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.” In other words we are to live with the understanding that we are under the scrutiny of God and as a result, we must have an understanding of our finite nature and respond to God properly. It is not our temporal awareness that is in question, but our ability to obey.

In reading the rest of the Psalm I have a sense that some of the anger at the nation of Israel was due to presumption on their part. They presumed upon God’s tolerance and as a result they reaped God’s anger. Can we not do the same? We can be busy doing all sorts of things and convince ourselves that we are doing it for God. Jesus often rebuked the Pharisees for this type of hypocrisy. The question is not whether we are busy, the question is are we being responsive to God?

On the basis of this, I see Psalm 90:12 as a request to help us understand our finiteness rather than an encouragement to pack in as much in our 70 years as possible. The lesson we learn from Matthew 7:21-23 is that activity is not the cause for reward, relationship with Jesus Christ is. This prayer is not a call to busyness or activity, it is a call to submission to God.

It is God’s plan

I do not for a minute buy into the argument that there is something that God needs me to do and I am the only one to do it. Yes, God allows me to participate in the accomplishment of his will but my rebellion or incompetence cannot derail his plan. I do not have to race the clock to get something accomplished for God. This is freeing if I allow it to be.

What I do need to do is bring my finite understanding to God and seek him for what I should be about today. Do we really believe Jesus when he said take not thought for tomorrow? I don’t need to plan out what I need to accomplish for God, I need to do what he has asked me to do today. God will take care of the years moving forward if I simply submit each day to him.

What you build and how you build it matters to God

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

Build Stone Wall — Image via freefoto.com

Perhaps it due to the nature of the blogs I follow, or perhaps it is because of my own discontent, but I sense a growing dissatisfaction with the organized church. As evidence I would point to the Barna statistics that show that 6 out of 10 young people walk away from the church; many of them never return. I read some verses that seem to speak to this issue. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-13, Paul is writing about the foundation on which he builds and the quality of the work and the materials used to build upon that foundation. He writes:

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. (NASB)

The first thing to notice is the foundation on which Paul builds. That foundation is Jesus Christ. Anything that does not point to or is built upon the relationship with Jesus Christ is not built on a solid foundation.

The question for church leaders is whether or not the activities of the church deepen the relationship with Jesus. Any activitiy that does not is not built upon a solid foundation.

The second point is that what is built upon the foundation needs to be made of material that will stand the test. Wood, hay and straw will be consumed, while gold silver and precious stones will last. Are we building into the lives of our members such that their relationship with Christ is strengthened and deepened or are we merely treading water?

Do we have a structure in place that allows for training members in the foundational truths of Scripture? Are we teaching men and women how to read Scripture in context and understand how to apply it? Are we providing a forum where doubts and questions can be addressed? Do we have a safe environment for doubters to seek answers? In short, are we making disciples (root meaning learner) or are we making conformists? There is a large difference.

In addition to this type of training, do we as parents and church leaders model the life of a disciple? Can we be found studying Scripture? Do we honestly wrestle with how Scripture should be applied in our lives? Do we respond in obedience when Scripture brings conviction on an issue? Does the next generation look at us and see something that they want to emulate?

With 60% of young people leaving the church, it would appear that the church as a whole can use a lot of improvement in these areas. The good news is that there are individuals and churches that are doing well with these issues and there are organizations who seek to train people to be excellent disciple makers.

I thank God that when I left for college, He brought men into my life that could point me toward the answers I sought. It is my hope that my generation can begin to do better at living out the gospel and training the next generation to do so.

We cannot sit back and rest thinking that we are on a good path. A 60% failure rate is unacceptable in any endeavor, especially when an eternal destiny is on the line.

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