Tim Keller on Freedom

Posted on April 12, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

8s “Luther preached that there was nothing important for a person than to see that he or she could contribute nothing whatsoever to one’s own salvation. We can be fully accepted and counted legally righteous in God’s sight through faith in Christ, […]

Rosaria Butterfield on Difficulty in Life

Posted on March 25, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

A life outside of Christ is both hard and frightening; a life in Christ has hard edges and dark valleys, but it is purposeful even when painful.

Philip Yancey on the problem of pain

Posted on December 26, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

A quote taken from Where is God When it Hurts? by Philip Yancey speaks to those who are “smoldering with rage” at God for allowing pain and suffering in the world.

Bars of wood to bars of iron

But are we any happier as a society? Have the new-found freedoms brought personal peace? Based on the angry rhetoric from those who most loudly proclaim freedom from limits, I struggle to see that we are indeed happier.

A Thought from Saint Augustine

In the Confessions, Saint Augustine describes a depraved soul as “falling away from security in you to destruction in itself.” I like the way that Augustine puts this. When I make moral choices, I am choosing between God or self, light or darkness, building or destruction. There is no middle ground. Yet there is hope. […]

When labels are (mis)applied in the church

Church leaders should resist the temptation to categorize and apply labels to the people they lead. This labeling is misguided and destructive.

Please God alone

My greatest struggle in being part of the church has been when leaders possessed a certitude about how things should be done that borders on presumption. If I have learned one thing about humanity, it is that we are all inherently flawed. I have ample evidence in myself and others of the depravity of man. We are bren and that brenness affects everything that we touch. As a result, we should have a healthy distrust of ourselves and a confidence in God alone.

Don’t look to Egypt for help

Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not lo to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD. Over the years that I have been […]

Church wounds run deep

Recently I received an invitation from a missionary friend to a meeting to the results from a recent trip. The event will be hosted by a church we previously attended. While I would like to support my friend, I am not welcome to attend any event at that church. I had to dec the invitation because of where it is […]