That pesky sense of oughtness

Posted on March 1, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

That pesky sense of oughtness seems to keep creeping in, even in those who say it doesn’t exist. This is the dilemma of the materialist. It is this sense of right and wrong that has caused many to explore the claims of Jesus Christ.

On the pursuit of pleasure

I am not the first to make the point that idolatry can entail taking good things and making them into ultimate things. Or to put it another way, we should not confuse means and ends. I was thinking about this with reference to physical pleasures. Too often, the response of the church to the danger […]

Keller on prayer and Scripture

In his book on prayer, Tim Keller writes this about the importance of having Scripture as the foundation of our prayer life: “Without immersion in God’s words, our prayers may not be merely limited and shallow but also untethered from reality. We may be responding not to the real God but to what we wish […]

A difficult transition

I have nearly completed my sixth decade of life, nearly all of it as a believer, yet I find myself trying to earn the approval of both God and the people around me. I need to transition from trying to earn God’s approval to responding to the love and acceptance that I already have. Rather than an initiator, I need to be a responder.

A doxology in darkness

To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior desolation, to trust in the love of God in the face of the marvels, cruel circumstances, obscenities, and commonplaces of life is to whisper a doxology in darkness. -Brennan Manning

The sin of silence and what to do about it

Recently, a friend handed me a CD on which were written the words “The in of silence.” When he gave it to me, he informed me that it was a sermon and that I would be challenged by it. Perhaps he identified the speaker on the CD when he gave it to me. If so, […]

Training for the battle

Gibbon writes that the only difference between the field of training and the field of battle was the effusion of blood on the latter. The church could learn from the Romans.