Tag: Christianity

Faith

Keep Your Life “In Tune” with God

Chris

Are you one of those people who really enjoys watching people blow it on American Idol? One of the biggest draws for some wasn’t the talent drawn to the competition, but the eventual disasters to eventually audition before the judges. The producers must have known this was true, making sure to include several vocal meltdowns from each audition city.

Music is a huge part of my own life. I’m not star quality, but I know when I’m “pitchy” or “scooping”. A worship leader friend of mine told me in high school that I had an ear for music. I didn’t really understand what she meant at the time. Over the years, though, I’ve realized how much my “ear for music” can get me into trouble.

There is one question I always ask my worship team before we get started for practices. If I don’t ask it early, it comes out as soon as my ear tells me something is off. I can hear with something goes out of tune before most people around me. It’s a curse I have, really, and my poor team members get to enjoy it. But my ear for an instrument’s tuning points to a valuable lesson about how we live for Jesus.

Continue reading “Keep Your Life “In Tune” with God” →

Podcast

Treating the Bible as God’s Word (Podcast)

Chris

Part 1. The Bible is precious. It is God’s word. Though He spoke through different people in different ways over the centuries, the Bible is God’s continual word to His people, and it will not pass away until every last word is fulfilled.

Like everything that is too available to us, we fail to cherish God’s word. It gives us life. We know a lot about it, but what does that knowledge inspire for us? The Thessalonian church gives us a picture of how we should embrace the Bible and live as people of God’s word.

http://www.audiomack.com/embed4/chrismackinnon/treating-the-bible-as-gods-word

[If you can’t see the audio player, CLICK HERE to listen.]

Podcast

Hope When God’s Way Leads to Trouble (Podcast)

Chris

It’s Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, but without hope our season of thanks will be short-lived. We face the real world when the turkey and pies are gone. To believe in Jesus means we step into that world living Jesus’ way.

Some of us have tried to walk that road and been hurt. God clearly led the way but trouble or pain resulted. We’ve lost hope in God’s path. But God says it has to be this way. He doesn’t make mistakes. We have to look for hope when God’s way leads to trouble.

http://www.audiomack.com/embed4/chrismackinnon/hope-when-gods-way-leads-to-trouble

[If you can’t see the audio player, CLICK HERE to listen.]

Faith

Planet Earth from a Tourist’s Perspective

Chris

My office door is on a side street next to the church. Everyday I get a glimpse of how a local bed and breakfast is doing. They’ve had the busiest summer I’ve seen during my five years in the community.

Today I was heading out for a meeting and I saw a couple of ladies heading out for the day. In typical tourist fashion, they were taking pictures of the B&B house, one another, and the surrounding area. Our little community had piqued their interest.

Sometimes we forget to enjoy the place we are at. It happens in the cities we grow up in, the workplaces we’ve given our lives to, and even the planet we live on. From a spiritual perspective, how would the world look different if we stopped and saw it as tourists?

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Podcast

Hope When the World is Falling Apart (Podcast)

Chris

When you woke this morning, was hope on your mind? Maybe your mental checklist of everything you expected was already written when you slid out of bed. But was it hopeful? We expect a bunch of predictable things for our day. Hope is believing in the possibility to actually receive something good.

We need hope. Without it, life is feels less worth living. There is power in hope, yet we have come to believe it is dangerous to hope. Our lives are under attack, and if our hope is short-circuited we will stop dreaming.

Continue reading “Hope When the World is Falling Apart (Podcast)” →

Christian Living

Everyone God Brings into His Church Belongs

Chris

Have you ever found a piece of something and not known what it was? It looked important. It obviously came from something else. Now it’s your personal space, lost and alone.

I recently tossed out a small screw I was holding on to. Too many people sat in my office and asked about it. It wasn’t on display or in a “lost and found” box. Day after day it sat in the top of a small wooden chalice from Israel that I keep next to a menorah my in-laws gave me after their trip to the Holy Land.

Too many people must have commented on it that week. I picked it up, looked at, and threw it away. As much as I hoped to find its home, for years it sat without one.

Thankfully, God doesn’t forget where something, or someone goes. He knows exactly where they belong. The trick for us is trusting in God’s wisdom and craftsmanship.

Continue reading “Everyone God Brings into His Church Belongs” →