Tag: Jesus

Podcast

A Glorious Interruption (Podcast)

Chris

Part 2. On the night of Jesus’ birth, the angel could have made the announcement to anyone in Bethlehem. Yet God sent him to interrupt the otherwise ordinary evening of some dirty, smelly Shepherds out in the fields. What made them so worthy of the message and the glory of Heaven?

We should find ourselves constantly amazed at the glory of God, but our lives don’t tend to allow us to see it. God interrupts our lives to get our attention. The interruption of the angel was the result of one simple truth in the lives of the Shepherds. Without it, few would have marked the birth of the Messiah.

http://www.audiomack.com/embed4/chrismackinnon/a-glorious-interruption

(If you do not see the audio player, CLICK HERE to view the full post.)

Christian Living

Don’t Stop Going to Church because of Stupid People

Chris

Yeah, I said it. You read that word correctly. I said “stupid”. Let’s face it folks, there are a lot of stupid people out there. They’re on our highways, in our workplaces, and they even find their way into our churches.

Merriam-Webster has a definition of “stupid” to help us understand what we’re talking about here. Their online dictionary describes “stupid” as “slow of mind … given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner.”

Have you bumped into careless, slow thinking people at church? While every pastor is quick to say yes, most churchgoers can probably think of one or two or a dozen people fitting stupid’s description. So can a lot of former churchgoers. Most of those former worshipers can probably tell you a story of how stupid got between them and the church, and ultimately between them and God.

Aside from a lack of interest in living God’s way, stupid people are a big reason people walk out the door never to return. Please, don’t do that. Don’t listen to the lie telling you stupid people aren’t worth sitting in the room with. To walk away because of them is unbiblical, and will actually do more harm than good.

Continue reading “Don’t Stop Going to Church because of Stupid People” →

Podcast

The Sign of the Impossible (Podcast)

Chris

Part 1. Are you bored with Christmas? We can come up with a lot of excuses or a lot of other people to blame, but when we get disillusioned with Christmas it’s our own fault. In our personal lives we find ways to keep Christmas fresh and alive. Why not our spiritual lives?

Maybe we’ve lost sense of the wonder of it all. It’s time to renew the amazement of Christmas by getting a good look at the awesomeness of our great God and the glory of Christ’s coming. After all, with God all things are possible. It wasn’t a new message at Christmas, just revisited.

http://www.audiomack.com/embed4-thin/chrismackinnon/the-sign-of-the-impossible

(If you do not see the audio player, CLICK HERE to view the full post.)

Church Life, Podcast

What If We Change the Way We Speak? (Podcast)

Chris

Part 4. The Bible describes the tongue, the words we speak, as “a restless evil.” God has a standard, not just for how we live but how we speak. What comes out of our mouths reveals what is built in our hearts. But it doesn’t just affect ourselves, it has the power to feed or harm others. We must come to grips with a specific struggle with our words that hits our lives with disastrous effect.

http://www.audiomack.com/embed4/chrismackinnon/what-if-we-change-the-way-we-speak

(If you do not see the audio player, CLICK HERE to view the full post.)

Faith

#MerryChristmasStarbucks Exposed a Critical Nerve in the Western Church

Chris

It’s all over Facebook. You can’t miss it. Even Indiana Jones is in on it now. Starbucks removed “Merry Christmas” from their red cups (if it was ever there before). A simple change by an international company has split the Christian community in two.

Some want to “prank” Starbucks. It isn’t a boycott; quite the opposite really. The plan is to introduce ways to get Starbucks to do what it has decided not to do: acknowledge Christmas. No one is trying to close stores or hurt the company’s bottom line. The original video actually calls on Christians to bring their business to any and all Starbucks locations to reintroduce Jesus and Christmas.

The other side of the battle is annoyed that anyone would go to so much trouble over something so trivial. It’s a coffee cup. “What would Jesus do?” Start a revolution, an international prank-fest? If you don’t like it, drink your coffee somewhere else. #MerryChristmasStarbucks isn’t worth the bad publicity it produces for the church.

But is it really that simple? It never is. The fact the campaign went from a positive video on one guy’s Facebook page to negative and pocking-fun memes galore reveals how big a nerve was hit. The church just found out it has an exposed nerve, and it doesn’t have anything to do with coffee cups.

Continue reading “#MerryChristmasStarbucks Exposed a Critical Nerve in the Western Church” →

Podcast

What If We Change How We Treat Others? (Podcast)

Chris

Part 3. If we believe God’s Word to be words from God for us to live by, and we hear the Gospel’s call to change, we must evaluate how we are doing at living by the Book. Jesus said He would build His church, and He has shared the blueprint with us through the Scripture. To be the church Jesus builds is to live the way the Word tells us to live.

This message goes back to the first proofs of a living relationship with Jesus Christ. If we are truly disciples of Jesus, we will love. That sounds easy, but it isn’t. There is one key that can help us, and it changes how we treat one another.

http://www.audiomack.com/embed4/chrismackinnon/what-if-we-change-the-way-we-treat-others

(If you do not see the audio player, CLICK HERE to view the full post.)