Tag: sin

Faith

How Our Decision Making Processes Were Rewritten

Chris

It is a scary thing to realize you have driven on autopilot for an unknown length of time. I’m talking about starting at Point A, and you know you have to pass Points B, C, and D, before arriving at Point E. Autopilot is realizing you left Point A, saw Point B, but suddenly find yourself somewhere between Points D and E.

Yes, that has really happened to me. No, I wasn’t drinking or high. Sometimes I was tired. Other times my mind was occupied on other things and never noticed what was happening around me.

Life is busy and full of demands on our attention. There is so much we do not take the time to think about before doing or saying what the moment seems to require of us. We have preferences and tendencies programmed into our hearts and minds to keep is headed where they take us.

Where did those default settings come from? Is my life running on autopilot with those settings driving the car? Am I sure the default programming will take me where I want to go?

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Faith

6 Complications to Admitting Our Sin and Facing Our Need for Jesus

Chris

Everyone who bumps into Jesus has to decide whether or not they need Him in their life. Whether a search for truth or life or forgiveness or hope led us to Him, or we found ourselves presented with the life and work of Jesus by a friend or stranger, there is a basic evaluation we run through to decide how far we are willing to hear or receive this Jesus. But the admission of sin requires us to overcome complications which tend to stop us in our tracks.

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Inspirational

When God Looks on Our Sin

Chris

I still haven’t figured why, but “The Walking Dead” is one of the most popular shows on television. Even Christians get a rush from a program filled with diseased, hungry, undead zombies and the fight to stay alive in a world filled with them.

No, I’m not a fan, and I’m not living in fear or anticipation of a coming zombie apocalypse (though I do believe something terrible will come one day). The pictures and commercials I see are enough to know that as a person already susceptible to images, I don’t need those ones stuck in my head.

Recently, though, I thought of those rotting undead as the perfect example of a gruesome sight. Maybe you heard something over the recent Easter season, or from some preacher over the years. It makes me think of what God might see when He loks upon us in our sin.

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Faith

Does Repentance Have a Regular Place in Your Prayer Time?

Chris

Repentance is a word church folks prefer to avoid. While it’s true we want to be reminded of grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, spiritual cleansing, and wholeness, we tend to rush toward the words that feel good and forget about the difficult, but necessary word which opens the door to the rest.

The act of repentance is most often discussed when we are inviting people to believe in Jesus Christ. He will forgive every fault, wipe away every failure, and wash away the stains of our selfish living. All we have to do is repent and believe.

We need to be reminded how repentance is not meant only for our initial salvation, the day we drew near to God and believed in His Son, Jesus. Repentance is God’s call for us, every single day.

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Podcast

Running from Love

Chris

Part 2. The prophet’s love story doesn’t jump to “happily ever after”. As children were born to them, God used their names to proclaim difficult messages to Israel. But these messages also affected his bride, who eventually gave up and run away from true love. Both Gomer and Israel fell into the traps of Satan, traps we can avoid and protect ourselves from running from the love of God.

http://www.audiomack.com/embed4/chrismackinnon/running-from-love

Faith

Which Freedom Are You Living In?

Chris

Today is Canada Day. For those of you living south of “The Great White North,” it is the day Canadians set off fireworks and celebrate their birth as a nation. Clothes sporting red and white or a maple leaf are the norm. With the day off from work and barbeques flaring up, you’d think it was the Fourth of July.

Of course, that’s just a few days away. July 4 will see a similar celebration as Canada’s cousin, the United States, enjoys its own celebration. Fireworks, barbeques, and red, white and blue. As an American abroad, it’s fun to enjoy both days. I even have both flags flying on my porch.

Though few tend to mention it, these two days are very different. The holiday I grew up with is “Independence Day” while my current home but not native land celebrates “Dominion Day.” Independence and Dominion are not the same. In fact, if you mix them up, you’ll find yourself in a big mess.

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