Archives for August 2016

Casual Christian

August 11, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

There is an old song by the band “Degarmo and Key” called “Casual Christian”. The beginning of the song says, “I don’t want to be a casual Christian / I don’t want to lead a lukewarm life / ‘Cause I want to light up the night / With an everlasting light / I don’t want to lead a casual Christian life.” Though the song is over twenty-five years old, the lyrics still regularly play in my mind. Put simply, this is the call of my life, and I believe it is the call for every disciple of Jesus.

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Casual Christianity is mediocre Christianity. It is lukewarm Christianity. It is nothing more than religious busyness, and it very literally makes God sick (Revelation 3:16).

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Indecision Kills

August 8, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

Nothing kills momentum and mission quicker than indecision. When Jesus calls you to do something, do it right away. How many times have you felt led to help someone, donate some money, or simply say a kind word but hesitated? And then the moment was lost. Indecision kills. What could have been a beautiful moment is now gone forever. You never noticed Jesus bothered with indecision.

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He knew His purpose, He knew His mission, and He let nothing interfere with them. The life of Jesus was a perfect model of consistency. Consistency is the antidote for indecision. When our default and constant reaction to any nudge of the spirit is to act, we will cut indecision off at the knees.

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A Few Things

August 4, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Many will never reach the Kingdom of Heaven for they have fixed their eyes on wealth. They are sick for the things of the world. They live proudly through luxury. But those who are serious about salvation must settle this beforehand in their mind. All we possess is given to us to use for sufficiency, which one may acquire by merely a few things.” For those of us in the West, this should be especially convicting. We live proudly in our luxury.

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We take more for granted than half the world can even imagine possessing. All this extravagance will count for nothing when we stand before God and give an account of our lives. He will ask what we did with what He entrusted to us, and we will only be able to hang our heads and admit we hoarded it for ourselves (Luke 12:16-21).

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Seize Every Opportunity

August 1, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

Every now and then I read something that at once inspires me while also feeling like being punched in the gut. In his book, “Counter Culture”, David Platt writes, “I don’t want to waste the opportunities God has given me to live out the gospel by which God has saved me in the culture where God has placed me.” Let that sink in for a moment.

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It’s a great mantra by which to live our lives. It’s also a convicting scale we can use to weigh any decision with which we are faced. Are we doing all we can to serve and love others in the context in which we’ve been placed? If not, why not?