Even If i Walk Alone

The Cross or Comfort

July 25, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

Sometimes I wish things weren’t so black and white. Take the title of this blog for instance. Will you choose the cross or comfort? Surely there’s an option ‘C’, right? We want the cross but we’d really rather have our share of comfort in this world as well. After all, what good is God if He can’t cut us a break every now and then? Of course we’d never say something like that out loud, but most of us aren’t shy about living as if that’s how we feel. But the way I read the Bible, there is no option ‘C’.

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There is no gray area in which we can revel. Jesus was pretty clear in His statements. We must choose the cross or comfort. We can’t have it both ways, and living in the middle is the same as rejecting Him (Revelation 3:16).

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Pokémon Go and Discipleship

July 21, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

It’s been difficult to go a day without seeing a news story about the Pokémon Go craze sweeping smart phones across the country. I confess I’ve never played the game but feel I have read enough to be well informed about the basics. For those wondering what this could possibly have to do with living a Jesus-centered life, please hang with me; we’ll get there! If you don’t know about Pokémon Go, it is what’s called an “augmented reality” game. Augmented reality blends the real world with things that are superimposed on top of it.

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You look through the camera on your phone and see the world around you, as you would expect. The game then layers additional objects onto what you see, in the form of Pokémon monsters. The goal is to find and collect them by capturing them in the same way as you would take a photo. As I marveled at the craze, it occurred to me the game has profound implications for how we live our lives in a manner pleasing to Jesus each day.

The Death of Freewill

July 18, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

Freewill is central to my theology and in my mind is the linchpin to answering difficult questions about sin, disease, and evil in the world. After Jesus, I think freewill is probably the greatest gift God bestowed on His creation. After all, freewill is what enables us to love. It enables us to choose. Most importantly, it enables us to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.

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But here’s the irony for all disciples of Jesus: to accept Christ means the death of freewill in our lives. When we surrender ourselves to Christ, we surrender everything, including our freewill. Nothing is excluded. The very thing permitting us to accept Christ is what we must give up in exchange for His Lordship in our lives.

The Measure of Your Love

July 14, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

How’s this for a terrifying thought? The measure of your love for God is equal to your love for the people with whom we interact daily. There are some people, my wife for example, whom I love very much and would be comfortable with God measuring my love for Him by how much I love her.

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Then there are my friends; while I have a certain degree of love for them, I definitely want to believe I love God more. But then there are my coworkers and the people I encounter in the store or in traffic. Now the comparison of how much I love God begins to get more than a little uncomfortable.
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One Thing

July 11, 2016 by Tim Sherfy

A few years ago, Gary Keller wrote a book called, “The One Thing”. While it was not a “Christian” book by definition, I found it applicable to life as a disciple of Jesus. The book talks about finding the one thing that drives you. It encourages the reader to discover the one thing about which they are most passionate. Once discovered, the author compels us to pursue it with intense focus and determination.

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For years I have known what my “one thing” is. It is to instruct and encourage others to live lives wholly devoted to Christ. While it’s been some time since I read Mr. Keller’s excellent book, it left quite an impact on me. Then I recently read “Absolute Surrender , a book written by Andrew Murray over a century ago. In it, I came across the following statement: “Absolute surrender to God is the one thing.”
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