Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

2 Timothy

Safe Prayers

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jefferson bethke,Jesus is greater than religion,safety,prayer,discipleship,nik ripken,insanity of obedience,sheep among wolves,jesus,religion

Reading through Jefferson Bethke’s book, “Jesus>Religion”, I was struck by his comment that too many Christians say “safe” prayers. Let me give you a couple of examples of what I mean by “safe” prayers. When we pray for missionaries or those facing persecution, we tend to pray for their safety. Pastors pray for the safety of those with them before doing an outreach event in some more dangerous parts of town. The problem is I never see Jesus, His disciples, or anyone in the early church praying for safety. Where did we get this model? I propose we start praying different prayers, prayers that are more aligned to what Jesus taught, and prayers that are far more relevant and powerful.

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Beyond Belief

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steve taylor,I predict 1990,harder to believe than not to, 2 Timothy, II Timothy 4:7; John 14:6, John 16:33,faith

Do you ever wonder how people live without Jesus? Where do they turn when life gets overwhelming? How do they find the strength to persevere through difficult times? I’m certain I’d be dead or certifiably crazy, save for the fact that I know Jesus is with me through everything. There is no storm He cannot calm, no trouble He cannot heal. When I look around at the turmoil in our world, I don’t understand how people can feel anything but despair. There is no hope to be found of our own ingenuity or creation. While so many think the faith I have in Jesus is ridiculous and restrictive, I cannot imagine living in their alternative!

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Nothing to Fear

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rick cua,degarmo and key,casual christian,reckless faith,reckless,commitment,fear,mission

An old song has been stuck in my head over the last day, causing great conviction and peace all at once.  I often find myself in the throes of these dichotic emotions, so I’m quite comfortable living in such unusual tensions! The song that has been niggling in my brain is “Reckless Faith”, by Rick Cua. While the entire lyric is great, the piece that has lodged itself in my mind is “While others play it safe/ Give me reckless faith”.  I love that. What if we all had a healthy dose of reckless faith? What if we were totally unafraid and refused to play it safe?

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Pleasing God

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not of this world,peculiar peaople,pleasing God,serving God

In 2 Timothy 2:4, Paul tells us that “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the recruiter.” We somehow have forgotten about this part of scripture. It’s always far more convenient to only talk about those areas that are comfortable for us, or the commands with which we don’t struggle. In the passage above, the recruiter is obviously Jesus. He loves you and has been drawing you towards Him your entire life. Getting “entangled in the concerns of civilian life” means becoming obsessed with achieving success outside of His kingdom or constantly striving to acquire all the stuff that your neighbors and society at large have convinced you that you need.

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What it Means to Follow Jesus

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Jesus is Lord,Lord of your life,Jesus first,God first,total surrender,no compromise,what does it mean to be a christian,what does it mean to follow christ,radical,disciple,crazy love

The most popular post I ever wrote was titled, “What Does it Mean to be a Christian?” I wrote that after a close friend of mine had accepted the Lord and I wanted to give him a primer of sorts as to what living a life devoted to Christ should look like. I believe that we who have called ourselves Christians for a long time probably skim over articles such as that one, assuming they are too basic or that we already know what being a Christ-follower entails. The past couple of years have convinced me that nothing could be further from the truth. The vast majority of people calling themselves Christians have no idea what it means to truly follow Christ.

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