Colossians

Scenes From the Rebellion

September 5, 2024 by Tim Sherfy

Everywhere you look, you will see examples of our rejection of God’s Word. I call them “scenes from the rebellion”. All you have to do is open the scriptures and read the commands of God to see how we revolt against His design for how we are to live. Reading God’s Word is a giant indictment of our selfishness and desire to make ourselves higher than God (Romans 1:21-23).

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Today I was reading James where he writes, “… Everyone must be slow to speak and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness” (James 1:19-20). It’s as if James was looking at our modern culture and writing down the opposite of everything we practice. This is how far we are from living in obedience to God’s Word. We are living 180 degrees from God’s standard.

How to Make Disciples

September 2, 2024 by Tim Sherfy

The last instruction given by Jesus before ascending to Heaven was for us to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). It’s a serious command because it necessitates putting others before ourselves. Jesus did not charge us with becoming successful, powerful, or living our best life now. He made it clear this life is not about us. It’s about furthering His mission. If we love Him, there is no choice but to obey Him (John 14:15).

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And if we’re going to obey Him, we must be about the business of discipling others. But most of us don’t know how to make disciples. We all want to, but lack the knowledge of what we should do. Worse, many believe making disciples is for the super-Christian, those people who seem to possess a knowledge of God we can never hope to achieve. God’s Word is for everyone, no matter how much or how little you think of your abilities.

More Than Emotions

August 29, 2024 by Tim Sherfy

Modern churches place an enormous amount of focus on the emotional experience of being a Christian. Worship teams craft songs and services to evoke an emotional response from those listening. Sermons focus on engaging stories rather than the plain truth of Scripture. And I don’t know about you, but it’s a rare day when my mailbox (physical and virtual) doesn’t find an impassioned plea for help from some ministry or another.

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Social media adds to the play for our emotions by hyping the latest heresy or cause to which the church should be attending. Humans are emotional beings and Christians are no exception. But following Jesus involves more than emotions. Jesus said we must love Him not only with all our heart (emotion) but also with all our strength, mind, and soul (Mark 12:30).

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What Can You Do?

August 19, 2024 by Tim Sherfy

What can you do about the increasing evil that is penetrating every corner of our world? To be realistic and blunt, not much. The fall of this world was a foregone certainty before the Lord spoke the first word to create it all (Isaiah 46:9-10). None of what is transpiring is surprising to God. Every bit is part of His mysterious but sovereign plan (Ephesians 1:11-12). I don’t get it.

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This isn’t in any way how I would write this grand story. Then again, I am so obviously not God. My “perfect plan” would fall apart within seconds. No, that’s too long; it would immediately fail because I am not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, or omnibenevolent. It’s not all bad news though. While we can’t stem the tide of evil flooding our world, there is something we can do.

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Right Now Counts Forever

August 12, 2024 by Tim Sherfy

As you go throughout your day, how often do you pause and recognize that right now counts forever? Every idle word, careless act, and mindless thought is part of your eternal record. Because God created us to give Him glory, every moment of our lives comes with a responsibility. Our lives are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), no matter how much we think otherwise.

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The only reason any of us is drawing breath today is so we might bring glory to Jesus Christ. Your comfort, success, and happiness are all secondary considerations. We’ve spent our entire lives getting this not just backward, but very wrong. The purpose of our lives is not to get as much as we can out of this life, but to give as much of ourselves as we can to the mission and work of Christ.