commitment

Converts vs. Disciples

April 2, 2012 by Tim Sherfy

When I was growing up, there were several movies around that I think were designed with the sole purpose of scaring the daylights out of young people. These weren’t creations of Wes Craven, Stephen King or any of the well-known masters of the horror movie genre. Rather, these were Christian filmmakers and organizations producing movies depicting the end times as they interpreted them from the book of Revelation. Films like “A Thief in the Night”, “A Distant Thunder” and “A Burning Hell” (apparently all Christian movies of this genre had to begin with the letter ‘A’). The scenes in these films ranged from creepy to utterly disgusting. The shock value, however, fulfilled the purpose of the producers to scare many young adults (and quite a few not so young adults) into repentance and surrendering their lives to Christ. I wonder what happened to all those who gave their lives to Jesus? If a large number of my generation truly committed their lives to Him, why have we seen so little progress in spreading the truth of Christ in the years that have followed?

What is the Measure of Your Success?

March 22, 2012 by Tim Sherfy

christ centered life, sacrifice, following Jesus

How do you define success? Is it the amount of money in your retirement account or perhaps the cash you have at your fingertips? Is it the car you drive or the house in which you live? Maybe you would define success by the job you hold, the company you keep or the possessions you own. The more altruistic might say their success is reflected in their family or friends. As Christians we might shake our head and acknowledge those to be ways the world defines success, but not ways in which we would ever describe it. Yet when I look at my life and that of fellow believers, I cannot help but wonder if we are any different at all; in what ways are we truly setting ourselves apart from those who do not choose to follow Christ?

Defining the Relationship

March 5, 2012 by Tim Sherfy

In his excellent book, “Not a Fan”, Kyle Idleman makes the point that if we are to be true followers of Christ then it requires us to define the relationship. In other words, what does it mean to be a follower? It is more than simply believing in Christ and it is more than living a good life. Following Jesus means that we must be willing to give up everything we own and all that we are. Our hopes, dreams, aspirations and possessions belong to God, and if we would follow Him, we must not try to keep any of those things for ourselves.

The Church of Adolescents

February 27, 2012 by Tim Sherfy

Too often the modern church, particularly those of us in the West, run around like a bunch of immature teenagers. We are convinced that our way is the only right way. We know what we want, and we want it right now! Convinced that we know all there is to know, we pontificate and lead the masses astray. Paul admonished the church in Corinth that even though they had been instructed in the ways of Christ, they were still immature (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). It seems we’ve learned little in the 2,000 years since Paul wrote that letter; we are still like babes, selfish adolescents in His Kingdom.

It’s Not about the Past

February 16, 2012 by Tim Sherfy

One of the most common reasons I hear from people for not following Christ is that God could never use someone like them because of what they had done in their lives. They think they are unworthy and unlovable, unacceptable by a holy God. They may indeed battle with feelings of inadequacy, but I submit that all of the above is really just a convenient excuse for them. I believe it’s not so much an issue of what they’ve done that keeps them from following Jesus, but rather more a case of what they are currently doing. More deterrent than guilt from their past is the prospect of giving up the things in their present.

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