Even If i Walk Alone

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

commitment

Live Slowly

by

While doing some reading, I stumbled across this from J. I. Packer: “Live slowly enough to be able to think deeply about God.” It’s been some time since a statement hit me so hard. A myriad of health issues in my family have sent my life spinning like a top on steroids for the past year. Add keeping a small business afloat and the usual responsibilities of life, and there’s been little margin in my world for quite some time.

live slowly,slow down,commitment,discipline,priorities,focus,discipleship,Bible study,Bible reading

I’m sure you can relate; we all go through these seasons. In the middle of these times, it’s easy to get lost as the competing urgency of so many things obscures your priorities. Life is speeding by and it’s all you can do to just hold on. We need to remember how important it is to slow down and seek God.

[Read more…] about Live Slowly

Cheap Christianity

by

Consider the following quote from J. C. Ryle: “There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough – a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice – which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.” What’s remarkable is Bishop Ryle died in 1900, yet his observation over a hundred years ago is as relevant today as it was then.

cheap Christianity,surrender,salvation,commitment,discipleship

A quick survey of modern churches reveals a group of pastors, elders, and lay people who are bending over backward to accommodate and avoid offending any and everyone. It’s never been easier to attend a church and not have it cost you a thing, especially in the West. In most places, you can slip in and out and no one will even notice you were there. This is beyond cheap Christianity!

[Read more…] about Cheap Christianity

Few Are Going to Heaven

by

The greatest burden of my life is the conviction that so many, perhaps even most people who proclaim to be Christians are not. It’s not the first time I’ve written about this, and it won’t be the last. That’s what happens when a burden is constantly crushing down on you. When I look around at the modern church, and even more broadly at the industries that have sprung up around it, my soul aches for those who think they are on one path but in reality are on another.

few are going to Heaven,eternal life,salvation,surrender,faith,commitment,discipleship

To quote J. C. Ryle, “According to the men of the world, few are going to hell; According to the Bible, few are going to heaven.” The great tragedy of our day is not that we aren’t bringing more lost people into the body of Christ, but that so many lost people believe they are already in the body of Christ.

[Read more…] about Few Are Going to Heaven

Desperate for God

by

I will never understand how most Christians I meet are not desperate for God. If we are determined to devote our lives to Jesus, our daily obsession must be learning more about Him. My constant frustration is not having more time to spend in His presence, praying and studying His Word. If Jesus isn’t the most important thing in your life, what is?

surrender,discipleship,commitment,salvation,discipline,priorities,desperate for God

Who or what else is worth more than Jesus? For many, their proclamation of Jesus as Lord is a joke. Outside of showing up for church on Sundays, you’d never know they knew Jesus at all. Too often, that person is us. Are you desperate for God or a Christian in name only?

[Read more…] about Desperate for God

What’s Wrong With the Church?

by

Looking around at our culture, it’s easy to ask, “What’s wrong with this world?” As we observe all the evil and immorality surrounding us, perhaps a better question is, “What’s wrong with the church?” How did we get from “One Nation under God” to a fractured nation where everyone does what seems right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25; Proverbs 21:2; Romans 8:5)?

church,surrender,sacrifice,mission,purpose,priorities,commitment,discipleship,focus,what's wrong with the church

While we are eager to lay the blame at the feet of Satan, those of us who have fallen for his deceptions bear equal blame. We are the ones who let the devil into the church. We are the ones who thought a little compromise would work a great eternal glory. The world is crumbling because the church is crumbling. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do (Psalm 11:2)?

[Read more…] about What’s Wrong With the Church?