commitment

Spring Cleaning

March 19, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

I love when the air begins to warm, and the colors of spring push out the grays and whites of winter. I am not a lover of snow or cold, so my soul gets a little lighter each time spring rolls around. It’s a time to open windows and take long walks outside again. With the arrival of Spring, many of our thoughts turn to the proverbial “spring cleaning”.

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We dust and sweep the corners of our living areas and declutter the storage spaces. Spring is a time of fresh beginnings, and we want everything to be sparkling and new again. If we undertake such chores for our home on an annual basis, why do we not do the same for our eternal souls?

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From Flesh to Spirit

March 9, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

In our fallen world, we have all succumbed to living our lives for our fleshly, carnal desires instead of for our spiritual calling. God calls us to move from flesh to spirit, but most of us spend our time moving in the opposite direction. The world looks so enticing. Surely just sampling what it offers wouldn’t hurt anything, right?

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That strategy did not work out well for Adam and Eve, and by extension has caused us problems from the day we were born. We want the tangible delights we can taste, touch, and see. Oh, and we want them now. Our flesh is always pulling us towards the things of this world and away from our true spiritual nature.

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Deep Faith

March 5, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

Every day my heart breaks as I read of yet another person who was beaten, tortured, or killed because of their faith in Jesus Christ. It is a rare day when a new report does not hit my inbox. Writing in my warm house in my safe neighborhood, my daily experience could not be more different from theirs. I am free to gather with others to worship any time I choose.

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I can buy Bibles and Christian materials twenty-four hours a day and have them delivered the next afternoon. The dizzying array of churches and resources available to me almost borders on being overwhelming. And yet the faith of so many in the West remains weak compared to the deep faith of those who have no access to such a bounty of instruction and encouragement.

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Can You Be a Christian Without Being a Disciple?

February 13, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

I heard a caller on a radio show ask, “Can you be a Christian without being a disciple?” I have been wrestling with this same thought of late. Before diving in, we should define the terms, so we are all on the same page. The term “Christian” now means many things in our world, but for this discussion, I mean someone who has trusted Jesus is who He says He was and has surrendered their lives to His Lordship.

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A disciple, again for our discussion, is someone who is constantly and consistently pursuing Jesus, desperate to live their lives as He lived His. My inclination is to say you cannot be a Christian if you are not a disciple. I could be wrong but let me give you some reasons for my belief, and then I’ll say a few words about why I might be wrong.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ

February 3, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

On Christmas day, two pastors in the Central African Republic (CAR) were gunned down as they walked home from holding services. Then, on January 3^rd, the terrorist organization Boko Haram, kidnapped Pastor Lawan Andimi, a senior member of the Christian Association of Nigeria. On January 19^th, they called his wife and told her they would behead her husband, which they did. So, how was your day? I in no way mean to be flippant but to point out the fact while most Western Christians fret about getting to church while there are still donuts available, our Christian brothers and sisters around the globe are facing real trials and real persecution.

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As another mega-church goes into millions of dollars of debt to build bigger and more comfortable buildings, Christians in nations where Christianity is illegal risk beatings, imprisonment, and death to gather under a tree in the middle of a field just so they can fellowship with one another. Something has gone terribly wrong with the Church in the Western world.