Even If i Walk Alone

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

Ephesians

The Key to Following Christ

by

Lord of your life,Jesus first,7 habits,key to christianity,how to follow jesus,I surrender all,surrendering all,forsaking all

These days it seems to be the rage to write articles espousing the “The 3 Keys to This” or the “7 Steps to That”. Everyone seems to be looking for a quick fix or at least some concrete guidance to getting to where they want to be. It made me ponder what I might consider to be the keys to following Christ. If I could boil it all down to a few concepts, what would they be? As I mulled it over, I kept coming back to a single thought: think less about yourself. Perhaps following Jesus really is that simple.

[Read more…] about The Key to Following Christ

When Life Works

by

gifts,talents,spiritual gifts,sean stephenson,time to stand,WLW list,when life works

Following in the footsteps of Jesus is not easy. Christ was selfless, passionately driven, fiercely devoted, and unwavering in His mission. This is how He lived every second of His life; He never let up. How can we possibly ever achieve even a modicum of that in our lives? When we ask Jesus to be the Lord of our life and put our total trust in Him, His spirit empowers us to do everything He did, and more (John 14:12). It’s not up to us to figure out the “how”, we simply need to acknowledge our weakness and obey Jesus anyway.

[Read more…] about When Life Works

A Small Group Primer

by

intentional community,shane claiborne,the simple way,discipleship,small groups,life groups

Perhaps no single idea has been so universally embraced by the church over the past 30 years as that of the small group. It is the strategic backbone of larger and smaller congregations alike. Too often these groups become nothing more than just another clique or a social club. Friendships develop, and there is a passing attempt at working through a Bible study booklet, but rarely do you find these groups engaged in the mission of Christ. There are exceptions; perhaps you belong to one of these. I do know of groups building intentional communities with tremendous outreach; they exemplify the early church. However,  if you belong to one of the more common implementations of a small group – one not engaging your culture – then it’s time to ask some hard questions.

[Read more…] about A Small Group Primer

Playing With Fire

by

sin,poison,yeast,wrong motives,wrong thoughts,purity,integrity,jesus first,think on these things,purity,sexual immorality,greed,idolatry

We hinder our ability to live as fully devoted followers of Christ when we allow sin to linger in our lives. We were created in God’s image, to live holy and obedient lives that will glorify our Creator. Every time we sin we are engaging in behavior that is diametrically opposed to who we are. We are spiritual beings living life in a physical body. The more we feed the physical rather than the spiritual, the less we look like Jesus. Our focus must be on nourishing the soul. This is accomplished only by pursuing those things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and morally excellent (Philippians 4:8). In other words, we feed our souls by pursuing Jesus.

[Read more…] about Playing With Fire

The Light of the World

by

Jesus is Lord,jesus is the light of the world,jesus is light,let your light shine in darkness

There are a lot of great songs that have been written about the light of Jesus. From classic hymns like Phillip Bliss’, “The Light of the World is Jesus” to more modern hits like Charlie Hall’s “Marvelous Light”, the light of Jesus has always brought us comfort as we seek to bask in it. There is something reassuring about light. We get energy from light. So why is it that we can sing about the light of the world, yet in reality the world grows darker every day? As followers of Jesus, what are we missing?

[Read more…] about The Light of the World