Even If i Walk Alone

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

I John

A Christianity of Convenience

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A reader wrote to me expressing her disgust over the fact so many “people today just want to live a Christianity of convenience.” I share her frustration. The reality is Christianity is never a convenient way to live. If it is, I guarantee you do not understand what it means to follow Jesus. The gospel of Jesus will never be popular or convenient. To follow Jesus is to live at odds with society and the surrounding culture.

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In my lifetime, this has never been more obvious than in the last few years. Christians around the world are murdered every day simply because of their faith. Even in the West, Christians are now being arrested for praying silently to themselves. The culture now views followers of Christ as threats to society. I’d say that’s a less-than-convenient way for us to live.

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The Game of Life

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There’s no such thing as the game of life. Despite the “wisdom” of the common bumper sticker, he who dies with the most toys does not win. Life is not winning or losing, it is living or dying. A spiritual war is waging all around us every day. Meanwhile, we go about our lives as if we have all the time in the world and that the most important thing we have to do is find pleasure or entertainment.

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We’ve got to wake up and recognize life is serious. Life is not just fun and games, and we must wage war against the spiritual forces around us. Every day, we must choose to serve Christ or to serve Satan. In our modern culture, we take life so casually that we don’t understand how serious things are. When we meet Christ face to face, we will understand how wrong we have been.

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A Devoted Life

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There are times you encounter things in life you just can’t shake. As I exited the church I was attending recently, the pastor and a man who had identified himself as the head elder were standing at the door, ostensibly to say goodbye to people as they were leaving. As we approached, I heard them conversing somewhat passionately about… the NFL playoffs.

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That may seem innocent enough, but it has been gnawing at me ever since. I suppose it was their way of letting off steam after putting in their obligatory sixty-five minutes of church for the week. To me, it was a picture of everything wrong with Christianity in a five-second window. We are so enraptured by the world that we no longer understand what it means to live a sacred and devoted life.

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No Substitute

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With all the turmoil in the world, it can be difficult to know how to respond. Do you speak out or hold your tongue? Should you join the crowd or stand with the resistance? When it comes to figuring out how you should live and which direction to go, there is no substitute for God’s Word. We do not place enough emphasis on the study of God’s Word today.

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So many preachers are busy delivering self-help sermons and trying to read themselves into the Bible that we’ve lost the basic need and discipline of reading and studying the Scriptures. Bible reading is not a tired and dusty practice. It is as essential as oxygen in the life of every believer.

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Conformed or Transformed?

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Are you being conformed or transformed? It’s a question I heard a preacher ask not too long ago. The question is both cutting and convicting and should lead to a healthy dose of self-reflection. If we give our lives to Jesus, the Holy Spirit will begin the work of transforming us into the image of Christ.

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However, if we give ourselves over to the pursuits of pleasure, success, and happiness, the spirit of the age will be at work conforming us to the things of this world. Depending on our choices, our lives will reflect either the Holy God or the evil devil. Being transformed leads to eternal life, while being conformed leads to eternal damnation.

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