Even If i Walk Alone

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

I John

All We Have is Now

by

I’ve gotten (and I’m sure given) some terrible advice in my life, but perhaps none so damning as what I recently overheard someone give to another. They said, “Relax. Breathe. All we have is now.” While focusing on and maximizing each moment is something I can get behind, telling someone “all we have is now” does a horrible disservice to their eternal soul.

all we have is now,commitment,surrender,salvation,mission,purpose

This brief life is not all there is. What comes next matters infinitely more than anything you or I will ever do in this life. To live as if all we have is now is to deceive ourselves and to reject God’s Word. This life is not all there is. What comes next is the reward or the consequence of how we live right now.

[Read more…] about All We Have is Now

A Christianity of Convenience

by

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.

heaven,commitment,discipleship,humility,salvation,a Christianity of convenience

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.

[Read more…] about A Christianity of Convenience

The Game of Life

by

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.

game of life,committment,discipleship,discipline,focus,faith

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.

[Read more…] about The Game of Life

A Devoted Life

by

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.

devotion,discipleship,mission,priorities,purpose,the church

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.

[Read more…] about A Devoted Life

No Substitute

by

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.

no substitute,Bible study,God's Word,discipleship,CHristian growth,Bible memorization

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.

[Read more…] about No Substitute