James

Do Something

November 24, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

image © Krasimira Nevenova – Fotolia

I don’t think Francis Chan can help himself. He recently wrote a book with his wife called “You and Me Forever”. Ostensibly this is a book about marriage. Yet from the first pages, Chan is exhorting Christians to live out their faith. He is so passionate about his desire to see people not only come to Christ, but also to live for Him, that it bleeds into everything he does. Can the same be said of our lives? Should we not all strive to be so consumed with Jesus that He spills into every thought, action, and word we speak? If that’s not the case, then what is the proof of our love for Christ?

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Rewards

September 29, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

image © thinglass – Fotolia.com

Each of us, regardless of our success or social standing, will stand trembling and naked before the God of the universe. We will no longer have anything we accumulated on earth. Empty and naked, we will stand before the King. All we will have are the rewards that we stored in Heaven based on the things we did for Jesus while we were alive on earth (Matthew 6:19-21). We accumulate heavenly rewards by serving God and others in His name; by sacrificing everything for the sake of building His Kingdom. Building treasure in Heaven requires us to daily put our trust in God for our provision; not in our money, possessions, or achievements. As we do the things He told us to do (see Matthew 25:31-46, James 1:27, and Ephesians 5:1-5), we will increase our treasure in Heaven.

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Are You a Fan or Follower?

September 22, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

not a fan,kyle idleman,James 1:27,Matthew 25:31-36,commitment,fan,follower

Photo Credit: Lotus Carroll via Compfight cc

The group of believers with whom I meet weekly recently started the video study based on Kyle Idleman’s excellent book, “Not a Fan”. It’s been a while since I read the book, but it was absolutely life changing for me, and I highly recommend you make it part of your annual reading list. I’ve written several articles in the past that were inspired by the book, but the group discussion has stirred some fresh thoughts in me and has challenged me to ask once again if I am truly a follower of Jesus or merely a fan. Am I sacrificing everything for the sake of following Him, or am I merely playing at this thing we call Christianity?

Focus on God

August 28, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

focus,distraction,serving others,Matthew 26:31-46,James 1:27,Matthew 6:25-33,Mark 12:28-31

We are so easily distracted by the cares and pleasures of this world. Knowing he is defeated, Satan has brilliantly crafted a strategy that is making certain that he doesn’t go down alone. His entire purpose is to thwart the plans of God, delay his own inevitable demise, and keep you and me as far away from God as possible. He accomplishes this through altering our focus. As followers of Jesus, our focus should always be on two things: God Himself and serving others in His name. Everything else in life will make sense if we are keeping our focus solely on these two areas.

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We Could Feed the World

December 9, 2013 by Tim Sherfy

rick grover,feed the hungry,feed the world,blck friday,christmas spending,christmas shopping,stewardship,the church,life mission

Every now and then you hear a statistic that nearly knocks you off your feet. This week my pastor mentioned in his sermon that $450 billion dollars will be spent on Christmas shopping this year. That’s mind-numbing enough, but he had one more statistic to add. We could feed the entire world for $15 billion. Quick math shows we could feed everyone who is hungry 30 times over, just on what we will spend on Christmas this year alone. We’ve gotten things upside down in the Kingdom. We love to say, “Jesus first”, but our spending habits dictate otherwise.