Even If i Walk Alone

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

John

What it Means to Follow Jesus

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Jesus is Lord,Lord of your life,Jesus first,God first,total surrender,no compromise,what does it mean to be a christian,what does it mean to follow christ,radical,disciple,crazy love

The most popular post I ever wrote was titled, “What Does it Mean to be a Christian?” I wrote that after a close friend of mine had accepted the Lord and I wanted to give him a primer of sorts as to what living a life devoted to Christ should look like. I believe that we who have called ourselves Christians for a long time probably skim over articles such as that one, assuming they are too basic or that we already know what being a Christ-follower entails. The past couple of years have convinced me that nothing could be further from the truth. The vast majority of people calling themselves Christians have no idea what it means to truly follow Christ.

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Solutions for Apathy

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repent,church mission,apathy,discipleship,awaken the church,mission of the church,mission of Christ

I recently wrote a post about apathy in the church today (See “Apathy”). It struck me after publishing that piece that while it was heavy on stating the problem, it was a little light on providing solutions. It’s easy to spot problems and rail against them. It’s another thing entirely to take a step back and suggest solutions. I don’t want to be a person who simply points out flaws but presents no way to correct them. I want to be like Jesus. He was all about answers. His mission was to provide a solution to the problem, not simply point out our flaws (John 3:17).

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Apathy in the Church

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apathy,selfishness,church tradition,dead church,church mission,mission of Christ,human trafficking,slavery

Apathy is the rule of the day in the American church. We are surrounded by evil yet cling to our traditions in hopes we can keep the world at bay. I don’t know when it all happened and I don’t think it is unique to America. Free and affluent countries around the globe have squandered the wealth and opportunity afforded them, and now a new generation is turning away from God in record numbers. We had so much and we did so little. I believe this will be what we are judged for when we see God. How could we who were so blessed have produced so little?

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Deliverance

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faith,perseverance,patience of Job,facing trials,tribulation

Have you ever had periods in your life where you felt like you could relate to Job? There are seasons in all of our journeys where, to the best of our knowledge we are following well, yet everything seems to be crumbling around us. Maybe a job loss or financial difficulty will arrive. Perhaps we will lose someone close to us or have an internal battle threaten to rage out of control. We are doing the things God told us to do but still our lives seem to be spiraling downward and picking up speed. These are the times of character refinement, and it is these moments that determine our true loyalty. Will we give up because it is too hard? Or will we say with Job, “The Lord gives and He takes away… I will never curse my friend” (Job 1:21-22; Job 2:9-10)?

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Zeal

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clearing the temple,the Lords prayer,heaven on earth,zeal,zealous,zealousness,passion,God's will for your life,God's will for my life

Zeal is an interesting word. Scriptures tell us that zeal for God’s house consumed Jesus (Psalm 69:8-9; John 2:17). We see it played out when Jesus tossed the merchants and money changers out of the temple (John 2:13-17). In doing so, I believe Jesus set an example as to how we should react to things that stand in contrast to God’s design. While tolerance is preached today, Jesus demonstrated none of it towards those who were blatantly ignoring and abusing God’s commands. When was the last time you were so consumed by zeal for God that you took action regardless of what people thought and without thinking of any possible ramifications?

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