Even If i Walk Alone

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

Matthew

Take Action

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proactive,putting God first,Jesus first,2013,goals,goal setting,discipleship

Today is the last day of 2012. The beginning of a new year is always an exciting time for me, as it presents a clean slate and a fresh set of opportunities. I’m a goals fanatic and have found it useful to have a theme to guide my planning for each year. Last year’s theme was, “Consume Less, Contribute More.” This year I have selected, “Take Action”. As a follower of Christ, nothing could be more important. As James said, we must be doers of the word, not merely hearers (James 1:22-25). If we are going to grow in our faith, we must act on the things Jesus told us to do.

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Passion

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margaret becker,passion,devotion,holiness,Jesus is Lord

I enjoy listening to music as I drift to sleep each night. Recently I was listening to an older song by Margaret Becker entitled, “This is My Passion”. While I’ve listened to this song hundreds of times over the years, I was particularly struck on that night by the refrain of the chorus where she sings: “This is my passion, holiness, holiness”. The poignancy of the lyric is driven home by Margaret’s earnest vocal. What if we could say with conviction that the passion of our life was holiness? Yet, isn’t this what Jesus calls each of us to in our own lives?

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The Key to Following Christ

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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.

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Where was God in Newtown?

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sandy hook,freewill,open theism,newtown,tragedy,forgiveness,love,God and evil,why does god allow evil,why do bad things happen to good people,newton ct

Whenever there is a tragedy such as the horrific killings in Newtown, Connecticut, people want to know how a good and loving God could allow such inexplicable violence. How can God truly be worth serving if He allows murder, rape, kidnapping, depravity and abject evil to exist in our world? Is He not powerful enough to put an end to it? Is He even in control at all? These are fair questions that come out of unimaginable grief and trauma. I think it is okay and even healthy to ask these questions. But people want to do more than question God, they demand an answer. It’s here that I think too many Christians are missing the mark.

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Boycotting Christmas

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Christianity,J.C.Penney,Ellen Degeneres,Greg Boyd,AFA,Donald Wildmon,American Family Association,discipleship,Christmas,true meaning of Christmas

Every December there are groups of Christians who protest or boycott companies who do not use the word “Christmas” in their advertising. One group is outraged because J.C. Penney (ironically hailed by the same group for using the word ‘Christmas’ in their ad campaigns) is using Ellen DeGeneres, a homosexual as their spokesperson in their commercials. These are the kind of actions that caused me to abandon Christianity to instead live my life as a follower of Christ. This is why young people are turning away from Christ in record numbers. If this is what it means to be a Christian, who wants to be one? Who would want to identify with an elitist mentality that focuses on the judgment of others?

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