Even If i Walk Alone

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

Matthew

Used to Bad News

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Opinion column in a newspaper

Every day we read the news and it seems our world keeps going from bad to worse. It can be discouraging as we try and live for Christ on a planet that seems determined to eradicate His name from its vocabulary. Intellectually we know that God is in control and in the end He will triumph. Through our logical eye, however, we question how that will ever be possible in a world that seems to have simply gone mad. Good news seems even better than it is because it has become so rare. Newspapers and web sites are full of negative stories be it concerning the economy, war, or violence perpetrated against random individuals. Over time it becomes numbing to the point that we simply get used to bad news.

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Deny Yourself

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In Matthew 16, verse 24, Jesus tells His followers that “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” It is common among Christians to talk about “taking up your cross”.

Cookies and milk - a luxury

We generally pull that out whenever we are going through some sort of trial. Yet we don’t hear a lot in our modern churches about denying ourselves. It seems we’ve relegated that to the people of the past, the super-spiritual or the mystics. After all, denying oneself is a wholly un-American way to think.

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Moving Beyond Faith

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Once you have made the decision to follow Christ, what’s next? How do we go about doing life the day after we have given ourselves to Him? Those who truly love Him want so much more than a “get out of Hell free” pass. We want to live in a manner that glorifies Him and sets us apart. But where do we start and how to we continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus?

Girl reaching towards Heaven

Fortunately, God did not leave us to figure this out on our own. To help guide us, He places His Spirit within each of us who put their faith in Him. He also gave us the instructions of His Word in scripture. His plan for our maturity can be found in 2 Peter 1:5-8. It’s a roadmap for how we should live our life.

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Gaining Momentum

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For too long the Western church has rested on its laurels and has become fat and lazy. I am not speaking to those too few exceptions to the rule. I am speaking to the vast majority of American Christians who are content to go to church on Sunday and live the rest of their lives in pursuit of the American dream. We have bought into the lie that material success is proof of God’s blessing on our lives.

Bicycling down hill

God never promised wealth to those who loved Him. This teaching goes beyond the so-called “health and wealth” theology, and has in fact become embedded in the church at large.

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Hero Worship

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Most of us grew up having heroes; many of us still have them even as adults. Jesus Christ is often named as the hero of politicians and religious leaders, but have you ever given thought to what that really means? What qualifies someone to be a hero?

Superhero

Image courtesy of Ben Smith

I think if we look at the classic definition of a hero we will see that Jesus is indeed the ultimate hero, and the only one worthy of our praise and adulation.

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