passion

Necessary Endings

November 3, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

In his book, “Necessary Endings”, Henry Cloud uses the analogy of a rose bush to illustrate how we have to tend to our lives if we are to see them blossom into their full potential. He says that a rose bush produces more buds than the plant is capable of supporting, so in order to achieve maximum beauty, a gardener must cut out the dead branches, prune away the sick and care for the healthiest branches. There is great spiritual truth in this as well. In order for us to become the person God created us to be, we must prune our lives in much the same way as the gardener does the rose bush.

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Created for Greatness

October 31, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

Nelson Mandela said, “There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” That’s bumper sticker material right there. It’s the kind of thing you want to hang on your bathroom mirror so you see it every day. And it has great implications for your spiritual life. So many of us are content to “play small”, to sneak by without making waves, desperate to ensure that no one notices we are even there. God placed His very Spirit within you. You are filled with the presence and the power of God. If that is true – and I believe that it is – there is no way we can help but make waves; it is a certainty that not only will we be noticed but that we will be pointed out.

God’s Vision for Your Life

October 24, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

God has a vision for your life. He created you with a unique blend of talents and passions. Have you yet caught this vision? Do you understand what you are to do with your life? I think we often make the mistake of trying to determine what big thing we can do, something that will have an enormous impact. Instead we should be aware of the little opportunities that surround us every day. No one needs to be famous to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. You don’t need to be in the professional ministry. I chose not to say “full time ministry”, because all followers of Christ are in full time ministry, not just those who get paid for it. Understand that we should always be doing the work of Jesus.

Wanted: Followers of Jesus

October 17, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

I have a strange dichotomy; I am a big proponent of small groups within churches, yet I have never found one where I fit in. Perhaps you struggle in the same way. Here’s my problem with the small groups in which I have been a part: they always seem to morph into glorified social cliques over time, with little to no movement towards doing the things that carry out the mission of Christ. It’s good to get together and fellowship with each other, it’s good to study the Bible, and it’s good to break out of the anonymity of the larger congregation to share our lives with a few others. But if all we are doing is a mini version of our Sunday church – without doing the work of the church – then I submit that there is little value in continuing the practice.

How Do You Know You’ll Go to Heaven?

August 29, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

Do we really love God with all of our heart, strength and mind? Jesus said this was the most important commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). He went so far as to say that if we did this, we would inherit eternal life with Him (Luke 10:25-28). Love is a verb, something we must actively do. Saying a prayer to commit our life to Christ is a fine first step, but it is not what gets you to Heaven; we must actively love the Lord with all that we are. There are many ways to demonstrate that love, many of which are detailed in Matthew 25:31-46, a passage in which Jesus tells us that if we don’t feed the hungry, care for the sick and shelter the homeless, we will not inherit eternal life.

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