Psalms

Are You Ready?

November 2, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

In a world seemingly caught in a death spiral, every day that you fail to prepare for what’s coming puts you that much closer to being too late to prepare. It amazes me how many nations are at war, with many more on the verge of war, while so many continue to live their lives as if nothing is happening. Jesus tells us in the days before the flood, people were carrying on as if they were exempt from the judgment God was bringing on them. (Luke 17:26-27).

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The same was true for Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17:28-30). Are you ready to die? Is your eternity secure in Jesus Christ or have you been putting off surrendering to His Lordship? I have met too many people who assume they will have time to live for God later, unwilling to sacrifice the pleasure of living in the now. Unless you choose to ignore what’s happening in the world, you must realize that the time to seek Jesus is running out.

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Whatever We Desire

October 26, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

Many claim the promise of 1 John 5:14-15, thinking that prayer is the way of getting whatever we desire. A quick reading reveals that it does say whatever we ask, God will give to us. As creatures of our culture, we don’t go any deeper than what makes us feel good. Like everything else in modern Christianity, we’re content to skim the surface of the passage, make it apply to our lives, name it, and claim it.

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This is what decades of false teaching, poor exposition, and outright heresy have done to the thinking of the contemporary church. The good news is, yes, Jesus does promise to give us whatever we ask. The bad news for those seeking an easy avenue to health and wealth is this promise comes with a condition that one can only understand by a careful reading and understanding of this rich and deep promise.

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Careless Words

October 19, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

Memories of words spoken to us and by us mark each of our lives. The words of someone else have hurt each of us, and we have all wounded someone with our words. Words have caused more violence than any weapon mankind has ever created. Careless words destroy another’s dreams, tear down confidence, and instill wrong beliefs. Oh, what damage we do when we pay no attention to what comes out of our mouths.

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We could avoid so much pain if we would only be intentional about the words we speak. Perhaps nothing will define us more than our words. If we want to live like Jesus, we must exercise discipline with what we allow to spill from our lips.

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God’s Word, Not Our Feelings

October 9, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

There is much emphasis on feelings today, both in the Church and in the culture at large. If you watch religious programming, you won’t have to wait long until you hear a preacher talking about the feelings that will come over you when the Holy Spirit takes hold. Instead of emphasizing what the Bible teaches, these men and women promote experiencing the power of God’s Spirit through the manifestation of laughter, falling down, convulsing, or babbling unintelligible nonsense.

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Within the culture, the prevailing attitude is people can and should do whatever makes them feel good. All of this is in direct conflict with the truth of scripture. As Christians, we must always defer to God’s Word, not our feelings.

The Relevance of the Church

September 18, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

Have we let entertainment cripple our lives and, by extension, the relevance of the Church? Speaking on this topic, A. W. Tozer said, “For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability… She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers”.

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When I was younger, I would have scoffed at such a statement, chalking it up to being old-fashioned, legalistic, and out of step with the times. I know I’m not alone in this because I believe it is precisely because of such attitudes we find ourselves with the Church we have today: weak, lacking in courage, and saturated with the ways and teachings of the world.