Romans

Loving Others

July 23, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

I was listening to a sermon by a pastor recently and heard him say, “I have no use for your religion when you claim to love a God you can’t see but hate your brothers and sisters who you can see.” It’s why religion disgusted Jesus as well. Religion of any flavor inevitably devolves into saying one thing with our lips but ignoring those same platitudes in our own lives.

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Religion defines a set of rules no one can ever keep. We will never be able to effectively share the truth with others as long as we insist they adhere to a set of rules Jesus never laid down.
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Living in Love

April 16, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

In a recent post (see “When All is Said and Done”) I discussed how it is vital that we live our lives with an eye toward retelling our story to Jesus. This is an important concept to grasp, because each of us will one day have to give an account of our lives to Him (Romans 14:10-12).

living in love,greg boyd,servant God,I Corinthians 16:14,Romans 14:12,Romans 14:10-12,Ephesians 4:29,love,discipline,discipleship

image © Nikki Zalewski – Fotolia

With that in mind, I wanted to look at practical ways we can live to ensure we have a pleasing story to tell. This isn’t a list of “do’s and don’ts”, but rather a motivation that must invade every aspect of our lives. That motivation is love.
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When All is Said and Done

April 13, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

When all is said and done, all that matters is what you have done with Jesus. Your big house won’t matter. Your car won’t matter. How much you’ve accomplished in life will not matter. Almost all of the things with which we concern ourselves are temporary, fleeting, and useless.

when all is said and done,greg boyd,servant God,self-love,Romans 7:15,Romans 14:10-12,Romans 14:12,Ecclesiastes 2:11,chasing after the wind

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Our daily pursuits – outside of what we do for Jesus – are as futile as chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 2:11). It’s a sobering exercise to take inventory of one’s life and discover how much of it we live for ourselves, and how little time is spent on things that actually matter.
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Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

January 29, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

We’ve discussed similar topics on this site before, but it seems that every couple of months I start hearing this question repeated over and over again. Perhaps the evil that occurs so frequently in our world prompts the question. Perhaps it comes from years of being given no or unsatisfactory answers to the question. Regardless of the reason, I am repeatedly frustrated and amazed that so many otherwise learned and respected Theologians and Pastors continue to struggle and give out such bad teaching when it comes to the question of why bad things happen to good people.

The Law of Love

November 13, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

love,Romans,loving others,serving others,Luke 6:32-34,Romans 1:20,Romans 13:8

“Servant God” is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. One of the cool concepts discussed in the chapter entitled, “What is Sin?” is that of the ‘Law of Love’. It says, “Love is other centered and outward moving. The law of love is the law of giving… When the God of love created, He created all life in harmony with His own character of love. Life is constructed to exist only when operating in perfect other-centered love. All life, health, and happiness are dependent upon harmony with this law (Romans 1:20, 13:8).” What if we lived as if this is true? What if we spent our days focused on loving others rather than on ourselves? We were created to bring glory to God by displaying His love to others. This is what it looks like when life works best.

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