Even If i Walk Alone

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

surrender

High Places

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As you read through the history of the kings of Israel and Judah in scripture, the first thing said about most of them is whether or not they served God. The next thing you read is what they did about the high places in the land (2 Kings 18:4, 23:8; 2 Chronicles 14:3, 31:1). These high places were where the Canaanites worshipped their pagan gods before Israel took possession of the land God promised to Abraham. To keep these places of worship intact represented rebellion and a lack of faith in Yahweh.

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Often the people would erect Asherah poles atop the high places to worship Asherah, the supposed god of fertility and nature. Both the high places and Asherah poles were detestable to God, so the best kings tore them down. Lesser kings let them stand and they became stumbling blocks for the nation. There is more than a history lesson in all this, but also a stark warning for each of our lives.

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Study His Word

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Something that continues to bother me is how Christians can consider the Bible to be dry and boring. I suppose I can understand why unbelievers might think parts of it are a bit dull, but for someone who knows Jesus as Lord? I don’t get it. While I would not go so far as to question whether someone who doesn’t delight in the Word of God truly knows Him at all, it does make me wonder.

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How can you claim to love Jesus and not be drawn to the book that is all about Him? How can you not hang on every word of the One who is more important than anyone and everything else? It makes no sense to me. If you love the Lord, nothing should excite you more than to study His Word.

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What Are We Doing?

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As I survey the state of Christianity, particularly in the Western context, I can’t help but ask, “What are we doing?” I read accounts of believers like Pastor Abhaya in Bhutan who may have to move to another country because the government won’t recognize his marriage to his wife because he is a Christian. This means his children are denied citizenship, which will prevent them from attending school or ever having a meaningful job.

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Because Abhaya follows Jesus, the authorities deny him not only his rights but also the rights of his entire family. Then I peruse social media in America and see the ridiculous squabbles Christians are having over the most trivial of things and again must ask, “What are we doing?” As we feign offense and lash out at those who disagree with minor doctrinal differences, we don’t have a clue what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus.

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Cheap Christianity

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Consider the following quote from J. C. Ryle: “There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough – a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice – which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.” What’s remarkable is Bishop Ryle died in 1900, yet his observation over a hundred years ago is as relevant today as it was then.

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A quick survey of modern churches reveals a group of pastors, elders, and lay people who are bending over backward to accommodate and avoid offending any and everyone. It’s never been easier to attend a church and not have it cost you a thing, especially in the West. In most places, you can slip in and out and no one will even notice you were there. This is beyond cheap Christianity!

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Few Are Going to Heaven

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The greatest burden of my life is the conviction that so many, perhaps even most people who proclaim to be Christians are not. It’s not the first time I’ve written about this, and it won’t be the last. That’s what happens when a burden is constantly crushing down on you. When I look around at the modern church, and even more broadly at the industries that have sprung up around it, my soul aches for those who think they are on one path but in reality are on another.

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To quote J. C. Ryle, “According to the men of the world, few are going to hell; According to the Bible, few are going to heaven.” The great tragedy of our day is not that we aren’t bringing more lost people into the body of Christ, but that so many lost people believe they are already in the body of Christ.

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