We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
Following Jesus as You
Rachel Held Evans posted an insightful blog today (it was actually a repost from 2011) engaging the problem of discouragement as we encounter various ideals of what it means to be a Christian versus the reality and limitations of our particular lives. I think we all struggle with this at one time or another. Rather than giving up, it’s good to struggle with the question of what it means to follow Jesus from the place you find yourself today. What are the commitments that Jesus is calling you to?
From the blog post:
Follow Jesus TODAY
—not in some future state of perfection, but in messy, boring, unglamorous today. This is the only moment I am promised, and it’s the best moment to seek after God. Something tells me He can be found here.
Image by Nicholas Blumhardt. Used in accordance with Creative Commons. Sourced via Flickr.
Category: General
Tags: Christian Life, Kingdom Living
Related Reading
Does the Old Testament Justify “Just War”?
Since the time of Augustine, Christians have consistently appealed to the violent strand of the Old Testament to justify waging wars when they believed their cause was “just.” (This is Augustine’s famous “just war” theory.) Two things may be said about this. First, the appeal to the OT to justify Christians fighting in “just” wars…
The Wrong “Bulls-Eye”: Reflections on the “Christian Left”
As it has since the fourth century, the Church today for the most part operates with a Constantinian (“power-over”) paradigm. Because of this, most socially concerned Christians are inclined to define the Church’s mission as adjudicating between and tweaking political options “in Jesus’ name.” We accept Caesar’s definition of “power” as the ability to get…
When the Gospel is Reduced to a Sinner’s Prayer
Jeff Clark posted an article recently entitled The Gospel of Sin Management and the Loss of Discipleship. We do violence to the gospel when we forget that we are called beyond a mere “sinner’s prayer” to a life of discipleship that imitates the life of Jesus. This might sound harsh, but it’s actually an integral…
Vacationing in a War Zone
Suppose a family decided to go on vacation to a nice cabin on a beautiful shore in a distant country. This vacationing family naturally wanted to tune out the problems of the world, indulge themselves, relax and enjoy life and each other as much as possible. This is simply what families do on vacation. Now…
Is it okay to masturbate?
When I as a new struggling Christian raised this topic with my pastor, I was told in no uncertain terms that God struck Onan dead for masturbating. At some point I read the passage for myself (Gen. 38:1-10) and discovered my pastor had mislead me. It’s true that Onan was punished by God because he…
Sermon Clip: How Christians Should Respond to Ferguson
In this clip from this weeks sermon, Greg Boyd comments on how Christians should respond to the events in Ferguson St. Louis and how that response should always be in love and to help heal both sides. The full sermon is here: http://whchurch.org/sermons-media/sermon/heart-smart-qa