Luke 9:23

"Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.""

"[After Jesus said he would be killed and resurrected,] he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way,..."

Inspirational illustration of Luke 9:23 -- If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Inspirational illustration of Luke 9:23 -- Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

"Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will...."

So what's the big problem with all this self stuff? When we put self in the middle of everything, then everything becomes about I, me, my, and mine, and not about God and we mess up our self-absorbed lives.

What are you expecting to get for your Christian commitment? Are we only interested in bargain basement Christianity, or are we willing to pay the price to be productive.

How are you going to get it all done? A plan to help us get things done we need to get done in a world of too much to do.

Do we really want the Cross to define us? We want a Christianity without the Cross, a Savior without a Lord, and a Tinkerbelle Jesus, reprinted.

If you can't keep something, why not give it up? There is nothing foolish about turning our back on the things of this life in order to gain a life that has no end.

Sometimes the scoreboard only reveals the game's outcome, not the winners and losers! Phillip Morrison reminds us that not all who lose are losers, in fact, the greatest victor of all could have been called a loser before he won the greatest victory of all time.

What does the Cross mean to you? The Cross must be more than a mere magical symbol to ward off evil, it must be the power of God for our lives.

What's the ultimate loss of control? Paul Faulkner reminds us that we have to give God control now, even though we fear it, because death comes and sooner or later we're going to have to yield control to him, now.

So who are you based on your living? Danny Sims takes a weird mixture of folks and reminds us that we are what we are, so look at your life and see if that is who you want to be!

Making a decision to follow Jesus is really not about you at all. The decision to follow Jesus is not about you. If anything, it is about rejecting yourself.

Why are we so afraid to do what God makes clear is our next step? Phil Ware completes his two article series on being strong and courageous and being ready to see God do great things among us.

We found out that something free does not mean it is easy. The gift of Jesus is free to us. That does not mean it is easy.

Does it have to be sensational to be faithful? Things don't have to be sensational to be of God; God is often found in doing the faithful challenges of each day.

If it was easy to follow Jesus, everyone would do it. Following Jesus is difficult ... but worth it. Sacrifice leads to joy, peace, hope, and purpose.

You can't have your big teeth till you get rid of the old ones. Life is like that too. Jesus promises new life. Part of new life is getting rid of the old one.

Are you ready to quit your New Year's resolution? Whatever commitments you made for the new year I hope you're keeping them, but more importantly my hope and prayer is that you are holding on to the commitment to love Christ. are holding on to the commitment to love Christ.

How are you going to find your way through the mess? Rubel Shelly talks about how we can navigate through the economic and political storms and also reminds us that adversity is the opportunity for new beginnings.

Jesus did not come to give us what we want... but to give us what we need. Jesus does not call us so He can fit into what we want. He calls us to fit into what He wants.

Do not let your Christianity be like the Kindergartner who did not realize he had to go back to school the next week too. Christianity is choosing Jesus every day. Today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Forever.

"Dear Precious Disciple, One of the great gifts you received with your salvation was the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39). I pour out the Spirit on all who...."

How do we define what is so easily distorted? Bill Sherrill reminds us that the measure of success in Jesus' eyes is whether or not we helped those in need who are around us.

Jesus rose from the dead, so we choose to live based on the conviction that this world is not our home, while we long for our lasting and more glorious one! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to glorify God as we remember the life-changing implications of Jesus' resurrection.

"Dear Disciple, As Paul gets ready to talk about the new covenant of the Spirit in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, he pauses long enough to make an important..."

Are you dead enough to catch on fire? Mike Barres challenges us to die to self so we can catch fire with the Spirit of the Lord.

Some of us have had good fathers. Others have had absent fathers or bad fathers. In Christ, however, we have been adopted into God's family, and we all have a loving, powerful, tender, and attentive Abba Father! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to help us honor and praise our Father in heaven on this Father's Day.

Do you know how to get in the flow? Rubel Shelly reminds us that life's purpose rather than externals or someone else trying to make us happy is the real key to peace and joy in life.