Following Jesus

By
A long road with an arrow painted on it. At the end of the road is a large, golden cross. A dove flies above the cross. To the left of the road is a flame. To the right of the road is a church. Above everything, the words "Follow Jesus" are written in the sky.


"Come to Me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
-Jesus (Matthew 11:38)


Welcome!

We’re so glad you’ve found our ‘Follow Jesus’ page. We don't believe that you are here by accident. In fact, God's grace has been involved in your life for longer than you may realize (Titus 2:11-14). Whether you’ve just made the life-changing decision to follow Christ, or you’re simply exploring what it means to be a Christian, you are welcome here. This page is designed to walk with you—step by step—through what it means to follow Jesus, to encourage you as you begin the journey, and to help you discover the next steps God has for you. Below, you will find information on what it means to follow Jesus, foundational steps and resources for growing as a Christian, and ways to connect with other Christians as you grow in your faith. We are glad that you are making the most important decision of your life, and we are here to walk with you the entire way.

New Life

Christ offers new life to people from all different walks of life. Some of you may be here because you are looking for hope. Some of you may be here because you are genuinely curious to learn more about Jesus. Some of you may be here because you are struggling with something in life, and are looking for the strength that, we all know deep down, comes from Someone beyond us. Some of you may have stumbled across one of our articles, perhaps even by accident, and would like to learn more. No matter what your background is or how you got here, Jesus offers rest to those who trust in him.

Humanity--including you and I--are broken people living in a broken world. While not everything that is broken in the world is directly our fault, we all have contributed to the brokenness--both individually and collectively as humans. Scripture calls the reality of this brokenness sin. Sin is not a mistake. It is a decision that we have all made to do things our own way instead of God's good way. In choosing to do things our own way instead of the best way, we have all contributed to the brokenness of the world around us, with each of us contributing a little bit to the overall brokenness that we see.

But here is the good news: God calls us out of that brokenness and into His healing. It is not, nor has it ever been, God's desire to see people condemned. God would rather heal than to see people condemned. Enter Jesus Christ. Whatever we may be facing, we can know with certainty that God cares about us, no matter where we are in life. If he didn't, he would never have sent Jesus.

During his earthly ministry, Jesus called people to repent and turn from sin. In fact, the very first message that Jesus ever preached was for people to "Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15). In short, what Jesus is calling people to is a new life that is found in turning from the sin that has caused so much damage to us and the world around us. His call to turn from sin and follow Him is not about control, but about freedom — freedom from sin’s destruction and healing from its wounds. He alone is the Great Physician who can restore what sin has damaged. Jesus wants to see our lives so changed that we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In Christian terms, Christ saves us and sanctifies us. At Nazarene Caffeine, we want to walk beside you as you begin this journey with Jesus — a journey that begins, by God’s grace, with a conscious decision to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). We want to walk beside you during this time because, while following Jesus is not always easy, it is worth it. 

We would like to walk alongside you, no matter where you are in life. If you are making a decision for Christ for the first time, we would like to help you get started by walking with you in the early stages of your new journey with Christ and by helping you connect with a local Christian community that can walk with you for years to come. Click the button below to let us know about your decision to follow Christ and get started with next steps in your new walk with Christ. There, you can let us know about your decision, let us know how we can walk alongside you, and help us connect you with a solid Christian community in your area of the United States. Your decision to follow Christ is the most important decision you could ever make, and we are honored to be able to walk with you as you begin your new life in Christ.



Popular posts from this blog

7 FREE Christian Magazines

By
Image
Did you know that there are good Christian magazines out there that you can get for FREE? If you like to read, but are looking for something to read in addition to books, then it may be worth your time to check out these free Christian magazines. Some of them are hard copies, and some of them are pdf versions of their magazine. Either way, they are free, and they are chock-full of good information. 1. The Voice of the Martyrs The Voice of the Martyrs was founded in 1967 by Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand. After the USSR took over Romania in 1944, Wurmbrand worked with the underground church, which eventually led to his arrest and 14 years of torture and persecution in Communist prison. Eventually, Wurmbrand was ransomed out and came to the United States. Since Wurmbrand founded the organization, it has worked tirelessly to keep Christians in the Western world informed about the persecution that our brothers and sisters around the world are going through, as well as providing ...
Read more

Inspired In English?: The Implications Of Peter Ruckman's Claims

By
Image
  There are different beliefs within the King James Only Movement. I would like to explore two of them in this introduction. It is important to understand some key distinctions between these two groups, or else it may seem that I am attacking a position that I am not attacking. Therefore, I will draw a distinction between two different groups within the King James Only Movement. The first camp simply asserts that the King James Version is the best English translation. This claim could be labelled the "Classic KJV-Only" position. This is the position that was held by what appears to be the majority of people who advocated for the King James Version's superiority to other translations up until about the middle of the 20th century. Typically, a person in this group will hold to the idea that the Textus Receptus is divinely preserved, and the King James Version is the best translation from the Textus Receptus. Or, in some cases, that the Textus Receptus is the best Greek basi...
Read more

The Nicene Creed: A Short Commentary

By
Image
The Nicene Creed is an important creed in the history of the Christian faith. It expounds the Trinitarian faith of Jesus, the apostles, and the early Church. Composed originally at the Council of Nicaea, and confirmed in its final form at the Council of Constantinople. Despite its importance, far too few Christians understand what the Nicene Creed is and why it is important. Because of this, I thought it would be a good idea to release a commentary on the Nicene Creed, albeit a very brief one. There is much that could be expounded that I will not do in this post. Rather, I will simply try to post in such a way as to help the average Christian understand what the Creed is saying. The form that will be presented here is the form that was finalized at the Council of Constantinople. We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. The opening line of the Nicene Creed is a strong affirmation of monotheism. It asserts that there is ...
Read more

What People Get Wrong About Repentance

By
Image
  I have previously  about the topic of repentance. In my previous post on the topic, I was mostly providing a short commentary on the Church of the Nazarene's Article of Faith on repentance. Repentance is not something that is optional. God calls everyone, everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). It is not only for a few, and it is not something that is optional if we want to follow Christ. In fact, it is something that everyone is not only offered, but something that everyone needs . If all have sinned, and repentance means turning away from sin, then everyone needs repentance. I did not anticipate writing a follow-up post on this topic after my article on the Nazarene Church's Article of Faith, since I kind of assumed that most people would have understood the concept of repentance based on the previous post that I made. However, it seems that there are still some myths surrounding the topic of repentance. It is the purpose of this post to address one of the biggest misunderstand...
Read more

The Top 10 Posts Of 2024

By
Image
  For the past couple of years, I have done a year in review in which I take a look at the most popular articles from the previous year. Most of the time, I am surprised to find that the articles that I think will be the most popular are not usually the most popular. It is also fun to compare the rankings between the previous year and the current year. The way these rankings work is simple: We are counting down the top 10 posts based on the number of times they were viewed over the course of the previous 12 months. This does give an advantage to the posts that are written earlier rather than later. However, it is also interesting to see which posts remain in the top 10 year after year. If you would like to compare this year's ranking with the rankings from 2023, you can find last year's post here . 10. The Holy Spirit Taking the number 10 spot this year, having been viewed around 100 times, is an incredibly early article on the Holy Spirit. This article has replaced 2023's ...
Read more