Counting the Cost
Following Jesus Will Cost You Everything (Part 4)
This is week four of our look at the cost of following Jesus. It is my intention that this should be the final installment in the series, and I will hold to that decision right up until the time I change my mind and do another one! 😉 You can read the first three installments…
Read MoreFollowing Jesus Will Cost You Everything (Part 3)
Over the past two weeks, we have been challenged by Jesus with some strong teaching regarding the cost of following him. It is difficult teaching because it is so uncommon in current-generation Christian thought to speak of costs when following Jesus. The more prevalent teaching is saturated with ideas regarding how easy it is and…
Read MoreFollowing Jesus Will Cost You Everything (Part 2)
Last week, we journeyed together through Part 1 of “Following Jesus Will Cost You Everything.” This week we continue that investigation with Part 2 by looking at three ostensible Christ-followers who encounter unexpected responses from Jesus regarding their candidacy for discipleship. As was common with many teachers of his day, Jesus walked from place to…
Read MoreFollowing Jesus Will Cost You Everything (Part 1)
I became a follower after Christ on January 16, 1983. It was an abrupt incident. It was a time of metamorphosis, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, but happening instantaneously rather than over time. It was a transition, a transformation, from the inside out, as though I had been flayed before my God as he…
Read MoreResponding to a ‘Try Jesus’ Bumper Sticker (Part 4)
Prerequisite Courses When attending a well-run university, every first-year student is strongly urged, if not required, to spend time with a counselor, one who will guide the student through the maze of required and optional courses in such a way that the student will earn the necessary number and classification of credits to be awarded…
Read MoreResponding to a ‘Try Jesus’ Bumper Sticker (Part 3)
Three Would-BeChrist-Followers As was common with many teachers of his day, as Jesus walked from place to place, a whole company of people walked with him – not just his coterie of disciples. As they did so, it was understood that they were listening to Jesus teach, discussing amongst themselves what he was saying, and…
Read MoreResponding to a ‘Try Jesus’ Bumper Sticker (Part 2)
Taking Up the Cross In Matthew 10:38 Jesus says that anyone who is unwilling to take up their cross and follow him is unworthy of him. He makes an almost identical statement six chapters later: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever…
Read MoreResponding to a ‘Try Jesus’ Bumper Sticker (Part 1)
The Bumper Sticker I am drawn to the customized license plates and bumper stickers people are willing to attach to their vehicles, though I do not attach such stickers to my own vehicle, because doing so makes me feel as though I am defacing my car. These automotive attachments tell me something about the man…
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