Being a follower

The other day I was reading in a Devotional and the author was commenting on this verse:  "Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 4:19 - 20.  The author wrote the following: 

Jesus calls us to Himself with a purpose in mind: that we can reach others with the Good News.  The disciples had to give up something in order to follow Jesus.  Is Jesus calling you to give up something in order to be a fully devoted follower?

So why do I have a concern about this?  I will save my comments about the purpose for another time but I will comment on the giving up of something.  Yes Jesus calls us to give up something but not just a thing.  He calls us to give up our very lives.  As Bonhoeffer said, "When Jesus calls us He calls us to come and die."  When we give up something we feel that since we have given up something for God then He is indebted to us.  When we give up our lives then we owe Him our very life.  Too many people think that because they have given up something to follow God then God is in their debt.  When we realize that if we give up something it is only giving up what is not really ours in the first place. 

Jesus has not called us to give up something to follow Him, He as called us to give up everything.

Helen Roseveare

 Last Sunday Pastor Gord revered to Helen Roseveare who was a medical missionary in the Congo in the 1960s.  During that time she suffered greatly but she had great faith in her God. 

Did you catch what she said?  "Can you thank me for this even if I don't tell you why?"

I have decided to follow Jesus

A couple of weeks ago we had a preacher from India who told us the powerful story about the writing of the song, I have decided to follow Jesus.  Listen to it here.
"I Have Decided To Follow Jesus" - Hymn History & Presentation (Klondike Baptist Church) from Klondike Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Just messy

We celebrated communion this morning and I got to thinking about how we have sanitized so much of Christianity.  Now I am not saying it is wrong but as I listened to Pastor Gord preach about the church in the book of Acts then communion I thought about what that first communion would have been like.  We are so careful about sanitation I think we sometimes miss what it means to be a family.  Most families are not that careful.  We sometimes drink from an other's glass or eat something from their plate.  I think that is what families do.  That first communion I am sure that they drank from a common cup and ripped pieces of bread from a common loaf.  I am sure that some got bigger portions than others and some spilled the wine on the table cloth. I am sure that it was a little messy but a whole lot of meaning.  Much of that meaning didn't come until later.
Think about the event that the Lord's supper replaced.  The Passover.  Talk about messy.  It was more than messy, it was noisy, smelly and I am sure not all that clean.  Now we don't need to go back to all of that but we do need to think about being a family and having a family meal with our older Brother.  Just thinking.

Gilbert Keith

G. K. Chesterton said, A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed."  I heard one emergent church leader say that the reason that Peter began to sink when he stepped out of the boat was that he doubted himself.  The greatest sin according to this leader is not to believe in yourself.  I think Chesterton knew what this man was thinking.  It is time to put things back into perspective, God's that is not man's.  Jude reminds us that we are to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.  Jude 3.  Truth was given to us by God and passed on to us by the apostles.  It did not come from within us.  Our hearts are deceitful and idol factories.  Let us doubt ourselves but be undoubting about the truth.

Founded not emergent

I believe in a church at was founded not emergent.  Jesus said that He would build His church.  He did not say that His church would emerge from the vast discussion as people talked together but rather that He would build His church upon the truth of the Gospel.
I believe in the truth of the Gospel.  I believe in a creed not a discussion.  Truth is found in God's word not as we pool our opinions.  I believe in a creed nor a conversation to be joined.  Jesus said, "Believe in me." He did not say, "Let's talk about it."  We need to invite people to the rock not to a discussion.