Christ didn't mean, what He said?

“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).

This is perhaps [b]the most unpopular[/b] of all Christ’s terms of discipleship, and may well prove to be the most unpopular verse in the Bible. Clever theologians can give you a thousand reasons why it does not mean what it says, [b]but simple disciples drink it down eagerly,[/b] assuming that the Lord Jesus knew what He was saying. What is meant by forsaking all? It means an abandonment of all one’s material possessions [i]that are not absolutely essential[/i] and that could be used in the spread of the gospel. The man who forsakes all does not become a shiftless loafer; he works hard to provide for the current necessities of his family and himself. But since [b]the passion[/b] of his life is to advance the cause of Christ, he invests everything above current needs in the work of the Lord and leaves the future with God. In seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, he believes that he will never lack food and clothing. He cannot conscientiously hold on to surplus funds when souls are perishing for want of the gospel. He does not want to waste his life accumulating riches that will fall into the devil’s hands when Christ returns for His saints. He wants to obey the Lord’s injunction against laying up treasure on earth. In forsaking all, he offers what [b]he cannot keep anyway,[/b] and what he has [u]ceased to love.[/u]

[b][url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=13546&forum=35]Digged from the archive of SI.[/url][/b] and excerpt from [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=12995&forum=34]CLASSIC BOOK: True Discipleship by William MacDonald[/url]

That is beautiful brother, and very true as well. Amen for those words, may we all follow what is says, and not what sombody else says God ment to say. Keep on forward in God´s name.

We need to re-study our Bibles, and learn
what real Christianity is—how holy, how heavenly,
how spiritual, how loving, how morally and socially
excellent a matter it is.

What separation from the world,
what devoutness,
what intense earnestness,
what conscientiousness,
what enlarged benevolence,
what unselfishness,
what zealous activity,
what unearthliness,
what seeds of celestial virtue—
our profession of godliness implies.

Having examined this, and obtained an impressive
idea of it, let us survey our own state, and ask if
we do not need, and ought not to seek, more of the
prevalence of such a piety as this, which, in fact, is
primitive Christianity.

Is our spiritual condition what it ought to be, what
it might be, what it must be—to fulfill our high
commission as the salt of the earth and the light of
the world? A Christian, acting up in some tolerable
measure to his profession, walking in the holiness
of the Gospel—is the strongest and most emphatic
testimony for God to our dark revolted world, next
to that of Christ himself.

J.A James

Kire,

Your post reminds me of a book "The Russians' Secret" written by Peter Hoover with Serguei Petrov that echoes these same sentiments. It is marketed by Scroll Publishing. Anyhow, what I wanted to tell you, it is a fascinating read. And, the book is NOT copyrighted. The author says it can be reproduced for the cause of Christ!

ginnyrose

No books have challenged me more than those penned by Peter Hoover. The Russians Secret is filled with so many examples of those who followed Christ so passionately. What a blessing!

ginnyrose wrote:
Your post reminds me of a book "The Russians' Secret" written by Peter Hoover with Serguei Petrov that echoes these same sentiments. It is marketed by Scroll Publishing. Anyhow, what I wanted to tell you, it is a fascinating read. And, the book is NOT copyrighted. The author says it can be reproduced for the cause of Christ!

JelloTaster wrote:
No books have challenged me more than those penned by Peter Hoover. The Russians Secret is filled with so many examples of those who followed Christ so passionately. What a blessing!

Hello sister and brother, thanks for this, I haven't heard about that book. I live in a country where we were under communism 50 years, but the christians here were very few and the persecution was not so big as in Romania and Russia, and I don't know much testimonies from first hand. Actually one of the first men that was coming into my home and preached the Gospel, as I was kid, was an old man who have went through persecution. Every time when he was coming into our home, (we were some relatives), he was sharing some story, I as a kid was very fascinated. He was often called by the police and often followed. In one occasion while in police, with a strong punch they crushed him a tooth. But he was also testifying about God's faithfulness. After he died, at around 90 y.o. I thought that I missed to make a record from these stories. From the lips of this man, God planted the first seed into my heart, I was just a child. And after I got born again, it happened that we were going to church together, in the last years of his life.

Besides "Tortured for Christ" by Wurmbrand, I have read few other books about the persecution in the communist countries, all are very inspiring. I think we should read these books more as the days are following. I made a search about the book you said and found it online, thanks:

[b][url=http://allgodsword.com/Trs/]The Russians' Secret (What Christians Today Would Survive Persecution?)[/url] by Peter Hoover with Serguei V. Petrov[/b]

ginnyrose wrote:
The author says it can be reproduced for the cause of Christ!