Denial is a Requirement!

Mark 8: 34    ESV

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

                                             

A great friend of mine sent me a shorter article to read yesterday.

It told of the increasing number of people who are jumping into the arms of the socialist government model.

 

I realize that the average Pastor should never voice his/her feelings about politics.

For the record, I’m not an average Pastor...I’m way below the scale of average.

 

Some of the ideas that please this young people movement are the obvious, free college tuition.

And yet I thought that I read somewhere, where Paul said to the church at Thessalonica... “that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

 

And so it goes, that 84 people out of 100 in Iowa, stated that the socialist movement was the direction they were heading.

To quote one sentence in this article, says it all... “they tend to look only to their personal gratification...”

 

I know a friend who owns his own funeral home, and works his tail off to love people during the worst times of their lives.

He’s called out at all hours, and he always puts other people first. I guess you could say free, isn’t free.

 

I also go to church with a group of people, who are always willing to lay it on the line.

They are some of the greatest folks I know, when it comes to denying themselves.

 

Have we forgotten that when we chose to follow Jesus, we chose to die to self?

Denial isn’t a recommendation, it’s actually a requirement...