Counting the Cost

In Luke 14:25-33, two parables and an exhortation urge us to forsake all that we have as a mandatory condition for becoming Christ's true disciples.

Even as several grandiose building projects have terminated because of cost overruns, so must we carefully count the cost of our spiritual building project.

We assess costs and values all the time in our daily lives. We should employ the same process to God's love for us in giving His Son as the sacrifice for sin.

Some years back, I had the opportunity to drive through southern Illinois several times. ...

Christianity is not for the faint of heart. Jesus urges us to count the cost of discipleship. Many of the patriarchs had to make hard choices, as do we.

Mike Ford, asking us to thoughtfully calculate the cost of our discipleship, warns us about the perils of looking, using the metaphor of plowing a furrow with a plow behind an animal. Looking back is dangerous because we may plow a crooked furrow and get h. . .

John Ritenbaugh, acknowledging that most professing Christians are aware of the New Covenant, cautions us not to fall prey to the insidious error that much of the Protestant—especially the evangelical—world teaches. The error lies in misconstru. . .

Micah provides a formula for being a Christian: 1.) Doing justly, 2.) Exercising mercy and 3.) Walking humbly. These demand total commitment, not a pretense.

God has provided the God-plane marriage relationship to teach us how to submit to one another, sacrificing our self-centeredness for the benefit of our spouse.

Richard Ritenbaugh, reflecting on the exploration of Lewis and Clark, asks whether we would have what it takes to help in the exploration, such as having health, strength, courage, motivation, observant, patient, and enduring hardships. Our trek to the Kin. . .

There must be something to prove we are one with Christ and in union with the Father and the Son. That something is the manner in which we conduct our life.

Richard Ritenbaugh, contrasting Roald Amundsen's sterling exploratory skills in reaching the South Pole with the prideful Robert Scott, asks if we are learning to navigate through life toward God's Kingdom like Jesus Christ. As our example, He has already . . .

Richard Ritenbaugh, beginning a series on "Principled Living," focuses on the aspect of drafting (a racing term describing a lead vehicle "punching a hole in the air," enabling trailing vehicles to increase speed, pulling ahead of the p. . .

John Ritenbaugh contends that those who believe in the "once saved always saved" doctrine foolishly fail to see that God has a more extensive and creative plan for mankind than merely saving them. One can fail to bring forth fruits of repentance . . .

Although God never intended the Old Covenant to endure eternally, the spiritual law (shared by both the old and new covenants) lasts forever.

John Ritenbaugh explores several nuances of the term grace, describing a generous, thoughtful action of God, accompanied by love, which accomplishes His will, equipping us with everything we will need to be transformed into the Bride. Even though we, like . . .

Like the marriage covenant, counting the cost is the most serious part of the baptismal agreement, not something to be taken lightly.

Far from being blind, faith is based on analyzing, comparing, adding up from evidence in God's Word, our own experience, and our calling by God's Holy Spirit.