What Happened To My Courtship

Back in the Godly Fellowship series, I mentioned that I was courting a young woman, praying about her, and seeking the advice of godly kuyas and ates from my church. I really wanted to write a "Preliminary Thoughts on Courtship" post describing what I have learned about a variety of topics - her, myself, God, the courtship process, our cultures, and so on - during the process.

For context, please permit me to write a short timeline of the events that took place. Last April, she took a truly providential business trip to the US. Initially, her company had selected other people to go. Yet that changed, and they chose her and several of her friends instead for the trip. The company initially slated them to go to a different state, halfway across the country. Two more changes later, the company sent her and her friends to my state for four weeks.

One of my kuyas at church is from the same city as this young woman. Their fathers are pastors and know each other well. My kuya's father, who has since returned to the Philippines, was in town for a short while and preached at my church on the day that I met her. He told me that he had someone for me to meet, a pastor's daughter. Initially, I said no. I was not looking for anyone to date or court. Late in 2007, I had repented of recreational dating and started to read good theological books and pursue God harder than I ever had before. But my friends convinced me to go meet her, and I decided to go with them.

That day still goes down in my life as a memorable day. I do not regret my decision to meet her. She is a quite beautiful, usually very nice girl. We had good godly fellowship from day one. And I started thinking in terms of the first question in the Desiring God article "Questions to Ask When Preparing for Marriage": "What do you believe about everything?" That Saturday, my church was having a special worship service. She, two of her friends, and one of my best friends came with me. Both of my pastors preached. She heard good, sound preaching on worship and liked what she heard. The next week, my seasonal allergies arrived and left me sick for a week and a half. Her company extended her stay for one week because at least one person in her group had arrived in the US after she did and they wanted to have all four of them come home on the same flight. I went out with her and her friends several more times during that week. While we were in an observation tower at an amusement park, we made our courtship official. The next Friday night, I took her to a large, peaceful park where I enjoy hiking and then out to dinner at one of the nicest malls in the area. We talked in the hotel lobby for a bit and then exchanged probably the tightest, most emotional hug I have ever had. That was the farthest we went physically. She waved to me as I drove off, and when I was out of sight of the hotel, I wept enough that I could barely see to drive.

We stayed in touch very regularly for a while after she went home. We would chat online five nights a week, and on Fridays after work we would talk on the phone for three, four, five-plus hours. It was an almost sacred night of the week for me. On my work calendar, I marked myself busy every Friday night and told my friends that if they wanted to spend time with me, they would need to do it on Saturday or Sunday. Friday nights were her time. We read through Joshua Harris's book Dug Down Deep together and talked about what we were reading. Throughout the summer and early fall, we became a lot closer to each other even though we were half a world apart.

Then her work told her that she was in line for a promotion. She was already working about 9-10 hours a day with a long commute on top of that, but in October her client increased her goals while she was also spending an almost full-time effort training new hires. Twelve hours became a short work day for her. This took a huge toll on her spiritual life, and our conversations lost depth as well. Our doctrinal differences became much more apparent, with one of my pastors becoming the new senior pastor of my church and my church's becoming much more focused on expositional preaching and the hard demands of Christ's Lordship over our lives. I was finding that, while she initially agreed with a lot of what I said, as I started to tell her what my pastor was saying, she had little to say and did not really agree with it. Around the same time, I was regularly in touch with her family, who would frequently tell me about prophetic dreams and visions, which they see as binding but often do not back up with Scripture.

As the long hours continued, we stopped chatting online. Another guy at her work, who is not a believer, became interested in her. She would not let him court her, but she never gave her commitment to me either. I stayed in touch with her mostly through her family and occasional phone calls during lunch or on Friday nights. And as I learned more about her doctrine from her family, the Holy Spirit (the one who regenerates dead hearts and convicts of sin, not the one Benny Hinn talks about!) convicted me and left me with a total lack of peace. In February, my pastor showed a video of Benny Hinn's services in church and explained how unbiblical they are. He is also well aware of the organization overseas that my friend and her family are part of and told me that they do similar things. Her family was constantly telling me that I need to fly across the world to attend that group's conferences. I told my pastor that there was no way that I could be part of that and I was going to end the courtship. For several weeks, I did not contact her at all except for one phone call. We both decided to end the courtship in early March.

So it has now been more than two months since the courtship ended. Our one-year anniversary would have been several weeks ago. Recently, she contacted me to inform me that she is now in love with her unbelieving suitor. This was very painful news to take.

God has been teaching me a lot through this. As I have been learning from Him, I have been writing. For the next several posts, I hope to show you, as my reader(s), what He has taught me in hopes that you may exercise wisdom.

Daughters and sons of Jerusalem, Washington, Manila, and every other city, I charge you, for the sake of the name of the King of Glory, the purity of the members of the Body of Christ, and the protection of young men and women's hearts:

"Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires,

Though it demand all cost of you and fires

On this fallen sphere."

Recent Meditations on Worship and Missions

“From the ends of the earth,
From the depths of the sea,
From the heights of the heavens,
Your name be praised!
From the hearts of the weak,
From the shouts of the strong,
From the lips of all people,
This song we raise, Lord:

“Throughout the endless ages,
You will be crowned with praises, Lord Most High!
Exalted in every nation,
Sovereign of all creation,
Lord Most High, be magnified!”

- Hillsong United, “Lord Most High”

-----

"Because, O God, from Thee comes all, because from Thine own mouth has entered us the power to breathe, from the sea of air in which we swim and the unknown nothingness that stays it over us with unseen bonds, because Thou gavest us from the heart of love so tender, mind so wise, and hand so strong, because Thou art Beginning, God, I worship Thee.

"Because Thou art the end of every way, the goal of man; because to Thee shall come of [from] every people respect and praise; their emissaries find Thy throne their destiny; because Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands to Thee, babes [babies] sing Thy praise; because Thine altar gives to sparrows shelter, to sinners peace, and devils fury; because 'to Thee shall all flesh come'; because Thou art Omega. Praise.

"Because Thou sure art to justify that Son of Thine and wilt in time make known just who He is and how soon will send Him back to show Himself; because the name of Jesus has been laughingly nailed upon a cross and is just now on earth held very lightly and Thou wilt bring that name to light; because, O God of Righteousness, Thou wilt do right by my Lord Jesus Christ, I worship Thee."

- Jim Elliot, The Journals of Jim Elliot, "Ecuador, 1952-1955"

-----

A worship song called "The Stand” has a line, "All I am is Yours." It is one thing to sing that line and then go back to our relatively comfortable American lives. It is quite another to say it in a circumstance where you really are risking your life every day. It has far greater meaning. While on the mission field about 55 years ago, and roughly 2 years before he and several co-laborers in Ecuador lost their lives for the sake of the Gospel, Jim Elliot wrote this in his Journals:

"I recognized that all I am and have is the Almighty's. He could, in one instant, change the whole course of my life, with accident, tragedy, or event unforeseen. Job is a lesson in acceptance - not of blind resignation, but of believing acceptance - that what God does is well done. So, Father, with happy committal I give you my life again this morning - not for anything special, simply to let You know that I regard it as Yours. Do with it as it pleases You. Only give me great grace to do for the glory of Christ whatever comes to me - 'in sickness and in health!'"

No one who is used of God is a great man in and of themselves. It is God’s work in them and through them that allows them to see Him do wonderful things. They are just willing to be used and broken and sent.

Small Group Lesson: Titus 3:1-11

I tweeted recently that I would not have a new post this past weekend because I was preparing a small group lesson. Earlier this week, I taught my small group from the book of Titus. Here are my notes from the lesson:

Context of the book of Titus:

Paul identifies himself as "a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1:2) and writes this letter "for the sake of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth". He is definitely writing to believers here. He considers Titus, a pastor in Crete, his "true son in the faith" (1:4) and co-laborer in the gospel. Titus, a Gentile, ministered to other Gentiles living in Ephesus, Macedonia, and Crete. He had traveled with Paul to Rome, but they had a shipwreck which forced them to take shelter at Crete. Paul left him in Crete to appoint elders in every town, that there might be churches in every town there. The churches there had significant problems with false teaching (1:10-16). Paul combated this by listing qualifications for elders in chapter 1 and instructions for cross-generational fellowship in the church body in chapter 2.

Titus 3: (ESV)

¹Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities,

"them" refers to those who Titus is ministering to in Crete. Crete, in this time, was under the authority of the Roman Empire. So were the recipients of Peter and Paul's epistles, where they were instructed to suffer well for Christ in spite of rulers and authorities (the government - like in Romans) who stood firmly against the truth of God and would even kill them for saying that Jesus is Lord.

to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

So Titus needs to instruct them to not only submit to these leaders in actions but to use each opportunity they get to do these leaders good. They are not to be Christians whose job is to kick out an oppressive secular regime and put one of their own in power so that they will not be persecuted. Paul, in effect, wants Titus to tell these believers to suffer well for the sake of Christ under the oppressive rule of Rome. This is a practical example of living out Christ's words in Luke 6:28 ("bless those who curse you") and Paul's instructions in Romans 12:14 ("bless those who persecute you").

²to speak evil of no one,

Notice that it says "of" and not "to". "Of" implies that Titus is to instruct the church to not speak evil "about" anyone. This applies to speaking evil to another person or speaking evil about them when they are not looking. Speaking evil robs good works (vv. 1, 8) of their effect on their recipient. It shows an inconsistent walk.

to avoid quarreling,

As Calvin said, there are more ways to fight than with fists and weapons. Quarreling is fighting with words.

to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people

Again, Paul permits no loopholes. The Christian is to be gentle and courteous, both characteristics of Christ, to all people, even those who mistreat them and use them for selfish gain.

³For we ourselves were once foolish,

The word "for" implies that this and what follows serves as a justification for the instructions in vv. 1-2. "Ourselves were once" shows that, in the condition of our hearts and our actions, we were once just like the people that were speaking evil of us and doing wrong to us now. "Foolish", according to Calvin, seems to refer to their past ignorance of the gospel.

disobedient,

This is a contrast to "obedient" in v. 1, here describing their former way of life. Unbelief is inherently wayward and rebellious.

led astray,

Tying this into the next phrase, it seems to be referring to an ability to fall to temptation easily, maybe because of a lack of firm rooting in the faith and the body of doctrine.

slaves to various passions and pleasures,

Their desires ruled them. They did whatever felt right (passions) and whatever gave them joy (pleasures) without considering what the Word of God says is right. "Various" refers to the fact that many different desires were ruling them. It was not just a desire for sex, money, power, the praise of men, or anything else. It was a combination.

passing our days in malice and envy,

"Passing our days" means their lives were just passing by with them continuing in these attitudes of selfish motives and wrong intentions (malice) and being greedy or envious because, in the sinful desires of their heart, they were comparing themselves to others.

hated by others and hating one another.

And in that comparison to others, they were competitors against each other. This "hated by others" does not refer to persecution, because the world hates Christians for a different reason: we are not of the world. The test of assurance of salvation of loving the brethren is a test of true conversion because unbelievers cannot love in the way that we can love.

⁴But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

God, in His nature, is true love, not love on the surface like this world has. "Appeared" refers not to Christ's appearing to all men (elect and non-elect), but His work that the elect particularly benefit from in the gospel. We are saved because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We must hear the gospel in order to be saved. I would say this refers to the hearing of the gospel and (v. 5) the work of regeneration in us that allowed us to say that we have truly been saved by God. I say this because the "But" stands in contrast to our former ways of life in v.3.

⁵he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

His work in us is by His mercy, not by our credentials. We can thus say His election of us is unconditional. He saved us. We did not save ourselves. His justice to us was satisfied in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in our own acts of self-righteousness which He sees as filthy rags. But He must work in us in regenerating our hearts, turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. The regeneration is a one-time occurrence. The renewal is day-to-day. As progressive sanctification takes place in us, we exhibit less and less of the characteristics of v.3.

⁶whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

"Whom" is the Holy Spirit; "He" is God the Father", and "Jesus Christ our Savior" is the means the Father used to save us. This is all of the Trinity acting as one God in three separate persons in one verse. Think about "richly". It means we have no idea how blessed we are with our salvation through Jesus Christ. "Poured out" also highlights the great extent and value of this work. The Father could have just forgiven our sins. But He has declared us "not guilty" and allowed us to enjoy all sorts of spiritual blessings in Christ.

⁷so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The hope of eternal life is not past or present grace, but future grace. Our inheritance in Christ, made possible by God's mercy and His work in saving us, is that we have certain hope in eternal life. It is certain because we are not hoping in the accomplishments of ourselves, which are subject to inconsistency and never meet God's standards anyway, but in the finished and perfect work of Jesus Christ.

⁸The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things,

"The saying" is v.7. "Insist on these things" means defend them before your churches where you minister and before men. Do not bend on this gospel.

so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

Paul's motivation for telling Titus to insist on these things is so that the churches where he ministered - and he assumes the church consists only of believers - would live out their faith.

These things are excellent and profitable for people.

"These things" refers to sound doctrine rooted in the true gospel. This does a true church consisting of real believers a lot of good.

⁹But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

These are all referring to side issues which pale in importance to the core doctrines of the faith. Genealogies were a particular problem in their day; people in that time, even Gentiles on Crete, had been giving allegorical and mystical interpretations to "he begat him". "Dissension" refers to stirring up controversy. "Quarrels about the law" refers to people making dogmatic statements about things that Scripture does not state clearly. In Judaism there are many commentaries on the Torah which have significant doctrinal weight. They deal with "here is what you should do in this very specific situation". In effect, it adds more law on top of the law. False teachers were also involved in using the law for their own gain by making assertions about it.

¹⁰As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,

This is similar to how Corinth was to deal with the immoral brother, but without bringing this matter before the whole church. We are to treat such a person as a pagan and an outcast (Matthew 18:17). Warning someone twice emphasizes the seriousness of the warning. The warning means: tell them that they are in sin and if they continue down this course the results will be destructive. The "person who stirs up division" refers to someone who seeks to divide the Body of Christ by attacking historic Christian doctrine. The true church is united, but it must be pure by not allowing strange doctrines (in their day, the circumcision group who said people needed to be circumcised in order to be saved) to infiltrate it and over time, cause it to no longer stand for the truths that set it apart as Christian.

¹¹knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

"Warped and sinful" refers to the condition of the person's heart. "Warped" means "twisted" or "perverted"; "sinful" refers to his persistent sin of rejecting the truth. The Greek word translated "a person who stirs up division" is the word from which we get our word "heretic", but in that day it referred to making a choice. This person is stubborn in their choice and not willing to submit it to the Word of God.

Application:

1. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, following Christ means "leaving yourself outside." This is not something that the natural man can do. God must work this in us.

2. v.3: From time to time, a Christian will fall into sin or struggle with it for an extended period. Realize that this stems from what you were before the Lord saved you. Fight to live out not your inborn identity, but the identity that Christ has given you.

3. v.3: Most sins come from envy (v.3), which has covetousness as its root. Desire God above all selfish ambition, and covetousness will become less of a problem.

4. vv.6-7: Think often of the significance of your salvation. Thank God for it in worship and prayer, and use it as a motivator for you to discuss the gospel with others, both nonbelievers and other believers. There should never be a time when we find the gospel insignificant and look for other things in Christianity (or psychology or sociology, etc.) to prop up our faith.

5. v.8: Defend the gospel. It is under constant attack from nonbelievers and, perhaps more than that, from fake Christians and misguided believers who think that something else is the gospel.

6. v.9: If you are in a disagreement with someone, consider the importance of the issue that you disagree about. Many Christians tend to fellowship well with another Christian until they happen upon one point of disagreement. Then their fellowship can turn bitter and they can even lose their friendship as they talk about that one issue at length. Also, see if your position is really in line with Scripture or if you have just been arguing based on feeling.

7. v.10: He is writing to a pastor. Most of us are people in the congregation. Have we ever been the person that stirred up division? If so, we need to repent and look at others in light of how God sees them.

Adored, Part 3

And He rejoices in the beloved - who?
Beautiful, lovely, majestic,
Overwhelming the Lover with radiant eyes;
Cascading, persuading, symmetric,
Stealing His gaze as His favorite prize;
Increasing in light as she wins in the fight
To be more like Christ and send idols to flight,
Clear to His sharp sight, she has shone in the night.
The crushed and contrite now love to do right.

He goes on with love-drunk comparisons:
Jewels, handiwork, eternal with wine;
Lilies, fawns, His own grand design;
Pools, tower, crowning glory;
More perfect than any stone cut from the quarry.

She asks for the lovers' escape,
That they may check on the shape
Of the fruits of the vines.
And her heart has inclined,
At last, to submit to her Lover on this day;
His cords of love had bid her, "Come away."

As their new world bears new eccentricity,
Electricity burns the air with unflagging intensity.
"Brevity" does not convey their new reverie,
Though devils came at them with powerful weaponry.
They chase after ecstasy endlessly,
Till the next day breaks steadily to end the night's ebony.
God's grace effectively provided the rarity
That they enjoy this true love eternally without any penalty.
The Father, staged centrally, has marked out her destiny.
His Son's death was her sinful leprosy's remedy.
She would then merrily display the King's heraldry,
As He told her with verity and inspired clarity.

"If only You were my brother--", she starts a cry -
He finishes: "You share with Me in the divine!"
"I could kiss You without shame--",
"Yet shame is a proper name
That I'll take in your world. I'll never own a house frame
Or the applause of men when I tell them to adjust their aim
And look on Me. Yet the bitten cannot in their nature grasp
That to be saved, they must regard the Brazen Asp."

She knows now how to feel her Love's embrace.
Yet to the world, why would she claim a man debased
By the tortures of a cross as her own friend -
More than a friend, more than a brother?
Why would she go to great lengths to defend
And have this strange desire to suspend
Herself on a tree too, her breath to spend,
If this world tells her to deny her Lover?

A Sword

Builder of Each Constellation,
Inventor of Cogitation,
Definer of Consecration,
He reigns in conflagration,
worthy of all commendation.

He shaped the depths and elevations
With the words of His exhalations.
Most are unfound by our explorations.
Try to start with nothing for your emulations.

Somehow, we only see Christ as Lamb, or we only see Him as Lion.
Each angle sheds another light on the chief resident of Zion.
Many lesser-loved words of Christ need to be underscored,
like this one: "I came to bring a sword."

"It's strange that the Prince of Peace would say something so warlike"
may be a common objection,
but is worthy of correction,
since it is inspired truth despite apparent contradictions.

Yet a gospel of repentance is a call
to find no inherent worth in all
of our ambitions and hope in self.
There, Christ brings the maul
between us and our cosmos since the fall.

And many will find it strange that the score
to a follower of Christ is not based on what we hoard
for ourselves in this world, but the wrath poured
into the cup for Christ to drink down for sins galore.

Yet we were undone to the core
and our sins, we deplored
when He opened our dead eyes and our first sight was the Lord
and we saw that Christ our sins bore.
Are there treasures in store?
Yes, more.
But He Himself is the greatest of all treasures.

Flame - "Tonight (All of Me)"

I just want to be,
I just want to be closer to Your heart.
You will find me there.
Everything I am, it's because of You.
It's because of You, and now we sing tonight:

I'm giving You all of me tonight.
I'll let go of everything tonight.
I'm giving You all of me tonight, tonight,
Tonight, I'll give You all of me.

Let's pray:
Dear Father, in the name of Your holy Son,
I desire like Jesus, pray for us to be one (I do)
I desire to give. I desire to serve. I desire to love others with more than my words.
Bless me to be humble. Bless me to be meek.
I want to be a joy when people come around me.
Give me a gentle spirit. Bless me to be content.
Please keep me from my sin. Let me quickly repent.
Please give me discipline. Give me self-control,
to know when to stop and when to say no.
Make me a bold witness. Please remove fear.
Replace it with faith. Pour out Your Spirit here.
Fill me up, Lord. Let me overflow.
Let me overdose. Make me holy. Keep me close.
I want to give it all until there's none left.
But I can't be too giving. Look at Your Son's death.

I just want to be,
I just want to be closer to Your heart.
You will find me there.
Everything I am, it's because of You.
It's because of You, and now we sing tonight:

I'm giving You all of me tonight.
I'll let go of everything tonight.
I'm giving You all of me tonight, tonight,
Tonight, I'll give You all of me.

I can see You talking to the high priest.
Peter just denied You.
for the second time. One more time, he will deny You. (Why?)
One of the officers smacked You in the face,
but he didn't understand that You were actually grace.
But the people would rather see the release of a thief
than to know forgiveness and be with the Prince of Peace. (That's true.)
And as they scream for Pilate to crucify You,
I hear my own voice 'cause every day I deny You. (Somehow.)
But You still bore the cross on Your vertebrae
Walking to Golgotha, what a display of grace!
I see Your weakened body beaten - can't keep me from crying
Your cross was very heavy. They gave it to Simon.
Then You were crucified. They divided Your clothes.
Like the Scriptures prophesied, You died and You rose. (Yes!)
Two thousand years ago, slaughtered on a tree,
You gave all of You. I'm giving all of me.

I just want to be,
I just want to be closer to Your heart.
You will find me there.
Everything I am, it's because of You.
It's because of You, and now we sing tonight:

I'm giving You all of me tonight.
I'll let go of everything tonight.
I'm giving You all of me tonight, tonight,
Tonight, I'll give You all of me.

This I pray, Lord,
To be like Abraham:
Ready to give it all. My only son is the lamb.
Ready to sacrifice everything if You ask,
Because nothing is mine - not even this life that I have.
Everything I own, O Lord, is a gift,
So who am I to hold it with a firm grip?
I give You my talents. I give You my time.
I give You my eyes. I give You my mind.

I just want to be,
I just want to be closer to Your heart.
You will find me there.
Everything I am, it's because of You.
It's because of You, and now we sing tonight:

I'm giving You all of me tonight.
I'll let go of everything tonight.
I'm giving You all of me tonight, tonight,
Tonight, I'll give You all of me.

I'll give You all of me. ...

- Flame, "Tonight (All of Me)", from Captured.

(If you are reading this because you were looking for the words to this song, please check out my other posts from the menu at the right!)

On Obedience to Civil Government, Part 2: The Cost of Obeying the Lord.

Another item worth highlighting from Romans 13:1-7 is that it calls earthly rulers "God's servant to do you good." Even in today's society, we can find that hard to believe. With rampant corruption in some nations' governments and representing special interest groups instead of the people in others, it becomes difficult to think many of these rulers can possibly have the best interests of the people anywhere in their hearts.

Yet, what is "good"?

God says He will work every circumstance in our lives "for [our] good" (Romans 8:28), to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This includes "trials of many kinds" that He brings into our lives to test our faith, develop perseverance in us, and allow us to become mature and complete (James 1:2-4). Serving under a ruler who dishonors God can be somewhat of a trial in itself, at times. But people in our cultures today tend to cry wolf at even the slightest hint of a trial.

Consider the people to whom the Apostle Paul wrote. They lived and functioned during the reign of the emperor Nero, considered one of the most wicked emperors in Roman history.

What do historians and students of Christian history think of when they first think of Nero? One of the first items - mere word association with Nero's name?

He killed Christians for their faith.

The Apostle Paul was saying that even Nero's authority was God-ordained, and he ought to submit to it - even if it meant "off with his head".

How would a Christian today respond to that?

If you identify first with Christ, you are in the best position. Responding to "Tell me, 'Caesar is Lord'" (or "[insert ruler's name here] is Lord") with "No, Jesus is Lord" would be almost a natural response to that - even if it costs you everything. As Martin Luther pointed out, a faith that costs you nothing is worth nothing.

If you are most modern-day Americans, you would either deny the faith to save your own skin or call in to every talk show affiliated with your political party and mobilize people who agree with you to pray for the persecution to stop.

And if you are listening to some of the prophets of today, you may say, "Down with Nero. We need a Christian emperor." And then you would mobilize your Christian countrymen to take him out.

A better question to ask is: what gives God the most glory? If an anti-Christian ruler kills me for my faith in Jesus Christ, my death brings God glory. It is easier for me to fade into the background of the world around me and become known as just a good, moral person ("the guy who doesn't ...") than it is for me to take a stand for God and let God make an example out of me to others as, "This is what your faith can cost you. The only other alternative to turning from your sin, denying yourself, and following hard after Christ is going to hell. Count the cost, and follow Him." Luke 14:26-27 reads, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be My disciple. And anyone who does not carry His cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple."

In Hard to Believe, John MacArthur writes,

"The manifestation of true faith is a commitment that no influence can sway. Of course you love your family... But if you're a real disciple, your commitment to the salvation found only in Christ is so deep, profound, and far-reaching that you will say no, if need be, to those you love for the cause of Christ. ...

"I pray to God I never have to make that decision, but I might. You may have had to make that choice because you confessed Jesus Christ, and it has been a burden on your family. But that's the way we prove the reality of our conversion. The one who says, 'I'm not willing to make that sacrifice', isn't genuine. ... You can't be His disciple and receive His salvation if your family means more to you than He does."

We can substitute anything other than God for "family" in that quote - including "country".