The Cost of Disciple Part 1

So I have noticed a great deal of growth in the amount of viewers of this blog in the past month, Praise Jesus. Knowing this, it would only be fitting to do a small three part series on a core theme of scripture that I feel we as believers should always be reminded about! The series name will be known as The Cost of Discipleship. I want the take the next few blogs and dive into an idea that Jesus himself speaks on in Luke 14. This speech he gives doesn’t stand alone, it actually is a theme that is seen throughout the New Testament! Lord, I pray that the person reading this will be encouraged and have their faith increased as they read this blog. (Reader: feel free to read this a loud) Jesus I welcome you Spirit in this place to do as you will it and that I may begin a deeper relationship with you than I already have now!

“²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus is walking with this monstrous crowd following him and decided that he needs to make sure they are following him with the right motives. He had been giving very impacting speeches, healing the sick, and telling very understandable parables, but wanted to make sure they were following him not for those reasons; but for a deeper reason!  He looks at them and says something that I myself wouldn’t be prepared for. In fact, when I came across this verse a few years back, I wasn’t prepared for it.

He has quite a list of things that we should hate here. Hate is a word that most Christians would never associate with words Jesus said! Let’s clear some things up. Jesus is not permitting any follower of Christ to display vengeance, wrath, anger, or punishment on any of the people listed. What he is doing is telling us that we’re involved in something bigger that what we sometimes think! Some commentators on this verse will say that the word hate means “to Love less.” This can make the verse work, but the interesting fact here is the Greek word used here only translates to English word “hate.” What does this mean? You said that we’re not allowed to show acts of hatred toward the people listed.

What Christ is saying here is a spiritual Hyperbole. He is saying the word hate as an exaggeration to show the amount of love you should have for him. Here is what I mean. When I was in high school I had one really good friend. He was my best friend. We did everything together. We soon made another friend that shared the same likes, dislikes, music, ECT. I remember this one week I hung out with this newer friend more than I did with my long time best friend. I’ll never forget what my best friend said, “Bryan is everything okay between us? Have I done anything to hurt you?” I was blown away by this question, and kind of chuckled. I asked him why he asked and he said, “Well I saw that you hung out with (Newer Friend) a lot this week and…. I don’t know… felt like I must have done something. Bryan, I kind of felt like you hated me.”

See where I’m going with this? Our interaction, our love, our intimacy should be focused on Christ some much so, that the people Jesus lists could almost feel that we hate them. That everyone in the list could have a similar conversation with us based on our walk with Jesus.

Some people reading need to look at their boyfriend, girlfriend, or their spouse and tell them, “Look, I gave my life to Christ, I want you to help me in this decision, but if you are going to lead me into sin, you better check yourself! Christ is telling us that He is our First Love!

 “³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” MARK 12:30

We are called to love Jesus above all things, above all people, above all friendships, above all relationships, and above all family members. Remember, the end of the first verse is that if you can’t love Christ above these things: 

You Cannot Be Christ’s Disciple!

Be Blessed Beloved!

Happy 25!

Beloved,

I want to thank you for looking at this blog, and for all the encouragement i've Recieved over the past month! this being blog #25 i want to encourage you all to read some of my older ones! My plan is to repost an old post and to watch God use it again in our lives. Below is oine of My favorite posts just becuase God was so random and soo Awesome! Be Blessed!

Whats that Buzzing Sound?

So I’ve wanted to write this for a while. It’s weird, I had this thought days ago but I felt I was writing too much and decided I’d not write it. That was the Enemy, and in the name of Jesus I ask God to rebuke him.

Have you ever gotten in your car and hear a strange buzzing sound? A few days ago got in my car after work and there was a decent size fly in the back of my car. I watched him fly around trying to escape through my back window, knowing that he’ll never make it through. I thought to myself, “Poor fly, let me help him out!” So I opened the window that he was closest to in the back to let him fly out of it. He flew to the other side of the back and didn’t even go close to the window. I thought, “The window must have startled him.” So my next step was to roll down my other back window. He moved now to the middle of the back window and chose not to fly out the open windows. At this point I thought it funny that there are two very easy ways for him to go and he still chose the one that was never going to work. I then swatted toward him with my hand and he decided to go out one of the windows!

I normally would have just shrugged it off, but God had a different plan. He said, “Bryan, that fly is an example of you and how you walk your Christian walk.” I was puzzled! God said that I was the fly. I realized what he was saying is that there are times where I try and walk this walk and try and “escape” my sin but there is just something I can’t see blocking me. That blocker can be my pride, my lust, or many other things. God sometimes gives me one or two easy options to get around these blockers and to escape my sin. Yet, I chose to continue flying toward my sin “window.” In some cases it’s when God has to literally scare me for my life that I pay attention and escape his way instead of mine. God reminded me of Proverbs 3:5-6.

“5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

God said, “Bryan I need you to trust me in faith, sometimes without you understanding what I’m asking. You need to trust that I’ve cleared the path and made a way, and that I’m doing what’s best for you!”

Father thank you for this revelation, I pray God that I can walk this the way that you have for me!

My questions are simple:

• Are you like the fly in the story?
• Has God given you a way to make it out?
• Are you trying to fly through your own back window, and not out the easily seen open side windows?

God I pray that you can move the hearts of your children so that we seek your clear still voice, so that we can walk in your ways! I love you Yahweh!

Be blessed Beloved!

Just A Frame Of Life

You ever have one of those moments where someone is real honest with you in a good way and it’s like God puts a big flashy sign over their head that says:

!INSERT MY TRUTH HERE!

Well I had one of those moments the other day! I was at the store buying some soda and such and I came across this picture frame that had one of my favorite bible verses on it.

“⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸Love never fails...”

So I thought I wanna get that and hang it up. I love it when God takes something little and does something huge with it! I got to the register and realized I didn’t really need everything and so I put the frame off to the side. The cashier told me my total, and then looked over and thought she missed the frame as part of my order. Before I could tell her it wasn’t, she took the frame, and read the verse.  Her facial expression shifted and then she looked at me and said something I’ll never forget:

“I have to admit, that is one of the most beautiful verses I’ve ever heard…” Then her face went from a big smile, to a very troubled looked and she finished her thought with, “But it’s not true.”

My heart broke for her… A few moments later I found that her view of love was much different than the one that is described in the verse. Her view of love is the love that is generated from person to person. You know, how you love your friends. The Greek term for that is Philo. This is not the Greek term that is used here in this verse though. The Greek term used in this verse is Agape. This is an all consuming, unconditional love. The love that is there and never ends. The love I described in my previous blog “Neither Height Nor Depth.” 

I looked at this cashier and explained to her that her statement is half true. The puzzled look on her face allowed me to continue letting her know that when we rely on only the love of people, of course love will eventually fail. However, the AGAPE love of Jesus Christ does not and won’t ever fail!  I told her that when you love someone and your love is generated by Christ himself, that is a love that never fails!

The problem with most people is that we are too afraid to love others like Christ loves us! Let us remember:

^"18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 JOHN 4:18

It’s love that is generated by full surrender that Never fails.

NEWS FLASH: If you are not FULLY SURRENDERED to Christ, you have no ability to AGAPE another human being!

It’s the sacrificial love of the cross that changes the hearts of men and women. It’s that love that rose him from the dead. It’s that love that we as believer are called to show #1 to God, #2 to Our Brother and Sisters in the Lord, and #3 to the Deceived and the LOST.

Beloved, I pray that we can take the way we love one another and other a step deeper today! Secondly, to all the readers today that have been hurt by someone who is an acclaimed Christian, I want to apologize on behalf of the Living Body of Christ himself and ask for forgiveness!

I love you all and remember:

AGAPE Never Fails

Simply Amazing!

I know this is a long quote from scripture, but i read this and feel like there are people who need to read this. So amazing! Just a reminder, this was all done before the death and resurrection of Jesus. Please read, the Bible says that the word of God is Living and Active!

Matthew 10

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

 ¹He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil^[a] spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.  ²These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
 ⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[b]drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. ⁹Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; ¹⁰take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
 ¹¹"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. ¹²As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. ¹⁶I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
 ¹⁷"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. ¹⁸On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
 ²¹"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ²²All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. ²³When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
 ²⁴"A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub,^[c] how much more the members of his household!
 ²⁶"So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ²⁷What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny^[d]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. ³⁰And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
 ³²"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
 ³⁴"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn
   " 'a man against his father,
      a daughter against her mother,
   a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
    ³⁶a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'^[e]
 37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
 ⁴⁰"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. ⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

Jesus I pray that you guide the hearts of you people. I pray that you draw the Lost and Deceived to the Truth! I love you, and in Jesus name I pray. Amen

What Will He Find?

I had an interesting experience at my job the other week. It was one of those times where your boss’, boss’, boss’ boss came in to take a look at the store. I started to notice something that was interesting. My manager and her boss were very attentive to the detail of the store. All our managers were focused on making sure the store looked spotless. Furthermore, when The Big Man (This is what I’ll call him in this example) came in, they crosseed every "t" and dotted every "i" of what our job calls them too. Now I’m not here to say that this stuff wasn’t happening before, but I am here to say that when we know that our job, or our effort in where we are placed is about to be inspected; we do everything to make it look just as the plan calls it!

I am a firm believer that we are in the last days, the days right before the Coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. With this in mind, it is easy why these actions stand out to me. Paul in quotes from Isaiah 45:23 in Romans 14:11-12 when he says:

” 11It is written: " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' "12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

It doesn’t matter if you believe in God or not, you WILL bow before him and you WILL give account of your life. What does the earlier example have to do with this? Well most time that this verse is read, we will answer in a few ways. First we will say, “I believe that Jesus is real and that he died and rose. Also, I go to church when it’s important. So I’m all good!” The other answer is that we will start paying attention to every detail of our live, making sure that everything is perfect looking. Everything will go according to plan and will look like we are doing just as The Big Man asks of us! When I stand before The Big Man he will be the first to shake my hand and tell me I’m doing a good job!

In response to the first question, it takes more than believing Jesus did those things and that there are important days to go to church. Church doesn’t save you! It is Very beneficial and the most effective way to work for God’s kingdom, but it is not what brings to God. Christ is! On top of that, there is a difference between knowing of Jesus and knowing Jesus.

“21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'”

You will need to KNOW Christ! If you don’t know what that looks like, read the word! Christ was called the Word of God for a reason!

In response to the second path, you will never be perfect. You can try all you want to make you life look perfect, but God sees the heart! He doesn’t see the outside.

“23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” ROMANS 3:23

“But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 SAMUEL 16:7

God sees your HEART, your INTENT, and your DESIRES!

Whether you like it or not,

 HE SEES IT!

Romans 3:24 reads:

“24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

It’s only through Christ that we are able to stand before God righteously! It’s only in KNOWING fully that Christ had us in mind on the cross. KNOWING full that Christ had us in mind in his rising! We must KNOW the full weight of the Gospel. We don’t have the strength, patience, grace, love, com passion, righteousness, joy, authority, knowledge, or power that Christ did on the cross and still has today!

I just ask that when you realize that when you stand before The Big Man, that it’s nothing about us, but about what The Big Man did for us, and is doing in us.

PS I know this was a long one, but I hope it moved you like it did me!

1+2+3=Christian

Remember that time in your life where you decided to finally walk out what you’re preaching? That time where you decided to set the hypocrisy aside and walk in what the Lord had for you. Today when I was praying I felt God lead me back to that time in my life. In doing so, he placed this burden on my heart. Before I go into this burden into detail, let me take you to the passage that God brought me to today.

“31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.” LUKE 14:31-32

Jesus asked the crowds there that day if they were really ready to walk the walk. He first gives them two very hard truths about being his disciples, and then right before he gives the last requirement, he asks them to count the cost of calling themselves his disciples. Why, you ask? He does this because he knows there are people out there that call themselves by his name, and never really counted the cost. They never really sat down and thought about how hard it was going to be. I think he also places it here for people who have counted the cost. He says it to remind you of the decision you made, and how you understand the weight of that calling!

One more time look at the order of his presentation. He said you must hate this life, carry your cross, count the cost of these decisions and lastly renounce all things to him. We count the cost to know what you renouncing to him… There’s a thought! “Bryan, you mean to tell me I don’t know what I’m renouncing?” certainly not, but let me remind you what is included! That means that we are called to renounce JUDGEMENT, GOSSIP, JEALOUSY, FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY, AND FEARS to him! I fall into a category of people that are reading this that will say one of these five things listed is hard for me to renounce to him at all times.

How many times do we find ourselves gossiping about someone? Maybe it’s about how they worship. Maybe it’s about how you find it best to give full hugs, and they find it best to give side hugs. Maybe it’s even about how you eat meat and somebody else doesn’t. Whatever the situation is, we need to STOP IT RIGHT NOW. Romans 2:1-2 says,

“ 1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.”

Paul shows how only God’s judgment is true, not ours. He says further in the chapter,

“7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” ROMANS 2:7-8

Remember, if you counted the cost and call yourself by his name, those verses apply to you. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments were #1 “Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength” and #2 “Love your neighbor as yourself.” You see I come as humbly as I can and say that I’ve chosen to do things that are against these too. This road is hard, but we need to understand that unless we renounce it to Jesus we can’t be called by his name. Unless we carry that cross we can’t be called his disciple. “Okay Bryan, I’ll admit that I need to work in this area, but what can I do?”

Well Paul said in Romans 12:10, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Paul kicks it into high gear! He says, “Honor one another ABOVE yourselves.” That’s a tough road to walk! He continues in Ephesians 4:1-3, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Do you see what Paul is getting at? There is a cost in order to be called a Christian. That cost is your life! Not your physical life, but your spiritual life.

“But Bryan, it’s hard for me to love someone who prays different. It’s hard for me to love someone who worships God different!” Paul would be furious with these comments! 1 Cor. 12:4-6 states, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” Wow, that was a revelation to me!

Lastly, we need to understand that we are preaching a sermon every moment of the day! Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” Jesus is saying that we are already shining when we call ourselves Christians! Do I want to give off the sermon of Bryan Allard’s flesh?

Or do I want to give off Jesus’ sermon?

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) That’s the sermon I want to preach!

I guess the thing I ask is that you realize the cost! We are the Body of Christ here on earth. It’s time the hands of Christ stop covering the mouth of Christ! It’s time the feet start standing firm and support and balance the rest of the body, instead of thinking they are the neck of God! I love every one of you soo much! We need to be humble and transparent before God and let His story be told!

For those of you reading this that has never counted the cost, here is your chance!