Episode 20: The Cost of Discipleship

In this episode: Don't forget to become a Theodio Premier Subscriber. Offer ends when 2020 comes to a close. A note about a change to our show format The relevant audiobook segment My notes from the blog Show notes: Episode blog post: The cost of discipleship The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Seeking Allah, Finding […]
The post Episode 20: The Cost of Discipleship appeared first on Theodio.

In this episode:

Don't forget to become a Theodio Premier Subscriber. Offer ends when 2020 comes to a close.
A note about a change to our show format
The relevant audiobook segment
My notes from the blog

Show notes:

Episode blog post: The cost of discipleship
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity, by Nabeel Qureshi
Podcast introduction: Yabo Obien
Logo and marque: Jeff Lyons at Light & Story
Original music: Makeup and Vanity Set
Kindle version of Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices by John Hendryx at Monergism.com
Text for Precious Remedies provided by GraceGems.org

Welcome to the Theodio Podcast. I’m your host, Dan Kassis.

Those of you who subscribe on Apple Podcasts, please consider leaving a rating and a review. Your feedback is so helpful, and you’ll help other listeners find the show. Thank you.

A change in format

And speaking of feedback, starting with this episode and continuing for the rest of this series, you’ll notice something different about the show. Thanks to the advice of a longtime friend, we are expanding the Theodio Podcast

If you’ve been listening for a while, you know there’s a blog post that accompanies each episode. The blog is where I break down and explain each part of Thomas Brooks’s book. I offer modern-day illustrations and define some of the archaic terms and names. You can use the blog to help you better understand what you hear in the podcast’s audiobook segments.

Well, this good friend of mine said she wanted to hear some of that content in the podcast. I bounced this idea off a couple of other friends and listeners, and they agreed. So, starting right here, after we play the audiobook segment, I’m going share my own thoughts and insights from the blog. I hope you’ll find it useful.

Crosses and losses

Last time we concluded a two-part series discussing how Satan uses the lure of wealth to distract us from the Christian life. This time, as we progress through chapter 3 of Thomas Brooks’s Precious Remedies against Satan’s Devices, we’ll take a look at the cost of discipleship.

Those of you who are familiar with the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer will immediately recognize that phrase. It’s the title of his autobiography, one of the most influential Christian books of the 20th century.

If you’d like to read it, I’ve placed a link to the Amazon listing for the book in the show notes. Or, try your local library.

To explain how this book and Bonhoeffer’s life and death relate to this episode’s topic, here’s how Brooks explains Satan’s attack in this area:

The second device that Satan has to draw the soul from holy duties, and to keep them off from religious services, is, By presenting to them the danger, the losses, and the sufferings which attend the performance of such and such religious services.

Dangers, losses, and sufferings. Bonhoeffer was intimately familiar with them. Believers through the centuries have borne them. Jesus and his apostles warn us in the New Testament that we should expect them.

Satan can use them to derail us from living an active life of fellowship, discipleship, and growth. What do we do when this happens? Thomas Brooks provides five remedies to help. Let’s listen to him now.

Conclusion

What we gain in the service of Christ will always be better than what we lose.

Remember the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4: 2 Corinthians 4:17 18

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Brooks’s mention of “that noble Zedislaus” at the end of this segment – that’s probably King Ladislaus I of Hungary, who reigned in the 11th century. He is a patron saint of the nation, being venerated as a pious and honorable king. I couldn’t find any reference to him losing a hand in battle. But it seems someone opened his tomb during his canonization ceremony and cut off his right hand so it could be made into a relic. His head, too.

You don’t have to be a king to be a devoted follower of Christ. Our loving Lord is a good shepherd to all who believe in him. That doesn’t mean that the Christian life is easy, however.

And that’s the subject of our next episode. Until then, thanks for listening.

The post Episode 20: The Cost of Discipleship appeared first on Theodio.