You are NOT your own.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:23‭-‬24 NIV We see from the above scripture, that in order for anyone to be a disciple of Christ, the prerequisite is that they deny themselves and daily pick up thier cross So what does Jesus mean? Let's investigate a few things together. Like what is the cross?  First off the cross is an instrument of death...that is it's primary function, like the gallows or electric chair in today's terms. This is where we are invited to put to death the works of sin in my flesh and soul, to be identified with Jesus in death.  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NIV It was Jesus who paid the ...

Dad loved Westerns, as do I, one of the many things we had in common. The title of this blog was one he particularly enjoyed.  Some of you reading the previous blog may remark, that is not the way you recall or experienced  him and may suspect I am being harsh in my telling of the story. One thing I think all who knew him would agree on one thing, A saint in the traditional understanding of that phrase he was not.  He was mischievous and full of naughty fun, in most part. However I see him without rose tinted glasses and from my own unique experience of him, just like myself and other humans he certainly had elements of the Good, Bad and Ugly.  I have even found that within the family we may recall or experienced him differently, and we may even wonder if we grew up in the same house, when some of these memories seem stark. I have a theory that these variances have to do with a few factors.   One, I was the first born, and often the expectations we place on...