Greetings,

Week 18 of the lockdown 😞.

Sadly, there is a new inmate case of COVID-19 at Sheridan. Pleas he heals quickly and it does not start a new wave of cases.

A rather uneventful week for me personally. Michelle and I are having the flooring in our condo replaced due to the flood could of weeks ago. It has resulted in us having to sit in a tight living space. We’re camped in sitting amongst all our stuff from our bedroom and my office. In the moving of all our stuff I ended up hurting my back, that was Sunday. I saw a chiropractor Wednesday and today, Friday, is the first day I'm almost pain-free. However, I'm concerned about my reinjuring it when we have to move stuff back and then clear the kitchen and living room. I ask for your prayers in the continued healing of my back, my not reinjuring it, and the safety of those installing the flooring.

did talk to Joe who I mentioned this week. Joe is sharing his faith in his AA meetings and one person shared how he is wanting to learn how to read the Bible. Joe went on to add there’re others he has met who also may be interested in learning more about Christ. Thus, we decided if we do purées SOCPM on Zoom, we will open it up to other individuals and not limit it just to SOCPM Alumni. As I told Joe, I feel I may not meet the expectations of those listing in on Zoom. But Joe reminded me of how God used me to reach him while in Sheridan. Which reminded me of when God first called me to ministry and I balked saying ’they won’t listen to me. Well after having distributed 2,500+ certificates, God is telling me someone is listening. Please keep all in prayer, I don't want to start something I can’t commit fully to the glory f God. Even more so if and when prison classes start again.

This week’s Midweek Message was ‘The Cost of Following Jesus’ As I told my students in this week's greeting and what Joe sys in his message following Jesus is more than reading one’s Bible, praying, and attending church. Please pray God will use this message to inspire the students to live out Romans 12:1-2

I close with prayers for your well-being in the turbulent times and your perseverance in the cost of following Jesus.

To Him be the glory in ALL things and to Him alone!

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

Weekly Message

Greetings guys, my greeting will be short, we had some other commitments. I hope you are benefitting in these weekly messages. I believe it is an important one for all of us. Important in our coming to an understanding following Jesus is not just going to church on Sunday and reading our Bibles when we can. It is a sacrifice. One of the foundational Scripture of SOCPM is Romans 12:!-2. We ae as Joe will mention new creations in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:17. We now are to live our lives for the purpose God created us for 2 Timothy 1:8-10. Be blessed, be safe! You and your families are in my prayers morning and night 2 Timothy 1:3. To God be the glory in ALL things. Your brother in Christ and friend Scott.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020, The Cost of Following Jesus - Joe Thorn

Salvation is free, the forgiveness of sins, the new heart God gives us, reconciliation to God, and eternal life. It is a free gift that God gives us. You merrily accept or receive it through faith in Jesus Christ. You can’t work or earn it. It’s not some people are good enough and get it and others aren’t and they don’t. The reality is we all are too bad and don’t deserve it but God offers it to us all freely. We believe we are saved by grace but yet at the same time we are told n Scripture we are to work out our salvation fear and trembling. Jesus talks about the cost of following Him.

The cost sounds like payment so what we suppose to think? Luke 9:23–26. Jesus says if you’re going to follow me, you’re going to have to deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me. Following Jesus is not for the lazy, apathetic. Scripture is very clear we are saved by grace but are saved for good works. Ephesians 2:8–10. In verse 8 we read ‘for by grace you have been saved through faith.’ By God’s gift of grace, you have been saved, reconciled, redeemed, forgiven, You receive the gift of grace by faith alone by believing and trusting in Christ. In verse 9 are told ‘you can’t boast in your salvation and redemption in your relationship with God, because you didn’t do anything to earn or achieve it. We are further told in verse 10, we are saved by God’s kindness generosity, and love but He saves us for good works. It involves reading our Bibles, praying, worshiping in church on the Lord’s day. The good works we are talking about here is the revelation of the will of God in all of Scripture. We are saved to obey Him, live for His glory in lives of godliness.

We are His workmanship, meaning we have been created in Jesus made new, 2 Corinthians 5:17. Every believer in Jesus is made new, given a new heart with a new orientation toward God and a new dissatisfaction and distaste for sin. We are saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is never alone. James 2:14–26, real faith is alive and active. The summary of the cost of discipleship is the deprioritizing of all things to His supremacy in our lives. If we are to make following Jesus first, it will cost us the priority of everything else in our lives. Those things are brought lower. Christ is brought higher. It doesn’t lower the value of good things in our lives but it shows the disparity between those things and the ultimate person Jesus.

The cost of discipleship is our allegiance. In Luke 14:25–33 Jesus lays out the cost of for followers of Him. Verses 25-26 sound harsh because it is. Often Jesus will say things like this very dramatically to get our attention to make sure we hear what He is saying. We know through all of Scripture we’re not being this is not called to hate our wives, Scripture calls us to love our wives, Ephesians 5:25. What Jesus is saying here is our love for the people in our lives have to be deprioritized in the exhalation of Christ’s supremacy. So, when push comes to shove, we will walk away from the relationship for the sake of the glory of Christ when necessary. Verse 27 tells you it is going to cost you suffering, comfort. Verses 28-31 teach us we have to consider the cost of our allegiance. Which is an aspect of faith, trust dependency? Specifically, it will cost us the exhalation of ourselves over our Savior. We like to look out for ourselves as number one. There is some truth in that. When you fly in a plane and oxygen mask our deployed, we are to put the mask on our self before someone else. I have to take care of my body, and spiritual life if I’m going to take of someone else. We cannot exalt ourselves over our Savior. It’s a temptation we all face, we want to come first, satisfy our needs. I want to do what I want to do but following Christ, I consider His word, will, ways, desire, the purpose for me. It cost the prioritization of others over God. Often we are to prioritize others over ourselves, Philippians 2:2–3. Loving your spouse, kids, neighbors are good appropriate things but they become idols when we put them before God. Do I want God’s glory In their life or am I more interested in them being satisfied and happy? If the relationship was to be tested, would you walk away from God or walk away from the people I love, and who God has put in your life? Discipleship will cost us the love of the world and the things of the world rather than the things of God.

The world is an amazing place filled with great gifts. It does have a lot of evil, brokenness, pain, suffering, but there is also an abundance of God’s common grace. We marvel at technology, foods, smells, sunsets, there are many things to enjoy in this world. It’s appropriate to enjoy these things they’re good gifts. We are to receive every good gift as coming from the hand of our Heavenly Father. We cannot love the world, 1 John 2:15. It can sound confusing because of John 3:16 If God loves the world, shouldn’t we love the world? God’s love for the world is a love for His people created in His image. 1 John 2:15 is speaking of the world and things of the as a system that is at odds with God, principals, world powers, blasphemies, values that come from the world and are satanic and not good. We can’t love those things and follow the Lord. We’re to prioritize God, have allegiance for Christ so that our appreciation for the world doesn’t become a love that dominates the choices we make.

The cost of discipleship will cost us comfort. Comfort is a good thing every culture in every era has sought to improve their quality of living. Comfort as a value is dangerous. If you value comfort then it means suffering, affliction and pain are always bad. Sometimes, what God calls you to do is painful. Loving your neighbor when they aren’t so pleasant, to forgive those who sinned against you. The commands and will of God repent of our sins. It’s painful to acknowledge our sins and the sins of a person we admired, are friends with.

What might following, Jesus cost you? Sone friends, relationships, or family. Sometimes the family will disown you for following Jesus. It may cost you your subculture the scene you are a part of. Many Christians exist in various political and ideologies structures and subcultures but sometimes our faith is too offensive and problematic to the people we have associated for a long time but no longer can fellowship with. It can cost you we’re job, career. The question is are you prepared? Have you considered the cost? Is my allegiance to Christ as such that if I have to walk away from something that is good for His glory and my own spiritual benefit am I willing to do that? Are Jesus and His law first or do you pick and choose? The true cost of following Jesus is not picking and choosing but reprioritization of all things to the supremacy of Christ in our individual lives. So yes, it will cost you and the cost is usually somewhat surprising. We don’t always figure out how it is going to work

But salvation is an amazing gift, the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of conscience, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us changing us, making us into the people we are designed to actually be, the relationship we have with God, the knowledge of God, a better understanding of the world that He has made and what is so wrong with it and the wisdom that comes from God’s Word so that we know how to walk through this broken plant and salvation is eternal life. It is all a gift He gives for free. The cost is the consequence of putting Jesus first. So, keep that in mind as we are walking through this season of coronavirus, politics, and social unrest.

As you are seeking to live the Christian life remember it’s not just about how you feel about God or your quiet time in the Bible it ultimately is about who is Lord. What comes first and do we recognize the very secondary place that every other good thing in our lives now occupies in light of who Jesus is?