Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said: “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. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If 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. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:25-33
“The first price is pressure of our wills, gentle but constant. What game is ever won without effort and concentration?
The second price is perseverance. A low score at the outset is not the least reason for discouragement; everybody gets a low score for a long while. Each week grows better and requires less strain.
The third price is perfect surrender. We lose Christ the moment our wills rebel. If we try to keep even a remote corner of life for self or evil, and refuse to let God rule us wholly, that small worm will spoil the entire fruit. We must be utterly sincere.
The fourth price is tell others. When anybody complains that he is losing the game, we flash this question back at him: “Are you telling your friends about it?” For you cannot keep Christ unless you give Him away.
The fifth price is to be in a group. We need the stimulus of a few intimate friends who exchange their experiences with us.”
Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970) in Letters By A Modern Mystic (Feedbooks: 2009) letter entitled, “Some Prices We Must Pay To Win This Game.”
Laubach links the cost of discipleship with prices to pay in the Game with Minutes. He reminds us that we cannot keep Christ unless you give Him away. Yesterday I had a low score.
I wrote about troubles and then had a day filled with them. Things did not go as I hoped or expected. Most of the time, the troubles threw off my minutes. I found myself pouting how my last day at home before a trip went.
Perhaps you can relate? Let me give an example. At the end of my day the eye doctor told me that they would leave a set of contact lenses for me outside their office door. Though they closed, they said the building would be open. It wasn’t.
I drove there for nothing, and left empty-handed and disappointed. In the car on the way home I was reminded by my Lord Jesus that he too was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” That touched me in a deep way.
Anyway, the best part about the Game with minutes is that today is a new day. So that my service in Colombia is as fruitful as possible, I want to lean into paying these five prices. On more thing about this trip.
It’s complex. Four cities: Medillín, Cartagena, Cali, and Bogotá. Activating Orden, the peer accountability group like ECFA in USA, and Palmful of Coffee to foster generosity with accountability among the coffee community, largely invisible indigenous people, to facilitate their participation in Christian mission.
Palmful of Coffee is inspired by Handful of Rice (India) and Palmful of Maize (Malawi).
It’s been about two years in the planning, since my last visit in August 2023. It starts with a vision retreat with about a dozen influential Christian workers from across the Coffee Triangle. Best part, my mate Travis Shelton will join me and help activate this vision through the generosity of his network.
More later. For now, I appreciate your prayers for safe travel and fruitful service through 30 May 2025. And pray for many good days of the Game with Minutes. Thanks. I pray that for each of you too.