Introduction
On Oct 2, 2014 – I finished writing first draft. 21 days later, on Oct 22, I received the first 100 printed copies of the 1st version of the book!
“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” – Acts 14:22
Written while I was Homeless!
God often brings forth His extraordinary gifts from the most humbling situations or places. Think of Christ through Mary, Joseph through an Egyptian dungeon, the first German Bible through Luther’s hiding in exile from the Catholic Church, Pilgrim’s Progress through John Bunyan’s imprisonment, the book of Revelation through apostle John’s lonely exile on Patmos, and ever so humbly I can add, The John 7:17 Challenge through my homelessness. How consistent is our God!
For precisely four months, I was homeless and slept in my friend’s office. Each night, I moved the chair I’m sitting in (in the above picture) and made myself a little pallet to sleep on right there between the desk and the wall. During the day, I worked intensely on the book, and just after I finished the first draft, the Lord opened the door for me to have a temporary house to live in.
What a praise to God that, 10 years later, and after much more spiritual life experience, I find this book needed very little updating or edits. This validates my early statements after it was first finished when I said, “The Holy Spirit took this book way beyond my abilities”. Today, the only significant change I am making to the book, is to give more prominence, right up front, to the amount of suffering that the cross of Jesus Christ brings into the lives of true believers, and especially full-time servants.
“Among the plastic saints of our times, Jesus has to do all the dying. All we want, is to hear another sermon about His dying!” - A.W. Tozer
June 6, 2024 – I posted a new Welcome to RH video, fourteen years later, highlighting all the suffering Christ has gotten me through.
As seen in “Though He Slay Me”, I have faced a tremendous amount of spiritual opposition and suffering, to bring these important truths to you. I have been outspoken about the fact that, including myself for 19 years, most of all professing Christians today are deceived by a counterfeit powerless form of “easy believism” Christianity which cannot save them. The only Christianity which can save your soul, grant you eternal life, and which will not leave you shocked and ashamed at the Judgment Seat of Christ is the one Jesus and the apostles preached, the self-denying (Mat 16:24), cross-carrying (Luke 14:27), world-hating (John 12:25, 15:19, 1Jn 2:15), faith-walking (2 Cor 5:7, Heb 10:38) narrow path which leads to life. All others are counterfeits. It is only necessary to see the ruthless and relentless dramatic attacks of Satan against this ministry for all these years, to know that I am teaching something which he hates with a hellish fury!
Peace and Joy…YES, but You are Going to Suffer!
“It is criminal silence on the part of any servant of God to conceal from his hearers that a true profession of the name of Christ will necessarily bring down upon us not only scorn and opposition of the outside world, but also the hatred and persecution of the false religious world. …The Lord Jesus Christ dealt openly in this matter, and plainly made know what was likely to befall those whom He called to follow Him, and expressly affirmed that He would admit none into the ranks of His disciples save those who denied themselves, took up their cross, and engaged to undergo all sorts of sufferings for His sake and the Gospel’s. He deceived none with fair promises of a smooth and easy passage through this world. – A.W. Pink
Jesus said “Count the Cost” for a Reason!
As a Western Christian living in America, I never learned the truth about what it meant to be a true follower of Jesus Christ and to suffer the cross. I allowed preachers to shape my interpretations about the truth in Bible, more than I did the Bible itself. Jesus’s words are clear, but modern preaching is not! Almost all preaching hides the truth about suffering the cross of Christ and what it looks like to be a true follower of his. I never understood just how much I would suffer to serve Christ, so after my full surrender to Him, I had to learn the painful truth by shocking experience. It left me with all sorts of unmet expectations, questions, and hurt feelings towards the Lord because I was ignorant of the true Biblical cost of following Christ, even after 19 years of professing belief in Him.
Ten years ago, when I wrote this book, I placed a large emphasis on the peace and the joy that come from experiencing God and finding Life to the Full in Jesus Christ, after you come out of a powerless and lifeless counterfeit form of “Christianity”. This is very much true, and it is what makes it worth it to give a full surrender to Christ, but I must also tell you plainly, you are going to suffer if you deny yourself, take up your cross, and do the will of Jesus Christ in your life. It is inescapable and there is no other way in, but by this narrow gate.
And if you wish to shrink back in fear, or run away in cowardice to a false Jesus, a false spirit, and false gospel which tells you that you don’t have to suffer for Christ, that is your choice, but please remember that your Christianity and life will be judged by the TRUE Jesus and His Words at the Judgment Seat of Christ, not by the Jesus you may have been taught about by deceived men. You may end up standing before Jesus Christ before you even make it through this book. Are you willing to take the risk?
Don’t Be a Coward…He Will Help You!
The dragon has indeed made war against this Christian who has obeyed God’s commands and held fast to the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev 12:17). Satan has never forgiven me, nor will he forgive you, for leaving behind the counterfeit “Christianity” which cannot save anyone. This is also why so many people have written to me about the problems they experienced soon after beginning the John 7:17 Challenge. Satan loves counterfeit Christianity,
but he absolutely hates the truth of Jesus Christ which leads to eternal life. This journey will not be easy, and it will not be without suffering, but you MUST TAKE HEART knowing by faith, that you can do all things through Christ who will strengthen you (Phi 4:13), that He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one (2 Thes 3:3), that you have been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the Name, (Acts 5:41, 2 Thes 1:5), that no weapon formed against you shall prosper against your soul (Isaiah 54:17), that God will indeed be working all things that happen in your life for the good (Rom 8:28), and that behind all of the sufferings and attacks, God is faithfully and purposely using them to first prove your faith (1 Pet 1:6-7) and then to conform you more and more into the image of Jesus Christ, whom you love (Rom 8:29), all while you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your soul (1 Pet 1:9)!
A Work Tested by Fire
Paul said “fire” would test the quality of each man’s work (1 Cor 3:14) and although he was primarily speaking about the final Day of God’s Judgment on the world, there is no doubt that much fire comes to test it now, long before that Day. Just as many trials test and prove the quality of our faith in the here and now, long before the Judgment Day of Christ arrives, much Satanic opposition and persecution tests and proves the quality of ministry and teaching. Please take confidence in the journey you are about to embark on because it has indeed been tested in the fire for the last decade. To the praise of God’s faithfulness, none of Satan’s relentless and multi-faceted efforts have prevailed fully against my faith, or my ministry, although sometimes they were both weakened and severely tested to the absolute limits. My Lord has kept me from falling (Jude 1:24) and has not allowed any weapon to finally, or fully, prevail against me, or this ministry, and He will do the same for you, if you follow my example of following Christ (Jos 3:3-4, Phi 4:9, Heb 13:7).