February 25, 2018 
In our eagerness to make converts, I am afraid we have been guilty of using the techniques of modern salesmanship–which is of course to present only the desirable qualities in a product, and ignore the rest. We go to men and offer them a cozy home on the sunny side of the hill. If they will but accept Christ–then He will . . .
give them peace of mind,
solve their problems,
prosper their business,
protect their families and
keep them happy all day long.
They believe us and come–and the first cold wind sends them shivering to some counselor to find out what has gone wrong; and that is the last we hear of many of them.
The teachings of Christ reveal Him to be a realist in the finest meaning of that word. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find Him making over-optimistic promises. He told His hearers the whole truth, and let them make up their minds. He never ran after the retreating form of an inquirer who could not face up to the truth–to try to win him with rosy promises.
He would have men follow Him, knowing the cost–or He would let them go their ways.
All this is but to say that Christ is honest. We can trust Him. He knows that He will never be popular among the lost world–and He knows that His followers need not expect to be. The wind that blows in His face will be felt by all who travel with Him, and we are not intellectually honest when we try to hide that fact from others.
iChristian 
Thank you again Steve. The aspect of’ if you desire to follow Me you must ‘Pick up your cross’ and follow’ is rarely preached. the Truth only comes home when you have to journey like I just have through five weeks of radium with long return journeys every day for 25 treatments. A later in life return to a breast cancer diagnosis But……..knowing my Lord ……….really having a relationship with Him then, you really can KNOW what being a Follower is all about. True conversion is a miracle of Divine Grace not a ‘quick fix’. If interested in how God sustained me check out my blog post on The Journey. Thank God for the Valleys as well as the Hilltops. Peace and Grace to you all. F.aye
Thanks Steve,
I myself experienced this many years ago, ‘just come up here and say this little prayer and you will never go to hell’ the preacher kept saying. Well hell sure sounded like a bad place and if all it took was saying a little prayer then heck is was all for that.
Of course sadly like so many others there was no real conversion there. Oh the preacher could claim another was written in the lambs book, but that claim was built upon a foundation of sinking sand. Only by God’s Grace and Mercy He saw fit to not give up on me and years later my true conversion happened. – Mike
Great post Steve-wonderful!