Come, Pick up Your Cross And, Follow Me

By Stanley E. Brucker

"A great leader is someone who first mastered the art of following!" Craig D. Lounsbrough

"The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like God!" Socrates

"We must not be willing to answer lightly the call to follow him. We must be willing to let go of everything and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jul 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887389158

Stanley E. Brucker

Stanley Brucker is the founder of Bridge International Outreach. He has traveled to eleven nations training individuals to follow Christ in the marketplace. He's been a business owner for over twenty years. He holds a master's degree in intercultural studies from Columbia International University, an evangelism degree from World Evangelism Bible College, and a missions degree from Christ For The Nations. He is an ordained minister through Christ's Mandate for Missions (CMM) affiliated with Morning Star Ministries. He has four children and three grandchildren. He can be reached at [e-mail].

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Dedication

I dedicate this book to several groups of people that have impacted my life. First, I dedicate this book to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Second, I dedicate this book to my loving and godly parents, Lyle and Norma Brucker, who set the example of godly character throughout their lives. Third, I dedicate this book to the many pastors who ministered in the little farming community of Gibson City, Illinois, from 1972 to 1992. The First Assembly of God Church was a plumb line for me as I grew in my faith in Christ. The example set by these pastors and their families helped shore up my foundation as a Christ follower. Fourth, I dedicate this book to my dear, life-long friends that I met at Christ For The Nations Institute in 1985: Leonard and Jill Gallo, Dick and DeAnne Rueben, Mark Craig, and Andrew and Shirley Gackle. Our friendship is truly a gift from heaven. Lastly, others who have impacted my life are:

Rob Dargan

Craig and Sherry Pittman

Joel and Linda Budd

Bill and Millie Maze

Tim Diziomba

Diane Reeves

Edie Brucker

Barry and Diane Sullivan

Gerry and Tony Corrigan

Tom and Sharon Potter

Jim and Betty Potter

Kenney and Heather Potter

Van and Jane Bloss

Steve and Phyllis Carouthers, and

Dean and Christy Fulkerson.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Becoming a Good Follower

Characteristics of a Successful Follower

Four Types of Followers

Christian Maturity: Following Stage

Christian Maturity: Servant Stage

Christian Maturity: Leadership Stage

Christian Maturity: Friendship or Union with God Stage

Following God’s Pattern

Following the Way of Love

Prayer and Intimacy with God

Following Through the Holy Spirit

Following Natural and Spiritual Authority

Following from a Clean House

Following Those You Did Not Choose

Following with Success

Dedicated Followers of Christ

The Cost of Following Christ

Learning to Follow: Personal Testimony

The Joy of Following Christ

Afterword

Endnotes

Bibliography

About the Author

Foreword

Modern Churchianity has seen an increasing tide turning away from the simplicity and power of the Gospel. Jesus said, My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. Mankind, in its fallen state, continues to degrade into chaos and division. The root is always spiritual. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. In this growing vacuum of godly leadership, even more atrocities and miscarriages of justice permeate many cultures, and often the victims are innocent, family-loving, hard-working folks.

More and more of the dilemmas of our time are beyond human remedy. Without the Lord, we have no hope. Pride, fear, doubt, and unbelief are complicated disasters as cultures fall into deeper, demonic deception.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error]…. The modern church has not done a very good job in preparing people for the times we are in. This book Stan spent years preparing will help reset our perspective on what it means to follow Jesus. It can even be said that many churches have caused even more harm by their leaders not in right standing with the Lord. Many times so-called leaders are more focused on building man’s kingdom rather than the kingdom of God. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well (Matthew 6:33).

Stan Brucker articulates with great love and humility what the Bible says and eloquently lays out a thorough and clear road map of what Jesus said as He instructs us to follow Him. How much have we missed the last few decades with the myriad of books on Christian leadership? There are many great ones we know, but we must study what real Christ-like leadership is.

The Lord loves us perfectly, and when we repent of our sins, we are forgiven. When Jesus was crucified, He not only paid for the sins of all mankind, but He also healed all our diseases and broke every demonic bondage giving us healing, wholeness, and deliverance. The Word of God is alive and should be living in us to live by faith, trust, and obedience to His perfect plan or destiny for our lives. In Psalm 139:16 (AMPC), we read, Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book, all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

As you read this great book, I pray together we unlearn much of what we might think of as leadership and allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us of old, unhealthy, unholy mindsets as we corporately step into the mind of Christ to see what He sees, in others and in ourselves.

How could we possibly not trust Him in every area of our lives? Jesus said, The work of the Father is to believe. Why wouldn’t we worship and follow our Creator and surrender fully to Jesus? You will be challenged in this book to allow the Lord to shift our paradigms, false, preconceived ideas and traditions of men to break through into the fullness our Lord has waiting for you and I.

Ask the Holy Spirit your hard questions about leadership and ask Him to reveal any man-made obstacles the world or the enemy of our soul has trapped us with. It’s time to get free to follow Jesus with joy and thanksgiving for the greatest days of your life as your hope is renewed and restored with empowering faith that transforms how we see the Lord at work as we follow Him in full devotion and surrender as we pick up our cross and truly follow Him.

Jorge Parrott, Ph.D.

President of Christ’s Mandate for

Missions and CMM College of Theology

cmm.world and cmmtheology.org

Preface

While I was jogging around my home early one morning, I sensed from the Lord that He wanted me to write a book. After my jog, I went into the house and explained to my wife that the Lord laid on my heart to write a book, although I did not know the topic I was to write on. She looked at me and said, Successful following. Through many years of following the Lord, I have come to the conclusion of a right way to follow and a wrong way. Life is full of uncertainties and can derail us from walking boldly into the fullness of what Jesus has for us.

Did you ever play Follow the Leader in preschool? You didn’t know whether or not the leader was going to do something absolutely crazy, such as doing a barrel roll followed by jumping jack, yet you were to follow his lead. Another popular game was Simon Says. When Simon said, Clap your hands or Hold your breath as long as you can, everyone playing the game would comply. In a similar manner, Jesus tells those who are following Him, Follow Me. Instead of Simon Says, it is Jesus Says. He commands us to love one another, feed your enemies, be kind to one another, love God with all of your heart, and pick up your cross and follow Me.

One particular man who has taken God’s pick up your cross and follow Me command to heart is Arthur Blessitt. He has been carrying a cross around the world since 1968. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest walk/pilgrimage—over 43,340 miles in 324 countries, island groups, and territories; 86 million steps, and over 19 billion pounds of total weight carried. Sharing Jesus, the cross, and the gospel message. We are just pilgrims, donkeys lifting up the cross and Jesus.¹

It is our nature to follow someone or something. In the beginning of creation, God gave some simple instructions to follow: You must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.² In the book of Deuteronomy, God instructs, Carefully obey the commandments I am giving you.³

Following God’s instructions takes faith, especially when those instructions do not seem to make sense. Let us look at a biblical example of Abraham. The book of Hebrews tells us, By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.⁴ Pastor Rick Warren relates the story of Abraham following in faith:

Imagine God coming to Abraham one day, tapping him on the shoulder, and saying, Abraham, we’re moving! Abraham says, Great! Where are we going? You don’t need to know. How soon do we leave? Right now! What’s it going to be like? Milk and honey! Great! That’s really descriptive. How will I know when I get there? I’ll let you know. How long is it going to take? Don’t worry. Okay. I’ll go home and start packing! This took faith. Abraham followed God’s instructions, even though it meant uprooting his family for the unknown, even when it didn’t make any sense to him. Proverbs 3:5 says, Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Trust in God’s wisdom, not your own. When you obey even when you don’t understand, you will grow in faith and spiritual maturity.⁵

Following plays an important role in everyday Christian life. There are successful ways to follow our Lord in this Christian pilgrimage. In the various stages of our walk with Jesus, we will learn the importance of being a servant-leader and having union with God. Let us look and see what God’s Word has to say about our journey in following Christ.

Introduction

When one thinks of the word follow, many questions come to mind; first and foremost, who am I following, and why am I following? We can follow a person, a group, a favorite sports team, or spiritual leaders. When one decides to follow someone or something, we commit to engaging in whatever we are following. Growing up, I was always warned not to follow just any crowd. Some of the crowds I followed got me in trouble. In the Christian walk, God places safeguards in our lives to help us in our walk with Him. Some of those safeguards come as a result of following men and women who have impeccable godly character. As Paul warns the Corinthians, Do not be misled: bad company corrupts good character.¹

Another safeguard for us is knowing and reading God’s instructions on following, which are found in the Bible. As God’s holy word, the Bible serves as a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.² God’s word, along with the leading of the Holy Spirit, gives us guidance to follow Him in our Christian walk. Having fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ is the difference between being religious and being in relationship with Him. The depth of our relationship with Him determines our followership. Satan will do everything he can to keep you from your prize, an intimate relationship with Abba Father. As we are warned in Psalms, Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.³

Following takes grit and courage. General George Patton once stated, Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.⁴ Whether you are a son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker in the marketplace, we all have an innate desire to follow our dreams. As Steve Jobs once stated, Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.⁵

God has given each human a free will to choose whether to follow Him with our whole hearts or to follow someone or something else. He makes it clear in His Word that we are to love Him with all of our hearts and to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Each and every day, we must decide to pick up our cross and follow Him. The sacrifices may be great, but the reward will be greater. Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.⁶ Never give up on following Jesus because He has overcome the world.

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Becoming a Good Follower

Can anyone learn how to become a good follower? After reading this question, you may think the answer is a simple affirmative or yes. While it is true that everyone can become successful in following, it is also true that some have more to learn than others. Successful following can be difficult, but it is not unachievable. Regardless of success or failure in following, everyone must walk through the same basic steps to further their maturity. God gave us a precious gift in the sacrifice of His Son so that we may experience eternal life. This eternal life can only be obtained through choosing to accept that free gift which comes through confessing with your mouth that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.

As in accepting eternal life willingly, we must choose to follow willingly. Joshua 24:15 states, But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. We see here in Joshua that the children of Israel had a choice to either follow God almighty or to follow their fleshly sinful desires. Judges 2:10–15 reveals that, within one generation, the children of Israel chose to forsake the Lord. Once all of the older generation had died off, the next generation neither knew God nor did they know His ways. They turned to idolatry, and God became their enemy instead of a friend. Going back to Joshua 24:15, we remember this key phrase: "Choose this for yourselves. The word choose" can be best described as a continuous daily action. We must continuously follow the will of God for our lives on a daily basis; following His will serves as the foundation for our future growth in His service.

In society, there seems to be a great push to become a leader over something, suggesting that we have not reached our greatest potential in life unless we become leaders. This idea is not biblical but has infiltrated many of our churches as well. As C. Gene Wilkes notes:

Leith Anderson makes this observation about how the church has this obsession with leadership when the overwhelming emphasis in Scripture is about following. He states in Jesus on Leadership, It should surprise us that so much is said about leaders and so little about followers, especially among Christians committed to the Bible. The Bible says comparatively little about leadership and a great deal about followership. Jesus did not invite Peter, Andrew, James, and John to become leaders immediately. He said, ‘Follow me.’ Jesus called His disciples to follow Him. They became leaders only after Jesus empowered them to lead; He empowered them by insisting they follow Him first.¹

Max De Pree, a renowned author on leadership, agrees that becoming a good follower is important training to becoming a good leader.² While growing up on the farm, I followed my dad everywhere he went and mimicked everything he did. Even though I could not do everything my dad could do, I learned a lot about life and how to walk through it. C. Gene Wilkes asserts that:

Leaders must know the skills of following if they are to contribute most to those seeking to reach the goal with them. Following is at the core of being a servant leader. The word ‘disciple’ means ‘learner.’ In Jesus’ day, disciples literally followed their teacher around as they learned from him. To learn from Jesus means to follow Jesus.³

The Following Stage at which our character is molded and developed cannot be ignored or neglected. Satan wants you to move prematurely into positions of leadership so he can destroy your stable foundation. If your life is destroyed through not being prepared, then how about the lives that you have influenced along the way? Satan seeks to destroy not only your life but the lives of those whom you come in contact with. If you are bitter and hurt, that poison of bitterness and hurt will spread to others. Jesus has invited us to abide in Him so He can pour into us.⁴

You might ask, What if the person I’m following is not willing to let me go into the ministry I’m called to? What if the person I’m following does not recognize my gifts and continues to use me in areas that are not my strengths? A good leader is there to encourage, correct, and challenge you in your walk with the Lord; sometimes, however, followers develop unhealthy dependence upon a leader’s guidance or words. Instead, one must learn to hear God’s voice for themselves and obey the leading of the Holy