BURN THE SHIPS

Moving into this new year, I always do some type of vision series: purpose statement, core values, vision for Grace, etc. This year, it has been laid on my heart to begin working through a discipleship process. I will be doing a series of messages on four stages of spiritual growth and what ministry emphasis our church will have for each stage. But, to lay the foundation, I am speaking today on what it means to be a disciple of Christ. It is not an easy message because it may make many people uncomfortable. The things Jesus said about being His disciple are not the things we emphasize when sharing the gospel. And yet, Jesus never led in a salvation prayer. He told people to "follow Me". So, that is the emphasis of this message; and I pray God will use it in my heart and others to more dedicated followers of His!

BURN THE SHIPS

Please turn in your Bible to Luke 14. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 905 or 924.

Just As I Am – choir
Just as I am, without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

[as they repeat the song] – I grew up hearing this song sung. Normally, it was sung at the end of the service, during what was called the invitation time. This was when people were encouraged to leave their seats, walk the aisle to the altar, and make a decision for Christ. At first, the idea was that the decision was a salvation decision, but over the years, it changed to pretty much any decision someone wanted to make, including needing prayer or wanting to join the membership of a church.

Thank you choir. You can come have a seat down here. The song itself has a great message to it: Jesus, I am coming to you, as a sinner, trusting that your shed blood was sufficient to save me. You have called me to yourself, and I am coming. Nothing wrong with that. However, in my few short years on this Earth, I have noticed what I would call a salvation tradition, a story that has been passed down generation to generation that I believe has caused all kinds of obstacles to Christianity and discipleship.

The story goes something like this: a person, normally a very young person, hears the story of Heaven and Hell and decides that she wants to go to Heaven. When an adult asks her if she would like to go to Heaven, she says “yes I would”. Then, the adult tells her that if she wants to go to Heaven , to pray a prayer – to repeat the words that the adult says. The child prays the prayer and is then assured by the adult that she is now saved and on her way to Heaven. The adult might even write the date in her Bible and tell her that if she ever doubts her salvation during her life, she should look at this date and know for sure that she is going to Heaven.

Now, there are many variables; and depending on different people’s experiences, this may or may not sound like the norm. However, most people I know that claim to be Christians were saved at a younger age, before they became an adult. And in most cases, they prayed a prayer that someone led them in to become a Christian. And in most cases, that is where the discipleship started and ended. They prayed a prayer, they are saved because of that, and they have been struggling to grow in faith every since. In fact, many children who prayed prayers of salvation are now adults who are not walking with God intimately and are not giving their lives for His glory.

Please understand something before we go on. I am not trying to cast doubt on your salvation or on the salvation of anyone who has prayed a certain prayer. In fact, I fully believe that I became a Christian as a very young child, and in the process, prayed a salvation prayer, led by my mom. What I want to challenge you to consider this morning is a part of what salvation is all about, but is largely ignored all together when salvation is discussed. It is clear in the Scriptures, but not normally addressed, because it makes us a little nervous. But, we must not be nervous because of what God has to say. We need to be nervous if we have allowed our traditions to overtake the Word of God.

My goal this morning is to help us be more effective followers of Christ. In fact, I am going to suggest that the phrase “followers of Christ” is a better description of what Jesus calls us to then all the other popular terms that are used and misunderstood. So, what I am going to ask you this morning is to listen carefully to the Word of God. Listen to what Jesus asked people to do: those who wanted to be “saved”; those who wanted to be “born again”; and those who wanted to become a Christian and spend eternity in Heaven.

Did Jesus have a choir sing a song and ask people to pray a prayer? If you read the whole Bible through, even several times, you will not find that that was Jesus’ practice. Instead, Jesus took a very risky, unique, approach in building up a loyal group of believers. Jesus often had large crowds following Him, as He had the opportunity to say anything that He desired. In fact, if He wanted to lead the crowds in a prayer of salvation, He could have. What did Jesus do?

Luke 14:25-33- “Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Wow! Those are some pretty powerful and thought provoking words. If anyone else in the world, beside Jesus, were to demand those types of things from us, we would rebel and refuse to follow such extreme actions and heart attitudes. Why would Jesus say these things? Was He power hungry? Was He arrogant? Was He contradicting the rest of the Bible? Those of us who know Jesus Christ would say a resounding “NO” to those questions. But, these are hard words. Why would Jesus say them? Why didn’t He just lead the crowd in a prayer of salvation?

I believe the answer is in the goal to which Jesus called people. He called them to be His disciples – His followers. If you read the gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, you read that one of the first things Jesus did in public ministry was to go to 12 specific men and to say to them what 2 words? ___________ ____:
FOLLOW ME. It is today as it was at the very beginning: Jesus calls people to be His devoted followers.

This is salvation. This is discipleship. This is what Jesus is talking about with His difficult to swallow words here in Luke 14. He was not looking for people who would say a prayer so they wouldn’t have to go to Hell; and then live life any way they wanted, for their own pleasure. That was not God’s will; and yet countless numbers of people have followed this traditional plan: to get eternal fire insurance by saying a prayer; and then selfishly going through life, never becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ. If this describes you, you can change that today. But, it means accepting what Jesus said as truth and applying it to your life.

In trying to understand the kind of commitment that Jesus is asking us to make, let’s remember a historical event, the details of which are under some debate. I will tell it as I have read it in a variety of sources:

In February 1519, after receiving vague reports of a wealthy civilization in Mexico, Diego Velásquez the then-governor of Cuba--. sent a career soldier—Spaniard Hernando Cortez--to explore the area. Soon, Cortez landed in Mexico, and he brought with him between 400-500 soldiers, 100 sailors, and between 10 and 20 horses. He soon gained political control of a key city and renouncing the authority of Velasquez, declared himself to be in supreme command. He sent a letter to King Charles I of Spain, explaining his intentions. He mentioned to the king the immense wealth of the Aztecs. It was Cortez’s desire to seize the great treasures known to be there.

How did a small band of Spanish soldiers arrive in a strange country and swiftly bring about the overthrow of a large and powerful empire that was in power for over 600 years? And how did Cortez keep his men unified, and how did he address the unhappiness and unrest that began to set in? Those of his men still loyal to the Governor of Cuba conspired to seize a ship and escape to Cuba, but Cortés moved swiftly to quash their plans. There was only one answer for Cortez. And for all the others, as long as there were ships to retreat to, retreat would remain an option.

According to Andy Stanley, in his book: Choosing to Cheat: “For Cortez, the answer was easy. It was all or nothing! A Complete and Total Commitment. Here’s how Cortez got the “buy in” from the rest of his men. He took away the option of failure. It was conquer and be hero’s and enjoy the spoils of victory…or DIE! When Cortez and his men arrived on the shores of the Yucatan he rallied the men for one final pep talk before leading his men into battle, and utters these three words that changed the course of history: ‘Burn the Ships’.
He met with resistance from his men. ‘Burn the ships,’ he repeated. He then uttered these words ‘if we are going home, we are going home in their ships’. With that, Cortez and his men burned their own ships, and by burning their own ships, the commitment level of the men was raised to a whole new level. A level much higher than any of the men, including Cortez, could have ever imagined. They had no way to get back. Their backs were to the wall. The only way for complete victory was complete commitment.”

This is what Jesus asks from His followers. Let’s look again at Luke 14, and see that Jesus was helping His potential followers understand that this was not discipleship on a trial basis. This was not like an advertisement that says: try Jesus for 30 days; and if you aren’t 100% satisfied with being a disciple, your money back! That was not Jesus’ offer. He was offering salvation, but it had to be on his terms. And no, it wasn’t about a works salvation. It was about true faith. Only those with true faith would be willing to follow Jesus in the way He demanded!

Luke 14:25 - “Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them”

I do think it is significant that Jesus, in a moment where He could have said anything, decided to give a call for total commitment like the phrase: “Burn the Ships”, telling them what they would need to commit to in order to be His follower; and it was anything but easy!

Luke 14:26 – “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Wow! What kind of statement is that? “anyone who does not hate his family cannot be my disciple”? It would much easier to swallow, I think, if He stated it here as he states it in:

Matthew 10:37 – “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

That is a little more palatable. But he uses the word hate to make a very emphatic point. In fact, he uses hyperbole to make his point very well. Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect. We know he wants us to love our families and make them a priority. But, in talking about discipleship, He wants it to be crystal clear. You want to follow me? Then, your devotion to me must be so strong that it may seem at times that you hate your family. Why?

“Because I take precedence over your closest relationships in life. You want to follow me? Then you will choose me over your families’ wishes every time. And if, because of that, your family does not think you love them, then so be it.” Jesus was not being mean. He was stating the fact of what commitment it takes to follow Him. He didn’t make it easy. He was, as Cortez did, burning a ship. For our understanding, let’s state it this way: A follower (disciple) of Christ:

· Treats God as more important than family

Luke 14:27 – “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

There was no mistaking, in that day, what Jesus was talking about with this phrase. We sometimes like to sterilize this statement and talk about bearing a cross in our lives because: we have a disobedient child or a boss that is tough to please; or we are bearing our cross because we can’t eat as many desserts as we want or some other trivial thing. But, when Jesus said if you want to follow me you have to carry your own cross, he was burning another ship.

The people knew that a cross was a symbol for death; and that it could be a possibility if they followed Christ. It meant humility, shame and guilt. It meant being treated like a criminal, whether you were guilty of the crime or not. Anyone carrying a cross down the road was on their way to be crucified as a criminal. This was not a soft, easy statement. Let me put it this way. A follower (disciple) of Christ:

· Has a humble willingness to suffer

Christianity is not about safety. It is not about comfort. It is about going wherever God leads and doing whatever He has asked us to go, regardless of what people think of us and any other consequence that may come.

In his book, Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper says:
“Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a gift to my generation of students. I pray that his costly message will be rediscovered in each generation. Even though he died at the age of thirty-nine, his life was not wasted. His life and death continue to speak with power. He was hanged in the concentration camp at Flossenburg, Germany, on April 9, 1945. He had been a pastor and teacher and leader of a small training school for the confessing church and had participated in the Protestant resistance movement against the Nazis.

The book that set fire to the faith of thousands in my generation was called The Cost of Discipleship. Probably the most famous and life-shaping sentence in the book was, ‘The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise God-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.’ When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. Fleeing from death is the shortest path to a wasted life.

Bonhoeffer’s book was a massive indictment of the ‘cheap grace’ that he saw in the Christian Church on both sides of the Atlantic. He believed in justification by grace through faith. But he did not believe that the faith that justifies could ever leave people unchanged by the radical Christ they claim to believe. That was a cheap response to the Gospel. The only man, he said, who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ.”

This quote caught my attention: [on screen] “But he did not believe that the faith that justifies could ever leave people unchanged by the radical Christ they claim to believe.”

Please listen carefully. Do not misunderstand what I am saying this morning. As the Bible says so clearly: We are saved by grace through faith in who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us – PERIOD. But, we must also listen to what else the Bible says, to what Jesus says about people who claim to follow Him. He never intended for people to just pray a prayer to stay out of Hell. His intention was for people to make the commitment to follow Him – to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives. That is what Jesus emphasized. And that sometimes means pain, suffering; and it definitely means the willingness to be humble. He was burning another ship.

Luke 14:28-32 – “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”

What is Jesus saying with these illustrations? A follower (disciple) of Christ:
· Counts the cost

Jesus did not say to the large crowd: Do you want to go to Heaven or Hell?; and then follow that up by saying: If you want to go to Heaven, repeat after me. He could have done that – He never did that! Instead he said: Don’t make a rash decision. Don’t just give into your emotions because the choir is singing Just As I Am. Don’t just make the decision because the person next to you made the decision. Count the cost.

A builder must do it before starting construction. A military commander must do it before entering into battle. A Christ follower must do it before praying a prayer. That might make you a little uneasy. It doesn’t need to. Listen: I am not saying that when you trusted in Christ, probably by praying a prayer, that you had to understand everything that came with Christianity. It is a free gift – salvation is – that God offers us through His Son.
But, when Jesus gave the gospel presentation, this is how He decided to do it. He is saying to you today, whether you have prayed a prayer or not: I want you to follow me. I want you to make this commitment. I want you make sure you have counted the cost. Well, Greg, what kind of costs are we talking about here? You name it, and it might be one of the prices you pay for following Christ. You never know.

Listen to some of the costs Jesus made clear to those who wanted to follow Him. What was Jesus saying the cost would be for them? What are some more ships to burn if you want to follow Christ?

Jesus was talking to a rich young ruler – a man with power and wealth – who was saying that he wanted to be a follower of Christ.

Luke 18:22-27 – “When Jesus heard this, he said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard it said, Then who can be saved? But he said, What is impossible with men is possible with God."

Luke 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

When Jesus says to count the cost, one of those costs is our:
Costs: Money

Jesus may not ask you to sell all you have and give it to the poor. But, He makes it very clear. To follow Him means you choose Him over money. It means you understand that every penny you have comes from Him and is to be used for His purposes. He may not ask for all your money, but He does ask for you to give at least 10% of what you earn or receive back to Him through your local church. He does ask you to give more offerings on top of that amount to people or ministries that are in need. He does ask you to be willing to follow His lead when He asks you to give financially anytime anywhere. Count the cost. Another cost?

Luke 9:57,58– “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Jesus was saying: don’t think it is going to be easy. Following me may cost you:
Security. I don’t have a home. Would you be willing to follow me if it meant that you had to leave your home or your state or your country? Steve and Michelle Glick are following the call of God to Asia Minor, not because they don’t enjoy the freedoms or comforts here in the States, or being around family; but because this is all about following Christ. Christ does not promise us security or safety. To follow Christ means it might cost you your security. Count the cost.

Luke 9:59,60 – “To another he said, Follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:61,62 – “Yet another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home. Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Was Jesus anti-family? Of course not. But, understand something. This was not someone asking if they could make a quick cell phone call or take a drive home, pack their bags and give hugs and kisses. These were people who wanted to go back home with their families until it more convenient: until their father would pass away; until it seemed like the right time. And Jesus said: You want to follow me? It may cost you: Relationships

Believe me – I have seen it happen. A young person commits their life to Christ, and God leads them to consider ministry of some kind – maybe to be a pastor or a missionary. Instead of throwing a party and being proud of their children for their decision to follow the call of Christ, do you know what some parents have done? They try to talk their children out of it. They talk about the difficulties of being in ministry, the low pay, the insecurity. They talk of the dangers of being a missionary, and God forbid that you would leave the great United States of America – in these dangerous days? And they load on guilt, they make bribes – if you go to this school and stay near home, we will pay your tuition. You don’t believe parents do that? It happens. And this is just one little example of how following Christ may cost you relationships.

If you follow Christ at work, it may cost you a promotion, a raise or even your job. I’m not talking about being excessive, trying to cause problems by pushing your faith. I’m talking about simply doing what Christ asks you to do, regardless of what it might cost you. You can fill in the blanks with all kinds of examples and areas of life. But, this is one of the costs that Jesus said: you need to count.

We see another major cost in a conversation Jesus had with his disciples:
Mark 8:29,31-33 – “And he asked them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, You are the Christ…And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Here was a disciple of Jesus Christ, one of the 12 who said the same thing they all said in different places: We are your followers. We believe in you. However, after Jesus shared God’s plan for His death, Peter rebuked Him! But, Jesus rebuked him in the presence of all the disciples because Peter was not in charge, but was thinking only about his own plans and desires – the way he would like to see the world. What was Jesus saying, or what would He say to us? You want to follow me? It may cost you: Your Will

Peter thought he had a better plan than God’s! But, the truth is: We all have plans for our life and how we would like to see things happen. We have plans for our country, our government, our family, our kids, our work, our finances, our church, etc. It is ok to tell God what we would like. Even Jesus Himself told the Father what He wanted. But, He ended that prayer the way we must end ours: “Not my will, but yours be done.”

If you want to follow Christ, you will need to set aside your fantasy of how life will go; and turn your will over to God. If you want to live life your way, then don’t follow Christ. Jesus said: Count the cost.

Stories aboud of people who make a decision, revealing what they have put their trust in. And it is sometimes hard to tell if they have truly counted the cost.
· 50 people on a holiday-shopping trip to Lille, France, ended up 100 miles away after the driver followed his satellite navigation system to another Lille- the one in Belgium. He committee himself completely to what his computer system told him – and he was wrong and I’m sure had 50 very angry people to deal with!

· Two Ohio college students face 20 years in prison after robbing a bank – done, they say, because they couldn’t pay their tuition. They made a commitment, and it will affect the rest of their lives.

· A candidate for Grant County sheriff in Wisconsin legally changed his name to Andy Griffith, in the hope that a little of that Mayberry magic will rub off on his campaign. If you change your name so people will identify you with a television personality and hopefully vote for you in politics, you are committed; or should be committed…somewhere.

· For the third time this year, a doctor at a Rhode Island hospital performed brain surgery in the wrong side of a patient’s head. The hospital has been fined $50,000 – that’s all? Brain surgery seems like a pretty big commitment to me, don’t you think? It might be important to have someone operating who you completely trust!

That is really what we are talking about today. True followers of Christ are not professing Christians, in it just to stay out of Hell. True followers of Christ have committed themselves to following Christ, wherever He leads, whatever He asks – till death. This is not a commitment to church, but to Christ. This is not a commitment to perfection, but to pursuing Christ.

And this leads us back, to the final verse of this passage in Luke 14:

Luke 14:33 – “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

A follower (disciple) of Christ:
· Will give up anything

Jesus said:Matthew 10:39 – “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

What would this look like in our attitude and motivation? Listen to what -
The Apostle Paul said:
Acts 20:24 – “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

A follower of Christ may not sell everything and go live in a cave. There have been people in history who thought the answer to Christianity was to give up every convenience and go live quietly in place far away from other people. The problem is: that is not what God has called us to. He has called us to be in this world of people but not to be a part of this world’s philosophy, that is opposed to the ways of God. You may not have to give up all you have, but you have to give up your ownership of it. A follower of Christ recognizes that he is a steward of what God owns and has given him – not the owner who can do whatever he wants with it.

A follower of Christ does not love this world’s system, although he may enjoy living. He understands that this life is temporal and that all that can be gained in this world will pass away. He is living for eternal things even while he lives his short life here. A follower of Christ has embraced what Jesus said with this rhetorical question:

Mark 8:36– “ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

If you are going to commit yourself to following Christ, you have to burn the ships. Don’t even contemplate going back to your life without Christ. The Bible says that when you come to Christ, your life changes, and it is supposed to be seen in how you live life. This may mean you have to get rid of a friendship that is an obstacle to your commitment to Christ. This may mean that you have to put away some good things, good activities in order to follow Christ. Christ is asking you to be willing to sacrifice absolutely anything.

What is your answer? This is the call of Christ to you – all of you. Follow me. I can say something to you with upmost certainty. That if Jesus Christ appeared to us this morning and came forward to address all of us, He would say something like this: Follow Me. I don’t believe He would ask you if you think you are born again or even a Christian or even if you said a prayer at some time in your life. He would ask if you are willing to give up your life in order to gain your life – to give up the temporal for the eternal – to give up the trivial for the truly important.

Will you follow Me? If He asks you that question, I don’t think he would appreciate this answer: Well, Jesus, I did pray when I was a kid – “I’m sure I’m going to Heaven.” He might say to you: That’s not what I asked. Will you follow me?” “Well, Jesus, I will try – I’m not perfect you know”. He might respond: That’s not what I am asking of you. Will you follow me?

There are some great verses in Scripture that are used many times in leading someone into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ:

Romans 10:9, 10 – “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

One phrase, however, that is often overlooked, is truly key for this discussion of being a follower of Christ: “confess with your mouth that Jesus is [what?] LORD!
Lord means master. Naming Him Lord of your life means you are recognizing that He is not just the only one who can save you from your sins, but he is also the one who is in control of your life; and you are submitting your life to Him. Even if you didn’t realize that you were doing that when you became a believer in Christ, hopefully you can see that it is what God requires. Are you a follower of Christ?

I didn’t ask if you were a Baptist. I didn’t ask if you were a religious person. I didn’t ask if you said a prayer. I am not asking if you are able to perfectly live out your commitments (because none of us can fully). I am asking what I truly believe Jesus Christ Himself would ask you: Are you a follower of Christ? Have you entered into a relationship with Him and burned all the ships?

Today is a great day, here at the beginning of a new year, for you to make a commitment to Jesus Christ. This commitment is to be His follower. Whether you have ever prayed a prayer or not, I want to challenge you to make this commitment. You will fail in some ways on a daily basis. But, so did His original disciples, the followers He personally chose. He is asking you: Will you follow me?

You are being handed commitment cards this morning so that you can make any commitment you are ready to make and let us know about it. If you are not ready to make one today, feel free to take this with you and fill it out at another time. If, however, God has worked on your heart today; and you are ready to make a commitment, there is no better time then right now. As the song plays, I encourage you to pray, and to mark your commitment down. Then, because we would love to pray for you about your commitment, we encourage you to take your cards to the welcome center table following the service and drop them off there; or you can hand them to myself or an usher. Let’s take this time to consider our commitments:

Burn the Ships
Written by Steven Curtis Chapman and James Isaac Elliott

In the spring of 1519 a Spanish fleet set sail. Cortez told his sailors this mission must not fail. On the eastern shore of Mexico they landed with great dreams. But the hardships of the new world made them restless and weak. Quietly they whispered, "Let's sail back to the life we knew". But the one who led them there was saying Burn the ships, we're here to stay. There's no way we could go back now that we've come this far by faith. Burn the ships, we've passed the point of no return. Our life is here. So let the ships burn

In the spring of new beginnings a searching heart set sail. Looking for a new life and a love that would not fail. On the shores of grace and mercy we landed with great joy. But an enemy was waiting to steal, kill, and destroy. Quietly he whispers, "Go back to the life you knew"But the one who led us here is saying, Burn the ships, we're here to stay. There's no way we could go back now that we've come this far by faith. Burn the ships, we've passed the point of no return. Our life is here, So let the ships burn. Nobody said it would be easy, but the one who brought us here is never gonna leave us alone

Burn the ships, we're here to stay. There's no way we could go back now that we've come this far by faith. Burn the ships, we've passed the point of no return. Our life is here so let the ships burn.