"But My Preacher Said..."

Is faith really necessary? God thinks so. Heb 11:6. Is believing Jesus is God's Son adequate? Most preachers in America would say yes. Sadly, since the masses will not survive judgement, and only a few will finish the journey, I would not trust their ideas. Odds are they are wrong. So what does the absolute authority, Jesus, say? He said, "If you intend to follow me you must deny, ... take up, ...follow..." These verbs say more than faith is required. So, there are a minimum of three requirements, in addition to faith, needed to sustain a close connection with Jesus. Those requirements are: deny take up follow Deny implies I must disregard my own interests. I will no longer accept my own advice. I reject all I have considered meaningful. I no longer have any acquaintance with who I was or what I did. I disconnect from self. For an example of denial, remember how Peter treated Jesus after the Gethsemane arrest. Peter denied Jesus three times. To 'take up', implies you will lift and carry what you have avoided. Until you 'take up', you continue your preacher's easy ways instead of connecting with the New Testament yourself. In 'taking up', you refocus on Jesus' directives for doing. To 'follow' implies becoming an attendant to Jesus' will. You will go with him anywhere, speak what he says, steer others to know Him, hear only Him, wield His gracious words, think as He thinks, stop worrying, pray, tolerate threats, talk about Jesus with every listener, trust Jesus, meet constantly with the followers, dump all sins, ... Please answer. Does 'faith only' please Jesus? Will you fully follow Jesus?