Discipleship - being given an A
1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21, Luke 9:51-62 As we listen to those readings – the story of Elisha following Elijah and the words of Jesus about what it means to follow him – we might be struck by how hard this discipleship thing is – how tough it can be to follow Jesus. I learned in the last few weeks the story around a little chorus we used to sing in my school Christian Union “I have decided to follow Jesus…no turning back, no turning back”. When we sang it in a quiet classroom at lunch break, perhaps before an inspiring speaker, or just a ‘time of fellowship’ – swapping stories of how our week had been, no-one told us where the chorus originated. Now, thanks to the wonders of the internet, I can tell you that it originated in Assam, India. The lyrics are apparently based on the last words of Nokseng, a man from a local tribe who converted to Christianity in the middle of the 19th century through the efforts of an American Baptist missionary. He is said to have recited verses from the