Although child development books and research articles consume much of my reading, I have made time for a "fun" book. After finishing Crazy Love by Francis Chan last week (see previous post), I started reading David Platt's book Radical. It is a book that really analyzing our purpose as Christians here on this Earth and how most of us living in the US have this idea of achieving the "American Dream." Platt talks about how we are wasting time trying to achieve our hopes, dreams and goals when the Lord put us here on Earth for one reason... to show His love to others and spreading the Gospel through that love. He gives the statistic that 4.5 billion people in the world today are without Christ. WOW! In the last chapter of the book Platt challenges us, the readers to take part in "the radical experiment" or one year to a life turned upside down. The challenge is for one year, and it involves five components, he says " I dare you over the next year to..." 1. Pray for the entire world; 2. Read through the entire word; 3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose; 4. Spend your time in another context; 5. Commit your life to a multiplying community.
Before I talk more about the one year challenge I wanted to share with you some of my favorite quotes from Platt's book.
"We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that makes our closest relationships in this world look like hate."
"The gospel reveals the glory of God. According to God's Word, he is the sovereign Creator of all things. He knows all things, sustains all things, and owns all things. He is holy above all. He is righteous in all his ways, just in all his wrath, and loving toward all he has made."
"Our understanding of who God is and who we are drastically affects our understanding of who Christ is and why we need him."
"The gospel demands and enables us to turn from our sin, to take up our cross, to die to ourselves and to follow Jesus."
"The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, the Helper, the Guide, the very presence of God living in you."
"We owe Christ to the world- to the least person and to the greatest person, to the richest person and to the poorest person, to the best person and to the worst person."
"Jesus has invited us to join with Him in the surprisingly simple journey of spreading the gospel to all nations by spending our lives for the good of others and the glory of God."
"Making disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching people the Word of Christ and then enabling them to do the same thing in other people's lives-this is the plan God has for each of us to impact nations for the glory of Christ."
"If more than a billion people today are headed to a Christless eternity and have not even heard the gospel, then we don't have time to waste are lives on an American Dream."
"The will of God is for you and me to give our lives urgently and recklessly to making the gospel and glory of God known among all peoples, particularly those who have never even heard of Jesus."
"The purpose of the church is to mobilize a people to accomplish a mission."
"We can rest confident in the fact that nothing will happen to us in this world apart from the gracious will of a sovereign God. Nothing."
"When we risk our lives to run after Christ, we discover the safety that is found only in his sovereignty, the security that is found only in his love, and the satisfaction that is found only in his presence."
"Meaning is found in community, not individualism; joy is found in generosity, not materialism; truth is found in Christ, not universalism. Ultimately, Jesus is a reward worth risking everything to know, experience, and enjoy."
Ok, now back to the radical experiment. He encourages us to:
1. Pray for the entire world. We can do this literally praying for the world. "The multitudes are waiting to hear, and our most urgent need is to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out Christians into the harvest field."
2. Read through the entire word. Platt says, "If we want to know the glory of God, if we want to experience the beauty of God, and if we want to be used by the hand of God then we must lie in the Word of God."
3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose
4. Spend your time in another context
5. Commit your life to a multiplying community. Platt says community is key and "we need community in order to follow Christ radically."
I hope this has encouraged you as much as it encouraged me. I really encourage you to read Radical and I promise it will change your life. I pray that I will find joy in sharing the Gospel to the people and nations who don't know it. What a great opportunity we have!
-Mo
0 comments:
Post a Comment