Bible in 90 Days

As I mentioned here, I am planning on Reading Through the Entire Word in 2011 as a part of my Radical Experiment.  I just popped over to Amy's wonderful blog to see if there was any new information about the group that begins reading in January and, lo and behold, I realized I never officially signed up using the sign up form!  I thought simply replying in the comments was signing up but it is not.  So I would post the link to the Sign Up Form here just in case you were planning on reading along and made the same mistake I did.  Finally,  you might want a handy bookmark with the reading schedule to keep you on track.  You can print that from here.  Let me know in the comments if you are joining Amy (and me) in this challenge!  I'd love to know :)

It's Go Time- Radical Read-Along Chapter 9

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  

To start from the beginning of my Radical Read-Along posts, click here.

The Radical Experiment.  Five challenges.  One year.  It's time to stop pondering and start acting.  It's time to take back my faith from the American dream.  For the sake of the poor, the oppressed, the lost.- it's go time!  In Jesus' name. 


Challenge #1:  Pray for the Entire World
Using the free online resource recommended by Platt on p. 189, Operation World, my children and I will begin praying for the entire world.  We will pray for the requests of a new country each day, Monday through Friday, at snack time right after school.  I plan on using the alphabetical list here.  This site has printer friendly prayer resources for every country in the world, which we will use to pray and then store in a three ring binder so we can look back at the countries we have prayed for anytime we want.  We start today with Afghanistan.

Why?  Because before the disciples were told to go, Jesus commanded them to pray (p. 186).  "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."  Matthew 9: 36-38

Challenge #2:  Read Through the Entire Word
I am not starting this particular challenge right now as I am involved in an incredible Bible study that brings a significant amount of daily homework with it. It ends mid-December.  But, I do have plan and a commitment for this challenge.  I met this really great sister at Relevant who hosts a Bible in 90 Days group several times a year on her blog, Mom's Toolbox.  The next one starts on January 3, 2011 and I'm already signed up!  Who wants to join us?
 
Why?  "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 live in the Word of God." (p. 192)  Amen!

Challenge #3: Sacrifice Your Money for a Specific Purpose
This is something that I have not determined yet as it is obviously a decision that my husband and I will make together.  (And I am lovingly nudging him to finish the book now that I'm done :)  I love Platt's suggestions for rising to this challenge (p.196-107):  "The challenge is not just to give away excess stuff that you don't need anyway.  Sacrifice is giving away what it hurts to give.  First, spend your money on something that is gospel centered.  Second, give in a way that is church focused.  Third, give to a specific, tangible need.  Finally, give to someone or something you can trust."

Challenge #4:  Spend Your Time in Another Context
Again this is something that has not yet been determined.  Platt recomennds spending 2% of your time in the next year "making the gospel known in a context outside your own city."  (p. 200)  2% of your time in the course of a year translates into about one week.  I am confident that God will provide clear opportunities for us to meet this challenge this year.  I could imagine even how challenges 3 & 4 might be intertwined- perhaps we will sacrifice our money to spend it on a week long mission trip bringing the gospel to those who need it. 

Challenge #5: Commit Your Life to a Multiplying Community
Platt's suggestion to those of us who are committed to and serving in a local church, which our family most certainly is, is to "look for the best avenue within that community of faith to be about making disciples." (p. 206)  Because of the way that God worked out the details of a new book club ministry I will be involved in leading throughout 2011, and the theme that seemed to naturally flow from the books Andrea and I selected, I believe this will be one of the avenues I will use to make disciples.


God is up to something in the church.  And I don't want to miss it.  Am I a little bit frightened of the cost? Why, yes, I am!  But I am more disturbed by the notion that I might come to the end of this vapor of a life without having risen to His challenge.  I don't want to just call myself a Christian, I want Jesus to be glorified in my life.

Father, thank you for this book.  Thank You for Pastor Platt's calling and ministry.  Thank You for opening my eyes.  I pray, Holy Spirit, that You would lead me and empower me as I walk through this Radical Experiment.  In those areas where I have already made a commitment to obey You, help me to be faithful.  In those areas where I need Your direction, speak to me and show me how to obey You.  Use me Lord over this year and for all the time You give me here on Earth to bring glory and honor to Your name.  In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

Risk and Reward: Radical Read-Along Chapter 8

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

To start from the beginning of my Radical Read-Along posts, click here.

In the opening paragraphs of Chapter 7, Platt asks the following question: "do we believe the reward found in Jesus is worth the risk of following Him?" (p. 162)  Then he launches into a discussion of the places we'll go if we decide to follow Him.  And to take a page from Dr. Seuss, "Oh the places you'll go!"  Unlike the inspirational children's book, however, Platt reminds us where we are going and how we are sent.  

Like sheep among wolves, He sends us to great need, to great danger and to betrayal, hatred and persecution.  Why would anyone agree to this?  Well, for starters, most of us don't.  But those that do, it seems to me, do so because they answer Platt's question above in the affirmative.  They believe that, YES, the reward found in Jesus is worth the risks inherent in following Him!  They believe their safety is rooted in His sovereignty (p. 172), their security is rooted in His love (p. 173) and their satisfaction is found in His presence (p. 174).


Over the past two years, I have become more intentional about my walk with the Lord.  I have tried to stop covering my sins and get honest with Him.  I have longed for victory.  His response has consistently been- through Bible studies I've done, books and blogs I've read, Quiet Times I've had, retreats and conferences I've attended- find your soul satisfaction in me!  I am " your exceedingly great reward!"


So the message of chapter 7 of Radical for me has been no different than the message of Believing God or A Woman's Heart God's Dwelling Place or Breaking Free or anything else He's put in my path.  "This, we remember, is the great reward of the gospel: God Himself.  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.  This is the eternally great reward, and we would be foolish to settle for anything less."  (p. 181)

Do I believe that the reward found in Jesus is worth the risk of following Him?  Or have I been a fool?

Lord, I welcome Your conviction and Your Truth. I agree with You on how I've missed the mark and behaved a fool.  Pour out Your Holy Spirit upon me and move me to obey and follow You.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Practically Universalistic: Radical Read-Along Chapter 7

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

To start from the beginning of my Radical Read-Along posts, click here.

Chapter 7 started with a bang for me.  Platt's assertion about how the American ideal of the equality and intrinsic worth of all people has been subtly but powerfully hijacked into the idea that all ideas are equal and valid (p. 141) was an eye opener for me.  American Christians have allowed the enemy a foothold here, I now see.  He took a truth from God's Word about the intrinsic value of all people and twisted it to include validating all their faiths and belief systems as well.  I'm resisting the urge to quote paragraphs here since most of you reading this post have read the chapter already but the end result of buying into this concept is often "to rest quietly in what you believe and resist the urge to share your beliefs with someone else."  Now, I do believe that people have the right to be free from governmental control over their belief systems and/or religion and the exercise thereof.  But allowing for freedom does not mean, we as individual American Christians, should hide the Truth.

While I am thankful that I have escaped the trap of universalism and the corresponding belief that "all religions are fundamentally the same" (p. 142), I do have admit that I mostly live a universalistic life.  Intellectually, I reject the idea that all religions are valid and all roads lead to God, but practically speaking does my life look much different that my counterparts who believe just that?  *sigh*

Chapter 7 also ended with a bang for me.  "We are the plan of God.  There is no plan B."  (p. 156)  For 4.5 billion (yes, billion!) people who are lost, there is no plan B.  "God has clearly decided to use the church - and only the church- as the means by which his gospel will go to the ends of the earth" (p. 157).  *sigh*

Is it just me or do you ever think, why did I ever start reading this book in the first place?  Because I am feeling all kinds of uncomfortable in my American Christianity right about now.  And I am pretty sure that it is going to take a radical outpouring of God's Spirit on me to bring me into radical obedience with His Word.  Good thing that is what He is in the business of doing!  

The Cure for Blindness: Radical Read-Along Chapter 6

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

To start from the beginning of my Radical Read-Along posts, click here.

Chapter Six of Radical was another chapter I squirmed my way through.  But I must be getting used to the squirming because I'm glad for it!  I no longer want to stroll through this life, eyes covered with blinders.  I don't want others to look back on my life with the eyes of perspective, such as those we wear when we look back and examine the blind spot of slavery in the church, and be found blind, too.

I am thankful for the timing of this Read-Along as our family may be making some life changing decisions this year.  I am asking God for eyes to see His plan for us as we make these decisions.  I'll freely admit, I am still in the throes of fighting my flesh, which craves bigger and better.  I am trying to discern which of the gifts that God has given us are "intended for enjoyment" and which are to be used for "the spread of HIs glory." (p. 112)

I have always fancied myself a generous person who cares about the plight of the poor and the oppressed.  The kind of person who gives time, money and resources to causes which care for the poor.  But Chapter 6 forced me to examine whether I had really ever given sacrificially for the sake of the poor or if I have simply been "throwing our scraps to them while we  indulge in our pleasures here.  Kind of like an extra chicken for the slaves at Christmas."  (p. 115)  OUCH!  

I'm wrestling this thing out with Jesus.  Throughout this chapter, Platt identified some hard but important questions to consider when discerning God's will for your resources.  Here are but a few: "So, then, what if he told you and me to sell everything we have?  What if he told us to sell our houses for simpler living arrangements?  What if he told us to sell our cars for more modest ones- or for no cars at all?  What if he told us to give away all but a couple sets of clothes?  What if he told us to empty the savings accounts we have been building for years if not decades?  What if he told us to change our lives completely?" (p. 121)

Why does this sound like craziness?  Because it flies in the face of everything most of us have ever been taught about this life.  It rails against the American Dream.  It forces us to reorient our thinking from wealth is always a blessing to consider that it is sometimes a barrier.  (p. 125)

This can all be very overwhelming.  I know I have felt that way many times during the reading of this book.  So much so that it is tempting to walk back into denial and blindness, where it seems many in the church are comfortably living.  I appreciate the simple starting point Platt offers on p. 127 when he speaks about the luxuries we are surrounded by "...why not simply begin a process of limiting and eliminating some of them?"  I am committed to starting the process and asking the hard questions and "letting these questions drive us to Christ." (p. 137)

Baby Steps to Radical?

Edited to add that I've linked up to Shelli's great blog Hopefully Devoted.  On Fridays she posts about "the least of these" and encourage readers to join her.  Check out her wonderful blog! 






I'm not sure this would qualify as Radical with a big "R" but my husband and I decided to have a big ole yard sale to kick off our journey out of the American dream and into the eternal one.  God blessed us with a beautiful, sunny, mild fall weekend and we sold a whole bunch of "stuff."  We made about $350 and cashed in our loose change as well for a total of $440!  Praise the Lord!

We are still praying about exactly where and how to give this money.  My heart is being pulled toward sponsoring a child from our daughter's birth country, Guatemala.  $440 is almost enough to cover one year of sponsorship through Compassion International.  I'll keep you posted!

I'm looking forward to next step in this journey...

God's TIMES Table- Radical Read-Along Chapter 5

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

To start from the beginning of my Radical Read-Along posts, click here.

I really enjoyed this chapter.  For one, I agreed with most of Platt's points about how to make disciples, using the "megastrategy of Jesus."   I love how he described the process on page 90, "But according to Jesus, people are God's method for winning the world to Himself.  People who have been radically transformed by Jesus." 

I also really appreciated the practical ideas Platt shared for doing this thing!  The example of the outreach that took place on Bourbon Street helped me to see the concept of "making disciples through personal relationships" in action.  So did this wonderful post by a fellow read along participant!

The reminder that the process of "making disciples...is messy...slow, tedious, even painful at times...because it is relational" (p. 93) was important for me.  God has answered my prayers and given me some opportunities to minister to a family in need from our school.  Most of these opportunities have been a joy but some have been, well... messy and, um... complicated.  Some of the circumstances I have found myself and my children in as a result of this ministry could be perceived as polluting.  But that's ok.  I know God has called us to those places and now is not the time to be disinfected, isolated and ineffective Christians.  It's time to get our hands dirty and love this family through the pain and mess!  And I love how the "bar on my Christianity" is already being raised in the process!  (p. 100)

Platt's discussion on learning so that we can teach, not simply to apply the truth to our own lives, as important as that is, was great!  I'm excited to hear next Sunday's message at church and listen "as if God's Word is intended to spread through" me (p. 103)!

As much as I know I need to be shaken up in my faith, I am always discouraged when I am left shaken up but without tools and inspiration for moving forward.  So, I was glad to find those tools and inspiration here in Chapter 5 of Radical. I'm ready to go, baptize and teach and in the process use God's TIMES table to multiply the His kingdom and impact the nations for His glory!

Connecting the Dots: Radical Read-Along Chapter 4

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

God is using this book in our lives! 

Allow me a little digression before I go into how He is doing that.  David Platt reminds of Dave Ramsey.  Do you know him?  He is the Christian financial guru whose ministry is to help people get out of debt- for good.  His advice is simple: live like no one else (i.e., below your means, paying off all debt) so that you can live like no one else (i.e., completely debt free, free to give generously).  One of his tag lines goes something like this: we give you the same advice as God and grandma- but we just keep our teeth in!  This is how I see the message of Radical.  It’s not presenting any new information- the Bible has made all Platt’s points clear already.  He’s just keeping his teeth in- exhorting us to respond to this radical gospel without allowing it to be watered down by our culture.

Platt asserts, from Scripture, that while God is certainly a loving and gracious God, we must be careful because to “disconnect God’s blessing from God’s global purpose is to spiral downward into an unbiblical, self-saturated Christianity that misses the point of God’s grace.”  (p. 71)  We are blessed to be a blessing not to be afforded to opportunity to live out the American dream.  Platt goes on to remind us, “Jesus Himself has not merely called us to go to all the nations; He has created us and commanded us to go to all nations.  We have taken this command and reduced it to a calling- something only a few people receive.”  Ouch!

So, let me return to my initial statement.  God is using this book in our lives!  I accept Platt’s invitation, which is really from Jesus Himself, to allow my heart to be gripped “by the biblical prospect that God has designed a radically global purpose for” my life.  (p. 83) 

Lord, please help us to connect the dots between Your blessings and Your purpose for those blessings in our life.  Help us to be open to how You want use us to impact the world.  Bring us from a place of complacency about the state of the poor and spiritually lost in the world to one of compassion and willingness to follow You wherever You lead us.    As we seek to bring our lives into a more radical obedience to Your Word, speak clearly to us and direct our steps.  In Jesus’name, amen.

To start from the beginning of my Radical Read-Along posts, click here.

Making Whose Name Great?- Radical Read-Along Chapter 3

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

My husband and I have been very blessed to spend our entire Christian walk to date in the same church.  It’s where we heard the gospel, received salvation and have learned to walk with God.  Our pastor is a humble man, full of grace and love.  He has always been adamant about our church being God’s church.  He firmly believes that God will provide for His church and if He stops providing then the ministry has fulfilled its purpose and should end.  He teaches through the Bible verse by verse and does not preach on giving unless it comes up in the text we are studying.  We do not pass a collection basket.  There is an offering box in the back of the church and people give as they feel led.  No mention of the offering box is made during services.  He does not care about numbers or church attendance but only about ministering to those who do come- preaching the gospel and discipling believers.  Our pastor has always said that he wants to have a church that looks like the one in the book of Acts- simple, prayerful, loving, led by the Spirit and in the Word. 

Is our church perfect?  No.  Is our pastor perfect?  No.   Is there room to grow, for our ministry, into God's purpose and plan for us?  Yes!  However, I do believe that we have done as Platt suggested the church needs to, that is: "refuse to operate in a mind-set dominated by an American dream that depends on what we can achieve with our own abilities." (pg. 53)

By nature, I am a planner and an organizer.  I believe that administration is one of my spiritual gifts.  I am a logical and analytical thinker who can often see things in black and white.  I am also passionate and anxious to “get it done” as I mentioned before.  The truth is that it has been hard for me at times to operate in our fellowship.  I am often frustrated at the lack of organization and planning on the part of the church leadership.  Chapter 3 of Radical reminded me, though, that I would not have it any other way!  It is better to err on the side of waiting too long to act and be sure we know God’s in it than to act impulsively using our own wisdom and strength and end up outside of God’s plan. 

How does this work out practically?  Doesn’t God give us these gifts to proclaim the gospel and edify the body?  Yes!  The difference lies in working with God to accomplish kingdom work or working on our own to accomplish our goals for the church.  God has seen fit to place me in the role of church secretary where I have been able to use my gift of administration to bless the body.  He has allowed me to minister in support roles to the Women’s Ministry, Orphan's Ministry and Children’s Ministry.  However, He has not given me sole or final authority over decisions though.  I report to the pastor in my role as secretary and I work with the Women’s Ministry Board and Children’s Ministry head in my support roles.  These checks have been important for me- not allowing me to run away with my ideas in my own power.  And in teaching me humility and submission- not exactly my best developed traits :)  These individuals hold me accountable to prayer and godly counsel when decisions are made.  They also give me great freedom to work with God and do things to make His name great!

I must say it was nice not to struggle through this chapter as I did with Chapters 1 and 2.  I needed the mental energy to continue to process those chapters.  My husband is reading along now, too, praise God!  And we are talking about where to go from here, together!

We're Not in Kansas Anymore!- Radical Read Along Chapter 2

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

And I thought my mind was swirling after Chapter 1?!?

Chapter 2 was going along swimmingly at first, actually.  David Platt's exposition of the gospel was, in my opinion, completely biblically sound.  He summarizes on page 36:

"This is the gospel.  The just and loving Creator of the universe has looked on hopelessly sinful people and sent His son, God in the flesh, to bear His wrath against sin on the cross and to show His power over sin in the Resurrection so that all who trust in Him will be reconciled to God forever."

But the section entitled Radical Revelation to be Radically Received made me feel like wide-eyed Dorothy who had just been plopped in Oz.  Honestly, one of the first things that popped into my head as I read that section was "We're not in Kansas anymore!"  Platt rips apart the notion that for salvation, all one needs to do is pray and accept Jesus as Saviour.

"Accept him?  Do we really think Jesus needs our acceptance?  Don't we need Him?"(pg. 37)

Wait, it's not that simple?  Every evangelical church or ministry I have ever encountered has preached this!  I dare say that while the Bible does not use terms, as Platt accurately points out, such as "sinner's prayer" and "asking Jesus into your heart," it does proclaim a simple road to salvation. 

"That 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."  Romans 10: 9

"And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18: 3

 Now, I hate to argue with the words of a Bible scholar and a man who is clearly smarter and more experienced than me.  I fully accept that I could be wrong.  My objective in writing this here is to hash this out in community.  But I wonder if Platt has combined two steps of the Christian's journey into one; calling salvation what I would call salvation and discipleship.  Platt writes on page 38-39: 

"Biblical proclamation of the gospel beckons us to a much different response and leads us down a much different road.  Here the gospel demands and enables us to turn from our sin, to take up our own cross, to die to ourselves, and to follow Jesus.  And salvation now consists of a deep wrestling in our souls with the sinfulness of our hearts, the depth of our depravity and the desperation of our need for His grace."

Yes, we are called to all these things!  But isn't this "wrestling" sanctification?  And how would one like a "little child" be capable of this kind of wrestling?  My understanding is this- after we turn from our sin (salvation), by the Holy Spirit's power we take up our cross, die to ourselves and follow Jesus.  Then God brings the rest through a process of sanctification, in which we work out our salvation. 

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."  Philippians 2:12-13

God is not in us before but after salvation.  Am I right?

Maybe I am missing the point.  I'm probably just splitting hairs.  In the end, I agree with Platt's assertion that "Jesus is infinitely worthy of our immediate and total surrender." (p. 39)  And for that reason, this quarrel is not one that would cause me to reject the entire premise of the book.  But I would love to talk this out together.

What do you all think?  Were you surprised by the same things I was?  Did you end up accepting Platt's assertions about salvation or rejecting them?  What were your reasons?  Am I missing the forest for the trees? 

I Was This Close to the Mission Field- Radical Read-Along Chapter 1

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

Swirling.  I think that's the word that best describes my thoughts and emotions right now.  As God would have it, my reading of Chapter 1 of Radical coincided with my reading of the Compassion Bloggers' trip to our daughter's birth country, Guatemala.  The intersection of the two was enough to make me start taking mental stock of all our stuff and start imagining what they might go for on eBay!  And the adding up how many children we could sponsor with the money.  And then contemplating to which third world country we would be moving our family in the near future.

And then I ran smack dab into my two my sincere concerns about this journey: making impulsive decisions I cannot or will not follow through on and getting ahead of my husband in this process.  I am a passionate person.  When I know something is right or needed, I am ready to jump in with two feet.  Prayerful consideration, research, weighing options are often neglected in my zeal.  This has led to burn out and stress in many areas of my life as I've often taken on more than I should.  While I do believe God has placed in me this passion and zeal, I also recognize that I must learn to bring it under His authority before acting on my every whim.  And then there's my husband, he would probably like some say in the selling off of all our worldly goods and the dramatic relocation of his family, right?

I've come to the conclusion that, for now, I will do four things.  Two were suggested as preconditions for this journey by the author, David Platt: commit to believe whatever Jesus says and commit to obey what I have heard.  To those preconditions, I am adding two of my own: commit to pray for God to reveal how that obedience will look for me and my family and commit to encourage my husband to read along or at the very least to share with my him what I am learning so we walk this journey together.


Oh and we are going to write to the child in Uganda we sponsor through Watoto Childcare Ministries once a month.  When I read about the impact sponsor's letters had on the children, I was so convicted about how little effort we have put into corresponding with our little man.


I'd love to hear from you if you are reading along or if you've already read Radical.  How did Chapter 1 affect you?  What are you hoping for from this journey?  Have you sold everything and moved to Indonesia already???