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!

Multitude Monday

Here are some of the things I was thankful for this week:

• 671. The promise of a lighter schedule this week
• 670. Lazy Sunday afternoon
• 669. Blessing a friend and some children through this
• 668. Reading, pondering and discussing Radical
• 667. Block party fun
• 666. Warm fall days- our last tastes of summer
• 665. A reminder to give myself grace
• 664. The chance to minister to one in need
• 663. The girls holding hands on their way into class- precious!
• 662. A's friend is in her dance class- double the excitement
• 661. A's first dance class of the year- ballet and tap- oh the excitement
• 660. A chance to catch up around the house after Living Proof Live last week
• 659. Settling into a new school year routine
• You can find my running list of 1,000 gifts in my sidebar and read why I got started here.

Praying the Psalms- Psalm 37

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her journey and join us in Praying the Psalms


Psalm 37


I've heard it said that the days are long but the years go by too quickly.  And I nod my head in agreement. 


I've had a week of long days.  I have not refrained from anger or turned from wrath (v. 8) instead I have foolishly given vent to my anger (Proverbs 29: 11).  When each long day was over and sleep had come for my children (sometimes with tears for both them and me), I returned to each one to see peace on their face, to see their chests rise and fall, to touch their cheeks and feel their warm breath.  


I wrestle with myself and the sins that still live on in me.  I wonder when I will finally have victory over this short temper and selfishness of mine.  I wrestle with God, striving to believe His words in verses 23 and 24 when it feels as if I've already fallen on my face.


I confess my sins to a dear sister one morning and she lavishes it on me.  When I tell of my frustration and disgust at myself for still not getting this thing right, she responds with it.  "Grace, girl, grace," she exhorts me.  "Live in it.  Forgive yourself.  His mercy is new every morning."  


And it's enough to keep me pressing onward.  I once again commit my way to Him and trust and wait.

"Commit your way to the LORD;
       trust in him and he will do this:
 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
       the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;"  Ps 37: 5-7

Weekend Encourgement

From the one whose words point me to Him everyday, where in the world, in all this world, is God?

The Lord has been giving me this message from many sources lately.  Angie puts it so simply and beautifully in this post.  

Too often, I need a do-over.  God is still working on this issue with me.
I loved this recounting by Jennifer of a bedtime conversation she and her eight year old had recently.  It reminded me of the whispers in the dark my oldest and I have from time to time.


Are you looking for a little gift to bless a friend with while helping needy school children in Kenya and here at home?  Then you'll want to check this out!

Anyone need a time out?  I know I do!  I might even take a cue from Jennifer and blog about it afterwards!

And this?  This is cool!

But God

Have you ever had a time when you truly just stood in awe of God and what He had done?  On Saturday, we were a host church for the Living Proof Live Simulcast with Beth Moore.  It was quite an undertaking for a small church such as ours.  And quite a task for me as the organizer who is also a mom, a part time employee, a woman who serves in various roles at church and school.  It can and should have failed at MANY points along the way.  But God.

First of all, we should not have been able to afford it to begin with.  But God.  While a woman from church and I prayed about it, unbeknown to ANYONE else at church, an anonymous donor donated the exactly double the amount to the church.  Our pastor used half for a men's ministry opportunity and half for Living Proof Live.  And we opened our doors to 80+ women free of charge.

Next, I should not have been able to lead the team who brought the event from the planning stages to its execution.  But God.  He strengthened me when I grew weary.  He gave me the faith to believe that we could do this!  He encouraged me all along that He was going to show up that day.  (Oh, and did He ever!)  He multiplied my time all the week before to get everything done.  He humbled me to ask for help.  And He prepared the hearts of those who did help to say yes when asked!

Then, we should have had to send the ladies off site for lunch as we could not possibly afford to feed them or even take on the task of providing lunch for 80+ women for a charge.  But God.  He put it on the heart of a family at church, without any outside prompting or hints, to offer to pay for and completely arrange lunch.  The woman told me that she believed that God was telling her to provide lunch on site because leaving the church for lunch was going to be a temptation for some women to cut the day short and go home!

On the day of the event, we arrived to a work crew prepping the floor outside out front entrance for painting.  The entrance to the building and our front door were caution taped closed!  But God.  The owner of the building arrived just before they were to begin painting and agreed to scheduled that for another day.

At the start of the live feed, the transmission began to break up and even went blank for a few scary moments.  But God.   He had supplied us with a brother from the church who handled it with confidence and the rest of the broadcast went off without a hitch.

At the end of the day, as I watched women minister to one another in prayer and through tears, I might have been tempted to pat myself on the back for a job well done.  But God.  He filled my heart with such unspeakable awe for Him and what He had done in that day and all the days leading up to it.  All I could do in that moment was stand in awe of Him.  The idea of grabbing even one iota of the glory was repulsive to me! 

As I drove home, I was silent, quieted, overwhelmed, thankful.  I had been wearing a t-shirt all day that said, "I Am Living Proof" and I had not really thought of what Am I Living Proof?  But God.  He whispered to me, "You are Living Proof of my love and faithfulness."

Oh, yes, Lord, I am.  

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? 

Multitude Monday

Here are some of the things I was thankful for this week:

• 658. Rightly dividing the Word of truth
• 657. Birthday celebrations at school, at our favorite restaurant and at the dance studio!
• 656. Baby girl's FOURTH birthday
• 655. Digging into scripture- "She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness" Proverbs 31:26
• 654. Being reminded of God's love for me - personally!
• 653. Seeing God work during Living Proof Live- to Him be the glory!!!
• 652. A team of women and men who labored in love to make it such a blessed event
• 651. Preparing and praying for Living Proof Live at church
• 650. A week full of appointments that went like clockwork
• 649. Her excited grins and shouts
• 648. Baby girl's first day of pre-school!

You can find my running list of 1,000 gifts in the sidebar and read why I got started here.