I Hand Everything Over

If you've ever read the book Radical by David Platt, you know  it's insane. No lie, it will mess you up. I'm barely half way through and it has already changed so much about the way I think. Platt gives his first hand experiences of poverty and need in the world, but more than that he gives examples of people who are ready to hand everything over just to learn the gospel. Before I start off on a rant about this amazing book, let me just say what we were meant to do with the Word of God. We are not only meant to enjoy His grace, we are meant to extend His glory. It's important for us to go out into the world and reproduce the Word of God. Platt gives us a picture of almost a hundred people jam packed into a tiny room with one light, no chairs, no music, nothing but Bibles open on their laps and thirst in their souls. These people were gathered together to  learn about the gospel. Not to be with friends or listen to music or out of habit. This is absolutely amazing! These people risk their lives and the lives of their families to get their hands on the Word of God and learn! We are so guilty as a culture for ignoring the Word of God... It's SO abundant and so few people use it the way it was meant to be used. We sit in our comfortable chairs in church and listen to stories of missionaries and give offering and listen to music and the truth is we don't appreciate it like we should... We don't appreciate hearing the Word of God like we need to. People DIE for it. Why can't we live for it...?

Some of what Platt is saying, frankly, hurts. And it hurts a lot. So many of us (me included) we don't want to face the fact that we have been mediocre disciples... I am throughly guilty of being self-centered and looking at the world through my eyes alone. It's just true. A lot of us are guilty of that because we are human. But being human won't prevent us from realizing what we are not doing... Christianity is one of the only religions in the world that bases our belief system on things we don't do. "I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't cheat on my wife, I don't kill people, I don't, I don't, I don't"...... BUT WHAT DO WE DO? "I serve God by living every day in his name. I feed the hungry. I care for the poor. I love my neighbor." Doesn't that sound more like a Christian? We can't earn salvation through what we do, but remember that faith without works is dead. Let there be some evidence of your salvation in your life. LIVE. SERVE. Do it for those brothers and sisters on the other side of the world who are being persecuted in ways that you can't imagine. Do it for your Lord.

What if we handed everything over? What if we gave up all we have? Radical is a wake up call. Go read it. I'm starting to see how ignorant I really am and how many opportunities and blessings that God has given me just so that I can use those blessings to serve others. Our God is amazing, and this book is a perfect example of how God can use one man to impact the world. He goes to New Orleans and sets up a stand next to the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans and puts up a sign that says "We'll Tell You Your Future For Free". People come and they tell them about Jesus, and many of them come to Christ. A drug smuggler is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit and ends up using his expertise to smuggle Bibles into foreign countries. SERIOUSLY amazing stuff... Check it out!

When in Doubt, Walk to Church

I think it goes without saying that when people are angry, they are more likely to do something stupid and reckless. In the same way, when a disciple is fed up with nondiscipleship, they are prone to radical actions. Both applied to me yesterday. Being angry and fed up, I did something that was stupid, reckless, and radical. I left my house without a word and followed a path I had never even set foot on before, putting one foot in front of the other until I was completely and utterly lost. My thoughts were: "If I loose my way, i'll go back the way I came and it will take me where I want to go." and "It doesn't really matter where this road leads, as long as it gets me away from here." As I went further and further from home, crossing in and out of the woods, over a stone bridge, out of my neighborhood all together, and down the main road, I realized that turning back and going the way I came was not an option. After several hours of seemingly aimless walking, my legs were aching. I hadn't stopped anywhere, I hadn't eaten anything the entire day, and I felt sick. I just wanted to be home.


I kept walking. Walking and walking and walking. Down the road, past power lines, by speeding cars. It was like I was going to walk until I died. Then, everything started to look familiar in the strangest way. There were things I thought I recognized, but I was in a place I had never been before. But something told me to keep walking, so I did. Eventually, I came to a sign that told me where I was, and an indescribable relief washed over me instantly. I was headed towards my church.


I had been gone from home for about 4 hours at that point with no water. 4 hours of walking, no water, middle of summer in 95 degree heat... Like I said, Stupid and reckless. So my main line of thinking was to get to the church to get water. It was a while before I finally reached it, and when I did I was praying that the doors would be open because I was extremely dehydrated. Low and behold, the doors were open, and the church was empty and dark. I stumbled in, drank my fill from the fountain, and entered the main sanctuary. I was alone. The only light was bleeding into the room through the large stained glass cross, all was quiet. And that's the point where I thought, "Maybe this walk about wasn't such a bad idea after all..."


It's the people that make the church, but theres something about being in the house of God that is absolutely wonderful. I stood in the quiet for a while, feeling at peace and at home in this place where the word of God had been preached and the Holy Spirit had dwelt. There is nothing like it.


Is this what I need to do? Just get up, get out, and follow God wherever he takes me? Does it matter that I was lost? Because I am found now. I am found in the best way possible. I've been feeling called to something more for a long time, but this experience just encouraged me all the more to be who I will become. That's why I am starting this blog. That's why i'm making sacrifices and leaving everything behind, because this world needs more of us. It needs more radical disciples. I would encourage you to venture into the uncomfortable. Go after Jesus with everything you've got, because the cost of nondiscipleship is even greater than the cost of following Him. Be brave enough to say "I'm here Lord, send me." Because when you do, He will send you, but He will also guide your footsteps. And even when it feels like you are lost, and you are tired and thirsty, and weak... Remember that He knows where you are and how you feel. If you are still filled with doubt... Just walk to church. It helps.