Reflection

Final thoughts on "Radical"

You and I stand on the porch of eternity. Both of us will soon stand before God to give an account for our stewardship of the time, the resources, the gifts, and ultimately the gospel he has entrusted to us. When that day comes, I am convinced we will not wish we had given more of ourselves to living the American dream. We will not wish we had made more money, acquired more stuff, lived more comfortably taken more vacations, watched more television, pursued greater retirement, or been more successful in the eyes of the world.  David Platt, “Radical”

I am very glad I read this book, I think. I say I think because I found certain parts about it unsettling. I was confronted with some things about myself that made me uncomfortable and that is not a bad thing. Any time you read a book and find yourself wanting to dive into Scripture and re-read verses you have read almost all your life I think it’s good. David Platt puts a spotlight behind the words of Jesus in such a way that we can no longer brush them off or explain them away and skip merrily on to the next verse. You know, the warm fuzzy verses that tell you how much God loves you. He does love us, and if we know Him, then He already has us. But there is a vast and lonely world out there that does not know Him, has never heard the Gospel, who are hungry and thirsty and sick, and may not make it through the day. God is asking…….what are you, my church, going to do about it?

God has entrusted the church with the awesome responsibility of taking His good news to everyone else on the planet, with getting it to them before they die. It is a life and death message, and its an urgent one. It won’t happen by any kind of magic osmosis. It won’t necessarily happen fast, and it may take some time. By investing in relationships long term.

I came away from this book with a deeper understanding of just how much God really does love the world. He would do anything to save it, but would we? Would we be willing to sacrifice our lives to save them? Does God expect this of us? Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:23, 24

What are we clinging to so tightly that we wouldn’t give up for Him? There are testimonies in this book that tell of people, despite great fear and trepidation, trading in their old lives of stress and endless accumulation, only to find that He was right there waiting to bless them with something far better than anything they ever had before! The inexpressible and glorious joy that God meant for us to have all along.

I found myself questioning my giving. Do I give sacrificially or out of my excess? Do I give away what I don’t want anyway, and write a check to a charity so I can sleep better at night?  How much does God expect? I always felt so bad for the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and left with such sadness, but for the first time I was confronted by the fact that there is a bit of the rich young ruler in myself. Maybe much more than I care to admit.

What happens when the church starts to look so much like the world you can no longer tell the two apart? Does the world dislike us? Why should it when there is little or no distinction between us, when the church is seeking and striving after all the same things the world does?

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:19

Why would God send His people to a place where sharing the gospel means certain death or imprisonment? Doesn’t He want us safe? What about people who have never heard the gospel? If they have never heard it then won’t they get a “go directly to Heaven pass?” But as I read, I kept thinking of Jesus words…..”I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24  I don’t think He was just talking about Himself.

These are some of the questions addressed in the book and I think they are valid questions. The fact that this book was on the New York times bestseller list makes me believe that many in the American church believe that something does needs to change. I have heard and read many testimonies of people who have not been afraid to look into their hearts and ask themselves the hard questions. People who felt the Spirit lay a burden on their heart to make a drastic change, to sacrifice for the good of others. I think of successful author Lisa Samson. After a missions trip, she and her husband sold their luxurious home in the suburbs and moved to the inner city to minister to the poor. She now feels blessed beyond measure.

Having said that, this is not a book meant to indict the rich, but to encourage those who have much to turn around and bless others to the glory of God. It is also not a book that says that you have to sell all you have in order to be saved.

The conclusion of the book left me with a choice and a challenge. I thought about pretending I had never read it because now I feel a response is necessary. I am grateful for it, because there are some things I needed to question. Despite how sobering I sometimes found the book, at the end I experienced something that was totally unexpected, a kind of wild exultant joy. I couldn’t help but be captivated by thinking how it would be to enter into that life of radical faith and see what God could do through little scaredy-cat me.

I leave this book with my faith strengthened and I find comfort in the words of Peter after some of the disciples took off and Jesus asked if he wanted to leave too “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter knew that whatever he had to go through, living without Christ was unthinkable. I am going forward with an open and prayerful heart and I am thankful that David Platt had the courage to write it.

If any of you have read the book I would be interested to see what you thought about it!

Slowing things down……

Our lives are frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify…..Henry David Thoreau

Where did October go? One of my favorite months of the year and it was gone before I could turn around. They have started the warmup and it is working it’s way to a fever pitch……It starts earlier and earlier each year. The advertisements pitching their stuff. Better stuff than last year, faster stuff, smarter stuff, more clever stuff, but stuff all the same. I have nothing against stuff, but it is the way they assault us with it that bothers me, and the fact that they use Christmas to do it. It makes me want to say……STOP! Even before it starts.

I am putting the breaks on right now. I will think, dream and pray about Advent and what it means. I will pretend I am in a cabin in the woods, alongside my stack of books and journal, watching multicolored leaves twirling outside the window. And hoping against hope for snow. Mentally I can do this. I will also not berate myself for being behind on Christmas baking. I will conciously make a decision to take pressure off, not put it on. I will look forward to the turkey and not get distracted by what comes after.

I will do some things for others…..Most of all I will enjoy these fleeting months, because they will never come again just this way. I will praise the Lord for all He has gotten us through this year, and know He will still be there at the beginning of the next.

I saw two shooting stars yesterday, ever seen two in one day?

I should finish “Radical” today so tomorrow or the next day I will post some concluding thoughts…..

Further thoughts on "Radical"

“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Luke 13:24

Some statements Jesus made trouble me. I always find myself asking, “Am I one of those people He was talking about?”  I think it is healthy to evaluate our Christian walk, in fact the Bible says that we are to watch our life and doctrine closely. It is easy to get off track, to believe something you have heard all your life from the pulpit, especially when it makes you rest a little easier in the pew, so to speak. Now that I am halfway through David Platt’s book Radical, I can say that this book has challenged me in a very personal way. I have found myself sitting in silence at odd moments more than a few times ever since I started it.

Beyond just taking an uncompromising look at some areas where the American church has fallen short, he gently points the way back to his own shortcomings as a Pastor and church leader. Ultimately, and more importantly, he invites us to take another look at the words of Jesus. It is not a book that has made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and yet it has made me feel, in a deeper way, just how radically God loves the world and to what length He is willing to go to reach it. Not only that, He wants every follower of Christ to have that same love and be willing to take some personal risks in reaching that world, whether it be across the street or across the globe.

I have questioned anew some things that I have heard in church that don’t match up with Jesus last command just before He ascended back to Heaven…….”Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19,20

We can say that we are not called to do this thing or that thing, but isn’t that really our way of saying we don’t feel comfortable doing it? These are the questions I have been asking myself. I believe there are people anointed to teach and preach and who are gifted in certain areas as the Bible says, but not one of the disciples was exempt from spreading the Gospel and making more disciples. In Jesus great commission to us all, He doesn’t say “If you are called you are to do these things, if we belong to Him, then we have already been called.

That challenge still stands, and in this book David Platt echoes it as he invites himself and his church as well as you and I to go forth in a new adventure with God, no holds barred. I am looking forward to what the next half brings…..

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
Consider the cost when Christians ignore Jesus’ commands to sell their possessions and give to the poor and instead choose to spend their resources on better comforts, larger homes, nicer cars, and more stuff. Consider the cost when these Christians gather in churches and choose to spend millions of dollars on nice buildings to drive up to, cushioned chairs to sit in, and endless programs to enjoy for themselves. Consider the cost for the starving multitudes who sit outside the gates of contemporary Christian affluence.
David Platt, “Radical” Taking back your faith from the American Dream
I started reading this book last night, and all other books immediately went on hold. In the first Chapter we get an eye-opening glimpse into the underground church in Asia, where believers are indeed losing all for the sake of following Christ. In this book, David Platt raises a challenge to the American church today. He asks: “Do you and I believe Him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture–and maybe in our churches–turn the other way?”
This book has already driven me back, with a prayerful heart, to the words of Jesus, and what it really means to “pick up my cross” and follow Him. I have a feeling this will be an interesting journey and maybe a troubling one as well…..

The Wildness of God

“There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” John 1:6-9
There is an unsolicitious and ungenteel quality about the desert Christians that makes them especially attractive in our current climate of sentimentalized, “feel good” spirituality…….The desert, as a place where one expects nothing, becomes the source of the hauntingly unexpected: this unpredictability formed the robust spirituality of the desert monks.
Not surprisingly, their God was no different from their place. Theirs was not, as John Crowe Ransom once described, a “God without thunder,” having been thoroughly housebroken and made presentable to the cultural elite of the day. Their God remained mystery–feared certainly, and much loved, but never understood.  Belden C. Lane, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes

Nature is wild and untamed……it mirrors something of God because we can’t control it. I think that is why we are so attracted to it. We must also realize that we need to have a bit of healthy respect for it as well. The desert I live in has been tamed, groomed to be fit for humans. We have lawns, watering systems, good roads, every convenience we could ever want. It resembles little of the barren and empty place it started out. And yet, just on the edge of where I live is a vast and lonely place where coyotes cry and desert critters thrive and survive….God has taught them how. He will speak to us in this place if we are quiet and still enough to listen. I have heard, when I get away from the freeway, the traffic, the noise that people make, when I close my eyes I can hear the voice of one crying in the wilderness carried across the desert winds…..

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough places smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.” Luke Chapter 3: 4-6

Continuing to count blessings today and show gratitude for all the ones who went before to show me God’s ways……Sunday school teachers who volunteered their time. People who took an interest and answered questions I had. Parents who showed me God through nature and through their lives, and through the Word. Friends who have prayed with me through the years. Countless Pastors, Pastor’s wives who have faithfully preached in season and out of season. Bible study leaders who open their homes and their hearts. The Holy Spirit, teacher of all truth. Bloggers who write what God has layed on their hearts to share. #517-526


“In God’s wildness lies the hope of the world.” John Muir

holy experience

Celebrating the ways we are the same…..

In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 1 Corinthians 11:17-19

There was division in the early church, just as today. We are still getting caught up in our differences centuries later. When Yeshua walked this earth He saw a people scattered and broken, sheep without a shepherd He called them. With one act at the end of His earthly life, He made a way for us to be perfectly unified. The cross permanently bridged the gap for all time.


Today it is all about “celebrating our differences.” Has it helped us? It is certainly good to acknowledge our differences, but I think if we do nothing but highlight them, it only acts to draw us further apart. To me it is healthier to celebrate the ways we are the same, and that goes for the church as well. So many denominations, so many walls that separate….and yet, these are familiar words to everyone in the Christian church, whatever the denomination.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,


the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell. [See Calvin]
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead……..

In many ways, we humans like to junk things up with religiosity and intellect. We have been doing it forever, and certainly when Jesus walked the earth we were. That is the one thing He so laboriously fought against. It is not about what we do or how we do it, it is what He did for us. When He said, it is finished, He meant it!
In Heaven there will be no segregation…..

And every time I am worshipping in a church service, grabbing hands across the aisles, seeing black, white, brown, crying the same tears, praying for each others needs, loving each other, I know…..

The Kingdom of Heaven is in deed, at hand!  

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 1 Corinthians 4:6
Photo from Brooklyn Tabernacle website

Sunday Morning Prayer

Thank you Lord, for your marvelous creation……you touch the leaves with gold at the turning of the seasons. With Your every brushstroke we are reminded that Your fingertips are behind each perfect design. Thank you for being the kind of God who is willing to come down and take an active part in the lives of men and women. Thank you for not leaving us to our own self-destructive ways, instead lovingly providing us always with an escape, straight to Your arms.
“Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5

Your thoughts were on me even before I was conceived, you were thinking of me even then! This fills me with wonder and amazement, I am silent and hold these precious thoughts in my heart today, in gratitude and thanksgiving, I lift up Your praise! For You are worthy…….

Further reflections on blogging….

“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:16

Ever since I started blogging I noticed a strange phenomenon when I am away from a computer. I really miss blogging! I am starting to say things like, “I need to blog about that!” Then when I take my laptop with me I start to look around for places with free WIFI. I have always kept journals and captured my thoughts, so this part wasn’t foreign to me at all. I have always enjoyed observing people, being part of the fringe as opposed to the center of the circle and writing what I see. That wasn’t what surprised me.

What did surprise me was that my blogging has actually become part of my devotional time. It has increased my prayer time too, because  from the first I wanted this blog to be a lot about Him and not much about me. I figured that would be the only way to keep my big ego out of the way! I always pray about what to post and in the seeking and asking, I come away feeling closer to Him myself. Sometimes He surprises me and gives an answer right away! Sometimes it takes longer. Sometimes I get no message at all. On those days either I don’t post or I post something someone else has written. Sometimes it is good to take a rest even from something you enjoy. To go thought gathering……

Always, God is teaching me through this blog. It is humbling, so humbling. I see all the other blogs out there and sometimes I almost want to quit, thinking it’s already been said by better people, better writers…..and they have said it more creatively, more skillfully.With more wisdom. But then God nudges me and I hear Him say, “You have something to say because I created only one you, and only you can say it just this particular way.” Really, He is telling all of us that. So I smile, and realize there is always room for one more blog. Just like there is always room for one more good book. More words to praise Him with.

I am so thankful for this place. It is my own little corner belonging to God and to me, and to all of you!

God in Living Color

I have always thought of Fall as nature gathering her thoughts……..what a spectacle, this riotous color. God’s color palette is limitless…..He does nothing in black and white…..ours is a God who does things in technicolor. And yet, He says, “You haven’t seen anything yet…….look, I have saved the colors of Eden for you, the ones you left behind long ago. Now you see glimmers of that light, that dimly remembered glory of your first days, preserved in Heaven, I will restore your sight once again to see what you were meant to see all along.”
But another day is coming……..However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”–1 Corinthians 2:9
Eden restored…….”Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65:17
When I see swirling leaves of bright orange and red, there is a place in my soul that is touched deeply and  I can’t help thinking that much more is going on than meets the eye, under the surface where only God can see. Fall captivates me once again with God’s great and glorious imagination, and yet I can’t help but wonder what He has yet to show us.
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12

Multitude Monday

Photo courtest of Vermont Outdoor Guide Association

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load…..Sara Groves, “When the Saints”

Lately I have been speculating on what it really means to follow Christ. It’s a question I ask myself here in my sheltered comfortable corner of life. This is hard to put into words. I have been mulling it over for several weeks now. God has placed in my heart a question and a challenge. I have been aware of another road that is taking shape just beyond the edge of my thoughts. I see Jesus and others walking on it and I find myself wondering what my life would look like if I really stepped beyond the borders of my safe existence and said yes to giving Him everything.

For He is always asking something……I just don’t always listen. I was challenged yesterday when I saw a quote from Katie’s blog, in it she says,  “If we are really following Jesus, we will go to the hard places. Being a Christ follower mean being acquainted with sorrow. Because we must know sorrow to be able to fully appreciate joy. Joy costs pain, but the pain is worth it.”

I have the luxury of asking the question, the ones already doing the work of Christ know they are doing what He asks, they don’t need to ask the question……But asking the question is good. Just the asking takes courage sometimes. I don’t believe God wants us to browbeat ourselves and render us immobile with guilt. He wants us to look in our hearts and find out what He is asking of us right now, this very moment. There is always something He is asking us to do.  Being obedient to the simple things……. Knocking on a neighbor’s door, making a phone call to that person that God whispers to my spirit, driving across town to pray with a friend who is struggling.

Lord, help me right now to be obedient and open to Your Spirit. Help me never be afraid to ask the hard questions, for they can lead me closer to You. Keep my heart soft and my tongue filled with kindness and help me to see through Your eyes of compassion the needs right around me. Amen

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “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

I continue my endless counting today, with Ann and many others……….for there is much to be thankful for today and everyday…..Your tender mercies, friendly faces that smile back, cool breezes through the window, words that inspire, joy in simple accomplishments, yellow sliver moons, purple mountains at sunset, stars that shine in the desert, groceries in the pantry, courageous people being the Hands and Feet of God all over the world, Moms that send leaves in the mail. #496-#506

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