Book Review: Radical


Radical
By David Platt

Summary:
David Platt, pastor of Brook Hills Church in Birmingham, Alabama, writes a searing work on American Christianity and the counterintuitive commands of Christ. Calling out every Western ideal that has poisoned our obedience, Platt gets to work on both the problems and solutions for our privileged, complacent country.

Strengths:
I’m a bit late to the party here, as Radical had been sitting on my desk for quite some time. Since I’ve recently decided to give away half my income, I took a renewed interest in David Platt’s work. It has come exactly at the right time.

I can absolutely feel the tension in David Platt’s voice as he describes his own megachurch, his resources, the book he has written, and the 4.5 billion people without Jesus. Just as passionate as his preaching and his life’s mission, Platt makes a call for all Christians not to confuse American ideals with biblical commands.

We have so quickly compartmentalized Jesus’ commands into “They’re the missionaries, not me,” and “They have the gift of giving, I don’t.” Except Jesus calls all of us to go, all of us to give, and all of us to make disciples. This is a book that will, if you let it, snap you out of your passive consumer faith into something more reckless, more dangerous, more wrenching, but at last biblical. It’ll lead to joy. It’s the missing piece of your Christian life that you’ve been waiting for.

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Question: So What’s Your Testimony?

timfrazer asked:
Hey man, I was really curious about your testimony. Just kind of what brought you from unbelief to belief(besides the grace of God). Like, what happened? I bet God did something pretty freaking cool.

You know, I wish I could say there was some thunderous magical world-rocking moment when God tore open the skies and slayed me.  But it was really a lot of little things that uppercut me over and over.  Most of it was from poor decisions, and other things were bodyslammed on my forehead.

I did grow up an atheist.  I decided at ten there was no God.  My parents divorced on my fourteenth birthday. There was tons of racism at my school.  At some point in my teen years I drank too much and became addicted to strip clubs.  There was some fighting, some stupid pseudo-gang stuff, a lot of girl problems, a porn addiction for fifteen years.  There was a suicide attempt in 2004, and that was after I had become a “Christian.” I’ve battled depression on and off for years.  There are actually whole months I don’t remember because I was walking in a depressed fog.

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God Is In Your Face: Sermon Series Through The Book of Genesis



The seven part series on the Book of Genesis is now completely posted on the podcast!

God Is In Your Face: The Metanarrative Story of God and His creation Man.
An expository series through the Book of Genesis. Featuring God, Adam and Eve, Noah, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, and Jesus.


Genesis Part 1 – You Are God’s Idea
Genesis 1:26-27. Series: God Is In Your Face. You are His image. Part 1. “The Epic Beginning of Human History, the Burden to Love God’s Ideas, trying to imagine your teacher having a private life, waking up from the bad dream of life, and our True Selves.” 1-8-12

Genesis Part 2 – God Designed Design
Genesis 2:15. Series: God Is In Your Face. We are on mission for Christ. Part 2. “The boring Pre-Life before your (so-called) exciting Real Life, our specifically designed framework, the Gospel Package, and old school Nintendo games.” 1-15-12

Genesis Part 3 – The Day The Earth Fell Down
Genesis 3. Series: God Is In Your Face. How it really is. Part 3. “Epic road rage dancing, being caught on YouTube in your worst moment, Trying Hard To Be Good versus Just-Good-Enough, and having the ear of God.” 1-22-12

Genesis Part 4 – The Most Ridiculous Mission Ever
Genesis 6-9. Series: God Is In Your Face. His grace is His wrath. Part 4. “The nicer older brother who snaps and loses it, the Doomsday Clock, what’s more scary than following God, growing up off the boat, and your Life Sentence.” 1-29-12

Genesis Part 5 – Stop Running For Your Life
Genesis 32-33. Series: God Is In Your Face. God never stops pursuing you. Part 5. “The amazing baby who can do no wrong, the awkward joke-killer, the Embarrassing Meltdown, and how celery and an Angry Birds doll shows us God’s painful grace.” 2-12-12

Genesis Part 6 – The Hard Part Is The Whole Thing (1 of 2)
Gen. 37-41. Series: God Is In Your Face. Rising above it. Part 6. “How my friend broke someone’s arm on the street, the size of the dog in the fight, the trials of Jeremy Lin, the passive Asian, the Cost of Compassion, and How To Donate $10,000.” 2-19-12

Genesis Part 7 – The Hard Part Is The Whole Thing (2 of 2)
Genesis 42-50. Series: God Is In Your Face. He’s got this. Part 7. “Almost driving into a cop and the guy he’s chasing, taking things Out Of Context, preaching the whole Bible, the War Cry of Our Generation, and the EKG heart monitor of our lives.” 2-26-12



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Porn Addiction, Part Two: What Porn Does To Your Brain, the Science

An ongoing discussion about victory over sexual addiction.

Part One, excuses and myths, here.

Part Three, the soul, here.

Part Three and a half, the soul, here.

Part Four: I’m Ready To Cut It Off. Here.

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The science behind porn addiction will not surprise you.  It can be easily mocked as apocalyptic research with an old-fashioned bias, but excuses to use porn are also biased by the hand down your pants. So objective evidence of pornography’s effects has one goal: to show how much porn screws up your brain.  For some that will be enough to quit.

Obviously, something serious is happening in the neurology of a person who cannot (will not) stop using porn.  Constant exposure to graphic, unreal, out-of-bounds sex doesn’t just go in one hand and out the other (bad pun).  Like the heroin addict or the gambler or the alcoholic, several key things are happening.

Much of the following research is borrowed from Craig Gross’ Pure Eyes, Eyes of Integrity, and Dirty Little Secret, and William Struther’s Wired For Intimacy. I’ve read and re-read these important resources and highly recommend them to you.  There is also research from Mark Driscoll’s Porn Again Christian, Michael Leahy’s Porn Nation, Mike Wilkerson’s Redemption, Tim Chester’s Closing The Window, and David Powlison’s tiny booklet Slaying The Dragon. Where possible, I’ve tried to research articles and current news behind pornography and the porn industry. And of course, there is personal experience with addiction plus countless hours spent with young and old porn addicts.

The Addict’s Path:

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Christian Books For The Rookies And Veterans

By request: here is a three-year reading plan of the Best Christian Books categorized for rookies, veterans, and burn-outs. You can stretch it to the rest of your life if you so choose. I promise I’ve only recommended books that I have finished by at least 90% (by reading or audio), which means the list will be limited but at least personally experienced. I’ll also include links of other pastors’ recommended books. You’ll literally have hundreds of suggestions.

This list will change over time. I’ll be sure to edit and re-post!
**Last updated 3-4-12**

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$10,000

Update on this post about donating half of my salary away.

Hello, friends!

First of all, thank you to the dozens of people who have shown support and encouragement.

Thanks to my friend Christine for sending me a $100 Starbucks gift card.

Thanks also to my mom, who is not a Christian, who lovingly understands what I’m trying to do.

After some discussions and ruminating, I thought I would be a little smarter about it.

- Each month I’ll put $900 or more in savings.

- This will accrue at least a little interest.

- At the end of the year, I’ll have at least $10,000.

- Over the year I’ll pray about an awesome charity.

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Love You Anyway

Hey bro —

It’s ok you talk bad about me like I’m still the same shady guy you used to know, because you’re right about who I was. God wrecked me, so I don’t need to make a case for me anymore: He does. Just so you know, I’ve had your back all these years and I defended you whenever people asked. I’d still bleed a vein for you.

Love you, bro. Call on Jesus even if you don’t call me friend. Praying for you.

“Some Preach from Envy and Rivalry”



An article from Nick Bogardus on The Resurgence.

Excerpt:

“Want to know the easiest way to build a platform these days? Set yourself up as the antithesis to a person or position of influence. Be the contrarian or critic who rides the coattails. It’s easier to be known for what you’re against than what you are for.

“Their ability to make a living is based on site traffic and conference invitations, and they build their reputations—and traffic—by walking over others.

“We’re more likely to tear each other down—and that means the people who are around us—than put in the effort to build each other up. Because rage is easier than rationality, and it’s more popular.”

Continue Reading at The Resurgence


Read Related:
– Us Vs. Them: A Church of Religious Superiority
– A Christian Is Not Up To Your Damned Standard
– I Love My Doctrine More Than Jesus: Why No One Cares About Your Theology


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Article from:



Quote: Gaining


This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. 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. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.

… You know that in the end you are not really giving away anything at all. Instead you are gaining. Yes, you are abandoning everything you have, but you are also gaining more than you could have in any other way. … Why? Because you have found something worth losing everything else for.

This is the picture of Jesus in the gospel. He is something — someone — worth losing everything for. And if we walk away from the Jesus of the gospel, we walk away from eternal riches. The cost of nondiscipleship is profoundly greater for us than the cost of discipleship. For when we abandon the trinkets of this world and respond to the radical invitation of Jesus, we discover the infinite treasure of knowing and experiencing him.

– David Platt


“Heresy and a Call for Humility”

An article by Justin Holcomb of The Resurgence.

Excerpt:

“The frequency and volume of the accusations suggest that some Christians may have lost a sense of the gravity of the charge of heresy. The time has come to call for a strong dose of humility, restraint, and a clear and informed definition of orthodoxy and heresy.

“The current climate shows that we need to relearn the ability to care about right doctrine and have earnest doctrinal disagreements without proclaiming ‘Heresy!’ over every point at which we disagree. We need a more restrained definition of heresy …

“Such an attitude of humble, charitable engagement stands in stark contrast to the spirit of the blogosphere today. Rather than being fundamentalists who turn disagreement into division, we should contend for the truth with humility and grace. That’s how Jesus treated us.”

Continue Reading at The Resurgence


Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
– 2 Timothy 2:23-24


Read Related:
– I Love My Doctrine More Than Jesus: Why No One Cares About Your Theology
My Faith Is Bigger Than Yours: The Gifted Class Vs. The Boom Boom Class
– Gospel Idolatry
– Drive-By Guilting: The Typical Christian Rant
– Guest Q&A: Losing Faith in Guilt
– Guilt-Driven Gospel


Quote: Please


We do not live for the approval of man, for we are approved by God. Christ saved me from the desperate sickness of pleasing an illusion. I please the only One who can be pleased.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” — Galatians 1:10.

“The Idolatry of Youth Culture in Worship”



An article and video from The Gospel Coalition about a backwards “Perpetual Youth” seeping into ministry.

I absolutely agree here. Every facet of American culture is choked by this need to be young and fresh and new. We can’t teach the youth if we’re trying to be just like the youth. Old dude leading worship with gauge earrings and frosted hair and fake orange tan — stop it. You’re creepy.

That’s why so much of the youth have become egotistical narcissists — because the culture worships them. Every ad features young people partying, megachurches tout young demographics (megachurches are only 1% of the total churches in America), all the rich old men are divorcing their wives and going for a younger wife, and every movie and novel and song is about what the young people are doing.

Youth is not forever. Enjoy it, sure, but in the end everyone will be a broken down bag of skin. That’s if God lets you live long enough. Part of growing up is growing up.

If I sound old-fashioned, I’ll freely admit that as a young-ish person, I’m still mostly a moron living by the grace of God. When older pastors look at how “young” I am with those coveting eyes, I feel pretty gross inside. I prefer the wisdom of older experienced people, and definitely not some older person obsessed with youth.

Only God makes all things new in such a way that it’s not a perverse celebration of immaturity, but rather real growth in mature renewal.

I love you young people, but you need to get over yourselves. And us older people need to help with that.

Also check out Tim Elmore’s sermon on Artificial Maturity.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
– 1 Corinthians 13:11


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Article from:


Bible study group robbed; suspects caught

Some friends of mine in Gainesville at CCF (Centerpoint Christian Fellowship) were robbed at gunpoint last night after Bible Study. They had been raising money for a mission trip to Belize and lost most of it.

The robbers have been caught. Please pray for the robbers, for CCF, and for God to do what He does for His glory.

The article is here.

I absolutely love CCF. I’ve guest-preached at their ministry a couple times. They’re wonderful people and still in need of support.

Matthew Henry, preacher and theologian of the 17th century, in his diary after he was robbed:
“I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before.
Second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life.
Third, because although they took my all, it was not much.
And fourth because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed.”


A Relational Quandary: When We Find Out Who Our Friends Are, aka Why Jesus Is More Like My Unbelieving Friends

The other day I pretended I had cancer. I don’t do this a lot. Tuesdays are typically not Cancer Day (that’s Ebola Virus Day).

I went through my phone to see who I could call about it. Out of so many numbers, I came up with just a few names. Everyone else: too dramatic, critical, self-centered, unhelpful, unpleasant. Maybe I was being harsh. But still, no thanks.

I imagined other scenarios. God forbid I had just cheated on my future wife, let’s say. Or caught with porn at church. My future kids run away from home. Unforeseen debt. Got into a fight at the bowling alley. Wife miscarries. Doubting God again. Miserable about family, life, faith. Wanting to quit ministry.

Again: only a few names from the phone. Everyone else: too judgmental, snappy, quick to fix, short tempered, too religious. Was I being just as critical?

But an even weirder, troubling truth was that I felt safer talking to non-believers like my mom and brother instead of good old-fashioned church people. Because they wouldn’t be so fast to throw a Bible at me, or spiritualize everything, or connect it to the mysterious sovereignty of God.

I was sure they’d talk to me like a human being, with grace and dignity, capable of seeing past my poor choices.

No, they couldn’t offer Bible verses or Christ-centered counsel. But they wouldn’t look at me like some anecdotal success-story waiting to happen. Not just some damn discipleship project they could brag about at church like God would turn it around by the end of the episode.

And I knew then that something was wrong with this.

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Question: Quit Porn, But What About Masturbating?

Anonymous asked:
I’ve read your series about pornography and it has been a huge help to me. I am not joking when I say you have a way of conveying things. I was wondering if you have any similar type of advice with masturbation? For me, pornography was easier to quit because I can avoid triggers. But with masturbation it seems like no matter how serious I tell myself I am about it, I fall into it again. It doesn’t even matter what my mood is. It is getting so frustrating that I am getting dangerously depressed

Thanks for encouraging. I understand your struggle, trust me on that.  I’ve read stories of guys sent to those prison-therapy ranches with no access to anything and they still found ways to indulge themselves. Dudes can get off on tractors because there’s no end to the depravity of man.

One thing we get from the Bible is that God doesn’t just change what you do, he changes what you want to do.  Your thought-life, your motives, the loop of self-talk you play over and over, your mood and desires and passions.  Some of us can easily quit porn, but it’s never been about the porn.  Some of us can even quit masturbating, but still aggressively seek pleasure in illegitimate ways.  There’s the tip of your iceberg, and then there’s the iceberg.

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Book Review: Indivisible


Indivisible
By James Robison and Jay Richards

Summary:
A call to faith-filled values back in the political square, Indivisible may come off as a conservative checklist of Right-Wing ideologies, and while there are certainly such far-right views, we hear two gentle voices that are passionate about Christian-American ideals.

While they might not quickly change anyone’s mind, this sobering work on a wide range of issues — marriage, abortion, war, business, immigration, parenting, poverty, capitalism, the environment — is a biblically informed admonition that will organize your thoughts about God and the government. Some chapters are better than others, but Robison and Richards are careful to be nuanced, fair, and clear. Every chapter details not only the problem, but outlines solutions as we look forward to the future of the nation.

Strengths:
I’ve always been extremely uncomfortable with two topics: Money and Politics. It feels like the church always degrades itself when it comes to these two areas because the church has constantly failed when it’s tempted by either. Talking politics in the church never goes well for very long, and many will either ignore it in the pulpit and the pews or will rally for a particular issue at the expense of genuine discourse. To say it plainly, the church is too turned on or too turned off by the political realm. But at some point, we do need to talk about it. The political machine will keep running amidst our denial or relish, and we must get involved somehow.

Indivisible is almost an introductory course on conservative values. The authors instantly tackle the idea of “conservative values.” God is neither a Democrat or Republican, nor does He advocate public policies in the Bible. But of course, certain conservative values overlap with biblical ones, and not all public policies can be deemed right. At least some must contradict Christian principles. So both “liberals” and “conservatives” must submit to Scriptural authority, not a self-identifying manifesto.

The book is careful not to automatically subscribe to traditional conservative thought “just because,” and this is where it becomes a much more relatable, fleshed out work than the shrill cries of picketers. There are also solutions offered in every chapter which makes this work much more than just a list of Far-Right complaints.

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Fight For Your Joy: Why We Don’t Talk God When God Is Talking

It’s silly to think that God changes based on our moods, views, and attitudes: but we fall into this pit trap like clockwork. God can feel far away, and that’s a legitimate feeling, but He never takes vacations. His zip code don’t change. It’s that we naturally drift from the shore by the slow-boiling gravity of complacency, and our minds unchecked wander into hostile territory. The heart fights an uphill climb. We just forget that.

Add to this a million shiny distractions and a soul-demanding schedule and more information in today’s newspaper than a 17th century man gets over his lifetime, and that’s enough to kill you. All that movement but you’re dead inside.

We should expect this though. That sometimes we just lose connection. Our spiritual lives make little sense in a swirling mass of deadlines, phone calls, papers, drama, bills, health, family, good news, bad news. We have to react to these things, press buttons, return calls, mediate, never hesitate. No time to meditate. Can’t slow down this train.

After a while, that whole robotic-cog-of-society routine will rip out every last part of you. We simply just react. No human is meant to juggle a million mindless tasks for so long, or he’s no longer human. We’re not built to be far from our Source. The very American ideals of Neurotically More-Productive-Bigger-Efficient-Image only hollow us out into enslaved lever-pullers. It’s all performance and no personality.

In the miasma of a culture that demands we stay busy, such a process-driven efficiency robs us of joy. And we’ve given the thief the keys to our front door.

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Question: My Reputation At School Is Dead, Now What?

Anonymous asked:

Hey… I have this emotional problem happening to me right now. I would really like you to pray for me. I’m having some friendship problems at school right now. Apparently, my reputation at school is kinda bad … last year I had cheated on a quiz. People at my school judge me so much, I can’t even breathe. People make up stories like “She purposely talks with an accent so she could be asian” … Now [my friends are] so embarrassed about me and are saying that they don’t want to be friends with me … they completely ditched me. … I cried about 5 times at school today. I really hate my school. I can’t even breathe for fear of being made fun of … I have no idea what to do.

(Edited for length, and I made you anonymous just in case)

Of course I’ll pray for you.  I’ll share just a few things.

1) School is not the last place on earth.

I know it feels like it is: trust me.  I experienced the most aggressive Southern breed of racism and favoritism in a prep school (Shorecrest Preparatory in Florida, seriously a bunch of redneck racists), and in public school it got even worse.

I went to Prom alone, sat by myself at lunch most of high school, and even the “nicest” girls in the school called me ugly yellowbelly to my face.  Now I can laugh about it, but during it all, it hurt.  And I did absolutely nothing to incur such mockery except simply be a different race.

You know about Phoebe Prince, and Columbine, and self-cutting, and all the horrible stories of bullying, and high school graduates who can’t let go of high school so they become mindless partying bums in college and beyond.  I can guarantee they didn’t look to their futures.  They were convinced that school was the last stop on this mortal coil.

Popularity is more like a stocking than a bridge.  At any moment it can tear right open. 

Please hear me: Do not get wrapped up in your pre-adult school years as a basis for your whole life. It’s not.

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Quote: Myself

God, you loved me right out of my addictions. You loved me out of my despair. You loved me out of my darkness, conceitedness, misery. You loved me right out of myself.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
— Galatians 2:20

Guest Post: Should I Confront My Youth Pastor?

This is a great Q&A from The Bridge, an excellent ministry in Chicago.

About confronting your youth pastor, and extends to confronting any of your church leaders.
(Re-posted with permission from The Bridge.)

Anonymous asked:
I am very involved with my church, and I love the people there. But the thing is, I think there are some things that the leadership, especially the youth pastor, could be doing better. He’s not like doing anything wrong, he’s just not getting the kids fired up the way he could. How do I bring the subject up in a way that he will listen to me?

Matt from The Bridge answered:

Don’t. This thing you are thinking about doing, do not do it. I get how you are feeling, it is a feeling that permeates youth. I know you are on fire for the Lord and you want everyone else to be where you are. That is not a bad thing, it’s a great thing. The idea of telling someone in a position of responsibility that they are dropping the ball, based on your zero years of experience, is not a good use of that energy.

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Question: What’s Up With The End Times?

thepassionsoflife asked:

Thank you for answering my previous questions. I enjoy hearing what you have to say about these topics! So I was wondering…what do you think of the end of times? Personally, it’s a subject that is of extreme fascination to me. What do you think of the book of Revelations? Do you think we’ll see the end of the Earth as we know it in our life time? How do you think it will happen? I would love to hear your thoughts. I’m actually taking an English class on the subject, and I’m really looking forward to learning all about the topic, as it has interested me for so long yet I never got a chance to study it. God Bless and keep on preaching the Good News!

Thanks for the encouragement!

Over a year ago, I wrote a pretty long, detailed, boring post on the End Times. I was really dissatisfied with how seminary taught it, though I’m grateful, so I shared some of the scholarly stuff while sharing my own thoughts.

I’ll simplify it the best I can for you here. The End Times — not just Revelation, but throughout the entire Bible — can be divided into two categories: What we know and what we don’t know.

What we know:

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