Search Results for: radical by david platt

mark

Mark’s #11 – Radical Together by David Platt (2011)

March 3, 2012 – 11:55 am

In 2010 I read and reviewed Radical by David Platt.  That book has been a powerful tool for millions of Christians to refocus on the stunning implications of the gospel for their lives, churches, and the world.  In 2011, at The Harbor, using that book we launched the year long Radical Experiment.   Needless to say, I loved the book.

However, there was some resistance, or perhaps misunderstanding of the book, not only by those who do not want the American Dream challenged, but even by those who share Platt’s evangelical theological convictions.  In sum, it was argued that the book put undue pressure and burdens on Christians and misplaced emphasis on actions rather than gospel proclamation.  From these well respected brothers, Platt humbly received their criticism of the book, and thanked them for their mentorship. 

In Radical Together, Platt returns to similar themes of the first book, but with more of an emphasis to clarify what he believes God’s Word really does call Christians too.  Here he emphasizes the need for churches to reevaluate every church program in light of the gospel and the mission of God.  He shows that the gospel that saves us from work, also saves us to work… and the gospel, empowered by the Word of God and the Spirit of God is what ultimately does the work, so that in salvation and in the fruit of the works, God gets the glory.

I anticipated that Platt would address his critics and clarify his positions, which he did.  However, I expected, from the book title, that there would be more of a focus on how communities of faith can come together to live out these radical implications hand-in-hand.   This did not seem to be much of an emphasis in the book.  There were plenty of anecdotal stories of individuals and small groups of people doing this, but no game plan or emphasis for churches as a whole.

The other small critique of the book is its length. Minus the group discussion guides in the back, the book is only about 130 pages long. Some people may avoid spending money on such a short book, which is too bad because each chapter has some really encouragement and insights for followers of Christ.

Tags , , , , | Permalink | Comment (0)
Buddy

Buddy’s #2 Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God by David Platt

January 5, 2012 – 12:06 pm

Multnomah sent me this book because I ordered 150+ copies of Radical. I was a little bit cynical, so I didn’t read it for a while thinking that it was perhaps just a rehash of Radical. It was definitely my loss.

Radical Together is a great read for anyone whether you have read Radical or not, though I highly recommend Radical. Whereas Radical focuses more on the individual Radical Together talks about how the church can be unleashed to live out the gospel around the world for the Glory of God. Often after a good movie I will have the feeling of wanting to live my life in a way that makes a difference for all of eternity and not get bogged down in the day to day activities of life that can keep us from the most important things in life. I felt the same as I finished this book.

David Platt keeps going back to the sufficiency of Scripture and the need for the church to effectively make disciples. I have often thought that I wanted to do Church on the Side. As I was reading this book I had the thought, “I have have always wanted to do church on the side. Not to make it a smaller part of my life but a bigger part.” May Radical Together encourage you to make making disciples a larger part of your life God the sake of God’s Glory and his purposes being fulfilled in the world.

The clip below will give you richer taste of what the book is about.

Permalink | Comments (3)
JRF

JRF’s Top Ten from 2011

January 3, 2012 – 9:19 am
Remember way back in 2011 when I read 52 books?  Well here are my top ten if you are interested:
  1. William Carey by S. Pearce Carey
  2. Radical by David Platt
  3. God’s Call by Brother Andrew
  4. The Gospel for Muslims by Thabiti Anyabwile
  5. Reckless Abandon by David Sitton
  6. Confessions by Augustine
  7. King Solomon’s Mines by L. Rider Haggard
  8. Mortification of Sin by John Owen
  9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
  10. The World’s Greatest Stuntman by Vic Armstrong
Honorable Mentions:
Least Favorite Books:
 - Let’s just say that in my opinion, Robert Langdon and Hazel Motes make good bedfellows.
Permalink | Comments (2)
JRF

JRF’s #50 – Radical by David Platt

December 31, 2011 – 5:27 pm

Since this book has already been reviewed multiple times on this site, I originally had wanted to attempt to respond to some of the criticisms the book has received.  Well it’s Dec 31st and I have yet to do so.  Perhaps next year.

For the time being, suffice it to say that I believe that most of the critcism comes from one of two reasons: they don’t like what Platt has to say and try to cover up their conviction with complex theological goobly-gook… or have read it and are knee-jerk reacting not to what Platt actually says but to what they think he says.  Much of the criticism of Radical makes it sound as if Platt is promoting some kind of social gospel or salvation by good works.  Perhaps an undiscerning (and/or intoxicated) reader could come away with this conclusion, but what Platt actually says is the exact opposite.  Radical calls Christians back to the Biblical truth that God not only saves us from the wages of our sin but saves us for God, glorifying good works (Matt 5:16;Eph 2:10;…etc).

My own criticism is brief: I hate the title.  I think the word Radical gets people thinking that this a Shane Claiborne type book from the get go and out come the jerking knees.  But the real reason I don’t like the title is because what David Platt writes about here is not radical Christianity – its’ normative, Biblical Christianity.  True, when compared to normative American christianity it will look radical but I think that just shows that what passes for christianity in much of the US (and any nominal christian subculture) is in fact not Christianity at all.

This is a must read if you can read, have $20 and love Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

Tags , , , , | Permalink | Comments (2)
JRF

JRF’s #32 – God’s Call by Brother Andrew

October 9, 2011 – 4:31 pm

My wife and I have a monthly skype meeting with some dear friends who are preparing to go on the mission field in the near future – and hopefully join us in Indonesia in a few years.  They recommended this book for us all to read and then discuss at our monthly skype-o-rama.  I am glad they did.

I was not familiar with Brother Andrew, the founder of Open Door Ministries , although I should be.  He has been faithfully and boldly crossing into “closed” countries with the Gospel of Life since before my parents where born, and continues to do so even today.  To get an idea of what he is all about mix David Platt, George Verwer, James Bond and Brother Yun into one and you would have something close to Brother Andrew.  And take that the James Bond part seriously…I mean this guy smuggled 1 MILLION bibles into China IN ONE NIGHT…UNDERWATER!

This book, the follow up to his classic God’s Smuggler - which focused on God’s work in communist Russia-  tells of God’s power at work through Brother Andrew’s adventures in bringing the Gospel to those countries still in the grip of atheistic communism after the fall of the USSR.  From the house churches of Cuba, to the violently Catholic villages of southern Mexico, to the suffering churches of Africa, to the closely guarded shores of China, this man who never finished High School has been used greatly by God to encourage the Body of Christ and empower them with the Word of God in their language.

Although told anecdotally, there is deep theology in this book.  Brother Andrew is driven by a simple but unshakable conviction that the Word of God is exactly what it says it is – Life giving Revelation of the only True God – and therefore needs to be in the hands and ears and hearts of everyone on the planet, regardless of what country they live in.  This is the reason believers exist – to get the Good News of Christ into every corner of the earth.  That is clear to Brother Andrew and therefore he has leveraged all that he is and has towards that end.

But this book is more than just a recounting of Brother Andrew’s adventures.  It is a clarion call to everyone who would consider themselves a disciple of Christ.  Brother Andrew is very clear that the things that God has done through him are great not because he is great but because God is great.  And that same great God is able to do great things through any of his followers who will indeed follow Him.  To this end, Brother Andrew offers some helpful benchmarks towards following God’s commanded call to mission:

  1. Listen to God’s Prophetic Word for Today
  2. Plan to Do Today What Scripture Says
  3. Become Persistent in Prayer
  4. Prepare to Live as a Christian Full Time
  5. Penetrate Every Devil-Inspired Boundary or Barrier
  6. Maximize Your Opportunities by Being Present
  7. Establish Your Profile as a Christian
  8. Become Part of a Permanent Presence Wherever You Are
  9. Use Your Platform to Proclaim God’s Message
  10. Allow God’s Power to Flow Through You into a Needy World

 

This book is a testimony to the amazing things God can do with someone who is whole heartedly surrendered to Christ.  Brother Andrew definitely has lived the truth that the Cambridge Seven discovered a century before – “God does not deal with you until you are wholly given up to Him, and then He will tell you what He would have you do.”

I will be returning to this book often, especially if the Lord takes us onto the foreign mission field.  If I can look back at the end of my life and see that I was half as faithful and effective for the Lord as Brother Andrew has been, I will be overjoyed.

“The real calling of God is not to a certain place or career, but to everyday obedience.”

“If we do not go to the heathen with the gospel…they will come to us as revolutionaries and occupation armies”

“When people ask me whether they should go into full-time ministry in the traditional sense, I almost always discourage them.  I tell them to follow Jesus with their whole lives and pursue full-time ministry only as a last resort.”

“I have come to believe that Islam poses the biggest challenge to the church today.  Not to political or economic systems, but to the church.  Why? Quite simply, because we in the Western church don’t come close to matching the level of commitment, determination, and strength of many Muslim groups.  Christ and the Bible certainly call us to a radical commitment, but we don’t show it in the way we live.  Until we do, Islam will continue to be the world’s fastest-growing religion — not because of its strength, but because of our weakness.”

Tags , | Permalink | Comment (0)

Next Page »

Next Page »

Facebook Like Button for Dummies