Wow. That’s all I can say. Wow. Lately so many messages like this have been coming my way and I know why but I don’t know the direction He wants from me. . .my heart is open. . .I am listening. Thank you for posting this and showing me yet again this week what He demands of us, His church.
I have listened to David’s entire “Radical” series. I highly recommend it. I was considering adoption at the time. After listening to the first sermon my husband found me on the floor in tears; we decided then and there to adopt from Ethiopia, Africa. For us, right now, it means to give up the things we want so that we can change a life through adoption. It means learning to live even more simply so that we can change even more lives all over the world.
It also means spreading the word about Christ. I was just thinking about how I could do more of this because I sometimes feel like I live in a Christian bubble.
In Hebrew, the word to pray (lehitpalel) is reflexive, meaning it means to do it internally or to oneself. G-d does not want to hear our every prayer, He wants us to find from within ourselves how to be better, stronger, and follow in His Way.
The American Dream of ‘bigger’, ‘better’ and ‘mine’ goes against The Bible only at a certain point where getting more for one’s self means that you are not giving to others.
I have struggled with this since we moved back from the D.R. 2 years ago. My heart is READY… but my head wants a new tricked out kitchen aid mixer. I have re-read Discipline the Glad Surrender 4 times in the last year. It’s time to just do it, isn’t it? Oh… how to begin?
Amazing. I needed to hear that this morning. As much as I love my Savior, I know I have been too concerned with myself than with the work He has called me to. Thanks!
If anyone hasn’t watched the series….then go watch it: http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/radical/
It means we care about things we should care about…not the stupid stuff we seem to care about. It really is ridiculous when you think about it.
Also, more importantly…we do it NOT out of guilt or OBLIGATION, but out of love.
Because we have been justified…not TO get justified
I don’t think I like that video. Something about the way they’ve chopped up the sound to match the visuals is so…something. But when I say I don’t like it, that doesn’t mean I don’t hear it. It doesn’t mean I don’t feel it. As a matter of fact, I think that BECAUSE of the weird way it’s made, I feel it even MORE.
Anyway. I think God is doing something radical in my family’s life right now. And it’s scary. But I’m excited, too. And scared.
This is something my husband and I have been chewing on also. It’s been on my mind a lot. I have a friend who tells me she votes for Democrats because of the social programs– Jesus wants us to help people. Ok, at first I thought that was a thoughtful way to look at it. But then her husband had a job scare and she was afraid that if he lost his job the wouldnt’ be able to afford their 2 new cars and big house. It makes me mad to think about that. She and her husband both need to work to afford a certain lifestyle they prefer, and to help others they just vote in people that will set up gov’t programs to do it so we don’t have to do anything?!?!? Nothing against social programs and helping people, but WE should be a part of the help– get off our butts and out of our nice houses and DO something, not just expect somebody else to do it while we sit around doing the “American Dream.”
Honestly, Kristen, I’m still struggling to get the “right” answer. Because the truth is, it could mean a lot of different things.
Sometimes, I want to visibly show what’s happening in my heart. “Let’s sell everything and go live among the poorest of the poor and spend ourselves there.”
But then Jesus puts a stop to my well-intended (but possibly misled) plans. So I’m forced back into remembering that change is ultimately in the heart. I don’t have to move to Africa to live a radical life. I might be called to be radical in the midst of consumer-driven America (a far harder task, by the way), spending my money with the values of the Gospel (and not on myself) and giving to those who do go.
I think that’s what makes this answer so tough. It’s a heart issue as much as a physical issue.
(Not sure if that makes sense, because it comes out of years of grappling. Sorry if it’s confusing.)
Sorry, this is off topic… What happened to the entry about fixing the patio table and making a new top out of wood? Ours just got broken, and I was looking for a solution and found yours! Now my bookmark comes up page not found…
Love it. Actually, doing a giveaway of the book on my blog right now.
What would happen if we actually lived this way?! If our churches taught THIS call, instead of the message of pray a prayer and be moral and then you can have a happy marriage and financial stability? WOW. What kind of impact could we as Christians have then? And if, maybe just if, I made decisions sometimes–even just sometimes, to live this way, instead of living how American tells me is perfectly legitamite to live, maybe I’d see my life begin to change in ways I never expected, and maybe I’d be willing to let go of more and more. Maybe what’s most radical is choosing today to let go of SOMETHING. My friend posted a quote once: “No man makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he knows it is not everything.”~Edmund Burke
My husband and I just finished reading Radical, and we are asking ourselves the exact same question – What does this mean for us? David Platt’s book was a final nail in the coffin of the American dream that has slowly been dying in us. It will take time to see it all flesh out, but we are working on building a new dream, a radical dream, a BIBLICAL dream.
Thanks for the reminder. It is so easy to just get up and do the same old routine over and over again. And honestly, I HATE interruptions. I have been reading the Bible with my children for many years, and recently I have been so convicted of the fact that I need to be more of an example in “acting out” my faith beyone my four walls and beyond my home church. I am in the process of praying that God will show me how our family can be more sacrificial in our time, finances etc. Thank you for being a great example!
wow – that is.. tough – important – good. The Lord is doing mighty things in this day – calling His true church out to Himself, and only Himself. We’re still working on what that looks like for us, too…
I am so glad I am not the only one who is saying “WOW I agree and KNOW God wants us to make a change but have no idea how to make that happen at the moment”.
Hearing this affirms the steady (albeit slow) route my husband and I keep trying to follow. The problem is…we are fallen people, and I need constant reminders to remain on the path. This was an excellent one.
Made me flash back to the adoption post on plan A vs. plan B. I am not sure I can put what I think into words on this topic, but regardless, the little boy we are adopting has special needs and needs a family. And so, we are working on giving him one.
This post scares the crap out of me. In the way it totally should. Kristen, what God is doing through you and this blog is powerful. It reminds me of Esther. I think your blog is here “for such a time as this.”
Very thought provoking! And true. We’ve been hearing this a lot from our preacher in our church and some other ministers that have come to speak at our church. It’s time to start doing what God expects us to do.
can’t tell you how timely it is for me right at this moment as i’ve been struggling the past few days with my husband having to take a job that will take him away from us for the summer… i was telling God i could surrender my plans to Him, but in my heart – - – basically just really wanting what i want!! this little video had a huge impact on bringing my focus back to where it should be. yes. if we believe we are eternal beings then life is so much more than the here and now… oh, to live daily with an eternal perspective in mind.
thanks so much for sharing. may i share this on my blog also?
I love this. I have kept up with your recent posts regarding adoption/support/mission work. I agree with so much of what you have typed. My husband and I are still choosing adoption as ONE WAY to help the poor and hurting in the world. We have concluded that once the children are placed in orphanages/registered with adoption agencies, the choice has been made for them. We want to adopt one of these children.
But it is not the sum total of what we are willing to do. We are willing to give up our comforts for short or long term projects/missions/callings. As soon as we get the word, we will move. We have in the past and we will again.
I am wondering if you have heard of this organization. It has touched my heart. I have emailed back and forth with them a lot over the last few months and I am eager to see if God leads my family to serve them directly in the future. http://www.drawnfromwater.org/
Wow, it is so true! Great insight!! I am quietly and prayerfully waiting for God to determine in my husband the letting go of his possessions to move on to greater things. In his work environment it is highly competitive and he lives surrounded by materialism from his kids and their mom’s side of the life, work, friends, family and it is overwhelming to be the example of truth, light, and not what we have! We are in the midst of searching for a farm house to learn how to be self sufficient and not dependent on the food industry and also caught up in the manicured yards of life we are currently surrounded by but even that step comes with diligence, acceptance and getting past what we feel we “deserve” and what we actually “need” to survive. Thanks for sharing this conviction and reality!
just wanted to come back and thank you for posting this video. i have NOT been keeping up with blogs lately at all, but i just happened to see your title in my google page blog widget and watched the video. then i literally ran out and bought the book (that is not at all like me, i am not a reader) but the Lord has been stirring so many things in my heart as of late and i just knew that this book would have some practical things for me. and it does and i’m’ so excited to see all that the Lord is going to do in my life and in my family’s lives.
I agree. I think so many of us have become caught up on all the thousands of things we have – we count them as blessings (which they are!) but we keep them for ourselves… instead of using that money to bless others.
I am totally getting this book, praying as it is shipped to us. Praying for an open heart and an open mind – praying that we’ll do what we’re really called to do.
God asks for all of us. Family and friends may hate us but we have to be His light.
This is so right.
Yet it is so difficult to picture in real life.
Thank you for being so real Kristen! Jesus is so good!
i’m so thankful for when people can put into words what has been stirring in our hearts!
Wow. That’s all I can say. Wow. Lately so many messages like this have been coming my way and I know why but I don’t know the direction He wants from me. . .my heart is open. . .I am listening. Thank you for posting this and showing me yet again this week what He demands of us, His church.
Totally agree. Don’t know what it means for my family, but I completely agree with him.
I have listened to David’s entire “Radical” series. I highly recommend it. I was considering adoption at the time. After listening to the first sermon my husband found me on the floor in tears; we decided then and there to adopt from Ethiopia, Africa. For us, right now, it means to give up the things we want so that we can change a life through adoption. It means learning to live even more simply so that we can change even more lives all over the world.
It also means spreading the word about Christ. I was just thinking about how I could do more of this because I sometimes feel like I live in a Christian bubble.
I so agree. We need to be Jesus with skin on
In Hebrew, the word to pray (lehitpalel) is reflexive, meaning it means to do it internally or to oneself. G-d does not want to hear our every prayer, He wants us to find from within ourselves how to be better, stronger, and follow in His Way.
The American Dream of ‘bigger’, ‘better’ and ‘mine’ goes against The Bible only at a certain point where getting more for one’s self means that you are not giving to others.
I think this is a concept that has been long forgotten since Jesus actually walked this Earth.
His 12 disciples understood it….
I am challenged.
I have struggled with this since we moved back from the D.R. 2 years ago. My heart is READY… but my head wants a new tricked out kitchen aid mixer. I have re-read Discipline the Glad Surrender 4 times in the last year. It’s time to just do it, isn’t it? Oh… how to begin?
Amazing. I needed to hear that this morning. As much as I love my Savior, I know I have been too concerned with myself than with the work He has called me to. Thanks!
If anyone hasn’t watched the series….then go watch it:
http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/radical/
It means we care about things we should care about…not the stupid stuff we seem to care about. It really is ridiculous when you think about it.
Also, more importantly…we do it NOT out of guilt or OBLIGATION, but out of love.
Because we have been justified…not TO get justified
I don’t think I like that video. Something about the way they’ve chopped up the sound to match the visuals is so…something. But when I say I don’t like it, that doesn’t mean I don’t hear it. It doesn’t mean I don’t feel it. As a matter of fact, I think that BECAUSE of the weird way it’s made, I feel it even MORE.
Anyway. I think God is doing something radical in my family’s life right now. And it’s scary. But I’m excited, too. And scared.
This is something my husband and I have been chewing on also. It’s been on my mind a lot. I have a friend who tells me she votes for Democrats because of the social programs– Jesus wants us to help people. Ok, at first I thought that was a thoughtful way to look at it. But then her husband had a job scare and she was afraid that if he lost his job the wouldnt’ be able to afford their 2 new cars and big house. It makes me mad to think about that. She and her husband both need to work to afford a certain lifestyle they prefer, and to help others they just vote in people that will set up gov’t programs to do it so we don’t have to do anything?!?!? Nothing against social programs and helping people, but WE should be a part of the help– get off our butts and out of our nice houses and DO something, not just expect somebody else to do it while we sit around doing the “American Dream.”
What does it mean for me?
Honestly, Kristen, I’m still struggling to get the “right” answer. Because the truth is, it could mean a lot of different things.
Sometimes, I want to visibly show what’s happening in my heart. “Let’s sell everything and go live among the poorest of the poor and spend ourselves there.”
But then Jesus puts a stop to my well-intended (but possibly misled) plans. So I’m forced back into remembering that change is ultimately in the heart. I don’t have to move to Africa to live a radical life. I might be called to be radical in the midst of consumer-driven America (a far harder task, by the way), spending my money with the values of the Gospel (and not on myself) and giving to those who do go.
I think that’s what makes this answer so tough. It’s a heart issue as much as a physical issue.
(Not sure if that makes sense, because it comes out of years of grappling. Sorry if it’s confusing.)
Sorry, this is off topic… What happened to the entry about fixing the patio table and making a new top out of wood? Ours just got broken, and I was looking for a solution and found yours! Now my bookmark comes up page not found…
Love it. Actually, doing a giveaway of the book on my blog right now.
What would happen if we actually lived this way?! If our churches taught THIS call, instead of the message of pray a prayer and be moral and then you can have a happy marriage and financial stability? WOW. What kind of impact could we as Christians have then? And if, maybe just if, I made decisions sometimes–even just sometimes, to live this way, instead of living how American tells me is perfectly legitamite to live, maybe I’d see my life begin to change in ways I never expected, and maybe I’d be willing to let go of more and more. Maybe what’s most radical is choosing today to let go of SOMETHING. My friend posted a quote once: “No man makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he knows it is not everything.”~Edmund Burke
Wow. Yep, I agree with it. I have no idea what it means to my family yet. I just keep doing the work He’s put in front of me though.
My husband and I just finished reading Radical, and we are asking ourselves the exact same question – What does this mean for us? David Platt’s book was a final nail in the coffin of the American dream that has slowly been dying in us. It will take time to see it all flesh out, but we are working on building a new dream, a radical dream, a BIBLICAL dream.
Thanks for the reminder. It is so easy to just get up and do the same old routine over and over again. And honestly, I HATE interruptions. I have been reading the Bible with my children for many years, and recently I have been so convicted of the fact that I need to be more of an example in “acting out” my faith beyone my four walls and beyond my home church. I am in the process of praying that God will show me how our family can be more sacrificial in our time, finances etc. Thank you for being a great example!
wow – that is.. tough – important – good. The Lord is doing mighty things in this day – calling His true church out to Himself, and only Himself. We’re still working on what that looks like for us, too…
I am so glad I am not the only one who is saying “WOW I agree and KNOW God wants us to make a change but have no idea how to make that happen at the moment”.
WOW! I feel such a need to share this!
Hearing this affirms the steady (albeit slow) route my husband and I keep trying to follow. The problem is…we are fallen people, and I need constant reminders to remain on the path. This was an excellent one.
Made me flash back to the adoption post on plan A vs. plan B. I am not sure I can put what I think into words on this topic, but regardless, the little boy we are adopting has special needs and needs a family. And so, we are working on giving him one.
Great video.
Wow! That was impacting! Thanks for sharing!
What about the frightening reality that man created “God”, and Jesus was a historical figure no different than anyone else?
This post scares the crap out of me. In the way it totally should. Kristen, what God is doing through you and this blog is powerful. It reminds me of Esther. I think your blog is here “for such a time as this.”
Very thought provoking! And true. We’ve been hearing this a lot from our preacher in our church and some other ministers that have come to speak at our church. It’s time to start doing what God expects us to do.
this was amazing.. and yes, convicting!!!!
can’t tell you how timely it is for me right at this moment as i’ve been struggling the past few days with my husband having to take a job that will take him away from us for the summer… i was telling God i could surrender my plans to Him, but in my heart – - – basically just really wanting what i want!! this little video had a huge impact on bringing my focus back to where it should be. yes. if we believe we are eternal beings then life is so much more than the here and now… oh, to live daily with an eternal perspective in mind.
thanks so much for sharing. may i share this on my blog also?
blessings to you~
amber.
This was the first book I bought for my kindle. And it has been breaking my heart. MAN it is HARD to swallow. No? I can’t get enough, but wow.
Steph
Wow! He’s so right! I may have to check out this book!
I love this. I have kept up with your recent posts regarding adoption/support/mission work. I agree with so much of what you have typed. My husband and I are still choosing adoption as ONE WAY to help the poor and hurting in the world. We have concluded that once the children are placed in orphanages/registered with adoption agencies, the choice has been made for them. We want to adopt one of these children.
But it is not the sum total of what we are willing to do. We are willing to give up our comforts for short or long term projects/missions/callings. As soon as we get the word, we will move. We have in the past and we will again.
I am wondering if you have heard of this organization. It has touched my heart. I have emailed back and forth with them a lot over the last few months and I am eager to see if God leads my family to serve them directly in the future. http://www.drawnfromwater.org/
let me know what you think!
PS– I am stealing this video for my blog
Wow, it is so true! Great insight!! I am quietly and prayerfully waiting for God to determine in my husband the letting go of his possessions to move on to greater things. In his work environment it is highly competitive and he lives surrounded by materialism from his kids and their mom’s side of the life, work, friends, family and it is overwhelming to be the example of truth, light, and not what we have! We are in the midst of searching for a farm house to learn how to be self sufficient and not dependent on the food industry and also caught up in the manicured yards of life we are currently surrounded by but even that step comes with diligence, acceptance and getting past what we feel we “deserve” and what we actually “need” to survive. Thanks for sharing this conviction and reality!
just wanted to come back and thank you for posting this video. i have NOT been keeping up with blogs lately at all, but i just happened to see your title in my google page blog widget and watched the video. then i literally ran out and bought the book (that is not at all like me, i am not a reader) but the Lord has been stirring so many things in my heart as of late and i just knew that this book would have some practical things for me. and it does and i’m’ so excited to see all that the Lord is going to do in my life and in my family’s lives.
anyways, thanks again!
I agree. I think so many of us have become caught up on all the thousands of things we have – we count them as blessings (which they are!) but we keep them for ourselves… instead of using that money to bless others.
I am totally getting this book, praying as it is shipped to us. Praying for an open heart and an open mind – praying that we’ll do what we’re really called to do.
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