Radical

You faith has been stolen by the American Dream according to David Platt and his book Radical. Walk with David as he discovers the lost face of Christianity as described by Jesus Christ and the early church. What he uncovers does not line up with the average evangelical church experience today.  Wrestle with the ideas of discipleship, wealth, sacrifice and national identity as Platt exposes the assumptions of popular church culture.

Turning the church upside down has never been so sensible. Platt offers words of correction logically and lovingly. This is not a book that rails against the church but, instead, aims to challenge and correct. Each point that Platt makes is part of a personal experience. This educated author speaks from the front lines of ministry and not the ivory towers of academia. He is living Radical as he writes it. The personal and pastoral tone is carried throughout the book and always come across as sincere and natural.

I loved reading through the pages of Radical. Platt frames each discussion of American culture and the church honestly. I never felt slammed or dismissed for being a part of church culture. Instead I felt called to respond to his call for radical living. His arguments are based in scripture and provocative in their ability to clearly state the call of Christ. If you are itching for something more out of your faith then I challenge you to take a look at Radical by David Platt.

You can grab a paperback copy of Radical today (or download for your kindle).

I received this book free of charge from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for the purpose of this review as a part of the Blogging for Books program.

2011
02/18
CATEGORY
Church
Culture
Reviews
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Inspired by Sin

fight or flight

Is my church afraid of sin or inspired by it? In what way do we respond to the need of Christ in our community? People respond to a threat in one of two ways: fight or flight. When we chose to run away we gain security by avoidance. When we chose to combat the threat we risk victory over loss. Sin is the greatest threat to all of humanity. It is not the root of all evil, it is all evil. What does my church do in response to this peril? Are we motivated to gain security or rick victory? These two values typify many churches today. Their entire modus operandi consists of keeping sin out or taking sin head on. I want to be a part of a church that chooses the latter. Sin should inspire Christ’s church to make disciples of all types of people. Those who are most caught up in the charade of sin should be the most compelling but the church often views them as the most repulsive. A Jewish teacher once asked, “Do the healthy need a doctor or the sick?”[1] Clearly, the sick need a doctor; but why do the healthy often chose to horde his medicine? Roger Gill discusses various ways in which people are motivated and believes that, “treating threats, problems and failures as opportunities to learn can be a source of great inspiration.”[2] When sin rears its ugly head in our community do we run away clutching everything that is precious to us or do we run towards it with everything we have?

[1] Luke 5.31, New International Version

[2] Roger Gill, Theory and Practice of Leadership,(London: Sage Publications, 2006). p. 243.

2011
02/16
CATEGORY
Church
Musing
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The Android Colby Family

2011
02/15
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Android Brent and Adelé

Android Brent and Adelé

My wife and baby are both home sick today. I am taking care if the girls and had time to put together android baby Adelé and I hanging out in her Bjorn.

2011
02/15
CATEGORY
Ping.fm
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Let it go.

I have been reading about empowering the different members of your team. One idea that has jumped out to me is that, “empowerment means letting go.”[1] Gill describes control based leadership and its inherent lack of empowerment for the involved team members. Rules and regulations help to create boundaries for an organization but unless people are able to operate out of their own freedom they cannot be empowered. This sort of freedom is a risky proposition for a perfectionist like me. If I am truly willing to empower a member of my team than I must be willing to let that team member do things differently than I. They are using their own skills and talents and not my own. Gill believes that this sense of risk is an emotional response to the loss of control. Am I secure in my leadership? Do I believe in the clarity of vision and mission that I have set before my own team? If I can answer yes to these questions than I must be willing to let people go.

[1] Gill, Theory and Practice of Leadership, p. 219.

2011
02/12
CATEGORY
Church
Musing
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