Sunday, May 16, 2010

Book Review~ "Radical" by David Platt



David Platt is the pastor of The Church of Brook Hills, a four-thousand member congregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Platt gives us all a reminder that we have been called to radically follow all that the Lord has called for us to do. Platt challenges the church to choose between whether we will continue as usual in the Christian life and in the church, enjoying what church culture would deem as success or will we, take an honest look at the Jesus of the Bible and ask what the consequences might be if we really believed him and really obeyed him.

Chapter 1 Someone Worth Losing Everything For
Chapter 2 Too Hungry For Words
Chapter 3 Beginning at the End of Ourselves
Chapter 4 The Great Why of God
Chapter 5 The Multiplying Community
Chapter 6 How Much Is Enough
Chapter 7 There Is No Plan B
Chapter 8 Living When Dying Is Gain
Chapter 9 The Radical Experiment

Here are a few of my favorite quotes found in this book::

"We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves" p.7

"We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with" p. 13

"The price of our nondiscipleship is high for those without Christ. It is high also for the poor of the world" p.15

"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 gate of contemporary Christian affluence" p. 15

"Do you and I really believe that Jesus is so good, so satisfying, and so rewarding that we will leave all we have and all we own and all we are in order to find our fullness in Him?" p. 19

"Our understanding of who God is and who we are are drastically affects our understanding of who Christ is and why we need Him" p.34

"The goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God" p.47

"God delights in using ordinary Christians who come to the end of themselves and choose to trust in his extraordinary provision" p.56

"God blesses his people with extravagant grace so they might extend his extravagant glory to all peoples on the earth" p.69

"..we have unnecessarily (and unbiblically) drawn a line of distinction, assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few while keeping the privileges of Christianity for us all" p. 73

"God has created us to accomplish a radically global, supremely God-exalting purpose with our lives" p.83

"He has given us people, and he has said, "Live for them, Love them, serve them, and lead them. Lead them to follow me, and lead them to lead others to follow me. IN the process you will multiply the gospel to the ends of the earth" p.93

"Disciple making is not a call for others to come to us to hear the gospel but a command for us to go to others to share the gospel" p.94

"God has called us to be a people who spend our lives for the sake of his glory among the needy outside our gates" p.118

"God knows every detail of our lives, and when we step out in faith to follow him, he will show us that our greatest security is not found in the comforts we can manufacture in this world but in the faithful provision of the only one who knows our needs and the only one who is able to meet our needs in every way" p.174

"When we consider the promises of Christ, risking everything we are and everything we have for his sake is no longer a matter of sacrifice, It's just common sense" p.181

This is a great book, an easy read, and very challenging.

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