Radical Abandonment

Hey people. Hope you’ve loved the posts so far and that at least one of them has either calmed the storm in your minds or lit it up with some new thunderous thoughts. These last few days my mind has been lighting up like crazy because I just finished reading Radical by David Platt, and if you’ve read it, than you know what I’m talking about.

For those of you who haven’t yet had the opportunity to read the book than first off I highly recommend you add it to your reading list. Secondly, I’d like to share with you a few of the key radical changes and thoughts in the book that struck me the hardest. I’ll admit that after looking through my notes over the book it’s been real hard to choose what touched my heart the most so let’s just start with what hit me first.

“the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves” pg. 7

That’s certainly a strong statement and one well worth looking at. Those last two words are what actually struck me while reading because I’d never really thought of it that way. I’ve known that God is supposed to be the ultimate center of our lives with our love for him being so great that our feelings for everyone else just looks like hate. I know that we are supposed to gladly give to Him and help His people and worship Him forever. With all this though, I hadn’t realized that all these and many more Christian ideals and commandments seem to lend themselves to those two words. We must learn to simply abandon ourselves in this World and instead focus our vision on God, His will, His power, His glory, His Son, His wrath, and His love. Our abandonment must be truly radical and we must always stand willing to give up everything we have in this world in order to follow the one true God and Savior, that’s Jesus.

“Enjoy His grace and extend His glory” pg. 65

This is literally one of my favorite sentences from the entire book because it is short, sweet, and simplifies a gigantic topic. When Dr. Platt says these words he is referring to how we all have the chance to experience the grace of God but we tend to bask in that grace by ourselves. We mustn’t do that. God gives us His grace so that we can extend that grace to all of His people all around the world, in turn bringing great glory to God. Now that might sound a bit intense to some because, well, the idea of traveling all around the world sharing God’s grace can be a bit of a daunting task. Look at it this way instead, start out by thinking about whether or not you even share that grace with the people you see every day, with your coworkers, your employees, your friends, even your family. Simply sharing with these people may very well be the first step towards sharing the grace of God with the world. In the end, people of every nation, tribe, people and language will stand before the throne of God so He has a great desire for his grace to be extended to all these people.

“…this world is not your home.” Pg.179

This is something that we have to always remember whenever we think of the treasures of this world and when we consider our actions in this world. Our home is not here, our home will come someday in the future and that place will be far better than this one because there we will receive our greatest reward, to be with God. We desire to do everything and to live fully for His glory because He is the ultimate reward that nothing else can compare to.

So in this world we must bring His grace to the 4.5 billion people who aren’t Christians and the 1.5 billion people who’ve never even heard of Jesus. We must realize that we are All called to abandon the desires of this world and make disciples of all nations.  Never forget that the reward that God offers will always be worth the risk. These are just a few of the thoughts that Dr. Platt evoked in me through his book and I’ll admit that Dr. Platt seems to be fairly centralized and focused in on just one part of the great message of Christianity but at least he’s focused, and he’s making a change in the right direction, toward God. If you’ve got a free few hours, read the book and understand what all I’m talking about.

“The eleven gathered around him, and Jesus said,” All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

All quotes except the last one are taken from Radical by Dr. David Platt, published by Multnomah Books, copyright 2010.

My Father, and Our Father

If you’re reading this then you should know that today is Father’s Day or at least you can be assured that I’m writing this on Father’s Day. Since I just happened to gain writing inspiration on the same day as this holiday, I’ve decided to write a post about it, even though it may or may not be what you expect.

Lets start out with my father. I’ll be completely honest with you and tell you that my father is just like every other father so he is not perfect, and he has not always been the perfect father. Now with that said, I love my father. I not only love my father because the Bible tells me to, but also because if I ever try to convince myself that I don’t love him, the convincing ends with my father being loved even more. My father has done plenty of things I didn’t like at the time, like forcing me to not stay out past a certain time, forcing me to do my homework, forcing me to go to church, etc… And yet, now that I think of the many things I didn’t like, I love my father for these things because I know that he was looking out for me when he did them. My father always has my best interest in mind, even if it doesn’t always feel like it to my young, selfish mind.

Now, when I think of Father’s Day, I also think of a beautiful time that I hope and pray will one day come, a time when I’ll be celebrated on this day as well. Even though careers are nice and traveling the world would be fun and having all the money in the world to acquire everything of my heart’s desire would be fantastic, what I desire more than any of those things is to have a family of my own. I can’t wait for the year when I first get to look down at my son or daughter and think, this is My Father’s Day. But in order to deserve that time, I must make sure that I am a great father as well. I will have to learn how to be a great father from my father and his father and many others, and if I have to be the bad guy sometimes, than I will do that so that my children will know deep down, that I love them more than the world itself.

In reality though, if I want to be a loving, caring, compassionate father than whom better to learn from and to celebrate than the Father. Our Father has spent millennia teaching us how to be good fathers, making sure we love our mother and father, letting us know that its good to be fruitful and multiply, telling us to let our children come to the Lord and to teach them in the way of the Lord, opening our eyes to what a real father is. I know that today everyone is hopefully out celebrating their individual fathers and treating them to lunch or to a movie or greeting them with breakfast but I thought I would add one small thing to your day. Don’t forget about the greatest Father in the entire Universe today. His gift can be real easy to give, whenever you see your father today or if you read this on another day then the next time you see him and say Happy Father’s Day, add in one thing for God. God’s present will be you also telling your father that you love him and giving him a big hug because God cherishes Love above all things. Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there, including Our Father.

“The father of one who is right with God will have much joy. He who has a wise son will be glad in him.” Proverbs 23:24

Black Gold, Gators, and Orphans

I don’t know if I mentioned this earlier on, but I’m working on an oil field in the bayou of Louisiana this summer. I’m currently sitting on the field for the second week helping to pump a barge full of a few thousand barrels of oil amounting to many thousands of dollars. I’ll also be doing this again tomorrow and multiple more times this summer, which means I’ll be involved in the transfer of millions of dollars worth of oil. Don’t be jealous though, I won’t be seeing any of those millions myself.  Now I really do understand why it’s called Black or Liquid Gold.

So far since I’ve been out here, I’ve seen 3 alligators (and expect to see many more), many cool birds, snakes, crawfish, plenty of fish, and even some of the cast of Swamp People. Unlike most of my friends, I drive a boat to my job and all day during my job and go 7 days at a time without seeing cars or the majority of civilization. We receive a pretty comfy allowance for food for the week (I work 7 days on, and 7 days off) so the eating is always delicious or at least better than college cafeteria food.  I spend most of my days riding around on the boat, checking for any leaks, reading the days numbers, and taking care of any problems that might arise. Example of a problem might be switching a compressor back on, after it went off for unknown reasons, which normally wouldn’t be too bad except for the fact that it was pouring rain outside and I was definitely drenched by the end of it.

Now I’ve explained Black Gold and Gators but what could Orphans possibly have to do with my summer?? Well, I’m also attempting to go on a 10-day mission trip to Romania in August with the Livada Orphan Care organization. One of the nannies that I mentioned in my first blog post told me about the organization because she happens to be interning for them this summer in Romania. The LOC helps to care for and minister to orphans and at-risk children in Romania, in order to bring them to better lives and to God. They also teach these children and gypsy children how to read, write, and speak both Romanian and English, while also teaching them normal life skills as well as letting them know how much God loves them.

Right now I’m spending all of my free time trying to raise both prayer and financial support to go on this mission trip. If I’m able to raise this support, than I will be aiding the interns in running the summer camps that the LOC puts on for these children and helping to teach these children about God’s Word and His Love. I know that the old me wouldn’t of considering spending a dime to do something seemingly crazy like this, but now that I feel God’s hand in my life, I also feel like He’s drawing me out to do this. God told us to make disciples of all nations, to go out and spread His Word, and He told us of the importance of the children. These children need to feel loved and that’s what I want to bring to them.

Now, I know what should normally come next in something like this. I ask you for money and try to make you feel bad if you don’t give. Let’s not do it that way. If you’d like to give me financial support for this opportunity than I’ll certainly graciously accept it but if not, then that’s fine too, but I would ask that you send out a prayer for me and more importantly for these children. Pray that they feel loved by both man and God, pray that they be cared for, and pray that their care givers have all the strength of heart, body, and soul that they need to teach and love these children.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Matthew 28:19

“But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14

The Listener

         The other day I was just sitting around, thinking like usual, and I started to consider a few things. First off, why do guys always seem to think it’s so strange when a girl just wants to talk? Don’t they notice what is staring them in the face? It’s less about wanting to talk and all about wanting to be heard. The girl just needs someone whose willing to sit there and listen, even if that means you’re listening to her talk about her day for hours without end. If you aren’t interested in listening to her talk about her day, then you must not be interested in being a part of her day.

         Secondly, I thought about how many times that I’ve found that listening to someone changes everything. Everyone, guys and girls, wants someone to listen to them from time to time. When I’ve taken the time to just shut my mouth and allow the other person to just talk, tell me whatever they want, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to become very close to the person because eventually it goes from telling me some things, to telling me everything that’s on their mind. People need someone whose there that they can open up to, that they know will not judge them, will not criticize them, and will only be there to help. That help may mean to give advice, to console them in a time of need, to agree with them, or to just listen to them.

         The transformation from the speaker to a listener can change your entire perspective. You can go from wanting help, to wanting to help, from needing sympathy, to giving the sympathy. This transformation is necessary if we ever want to hear the one voice so many desire to hear. If you’re always speaking and never listening, then you won’t be able to hear what He’s telling you, what He wants from you, and how much He loves you. I use to be the speaker who would never try to listen to Him and becoming the listener changed me because now I can feel His mighty words moving in my little life. Now His words are what fuel my life, and without them my path is always lacking.

It’s never to late to start Listening.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” James 1:19