Radical Together

I recently read David Platt's book "Radical Together". He is able to make a convincing argument "that the gospel that saves us from work also saves us to work" (28). It is able to brings that gap between the assurance of being justified by faith alone and the notion that Christians are still called to work for the Kingdom of Heaven while on earth.  "Real faith always creates fruit" (29).

Platt tells of his own experiences of being called to pastor a large church. However, his own lens seems to be the main focus of the book. He doesn't quite bridge the gap between a mega-church and the smaller churches. I did like his emphasis on the priesthood of all believers. That the people of his church were taught to understand that they were in ministry 7 days a week and not just on Sunday. He does give some advice for equipping the saints.

He totally lost me at the end of the book. When he goes from making a difference in the world to a message about heaven and salvation. It kind of falls apart at the end, in my opinion. It goes from talking about making a difference in the world to our role for evangelizing the world.

“I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”.

Dealing with Disappointment

How is one supposed to deal with disappointment when you arrive at a new church? I had such high hopes that I would jump into this new appointment and things would start turning around. It hasn't been the case. Don't get me wrong: I never thought that I had the magic cure but I thought that I could start growing this church. It hasn't proved to be the case. The old ideas and methods are so ingrained that it proving to be a hard nut to crack.

I see glimmers of hope and that will sustain me for now but I hope to get things rocking here soon.

Lost Month

I feel like the last six weeks was lost. I got an infection that landed me in the hospital for a week and it has taken me the last five to start getting my strength back. Both of my churches stepped up to the plate and took care of me. It was weird to say the least. I am not used to not being able to go, go, go constantly. I am not yet at 100% but I feel like it is getting close. I still get tired by around four o'clock but I plan on breaking that barrier tomorrow, when I start a new Bible Study over the book of James.

It is a fun book to teach because James is like the New Testament version of Proverbs. It tells it like it is and speaks to universal truths, so teaching it will be a chance to explore some of the problems that face most churches.....gossip, faith and good works. I will try to be better about updating everyone and telling you how the study is going. I am teaching it to both churches and that will be fun because of the different personalities between the two.