Radical

Radical – Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream
By David Platt
Published at Waterbrook Multnomah

About the book

WHAT IS JESUS WORTH TO YOU?
It's easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily...
BUT WHO DO YOU KNOW WHO LIVES LIKE THAT? DO YOU?
In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple--then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a "successful" suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus.
Finally, he urges you to join in The Radical Experiment -- a one-year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring.

Who is David Platt?

DAVID PLATT is the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, a four-thousand-member congregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Widely regarded as an exceptional expositor, David has traveled and taught around the world. He holds two undergraduate and three advanced degrees, including a doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. David and his wife, Heather, live in Birmingham with their family.

My Thoughts

The least that I can say is that this book is inspiring.

As I read through it I couldn’t stop myself of thinking of ways I could change things in my life as a person as well as a family.  There are drastic stories in there and not everyone is called to do the same but everyone can make a difference whether small or big for people around us.  

One story particularly touched me.   The author is talking about a visit he had at one of the churches that was supported his work in the past.   He had been invited to speak to the congregation one day and met with the elders as well.    As he shares the ministry opportunities God had given him around the world, he expected them to share his excitement.  However, something else happened.   As he waited for comments, silence entered the room.  Then someone said, “I think it’s great you are going to those places.  But if you ask me, I would just as soon God annihilate all those people and send them to hell.”   Unbelievable…   And the story doesn’t end there.   The next day he preached about going to all nations with the gospel.   When David Platt finished speaking, the pastor got up and gave him a check “so that they don’t have to go there themselves”.   The pastor also recalled a story of when he was pastoring another church and a missionary from Japan came to speak.   Apparently that same pastor said that if the congregation would not give financial support to this missionary, he would pray that God would send their kids to Japan to serve with the missionary. 

It’s hard to believe that some pastors are speaking like this to their congregation when one of our duty is to be available for God’s work.   Our church is very open to help others.   We regularly have teams going to the Dominican Republic for mission trips as well as ministering to people in our city.    We are currently in the midst of preparing to raise some money so we can complete the purchase of land and build a building – the campaign’s title is Building Walls to Restore Lives.    That’s how we see our calling as a church.  To help others around us and in places outside of our country.

So reading the story from David Platt, I just couldn’t believe my eyes…   It caught me by surprised and made me wonder why some people will just not want to get involved for God.    I guess that I am not like that.    The author of Radical presents stories of how being involved can make a difference in someone’s else life but also in your own life.   After all it is better to collect treasures in your heart instead of amassing material things around you.

I also enjoyed the story about John Wesley and how he lived on 20,000$ a year for part of his life – giving away the rest.   It made me wonder about how to apply this principle in our life.    In the past few years, we have learned to cut drastically in various ways.    I also know that we can continue to cut other ways.    At this point in time, we are trying to reach another level of financial freedom.    Doing so requires a change of lifestyles.    A few years ago, we have decided to homeschool our children.   This meant not having a double income in our house.   But in the end, I see a tremendous reward in knowing that my kids are learning at their own pace and that I get to know them better.   My calling at this point in time is definitively homeschooling my kids.    We hope and dream that we can go on a mission trip with them in the future.   That will definitively be a life changing event for them as it was for us when we went back in 2005.

I find that everyone should take some time to read this book.    It is an eye opener to be ready to help and step up to the plate on a daily basis.   At the end of the book, the author will challenge you to a one year commitment – to pray for the entire world, to read through the entire Word, to sacrifice money for a specific purpose (not on yourself or your family – something that will have impact), spend your time in another context, commit your life to a multiplying community.   If you are willing to be transformed, I highly recommend that you read Radical and take up the challenge.

Radical is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Waterbrook for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart - Father's Day Blog Tour

Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart
By Chuck Black
Published at Multnomah

About the book

The shadow of doubt can destroy the most noble of men. Can Sir Dalton rediscover his allegiance before it’s too late?

Sir Dalton, a knight in training, seems to have everything going for him. Young, well-liked, and a natural leader, he has earned the respect and admiration of his fellow knights, and especially the beautiful Lady Brynn.

But something is amiss at the training camp. Their new trainer is popular but lacks the passion to inspire them to true service to the King and the Prince. Besides this, the knights are too busy enjoying a season of good times to be concerned with a disturbing report that many of their fellow Knights have mysteriously vanished.

When Sir Dalton is sent on a mission, he encounters strange attacks, especially when he is alone. As his commitment wanes, the attacks grow in intensity until he is captured by Lord Drox, a massive Shadow Warrior. Bruised and beaten, Dalton refuses to submit to evil and initiates a daring escape with only one of two outcomes–life or death. But what will become of the hundreds of knights he’ll leave behind? In a kingdom of peril, Dalton thinks he is on his own, but two faithful friends have not abandoned him, and neither has a strange old hermit who seems to know much about the Prince. But can Dalton face the evil Shadow Warrior again and survive?

Who is Chuck Black?
Chuck Black, a former F-16 fighter pilot and tactical communications engineer, is the author of nine novels, including the popular Kingdom series. He has received praise from parents across the country for his unique approach to telling biblical truths. His passion in life is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to love his wife, Andrea, and their six children. He lives with his family in North Dakota.

My Thoughts
I am 100% sold out for this author. He’s penmanship is just fantastic and brings the story of God in a Middle Ages setting. Brilliant! It is perfect to attract young people and make them think. In fact, I am planning to get the Kingdom Series as well as the two first books from The Knights of Arrethtrae series. This book is in fact the third book of The Knights of Arrethtrae series but you can easily read it as a standalone.

The whole theme behind this book is faith vs. doubt. Another lesson from the book would be how we must protect ourselves from false teaching and stand up for the truth. While we are transported to the medieval time, we also travel with Sir Dalton and other characters as we fight the enemy in Arrethtrae. The author seemed to have researched the medieval times to picture the fighting scenes and the equipment used.

The book is packed with adventure and mysterious disappearances as well as great lessons. I had trouble to put down the book while I was reading it. Coming from a book primarily geared for youth and teenager, I think this is a strong bonus. But honestly, anyone in the family could read it. I could even see the books of Chuck Black being used as read-aloud sessions.

At the end of the book, you will also find some discussion questions. As a homeschool mom I can see myself reading this with the kids (when they are older right now their ages range from 17 months to almost 8 years old) and sit down with them and go through the questions. Each chapter has its own series of questions. In a separate section, you can verify your answers and compare with the answers from the author. Finally, the author himself explains his passion for writing this book like this:

“My passion, as conveyed through Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart, is to reveal the dangers of allowing doubt and unbelief to become a stronghold in the heart of a young person and to encourage him or her to strengthen faith through the overwhelming evidence in creation.”

If you loved the Narnia series from C.S. Lewis or Lord of the Rings trilogy from Tolkien, I seriously think that you would enjoy the books from Chuck Black. As for us, I am putting the rest of the Knights of Arrethtrae series and the Kingdom series on our wish list. These are definitively books that I want my family to read.

You can find Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart at any good bookstore and even online on amazon.ca and indigo.ca.

Disappearance of God in the 21st century - Father's Day Blog Tour

The Disappearance of God
By R. Albert Mohler Jr.
Published at Multnomah

About the book
More faulty information about God swirls around us today than ever before. No wonder so many followers of Christ are unsure of what they really believe in the face of the new spiritual openness attempting to alter unchanging truth.

For centuries the church has taught and guarded the core Christian beliefs that make up the essential foundations of the faith. But in our postmodern age, sloppy teaching and outright lies create rampant confusion, and many Christians are free-falling for “feel-good” theology.

We need to know the truth to save ourselves from errors that will derail our faith.

As biblical scholar, author, and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Albert Mohler, writes, “The entire structure of Christian truth is now under attack.” With wit and wisdom he tackles the most important aspects of these modern issues:

Is God changing His mind about sin?
Why is hell off limits for many pastors?
What’s good or bad about the “dangerous” emergent movement?
Have Christians stopped seeing God as God?
Is the social justice movement misguided?
Could the role of beauty be critical to our theology?
Is liberal faith any less destructive than atheism?
Are churches pandering to their members to survive?

In the age-old battle to preserve the foundations of faith, it's up to a new generation to confront and disarm the contemporary shams and fight for the truth. Dr. Mohler provides the scriptural answers to show you how.

Who is R. Albert Mohler Jr.?
R. Albert Mohler Jr. is president of The Souther Baptist Theological Seminary and is an esteemed authority on contemporary issues. A columnist, radio host, and blogger, Dr. Mohler has contributed to The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal; and he appeared on Larry King Live, The Today Show, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and The O’Reilly Factor. Dr. Mohler has a doctorate in philosophy from Southern Seminary and has done research at Oxford University. Dr. Mohler and his family live in Louisville, Kentucky.

My Thoughts
I was honestly curious about this book and wanted to see what the author had to say about false information on God circulating these days. The subtitle itself was attracting: Dangerous Beliefs in the New Spiritual Openness. As much as I wanted to be interested in this book, I must honestly say that Dr. Mohler was not able to keep my interest for an extended period of time, i.e. until the end of the book. Oh I tried very hard but multiple times he just lost me in the complicated terminology he was using.

I would not recommend this book for simple folks with no biblical training. If you do, keep a dictionary close by … It seems to me that the author has kept a teacher cap on his head while writing. There are numerous words that many would not understand. This book would however be well received by scholars I think. It would also be a book that could be used as material and discussion in a class at Bible College or Seminary.

From what I have read, I also think that the author is writing this book with the perspective of the Southern Baptist – which makes sense since he is himself the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. However, it would have been interesting to have a broader perspective on the various subjects discussed in this book.

The size of the book is interesting as it can easily be put in a bag (even a purse!) and be carried around. And I’m sure that reading about the new spiritual openness would open the eyes and ears of anyone who decides to read more about it. There are false teachings and I think it’s good to be aware of them so that you can protect your mind against these teachings.

In conclusion, there might be some interesting points in this book but I can’t tell you more than that. I never finished the book and I have no plans to finish it in a near future. Maybe someday I will pick it up and pursue the reading.

This book is available everywhere, even at amazon.ca and indigo.ca.