Radical

I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but keep forgetting. On the flight over here, I read a book that dad gave me right before I left home. It's called Radical, by David Platt. Let me just say that if you are a Christian anywhere, but especially in America, then do not walk - run - to your nearest computer or store, buy this and read it immediately. This quote from inside the cover describes it pretty well:

“Sometimes people will commend a book by saying, ‘You won’t want to put it down.’ I can’t say that about this book. You’ll want to put it down, many times. If you’re like me, as you read David Platt’s Radical, you’ll find yourself uncomfortably targeted by the Holy Spirit. You’ll see just how acclimated you are to the American dream. But you’ll find here another Way, one you know to be true, because you’ve heard it before in the words of the Lord Jesus, perhaps most forcefully in the simple call ‘Follow me.’”
—Russell D. Moore, dean, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

I'd consider myself to be pretty "radical" in my walk with the Lord. I mean, I've grown up with great Christian values, try to live in a way that glorifies God, have a heart for our lost and dying world, etc. Shoot, I'm even spending 6 weeks in India teaching Greek and Hebrew - that's pretty radical, isn't it? Despite all of that, this book really challenged me to go deeper in several areas of my spiritual life. Platt is a great communicator, and has really pushed me to serve God with no excuses or "blind spots".

It really is a great book. Quick disclaimer, though - Platt is a little too reformed in his theology for my taste. However, that only affects about 10% of what he says, and at the end of the day he pretty much comes down where I do. So, definitely read it, but with a grain of salt...like everything else.

Yesterday, I just started on another book Dad gave me called Water from a Deep Well...it's basically about getting in touch with our spiritual heritage - all of the saints that have come before us - and trying to learn from their stories. It seems to be really good so far...I'll let you know what I think when I finish it!