Author: Nick

Perhaps the most important practice in becoming a radical Christian, in moving from fan to follower, is not covered in any of the books on the subject. It is the radical practice of silence. The most frequent complaint of Christians may be that they don’t hear from God. The most frequent reason is that they never stop talking. Particularly in the West, we have an abhorrence to silence. The first thing we do when we wake up is turn on the TV. As soon as we get into our vehicles, our hands move to the radio on button. How often is there silence even in a church service? Silence makes us nervous. It’s creepy. But how can we expect to hear from God if we never listen? How can we listen if we never practice silence? Radical silence is really just a part of prayer. It’s the part where we finally stop talking and start listening. It’s where we get the answer to our prayers that we complain we never get. It’s where we get so much more.  Try driving without the radio. Try taking a walk without the earphones. Try sitting quietly in a room and just listening. First, ask […]

Experiment: for the next year: pray for the entire world; read through the entire Word; sacrifice your money for a specific purpose; spend your time in another context; commit your life to a multiplying community. Platt, David (2010-04-17). Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (p. 185). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.  We’ve talked about being radical. We’ve looked at being a follower instead of a fan. It’s time to stop thinking and talking. It’s time to start doing. Where do we start? 1. We could give away all we have and move to a foreign mission field. This would certainly be radical. But maybe we don’t have to start that dramatically. But we do have to start. 2. Pray for the entire world. To be radical we have to change our perspective. We need to have a world view. There is no better way to get a new perspective than to begin to pray for the entire world. This may seem impossible or overwhelming, but there are ways to do this. Check out this website as a great place to start: http://www.operationworld.org/. I will help out here. Every day I will be forwarding a prayer reminder for […]

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,2 Timothy 3:16 For the past few weeks most of my posts have come from one of three books, Radical, Radical Together, and Not a Fan. These books have a common theme. They call the church to re-examine the Christian life in terms of what scripture calls for and not just what we have gotten used to. The teachings they contain are very biblical and certainly not “new fangled” or revolutionary, except for one thing. The church has wander so far from its calling that the idea of going back and doing things by “by the book” turns out to look radical.  In order to gain anything from these teachings, one has to be willing to accept that what passes for Christianity today is not recognizable from the Word of God. In order to gain anything and to move forward, one has to accept this fact. It’s not a easy thing to do for a church that has become very comfortable and has drawn into itself.  There is, no doubt we are experiencing the first stirrings of persecution in our […]

Romans 3:11 11      no one understands; no one seeks for God. Matthew 6:33 33 But the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 

Matthew 28:16-20 English Standard Version (ESV) The Great Commission 16 Now the eleven disciples worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19  make disciples of baptizing them to observe all that I am with you always, to will be proclaimed throughout the whole world to all nations, and a great multitude that no one could number, clothed in white robes, with “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” As Christians we are fond of saying we are looking forward to the return of Christ. If this is true, it would seem that we would be working hard for His return. You may ask, what can we do to bring Jesus back? He was very clear about that. He commissioned us to make disciples “of all nations.” He promised He would return when the gospel was preached to all nations. He gave us a glorious vision of what it will be like when the saved from every nation gathers before the throne and proclaims “Salvation belongs to our God…” If we are truly serious about wanted Jesus to return, then we are working hard to get the word out “to every nation.” […]

John 14:12 English Standard Version (ESV) 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, am going to the Father. The goal of the church is never for one person to be equipped and empowered to lead as many people as possible to Christ. The goal is always for all of God’s people to be equipped and empowered to lead as many people as possible to Christ. The Spirit of God has empowered every follower of Christ to accomplish the purpose of God for the glory of God in the world. Platt, David (2011-04-19). Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God (p. 57). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.   The plan for most churches is for the folks in the pews to bring their friends into church  and turn them over to the professionals for salvation processing. This isn’t the biblical plan. When Jesus told his disciples they would do greater things; he couldn’t have meant that each of them individually would be more potent that Jesus had been. What He was referring to was the power of multiplicity. Greater works would be done in us because there are more of us, fueled by the Spirit.  The church should be operating […]

John 15:1-8 English Standard Version (ESV) I Am the True Vine 15 “I am the the vinedresser. 2  he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, you are clean Abide you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that he is thrown away like a branch and withers; you abide in me, and my words abide in you, By this my Father is glorified, that you 

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10  There are three ways to look at grace and works and only one is biblical. Some seem to think that we are saved by our works. Such folks, even after coming to Christ, continue to work feverishly hoping to make themselves acceptable or worthy of salvation. Another group confident in the work of grace believe no work is required of the saved at all. The biblical view is that we are saved for good works.  The reality is that when you believe in Christ for salvation, you not only are declared right before God as Father, but you also begin to walk with God as friend. In addition to new birth, Jesus gives you new life: a life of joyful obedience and overflowing love. So when you hear Christ’s radical call to live sacrificially, you do not think, In the gospel I am free to flout his commands. Instead you think, In the gospel I am free to follow his commands. And the faith that God has graciously given to you begins to produce radical fruit from […]