This booklet, The Radical Question is a condensed version of the book "Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream". The author begins by describing scenes from the persecuted churches in China and the Middle East where Christians risk their freedom, families and even their lives for the sake of the gospel.
My Thoughts:
This is a cry, directed to believers, that moves and inspires you to personally hear the call of the Lord and then what will you choose to do with that calling on your life? Will you follow Jesus at all costs?
This book is also a wake-up call to the user-friendly church that is caught up in its meetings, programs, and agenda. The heartfelt message throughout the book points us to folks abroad who are suffering and being persecuted for their faith while we here in the U.S. seem to be comfortable with complacency.
This is an excellent pamphlet to read and then purchase the 10-pack for ministry outreach.
***** stars.
What Others Say:
"It challenges the reader to dive deep into his/her own heart and examine their lives. Do they live like Jesus is worth everything? Do they follow Jesus or do they follow a plastic version of Jesus that has been shaped or caged up based on our preferences about who they want Jesus to be or what they want what Jesus taught to mean? The Radical Question serves as a great springboard into Radical and would serve as a great conversation starter. "
About The Author:
David Platt is the lead pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, a 4,000-member Southern Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. Widely regarded as an exceptional expositor and motivator, David has taught around the world. He holds three advanced degrees, including a Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. David and his wife, Heather, are the parents of Caleb and Joshua and are adopting a third child from Nepal.
Product Details
- Pub. Date: May 2010
- Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
- Format: Paperback, 64pp
- Sales Rank: 153,503
- ISBN-13: 9781601423214
- ISBN: 1601423217
Synopsis
Special 10-pack, ideal for church giveaways, welcome packets or small group distribution.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, Jesus 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?
Read an Excerpt
Imagine a scene that took place in Asia not long ago: A room in an ordinary house, dimly lit, all the blinds on the windows closed. Twenty leaders from churches in the region sit quietly in a circle on the floor, their Bibles open. They speak in hushed tones or not at all. Some still glisten with sweat; others’ clothes and shoes are noticeably dusty. They have been walking or riding bicycles since early morning when they left distant villages to get here.Whenever a knock is heard or a suspicious sound drifts in, everyone freezes while a burly, tough-looking man gets up to check things out.
These men and women have gathered in secret, arriving intentionally at different times throughout the day so as not to draw attention. In this country it is illegal for Christians to come together like this. If caught, the people here could lose their land, their jobs, their families, even their lives…
I was in that dimly lit room that day, a visitor from America. I huddled next to an interpreter, who helped me understand their stories as they began to share.
The tough-looking man—our “head of security”—was the first to speak up. But as he spoke, his intimidating appearance quickly gave way to reveal a tender heart.
“Some of the people in my church have been pulled away by a cult,” he said. Tears welled up in his eyes. “We are hurting. I need God’s grace to lead my church through these attacks.”
The cult that had been preying on his church is known for kidnapping Christians, taking them to isolated locations, and torturing them, my interpreter explained. Many brothers and sisters in the area would never tell the good news again. At least not with words. Their tongues had been cut out.
A woman on the other side of the room spoke next. “Some of the members in my church were recently confronted by government officials,” she said. “They threatened their families, saying that if they did not stop gathering to study the Bible, they were going to lose everything they had.” She asked for prayer, then said, “I need to know how to lead my church to follow Christ even when it costs them everything.”
I looked around the room. Now everyone was in tears. They looked at one another, then several said at once, “We need to pray.”
Immediately they went to their knees, and with their faces on the floor, they began to cry out with muted intensity to God. Their praying was not marked by lofty language but by heartfelt praise and pleading.
“O God, thank you for loving us!”
“O God, we need you!”
“Jesus, we trust in you!”
“Jesus, you are worthy!”
One after another they prayed while others wept.
After about an hour the room grew silent, and the men and women rose from the floor. All around the room, on the floor where each had prayed, I saw puddles of tears.
The brothers and sisters in that Asian country have shown by their sacrifices just how much Jesus is worth to them. He is worth everything to them.
And they are not alone.
They are joined by brothers and sisters in Sudan who believe Jesus is worthy of their trust, even amid pain and persecution of genocidal proportions.
They are joined by brothers and sisters in India who believe Jesus is worthy of their devotion, even when they face threats from Muslim extremists in the north and Hindu extremists in the south.
They are joined by brothers and sisters all over the Middle East who believe Jesus is worthy of their love, even when their family members threaten to kill them for professing belief in him.
They are joined by brothers and sisters around the world who believe Jesus is worthy of all their hopes, all their dreams, all their desires, all their possessions, all their plans, and all their lives.
But are they joined by you and me?
The Radical Question: What Is Jesus Worth to You?
LadyD
“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis
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