{a book review} Radical by David Platt

I was very excited to read "Radical" by David Platt. It has been the newest, loudest buzz in Christian circles for at least the last year, so I had to see what was so life-changing about the pages of this little orange book.

Platt has a GREAT, straightforward approach to the Gospel. He calls readers to the table and doesn't let us ignore the truth os Scripture. He confronts many of the excuses we make as American Christians for not going overseas and addresses the tendency we have to lead all kinds of programs "in our own ability." (46) I particularly like how Platt points out all of the things we do in the American church that are not rooted in scripture, but in our culture, and are not Biblical or glorifying to God.

I had heard so much about "Radical" before reading it that I was a little hard-hearted and skeptical that one author could cause me to turn my life upside-down. I think Platt had great things to say and spoke truth, but simply doing what Platt says and following his "Radical Experiment" is not going to move me closer to knowing the Lord.

"I was going out of obedience, not because I had a heart for missions . . ." (84) I could do what Platt says, but until the Lord is stirring in my heart and His Word is blossoming in me, nothing I do in my own power will be as affective as the Holy Spirit moving. I simply can't "white-knuckle" myself to be "radical" for the Lord. However, my new prayer is that I would know the Lord more and more every day, and out of the overflow of loving Him, He would use me to do radical things!

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