The Return

Christ Fellowship is taking a second trip to Haiti from July 27-August 3 and Nicole and I have decided that we will be returning to the island. Our feelings are best summarized in this famous scene in Lost.

Well said, Jack. Well said.

We will be returning to Gonaives, Haiti and working with many of the same people we fell in love with in June. We can't wait to get to hang out with Pastor Maula, Christopher, Claudine, & so many more of the precious people who call Gonaives their home.

and if our God is for us

then who could ever stop us

and if our God is with us

then what could stand against

Our God is greater

Our God is stronger

God you are higher than any other

Our God is healer

Awesome in power

Our God, Our God

Radical - Chapter Two

I was hoping to get this posted much quicker, but we've had some trouble with our internet that finally got resolved today. I've read through the first three chapters of Radical by David Platt and it continues to be an eye-opening and challenging perspective about how I live out my faith. Here are five of the quotes that stuck out to me from chapter two.

"What if we take away the cool music and cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would his Word still be enough for his people to come together?"

"In the American dream, where self reigns as king, we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our own assumptions and our desires. As a result, we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical."

"We are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in his Word, we might discover that he evokes greater awe and demands deeper worship than we are ready to give him."

"We have taken the infinitely glorious Son of God, who endured the infinitely terrible wrath of God and who now reigns as the infinitely worthy Lord of all, and we have reduced him to a poor, puny Savior who is just begging for us to accept him."

"One Christian in India, while being skinned alive, looked at his persecutors and said, "I thank you for this. Tear off my old garment, for I will soon put on Christ's garment of righteousness.""

Best Thing I Ever Ate: Thai

I'm a big fan of The Best Thing I Ever Ate show that comes on Food Network and decided I want to have my own version on the blog. The show features chefs from the Food Network and other people in the food industry and they talk about the best thing they ever ate in a particular type/genre of food. So...I'll pick a type of food and share the best thing I've ever had in that genre and hopefully provide a link and recommendation for the restaurant where I had it. What's our first type of food and the inspiration for this project? Thai!

Surin Baskets - Surin of Thailand, Atlanta, GA
I don't think we would have tried the Surin Baskets when we had dinner at Surin this week but the appetizers were half-price and we decided to give them a try. Thank the Lord for 1/2 price apps! Before we'd finished the first plate of them, I had already ordered a second plate! Surin Baskets are this incredible combination of chicken, corn, shrimp, cilantro, onion, & spices in a mini pastry basket. There's nothing in that list of ingredients that I don't love so I was in culinary heaven. The pastry had a perfect crunch and the flavors blended together wonderfully. And to make it even better - they serve a honey-peanut cucumber sauce that you put in the little basket. There was depth of flavor in the spices and combination of all the ingredients and everything tasted incredibly fresh. They serve 6 of these baskets on a plate and I'm pretty sure I could have ordered 60 of them and finished every one. So if you're ever looking for some great Thai food in Atlanta, stop by Surin and have some Surin Baskets.

Radical - Chapter One

A couple weeks ago, I began reading a book that is receiving a great deal of attention in Christian circles. The book is called Radical and it is written by David Platt, a pastor of a church in Birmingham, AL. and a graduate of the University of Georgia! I'm not very far in to the book, but I can already tell you that it is incredibly eye-opening, challenging, and convicting. There seems to be a growing movement in parts of the church that are talking more about consumerism and the American dream and giving everything up to follow Christ and David Platt is becoming an influential voice in this movement. While this might sound like a new topic for the American church, this movement is coming from following the teachings of someone who had it all figured out a long time ago, Jesus.

I have been taking notes as I've been reading through Radical and I've underlined/highlighted/pulled out a number of quotes that really stuck with me. It's tempting to post all of those things but I want to give a snapshot of some of the things from the book that really stuck out to me and I'd encourage you to pick up a copy. I'll be putting 5 statements that really jumped out at me from each chapter I read in the book and posting them on here. First up - Chapter One:

"I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable."

"Followers of Christ are not guaranteed that even their basic need of shelter will be met."

"We do have to love him (Jesus) in a way that makes our closest relationships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor."

"The price of our nondiscipleship is high for those without Christ. It is high also for the poor of this world."

"The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response."

As I said, those are just 5 statements that stuck out to me and there were many more. I look forward to providing some highlights from the next chapters and the journey of reading through Radical. Here's a promo that was designed for the release of the book.

Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.

By George

When I've come to Athens in the past, I've thought all about the fun things I want to do, the people I want to see, and the places I want to eat. It's one of my favorite places to visit and I love coming back and seeing all the places where I hung out when I was a student at the University of Georgia. However, this is the first trip where I have felt more aware of the reality of many of the people who call this city home.

This past Thursday, Nicole and I went and walked around the UGA campus and also walked over to downtown Athens for a bit. As we were walking away from the arch, we passed a man sitting at a table who started up a conversation with us. His name was George and he sounded like he'd fallen on some tough times - being a Vietnam War veteran and having some health problems. He told us that he wrote a newsletter about current and historical events in Athens and it was certainly an interesting read for many various reasons. As we finished reading his newsletter (scrambled sentences/thoughts on a piece of paper) and began to head down the street, George asked if we'd be willing to buy him a hamburger from Five Guys, which was right beside where he was sitting.

I'll admit, I've never felt compelled to buy things for people that are homeless/unemployed/struggling and I have always looked down on people for asking. I act like I have the world figured out even though I've been dependent on my parents my entire life and have never really had to deal with difficult circumstances. But, I've started to realize that I'm not living out my faith in a biblical way when I care about helping the people that are struggling in Haiti but I don't care about helping the people that I come across on a daily basis here in America. If I really believe the gospel and I believe what Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:37, then I need to really think about how I respond to situations like what we had with talking to George. So God brought George our way when we were walking around Athens and he wanted a hamburger for lunch and God knew that was something we could help George with - and I think George has good taste for wanting Five Guys! I'm hoping God will remind me more and more of these opportunities that he constantly provides.

Shots of Haiti

I spent some time last weekend putting together a video of our trip to Haiti and I decided to upload it on here. I've also linked the video to YouTube and put it on facebook and I'm hoping the quality is just as good on blogger.

It was an incredible week and it is difficult to put much of what happened into words, which is why I'm hoping the pictures will tell some of the story. We were able to share the gospel to over 300 school children, we provided new shoes for 30 orphans, we hosted a medical clinic where we were able to pray and diagnose people, we distributed Bibles throughout the community, we put a roof on the 3rd floor of the ministry center we were staying at, we had the opportunity to pray around a voodoo compound, and so much more. Haiti is the most fascinating culture I've ever seen and it was an experience that completely rocked my world. I hope this video helps share some of that experience.