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.

Faces & Stories

Less than a week ago, I was in Gonaives, Haiti trying to communicate in any way I could with people who speak creole. It was an incredible experience and I'm still trying to process much of what happened during my time there. I was wrecked in how comfortable my life usually is and I hope much of what I saw in Haiti leaves me disturbed and uncomfortable for the rest of my life.

I want to update and unpack more of what happened in Haiti in the next couple weeks on this blog, but I want to be able to post some pictures along with it. I'm hoping to download many of our pictures this weekend and I'll be able to provide some images to go along with the stories. Stay tuned...there's more to come.

Send us to Haiti!

Destination: St. Marc, Haiti

Dates: May 10th-16th

Partner Ministry: Youth With a Mission (YWAM)

www.ywamhaiti.org

Statistics about Haiti:

• 9 million people
• 80% unemployment
• 80% live in poverty (less than $2 a day)
• 90% of the children suffer from water born illness
• 30% of the children reach the third grade in education
• 1% of the people control nearly 50% of the wealth

On Monday, May 10th, our team of 17 men and women will be flying into Port-Au-Prince, Haiti and making the two hour drive up the coast to St. Marc. Still recovering from two years of brutal hurricanes and floods, St. Marc has become a relief center for many of the hundreds of thousands of refugees from the January earthquake. YWAM has become a strategic partner, assisting the government and other organizations in the relief and restoration of this devastated nation.

Mission Objectives:

Relief: Distribution of relief supplies (food, water, hygiene) to the thousands of refugees in St. Marc.

Construction: Assisting in the building of permanent homes and tents.

Medical: Helping with the clinic in St. Marc, as well as bringing aid to remote areas.

Children: Loving on the many street kids and orphans who are in such desperate need of hope.

Gospel: Sharing the love and message of Christ through compassion, scripture, and prayer.

Recent Activities at YWAM, St. Marc:

• Registration of over 12,000 refugees! Thousands have received food, medicine, and resources.
• 73 containers full of food, medicine, & building supplies have been distributed to the needy.
• 3 Tent Communities have been formed in St. Marc with a fourth and fifth in process.
• "Homes of Hope" is establishing the urbanization development of rural areas for refugees.

Please consider participating in this outreach through your prayers and financial support. Our team's remaining financial goal is $13,000. Donations may be made online or by mail. All donations will go directly towards this outreach. Please make checks out to "Christ Fellowship" with "Haiti Trip" in the memo.

Christ Fellowship

Attn. Outreach Department - Haiti

5343 Northlake Boulevard,

Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33418

Click here to give online

Fried & Healthy?

Thursday - Nicole made something for dinner tonight I don't think I've ever had - a healthy version of fried rice. She used brown rice and then loaded it up with vegetables and it actually ended up being very good, and colorful too. We used a bell pepper, broccoli, peas, carrots, onions, egg whites, pineapple, & soy sauce and had a very healthy dinner. I was impressed and full and didn't feel gross afterwards.

Game On

Wednesday - Now that my grandparents have gone back to Virginia, Nicole and I will be getting back into the Grocery Game. We've been collecting coupons but we haven't worried about it for the last few months because my grandparents did all the grocery shopping and we just put whatever we wanted on the list. It was nice to not have to worry about paying for anything, but we enjoy looking for deals and grocery shopping and we're looking forward to getting back into playing the Grocery Game. Nicole got us back in the game in strong form by going to Publix and spending $7 while racking up over $24 in savings!