Radical Challenge

Before beginning my trip back to the ship. I wanted to establish a plan for better Sunday time. My last couple trips were quite inconsistent. Some Sundays I would attend a local church, which was so great in order to be able to worship along side the people here and to see the way they interact with God and the way they worship God. Some Sundays I would call in and listen to sermon's from home which was so nice for that piece of home, that connection knowing I was listening to the same message as my family and my church family at the same moment. Still other Sundays I would go to the evening service on board the ship which is good for worship alongside my fellow workers here. Although each of these was good in there own way and I plan to continue with them, I felt like I needed some consistency from week to week.

About a week before I came I was reading another blog and there was a link to a couple of series of sermon's that had really spoken to her. I looked into them and downloaded them prior to coming. I started the first one today and am excited for this journey I feel God is calling me to take. I will post the link here to David Platt's Radical series and encourage anyone who wishes, to come along with me. I am choosing to take it slow and do it weekly on Sundays. It's a total of 8 talks focusing on the gospels and the radical lives God calls us to lead in His teachings.

I have not listened to them all so cannot honestly speak to what all they will entail, but I just finished the first one and am completely challenged by it. I am going to step up to this challenge and push through some of these ideas that push the boundaries of what I truly believe and what I am willing to do in service of Christ.

Many things struck me but I will share the one question that was posed that rocked me the most at my core. Referring to the passage in Luke 18:18-30 where the rich man is asking Jesus what it takes to inherit eternal life and Jesus says "...Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." - The question was if Jesus were to say these words to me today, how do I think I would respond? The scary thing is I don't know how I would respond, I want my answer to be yes Lord I will, and then immediately and without hesitation do exactly that, sell it all be willing to give it all and just go. The truth is I have given up a lot and have left the security of home and I am serving but there are many things that I am still clinging to. There are plans for the future, there are certain material possessions, there are relationships that I am not sure I would be willing to sacrifice. But the truth of the matter is that's not ok, God doesn't ask us to give up all but those things that are most dear, He asks no He demands we give it all. "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake ALL that he has cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:33 Like the pastor says in this talk, I do not know what this means or implicates for my future but I am going to start seeking to find out. What I find may lead to even more radical changes in my life, but I am choosing to be ok with that.