My Experiment

Ok..

So I've decided to Blog my "radical experiment" journey. Not only do I think this will help me be more accountable, but it will be a great record of my experience to look back on. 

I'm sure not very many people will read this blog. Ha! But if by chance you are, or in case in the future I experience some sort of severe memory loss... here it will be.

I will explain what I mean when I say "radical experiment". For anyone who knows Josh or me, you know very well our shared love for David Platt podcasts.

Yes, we are very nerdy. We embrace that!

David Platt is the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. We've followed his podcasts for quite a long time. He's a fantastic teacher of the Word, and I never fail to carry away something invaluable from a message. Last year he released the book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream which was totally awesome by itself. Then he went on to release Radical Together which was even better. Anyway, to the point! In Radical he challenges the reader to a "radical experiment" which consists of five steps:

• To pray for the entire world
• To read through the entire Word
• To commit our lives to multiplying community
• To sacrifice our money for a specific purpose
• To give our time in another context

So, Josh and I have both been working on this for a little while now. Some parts we are doing better than others.

For instance, I struggle with consistently praying for the world which should be so easy thanks to Operation World which will e-mail you everyday with a new country, a video about it's culture, specific prayer needs, stats for unreached peoples, the population, and christians there! Yes! It should be so easy! Operation World is an awesome tool.

Plus, the radical experiment website has plenty of resources for Bible reading plans and so on. It should be so easy, but I get caught up doing my own thing, and forget to pray for other people in different contexts.

 My hope is that by doing this blog about my experiment I will stay consistent, encourage others to do it as well, and consequently grow even closer to my Father in Heaven. I know this is going to enhance my prayer life immensely.

Although I do use a prayer journal already, I will at times blog parts of that as well. The idea of having this record of my daily journey seems pretty beneficial to me.

 So where to begin?

1. Using Operation World, I will pray for the entire world (while becoming aware of and learning about those who are outside my context while consequently developing a deeper love for them).

2. Josh and I will use a Bible reading plan to read through the Word in a year while we grow closer to God together and closer to each other.

3. We have already committed ourselves to service in our church and a small group. We will seek to cultivate a spirit of community among our brothers and sisters while finding more ways to serve others.

4. We will sacrifice our money for a specific purpose. At the moment that specific purpose is little eight year old girl named Peris who is from Kenya. We sponsor her through Compassion International.

5. We will give our time in another context. Right now, we plan to go on a mission trip to Kentucky in September. So excited! (hopefully an international trip is in our near future!)

For a more detailed explanation of what these steps mean and why I'm doing them visit the radical experiment site.


goals, goals, goals... 

Today is an interesting day full of goals. 

First off, today I start my first term at Liberty University. I am so excited about finally having classes where I can study what I love and value the most in this life, my Father, God. I'm nervous too. I feel overwhelmed right now. It was a hard decision to make financially, but I know it is the right decision. God provides our needs. I keep remembering this promise. 

Although I do read my Bible, I'm committing to deeper study of the Word (something that I should already be committed to). For anyone that wants to make this commitment as well, but doesn't know where to start, Matt Chandler (pastor of The Village Church) has a really applicable podcast on how to study the Bible. Its pretty basic. You won't be sorry you listened to this. I promise!

I'm not making any promises to blog every single day because I'm not so great at keeping promises I make to myself. My hope is that I will update this often, but that just may not be the case. Life seems to get in the way a lot. But I am committing to these five steps today. Join me or at least pray for me, friends!