“If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth is not diffused – error will be. If God and His Word are not known and received – the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy. If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet – the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will. If the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land – anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness, will reign without mitigation or end.” –Daniel Webster (1823)
“It seems odd that certain who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others.” –C.H. Spurgeon
It was Lilburn, Georgia and the year was 1977. I was perched about one quarter of the way down a wooden staircase which connected our foyer and our basement in our family’s new home.
There was a book in my hand and there were tears in my eyes as I struggled for another thirty minutes in trying to understand the flow of a sentence that was slightly above my second grade comprehension level. My mother had taught me to read (along with the help of Sesame Street) by age four and books had already become an important part of my young life. This book she had given me, however, was eating my lunch and was filled with long sentences, big words and far too much punctuation for me to fully take in. I remember my mom telling me to stick with it and continue to linger over that sentence until I could hear it make sense in my mind. For what seemed like a lifetime I worked through my frustration and hunger to comprehend what was written until it finally coalesced and I gained mastery over S.E. Hinton’s ‘Rumble Fish’, page twenty six, paragraph three. That moment and a handful of others regarding my early years and the books I devoured stand out as defining moments in a life that would eventuate into much reading, teaching and communicating. I was fashioned by words and for words and I am so grateful that God chose this path for me. On that staircase in 1977 God was working seeds deep into my seven year old heart which would, seventeen years later, blossom into a love for understanding THE BOOK, His own holy Word.
Refraining from the temptation today to share thoughts on the need for the bible to gain primacy in your library and your heart, I want to focus on just one other book that I hope you will read. Mind you, this book is only intended for those who have grown tired with status quo Christianity – around them and within them. If you have somewhat of a sour layer covering your spiritual taste buds then what David Platt writes in his book ‘Radical’ is likely to resonate with you. This month I have recommended it to be read by the Meadow family and I thought it would be good to nudge you in the same direction. It’s a comparatively easy read – conversational in tone, pastoral in its intent and woven together with testimonies of Christians all over the world. David Platt is a brilliant yet humble man in his early thirties who is daring in spirit enough to pull back the curtain on the failures and needs of American Christendom. His book juxtaposes the actual call of Jesus to those who would follow Him with the culturalized call of modern churches. Today many teachers, preachers and pastors are bringing forth a message that resembles little of what Jesus and the Apostles left with the church two thousand years ago. Platt, himself a pastor of one of the largest churches in the American southeast, challenges the reader to first think about what they believe, then to line it up with what Jesus taught, and finally to commit to changes which may lead to a radical difference in how the reader lives out his or her faith. Again, don’t buy this book if you have gotten used to a cushioned cross. This book makes you feel splinters in your back.