[Most Fridays we devote our blog posts to sharing resources, ideas or personal stories about generosity and/or stewardship. It is our desire that our readers be encouraged in their own stewardship journeys and encourage others along the way.]
Can you believe we are more than halfway through January?! Perhaps, like many of us, you began 2011 with a desire to live your life differently – lose weight, save more money, give more money, invest time in something worthwhile, etc.
The new year always brings the idea of starting over. However, if we never really develop a plan, sticking to those “New Year’s Resolutions” will be increasingly difficult.
I’ve made a few “resolutions” of my own for the coming year.
- Starting a budget and sticking to it
- Watching less TV
- Spending more time with neighbors
- Praying for the world
- And a few more
I found some resources that have motivated me and are helping me stay on track, at least for these first few weeks of the year! I thought I’d share them with you over the next few weeks.
Radical by David Platt
It’s difficult to read Radical and not want to change something about your life. Platt accurately shows us how “fat” we’ve become in America and how little we really know about sacrifice. He shares great stories about Christians and pastors from other cultures and challenges his readers to begin living their lives differently.
After returning from a trip overseas where He saw “sold out” believers sacrificing sleep, food and safety to worship God, he found himself in his own church.
“…comparing the images around me that day with the pictures still fresh in my mind of brothers and sisters on the other side of the world, 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. We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.”
I’m actually rereading his book again this year and discussing it online with some friends. I’m enjoying connecting with others who are wrestling with these same issues and trying to apply them to every day life.
You’ll find Radical and other resources in our Stewardship Toolkit. Let us know how it’s going. Perhaps your story will help inspire someone else to do something “radical” this year!
Renae Nanney
Keynote
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