Boda Bing!!!

Man I couldn't be more excited right now!!! O.k., yes, a lot is going on in my life right now but I just found out some CRAZY AMAZING news that knocked my socks off! Well, o.k., I didn't have any socks on at the time, but it did make me jump up in the air, and run around my house in CRAZY EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me give you a little background information first. Back in July of last year I started reading a book called, "Radical: Taking Your Faith Back From The American Dream." And while some of you may not like the sound of this, it was TOTALLY LIFE CHANGING for me. NEVER have I been more hungry for the WORD OF GOD than after reading that book!!!! Seriously, with every paragraph I had to say," Ouch and Amen!"----- I LOVED IT!!! Most people do not probably like such books that bring such conviction but I certainly do! Because when we have TRUE repentance in our lives, it brings us closer to God, and we experience less resistance in our walk with Christ. James 4:6 says, " God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble."
As we all know, pride comes in many different forms and David Platt,author of Radical and one of my favorite speakers, points this out in the American Dream. Don't get me wrong, he's not saying that setting goals is a bad thing, but self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and self confidence is. Because it EXALTS SELF and causes us to be LESS DEPENDENT ON THE HOLY SPIRIT. But I'm not going to try to sum this all up for you. Please, read it for your self, and see what God would speak to you concerning your own life, and weaknesses, and where you can be more DEPENDENT UPON HIM!!!
Then I read another book by one of my favorite speakers Francis Chan. His book that I read was called, "The Forgotten God: The Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit." Man I loved this book too!!! It also has been LIFE CHANGING for me!!! Again, it has caused me to be SO HUNGRY FOR THE WORD OF GOD!!! He talks about the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives and with out Him we live powerless christian lives. Now, He's not talking about powerless as being not speaking in tongues, prophecy etc.(the typical things people talk about when talking about the Holy Spirit). Powerless as in not living our lives in REAL FAITH and REAL DEPENDENCE upon the Lord!!! REAL DEPENDENCE as in doing things that go beyond our natural talents and gifts. Moving beyond our comfort zones and really knowing the voice of God and doing what He says. His writing is so simple and conversational, anyone would love to read this book! He doesn't pretend to be a know it all about the Holy Spirit, none of us can fully wrap our minds around or explain exactly who God is, but rather he talks about the importance of knowing what God's Word says about who the Holy Spirit is. Also, understanding that we can quench the Spirit of God in our lives, and we can know how much we are filled with the Spirit of God by examining the "fruit of the Spirit" in our lives. I encourage you, if you feel resistance in your walk with Christ, or you feel like life is not turning out the way you want it, or you lack a hunger for Christ and His Word, please read these two books. I promise you they will be life changing!!!
After reading these two books, I told Adam," Man, David Platt and Francis Chan seem to be moving in the same direction. They both are talking about the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit, and how the American Church is pretty far from that. I think it would be AWESOME if these guys came together!!!"But Francis Chan was out in California at the time and David Platt is in Birmingham Alabama." I guess that would be far fetched," I told Adam.
Well guess what!?!?!?!?!
I just read off of Francis Chan's blog that him and David Platt are working TOGETHER on a discipleship project!!! Boda Bing! Booyah!!! Man this is gonna be awesome!!!
I can't wait to hear all that God will do through this!!! And I pray that Adam and I, and the unforseen church in Richmond Hill will be a part of this discipleship and the great commission movement!!!
I know I haven't talked about the church plant in Richmond Hill on my blog yet, but I will soon! God has really begun confirming our step of obedience and we are really excited!! It doesn't mean that we still don't struggle with the fear, but we are fearing less and trusting more!!