Adventures of Matt and Pippa

Matt and Pippa Perkins DO London!!!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Radical life...

Reading an amazing, inspiring, scarily challenging book called For what its worth: A call to no holds barred discipleship by Simon Guillebaud. It's a book about following Jesus Christ passionately, urgently and being sold out for Him! Here are some quotes from the book that kind of slapped me in the face!

'I'm not what i ought to be, I'm not what i'd like to be, i'm not what i hope to be, but i'm not what i was and by the grace of God I am what I am' John Newton.

Mr Dickson ( trying to persuade John Paton not to go and be a missionary on the South Sea Islands: 'You'll be eaten by the cannibals'

JP: 'Mr Dickson, you're advanced in years now and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you that if i can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it'll make no difference to me whether i'm eaten by cannibals or worms; and in the great day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer!'


'For today by and large, Christians no longer live for heaven, and therefore no longer understand, let alone practise detachment from the world. Does the world around us seek profit, pleasure and privilege? So do we. We have no readiness or strength to renounce these objectives, for we recast Christianity into a mould that stresses happiness above holiness, blessings here above blessings hereafter, health and wealth as God's best gifts and death, especially early death not as thankworthy deliverance from the miseries of a sinful world, but as the supreme disaster... Is our Christianity out o f shape? Yes it is and the basic reason is that we have lost the New Testaments two world perspective that views the next life as more important than this one and understands life here as essentially preparation and training for the life hereafter.' J.I.Packer

'Indeed if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are half hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.' C.S.Lewis

'Most people show by their priorities and casual approaches to spiritual things that they believe we're at peace, not in wartime... In war time we're on the alert. We're armed. We're vigilant. In war time we spend money differently because there are more strategic ways to maximise our rescources. The war effort touches everybody. We all cut back. The luxury liner becomes a troop carrier... Who considers that the casualties of THIS war don't just lose an arm, or eye or an earthly life but lose everything, even their own soul and enter a hell of everlasting torment?'
John Piper

I guess all the above quotes hurt and challenge me as i realise they are true of me and my so called sarcifical life of worship for my great God. I am so often half hearted, more concerned about comfort and happiness today, on this planet and thats lazy, half hearted discipleship for the God who gave his everything to be punished in my place for my disgusting treatment of Him and his son, who bled for me. I need to hear that first John Newton quote again and be assured of the promise in the bible that... ' He who began a good work in me WILL carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ' (Philippians 1v6) despite my crappy half heartedness.

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