About a month ago I mentioned that I had been reading the book Radical by David Platt (Links for more information provided later in the post). At that time I said next year I would be undertaking the challenged issued in the book. This is a post inviting you to join me on that challenge. For those of you who think I’m crazy, I invite you to read the rest of the post and if you still think I’m crazy that’s cool. If you’ve been looking for something more in your life, I’d encourage you to keep reading, and maybe this is the challenge you’ve been looking for. Additionally, if life is a little overwhelming, please take a few minutes to give yourself the opportunity to evaluate a couple of things. If you just want the info on how to get involved without any of my reasoning getting in the way just skip to the end.

First for those of you who were super eager and went out and read the book and are ready to do this right away, that’s awesome. However, to make some accommodations for those whose schedule might be a little more limited due to holidays and work and life, I’m actually moving the start date of the challenge back to February 2nd (2017). Hopefully, this will also help this change to some people’s lives to stick a little better than some January 1st resolutions.

For those that haven’t read the book, I highly encourage you to do so. If you’re part of my local area and don’t feel like getting a copy but are interested in reading the book before the challenge, let me know and I’ll see if I can track down a copy for you. Additionally, I feel it is important to explain that I have no connection to the book so I don’t get any money from you buying a copy of the book or anything for advertising, or any other monetary options related to this. Additionally, my opinions are mine and do not represent the author of the book, the author’s church, my church or organizations that I’m related to.

To explain where we’re going, I first need to do a little bit of explaining of where I’ve been. You see I live in what could easily be classified as a bubble. I live in a safe, middle class suburban part of town, where if I want to pretend like nothing bad ever happens in the world I can do that as long as I never watch the news or read social media. I can go to work, stores, church, etc and never have to worry about anything if I don’t want to. While this sounds great to some people, for me I felt like there had to be something more. Boring isn’t quite the word, but I felt a lack of motivation in any direction. A lot was tied to the fact that if I didn’t change, my bubble would never really force me to change and I could live a safe, comfortable existence as long as I wanted, or as long as nothing dramatic would come along and pop the bubble I live in.

Here I was essentially living part of the “American” dream and it wasn’t good enough. I wanted something more. While reading a couple of other books, I saw a mention of the book Radical. I added it to my reading list and a couple of weeks later, I opened it up. After reading the first chapter, I stopped put it down and essentially tried to forget about it. At least for a month or so. Then one day while I was walking around my apartment I saw the book laying on my bookshelf and picked it up. I started reading it again, and for whatever reason this time chapter 1 spoke a little different to me. I kept reading and within a few weeks I knew that if nothing else I had to at least test out some of the claims that were presented in the book. At that point I had a few conversations with some other people which they were quite interested by what it was that I was talking about. So this lovely idea popped in my head, why not reach out to other people and have them join me in this little challenge. So here we are. I don’t have all of the details and how they will work for me, and some of the other people that are joining me, but I’m giving as many details as I can now in hopes that if you’re intrigued by the idea that you have time to do some research, reading, praying, or whatever else it is that you might want to do.

For more information please click this link below and select the radical experiment.

As I mentioned earlier the challenge or experiment will take place over the course of a year. During that time people are asked to do the following things:

• 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

For some of you the defense mechanisms on a few of these things instantly popped up. That’s why I’m presenting this challenge to you now, so you have a couple of months to figure out if this is right for you. Some of you will say things like “I’m already doing some of those things” or “But I barely have enough time or money as it is”, this is a completely voluntary challenge. I don’t want you to feel that you have to do it whether due to guilt, peer pressure, or anything else. I want you to WANT to do this. If you try it out and it’s not right for you, that’s fine. But if you try it out because you were looking for something more, I encourage you to keep finding what that challenge or experiment is for you. Maybe you’re not even a Christian and you think I’m crazy for this, I encourage you to consider this challenge for a year. Find out what it is that some of us crazy people believe, and see what it does to your life. Maybe after a year you find yourself in the exact same spot. Nothing really lost. But what if your life changes? Good or bad, are you willing to challenge yourself?

So we’ve come to the end. I lay the challenge out for you. Will you join me Feb 2nd and see where this goes? If the answer right now is a solid yes, please reach out to me and we can figure out how to work together on this lovely little experiment. If the answer is I’m not sure I need more information. Please grab a copy of the book, or click on the link above, or reach out and talk to me. If the answer is a hard no, that’s fine, honestly no judgement from me. Regardless of the decision, I’d also ask that you would help with 3 different things: 1. Spread the word. I would love for you to share this opportunity even if it’s not right for you, maybe somebody else can be challenged by this or maybe talking with others you can form your own experiment or challenge for the year. 2. Ask questions. Whether it’s getting specifics about how this whole challenge is going to go down, or something slightly more personally, like what are areas I can challenge myself in? Please ask questions not just of yourself, but of me, and those around you. 3. Pray about this. Whether it’s for your own inclusion, or simply pray for me and others who are working out the best way to make this happen and undertaking something where we aren’t really sure what’s going to happen. There you have it, a challenge. Will you be a part of it?