Radical Living

I've been reading Radical by David Platt. His book, or rather the way God is speaking to me through his book, is at times overwhelming to say the least. Each chapter leaves me more convicted, more broken for the lost, more in love with God, and more sure that I am too often missing out on God's purpose for my life.

To quote a dear friend, I am hearing an old joke, "Knock knock...who's there?...CONVICTION." after every page.

Today I read a chapter on God's global purpose. I have always felt like this is one thing I got right. I have a heart for the lost. More (or too) specifically, I have a heart for Myanmar.

Isn't that me fulfilling God's call to make disciples of the nations? I have always prayed that God's plan for my life will eventually lead me to Myanmar for an extended period of time. Until then all I can do is pray for Myanmar, visit as often as possible, and give of my money faithfully. Right?

Well after reading Platt's take on God's global purpose I feel overwhelmed with the conviction that I am missing the whole picture. Platt talks about how our purpose is to both enjoy his grace and extend his glory. I have been finding a whole lot of enjoyment in God's grace recently but have been saving the whole "extend his glory" part for when/if God sends me overseas. Because that's what he means, right? Extend his glory during short term or long term mission trips. Whoops, I think I got that part wrong.

Platt says the message of biblical Christianity is "God loves me so that I might make him- his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness- known among all nations." If I were to make that statement fit my current view I would add- "...known among all nations...while you are serving there." There is no location requirement. There is no job requirement. This is a daily requirement. This is what my whole life should be molded around. I have been excusing the "make him known among all nations" part out of my life because I am letting myself believe I'm not a missionary yet. That's what I'll do once I pay off all my school loans! When nothing is holding me back I'll devote myself to making him known in all the nations. Until then, I'll just enjoy the fruit of his grace. I am disconnecting God's blessings from God's purpose.

So I guess I am ultimately feeling moved to change two different viewpoints that I have. The first is believing that I can't make disciples of all nations while in the current stage of my life. In the words of Platt, "...every single man, woman, and child...is intended to impact nations for the glory of Christ, and there is a God-designed way for us to live our lives here, and do church here, for the sake of people around the world who don't know Christ." So I feel challenged to examine my life and find out what it means for me to live for the glory of Christ in all nations from my apartment in Pittsburgh, PA.

The second viewpoint is equally difficult and convicting for me. As I mentioned above, and in previous posts I'm sure, I have a heart for Myanmar. I have a deep desire to see God made known in the lives of the people in Myanmar. I have a dream to one day adopt some of the children who have touched my heart in unimaginable ways.

In Romans 1:14-15 Paul (oh how I love Paul) essentially says he owes a debt to EVERY lost person in the world. Because he is owned by Christ, he owes Christ to the world. Selfishly, I want to only love Myanmar. I want to only love on the children at Agape. But in response to the overwhelming promptings from God after reading this chapter, I want the Lord to expand my heart. I want the Lord to break my heart for the world, not just Myanmar. I want to have a heart for the nations.

Platt put it best when he said, "Based on the purpose of God we've seen in scripture, shouldn't every Christian's heart be ultimately consumed with how we can make God's glory known in all the world?"

Myanmar will always hold a special place in my heart. And I still will keep the desire to one day adopt from Agape on my impossible prayer list. But I am also going to start praying that God breaks my heart for all nations. And that if one day God calls me to another nation, I will be able to say yes with the same excitement and passion as I would if he called me to Myanmar.

Agape

My dad is on his way to Myanmar with two other guys from Calvary. It is really hard to know that he is going to be at Agape for a week while I am stuck in snowy Pittsburgh. My sister and I both spent time writing letters for him to bring over to some of our favorite girls. We both left him messages for him to give, hugs to deliver, and health issues to check up on.

The country is more unstable than it has been in our past visits which is causing this trip to weigh a little more heavily on my heart. So I thought I'd take a minute to first celebrate the fact that Calvary yet again has an opportunity to bless Agape as well as the fact that students are graduating from the International Calvary Theological Seminary. And secondly, to ask you to pray for a few specific things as you read this.

So first the celebration! ICTS is a seminary that is preparing students to become missionaries. Whether that be through starting a church, traveling to areas that have not heard the word of God, or being sunday school teachers. While their goals are different- one thing is the same for each of these students- they are about to embark on a very hard yet rewarding journey. It's not exactly easy to be a missionary in Myanmar. With over 95% of the people in Myanmar practicing Buddhism, Christianity is by far the hated minority. These students are about to do an amazing thing and I am so glad that my dad will be there to celebrate with them and pray for them as they get sent out to spread the love of God to a people so in need of a Savior.

Whenever I think of Myanmar I can't help but think of the song, God of this City. I listened to it a lot while I was there last December and as a result I can't sing the song without thinking of driving through Yangon and its surrounding villages. I believe with all my heart that the God I worship is the God of Myanmar. And I pray that one day Myanmar will recognize him as such. Agape is doing awesome things in the name of God and people's lives are being changed as a result. I pray, and ask you to pray, that this will continue. Pray that the people of Myanmar would stop searching for fulfillment in the practice of Buddhism and would instead turn to God. That they would see the desperate love and worship the people at Agape pour on the Lord and that they would desire that kind of relationship. Pray for the government. (I selfishly also pray for adoption to be legalized...feel free to join my family in that prayer- it would result in the Nold family tripling:) )

I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures!