If you’ve read this blog for long, you know how much I loved “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream” by David Platt. Well, my friend Natasha loved it too, and blogged through the entire book. Now, she and her friend Sophie have decided to take on the Radical Challenge, and they’ve invited their blogosphere buddies to come along for the ride!

Are you up for the challenge? I’m going to be posting Natasha and Sophie’s updates here once a month if you want to jump on the bandwagon.

Here’s Natasha’s kick-off post:

We are a little more than half way through the month of January and many have already broken or missed the mark on their New Year’s resolutions. That’s why I stopped making them several years ago. Instead of overwhelming myself to make drastic life changes at one point of the year, I decided to live a more consistent and disciplined life. It is much easier to make small adjustments in our daily lives which amount to huge changes throughout the year.

Therefore, I have a Radical Challenge for us. Instead of consuming ourselves with diets and workouts (which are all good goals by the way and I’m doing some of that myself), let’s prioritize our focus on goals that have eternal value. Many of you read through David Platt’s book, Radical, during our chapter-by-chapter book discussion last quarter. In the last chapter of the book, Platt issued a one-year challenge. The challenge is simple and you do not have to read the book to do it.

The Radical Experiment is as follows:

1. Pray for the entire world;

2. Read through the entire Word;

3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose;

4. Spend your time in another context;

5. Commit your life to a multiplying community (pg 185).

I shared some practical ways to go about doing this in the chapter summary.

What I am doing:

Over the past couple years, I have committed to # 3 by sponsoring a child through Compassion International. Last year, we started sponsoring a family of missionaries in Spain. I am committing to # 5 by making disciples through the Women’s Mentoring Ministry at my church. Concerning new commitments 2012, I have decided to pray for the following countries: Spain (where our missionaries are), Indonesia (where our Compassion child is from), Ghana and Dominican Republic (where our Christmas shoe boxes were sent throughSamaritans Purse in December). Perhaps I am most excited about my commitment to # 2. This will be my first time reading through the Bible in one year. So far, I have read through 6 books of the Old Testament.

This challenge presents an opportunity for us to commit to small changes together and encourage each other along the way. Don’t be overwhelmed by this; pick one thing to commit to and do what you can. Let’s cheer each other on to radical living!

I have another surprise…

One of my readers and fellow bloggers participated in the Radical book discussion and decided to commit to the challenge. Please welcome Sophie to the blog. She blogs regularly at His Abundant Grace which chronicles her thoughts, interests and experiences. Currently, her interests include God, books, Bible study, theology, people, friendships, cultures, missions, cooking and much more. Sophie is also a graduate student studying Public Health and Gerontology.

She has agreed to be our monthly Radical Columnist and she will be sharing her testimony concerning this challenge and encouraging you along the way on the last Tuesay of each month beginning on January 31, 2012.

Let’s take this journey together. Let’s make radical the new normal! Will you join us?

Blessings, Natasha