Popping the blog cherry..

Yeah, that title is probably not appropriate imagery for what the contents of this blog are meant to inspire.

Moving on:

I've just finished the book Radical by David Platt about living a life of Christiandom that centers around the true gospel and commands that Jesus gave to those seeking to follow him. I'm inspired.  I'm called.  I'm committing.  Challenge accepted.  This blog is meant to hold me accountable.

Here are the rules:

1. Pray for the entire world.
    - Here's my plan:  using the website www.operationworld.org I'm going to be doing the necessary research on a region of the world and pray for that nation fervently for a week.  Then on to the next nation, etc.  I'll be posting on here what nation I'm praying for, what my prayers center around, and just some basic info on demographics, images, etc.  By doing this, and committing to prayer for that nation every day of that week I hope to inspire within myself and others a desire to "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation." Mark 16.15

2. Read the whole Bible.
   - Can I just say "yikes" here?  What a challenge.  Especially when all I really want to read is Hemingway and finish the new J.K. Rowling book.  So far I've read: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Hebrews in the New Testament.  I've read Jonah in the Old Testament.  'Why only Jonah?' you may ask.  Well, last night I felt like running away and hiding from what God has been calling me to do, so I wanted to see what the story of Jonah actually says.  It's a great book - go read it.  It's short.  I'm about to tackle Romans.  It's..well...dense.

3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose.
    - Oh gee.  Again, yikes. Money stresses me out.  I feel like I always only just have enough to get by, which is totally untrue and I know that.  That word 'sacrifice' also stresses me out.  I haven't decided how I'm going to sacrifice my money yet.  I want it to be for a cause that I can trust, obviously.  I'm going to dive into some research on that this weekend, so I'll update soon.  (Avoidance behavior)

4. Spend your time in another context.
   - This is the fun one!  I've already decided what I'm doing here, so I'm just trying to finalize arrangements.  I am committing to two months in Mukono, Uganda for June and July of 2014 working/teaching/mentoring/spreading the light of Christ at an orphanage/child care center there.  http://sifat.org/international-missions/uganda/   I'm making up a checklist of all the things I need to do in order to go there (shots, plane tickets, supplies for the children and staff there) and be as efficient as possible in my mission.  I've never done mission work before, so this will be new new new (and scary scary scary).

5. Commit your life to a multiplying community.
   - "And Jesus came and said to them, 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." Matthew 28:18
      So the goal here is to immerse myself in a true Christian culture.  Surround myself with others who share a similar "radical" nature. I find it incredibly difficult to share the Word with others, partly because I'm super introverted and partly because I'm self-conscious about my knowledge of the Word itself.  I'm new at this, but I really want more than anything to be a child of light.  I have found such joy and peace in Christ and I want others to enjoy the same, so... challenge accepted Pastor Platt.