Follow Me: A Call to Die. A Call to Live.

I recommend this book to all believers who want to know God's will for their lives, their families and for their church. I recommend this book to people who don't have faith in Christ but are interested in who Jesus is and what he wanted for his people. David's book isn't a follow up to his book Radical, but more of a continuation on getting back to the purpose of Christ and what he really desires for his church. As a pastor, it will make many rethink the complex strategies and wasted money our attempts at growing the body are and instead focus on truly growing disciples as the basis and premise of growing the kingdom. A great book. David has a great heart for the church and the lost and his passion for change and recovering the simplicity of the gospel is obvious in everything he has written. I'm thankful he's the president of the IMB. I can't think of anyone better suited to their goals and mission.

"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" Jesus told Peter, Andrew, James and John (Matt. 4:19). This call, in many ways, is shocking. These were experienced fishermen--they had jobs, families, nets ready to burst with fish thanks to a miracle performed by Jesus (Luke 5:2-11).Now they were being told by this relative stranger, "Leave everything and follow me."What did they do?"Immediately they left their nets and followed him." (Matt 4:20)There's something powerful in this call--something that believers today, and particularly those of us in North America, may be missing.This call to leave everything seems extreme, even silly. So we dismiss it, treating it as a call for the first disciples, but not something applicable to us today.David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, in Birmingham, Alabama, wants to correct that. "Somewhere along the way, amid varying cultural tides and popular church trends, it seems that we have minimized Jesus' summons to total abandonment," he writes in his new book, Follow Me (Kindle location 213).Platt wants to help Christians recover this understanding of the call of Jesus--that becoming a Christian is not, as many have come believe, "acknowledging certain facts or saying certain words.... the call to follow Jesus is not simply an invitation to pray a prayer; it's a summons to lose our lives" (location 214).Put simply, Follow Me is about one thing: Recovering the understanding that the one who truly believes Christ obeys Him--and that necessarily calls us to make disciples. While it seems obvious, if we take a quick look around us, we clearly see it's anything but.Many of us are too busy chasing our best lives now to see that the life Jesus calls us to--the life of self-sacrifice--is so much better and more fulfilling than any pleasure this world can offer, even when it causes us grief. So we settle for a good show instead of good fruit. We tell people to "come and see," rather than us "go and tell." We have exchanged praying a prayer and one-time decisions for Christ for an all-encompassing view of true worship.We, like the child in C.S. Lewis' famous analogy, are far too easily pleased, making mud pies to enjoy a holiday by the sea.Platt's concern is that we've made being a Christian too "easy" in some ways. We take a verbal belief, a mental assent of Jesus' death and resurrection, as the proof of one's salvation. But, Platt reminds us, this isn't what Scripture tells us is the evidence. "Even the demons believe--and shudder," James warns against such simplistic assertions (James 2:19). He writes:"Such "belief" clearly doesn't save, yet such "belief" is common across the world today. Just about every intoxicated person I meet on the street says he "believes" in Jesus. Scores of people I meet around the world, including some Hindus, animists, and Muslims, profess some level of "belief" in Jesus. All kinds of halfhearted, world-loving church attenders confess "belief" in Christ."We can all profess publicly belief that we don't possess personally, even (or should I say especially) in the church. Hear the shouts of the damned in Matthew 7 as they cry, "Lord, Lord!" Jesus replies to them, "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."" (location 355)"Clearly, people who claim to believe in Jesus are not assured eternity in heaven," Platt continues. "On the contrary, only those who obey Jesus will enter his Kingdom."This, for many readers, is an immediate exit-point. The idea of works-based salvation is rightly condemned within Scripture--any attempt to secure our salvation through our own merit will always fail. Nevertheless, there's no getting around the clarity of Scripture on this point: genuine belief is evidenced in a changed life, in Spirit-filled, Spirit-enabled obedience to Christ."Once people truly come face-to-face with Jesus, the God of the universe in the flesh, and Jesus reaches down into the depth of their hearts, saves their souls from the clutches of sin, and transforms their lives to follow him, they are going to look different," Platt writes. "People who claim to be Christians while their lives look no different from the rest of the world are clearly not Christians" (location 391).His words sting like the faithful wounds of a friend ought to (Prov. 27:6).It's no exaggeration to say that this kind of commitment radically changes lives. It definitely did for me and my family. Up until two years ago, we owned a home on a busy street in our city, had two very young children and were desperately house-poor. We were in a position where giving wasn't about sacrificing luxuries, but necessities.We looked at our lives and realized that, if we were called to follow Jesus into the unknown, we couldn't. We felt trapped by the burden of something that for many is a blessing.So we left it behind. Some folks looked at us as though we had two heads, but we followed what we felt to be God's leading. We sold the house, went back to renting, had a third child... and now we are, for the first time in our lives, really feeling like we're prepared to do whatever He would command. If it's to go, we could go. If it's to settle in, we can do that, too.While not everyone should follow our example, the call is still there: If Jesus calls you to follow Him, what will you be willing to let go of? Is there anything that shouldn't be on the table?Follow Me is nothing if not challenging--and Platt, being a good pastor, doesn't want readers to be content with merely checking the book off their "to-read" list and shelving it. If it's not lived out, it's worthless. One of the most helpful elements of the book is personal disciple-making plan. He challenges us by asking:How will I fill my mind with Truth?How will I fuel my affections for God?How will I share God's love as a witness in the world?How will I show God's love as a member of a church?How will I spread God's glory among all peoples?How will I make disciple makers among a few people?The goal of these six questions is to move us into obedience with the call of Christ--to be disciples who are making disciples, a notable pattern among this year's new releases. Of all the things I've read in this book, so far, this is probably the elements I'm most carefully considering how I answer. I don't want to give willy-nilly checkmarks, I want to be intentional about making disciples, sharing the gospel with those around me (even when it's hard) and encouraging others to do likewise.In the end, the point is simple: a careful reader cannot walk away from Follow Me and do nothing with it. Platt's challenge to see how we're obeying Jesus' call to follow will motivate, convict--and hopefully inspire you to greater fruitfulness in your faith.

Good book to read

Follow Me is one of the books that I've given to prisoners at the local county jail where I minister. Lots of the guys have specifically requested his books from me, after giving Follow Me.I remember one guy telling me, the churches around our area aren't teaching these things. He became aware that the teachings in our area are pretty poor, at least from my experience. And, David's book addresses some of the issues that contribute to the malaise that surrounds Christianity.Don't get me wrong, there are great churches in the USA, and I attend one, but I drive about 40 minutes to attend. In my immediate area, there are few that I find interesting. Some of it is due to my own personality and desire for deeper levels of teaching, but part of it is that just about anyone can declare himself a pastor and start preaching.I am likely a bit too particular doctrinally, though. I don't want to disparage fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but there are some serious problems in American Christianity, and David has been at the forefront with addressing those. I know I don't do enough to contribute to the health of the Body at this point, either.Anyways, I am glad the guys at jail are eager to read David's materials, and I hope the books affect their lives after they leave.Additionally, I would like to mention that I requested a donation to the jail from Radical, and they sent me a dozen or so books, some in Spanish. That was fantastic, and there are occasionally Spanish speakers in the population so they have been well used.

David Platt is a mega church minister that went rogue. He wrote a book called "Radical" that was excellent, and this book is good, just not as good as Radical. In fact, I was not even aware that Platt had another book on the market, but a friend of mine was reading it, and said it was good. It is a good book, and perhaps a book that all Christians need to read. It talks about the need to restore the evangelistic call of all Christians. The book is about helping the church go beyond “come and listen” to “go and tell." The author deals with the foolishness of the "Sinner's Prayer." He notes that there is no example or command for this practice. This is music to my ears because of the need to go back to the Bible and restore the plan of salvation. The author talks about the problems that highlighting this false doctrine has created in America Christianity. He has some strong words in his book. This is needed and powerful. And sadly, it seems that some progressives refuse to say that anyone is lost. "People who claim to be Christians while their lives look no different from the rest of the world are clearly not Christians." There are a ton of great quotes in this book. It is perhaps more motivational than theologically rich. But he is trying to get a sleeping church to be evangelistic again. This is a good book, and a needed read.

Ein Buch, das zum Handeln drängtAngeregt vom Vorwort von Francis Chan schrieb ich ein Gebet. Die Auszüge daraus mögen stellvertretend für die Ausgangslage eines Lesers gelten.Geht hin. Zu wem? In die ganze Welt. Weshalb? Um Menschen zu Jüngern zu machen. Wer befiehlt? Der König der Welt. Wem? Uns.…Ich vermag zwar zu lesen, zu predigen, zu erzählen. Aufregung – ja, ein wenig. Doch es fehlt die Dringlichkeit. Es geht alles weiter, im Trott, wie bisher.Ein wenig Feuer, ein wenig Betroffenheit, ein wenig emotionale Wallung. Wir sind abgefüllt und zugemüllt in unseren Beschäftigungen. Wo es einen Befehl gibt, gibt es auch einen Weg. Unterjocht, doch was ist mit der leichten Bürde gemeint?Das ThemaZu Christus zu kommen heisst sich selbst zu sterben. Zu sterben bedeutet in Jesus, seiner weltweiten Familie in einer Gegenwart und Zukunft der Freude zu leben.Platt versteht das Buch als zweiten Schritt: Nach dem WEG VON (im Vorgänger „Radicals“) zu dem HIN ZU.Die AusarbeitungDer Startpunkt: Für Christus zu leben bedeutet viel mehr als unter einem christlichen Bekenntnis weiter vor sich hinzudümpeln, ohne je die Kosten der Nachfolge bedacht zu haben. Platt warnt eindringlich vor der falschen Sicherheit von Lippenbekenntnissen. Dabei hebt er die Bedeutung der Busse im Sinne einer Totalumkehr und die sichtbaren Folgen hiervon hervor.Dem folgt: Die Beschreibung des Evangeliums am Beispiel der Adoption seines ältesten Sohnes. Das hervorstechende Merkmal besteht darin, dass die Initiative komplett von Gott ausgeht. Tote Menschen laden Christus nicht in ihr Leben ein.Es geht weiter mit der Beschreibung des neuen Lebens, das nicht Resultat von harter Anstrengung, sondern von einem neuen Herzen ist. Keine verbesserte Performance, sondern Christi Performance für den begnadigten Sünder!Jesus kann nicht „zum persönlichen Herrn und Heiland gemacht“ werden – denn er ist ohnehin Herr über jede noch so rebellische Existenz. Auf einer tieferen Ebene neigen wir dazu, uns einen eigenen bequemen Jesus zurechtzuzimmern. Es ist unmöglich, Jesus zu folgen und gleichzeitig seinem Wort zu misstrauen – zum Beispiel in seinen Aussagen über die Hölle.Ebenso widersprüchlich ist es, den Glauben an Christus von Gefühlen für Christus zu trennen. Zu Jesus zu kommen heisst seine Güte zu schmecken und in Ihm das Endziel allen Begehrens zu finden! Vertrauen wir Jesus, dass er unsere Gefühle verändern kann?Jüngerschaft verändert auch unseren Willen. Wir vertrauen uns seiner Führung an – und dies täglich und stündlich. Je mehr wir von Ihm erkennen, desto törichter erscheint es uns, sich davor zu drücken.Gottes Wille ist es, dass Menschen Ihn anbeten. Dies heisst von Moment zu Moment Ihn zu bezeugen!Manche meinen, es sei möglich, Gott zu folgen ohne einer Kirchgemeinde anzugehören. Wie wird Kirche sichtbar? Sie ist eine liebende Gemeinschaft, die Verantwortung füreinander übernimmt (statt der säkularen Überzeugung: Das ist sein Leben und überhaupt Privatsache.)Wie breitete sich die Gemeinde im ersten Jahrhundert aus? Durch Jünger von Jesus, die sich selbst verleugneten und durch die Kraft des Heiligen Geistes andere zu Jünger machten. Sie benützten jede Gelegenheit, jedes Gespräch, um etwas über Gott, seine Grösse und seine Werke weiterzugeben. Jünger spinnen Evangeliums-Fäden!Jeder Mensch, der in Gottes Familie adoptiert ist, wird zum Multiplikator. Platt vergleicht das mit den Jahren seiner (physischen) Unfruchtbarkeit und der Überraschung, als seine Frau wirklich schwanger wurde.Was ich besonders schätzte…waren die im Buch verstreuten Geschichten aus dem Leben von Platt. Er beschreibt beispielsweise, wie er bei einem Besuch bei Beduinen erfasste, was der Wert eines einzelnen gefundenen Tiers darstellt (Illustration in Lukas 15).Zweitens freute ich mich über die Prägnanz von Platt. Er korrigiert am laufenden Band von fromme Plattitüden.Viel wichtiger war jedoch die erstarkte Bewusstsein der Dringlichkeit, meinem ur-eigenen Auftrag als Jünger Jesu nachzukommen!

Generally a great book to read on discipleship. If you want to go deep in your Christian faith, this is a must read book which tells you the reality of being a Christian.

I found the item very useful and I had no problem with it and I did not wait for it too much but exactly the time suggest at the time of the purchasing. thank you

This book broke the Christian mould for me. Took my years of the teaching I received and turned it upside down.What a great thought provoking book? It has been worth every minute of my busy life, enough for me to read more than once.

A fantastic follow up to 'Radical' with so much heart poured in. Now let's go into the world and make disciples of all nations!