Transcript
Albert Miller: This is the church planning podcast. Thank you for tuning in every week. We sit down with leaders who are shaping church planning efforts. Here's your host just too risky and click with them.
Josh Turansky: All right, welcome to the church planting podcasts Clint Clifton.
Clint Clifton: Hey Josh, how are you?
Josh Turansky: I'm very good. Here we are back in your office.
Clint Clifton: Do you know the most commented on item in my office. Can you guess what it is as you look around? Mmm, man.
Josh Turansky: There's this great sign that says “District”.
Clint Clifton: No, that's not it.
Josh Turansky: the map of Washington DC.
Clint Clifton: It's the animal head on the wall
Josh Turansky: Yes, the animal head. It's like a goat.
Clint Clifton: It's a goat head and it's like mounted as if it were like a stuffed. You know, what do you call that Taxidermy? Yeah, but it's made out of porcelain. People comment on and all the time they want to know why I have it and what symbolism it and I literally got it at like TJ Maxx and the in the clearance bin, but people think it has some sort of symbolism.
Josh Turansky: Yeah, I can see that I can see that. People have to check that out next time they're here in your office. You're welcome to come to my office. If you're ever in the Washington area absolutely stop on but you can make it through all the doors planning HQ. All right, so David Platt, this is part 2.
In the interview that you did with David Platt talking about his new book that just came out. Yeah great stuff. So let me just start off by saying that the you know the seems like why are we on a trip on a podcast where I worry about pedaling David Platt new book. I granted. It feels like that.
Clint Clifton: First of all, let me say David's not making any money off of this book all the money that that all the proceeds from these books all of his books actually go go to the spread of the Gospel around the world. So this is not about that. But you know, honestly the book is helpful, it's good. And so I wanted to talk about it.
Josh Turansky: This is how you should lead. The things that he covers in this book are things. That should be a part of your leadership Church.
Clint Clifton: Yeah, for sure. I mean if I'm going to assume that if you're a pastor a church planter listening to this you desire not just to spread the gospel at home, but you recognize the command we have to spread the gospel among the.
And in this book does a lot the books called something needs to change and the book does a lot to combine sort of the stirring that many of us have about global missions urgent physical and spiritual need around the world church planting, you know, all of those things are kind of in the book and so.
So yeah, it's it's a really good read.
Josh Turansky: Awesome. In fact, you had your family read through it.
Clint Clifton: Yeah, we did we read it as a family as is just a family fun exercise and it was really good for us. We talked about some things that brought up conversations the certainly never we've never talked about with our kids some very Vivid things in the book that you can't get away from that were that were hard to talk about, you know in that I got to introduce my kids to some ideas.
Very depraved ideas, you know and talk to them about how the gospel applies to those ideas because David brought her up in the book in a really careful and appropriate way but yeah, it was it was good. He wrestles through those things and shares his wrestling feelings. You know, how he's always seeing things and I got to we got to talk through that with our kids and it was really really good.
I mean we've taken our kids on overseas which they've seen tremendous poverty and all kinds of stuff and but but for them, too, Talk about it and not just see it but talk about it and wrestle through it with with the family was it was good, man.
Josh Turansky: That's awesome. In fact, we have a clip of audio of you talking with your kids them talking about what they learned from the book and we'll let people hear that as well.
Yeah, let's jump right into the episode and then we'll follow that up with a conversation you had with your family about the book. This is David Platt part 2.
Clint Clifton: David you've just come back from the Himalayan Mountains and you've been there before tell us how you got connected there and what that's about.
David Platt: Yeah, so I. How do I start this? Let's see it all started for me Himalayas specifically when I met a guy after a service down in Birmingham where I was pastoring the Church at Brook Hills came up to me. He lived in the Himalayas and he working among the unreached. He introduced himself to me. I didn't really think much about it. We talk for a little bit. In the days to come Heather and I started an adoption process from the country where this guy lived and long story short reason we chose that countries because we had her just stories but a lot of trafficking there and we wanted to care for a little girl who would not then be traffic to her. So we started that process and then it fell through at the last minute because the country shut down for adoptions and we were heartbroken like why did God lead us down that we were praying like for a long time for this little girl from this country and that we didn't know yet.
But anyway soon after that shutdown, this guy came back to service and he just happen to be back in town introduced himself to me. And I said you're from this country, right? He said yes. I said can we get together tomorrow and talk and we got together my office and he shared with me how yes that trafficking and all kinds of other physical needs were yeah, very real and those mountains in addition to spiritual need like the need for the gospel just tons of unreached people groups and he said, you know, would you like to come over some point? I said sign me up and I really believe like the Lord had led us on this process and put our hearts and that particular part of the world for a reason and so that began a process of partnership together in Ministry with this brother and the work that he's been doing for years over there.
Clint Clifton: Did you get a sense of what sorts of things you would experience and see before you went there? Can you explain?
David Platt: Yeah, it's the kind of thing where you know, you hear it but it’s a whole other thing when you see a face. He told me some of the realities about poverty about just the lack of gospel access, but it's a whole other thing when you when you see people. Who are living in really impoverished conditions and you talk to people and you mention the name of Jesus and they say “who's that?” like they've never heard his name. It just goes to a whole other level in your own mind and heart.
Clint Clifton: Yeah, so you went the first time you went you met him you went on a trek of sorts
David Platt: Yeah, we actually helicoptered in its kind of easy way to get in the mountain right then hiking up. So we helicoptered in landed and I can't remember eleven twelve thirteen thousand feet I can remember. Trips, but then we hiked out over the next six days about 90 miles just threw Village after Village and in the middle of places where they were doing work.
And yeah, it was a humbling, overwhelming, life jarring, life-changing trip. I try to go overseas three or four times a year to be a part of what God's doing around the world and and taking folks from the church and other pastors, but the Lord did an unusual work and my heart on this trip such that I was really jarred. Is this is this God calling me to move overseas? I've wrestled with that in the past. And so I started wrestling that and it all together fresh way.
Clint Clifton: Yeah, and how does Heather, your wife, How does she receive those kinds of things? Do you keep it to yourself?
David Platt: No I it's like impossible to keep to myself and she she's so gracious.
She's always kind of bracing when I'm coming back. Like “Hey, anything I need to know?” I was in pretty remote places where I didn’t have cell phone access… I couldn’t text or anything like that. So we came back and we have been able to talk. We got in late on a Friday night. And I knew I was wrestling with is the Lord leading us to move here, but I didn't want to jump into that conversation. I'm jet lagged so she's like “tell me about the trip” and I was like, let's just talk tomorrow.
She's like “no I want to know now!” so we're laying there or land there in bed. I'm scrolling through my journal. I'm just sharing different things with her. I got to the point in my journal where all I said was, “Is the Lord leading us to move to this country?” then I paused and. In that pause, I fell asleep. Like I was totally jet liking and so my wife, my poor wife, her heads on my shoulders in tears like “are we moving or family” and I'm like snoring over by that point. So we I wake up the next morning. I was out like a light. We wake up the next morning. She's like can we pick up the conversation where we left off? The part where it was you and me and our kids moving in this country. She was like, “let's let's pick right back up there”. So anyway, I have I have an incredible wife.
Clint Clifton: Yeah, so you a lot of people in the pastoral world or short man the missions World they sort of have a negative tone about short-term mission trips, but you're one of those pastors that talks a lot about global mission that urges people to go on Church short-term mission trips. Why do you do that?
David Platt: well one, I think that short-term Mission can be really unhealthy really unhelpful. But I think the converse short term Mission can be really healthy and helpful if it does two things so and bad short-term mission trips usually fall on don't accomplish one of. Two things are maybe both.
So in order to be healthy helpful a short-term mission trip should fuel long-term disciple making processes on the ground wherever we're going. So there there should be a partnership with people on the ground such that your brain being there you're having a team there for a week is going to help further the gospel in helpful healthy ways, and we don't determine that like people on the ground determined that we can go with all kinds of ideas what we think would be helpful that can actually be really unhelpful. So and we're not going to make disciples plant a church do all this in one week. Like that's a long-term disciple making process, but I think. Are things that can be helpful that we can do in a week? I mean I think about when I've gone to an unreached place in the world and helped get gospel literature out.
Like I can do that and get kicked out of that country. No problem. If somebody else who lives there gets kicked out of the country that has a lot more ramifications. So, I mean, that's just one example, there are so many different examples where. We can be a part of fueling long-term summing process there.
The second thing is short-term missions when it's done right fuels long-term disciple making processes in the local church that were part of. So when I take people overseas, And we walked through that experience together. We prepare together. We walked in experience and then we come back together.
Like there's so much disciple make that's happening and that that fuels long-term to settle making process right here where we live. So I think about some of the most fruitful Ministry I've seen in local churches. I've been a part of that Ministry was started by short-term mission trips that ended up open people's eyes to opportunities for mission right where they live and so again bad short-term mission trips. You come back and life looks just the same like should life should look very different as a result of being involved in Mission like this. The other thing I would add is most every long-term missionary.
I know. Got a heart for the spread of the Gospel among the nation's to other places through a short-term mission trip mile, so it can fuel long-term disciple-making even in those places through the people who start with a short-term trip for all those reasons. I think short term mission trips can be really valuable if they're done.
Right? Yeah, but we don't want to do is if we're not careful we can actually be harmful in the ground or we can have no effect on the local church for a part of high. I would even argue biblically that you look, Jesus disciple making process he was using short term Mission. He sends disciples out.
They come back he processes with him. This is a part of his long-term settlement asses
Clint Clifton: So on the other end of this podcast is a pastor or maybe a church planter or maybe a seminarian who hopes to be one of those one day and and he's not taking his people on Mission. Maybe he's not quite as adventurous as you maybe he's got a lot of reasons why he hasn't yet done that.
It's too expensive. It seems like an inefficient use of missions dollars to to get people on Mission. It's hard to talk people into going to hard places giving up their vacation time like talk to that guy for just
David Platt: I just I would encourage him. So well one just to refuse to turn this into an either-or like okay either I care about the people right around me in the community right around me or I care about the spread of the Gospel Nations like.
Don't know make that an either or this is a both an like. Your commitment is to your local church. And your local context is not compromised by putting your eyes periodically on the spread of the Gospel other places. I would even argue not just periodically we've been given a clear command to make disciples of all the nations there are nations ethnic groups ethnic where the gospel is not yet gone.
We actually have a command to be involved in getting the gospel to them. We can't we cannot just focus on where the gospel has gone or where we live like we've got to be focused on getting the gospel where it's not gone. So. I would just encourage every pastor church planter sooner and whoever to really every Christian to seriously consider how is my life going to be the part of the spread of the Gospel both right where I live and to places where it's not gone in the world. Like we must be intentional about that. There's two billion people who have little to no knowledge of the Gospel right now. We must all be thinking about what's the part God's leading us to play in getting the gospel to them.
This is for all of us. We all have this. It's obviously going to play out differently in our lives. So then if that's the case for every Christian, then I would say to every pastor church planter leader and Shepherd of Christians lead by example, like lead by example look for opportunities and you don't have to go hiking in the Himalayas.
There's all kinds of different places. You can go where the gospels not gone and work to get the gospel there develop Partnerships with people who are working there and say, how can we be a part of serving you the long-term disciple making processes you have. And then see this as a critical part of your own disciple making in your own church, like this II feel like I can accomplish more in a week overseas and then aren't just in some other context with the people I'm shepherding than I can in a year when they're in their own context just to be out of their own have their eyes opened to need in a whole new way and then shepherding them to see God's word God's purpose for their life to make his glory known among the nation's like there's so much that can be accomplished through that kind of one seeing that in you and then to you shepherding them through that. I would I would just encourage to the extent possible unless the Lord clearly says.
Don't which I yeah be involved in taking the gospel to places where it's not gone and shepherding your people to go with you.
Clint Clifton: What are what are some? Practical things that a pastor could do that would in the life of every day church that would ready people for that kind of thing. I imagine most Pastors in the contexts the churches that I know if they were to stand up and say what you just said, you know and kind of urge people to go out.
They would be met with you no resistance because the people aren't ready to in any way and maybe. Their budget is not set up for that. Maybe who knows all kinds of things that can you think of anything that they can do that would begin the process of really priming the pump for that.
David Platt: Absolutely. So first and foremost, just I mean doing disciple-making. In the church teaching people to obey everything Christ has commanded including making disciples of the nation's like Jesus has commanded us this like so build this into the fabric of disciple-making. Yeah, and the the healthier disciples are the more disciples are making disciples the more they're going to be open to do that.
In other places in the world Shepherd them to do that cross-culturally where you live so think through opportunities to do that cross-culturally right where you live and then I I think something of some other simple things. Like praying I think about one Church. They pray every single Sunday for a different unreached people and along the way God has called out people to go to unreached people groups. Just buy them praying. Yeah, I and I think it makes sense when you look at acts 13 while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting and praying the spirit said set apart from Saul and Barnabas. So and I would encourage a pastor church planter we're going to do this soon like just set aside a week. And where you fast and pray and just ask God together as a church. Are you setting apart any of us to go and see what he does? I just see what he does. So exposure People to unreached People groups. I think a lot of Christians don't even know what that means.
So build that in the fabric of if not every Sunday like regularly in the church. And then also like when Jesus says where your treasure is there your heart will be also. When people give toward the spread of the Gospel among the Nations then their hearts going to be pulled their when people give and they see all their money being used for more stuff for them in the church than their hearts going to be pulled their.
Yeah. So so highlight ways the church is involved through giving and what go what's going on around the world and then watch people's hearts follow
Clint Clifton: One of the things. People know about you is that at Brooke Hills? You were known to have, you know taken away things from the kids in order to fuel global missions like goldfish.
David Platt: I don't really appreciate the way you put that that is that is a gross misrepresentation of that story.
Clint Clifton: Yeah. Well, that's that's the lore that's out there. But the reality is that churches do have reallocate their budgets, right? Yeah.
David Platt: Yeah, so just to speak to that story specific. This is that that came out of a process.
It was so great. We sat down at our staff kind of retreat and we said all right, we kind of looked at Urgent spiritual and physical need in the world. And we said let's let's make a difference. Let's for this next year. Just try it for a year. Let's cut everywhere. We can free up as much money as possible to go toward urgent spiritual physical Navy.
And so we did, you know, how like usually staff budgeting time like everybody's kind of competing to get more dollars. Well, this one everybody was competing to see who can sacrifice the most and they're like, yeah, it was great like if they wanted to win and so our preschool leaders. Chose, they said we have such an assortment of snacks.
We don't have to have all these next we're going to cut some of the snacks. So yes, they ended up cutting the Goldfish and that's where that came from. But at to so to to that point. Yes, like we we're fooling ourselves. If we think we're going to be serious about getting the gospel to the nation's and like really make a difference in the world.
And we spend our money in the exact same and that's true in our lives individually or family. Yeah, and it's certainly true as a church family so so but I found like well, let me step back. Well, actually let me say the more positive than I'm going to step back the I found like when people see the church giving to what is making a difference in people's lives who are starving or struggling physically or never heard the gospel another hearing the gospel. Like I think that is energizing it's exhilarating and and it makes sense to somebody who has the spirit of Christ in them. There are. I want to be a part of that.
I want to be part of that. Now. Let me step back. There will always be resistance to that guaranteed. There will always be resistance don't ever think that you or I don't ever think that I'm going to Shepherd the church to take the gospel right around us or to the nation's and there's not going to be resistance.
There will always be resistance to the global purpose of God as long as there's an adversary in this world.
Clint Clifton: Now this past Sunday here at McLean Bible. And for those of you who don't know Maclean's a large church more than 10,000 people and it's into multiple campuses you pressed hard for people to go around the world were sort of this may be the first time I've seen you here, press that hard. What could a couple days since since that were recording this on Thursday? And that was Sunday? What have you seen out of that? This was just this week.
David Platt: So all the above that I would expect like certainly resistance like yeah, we were like. Why are we talking about missions like this and some people just and I said in the message, like I know people will say like why do we talk?
Why are we why do we care so much about work over there and unreached people and I just said like there's two billion unreached people like we're nowhere close to caring too much about them. There's two billion people who were born live and die without ever hearing the gospel right now like so but so there's there's certainly been some of that feedback.
But at the same time I I'm so encouraged like as Spirit of Christ in people. The spirit of Jesus wants the world for Jesus if people have the spirit of Jesus in them, then then they will be drawn to a vision to live for the spread of the Gospel in the world. And so how I think about think about conversations that I had I mean one sweet older woman. What'd she say to me this week? When I saw her she said, well, you pretty much put me in my place with all the excuses I've used throughout all my life for why I've not worked for the spread of the Gospel in the world and she said but she said this was a smile on her face like she said I am so thankful.
And then she almost got a little sad she says I just wish I was younger. I wish I heard this a long time ago and I was just I was just of course trying to encourage her like yeah don't underestimate the role. You can play right now. I think about another couple I was talking to in. Yeah in tears in the lobby afterwards because they have a job that can go to different places in the world and they were realizing it's time it's time to look for that transfer and intentionally go to a place where the gospels not gone.
And so I just love seeing this. Beard of God work through the word through the word to mobilizes people.
Clint Clifton: Yeah. I haven't told you this yet, but we I was at one of the campuses this week and and heard the sermon myself and a person that in my church who had come to Faith and I was there and and his wife in praying for her and for a long time and and she decided to come to church for the first time on Sunday that she.
David Platt: This last Sunday when we were talking about taking the gospels have never heard. Yeah, but we were saying but it starts with him the gospel right across the street. Yeah, it would make no sense to focus there and ignore the people around you here just like it's new. It's not biblical to focus just here and ignore the people who remember the gospel.
So this same couple who said okay, we're ready to go also and in this like in the same conversation, they said and there's two particular people that we'd like to ask you to pray for us where they were trying to share the gospel with hear the weirdest brainer come to Christ. They still the story.
So I just was so that one conversation kind of sums it up for me because it was like they got it. They they're not just like okay, I'm gonna do this somewhere else and ignoring right here or they're not just saying I care about leading people to Christ here, but not somewhere else like it. They see it as a both.
And so anyway, praise God for yeah the word does the work.
Clint Clifton: Yeah. That's and that's really it. Encouraging to me and just a reminder to me that you know, I can think and strategize all I want but the Lord does what he does and it's time I move so my children and I have been in my wife have been reading Something Needs to Change a book that you just finished coming out this week.
Why'd you why'd you write the book?
David Platt: So so much of what we've just talked about. Like seeing urgent spiritual and physical needs specifically in the Himalayas. Like I wish I could take multitudes of people in those mountains. That's obviously not possible for a variety of reasons. So. I wrote this book in an effort to bring those mountains into the laps of I hope a lot of people.
Yeah to be able to see urgent spiritual and physical need in the world and see it alongside God's word and then wrestle with what that means for our lives in the world. So what I try to do in this book, it's it's really different than anything else I've ever written when it comes to format because I just I did my best kind of come out from behind the platform like it's one thing to preach about these things.
Yeah. On stage. It's a whole nother thing to process these things when you're you know, when you're face-to-face with a girl who is really impoverished and girl who has been trafficked and a body that's burning on a funeral pyre of somebody who's never heard the gospel. Like that's just a whole nother level.
So what I try to do in this book is open up my journals and even my wrestling with a lot of the things that I preach it's not that I don't believe the Bible, but when you engage urgent need in the world. There's just a lot of questions that come in the service that you find yourself wrestling with and I just want to be honest with my own wrestling in that and help help people to wrestle through some of this same things and in the end wrestle through.
Not just why this or whatever what does this mean for my life
Clint Clifton: Yeah, you mentioned the format of the book is different than anything you've done before it's different than anything I've ever read before and since that it's it's organized by the days of tracking you've taken a few of the times that you visited in sort of.
Melted them into one hypothetical track. Yeah.
David Platt: So what I try to do is take all the experiences I've had seen in the Himalayas and put them in an eight-day Trek through those mountains. So try to take the reader on a journey. So the book is intended to be like a journey through the mountains and and just seeing things processing things and.
I think about when I got down those mountains one particular trip and just on my face at the end. I'm balling like weeping uncontrollably on the floor and and somebody asked me like what's your take away your as like something needs to change and so I don't presume that by the end of this book, like people will be uncontrollably weeping on the floor baby.
Maybe the Lord will do that through his word that I hope is reflected in this book, but I do hope that. Serves the journey that will lead people in the end say alright something does need to change my life my family, the church. So what is that try to help people to think through? What what that might mean?
Clint Clifton: Yeah is my family's been going through it even I mean my nine year olds, encountering the concept of human trafficking for the first time and. Description of a body being burned in front of you and things like that that they opening up conversations that we never would have ever talked about the Urgent spiritual.
David Platt: That's encouraging. I hope I hope it will do that and you know, even even those things like and I mention this in the book like trafficking, for example, I had actually on the plane over on one of these trips. I had written all sermon on. Where I was talking a lot about trafficking and I had done it for a pretty cold-hearted perspective.
Like I mean, I had all these facts I had all these different but but then I was I saw it I was weeping and so my hope in the book is to help people see it might help people to encounter urgent spiritual physical need in a way that through and I want to be intentional not to like exalt experience over God's word by any means but letting God's word speak to us in the context of experience.
Yeah to help help Shepherd people. An encounter that I hope will not just allow us to talk about these things intellectually, but feel the weight of these things emotionally.
Clint Clifton: Yeah. Well, the books called something needs to change and out this week and David you've been inspirational to me and many other pastors and subject of global Mission and thank you for your work and your ministry and your dedication to this topic and thanks for talking to me today.
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My name is Kenji. Adachi Church planter at All Peoples Community Church here in Fairfax, Virginia.
And we did an Outreach on Halloween and invited our community in the Big Catch was to have the firefighters they came out and they brought a ladder truck and they were dropping a candy from the sky from their top of the ladder and we try to separate the group by age and grades. However, you know when you say.
Free candy falling from a fire truck. It didn't matter the kids went crazy. It was like Black Friday at Walmart. People are finding Bargains, which is running over each other and you want to see the depravity of children come out Drop candy from the sky.
Noah: I'm tasked with introducing my little sister Ruthie.
She is 15 years old and she is the biggest David Platt fan on the planet funny story. We we were we were like escorting people at a Gala and Mr. Platt came through the elevator. And she started have a little freaked out but she's keeping it cool because like her biggest... I kept it cool. She's septic semi cool air quotes and he asked to come out to Ruthie was like, where's the bathroom and Ruthie Point them in the direction.
He walked away and she literally freaked out OMG doll over the place couldn't even bro. Don't tell me that's that's Ruthie for you.
Ruthie: Okay? Well anyways, I'm introducing Isaiah. He's 14 years old and he's a gamer. He's wearing sunglasses at night to my youngest brother Moses. He is 9 and not as attractive as me.
And he is a cool guy. And he is 17 awesome and
Clint Clifton: I'm going to introduce my beautiful wife Jennifer. She's. In her 20s, that will go with that good. All right. Well, we're going to be talking about the book. Our family has been reading it over the past couple of months and it has his been a really good book for us because it's caused a lot of great discussion.
So I want to just ask you guys a couple questions about the book. The book is a story about a track through the Himalayas. So some of the things that took place in the story made David think differently about things at home. You guys remember any part of the story like that?
Ruthie: Yeah, he talked a whole chapter about how he went into one Village and they warned him before they came in that there wouldn't be a lot of younger girls from the ages of 8 to 20 and that kind of hurt him a lot because he has a younger daughter and around that time she was about eight and so they explain to him that it was because sex traffickers convinced parents that they could get their daughters jobs down at the bottom of the mountain and that they'd be able to earn money to send back home and they were so desperate they did that but then they ended up losing their daughters through that.
Clint Clifton: So he saw some really awful things on his journey. What stands out in your mind as like the worst of what he saw
Noah: One of the worst things I talked about in the book is a the sky burials the funerals. We're basically set the people on fire you could tell in the book that it really took a toll on him spiritually and emotionally because he he knew those people.
I had never heard the gospel or Jesus really and the they were basically burst into flames and they going straight to the eternal flame in hell you could tell in the book that it really like messed him up a little bit it had him thinking. And questioning and stuff which was vulnerable but I thought it was one of the best parts in the book.
Clint Clifton: Yeah on their Trek. They only met a handful of Christians. There was one part of the story though where he talked about actually getting to go and worship in a church with some Christians that they met along the way. Do you remember any differences between the church they visited in the churches we go to.
The churches there. The people they tricked up a mountain for two hours in the cold and dark and how when they came up they could see little lights. That's how they knew the people that were coming to the church. That was them and in the book it says that. that it took them. All day to get up the mountain like every ten steps was they had to take a break because it was so far and it was in this tiny house and people were just cramming in everywhere.
Yeah, where they like joyful or where they're sad and tired. Yeah. Yeah. So it was like old people babies young people some people carrying their babies. Yeah.
Noah: Also in that chapter. He was like Moses said he was talking about how it took him all day and free those listeners who don't understand David he is a he's a pretty he's in shape guy does CrossFit he keeps his body in good shape. He was struggling with that and he just had to do it one time going up. I think obviously coming back down but he's like Moses said he was every ten yards. He had to take a break or every 20 yards. He had to take a break compose himself, then go another 20 knowing that those people have to go up there two hours up go to church than two hours down.
Yeah, it really was convicting like. If I had to do that for church, yeah what I go. Yeah, or would it just be like that's too far as to challenging because here in America church is really easy to get to 7 minutes to get from our driveway to the parking lot of church. Yeah, it's not that hard what people I go to church with and consider strong Christians or even myself what I go to church if I had to go to ours up a mountain then two hours back down and the dark and cold
Ruthie: But he also explained that when people walked up the mountain and they tracked all the way up there. They didn't think of it as something they have to do. They think it as something they get to do ya something.
Noah: Yeah. It was a privilege for them to get together church, and I think that we don't appreciate getting to go to church. As well as we should because there are a lot of places to people don't have that privilege
Ruthie: Pastor David explained that that was the only community that they had. Yeah in a lot of ways.
Clint Clifton: The book was about a guy named Aaron who was the full-time worker there. He lived in Himalayas and was working with those people all the time. Do you guys remember the part of the story? Where are and explained how he met neighb in the translator on the.
Yes, so when Nathan was very young his mom died and his dad didn't take it very well.
He started beating Naaman and eventually his dad found another woman married her. She didn't like David and eventually convinced the dad to chain him up in their barn, and just leave them there and one day Aaron was looking for a place to stay the night and he went over to their house. They didn't have any rooms left, but they said that he could stay and stay the night in the barn and when Aaron went to the barn he got into sleeping bag, but then he started to hear noises.
He figured it was just animals at first, but they kept going and eventually he got up until see what it was and he found the little eight-year-old Navin chained up in the barn.
Noah: Yeah, he was also I think you said this but he was getting beat by his dad and was also getting burned
Clint Clifton: and remember what happened later and they've ins life.
Noah: Yeah. He was going back up the mountain. And he'll Aaron rescues. Oh, yeah, Aaron rescue them my family. Yeah years later Nathan goes back up the mountain and conveniently coming down. The mountain is his father with the new step child who is like six of the time I think so he went down and he asked Nathan to go back up the mountain to where his stepmom was who's the one who didn't like him and wanted him chained up and beaten burned.
And so the father basically asked me even to go care for her why she's sick and he helps the stepchild and he did he did. Yeah, three months or dad returned could not have been easy. Yeah, so it really is a good example of forgiveness. Yeah, and also reminds me of the Joseph Story how Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery and then later he helped him out.
Clint Clifton: So, you know when you read a book like this, I can't help but think you could just kind of stick your head in the sand and not go to a place like this and not find out that things like stick this in the world or you could go there like David didn't expose himself to these things. There's like an argument on both sides.
Maybe it's better just to not know about this stuff so we don't have to deal with it. What do you guys think about that?
Noah: I think. Me personally, I think that's immature. God calls us to Go Make Disciples of all Nations and how can we do that? If we're stuck here kind of go out and Mr. David put himself in a vulnerable spot and went out to a dangerous part of the world.
And yeah, he came back and I think it made his faith stronger and I think in ways makes him a better pastor leader because he knows he's seen it with his own eyes The Good Bad and the Ugly since he's also encouraging other people to go out by writing this book.
Yeah, and he did see all these terrible things and you know kids not having food and you know, the little girls being taken but he also saw the.
Jennifer: Blessings of the ministry that is happening, even though it seems very small like at the end of his track. He got to go to a place to where he saw girls that they had rescued. Yeah, that's true. So he saw all the terrible stuff. But he also saw even though there's very few people. They're living out God's love and sharing the gospel fruit is happening and people are being saved and rescued.
Clint Clifton: So the moral of this story is if you have a family or even if you don't read the book and if you have a family read the book with your family because it it was really impactful. I mean second-best actually going and seeing it for yourself. The book was really Vivid where there any ways in which the book helped you be thankful for the way things are here at home?
Noah: You don't think about it here in America really because we're so comfortable and those people are out suffering every day not knowing whether they're going to get their next meal. We're just laying back comfortably and were like, oh we go to church. We read our Bible. Those people are out there on the field every day.
They're not doing it because they have to but doing it because they want to and they love God. Yeah.
Jennifer: Well, it's eye-opening to because we feel like we take our faith seriously and we feel like we're doing the things Gods commanded us to and then you read some of these stories that they encountered and like people are carrying other people on their backs just to get them, you know somewhere.
Noah: Yeah, and you're like,
oh they really are not carry you on my back dad. Just saying. Yeah, not some bling, isn't it?
Yeah. It should also it suck the whole book is kind of like a call to action. That's basically yeah things step up and that something needs to change.
We can't like we got to do something or. I don't know how you read a book like this and not. Change
Albert Miller: thank you for listening to the church planting podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review of your favorite podcast.
Josh Turansky: Today's episode of the church planting podcast is sponsored by new city Network. That's the church planting Ministry of MacLean Bible. A special thanks to today's guest David Platt for taking the time to join us Josh kuransky produced Today's Show Sookie Bastion was her showrunner and her husband.
Nick was our editor. Thanks to Hudson kuransky and Marvin Marvin provided administrative and web support to the program and last but not least thanks to you for listening all the way to the very end. If you'd like more information about the show. Feel free to visit our brand new website. Www dot church planting podcast dot-org there.
You can find all of our past episodes as well as notes and links from today's show. Be sure to tune in next week to the podcast. We will be talking with Daniel Im. Who's the senior associate pastor of Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, California. God bless.
