Let's Get Radical #4

Here is a brief overview of the final three lessons in our Let's Get Radical teaching series.

Week #4 Radical Love, Radical Expression
God's radical love towards us is undeniable. The Psalmist David tells that He daily loads us with benefits. (Psalms 68:19) While it is impossible to count all of his benefits, David begins to list some of the radical things that God has done in telling that God has forgiven all of his sin, healed all of his diseases, ransomed his soul from hell, surrounded him with His loving-kindness and tender mercies, filled his life with good things, and renewed his youth like the eagle's. (Psalms 103:1-5) Considering the numerous acts of God's love towards him, it is no wonder that David pushed aside Michal's rebuke for his radical demonstration of praise. (2 Samuel 6) Radical love demands and brings forth radical expression!

Week #5 Once You Know It, Show It
God's Word tells us that radical praise is a part of our DNA. Psalms 8:2 tells us that even babies have the ability to worship God! This praise is on the inside waiting for an opportunity to be expressed. After all that He has done for us, how can we keep this praise on the inside? How can we be like the nine who continued on their way after receiving Jesus's awesome healing power? (Luke 17)

Here's the exciting part of demonstrating our praise. It doesn't have to be boring and repetitious. Throughout the year, I love to buy candy for my wife Vickie. There are boxes of candy that are filled with the same type of chocolate candy and other boxes of chocolate candies that contain an assortment of types. I love the assorted boxes because you never quite know what you are about to eat. I have read that David loved the assorted kind of demonstrations of praise. I have yet to study this to verify it for a fact, but I have read that the Book of Psalms uses 58 different Hebrew words to describe radical praise and worship including words that tells to bow before God, spin like a top before God, jump up and down, lift up hands unto God, etc. Radical demonstrations of love and gratitude can be and should be exciting!!!

Week #6 We Can’t Go Back
While I love to study history, I sure don’t want to live in the olden days. It might be enchanting to read about the days of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but please, please, please keep me living in 2011. I don’t want to go back to the days before air conditioning and electric lights and cars and …. you get the picture! What might have been acceptable at one time in history just isn’t good enough for today.

We now know the truth. Our radical God has done and continues to do many radical things to and for us. Because of this, we can’t go back to the way that it used to be. Let’s be like David and say, “In GOD's presence I'll dance all I want! … Oh yes, I'll dance to GOD's glory more recklessly even than this. And as far as I'm concerned . . . I'll gladly look like a fool …” (2 Samuel 6, The Message Bible). Let’s get radical before our radical God!