David Platt, Pastor of The Church of Brook Hills in suburban Birmingham, told his congregation Sunday that he will be releasing a new book later this year titled Counter Culture: Radically Following Jesus with Conviction, Courage, and Compassion.
Tyndale House will publish the book, which is tentatively scheduled for release on Sept. 1.
Platt, 34, is the author of several books including Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, which has sold over a million copies. His most recent book, Follow Me: A call to die. A call to live., released last year, also debuted on the New York Times bestseller list. Platt personally receives none of the money from his book sales, choosing instead to devote all of the proceeds to furthering the spread of the gospel around the world.
“The early Christians were giving up everything, abandoning possessions,” Platt told The Birmingham News in an interview last year. “We look at casual, comfortable Christianity in the 21st Century and it doesn’t seem to add up. If we are really following Jesus, we would be doing something to meet urgent physical needs. We realize there should not be more than a billion people on earth who are desperately hungry. If we really believe in the Bible, we’d be doing something, giving something. Many Christians have fallen into a spectator mentality that lends itself to sitting back, not doing anything extreme to help the poor or even to share the gospel. There’s no question following Christ requires active risk-taking and obedience. The cost of following is high. To follow Jesus means an attachment to him, that means being willing to let go of everything else.”
In his upcoming book, it sounds like Platt will be addressing Christians’ responsibility to engage on social issues, and not just the ones that are “fashionable.”
Here’s what Counter Culture‘s publisher has to say about the book:
Too often Christians pick and choose which social causes they are willing to engage in based on what our culture deems “fashionable” while remaining silent on others out of discomfort or fear of personal persecution. But the Bible makes it abundantly clear that is not what Christ’s followers are called to do.
In Counter Culture, New York Times bestselling author David Platt redefines social justice from a biblical standpoint and makes a compelling case for why Christians are called to fully and actively surrender themselves to every cause — regardless of personal cost or consequence.
Drawing heavily on Scripture and compelling personal accounts from around the world, Platt presents a pointed yet winsome call for readers to faithfully follow Christ in countercultural ways — ways that will prove both costly and rewarding for the contemporary church.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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