Many were surprised that a pastor so young would be called to a mega-church. It goes without saying this would be no ordinary journey. David Platt, who grew up in Stone Mountain Georgia, served oversees and then in New Orleans Seminary, was mentored by Dr. Jim Shaddix. After Jim left the seminary to pastor, David stepped into the role of his mentor. Then there was Katrina. The hurricane that vanquished New Orleans left the Plat home underwater as well. During his time in Atlanta shortly after Katrina, David was called to Brook Hills, a large but wounded church that was still reeling from a crisis of leadership, as its founding pastor stepped down. David felt called to love and lead this local church.
As pastor, David Platt had a zeal for unreached people groups that shaped how he would lead, teach and reach the people of Birmingham with the audacious idea that Christ-followers must be radical in their passion to win the world. After a trip to Honduras, a seminal question echoed in his heart: “How is my life going to impact the nations for His glory?”
During his time at the Church of Brook Hills, he authored the New York Times Best Seller Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream.
On August 27, 2014, Platt was appointed the President of the International Mission Board, one of the largest missionary sending organizations in the world.
David’s passion for expository teaching is illustrated by the phenomenon called “Secret Church.” With satellites all over the world David teaches scripture and doctrine while also leading the church to pray for their persecuted brothers and sisters around the world.
David once preached this about Scripture: “You look at men who have been used by God, one thing is certain- they were ‘Word saturated.’ Apart from the word I have nothing to offer. I want people to see me so aligned with the word that they are willing to follow with radical action.”
David and his wife Heather have four children, Caleb, Joshua, Mara Ruth, and Isaiah.
Expository Quotes from sermons available at radical.net/resources/series/:
- “Remember that God’s Word was a word for other people before it became God’s Word to us.”
- “Read different genres of the Bible with different rules. You aren’t going to read a phonebook like you read a love letter. In the same way, you aren’t going to read Galatians and Song of Solomon the same way.”
- “If our interpretation of the Bible is going to be valid, it has to take into account the history and culture of that day.”
- “Where does Bible Study fit in our priority? Many people will have enough time to sit down and watch three hours of TV.”
- Maybe the reason we have found the Bible boring is that we’ve never really tasted it. The more we taste it, the more we will hunger it.”
Please Donate & Help Keep a Roof Over Our Heads
How fast things can change. This time last week, we had a happy home, and now we’re going to have to find a new place to live.
This past week I was doing some cleaning in our apartment and that’s when things went downhill. Since we’ve moved into our place over two years ago, slow drains have been an issue we’ve had to learn to deal with. We put some bleach down the drain that morning and it seemed to be working better, so I let some hot water run. This being the busiest work week of my life, I accidentally left the sink on for 30 minutes and unfortunately, though it did seem to be draining faster, it wasn’t completely better. The sink overflowed leaving some water damage in our floor and in the ceiling of the apartment below us. I felt just terrible for our neighbor, but thankfully, she said she wasn’t angry with us at all and that this had happened with everyone who has lived in our apartment.
Fast forward a few hours — the landlords were absolutely furious. We’ve pretty much begged to help and for them to use our renter’s insurance, but after yelling at us the day it happened, they wouldn’t return our calls. Now today, we get home from celebrating my birthday and find a notice on our door that they’re doing a last inspection on Monday before we move out. We are quiet, kind tenants who always pay on time, so we were completely taken aback by this.
For those of you who don’t know, after turning down paid positions in ministry, my husband and I left our home in New England to help with a church plant in Los Angeles for free. Since making that choice to obey the Lord’s leading, things haven’t always been easy for us in LA, but I have to believe there is a purpose behind it all. We have no family here and our friends all have one bedroom apartments, so please, if you can help in any way possible, it would mean everything to us. We just simply don’t have the money to pay for damages at our current home, as well as a security deposit plus first and last month’s rent in another apartment. We need your help to keep a roof over our heads.
If you would like to donate, please give here: gofund.me/HaveAHomeLA
– Sarah <3