The Adventure Of A Lifetime
I have had the great privilege of being friends with Peter McHugh for close to 15 years.
I’ve been deeply impacted by his life as a husband and father, as well as a pastor and leader in the Body of Christ. He is one of the most genuine disciples of Jesus I’ve ever met. And when you add that kind of authenticity to the pastoral ministry, you usually get a healthy group of Jesus-followers who really live to bring glory to God. That is the case with the church he leads, Stairway Church, in Melbourne, Australia. And what they model as a church family now spills over into the lives of countless churches and leaders around the world. It is a wonder to behold.
During these years of friendship, I have had the honor of ministering to Stairway Church annually, which I always look forward to doing, in part because of the rich fellowship and time with him and his family, but also in anticipation of what they will have done with the truths I have given them the previous year. As one who travels to serve the Body of Christ at large, seeing what people do with what I have deposited is really a big deal to me. It helps me to know where the good soil is and where I should prioritize my time. And in all honesty, as I’ve told this body of believers on numerous occasions, I don’t know of any leader or church that is more intentional in applying the insights given to them than Peter McHugh and Stairway Church. If you think about it, that’s the kind of person you want to learn from. The book that you now hold in your hands was first worked out in real life experiences, not just theories created in a classroom somewhere. From that foundation of complete devotion to Jesus, this book was written.
Radically Restored to Oneness with God is a brilliant book. It is filled—and I do mean filled—with insight and inspiration. And it couldn’t come at a better time. With much of the world in chaos and the church often mirroring the instability of our surroundings, Radically Restored is given that we might become established in truth and from there reveal the absolute rock, Christ Jesus. Nothing can move such a rock. Our fears, wrong teachings, and self-absorption all create an atmosphere of instability that is opposite to the nature of Christ, and thus the nature of our salvation. This book was written to help correct that problem while creating the joyful expectation that comes from Christ alone.
The truth will set you free. This statement has been quoted often by various parts of society, sometimes ungodly in nature, to add credibility to their opinion about various subjects. But it was Jesus who made this statement. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. So then, real truth is a person. And when He sets people free, it’s always unto something. In other words, in Christ we are set free from something, unto something. If you imagine a prisoner being released from prison back into society, but they are homeless and jobless, you can picture the weakness of our understanding of freedom. They have experienced freedom from, but tragically not unto. That ex-prisoner is free, but not completely. In Christ, it is different. We are freed from sin. But it doesn’t end there. In Christ we are freed unto His nature, and into His entire personal inheritance from the Father. Radially Restored is all about the unto.
You’re about to enter a journey where you will discover who Jesus says we are, that we might fully enter the life He purchased for us at the cross and made possible through His resurrection. This journey is what we were born for. Welcome to the adventure of a lifetime.
