I need to make a bold statement. Well, I already did in the title, but now let me elaborate on this statement, that I am a radical person.
Most of you reading this don't really know me (and I'm talking about the people who have met me, including close friends and family). The thing is, I can be very quiet around people who haven't “gotten to know me.” Around people I haven't spent a lot of time with, I am very reserved (to the point I probably seem stand-offish sometimes). But when I spend a lot of time with and become really good friends with somebody, I “open up” (I become a lively, funny, always-trying-to-make-you-laugh “Crazy Cody.” Basically, not at all the same quiet and reserved person I was before and still am to other people). And it comes in varying degrees too. Different people know me in very different ways. I'm not very transparent/real in that way. And it's not something I can control very easily (though I think I can, given enough hard work, and should). It generally just happens.
But even if you think you know me (and I've opened up to you at some point), you don't (and there's a good chance I haven't opened fully). I think the only person on this earth who really, truly knows me is my wife. She knows everything about me, including the different ways I act, including my failures and successes, and including (mostly 
) what I like and don't like.
So I'm here to set things straight. Here is who I am:
I AM A RADICAL CHRISTIAN WITH A HEART THAT BEATS FOR GOD, THAT BEATS WITH GOD, THAT BEATS AS GOD'S DOES.
What I mean by “radical” is what is in the dictionary – "of or going to the root or origin; fundamental.” The root/origin/foundation of Christianity is Christ! At the heart of our faith is the way the Son of God lived his life. That is how I want to live my life, and I'm already taking steps to get there (examples to come in future blogs).
Sadly, however, what I also mean by “radical” is what we normally think of when we hear that word – “extreme” or “drastic.” This is sad because the Church in America is not as it should be! I see such a huge disconnect between what the early Christian Church was like/how Jesus and the apostles lived and how the Church lives today! (Now, I will save the discussion for a later blog, but I would like to point out now that the biggest problem the American Church has is one word – riches. Or wealth. Affluence. It is a huge problem, but again, I'll save that for a later blog).
The changes my wife and I are wanting to make (and are already making) in our lives are drastic/extreme/radical. They are different from the Western Church, different from the culture that it is steeped in, different from the foolish American dream that is robbing us of our faith, of our identity, of truly living.
So I am a radical person with a radical faith. But back to my title of this blog – notice it doesn't say “I AM IRONMAN” instead of “I am radical.” That's because I am not Ironman, and all this radical-ness doesn't make me invincible. I recognize that there are still times when I am not very radical. There are still times when I fail. Still times when I don't get rid of the dross that is weighing my life down. As the writer of Hebrews knew, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Remember the old acronym WWJD? What Would Jesus Do? That's what I'm striving for – to live my life like Jesus Christ did his, like God would have me.
This really, truly sums up who I am. Everything else is just details, and this is one thing I want you to know about me. Anytime you are in conversation with me, I would be very happy to talk about “God-things.” I may be a quiet person around you, but feel free to make me change that. Don't think that it's the real me, because in reality I'm just being very modest and would love to tell you how my wife and I are changing and becoming more Christ-like every day (or even how you can change).
In the next few months and especially after the World Race, don't expect Stephanie and I to be the same people you've always known us as. In fact, expect us to challenge the way you think or live or act. Because chances are that you need to reevaluate how or why you do things (like we are for our thoughts/actions/lives).
Welcome to the real me (not the masquerade). And God bless.
