Forgotten God by Francis Chan

Forgotten God
Reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit

Francis Chan's books, Crazy Love and Forgotten God, are both powerfully convicting books due to Chan's ability to understand, reveal, and rebuke his readers for their sin - even their sin towards reading his books!  Reading develops knowledge and understanding of truth.  And as Scripture tells us, if we know what we should do, but do not do it, that is sin.  Therefore, as readers we must actively apply the truth we learn, or else we will find ourselves in sin (all the while, boasting in our wisdom).  Through reading Chan's words I have been personally convicted that I often respond to a book by saying “what a good message, sooo convicting….” yet, I won't APPLY those “good messages” and therefore my life is only changed by a fraction of what I read, despite the teaching of faithful pastors and authors. Chan demands more from his readers, and I'm thankful for that.

Chan's book, Forgotten God, did not only teach me about the Holy Spirit, but how the Holy Spirit affects (or rather, should affect) my life.  His aim is to reveal WHY we want the Holy Spirit in our lives. We may have our own purposes for desiring the Spirit’s presence and power in our lives, but so does God and His desires have everything to do with the church’s growth and God’s glory. We are meant to follow, not be followed-by, the Holy Spirit. Chan asks, “Did God lead you to where you are? ...If you say you are called to be in the place you are, a few questions need to be considered…” The Spirit may lead you anywhere, to a different city, to a different state, to a different country, to stay where you are and spend your time in very different ways than you are now, He could lead you toward actions like in 2 Samuel 6, where David danced before the Lord “with all his might” (v 14). Others were shamed by his undignified display of worship to God, yet David said that he didn’t care and that he would become even more undignified for the sake of the Lord. All he cared about was worshiping his God. Chan reminds you that the Holy Spirit is about getting more of worshiping God, not about answers, power, miracles, or self-glorification. His book makes you worship God – love the Holy Spirit – and evaluate what it looks like to follow Him today, tomorrow, and the next day.

I was surprisingly refreshed by Forgotten God, and only wish I had read it sooner!

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Crazy Love
Overwhelmed By A Relentless God

For some reason this book became wildly popular on Miami's campus this past year, despite it's 2008 publication.  I bought it, but before I even read it, other students borrowed it, and read it first!  Once I finally opened Crazy Love for myself, it took more highlighters than days to read it.

Chan's clearest desire is for his life, preaching, and writing is to ignite a response, not just in word, but in deed.  Referencing the early church, Chan reminds us "After the apostle Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, people 'were cut to the heart and said... 'Brothers, what shall we do?' (Acts 2:37).  The first church responded with immediate action: repentance, baptism, selling possessions, sharing the Gospel."  Why is this relevant to us today?  Because the church today has a frighteningly different response!  "We respond with words like Amen, Convicting sermons, Great book... and then we are paralyzed as we try to decipher what God wants of our lives."  This was never the response that God desired for us!  In Chan's final chapter, 'The Crux of the Matter', he writes:

I wrote this book because much of our talk doesn't match our lives.  We say things like, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," and "Trust in the Lord with all your heart."  Then we live and plan like we don't believe God even exists.  We try to set our lives up so everything will be fine if God doesn't come through.  But true faith means holding nothing back.  It means putting every hope in God's fidelity to His promises.

Sooo-ooh many people would agree that Christian's talk-the-talk, but don't walk-the-walk, but their only response is embitterment and complaining.  This is why Chan's response is so true and refreshing.  Honesty and passion emanate from the pages of this book.  When Chan is asked "Do you think God calls you to live a radical, crazy life?" his response is simple, honest, and powerful:

It's not that this lifestyle should be crazy to us.  It should be the only thing that makes sense.  Giving up everything and sacrificing everything we can for the afterlife is logical.  "Crazy" is living a safe life and storing up things while trying to enjoy our time on earth, knowing that any millisecond God could take your life.  To me that is crazy, and that is radical.  The crazy ones are the ones who live like there is no God.  To me that is insanity.

Chan's writing overflows with passionate love for God and for others, with an exciting, deeply convicting, vision of what it looks like to really live it out.  This book inspires a new, and Biblical, way of life while enticing it's reader to wholeheartedly worship God.  I highly recommend grabbing a copy of Crazy Love and reading it from front-to-back.

Have you read it?  Post your comments!

Click here more book reviews from my library.

New Books for the month of May

Books I'm reading this May

Perfecting Ourselves to Death
The Pursuit of Excellence and the Perils of Perfectionism
by Richard Winter

Crazy Love
Overwhelmed by a Relentless God 
by Francis Chan

Forgotten God
Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit
by Francis Chan

What is a Healthy Church Member
by Thabiti Anyabwile

Titus by the Apostle Paul
Paul's brief letter to Titus teaching the inseparable link between faith and practice, belief and behavior. This truth is the basis for Paul's critique of false teaching as well as his instruction in Christian living and qualifications for church leaders.

1 and 2 Timothy by the Apostle Paul
First Timothy is a warning against false teachers as well as clear call for the church to live out in tangible ways the ethical implications of the gospel.
Second Timothy is a bold call for perseverance in the gospel in spite of suffering. Paul calls on his young coworker to continue the fight of faith, even as Paul approaches the end of his own life.


Have any comments about any of these books?  Please share them!  I'll post mine soon...