crazy love, pt4

The last of Crazy Love...

I can finally say now that I recommend this book. My reviews on this blog didn't do it justice. Chan writes in the last chapter, "By now you're probably wondering, What in the world does this mean for me?" He reminds us that the first church responded with action: repentance, baptism, selling possessions, and sharing the gospel. "We respond with words like Amen, Convicting sermon, Great book... and then are paralyzed as we try to decipher what God wants of our lives." Chan challenges us to hold nothing back, putting every hope in God's fidelity to His promises. Our purpose is to serve a holy God and to love.

Yesterday, the kids and I went to Cartown Hyundai to get our Trailblazer serviced. (This is the dealership where we bought the car.) While we were waiting, I read the last chapter of Crazy Love. I remember thinking that it would surely be an interesting conversation should someone see this book and inquire about what I was reading. I thought to myself, I could even give this book to the person if they asked about it. But nah, I want to keep it. It was really good, and I would love to read it again some day. So, in the back of my mind, I had selfishly decided that this book was all mine.

I finished the book, and the kids started getting restless. After a bag of M&Ms and a couple stories, they told us our car was ready. I payed and we left. When we got back to our apartment, I realized I had forgotten my book. It was still sitting on the table at Cartown. A part of me wanted to go back and get it, but I don't think I will. People don't typically chuck out books, do they? For $10, maybe, just maybe someone will pick it up and read it. Isn't it great how God works? And isn't it funny that just a couple weeks ago, we'd bought a second copy of the book with the intention of giving it to someone? Maybe we still will. Or maybe this second copy can be ours. Or maybe we'll leave it somewhere accidentally.

crazy love, pt3

the hardest chapter: serving leftovers to a holy God

Chan said this chapter was the hardest one for him to write. It was hard to swallow, too. He writes, "As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there's no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are 'lukewarm' are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven." And he goes on to give his reasoning (Revelation 3:15-18, John 14:15, James 2:19, 1 John 2:3-4, Matthew 16:24-25, Luke 14:33), which accurately backs up what he claims. I look at myself as this: either I'm growing or I'm not; I don't see how becoming a Christian and then sitting still can really exist. "Habitual sin" is a term Jim used in Sunday School once this past year. We all have lukewarm tendencies, and we all sin, but are our sinful tendencies habits without repentance?

Jerry Bridges writes a chapter on the proof of love in his Transforming Grace book that went well with Chan's leftovers chapter. The section on Law and Grace had a good explanation of obedience, failing, grace, legalism, etc. His question: Under the reign of grace, is the moral will of God, considered as a whole, a request or a command? And his answer: The word request connotes desire; whereas the word command connotes authority to require. We are commanded to obey. Obedience is not optional, rather a response to our salvation. And lukewarm partial-obedience doesn't sound like it can still be called obedience either.

Chunks of text from Chan:

God wants our best, deserves our best, and demands our best. From the beginning of time, He has been clear that some offerings are acceptable to Him and others are not.

It's easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left.... God gets a scrap or two only because we feel guilty for giving Him nothing. A mumbled three-minute prayer at the end of the day, when we are already half asleep... [The priests of Malachi's day] assumed God was pleased because they had sacrificed something. God described this practice as evil. Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God's point of view (and lest we forget, His is the only one who matters), they're evil. Let's stop calling it "a busy schedule" or "bills" or "forgetfulness." It's called evil. God is holy. In heaven exists a Being who decides whether or not I take another breath. This holy God deserves excellence, the very best I have. "But something is better than nothing!" some protest. Really, is it? Does anyone enjoy token praise? I sure don't. I'd rather you not say anything than compliment me out of obligation or guilt. Why would we think God is any different?

God wants to saturate us with Himself. Am I allowing Him to saturate me? Am I giving Him every part of my day, my mind, my life, or just the leftovers?

crazy love, pt2

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear" (Matthew 13:3b-9).

I can't stay away from this Francis Chan book. Chan opened my eyes when he mentioned this parable and commented: "My caution to you is this: Do not assume you are good soil." He wrote that thorns are the things in our life that distract us from God. When we pile all this stuff (money, sins, activities, commitments, etc.) on top of God, how can our relationship with God grow? It can't. The chapter was titled "Profile of the Lukewarm."

"Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live? Do you see evidence of God's kingdom in your life... Are you satisfied being "godly enough" to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison to others?"

Chan went on to describe what a lukewarm, half-hearted person looks like. OUCH. Some of the examples he listed described me. He writes, "Jesus' call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a 'Christian' without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd." Chan wrote so many convicting things in Chapters 3 and 4.

I am so thankful for God's sufficient grace and for the truthfulness of this song:

Great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

And one last Chan analogy I thought was worth mentioning:

"Recently I saw a bag of potato chips with a bold declaration splashed across the front: 'Zero grams of trans fat.' I was glad to know that I wouldn't be consuming any trans fat, which research has shown is detrimental to my health. But then I flipped the bag over and read the ingredients list, which included things like 'yellow #6' and other artificial colors, and partially hydrogenated oil (which is trans fat, just a small enough amount that they can legally call it "0 grams"). I thought it was incredibly ironic that these chips were being advertised in a way that makes me think they are not harmful yet were really full of empty calories, weird chemicals, and, ironically, trans fat.

It struck me that many Christians flash around their "no trans fat" label, trying to convince everyone they are healthy and good. Yet they have no substantive or healthful elements to their faith. It's like the Laodiceans, who thought they had everything until Christ told them they were poor and wretched. They were all about declaring, "Look, we have no trans fat. We are wealthy, or we have good families, or we go to church every week." Obviously, it's not what you advertise that counts; it's what you are really made of."

This book is really knocking me in the head. Which is a good thing and very much needed.

crazy love, pt1

One of my sisters had this idea of doing a long distance Bible study. This is the first go-around. Starting in September, all five of us girls and Mom will go through this book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By a Relentless God by Francis Chan (a man). (I clarify that because I thought Francis was a woman. I'd obviously never heard of him.)

For lack of something better to do last night, I took a sneak peek at chapters 1 and 2. The first assignment was to watch the "Awe Factor" clip. (If you want to see it, go to www.crazylovebook.com. Click on "videos" and "The Awe Factor of God.") Chan quotes Psalm 19:1-4a which says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."

"This is why we are called to worship Him. His art, His handiwork, and His creation all echo the truth that He is glorious....Because we don't often think about the reality of who God is, we quickly forget that He is worthy to be worshipped and loved. We are to fear Him."

God is holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, and fair and just. The more we grasp each of those characteristics of God, the more we realize who we are. With that in mind, it was convicting to hear what Chan had to say about our perception of ourselves:

"Suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom and your closest friend get excited about that two-fifths of a second with you ... maybe. But no one else will realize it is you. Even if you tell them, they won't care. Let's take it a step further. What if you rent out the theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come see the new movie about you? People will say, "You're an idiot! How could you think this movie is about you?" Many Christians are even more delusional than the person I've been describing. So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us. Now consider the movie of life....

....God creates the world. (Were you alive then? Was God talking to you when He proclaimed "It is good" about all He had just made?) Then people rebel against God (who, if you haven't realized it yet, is the main character in this movie), and God floods the earth to rid it of the mess people made of it."

Chan goes on to point out how this movie is NOT ABOUT US. He says:

"How is it possible that we live as though it is about us? Our scenes in the movie, our brief lives, fall somewhere between the time Jesus ascends into heaven (Acts) and when we will all worship God on His throne in heaven (Revelation). We have only our two-fifths-of-a-second-long scene to live. I don't know about you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to be about my making much of God. First Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." That is what each of our two-fifths of a second is about. So what does that mean for you? Frankly, you need to get over yourself. It might sound harsh, but that's seriously what it means."

I'm utterly guilty.

good reads

A few of our favorite books this week have been:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Carly and I read a chapter every night. Sometimes she can squeeze

two chapters out of me, but not usually. This book has just enough action for a four-year-old to imagine, so it doesn't require too many pictures.

Isaac the Ice Cream Truck by Scott Santoro

Not the greatest children's picture book, but Isaac sure likes it. Isaac, the ice cream truck, wanted to be a bigger, more important truck until his ice cream made the day for some hard-working firefighters.

Boing by Nick Bruel

A very cute book. Not many words, but the illustrations are good. A little kangaroo is learning how to boing, but he keeps falling on his face. His bystanders finally figure out the problem. His pocket is weighing him down because it's full of toys. They take the toys out, and he BOINGs. Isaac and Carly have been boinging off of chairs and furniture too.

The Prophet by Francine Rivers

A book about Amos. It's shameful how rarely I read books other than children's picture books. Actually, the truth is, I have a problem with time management when I start reading a book. This was a really good book. Francine Rivers takes the book of Amos and puts it to action and dialogue. She calls it a work of historical fiction, but the stories in it are all based on biblical accounts, and she claims to "have attempted to remain true to the scriptural message in all points." I hope my reading this book doesn't skew my understanding of Amos when I read it now. Learning the story of Amos was an eye-opener. He was a shepherd--and his sheep listened to him better than our sheep listen to us. (But he also slept in the pasture and played music for the sheep. We haven't gotten to that point yet.) He was also a prophet used by God to warn the people of Israel to repent before judgment came. And then judgment came. The sins of Israel were no worse than the sins of this world today. This book was a good reminder of God's patience, His love, His justice and holiness.