Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Forgotten God by Francis Chan



While it isn't as great and mind-blowing as "Crazy Love", Francis Chan's new book is definitely worth the read. He examines the Biblical passages dealing with the Holy Spirit and adds dimension to an often forgotten person of the Trinity.

"Forgotten God" discusses how the church has neglected the teachings on the Holy Spirit and is lacking in the power she could be walking in. Francis backs up his writings with Scripture, and gives a lot of food for thought.

Some of the points he makes are ones I've thought of before, but he also gives new ideas to roll around. For instance, we are often guilty of referring to the Holy Spirit as 'it' rather than 'Him'. And we forget that we can grieve Him, that the Holy Spirit has emotions.

Many of his analogies hit home. Would you ever buy a treadmill, hoping to lose weight, and not even take it out of the box? Then return it, claiming that you didn't lose any weight, even though you had the thing for two months? The church often claims to be walking in the Spirit, but we won't let Him out of the box!

And the reasons for that are multiple: something Francis also talks about. Fear, lack of knowledge, and misunderstanding are just a few excuses we use to limit the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

But most powerful, to me, are the real-life testimonies Francis shares about people who genuinely walk in the Spirit. Many of them moved me to tears, and all of them inspired me to want more of the Holy Spirit in my life.

Then again, Francis challenged me to ask myself "Why?" Why do I want Him in my life--for selfish reasons, or to better build up the Body of Christ? Even that can be tricky to discern, but Francis helps us to uncover our motives for doing what we do--or NOT doing it!

In all, this is an engaging book that is well worth reading, and will most definitely spark some good and healthy conversation within the church. I recommend adding this one to your "keep and read often" shelf.

So, I'm giving "Forgotten God" five out of five bookmarks, with a high-lighter as a charm. You really can't read a book like this without something to mark the book up with!

My thanks to my friends at David C. Cook for my copy, and for publishing such great books!

Happy Reading!

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