Snapshot #11 from "Crazy Love"

This is the last post in the series of brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" that I've been sharing with you over the last few weeks. This excerpt is from page 112-114.

What does running toward Christ and pursuing Love look like in daily life? The best place I know to look is in Scripture; here we gather wisdom and study the examples of those who followed God wholeheartedly. The best passage is probably Hebrews 11, a chapter often called the “hall of faith.” It is tempting to assume that the people listed there were super-human, or supersaints, and that you and I could never do the kinds of things they did. (112)

These people were far from perfect, yet they had faith in a God who was able to come through in seemingly dire situations…Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers. (112-13)

If eternity doesn’t come and God does not exit, then, as Paul says, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Cor. 15:19). If there is no God, then Paul and all the martyrs throughout history lived short lives full of needless suffering (2 Cor. 6:4-10).

But since God is real, Paul and the martyrs should be envied more than all people; their suffering was worth it. If we allow ourselves to live recklessly for Him, then we, too, will see His glory. We will see Him do the impossible.

Christians today want to play it safe. We want to put ourselves in situations where we are safe “even if there is no God.” But if we truly desire to please God, we cannot live that way. We have to do things that cost us during our life on earth but will be more than worth it in eternity. (114)

Snapshot #10 from "Crazy Love"

This is the next to last post of the brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" that I've been sharing with you over the last few weeks. This excerpt is from page 108.

"If you really want to experience God’s supernatural provision, then do as He says. Test Him. Give more than you can manage, and see how He responds.

When we are focused on loving Christ, it doesn’t mean we do less. I used to do many of the same things I do now, but I was motivated by guilt or fear or consequences. When we work for Christ out of obligation, it feels like work. But when we truly love Christ, our work is a manifestation of that love, and it feels like love.

In reality, not one of us will ever be worthy. It is useless to attempt earning it; you will never feel ready. It is unknown and uncomfortable. But there really is a God who forgives everything and loves endlessly."

Snapshot #9 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking. This excerpt is from pages 94-95.

"What scares me most are the people who are lukewarm and just don’t care. I think that if I did a poll of the readers of this book, many of you would say, “Yeah, I am definitely lukewarm at times, but I’m not really at a place to give more to God.” Many of us believe we have as much of God as we want right now, a reasonable portion of God among all the other things in our lives.

“…we need to realize that how we spend our time, what our money goes towards, and where will invest our energy is equivalent to choosing or rejecting Him. How could we think for even a second that something on this puny little earth compares to the Creator and Sustainer and Savior of it all?

Here me clearly on this, because it is vital – in fact, there is nothing more important or eternal: Are you willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants? Do you believe that wholehearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing or person in your life? Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?"

Snapshot #8 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking. This excerpt is from pages 87 & 91.

"If one hundred people represented the world’s population, fifty-three of those would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4,000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet? Simply by purchasing this book, you spent what a majority of people in the world will make in a week’s time." (87)

As Tim Kizziar said, “Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” (91)

Snapshot #7 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking. This excerpt is from pages 88-90.

"God wants our best, deserves our best, demands our best. From the beginning of time, He has been clear that some offerings are acceptable to Him and others are not. Just ask Cain, upon who’s offering God “did not look with favor” (Genesis 4:5).

For years I gave God leftovers and felt no shame. I simply took my eyes off the Scripture and instead compared myself to others. The bones I threw at God had more meat on them than the bones others threw, so I figured I was doing fine.

It is easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left. Hosea 13:6 says, “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” 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. Two crumpled –up dollar bills thrown as an after-thought into the church’s fund for the poor. Fetch, God! (88-89)

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." (90)

Snapshot #6 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking. This excerpt is from page 84.

"Let’s face it. We’re only willing to make changes in our lives only if we think it affects our salvation. That is why I have so many people ask me questions like, Can I divorce my wife and still go to Heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Am I a Christian even though I’m having sex with my girlfriend? If I commit suicide, can I still go to heaven? If I’m ashamed to talk about Christ, is He really going to deny knowing me?

To me, these questions are tragic because they reveal much about the state of our hearts. They demonstrate that our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the King. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). And our question quickly becomes even more unthinkable: Can I go to heaven without truly and faithfully loving Jesus?

I don’t see anywhere in Scripture how the answer to that question could be yes."

Snapshot #5 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking. This excerpt is from page 68.

"…I’ve spent the past several days reading the Gospels. Rather than examining a verse and dissecting it, I chose to peruse one Gospel in each sitting. Furthermore, I attempted to do so from the perspective of a twelve-year-old who knew nothing about Jesus. I wanted to rediscover what reasonable conclusions a person would come to while objectively reading the Gospels for the first time. In other words, I read the Bible as if I’d never read it before.

My conclusion? 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."

Snapshot #4 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking. This excerpt is from page 65.

"A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it. Most of us have too much in our lives. As David Goetz writes, “Too much of a good life ends up being toxic, deforming us spiritually.” A lot of things are good by themselves, but all of it together keeps us from living healthy, fruitful lives for God.

Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live? Do you see evidence of God’s kingdom in your life? Or are you choking it out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money, and thought on the things of this world?

Are you satisfied being “godly enough” to get yourself in heaven, or to look good in comparison to others? Or can you say with Paul that you “want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering, becoming like him in his death (Philippians 3:10)?”

Snapshot #3 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking. This excerpt is from pages 59-60.

A STRANGE INHERITANCE
"The very fact that a holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful, fair, and just God loves you and me is nothing short of astonishing. The wildest part is that Jesus doesn’t have to love us. His being is utterly complete and perfect, apart from humanity. He doesn’t need me or you. Yes he wants us, chooses us, even considers us His inheritance (Ephesians 1:18). The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.

That really is amazing beyond description. The holy Creator sees you as His “glorious inheritance.”

The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him – and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by.

The best things in life are gifts from the One who steadfastly loves us. But an important question to ask ourselves is this: Are we in love with God or just His stuff? Imagine how awful it would feel to have your child say to you, “I don’t really love you or want your love, but I would like my allowance, please.” Conversely, what a beautiful gift it is to have the one you love look in the eye and say, “I love you. Not your beauty, your money, your family, or your car. Just you.”

In the United States, numbers impress us. We gauge the success of an event by how many people attend or come forward. We measure churches by how many members they boast. We are wowed by big crowds. Jesus questioned the authenticity of this kind of record keeping. According to the account in Luke chapter 8, when a crowd started following Him, Jesus began speaking in parables – “so that” those who weren’t genuinely listening wouldn’t get it.

When crowds gather today, speakers are extra conscious of communicating in a way that is accessible to everyone. Speakers don’t use Jesus’ tactic to eliminate people who are not sincere seekers. The fact is, He just wasn’t interested in those who fake it.”

Snapshot #2 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking.

The following description by Chan really hits home for me and describes well my own experience with my daughter and the journey the Lord has taken me on in understanding his love for me in a more profound and significant way.

"Sometimes when I come home from work, my little girl greets me by running out to the driveway and jumping into my arms before I can even get out of the car. As you can imagine, arriving home has become one of my favorite moments of the day.

My own love and desire for my kids’ love is so strong that it opened my eyes to how much God desires and loves us. My daughter’s expression of love for me and her desire to be with me is the most amazing thing. Nothing compares to being truly, exuberantly wanted by your children.

Through this experience, I came to understand that my desire for my children is only a faint echo of God’s great love for me and for every person He made. I am just an earthly, sinful father, and I love my kids so much it hurts. How could I not trust a heavenly, perfect Father who loves me infinitely more than I will ever love my kids?" (53).

Matthew 7:11
"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Snapshot #1 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking.

"The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God." (20)

"When I am consumed by my problems – stressed out about my life, my family, and my job – I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important that God’s command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a “right” to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities." (39)

"Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives.

Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip on control.

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it’s okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional.

Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we’ve been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won’t be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God’s strength, our problems are small, indeed." (40)