Maybe you’ve already read this one. In case you haven’t, I have to share some praise with you for an awesome book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan, which has, honestly, changed my life. I was challenged to the core to think about my walk with Christ and my submission and obedience to Him as my Lord. I was blessed with the reminder of how amazing, incredible, and incredibly powerful and just plain …huge… God is — and yet how beautiful it is that He wants each of us to be in an intimate relationship with Him. He wants each of us to be a part of His story.

crazylove

I’ve mentioned to you before that Hero Hubby and I listen to Cornerstone Simi’s podcast regularly, and we are challenged and encouraged to live a life of faith by Francis (and other speakers) who are willing to get real, and get really challenging about living a life of faith.

In Crazy Love, Chan’s writing style — very witty, and very “real” — will draw you in to engage with his message quickly. You probably won’t want to put the book down. He begins with an awesome, fresh perspective on the greatness and majesty of our God. He then challenges us to think about our response, in light of the greatness of God. Are you assuming you’re the good soil, when perhaps you’re not? Do you fall into the ‘lukewarm’ category without realising it? Are you serving leftovers to a Holy God? Are you obssessed… Should you be? Could you be a part of the sleeping church that needs to wake up?

A few challenges that spoke to me at the core:

Most of us use “I’m waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life” as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God. (p. 169)

My caution to you is this: Do not assume you are good soil.

Are you satisfied with being “godly enough” to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison with 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 sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10)? (p. 67)

The overall theme was one that I think we as believers need to hear more and more and more often. I think we are constantly looking for milk — looking for someone to tell us what to do, to suggest some tidbit of an idea of another way to conveniently add Christ into life as we already live it. How can my life be better? What can the Lord do for me?

He has already done it all, given it all for us, and the right question is what can I do for God? This is very clearly a moment to revamp Kennedy’s famous “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country…” speech. Seriously, we need to ask not what God can do for us, but what we can do for God the God who gave His only Son for us, forgave us, and wants to give us everlasting life in Him.

Instead of the milk of “do this and do that and be more like Jesus,” the overall theme that is eternally relevant and incredibly refreshing to hear is this:

What I can say is that you must learn to listen to and obey God, especially in a society where it’s easy and expected to do what is most comfortable.

Truly, day after day, as I see how other people live in this part of the world, and remember that there is similar distress and poverty, everywhere, I realise what fullness and abundance I have in Christ — what cause I have to be content, and more than that, to be exceedingly joyful and eager to do the will of God. I highly recommend getting encouraged and challenged by the Crazy Love of God, and then living it out day after day.

xCC

Crazy Love is available on Amazon. And it is really, really worth the price and then some. Really. {That’s an affiliate link, just so’s ya knows.}