Review: Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

A good book that challenges the American church that’s deep in the American Dream (well, at least the Christian suburban version). Perhaps its due to the negative reviews I’ve read, but the book turned out better than I expected. It’s true–it might not be a theologically driven or as “deep” exegetically as some might want it–but it presents simple Biblical truths for the goal of application and this I appreciated. I appreciate Francis Chan’s call for Christians not to live lukewarm lives and the work did challenge me spiritually to evaluate my life and also why I do what I do. His chapter on the characteristic of the lukewarm Christian is a good list for a believer’s spiritual inventory. What I appreciate the most about Francis Chan, something I as a preacher want to work on, is his ability to illustrate Christian truths. These are always helpful to get the preacher’s mind churning to keep an eye out for one’s own original illustrations. The author hammers home that the Christian life is about God and not us by comparing us to a movie extra for a film waiting for that two-fifths of a second you can see the back of your head and getting so excited about it when no one else care–or really notice. He compares our love for God’s blessing over our love for God as a child who only wants what his or her parents can give–but not loving the parents. He even talks about wanting to join the Marines and saying how it would be irrational to join and not say you want to run when they own you–yet for us as Christians, we don’t understand the Lordship of Christ when we are saved. I do recommend this book as a devotional.

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