Book Review: Forgotten God by Francis Chan

Francis Chan recently released his book Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. Francis Chan is senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. He is also the founder of Eternity Bible College and serves on the board of Children's Hunger Fund.

In this book, Chan does a great job of explaining the theology of the Holy Spirit, the importance of a relationship with the indwelling Spirit and finally the daily surrendering of our own desires to the action of the Holy Spirit. The book is saturated with biblical references about the Holy Spirit to back up his claims. At the same time, it is short and easy to read with stories from his life and others’. By the end of this book you will be facing one of the most important questions of your life: Are you willing to surrender your life to the Holy Spirit? This book is a call to change the way you think, move, and breathe, allowing the Spirit to permeate every area of your life. We are called to suffer with Christ. As the Holy Spirit guides us he asks us to risk our lives taking us to the edge of trust, that the glory of God might be revealed.

“And like our Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts. We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and acts in and through us in ways that on our own we are not capable of. This is our purpose for living. This is our hope. ‘And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us’ (Rom. 5:5).” (96)

Responding to the Global Food Crisis

Many of you have been gradually finding out about my relatively recent decision to go vegetarian. To avoid the stereotype of being a hippie PETA activist, here is an explanation for my recent lifestyle change.

My sister and brother-in-law made this decision earlier this year. They’ve continually challenged me on the issue (even to the extent of offering me dumpster meat from Trader Joe’s for Christmas dinner). Their reasons for making the change kept haunting me every time I went to stick a piece of meat in my mouth. It wasn’t that I ate an excessive amount of meat, I rarely cooked meat myself and typically when I ate it I was eating dinner out. But I couldn’t seem to shake the issue from my mind. I’ve been praying a lot about the issue as to how to approach this tug at my heart. It became evident that there was only one clear choice. No more meat. Here are the reasons. (I’ve stolen this from my brother-in-laws blog because I’m not sure I could explain it any better. Thanks Dave!)

“[There is a continual rise in the] cost of food throughout the world. Britain has called the crisis a “silent tsunami” that is sweeping across the already impoverished places of the world. An NPR report mentioned that many families in Egypt spend up to one third of their income to buy bread (one of the cheapest foods available - everything else is drastically more expensive than a simple loaf of bread).
All over the world, this is an incredibly serious and deadly issue. It’s estimated that more than 100 million more people (and these types of issues always seem to affect kids more than adults) will start to go hungry because they can’t afford to buy the food necessary to survive. Meanwhile, we (in the West) continue to eat more than our share of the world’s food, largely because our meals are so meat heavy. I came across a blog that had a great post on these issues, and noted some statistics about how demanding on other food resources it is to produce meat . While the post is somewhat dated, I thought these numbers were kind of mind blowing:

~it takes 10-22 pounds of grain and soybeans to produce 1 pound of edible animal flesh.
~it takes 5,000-7,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of edible animal flesh.
~Percentage of corn grown in the US eaten by livestock: 80
~Percentage of oats grown in the US eaten by livestock: 95
~Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90
~Cattle produce just 100 pounds of flesh protein for every 1580 pounds of plant protein
~One acre of land can produce: 14,000 pounds of sweet corn
~One acre of land can produce: 28,800 pounds of navel oranges
~One acre of land can produce: 40,000 pounds of potatoes
~But one acre of land can only produce: 250 pounds of edible beef
~(one acre of soybeans produces 462,000grams of protein- one person’s protein requirement for over 23 years)”

This was not an easy decision by any means. I will miss my fresh turkey sandwiches at lunch. With spring on the horizon I’m definitely not looking forward to going to cook-outs and having to smell the delicious fragrance of hamburgers and chicken being grilled. But it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

The most difficult part so far has been what to do when other people offer to feed me. I have been hesitant up until recently to even tell people about this change for fear of coming across as a “vegetarian bullhorn evangelist.” So here is what I’ve concluded: So long as it’s in my control I will not eat meat. If people offer to cook for me I will tell them I am a vegetarian. However, if I am offered a meal with meat and it would be offensive not to eat it I will gratefully eat the meal. If I’m ever in a situation in which if I don’t eat it, it will be thrown away, I’ll eat it. (As wasting food would directly contradict my entire reason for going vegetarian.)

So there it is. No more meat. I hope that doesn’t make me a freak, but if it does, I guess a freak isn’t a bad thing to be.

Dangerous Wonder

It was one of those snowfalls you never forget. Millions of white flakes filled the air, quieting the earth and swallowing the sounds. The resulting silence was thick with a texture you could feel.

My nephew stood in the living room at the opening to our deck, a stranger to snow, his two years of life about to be altered irrevocably. His eyes were blank, unaware; his body clueless; his mind about to be overloaded with the electricity of discovery.
In the dark, Mother had maneuvered herself onto the deck’s two feet of snow to capture the event on video. Dad manned the sliding door, which had been unlatched for quick opening into the darkness. Uncle’s hands were poised on the switch to light the deck. And Aunt was ready to lift her nephew into the mysterious new world of twinkling ice and frozen softness.

The moment arrived.

In a perfectly timed instant the deck lights went on, the camera started recording, the sliding door swept open, and a two-year-old was transported form the world he knew to a world he had never seen.

Wonder filled the air.

His eyes stretched wide with astonishment, as though the only way to apprehend what he was seeing was for his eyes to become big enough to contain it all. He stood motionless, paralyzed. It was too much for a two-year-old, too much for an any-year-old (too often, when a person gets older, the person’s “too-much detector” malfunctions, corroded by busyness and technology). He twitched and jerked each time a snowflake landed on his face, feeling it tingle as it was transformed from hostile cold to friendly warmth, caressing his face with tiny droplets of water.

Just behind his large eyes you could see sparks flying from the crosscurrents of millions of electric stimuli overwhelming the circuit breakers of his previously small world. His mind was a confusion of strange, conflicting realities: white, cold, floating, flying, tingling, electric, landing, touching, sparkling, melting – causing an overload so great, so overwhelming, he fell backward – a slow-motion landing in the billowy whiteness, the snow tenderly embracing him. He had given up trying to understand snow and had given in to experiencing snow.

A moment of dangerous wonder.

(Dangerous Wonder - Mike Yaconelli) If you have not read this book yet it should be put at the top of your list!

Art, Worship, and Divine Creation

Art has always been a significant part of my life, both in admiring the work of others as well as creating my own. Lately, this passion has fallen a bit by the way side due to a lack of sufficient time. However, with the completion of yet another semester of college, this morning I found myself with a little bit of free time. So I decided to paint. I find art to be therapeutic, calming, and freeing. I’ve learned to see it as a form of worship. The mind set free to pray, adore, and praise. But this morning I saw it in a different light.

As I began to paint I was thinking about God as creator of the universe. I was reflecting on all the incredible intricacies of the world when I stumbled upon an unexpected realization… The Lord who created the stars, mountains, and seas, the Lord who paints the most miraculous sunsets, is the same Lord who created me. And beyond that, of all the incredible things his hands have made, he chose man to be created in his image. Imago dei. By simply creating, I was reflecting the image of my Lord, like a small child chugging along with a toy lawn mower imitating his father. We may be far from being able to do the real thing, but by imitating we are saying, “I want to be like you.” What greater form of flattery is there?

Art transcends the physical restraints of this world and is a partaking in the divine process of creation. Melodies and strokes unite to form an image that comes not just from the hand of the creator, and not just the mind, the heart or the soul either; but rather from the uniting of every part of your being. This is in essence, what it means to be alive. And when this is set in perfect rhythm with the heart of God, that is true worship. Worship is not about the song being sung, the sight being gazed upon, or the masterpiece being created. Worship is the uniting of the heart, soul, mind, and strength to imitate the ultimate creator. It’s saying, “I love you, and want to be like you.”

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord

I recently heard someone pose an interesting question: What would God want for Christmas? As I thought about the question, I couldn’t help but think that what God wants for Christmas isn’t any different than what He wants from us every day of our lives. So maybe, the better question is: What has God’s desire been for humanity since He cast the earth into existence? The Bible is explicitly clear that the Lord yearns for His creation to be redeemed and for us to be reconciled to him. He hungers for us to be able to experience the world as He intended. Life to the full. Life in the Kingdom . . . on earth as it is in Heaven.

Life where. . .
. . . widows and orphans are cared for. (James 1:27)
. . . the hungry are fed. (Isaiah 58:7)
. . . the homeless are given shelter. (Isaiah 58:7)
. . . the naked are clothed. (Isaiah 58:7)
. . . creation is no longer subjected to frustration. (Romans 8:20)
. . . we don’t pass judgment on one another. (Romans 14:13)
. . . we forgive because we have been forgiven. (Matthew 18:21-35)
. . . our citizenship is in Heaven. (Philippians 3:20)
. . . we love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31)
. . . we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Mark 12:30)

Is this not what is promised with the return of Christ to earth?

Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of Christ, both at incarnation and for the second coming.

From the Latin word adventus, advent means “coming” translated from the Greek word parousia commonly used in reference to the second coming of Christ.

So as we await the coming of our King this Christmas, may this be our prayer:

O Come O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the son of God appear

Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee o Israel

O come thou dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight

Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee o Israel

Oh come Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease
Fill all the world with heaven’s peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

But let’s not stop there. As it is written, “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” (2 Peter 3:11-12)

So this Christmas, let’s stop asking how can we get what we want? And start asking how can we give God what He wants? After all, shouldn’t that be the purpose of our lives?

Give Me Your Eyes

Looked down from a broken sky.
Traced out by the city of lights.
My world from a mile high.
Best seat in the house tonight.
Touch down on the cold black-top.
Hold on for the sudden stop.
Breathe in the familiar shock of confusion and chaos.
All those people going somewhere, why have I never cared.

Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give your love for humanity.
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

Step out on the busy street.
See a girl and our eyes meet.
Does her best to smile at me.
To hide what's underneath.
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie.
Too ashamed to tell his wife he's out of work, he's buying time.
All those people going somewhere, why have I never cared.

Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

I've been there a million times.
A couple of million lives.
Just moving past me by, I swear I never thought that I was wrong.
But I wanna second glance so give me a second chance to see the way you've seen the people all along.

Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

(Give Me Your Eyes - Brandon Heath)

This should be the prayer of each of our souls...

Where Does Your Identity Lay?

What would it look like if, as Christians, our identity laid not in our outward appearances, wealth, or worldly successes, but rather, it laid in our oneness with Jesus Christ? After all, “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Would the way we view ourselves not be drastically different if we truly believed that God created us in his own image? As it is written, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him” (Genesis 1:27). In light of this we are offered a sort of divine confidence in who we are, regardless of what the world tries to tell us. The Bible assures us that “He will take great delight in [us] … he will rejoice over [us] with singing” (Zephania 3:17). God, the creator of the universe, takes joy in YOU. He finds pleasure in your life, even though it is a mere “mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). How can something so awe-inspiring not be enough? It is a great tragedy when we are deeply valued by an eternal God and yet still look towards other humans for approval? Day after day we must strive to block out the plethora of lies that bombard us daily and reach to fully grasp the richness found at the heart of this truth.

Now let’s turn the tables for a minute. There is a lot more wrapped up in this truth than simply having confidence in the person God made you despite the lies of the world. Remember, these words were not written just to you. But these same feelings of love extend towards every human life. Whether it be the guy you sit next to in class, the girl working at the coffee shop you go to, the starving child in Africa, the child infected with Malaria in South America, the single mother infected with AIDS in India, the child soldier in Uganda, the terrorist responsible for civilian bombings, Osama Bin Laden, Sadam Hussein … get my drift? Imagine how a genuine belief in this would revolutionize the way we live our lives.

What if we were able to set aside all of the things that cripple our ability to see others the way Christ sees them?

… Would this not be easier if our identity lay solely in Christ?

What if we loved, not expecting anything in return?

… Would this not be easier if we fully understood the depth of God’s love for us?

What if we looked not within ourselves but to God for the ability to love unconditionally?

… Would this not be easier if we recognized our inability to love apart from God?

What if… we loved the world like Christ did?

… Would the world not be a different place?

Is this not what God has called us to do?