Month: June 2019

Categories
Author Resources

Author Resources: Francis Chan

Francis Chan is former Pastor of Cornerstone Church in California, speaker, and author of the following books:

Crazy Love

Forgotten God

Letters To The Church

You and Me Forever

Multiply

Erasing Hell

The Francis Chan Collection

 

Websites and Social Media

Crazy Love has what looks to be Francis Chan’s sermons from 2018 and older.  There is also a page for his podcast on Soundcloud and you can find his events although it doesn’t look like there are any future events scheduled.  You can also purchase his books here.

We Are Church has details on the new format of church that Francis Chan is teaching in the California area.  There is also a great resource on Bible reading that their church uses.

Apple Podcast

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Twitter

 

Favorite Quotes From Crazy Love

It’s up to you to respond to what you read. But you will have a choice: to adjust how you live daily or to stay the same.

A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it.

The fact is, I need God to help me love God.

It is a remarkable cycle: Our prayers for more love result in love, which naturally causes us to pray more, which results in more love….

If one person “wastes” away his day by spending hours connecting with God, and the other person believes he is too busy or has better things to do than worship the Creator and Sustainer, who is the crazy one?

 

From Forgotten God

When believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural.

Many have the knowledge but lack the courage to admit the discrepancy between what we know and how we live.

There will always be more of His character to discover, more of His love to experience, and more of His power to use for His purposes.

The problem is much of what we believe is often based more on comfort or our culture’s tradition than on the Bible.

God calls us to pursue Him, not what He might do for us or even in our midst.

Why would we need to experience the Comforter if our lives are already comfortable?

It takes time to quiet your mind and your heart before the Lord.

God cares more about our response to His Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year.

This business of sanctification is a lifelong process we are engaged in.

If GOD truly lives in you, shouldn’t you expect to be different from everyone else?

It saddened me to think that a gang could paint a better picture of commitment, loyalty, and family than the local church body.

 

From Erasing Hell

Test all your assumptions against the precious words God gave us in the Bible.

Let’s be eager to leave what is familiar for what is true.

Refusing to teach a passage of Scripture is just as wrong as abusing it.

How will Jesus respond to your laundry list of Christian activities—your Easter services, tithe, Bible studies, church potlucks, and summer-camp conversions?

God is good not only when He makes sense to us, but even when He doesn’t.

Chan, Francis. Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. Cook. Kindle Edition.

Chan, Francis. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. Cook. Kindle Edition.

Chan, Francis. Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity, and the Things We’ve Made Up. Cook. Kindle Edition.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Categories
Book Review Family Book Review

Book Review: Unlimited Memory – How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More, and be More Productive by Grandmaster Kevin Horsley

Title: Unlimited Memory – How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More, and be More Productive

Author: Grandmaster Kevin Horsley

Genre: Education

Publisher: TCK Publishing

Rating:Related imageRelated imageRelated imageRelated image

I downloaded this book back in January 2018 because I do not have the best memory, and I thought it would be a good idea to look into ways to improve that.  Then I promptly forgot about the book until May 2019.  While reviewing what books I had available to read, I figured this was a good one to dive into.  Maybe it would help with retaining what I read, which would eventually help me with reviews and writing for my blog.

My thoughts:

Reading about what Kevin Horsely was able to overcome with his learning disabilities and accomplishments was astounding and honestly, what kept me going and reading past the first chapter.  As I was reading through the first few chapters, there were so many intriguing one-liners about life and tackling excuses.  I know his intention was for us to focus on what we believe about our memories, but a lot of the details on excuses and beliefs can be used for any part of our life.  I found some information that was worth sending to a friend that’s been struggling with words spoken over them as a child that’s impacting their adult life.  That doesn’t have anything to do with improving your memory, but that shows how versatile some of the information is.  There were so many times, especially early on, where I forgot I was reading a book on memory. (Funny I know)

There may be something to the way he sets us up to remember different things. By using silly imagery, my car, and even my body, I was quickly able to recall the items presented. That is something I struggled with in the past. Even today, five days after I finished the book, I can remember at least two of the detailed lists that he gave and bits of the other lists. And that is without practice and reading five other books since then. I can see how with continued exercise and recall, I could have this info stored and readily available.

One strategy I will be using going forward of his is the name one. Without giving away details, so you can read the book for yourself, this is just one where its almost silly that I wasn’t doing it before. I did struggle with his strategy to remember and recall numbers, but I think for me, I need to review it again and really focus on it. It will probably be easier to remember real-world examples instead of the made-up one provided. I also struggled with the idea of mind mapping, but I know from experience for that method to work, I have to actually draw it out, which is kind of the point.

Overall, this book, for me was a 4-star book. The strategies were well explained, and I was able to practice and succeed in retaining information while reading the book. Plus, it is information that will serve me well while I continue down the path of reading books and applying their ideas and principles to my life.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Categories
Book Review Faith Book Review

Book Review: Forgotten God – Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan

Title: Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

Author: Francis Chan

Genre: Christian

Publisher: David C. Cook

Rating:Related imageRelated imageRelated imageRelated imageRelated image

This is book 2 out of 4 from The Francis Chan Collection that I downloaded on Hoopla as an eBook.  This book speaks about how Christians tend to forget about the work of the Holy Spirit when living their day to day lives with faith. Forgotten God looks at if the neglect of the Holy Spirit is another reason why today’s church in America doesn’t look like the early church of the book of Acts.  While Chan makes it clear that we can’t possibly understand all there is to know about the Holy Spirit, he attempts to explain what He does and what He is like.

My thoughts:

Francis Chan takes this opportunity to compare how the rest of the world embraces living with the Holy Spirit while the western church doesn’t truly embrace it.  It made me want to sit down and read the New Testament and document all of the occurrences of the Holy Spirit.  What does the Bible really say about the Holy Spirit?  What can be done through or with the Holy Spirit?  I ended up adding a Holy Spirit study to my future Bible study list.  With Chan’s opinion of the western church not really embracing the Holy Spirit, it makes you question why.  I believe that people are comfortable with their lives.  And are afraid that they may have to give up that comfortable living to truly follow God.  But I feel like no matter what you have to give up, following Christ wholeheartedly can never be a bad thing.  Your reward may not present itself on this side of heaven, but the peace from following Christ should be enough.

Chan also points out that the believer should act and be different from non-believers for the simple fact that we have the Holy Spirit living in us.  It made me question when others look at me, can they tell that I am different?  My honest answer was no; I don’t think people can look at me or barely know me and see anything different because of the Holy Spirit.  So that makes me wonder, am I afraid of what saying yes entirely to the Holy Spirit will mean for my life?  Am I so wrapped up in what people think of me that I don’t want anyone to know what the Holy Spirit is doing?  Previously, I’ve had more questions than answers, and it has led me to seek Biblical Truth.  Much like what Chan argues, I wanted to look at what I know, decide if it’s Biblical Truth or not.  Or more correctly, look at Scripture to find the Biblical Truths that I should believe.  When you look at what you believe, where did that come from?  Did your parents share their belief with you, so now it’s your belief?  Are you following your Pastors beliefs?  I love Chan’s point of not being afraid to question your beliefs.  If they are solid, biblical truth, they will withstand the questions.  If they are not solid, Biblical truth, wouldn’t you want to know that so you can correct your beliefs?  There isn’t anything wrong with questioning what you’ve been told and comparing it to Scripture.  Take a look at those considered “more noble” and why in Acts 17:11.  But while we are looking at if our life has the Holy Spirit or not, we need to look at our motives which Chan speaks on.  Is it for personal gain and betterment or to serve the church?

Another point Chan makes was our search for miracles.  In my opinion, it’s almost the opposite of forgetting about the Holy Spirit and more focusing on the product of having the Holy Spirit in your life.  You start to focus so intently on the Holy Spirit doing miracles in your life or your church. People want to be included, and everything becomes about waiting for the miracle or the miracle itself instead of God. I’ve seen entire church services turn from worshiping God to almost worshiping the miracle itself. I’m all for believing and praying for miracles.  God can do amazing things.  But I don’t think that teaching us about sanctification alongside us believing for miracles is wrong.  The heartbreak of prayers not being met and miracles not happening over and over again when God, in fact, is wanting us to take an active role can be prevented.  That active role could result in our miracle!

The same thing can happen with prophecy.  You have one person who can become almost a superstar in the church because of their ability to prophesy.  Again, it becomes about that person or the prophecy itself instead of God using a vessel for His glory.  But it’s important to remember that we can all be a vessel because we carry the Holy Spirit.  I don’t want to downplay the gifts of prophecy or the gift of miracles, but we need to stop isolating the majority of Christians because they don’t have that particular gift or experience a miracle.  Christians, especially those in leadership, need to realize that everyone has a part in the church and shouldn’t stifle others gifts, no matter what it is.  And that part doesn’t have to be a staff position or even a leadership role.

 

A random thought that popped up while reading this book was why the one Bible story that everyone seems to relate to is the prodigal son?  You either were the prodigal son or have a prodigal son.  Why doesn’t anyone ever admit to being the other brother in this story?  Or connect themselves to any of the other parables told?  I feel like I know more people who deal with jealousy and envy (myself included) on a day to day than those who purposely leave the goodwill of the Father to live their own lives and then come running home. Mainly because these people aren’t running home to be a servant only to have God welcome them back as a son.  I think it’s essential to pay attention to every detail of a story.

While looking through Scripture have you found your whole life laid out?  I haven’t seen it yet, but I have been very guilty of looking for every detail to be there.  I have even been sure that God has spoken to me about what I am supposed to do.  Not saying that what I heard wasn’t God or was wrong but I have been through so many valleys and mountain tops that I have questioned recently (especially with this new venture) if I’m hearing God correctly.  What I think I have learned is that it’s not about what I am doing specifically.  God wants me to love Him and others, and He is guiding me daily to do just that.  Just because I think I know what is next or how things should go, that isn’t always the case.  How is God giving us the details for our whole life or the next five years, when we can’t even obey Him day to day???  He wants me to be obedient right now.  I think of the parable of talents.  God wanted us to take care of what we currently have, and then He blesses us with more. I’m not limiting God.  I wholeheartedly believe that He can map out our future and if He wanted to, give us all the details.  But it seems that it would be rare and it still requires daily surrender and obedience to get to what He has planned for our life.

I ended up giving this book 5-stars because it was so thought-provoking for me and left me with a ton of takeaways and changes that I needed to make.  A verse that has been showing up recently in my life is Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV), “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Specifically what sticks out is “work out your own salvation”.  It let me know that there was more and it was my responsibility.  Yes, I’m saved by grace, but because of that, there should be something that is a result of that grace.  How do people know I follow Christ without telling them that I do?  My life should reflect the Holy Spirit living in me.  This is why I am doing what I am doing now.  Slowing down to stop, think, and take action on what it is I am learning.  Then apply it.  Consistently.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Categories
Book Review Faith Book Review

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

Title: Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

Author: Francis Chan

Genre: Christian

Publisher: David C. Cook

Rating:Related imageRelated imageRelated imageRelated image

I added this book to my To Be Read list after reading Letters to the Church, also by Francis Chan.  I was able to download The Francis Chan Collection (includes Forgotten God, Erasing Hell and Multiply also) using Hoopla as an eBook.  This version was a revised and updated edition even though Francis Chan said that he kept everything the same and just added a chapter to give an update on him.  This book asks you to look at your opinion of God and if your life shows the fruit of that opinion.  I made sure that I had my Bible with me to be sure that the ideals and scriptures Francis Chan was sharing matched closely to Biblical Truth since that is his stance: Using the Bible.  His opinion is that the American church has fallen away from the New Testament Church.  Chan walks us through some changes that he made for the church he used to lead as well as his definition of what fearing God sincerely looks like and how our lives should reflect that awe.

My thoughts:

Crazy Love required me to do a lot of meditating and reflecting on if I made God common.  It’s simple to forget how awestruck we should be when we take a moment to pause and think of Him as the Creator.  I asked myself if I take the time to be in awe of God and all that He is, all that He does and all that He has done for me.  Then it made me also realize that I could think of the people in my life as common.  I take advantage of them being there and don’t take time to pause and be thankful for what they bring into my life.  I also added the word “relationship” to my future study list.  I want to see what the Bible says about having a relationship with God.

How differently would my life look if I lived every day as if it could be my last?  Deep question, right?  Chan expressed that by focusing on eternity and our mortality, it would cause us to live a different type of life for Christ.  Chan also appears to challenge what it truly means to be saved, expressing that in the Gospel’s, Jesus seems to be “all or nothing”.  The example given was the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9, 19-23; Luke 8:5-15) and how the different types of soil did not yield the same result.  It was only the good soil that bears fruit and yields.  While Chan later agrees that we are saved by faith alone, he points out that our works are essential.

This all leads to what it means to surrender to God sincerely.  Chan admits that many will think his way of thinking is radical, and there will be pushback, but it makes you think, why do we consider living our full life for Christ as radical?  Chan gives examples of his time overseas and the difference between those that had to give up their families and livelihood to serve Christ.  Compared to American Christians who tend to put God in a box labeled Sunday. Does my life currently show my sacrifices for Christ? Does my life show or reflect my love for Christ?  Am I living above my means while others are living in poverty? What can I give up?

This, of course, made me think about tithing and wondering what my church does with it.  Is it going to administrative responsibilities and salaries?  Or am I taking care of those that can’t care for themselves like orphans and widows?  Do I have to give my tithe to the Church, or can I give it to the local orphanage?  When I decide to fast, instead of focusing on what I can’t have, how about I take the food or money I would spend and give it to the local homeless shelter? What if instead of serving ” God’s House” on Sunday morning, I decide to go out and serve God’s body during the week?  Can I do more, give more, and serve more that way?  Who made these rules anyway?  I feel like the further I study the New Testament and spend time with God, I will get answers to these questions.  How much of what we do today is because of tradition and ease compared to what is genuinely Biblical truth?

Overall, I gave this book 4-stars.  It was an easy read and had my mind spinning on what changes I can make in my life to reflect God’s love.  I will be spending additional time reflecting on how holy God is, appreciating those around me and looking for ways to continue to serve and give to the body of Christ.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.