crazy love

so, i'm just going ahead and putting this out there, but this will probably not be my last post on the amazing book by francis chan, crazy love. after repeated conversations with scott woods about this book (by the way, these were all conversations based on the cover and the intro), i decided it was a must read for me.

i've been a chan fan (yes, i just coined that phrase) since i heard him at passion a few years ago. the message that he gave at the conference was one of the most significant in my spiritual development over the past few years. 

i have a tendency to compare myself with others. for the good and the bad. i try to rationalize things that i do by falling into the "well at least i'm not doing this or that" trap. i also look at others and think to myself, "man, i wish i could play guitar as well as so and so, or i wish i could sing as well as... [you get the point]." and i've heard countless messages on the whole don't feel bad because you're not as good at something as someone else. however, chan's was the first message that i had heard on the sin of comparison as in not being prideful because of your supposed spiritual maturity...

it rocked my world. not in a cool/feel good, God-campy way. but in a-everything that i have ever done was out of the wrong intentions-i feel like such an idiot-i need to repent kind of way. definitely not the feel good message of the year but oh so necessary in the society in which we live (even within the church)!

that's the backstory...

so, i decided to buy crazy love and give it a shot. after all, i'm always up for reading something that will kind of change my perspective about stuff and what not. man, that does not even begin to describe the experience of this book. it has literally been devastating. it started as a near typical book about what is wrong with me (how convenient), but at about page 90, the intensity grew, and has lasted for the next 30 pages. at this point, i'm on page 120 or so and literally had to put it down for a while. it's really an exhaustingly truth-filled read.

chan's examination of the gospels and the book of revelation yield truly frightening results about the reality of lukewarm christianity--it doesn't exist. wow. for some reason, (i guess as a member of the american church) i've always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt in regards to not seeing the fruit of their supposed faith. however, now that i really think about it, Jesus never really gave the option of a middle road. it was always all or nothing. follow me or don't. sell everything you own or don't. there was no other option, and no matter how hard we search, i don't think that we'll find a true middle road now.

sobering thought, i know. but i think it is something that we all need to hear or at least be reminded of. 

let this encourage you towards love and good deeds...