Tuesday, January 27, 2009

"Crazy Love" book review

Today, I wanted to take a few moments and relive the experience of the book "Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God" by Francis Chan. For those of you who don't know where to get the book, you can find it here.

I had heard from many friends, worship leaders and ministers around Facebook, Twitter, and various other places about this book for quite some time before I finally ordered it. Now that I have completed the experience, I understand the fuss. This is not a book to be read if you are looking for a "pat on the back" if you are just "trying to get by" in your walk with the Lord. This is a book to "tell it like you need to hear it"!!!

Many times throughout the book, I found myself being attacked from all angles in how I have been showing the love of Christ to others. One of the really great features that I enjoyed with the book was the accompanying website content here. There are videos ranging from an introduction to the book, to Chapter introduction videos, and also illustration videos that give images to go along with the story.

There are a few illustrations that really jumped out in the study...one of a Holy God who is far beyond the comprehension of man, that is wanting a relationship with me (insert your name in place of me). Another, was Chapter 5 "Serving Leftovers to a Holy God"...I don't think that would need much more input from me, it hits particularly close to home, no matter who you are. Then, there is Chapter 8, entitled "Profile of the Obsessed" that also hit me hard, because if we are so obsessed with our HDTVs, iPods, iPhones, Blackberries, PCs, fast cars, big houses, or whatever it is in your life, shouldn't we be much more willing to show obsession about God to everyone we contact?

If you are wanting to be challenged in your life with God and want to get a bigger picture of Who He is and what you could be doing better to show His love to others, "Crazy Love" is a must read! Once again, you can pick it up here and you can find out more at the accompanying website here And, if that wasn't enough, there is also a DVD Study Resource available here.

Check it out, or let me know what "Crazy Love" meant when you read and studied it...

2 comments:

Philip said...

For the most part I would tend to agree. I think you should take some caution if your not very familiar with Christian theology and different positions. Check out my review here: http://inapposition.blogspot.com/2010/08/crazy-love.html

Anonymous said...

I think one needs to be cautious when elevating radical ideas to identify a passion for Christ. Certainly we can always be challenged in our love and service for God but I think the book borders on having weak or young Christians being turned off or fooled that if you sell your house and give it to the church, you are living passionately for God. It reminds me of secular academics on our college campuses that try to make "white privileged" people feel wrong about having money and to value equal distribution of weath. I find that a secular, unsaved concept more than a biblical one. Just felt like I should write about this to caution people to read the book with good critical thinking skills.