Crazy Love

I have been slowly working my way through Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God over the last week or so.  The book describes a Christian life that is crazy to the world, but inspired by a crazy love from God.  I used to go to Francis Chan's church and always enjoyed the way he taught his sermons with passion, with realism, and with a fervent heart set on waking up the congregants to their complacency.  This book is the outflow of Chan's ministry to his local community.  It challenges the believer and the lukewarm to wake up and take the words of Christ seriously, to consider thier lives in light of the Word of God. 

As you can see these are things you really ought to read for yourselves, instead of me distilling them down for you.  But I will share one of the things that impacted me most while reading: a new perspective of stress and worry.  Here's a small note:

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's ok to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we are forgiven , that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won't be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God's strength, our problems are small indeed. 

He goes on to give one of his great parables to expand on this thought, but what this says is what is at the heart of this book. It tells of the greatness of our God, the greatness of His love for us, and what most Christians give Him in return (half-hearted, faith-failing 15 minutes of devotion). 

Overall, the book is a great read, even for the Christian who already has it "figured out."  If you find this Christian, please point him out to me, I would like to see what that really looks like.

Rating: 5.5 out of 7

-L