Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

by Francis Chan | Religion & Spirituality |
ISBN: 1434768511 Global Overview for this book
Registered by k00kaburra of San Jose, California USA on 6/8/2010
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by k00kaburra from San Jose, California USA on Tuesday, June 8, 2010
My boyfriend bought this on Amazon.com because we're reading it for my church's small group. I started reading it last Tuesday, and will be proceeding at the rate of one chapter each week.

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Product Description
God is love. Crazy, relentless, all-powerful love. Have you ever wondered if we’re missing it? It’s crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe—the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor—loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss. Whether you’ve verbalized it yet or not...we all know somethings wrong. Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn’t working harder at a list of do’s and don’ts—it’s falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same. Because when you’re wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

Journal Entry 2 by k00kaburra at San Jose, California USA on Friday, September 10, 2010
Finished today.

I think I was pretty underwhelmed with Francis Chan's Crazy Love. Part of the problem, I suppose, was Chan was avoiding giving specific instructions because he wants us to discover our own paths to God. But I wanted at least some directions for how to set that progress in motion. In other studies I've done, there are questions or exercises provided at the end of each section to help steer your thoughts in the proper direction. While some questions are mixed into the narrative, something about the presentation of this material just wasn't working for me.

Part of the problem too, I'm sure, is that our small group took several breaks throughout the reading of this book, so it was spread out over the entire summer.

I don't know. It's not like I found Chan's words theologically unsound or incorrect. They are! But something about his speaking style didn't reach me the way Richard Foster does. Maybe God just didn't want to use this book to reach me.

Except, in a way, He did. As I was reading the last chapter or two, talking about the many ways God's grace can work through His Christians, I felt a desire and an almost physical need to go back to practicing drawing and painting, to try and make art that will help others understand and comprehend God. In today's modern church, that seems to be a greatly undervalued skill, but God certainly had artisans creating works for His temple so I don't think He would condemn it! Just think of the millions of illiterate peasants in the medieval period who needed paintings and sculptures to help them visualize the stories of the Bible. I think there is still, to some degree, a need for this today. If I can't *create* the art, perhaps I can help preserve the great works that inspired people in the past.

So I guess you could say I felt a calling, in a way. But I don't know if anyone would seriously consider it a 'good' path, since it doesn't involve going to Africa and saving children from poverty or selling my house to help the poor or some of the other choices Chan recommends.

Journal Entry 3 by k00kaburra at -- Mailed, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (9/28/2010 UTC) at -- Mailed, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

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sent to Johnathan Fox of Marysville, CA to fulfill a request on Paperbackswap.com!

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