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Volume 4 . Issue 19
July 2008
COUNCIL OF REFERENCE
Crazy Love:
Dr. Richard Averbeck Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Rev. D. Stuart Briscoe
VI
Dr. Rick Warren
Publishers Majesty and the Conviction of Our Smallness . . . .2
Catherine & David While American Christianity may have con-
Publishers
Martin ditioned us to think and live complacently, God’s Now or Later? Living for Eternity Instead of the Here
Catherine & David Word doesn’t make room for our comfortable, and Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Martin
Editors safe interpretations. As I encourage you to look It’s Crazy Because It’s Countercultural . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Cheryl & Michael through the Scriptures yourself, I’m confident that
Chiapperino
Editors The Lukewarm and the Leftovers: God Hates Both 5
Cheryl & Michael
you’ll find what I’ve found on my spiritual journey~
Chiapperino there’s only one kind of love that God wants and Love is an Obsession: The Simple, Yet Profound
accepts from His followers, and it’s all-out crazy. Answer to It All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
22
demands that we make Him the
center of our lives if we choose to
follow His footsteps. After all, that
is how Jesus lived every moment,
and when we grasp the truth in this
Inaccurate
and we apply it to our daily walks,
those who don’t know Christ will
no longer be able to use the church
as their scapegoat for disinterest in
Preconceptions
“I believe in God, just not organized religion.” This is a familiar state-
Christianity.
Instead, they will have to reject
God Himself because they won’t
ment from people who choose to hurl insults at the church and to avoid be able to fight with the way the
it like the Plague. Sadly, this attitude is often so commonplace that we as church carries His name. No longer
believers shrug our shoulders and barely notice it. But hearing these words will they see a body of people so
should cause us to assess why so many people struggle with organized re- uninviting, seemingly no different
ligion. from themselves, but they’ll see a
love that’s practical, a joy that is
It’s time to look above and then look within to evaluate what~and who~ far more than happiness, and a God
the church really is. As believers, we are the Church, and we need to boldly that is the source of all things good.
and honestly look in the mirror. This process will require dependence on CBS
God as we take risks, look inside ourselves, and cultivate a willingness to
change.
Why does the established church have such a poor reputation among
unbelievers? In trying to find these answers, it is crucial that we not play
the comparison game with other Christians. We ought to measure our
faith and our relationship with Christ not by our closest believing friends,
Spiritual
but by God alone through His Word and His communication with us.
The crux of the problem~the reason people make such disheartening
statements toward us~is that many of us view God through a distorted
Amnesia:
lens. Though we still live in this carnal world till we enter heaven’s gates, Forgetting
we don’t have to live with such distortion just because we’re human. We
can allow God to correct our vision to see Him more accurately and more the Awe of
completely as He longs to be seen and understood.
His Majesty
and the
“The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re Conviction
lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. of Our
The crux of it all is why we are this way,
and it is because we have an inaccurate view Smallness
of God.” Before continuing, take a moment
and log on to www.crazylovebook.com
and watch the “Awe Factor” video.
Wrapped up in our inaccurate preconceptions of an all-knowing, all- Then stop and sit in silence for a
powerful, sovereign God, we think that God and His angels should give while. Stop praying, even. Just
us a standing ovation each time we read a verse of the Scriptures or allot meditate on the bigness of God.
30 minutes out of our traffic-filled days to spend time with Him, praying
and reading and meditating. Those disciplines are all good, but I think we It has to grieve the heart of
forget that God has given us a choice to love Him. In fact, it wouldn’t have God when He sees how few people
been real love if He hadn’t given us a choice. really understand, develop, and
exemplify a true fear of Him.“We
However, we must understand “that God never had an identity crisis.” are slow to listen, quick to speak,
He is the great I AM, always has been and always will be. He knows who and quick to become angry.” But
He is, every facet, every marvelous, minute intricacy of His being, and He
is complete within Himself. He doesn’t need us, but He wants us and continued on page 3
3
SPIRITUAL AMNESIA: Forgetting the Awe of His Majesty We must grasp the fact that
and the Conviction of Our Smallness God is fair and just. He determines
continued from page 2 rewards and penalties, and because
no man or woman or child is right-
after seeing such an awe-inspiring video, don’t you grasp the fear of God eous, He defines the law. Why? Be-
more clearly? After all, why would God have created far more galaxies than cause He’s God, because He’s holy,
the human mind can ever hope to fathom? Places that we’ve never seen because He won’t tolerate sin and
and some that we never even knew existed until recently? How is it that must punish it, and because He
carbon dioxide is fatal to humans though plants need carbon dioxide to must be consistent with who He
survive, and then plants produce the very thing humans need to survive~ is. Sometimes we disagree with His
oxygen? How creative! And how unfathomable is our God! judgment. However, “when we
disagree, let’s not assume it’s His
But no matter how much we read amazing statistics, or watch awe-inspir- reasoning that needs correction.”
ing videos or drive through a beautifully painted sunset or see a newborn
baby’s first movements, we are still hardheaded and we still forget how big Revelation 4 and Isaiah 6 shed
the God whom we serve is. light on the glory of God and tell
what our subsequent response
should be. In Revelation, John
describes the throne room of God
“We shouldisbean
“There ready to explain who
epidemic that Son of
of spiritual metaphorically, though likening
God is and be able to articulate and defend the God and the area surrounding Him
truth ofamnesia goingmission,
his unique claims, around,and work on to the most precious gems. John
our behalf, so that the much-loved people of this is awed by the glory he witnesses,
and
worldnone
will beof
ableus is immune.”
to believe in Him.”
yet no human vocabulary can ever
capture it. Isaiah gives less of a de-
tailed description of the throne
So what is the cure for this amnesia in a world where culture conditions room in chapter 6, but the reader
us to focus on everything we don’t have instead of being grateful for all sees his humility as he cries to God,
we’ve been given? In a world in which the pervading attitude toward God “Woe is me … I am ruined! For I
is one of either total rejection or mere toleration for His existence? First am a man of unclean lips, and my
of all, we must be acutely aware of this: eyes have seen the King, the Lord
Almighty.” If we truly witness the
glory of God as we allow Him to
reveal His real nature to us, there
is no doubt that we will cry out to
“God will not be tolerated. God in much the same way. CBS
He instructs us to worship
and fear Him.” Now or Later?
The cure is to understand His nature, the very characteristics of His be- Living for Eternity
ing God. He is holy, meaning He is perfect. Set apart and completely other
than anything else in heaven above or the earth beneath. He is eternal, not Instead of the
bound by the needs and limits that restrict us. He is “so far beyond our
time-encased, air/food/sleep-dependent lives.” He is all-knowing. He chooses
Here and Now
to know everything about us because He wants to, not because He is obli- Most days, if we’re honest, we
gated, and there is no hiding from His sight. He is all-powerful. Colossians don’t contemplate God or eternity
1:16 tells us that “all things were created by him and for him.” But doesn’t that much; at least, not in compari-
it seem instead that we have it backward? son to how much we stress over
our jobs, our checking accounts,
our families, or our 401Ks. Scrip-
ture tells us that our lives are like
vapors, and though we may claim
“Don’t we live instead as though God is created we believe this intellectually, do
for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to we really live it out? If we truly be-
take care of our loved ones?” lieved that our heart could stop
beating and our arteries stop pump-
ing blood in the middle of this
We ask Him so many questions about why so many things have gone paragraph, would we live as we are
wrong in the world, without realizing that He has every right to turn those living now?
questions back on us! continued on page 4
4
NOW OR LATER? Living for Eternity Instead
of the Here and Now
continued from page 3
For instance, take two commonly justified sins: worry and stress.
Worry shows a lack of trust that God is powerful enough to handle what- “If life were stable,
ever life throws our way. Stress implies that everything we’re involved
in, whether ministry-related or otherwise, is significant enough to allow I’d never need God’s
our tight, controlling grip on our lives and rudeness to others when they help. Since it’s not,
block our agendas.
I reach out for Him
Both worry and stress, however, show what skewed perceptions we regularly. I am
have of God and our relation to Him. There’s a story being written, a
movie being filmed and played out. It has no beginning and no end be- thankful for the
cause God is the source of it~the author of the story and the central char- unknowns and that
acter in the film. How do we so often mistakenly assume that the central
character is us? I don’t have control,
because it makes me
run to God.”
“We have only our two-fifths-of-a-second-
long scene to live. I don’t know about Living each day running to Him,
embracing the unknowns, refusing
you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to take his blessings of health and
family and financial provision for
to be about my making much of God.” granted, loving Him to our fullest
capacity, will put us in the safest
and most fulfilling standing with
To be forthright and blunt, this means we all need to get over our- our Creator: ready at any moment
selves. We need to point to God and focus on Him through good times for heaven, aware that we are per-
and bad. No matter where we are in this moment, we must realize that haps facing the brink of eternity
the story isn’t ours; it never was, and it never will be. And this is actually today.
the Good News! That it’s not about us. That it won’t end with the pain CBS
and the suffering of this world when we know Christ and follow Him.
Once we realize the story is all about bringing glory to the great I Am,
then we have two choices: turn to ourselves as our own gods, in a futile
attempt to control things the way we want them to be, or turn to our
Maker and admit that we desperately need Him.
It’s Crazy
because it’s Countercultural
“I am just an
earthly, sinful
father, and I love
Since God is someone so totally other than us, it is easy to understand
my kids so much
why we all, to some degree, have a hard time fathoming His incredible it hurts. How
love for us. For different people, there are different reasons why they could I not trust
find it so difficult. For me, it was my relationship with my own father
who passed away when I was 12 years old. My mother died giving birth a heavenly, perfect
to me, and since then, my father beat me whenever I disobeyed or some- Father who loves
how got under his skin. I definitely understood the “fear” of my father,
but comprehending a father’s love was beyond me since mine never me infinitely more
seemed to show it. Thus, just like I walked on eggshells with my father,
I tiptoed around in my relationship with God, fearing His majesty~but than I will ever
only out of true fright~and trying my hardest not to anger Him. love my kids?”
Then I had my own children, and my perception of God changed
dramatically for the better. Suddenly, I began to understand how much continued on page 5
He cherishes us, how much He enjoys us and loves our attention.
5
IT’S CRAZY BECAUSE IT’S COUNTERCULTURAL
continued from page 4 I should have said, if God is some-
one totally other than us~we may
Just as my small daughter bounds out of the house every day as I pull be made in His image, but He is
into the driveway, coming home from work, God desires our love to be complete perfection and is made
bold and fervent. Daily, He wants us to show it through the way we act, up of so many characteristics we
the words we speak, the thoughts we think. I would never want my can’t fathom~then we can’t inter-
daughter to run out and hug me every day out of compulsion. Because pret His actions as we would those
my wife or I told her she must to receive love from us. No. Of course, of another person’s.
I’d love her whether or not she chose to hug me every day. But as her
father who loves her so dearly, who is so proud of her and wants to pro- For instance, if a friend of ours
vide her with the best of everything, I look forward to those times. Be- tried to manipulate and force us
cause I know she’s not greeting me in her adorable, childlike way out of to love him, we’d consider that to
guilt, I know it’s genuine~from her heart. be arrogance on his part. Who does
he think he is? we’d ask. But God
In the same way, “Jesus didn’t command that we have a regular quiet is not a human. He is not arrogant
time with him each day.” Rather, he tells us that the greatest command or self-seeking, at least in the boast-
is to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37-38). ful sense in which we think of those
Studying the Scriptures and powerful praying will follow without question. terms. He is the only God, Someone
who knows who He is, knows that
Ephesians 1:8 calls God’s followers His “glorious inheritance.” Can our relationship with Him is what’s
you imagine? A God so great, so majestic, all powerful, everywhere pre- best for us, and knows that He must
sent, who doesn’t need us at all~who actually desires us? Yet, how sad pursue us to the end to be consis-
that the irony of our indifferent response still exists from Adam and Eve tent with His loving nature. His
till today: crazy love means that He can’t just
let us go our own carnal ways with-
out allowing us to choose Him. If
He did, when Judgment Day comes
“He treasures us and anticipates our departure and all is revealed, wouldn’t we be
from this earth to be with Him~and we wonder, angry at God for not “forcing” us
indifferently, how much we have to do to love Him through any means
possible? Nevertheless, God doesn’t
for Him to get by.” force. He only nudges through
His Holy Spirit. The choice to
How dreadfully sad that is. Consider a recent question I received from accept and pursue Him is ours.
a college student: “Why would a loving God force me to love Him?” At
the time, I didn’t answer as completely as I now wish I would have. CBS
Love is an Obsession:
the Simple, yet Profound Answer to It All
out raising support. At his death, “in 1898, over ten thousand orphans
had been housed and cared for in the five orphan houses they built.”
The recognition they received from newspapers revealed how incredulous
unbelievers were because of their crazy love and their relentless faith to
trust God for everything through prayer. But George was an ordinary
man, who chose to let God use Him to do extraordinary things.
Volume 4, Issue 19
Publishers
Catherine & David Martin
Editors
“A friend of mine once said that Cheryl & Michael Chiapperino
Christians are like manure: spread them Published on the World Wide Web at
ChristianBookSummaries.com.
out and they help everything grow The mission of Christian Book
better, but keep them in one big pile Summaries is to enhance the ministry
of thinking Christians by providing
and they stink horribly. Which are you? thorough and readable summaries
of noteworthy books from
The kind that reeks . . . or the kind Christian publishers.
that trusts God enough to let Him The opinions expressed are those
spread you out?” of the original writers and
are not necessarily those of
Christian Book Summaries
or its Council of Reference.
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a
Relentless God by Francis Chan with
CBS Danae Yankoski, copyright 2008 by
Francis Chan. Summarized by per-
mission of the publisher, David C.
Cook, 4050 Lee Vance View, Colorado
Springs, CO 80918. 186 pages. $13.99.
ISBN: 1434768511. Available at
your favorite bookstore or online book-
seller.
The authors: Francis Chan is pastor
of Cornerstone Church in Simi
Valley, California. He is also the
founder of Eternity Bible College
and sits on the board of directors
of Children’s Hunger Fund and
World Impact. Francis spends much
of his time speaking to students
around the country. Francis lives in
California with his wife, Lisa, and
their four children.
Danae Yankoski, a graduate of
Westmont College, is a freelance
writer who lives with her husband,
Mike, in Sisters, Oregon.
Summarized by: Kristyn
Chiapperino, a graduate of the
University of Colorado at Colorado
Springs, is a freelance writer and
a Starbucks barista.