Great title. My thoughts exactly when I went through this book for the first time.
Who really lives that way?
Probably just crazy people who got extra doses of the Spirit for whatever reason.
I have since learned these last few years...there ARE real people amongst us who do live like that. And they are crazy all right!
Crazy in love with the one who crazily loves them.
I find these little snapshot bios very inspiring...because it reminds us that such a sold-out life for Jesus is totally attainable. No matter what your background, character, and giftings... God can use you magnificently, for His glory...if you let Him.
Do you care to be one of the "faithful few" who are commended by Jesus for following Him wholeheartedly?
The cost is not small, right? Most of the choices you'll have to make (or have made, if you're already on this path) will bring pain, hardship, maybe ridicule and suffering. Maybe little things like saying no to a late-night movie so you can wake up early enough to spend time with Him before heading out the door. Maybe big things like declining a lucrative job offer so you can work a less demanding job and use those extra hours to build relationships with your neighbours. Or using your savings money to adopt a child. Or choosing to live in an undesirable neighbourhood.
In a few decades, I really, really hope we can all email/facebook/whatever-it-will-be-by-that-time each other and see one another's lives as little bios that can go into this chapter!
Do you know anyone whose life might fit in with the other stories in this chapter?
What do you want your bio to say?
4.27.2011
4.13.2011
Crazy Love - chapter 8
In this chapter, Francis Chan describes some of the characteristics of people who are obsessed with God. "The obsessed," as he calls them, love God, and thus genuinely love their neighbours, even those neighbors that harm them. They are obsessed with the kingdom of God, so they don't care about their comforts here in this temporary dwelling. This means "the obsessed" choose joy and cultivate it. They are content with what they have been given.
The descriptions in this chapter were so convicting for me. I am not a risk-taker. Anyone who has known me for even a short while would attest to that. I like to be comfortable, to have my future set out, and to be safe. This was especially coming to surface last night as I was looking through apartment options for next year. I found myself getting obsessed with the "criminal activity" around all the prospective apartments. Yes, safety is important, but as Francis Chan says in this chapter, we shouldn't make it our top priority. How would my decision look if I prayed that God be glorified even in my housing situation? What if instead of spending all my time looking at maps provided by the county police, I prayed and considered how I could tangibly love God and others through this decision?
I was convicted to pray over so many areas of my life while reading through this chapter, and I believe all of you were convicted as well. So, was there a particular characteristic of "the obsessed" that stood out to you? What were your thoughts as you read through the descriptions?
- written by Na Young
The descriptions in this chapter were so convicting for me. I am not a risk-taker. Anyone who has known me for even a short while would attest to that. I like to be comfortable, to have my future set out, and to be safe. This was especially coming to surface last night as I was looking through apartment options for next year. I found myself getting obsessed with the "criminal activity" around all the prospective apartments. Yes, safety is important, but as Francis Chan says in this chapter, we shouldn't make it our top priority. How would my decision look if I prayed that God be glorified even in my housing situation? What if instead of spending all my time looking at maps provided by the county police, I prayed and considered how I could tangibly love God and others through this decision?
I was convicted to pray over so many areas of my life while reading through this chapter, and I believe all of you were convicted as well. So, was there a particular characteristic of "the obsessed" that stood out to you? What were your thoughts as you read through the descriptions?
- written by Na Young
4.06.2011
Crazy Love - chapter 7
In a world (country) that bombards you with the message that you should live your best life now, it is so very easy & "convenient" to forget that Christ calls us to a radically different way of living, of making choices, of investing.
I love how this chapter forced me to get into the nitty-gritty of how I live out what I claim to believe ... it's not hard to do a quick assessment of where my time, money, energy, thoughts are going every day. And that reveals so much about where my heart is.
I am also encouraged that, although my heart has many rotten spots, I am not left to rot. God is slicing away those rot spots. Alongside conviction comes the promise that God Himself will help (is helping) His children make increasingly wiser choices as we grow in maturity. I am encouraged as I consider the "giants of the faith" in Hebrews and realize that they were real people with real lives and real struggles - just like you and me, although they passed from this world a little while before we came on the scene. And they were guided to become strong men and women of faith by a real God, who has not passed from this world.
Every time I have surrendered something (an area of my life, a relationship, a decision...) to this living God, He gives back more than I gave away (which is really very little, each time). Without fail. Yet at times, I still find myself foolishly struggling to give more the next time I have the opportunity to do so. Must ask for help continually to hold things more loosely...
One question for this chapter -- What are you doing right now that requires faith?
Lord, teach us to spend this life on things that honour You.
I love how this chapter forced me to get into the nitty-gritty of how I live out what I claim to believe ... it's not hard to do a quick assessment of where my time, money, energy, thoughts are going every day. And that reveals so much about where my heart is.
I am also encouraged that, although my heart has many rotten spots, I am not left to rot. God is slicing away those rot spots. Alongside conviction comes the promise that God Himself will help (is helping) His children make increasingly wiser choices as we grow in maturity. I am encouraged as I consider the "giants of the faith" in Hebrews and realize that they were real people with real lives and real struggles - just like you and me, although they passed from this world a little while before we came on the scene. And they were guided to become strong men and women of faith by a real God, who has not passed from this world.
Every time I have surrendered something (an area of my life, a relationship, a decision...) to this living God, He gives back more than I gave away (which is really very little, each time). Without fail. Yet at times, I still find myself foolishly struggling to give more the next time I have the opportunity to do so. Must ask for help continually to hold things more loosely...
One question for this chapter -- What are you doing right now that requires faith?
Lord, teach us to spend this life on things that honour You.
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