Crazy Love

I have never done a book review on our blog before, but I just finished reading an amazing book - possibly the most challenging & thought-provoking book I have ever read, outside the Bible of course. Crazy Love is written by Francis Chan, a Pastor from California. Many of you may have already read this book - if you haven't, I highly recommend it. But get ready to be uncomfortable & convicted! Crazy Love was one that was difficult to put down & it led me to thinking in ways I haven't thought in a long time. When Andy & I were in college we had an "ah-ha" moment one night when we were reading Chapter 10 in the book of John. Verse 27 says, "My sheep listen to my voice, I know them & they follow me." Andy & I felt empowered by that verse - living as a victorious Believer on a daily basis is as simple as listening for God's voice in every situation & then obeying what He tells you. For the next few months we both focused diligently on doing just that. During this time God led us to move to Oklahoma - we didn't have jobs lined up, any family here, or any other logical reason to move here, other than being obedient to the Lord. In Crazy Love, Francis Chan talks about being so in love with God that we do things out of the ordinary, out of our comfort zones, out of our comfortable American lifestyle. Just this morning I saw a family on Good Morning America - they are calling their mission "Crazy Love in Action." They traded their 4000 square foot house for an RV & are traveling the country with their 4 children, working in homeless missions. Sound crazy? To most people maybe, but not to this family - they said that what they receive by giving themselves away far out ways what they gave up. Since Andy & I have moved to Oklahoma, life has gotten busier & the distractions come daily to try & prevent us from hearing God's voice. But this book has flamed in me a desire to once again strive to hear from the Lord & obey him consistently, even when it doesn't make sense. On page 168 he says, "I wrote this book because much of our talk doesn't match our lives. We say things like,"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," & "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Then we live & plan like we don't believe God even exists. We try to set our lives up so everything will be fine even if God doesn't come through. But true faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God's fidelity to His promises." To find out more about this book check out http://www.crazylovebook.com/.