Forgotten God

After having read Crazy Love last year I had great confidence that Francis Chan’s most recent book, Forgotten God, would be worth the read as well.  I was not disappointed.  In this book Chan contends that we as the church have largely ignored the Holy Spirit and are reaping the disastrous results.  Being an ordained pastor in a charismatic denomination Chan’s position intrigued me.

Within this book Francis asks many questions that I found challenging, thought provoking, and at times convicting.  I blogged a week ago about one such question.  Some of the others were:

• It is possible for us to be doing incredible things for the kingdom yet have people give glory to God rather than us.  Has this ever happened to you?  Or do people praise you for your good works?
• Do I want to lead or be led by the Spirit?
• Do I believe the church needs me like a body needs a mouth?
• Do you care about what people think when they see you, or do you care about seeking the truth concerning the Spirit of God and then living in light of the truth, holding to those promises, and enjoying that relationship?

Towards the beginning of the book Chan gets to the heart of the matter in regards to living life with the Holy Spirit.  He addresses the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  As Francis digs into the characteristics that we should be known by when we have asked the Holy Spirit to come into our lives he makes the supposition that we, many times, lack these qualities.  The people who should be known by all of these things are the ones who often miss the mark.  I, for one, know that I fail in these qualities often and it makes me that much more grateful for His grace.

The bottom line to this book is that if we cling to the truth of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own, you were bought at a price.”  Our bodies are the Spirit’s temple.  We are a place of His dwelling.  If the Spirit makes His home in my life then I should exude the characteristics of the Holy Spirit.  These are powerful words with a significant meaning.

I have been challenged by reading this book to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through all aspects of my life.  I have been challenged to rely more deeply on His leading and guiding in my day to day activities.  I pray that if you choose to read Forgotten God you will too.