+ Ca-razy Love + Chapter 1 +

After hearing great things about a talk Francis Chan gave at Catalyst nearly 2 years ago and then about his book, I've been waiting for quite a time it seems to read it. A few months back we had a visitor who gave a small group lesson from the book. I was challenged from the very beginning. Now, though I've just made it past the first chapter - I'm inspired and challenged again. The book is called Crazy Love and while I hope these thoughts make you ponder, I'd suggest to get a greater grasp, you just read a copy for yourself.

So chapter one, here we go:

Man, there is SO much good stuff in here, from Chan himself but also from others who have gone on before us.

Early in the chapter he quotes R.C. Sproul with something that struck the same chord in me as the quote which inspired the name of this blog. Sproul writes "Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God."

Thankfully there was a large open space in which I could continue this thought, specifically in regards to sin, with a statement from Louie Giglio, "Sin has a way of shrinking God down in our own minds and puffing ourselves up in our own estimation - but just a glance into the universe that God has made re-sizes everything in a heartbeat.

Just a few pages later Chan shares wisdom from A.W. Tozer, who writes, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

That's a pretty big statement, especially for a culture in which people are often defined by job, income, social status, opinion on this topic or that, religion, skin-color, and any other number of things. Nonetheless, could it be true?

Tozer later continues, "Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like."

Chan uses this opportunity to expound on some of the characteristics of God. I invite you to ponder...

God is holy: Isn't it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?

God is eternal: Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating, but it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are a capable of comprehending.

God is all knowing: He knows us deeply and specifically.

God is all powerful: After raising a number of questions about the way things are (questions which are asked every day- why do I have this body type?, why all the suffering - or suffering at all?, why make the whole universe - full of planets without life?) he made a statement that almost stopped me in my tracks, I breathed an "amen" and asked God for grace and courage (emphasis mine):
[God] has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving. As much as we want God to explain himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us. ...Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you?

So, perhaps the appropriate way to end this post is the same way Chan both began and ended the first chapter - "by standing in awed silence before a mighty, fearsome God, whose tremendous worth becomes even more apparent as we see our own puny selves in comparison."