Crazy Love

Our small group at Church is doing a series on a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This book has challenged me in ways I never expected a book to do so! In one of the chapters, Francis talks about "Lukewarm' Christians. The idea is that we don't sin because we are regretful for our actions but more so because we are worried about the consequences. Now, I think this is appropriate for someone who is just starting out in their faith. Like with our DD, she has consequences that prevent her from behaving in a negative way. We hope that some day she behaves the way she should because it is the right thing to do, not because of the punishment. Well, God wants us to love Him so much that we do the right thing because of our love for him, not our fear of punishment.

The other challenge I have faced while reading this book is trusting in the God I love so deeply.

"Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don't have to trust God if something unexpected happens - they have their savings account. They don't need God to help them-they have their retirement plan in place. They don't genuinely seek out what life God would have them live- they have life figured and mapped out. They don't depend on God on a daily basis-their refrigerators are full and, for the mos part, they are in good health. the truth is, their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God."

WOW - that made me stop and read it several times! I had to wonder, how different would my life look if I suddenly stopped believing in God...