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Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit |  | Author: Francis Chan
Creator: Danae Yankoski
Publisher: David C. Cook
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
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Seller: BooKnackrh
Rating:  91 reviews
Sales Rank: 178
Media: Paperback
Edition: New
Pages: 208
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.7
ISBN: 1434767957
Dewey Decimal Number: 231.3
EAN: 9781434767950
ASIN: 1434767957
Publication Date: September 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | Christian Living | | • | Books on the Holy Spirit |
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Product Description
Powerful. When is the last time someone used that word to describe you? It doesn't make sense that Almighty God would have children characterized by fear and insecurity. He put His Spirit in us so we could be known for our power (Acts 1:8; 2 Tim. 1:7). Sadly, most believers and churches are known for talent or intellect rather than supernatural power. What's worse is that we're okay with it. Could it be that we've forgotten the One who distinguishes us from every religion and cult in the world? Through solid scriptural support and compelling narrative, breakthrough author Francis Chan returns us to the Holy Spirit as the Bible describes Him. He reminds us that we were not created and saved merely to survive our time on earth. Chan contends that we've ignored the Spirit and are reaping the disastrous results. It's time for the beloved church of Jesus Christ to reverse the trend of neglect. Let's pursue the Spirit-filled life of effectiveness.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 91
 A Compelling Invitation from Francis Chan August 25, 2009
Chad Estes (Boise, Idaho, USA)
137 out of 139 found this review helpful
Picking up a book that's subtitle is "Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit" made me feel that I was heading for a tongue lashing. Instead I found Francis Chan's new book, "Forgotten God," to be a very calm and thoughtful response to the Christian community.
There have been many books written over the years about what to believe about the Holy Spirit. Battle lines have been drawn between churches and denominations about when the Holy Spirit shows up, how He does it, and what is supposed to happen next. Chan has no axe to grind with theological debates and steers away from these often bloodstained battlegrounds. Instead he writes how Christians in western culture, regardless of what they say they believe about the third member of the Trinity, live as though the Holy Spirit had long since retired.
In seven easy to read chapters Chan covers the following topics:
* The role of the Holy Spirit as Jesus' promised gift.
* Fears and concerns about the Holy Spirit
* How theology about the Holy Spirit has more to do with how a person lives than what they say they believe.
* Motivations around the Holy Spirit and his power.
* What a relationship with the Holy Spirit can really be like.
* Letting go of manipulation and control by trusting the Holy Spirit.
* Living in true community with the Holy Spirit and with others.
For a book to be as hard hitting on these themes as it is, this tone Chan takes hardly comes across as a harsh reprimand. There is a gentleness and humility that flow through these chapters, possibly because the author often uses his shortcomings as examples. It is balanced with his unbridled passion for something better. It is a contagious proposition.
At the end of each chapter Chan presents a short biography about someone who is modeling that aspect of life with the Holy Spirit. These narratives help put the chapters, and the suggested lifestyle, into context.
For readers who have already embraced the message from Chan's first book, "Crazy Love," you will find another winner here. For those who are reading him for the first time, you have found a new, encouraging friend.
Forgotten God August 11, 2009
Bill Grandi (Spencer, IN USA)
74 out of 79 found this review helpful
"Another book on the Holy Spirit? You have got to be kidding me!" Those were the initial thoughts that crept into my mind when I first saw the subtitle of Francis Chan's new book Forgotten God. It is subtitled "Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit." But then again, after reading Francis' other book, Crazy Love, blogging about it and then offering a small group study of it, I was not about to write this new book off as just a dusty old rehash of "Holy Spirit talk." Man, am I glad I didn't! I will have to confess something right up front: I was stoked because of the author...so much so that I had trouble putting this book down. I took it everywhere with me just in case I had little snippets of time to read and highlight it. Oftentimes authors writing about the Holy Spirit take one of two approaches: they sensationalize everything and make it overly emotional, almost confrontational. You know...if you don't have this or do this then there must be something wrong with your spirituality. The other approach is one that brings yawns to people like me who just want something practical, something that translates into preaching and teaching and the everyday life of people I pastor. Unequivocally, Francis did not disappoint! He laid down the gauntlet on the very first page of his introduction: "the benchmark of success in church services has become more about attendance than the movement of the Holy Spirit. The `entertainment' model of church was largely adopted in the 1980s and '90s, and while it alleviated some of our boredom for a couple of hours a week, it filled our churches with self-focused consumers rather than self-sacrificing servants attuned to the Holy Spirit." (p.15-16) From there on it is sometimes hard-hitting, sometimes convicting, sometimes wooing, but always Francis-biblical and easy to understand. He takes one chapter he calls Theology of the Holy Spirit 101 to give a brief description of the Holy Spirit but it is informative not dry. In my opinion he reached his zenith in the last chapter: The Supernatural Church. WOW! I believe if you only read this chapter it alone would "fire you up." (It would also encourage you to read the rest of it as well). :) One more thing: after each chapter he included a two or three page biography of someone he knew living out what he had just taught. That was good to read.
So...if you read Crazy Love you will want to read this book because you are familiar with Francis' writing. If you read this book, you will want to go back and read Crazy Love. If you are looking for a deep theological book about the Holy Spirit or a book that tells you how to get this or that gift, then look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for a practical, easy-to-read and understand book that will challenge you to the core, then read Forgotten God. You will be glad you did.
Let It Shake You Up September 1, 2009
Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario)
45 out of 48 found this review helpful
Calling the Holy Spirit "Forgotten God" may be a bit of an overstatement. Or perhaps it is an understatement. Some Christians seem to show little evidence that they have any theology of the Spirit while others seem to emphasize the Spirit at the expense of other biblical doctrine. What seems clear is that few Christians have it quite right. In this new book Francis Chan says, "From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected and, for all practical purposes, forgotten. While no evangelical would deny His existence, I'm willing to bet there are millions of churchgoers across America who cannot confidently say they have experienced His presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can." With the entertainment (or perhaps "edutainment") model of church so prevalent today, churches have become filled with self-focused consumers instead of Spirit-filled believers. Chan asks this provocative question: "What if you grew up on a desert island with nothing but the Bible to read?" If you had nothing but Scripture to guide you, would your understanding of the Holy Spirit be far different from what it is today? It is probably worth thinking about. Says Chan, "If I were Satan and my ultimate goal was to thwart God's kingdom and purposes, one of my main strategies would be to get churchgoers to ignore the Holy Spirit."
It is easy to fake the presence of the Spirit, isn't it? "Let's be honest: If you combine a charismatic speaker, a talented worship band, and some hip, creative events, people will attend your church. Yet this does not mean that the Holy Spirit of God is actively working and moving in the lives of the people who are coming." It is possible for a church to be fun and vibrant and exciting even while utterly ignoring the Holy Spirit--even while outright grieving the Holy Spirit. Such churches may say much about Jesus but little about the Spirit. Yet how then do we reconcile Jesus' words that it is better for us if we have the Spirit than if we have the Son? Chan says, "I think most of us would...choose a physical Jesus over an invisible Spirit. But what do we do with the fact that Jesus says it is better for His followers to have the Holy Spirit?" Do we believe Him? If so, do our lives reflect that belief?"
Alternating teaching with stories and testimonies, Chan seeks to reverse this neglect of the Spirit. Essentially he provides a brief and basic theology of the Spirit (even titling one chapter "Theology of the Holy Spirit 101") and shows how the Spirit can and should operate in the life of the believer. It is an eminently quotable book, offering scores of statements that are worth highlighting and worth pondering in the days and weeks to come. Some reading this review will want to know his position on the continuation of the miraculous spiritual gifts. I would say his is "guarded, hesitant continuationism," though this comes from reading between the lines more than any bold statements to that effect.
If the book has a weakness I would say it is in Chan's unwillingness to draw distinctions and to clearly delineate opposing doctrine. It is all very well to indicate that a church may not quite fit within one mold or another, but sooner or later we do need to make distinctions. Either the Spirit speaks through audible voices or he does not; either words of knowledge exist today or they do not. We cannot have it both ways and the distinction can cut right to the heart of a church's beliefs. I realize that labels can be as unhelpful as they are helpful, but at some point we do need to make distinctions. I will grant that this may not be the role or purpose of Forgotten God but it is still possible that the book can confuse the reader exactly because of this lack of precision.
Nevertheless, for those who have thought little about the person and role of the Holy Spirit, Forgotten God may be just the thing to get them thinking. For those who have not thought about the Spirit for a long time, this may serve as a good wake-up call. It is far from a full-orbed or exhaustive treatment, but neither is that its purpose. Chan sets out to get the reader thinking "that by keeping in step with the Spirit, we might regularly fellowship over what He's doing rather than what He did months or years ago." It's about living a life dependent on and surrendered to the Spirit, about seeking how we can live faithfully here and now. And this he accomplishes well.
Chan's previous book Crazy Love has sold over a quarter million copies and continues to fly off bookstore shelves. Forgotten God shares a message that is nearly as urgent and undoubtedly even more important. It is a fitting sequel that bears many resemblances to the book it follows. After all, how can we show true love if not through the Holy Spirit? There are many people sharing similar messages today, but few doing so to Chan's audience which is largely young and in many cases not very well trained in the teachings of Scripture. I have little doubt that God will use this to shake them up in all the right ways.
Genuine, Authentic, Powerful September 7, 2009
Drew Ross (Sharpsburg, GA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
The strength of Francis Chan's ministry and writing is his authenticity and clarity. He doesn't come across as a theologian or spiritual "guru". He speaks as one who is on the path with us; one who is constantly seeking, finding and sharing everything. In this book, he addresses the often divisive topic of the Holy Spirit from the perspective of a person with experience in many faith traditions.
Much like his earlier book, Crazy Love, Chan doesn't necessarily break new ground with this work, but rather gives a powerful reminder of this "forgotten" aspect of our Christian walk. In fact, what he is sharing is the idea that the Holy Spirit is at the very core of our lives as Christians. He uses Scripture and biography to illustrate the central role of the Holy Spirit.
I recommend this book for those who are seeking to not just understand the Holy Spirit's role in their daily walk, but thirst to experience it. Chan gives a beautiful vision of God drawing us to intimacy, authenticity, repentance, relationship, security, courage, and truth. While I did find myself bored at times with some of the cliches, there were multiple points where I had to put the book down and pray for the Lord to bring these truths into my life as more than just cold concepts, but fire-illuminated changes that manifest in actions that could only be explained by His moving. My favorite quote from the book comes from page 142 of the advance copy: "I don't want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit." Isn't this what every Christian desires to live? A life that can only be explained by the power of God?
The final chapter, "Supernatural Church" is on one hand similar to the critiques of the Restorationists, but instead of simply calling us to go back to the methods illustrated in the book of Acts, Chan calls us to dependance upon the Holy Spirit. He doesn't say, the early Christians did this and that, so we should too. He says, let's depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead our faith the way the early Christians did. I applaud this because it is not method-centered, but relationship-centered.
Francis Chan has emerged as one of my most cherished voices in the Christian community. He speaks truth and does it with a Christ-like strength and love. He citicizes, but provides solutions. His input is constructive, not destructive. His ministry bears eternal fruit and relies upon the power of God, not the power of personality.
Amazing! Highly Recommended! August 28, 2009
Dan Casselman (Somewhere in TX)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I received this book as an option through the Amazon Vine Program. I had been feeling spiritually "dry" and was hoping to find some inspiration. The title of this book intrigued me, but I had heard Francis Chan speak before (over the internet) and I found his style to be overly legalistic and lacking grace. I have only listened to him once or twice so I may not have heard him at his best. The point is I was very skeptical that I would like this book, but since it was free, I didn't have anything to lose.
My skepticism quickly changed to enthusiasm as I started reading this book. I could not put it down! I felt like he was so right on biblically. He backed up everything he said with scripture. I would look up every passage that he quoted and he never took Scripture out of context. I really liked that he asked the reader to stop and read certain passages in their Bibles rather than explaining them in depth in the book. This way we were always on the same page as him, without him placing lengthy excerpts of the bible into the book. To me, this book seems to be written for Christians that have a fundamental understanding of christianity and the BIble, but are seeking more. A more powerful experience with God. A desire to impact the community and the world in a big way. He delivers on that!
One point that he brought up several times was that it is often hard to tell christians from non-christians based solely upon their external behavior. They often don't appear to be more peaceful, kind, gentle, etc than their non-christian neighbors. This is a point that I have been wrestling with as well. I wish he would have elaborated more on this, but was glad he brought it up at all.
All in all, I highly recommend this book!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 91
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