Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit
- ISBN13: 9781434767950
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
A follow up to the profound message of Crazy Love, Pastor Francis Chan offers a compelling invitation to understand, embrace, and follow the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives. In the name of the Father, the Son, and … the Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of all three, but how often do we live with an awareness of only the first two? As Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit–the Helper–so that we could be true and living witnesses for … More >>
Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit
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Christopher W. Graul said :
March 6, 2010 at 11:21 am
After having screamed about the willingness to embrace the Father and Son, but always ignoring the Holy Spirit, I was enthusiastic about seeing this book. Unfortunately, it covers the predictable aspects of the presence of the Spirit well, but Chan allows some weaknesses:
s. He fails completely, apparently out of fear of addressing anything controversial, to discuss the charismatic gifts. We are all familiar with the “frozen chosen” status of the mainstream churches, and there are many pastors who believe that this weakness to become what God intended the church to be is the result of suppressing the gifts which were (as noted by Chan in his one mention of 1 Cor 14) given to us for the strengthening of the church.
b. He passes on the age-old pastor-safe statement that Jesus “commends”(page 125) the widow for giving her two cents. In fact, this interpretation was adopted to help with stewardship drives, and even a cursory reading of the story shows that Jesus probably was condemning the temple for taking the money of the poor (note his contrast with the rich temple embellishments).
In short, if you know nothing of the work of the Spirit, or the Johanine promises, this book is a good introduction. But if you wish help in transforming your church into what God peobably wished to establish, and model the fire actions shown in Acts, this book is ultimately disppointing .
Rating: 2 / 5
John Howard Reid said :
March 6, 2010 at 11:58 am
Francis Chan has obviously had a deep experience of the Holy Spirit’s power and wisdom in his own life and ministry. He communicates well. All the same, his book is missing something. Like most evangelicals, he has thrown away the two Biblical books that God designed to instruct us in the Nature and Rewards of the Holy Spirit. In a real Bible (not a condensed version), knowledge of the Holy Spirit can be gained from around the middle of chapter six of Wisdom through to chapter nine, and from Jesus ben Sirach, chapters one through four. Although some theologians would argue that these writers are merely praising a personified Wisdom, such arguments don’t hold up to examination, particularly when we are told that “Wisdom is the same Holy Spirit now and forever… In every generation, Wisdom passes into holy souls, making them close friends of the Lord God, and giving them the ability to read His thoughts and designs. The Lord God loves no-one more than the man or woman who lives with Wisdom.” There are many, many other such references to the Holy Spirit as Wisdom in the books noted above, and also in Proverbs 8, and Baruch 3:9 through 4:4. For new English translations of these and other relevant passages you may wish to consult my BIBLE WISDOM FOR MODERN TIMES: Selections from the Orthodox Old Testament.
Rating: 4 / 5
Jesse D. Miller said :
March 6, 2010 at 2:42 pm
I was excited to see what I considered a seeker-sensitive approach to the Holy Spirit. However, after reading the book, I found that he never mentioned speaking in tongues because he did not want to put “labels” on anyone’s experiences. The problem is that you cannot assemble a book on the Holy Spirit without bringing the many verses about tongues into the discussion. Cessationist may argue all day long that tongues have ceased, but unfortunately never have any scripture to back it up. The one scripture that is used is in the same verse that says knowledge will be done away with. So, unless a person wants to argue that knowledge has ceased (and with that argument, it may have ceased to exist in themselves), there is no other Biblical argument to stand upon. I certainly wouldn’t stand on traditions, or other writings outside the Bible.
With all that being said, I cannot reccomend this book to anyone because a simple study of Acts chapters 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, and 19, 1 Cor. chapters 12-14, Luke 11, John chapters 14-16, Luke 24, Eph 5, and more will show that tongues is for the church age and church dispensation, and is a seperate and unique experience from salvation.
Rating: 1 / 5
Anne said :
March 6, 2010 at 4:30 pm
I have had this book for several weeks now and it has sat on our coffee table. My husband picked it up several times and then set it down. I asked him what he thought and he said that he couldn’t find anything that he definitely disagreed with, but that the way Chan writes things wasn’t the way he would have put it. I wasn’t sure what to think of that, so I finally sat down with it today. I have known several people who have loved Crazy Love and based on their enjoyment of that book, I had requested this one.
Chan is a pastor in Southern California. I grew up in So. Cal. When a friend of mine brought up Chan’s discussion of lukewarm Christians in his book Crazy Love to me, I later reflected on where Chan lives. This does shape his view of faith and what it means to live as a Christian. In So. Cal., either people go to church or they don’t. It isn’t a cultural think like it is in the South–where everyone goes to church and there are a lot of white/black and gray! But, Chan wouldn’t understand that as a pastor in So. Cal. And that’s the perspective that he writes from in this book as well– that life is very black and white. It is integral to how he writes–his writing style.
There were a few things that made me uneasy about this book–that I just wasn’t sure what to think about. One is that Chan says in this book that being a Christian isn’t about finding balance between extremes. Sometimes I think it is. Also, I wasn’t sure what I thought of him declaring that the Holy Spirit is a Person. Really? He goes through what we know about the Holy Spirit and I am not sure that I entirely agree with his interpretation. He said several things (such as the Holy Spirit being a person) that I have never heard before in my years of going to church and studying the Bible and reading books.
In the end, I felt uneasy and not at peace when I finished it–not because I didn’t want to hear what he had to say–because I’m not sure that I agree with what he said.
Rating: 3 / 5
Patricia L. Zavadil said :
March 6, 2010 at 4:36 pm
This is a great book – but the copy I got certainly wasn’t as advertized – lots of markings and poor condition. But the words are the most important so I’ll keep it.
Rating: 3 / 5