Francis Chan at Catalyst 2010

In Summer 2008, my good friend Josh Vance introduced me to a Christian communicator named Francis Chan. He told me in particular that I should listen to a sermon called Lukewarm and Loving It. I have a lot of respect for Josh Vance, so I took his advice and gave the message a listen. I had listened to a few other messages from Chan before this one, but I still remember it well. I had just arrived back in Morgantown, WV after spending part of the summer helping run a summer leadership program for college students near Wilmington, NC.

I was actually working on my daily practice of environmental stewardship by walking to a mid-morning meeting that was taking place with my friends Trey Dunham, Cameron King, and Mark Byrer at Trey’s house. I walked through Morgantown, and listened to about half the message by the time I arrived at Trey’s. After the meeting, I immediately proceeded to continue listening, and about the time I passed by the Mountainlair in the center of campus, I started weeping. I don’t think I stopped until I had arrived at my house 10 minutes later. The message touched my soul deeply.

Well, I had never actually seen or heard Francis Chan communicate in person, and I was told that his talk at Catalyst would be his last message before he left his church and community in Simi Valley to travel to Asia with his family and serve the poor of that part of the world. In three Catalyst events I have attended, I had never gone in to hear one of the messages given. I wanted to make sure I heard this message from Francis and I’m glad I did.

Some people are not fans of Francis for his communication style, his demeanor, or for any number of reasons, but the thing that strikes me most intensely about him is his passion and sincerity. He speaks with an authenticity that leaves people listening intently. As he spoke to this group at Catalyst, he challenged this group of leaders to examine their lives, and the lives of their churches. He asked, “Would what you do on Sunday morning, or during the week make sense if it were placed in this book?” “Would your personal life and daily experience, fit in with the stories that are found in this book?” He went on to say that much of what happens in our practice of Christianity really doesn’t make sense in light of what is seen in scripture. He listed a few examples, and then became laser focused on the issue of poverty.

He told 13,000 leaders that sometimes God doesn’t want to hear our worship. Sometimes our prayers our hindered because we don’t care for our spouses. Sometimes he is disgusted by our fasting and our ceremonies because we ignore the poor. He shared Isaiah 58 (a personal favorite of mine and Bono’s) along with many other references from the old and new testament to build a case for why our care for people who are suffering in extreme poverty matters.

After hearing a message like that, which just served to affirm so much of what I believe, I just found myself incredibly hopeful that the 13,000 in attendance would act on what they heard.

I am not quite sure what it looks like, but I am hopeful that it will involve the church taking a more active role in the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation. As Francis Chan leaves the United States to serve alongside his family, I’m grateful for the encouragement I was given through him to keep pushing onward.

And beyond the encouragement, the talk and the discussion that took place with a few friends after the talk reminded me of some unbelievable spiritual experiences that I had in the desert that solidified my decision to leave my work in vocational ministry to work to serve the poor.

May all who call themselves followers of 'the Way' take up Francis’ challenge and strive to live a life by the grace of God that would make total sense amid the pages of the sacred scriptures.

Forgotten God DVD Review

In late march I was contacted by a person from David C. Cook Publishers who had read my blog post about the Francis Chan book, Forgotten God. They had recently created a DVD resource that is meant to act as a video supplement to the content of the book, and they wanted me to review it.

Of course I was thoroughly excited about the opportunity, and I immediately shared the opportunity with two small groups in which I was participating at the time. Shortly after sharing the possibility of reviewing this DVD together, I had a pretty long season of travel (I was only home three days during April). By the time I had returned, both groups were wrapping up for the summer, and I no longer had a group with which to experience the DVD.

While in my conundrum, I had almost arrived at a paralysis because I really valued the group’s input to the review. But sometimes we don’t get to do things in the way we want. So I sat down, and watched the video alone in my room. I had watched the first session with a group, so I can speak share the impact of the first session on our discussion, but for the rest of the DVD my remarks will be restricted to a more personal review.

Here’s the deal. This video, much like the book, will challenge and inspire the viewer. As I watched the first session with a group, I had to compose myself when the first 10 minute segment had finished. I was in tears. I was in tears because of the power of the truth that was being shared on a screen in front of me. The question being asked was dealing with our desire to hear from God and to do what He wants us to do. It doesn’t take much observation to see brokenness and hurting in our world. What takes effort is for us to walk headlong into the hurts to care and to serve. That’s the kind of place where God wants us to be, and deep down, we know that this is the place where we will find our greatest joy because our life will be poured out for the good of others and the beauty of our world. And yet, we wrestle with this divine call of God, and cling to things that aren’t satisfying, that aren’t enabling us to allow the power of God to be made manifest in me most robustly.

One of the great questions for our generation, and one of the great questions of the video is this. Are we willing to risk everything to be obedient to God? Nobody will ever fault us for doing good things that aren’t risky, but it takes real guts sometimes to listen to what God is speaking to you and DO it, regardless of the cost.

I hope that many will watch this video together with friends, and that God will use this resource to challenge and inspire groups of people to challenge and inspire one another to live lives of radical obedience to Christ, and to run boldly, listening to the Spirit of the living God as He directs and goes before us.

Even if you never watch this DVD or read this book, please take time to think about living a different kind of life. God loves us deeply, and he is our strong support, our encouragement, and our rock. What would your friends, coworkers, neighbors, classmates, and family think if they saw you living differently? What do you think is stopping you from letting go of the American Dream to grab hold of God’s great dream for you?

The subtitle of Chan’s book is “Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.” God wants to do work in you for the good of others, and ultimately for His glory. Maybe a starting point for each of us is to ask Him to supernaturally empower us to be able to love Him and love others.

Forgotten God

I recently read Francis Chan’s latest book, Forgotten God and I thought I would share a few thoughts from it with you. It’s a great book, though not on the same ground as his first book Crazy Love, but hey, it’s a different book.

The premise of the book is that many Christians find themselves relying more on their own skills and talents than they do on the God of all Creation. He argues that it is easy to create a really cool hip church community, and easy to get caught up in doing things that require very little faith. In fact, he has noticed that it is very easy for people to pursue just about any lifestyle and then work to find scriptures that defend their position. What we believe about any given thing absolutely shapes how we will act.

The book is great because each section ends with a story about people who are doing some pretty amazing stuff as they have been led by the Spirit. The stories are compelling and energizing and sometimes indicting.

I just picked up the book again and started looking through some sections I had underlined. One of them was a call to action. Maybe it will be catalytic for you. A lot of his book has to do with obedience, and our willingness to listen for the voice of God and strive toward following that voice no matter where it takes us.

“I think a lot of us need to forget about God’s will for my life. God cares more about our response to His Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly affected by the degree to which we submit to the Spirit right now, in today’s decisions.
It is easy to use the phrase “god’s will for my life” as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience. It is much less demanding to think about God’s will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes. It’s safer to follow Him someday instead of this day.

I’ve heard many people tell me that they are waiting for God to call them to something. More and more, I’m becoming singularly convinced that this world needs more people who are present and obedient to radical love. Presence keeps us rooted in the world around us and the needs around us and not in the realm of possible needs. Radical love calls us to care for our neighbors, our coworkers, our family, and even our enemies, those who would hurt and mistreat us.

May you be an example of radical love, presence, and obedience, that starts this day and in this place and not in some ethereal future.

And, if you are interested in reading more from Mr. Chan, I recommend Forgotten God, but don’t expect it to be lots of chummy feel good emo-stuff.

Crazy Love

Recently, I had the extreme joy of being able to read a book by a person who is quickly becoming one of my favorite pastors, Francis Chan. The reason I enjoy Francis is that from what I read, hear and see, there is a genuine of that He has for God and for people.

As I grow more and more certain of the temporary nature of this life, I'm confronted with one simple truth that is echoed throughout scripture. Life comes from knowing God. What matters most in our life is that we are loved by God. A close second to this important truth is that the only normal response to the kind of love that God has for us, the only logical way to think about the fact that the Creator of the universe has a crazy love for us is to love Him back.

Over the last couple of months, I have been growing to love God more and more. Sure, I still do stupid things that displease Him, but I genuinely want to love God with all of my heart, my mind, my soul, and my strength. It's kind of funny, because many of you who are reading this recognize that as the first and greatest commandment. And yet, if we are honest, very little of our life is characterized by that kind of radical love. I mean, picture your love for your spouse, or your closest friends. Picture what it would look like to love anyone or any thing with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength. That's the kind of crazy love God has for us.

I don't know about you, but when I think about God's great love for me, and I think about how easy it is to be complacent, I get a little scared. I get a little uneasy, because I realize I'm not capable of that kind of love. The only way I can love God with everything I have is if He gives me the capacity. And He is willing if we ask, if we abide, if we cry out.

You may be reading this blog and thinking this is crazy. What's crazy is that the God of the universe loves us with an abounding love, and our response is typicallly (in the words of Francis Chan) to "go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss."

Something seems amiss--doesn't it? I want to recommend Francis' Book, Crazy Love if this blog has stirred you a bit.

More than recommending a book though, I want to encourage you to respond to the great love that God has for you. Take a moment right now and just reflect on how deep God's love is for you--wherever you are and stop reading--this blog will be here when you get back. I'm serious. Right now. STOP.

Did you stop? If so you can keep reading. If not, go back to the previous paragraph!

Isn't it amazing to think that God loves YOU that much!!! Isn't it amazing to think that He even gives you the ability to love Him. As we grow in our love for God, our love for others will grow, and we'll find less and less pleasure in things.

Like I said, at the beginning of this entry. Life is very short here on this earth. Let us learn to love well!

Messages from my iPod

iPod Nano (Red), originally uploaded by JamesBurton.

Over the last several weeks, I've been listening to a lot of podcasts on my iPod. A podcast is a recording that anyone can do--YOU could create a podcast, and these podcasts are made available for free on itunes.

Of course the podcasts I've been listening too have been faith based, and they have come from some great communicators. If you've got a chance, give one or more of 'em a listen. This time, I'm just going to focus on one guy--Francis Chan. He's pastor of a church in Simi Valley, CA, and my good friend Josh Vance pointed him out to me.

I don't have time to put the actual links in this blog entry right now, so I'm just gonna list em off. Search for these in the itunes store, and enjoy.

Francis Chan Cornerstone Simi Audio
This guy is phenomenal. Such a heartfelt and compassionate communicator and very convicting and compelling messages. here are a few of my faves. (I'm resisting the urge to give a description of each)
Lukewarm and Loving It
When Sin Looks More Enjoyable Than God (this is better suited for video--you can download it on itunes as well!)
Holiness
Honesty
Why People Hate Church
Is It Wrong to Like Oprah?

I hope you enjoy--and even if you don't have an iPod, you can download and listen to these on itunes for free on your computer too!