Francis Chan's FORGOTTEN GOD

Reading through Francis Chan's book Forgotten God has brought many thoughts and convictions to me. Although I learned much through the first 6 chapters, the most tears were brought to my eyes by the last. Supernatural Church. Chan starts with an interesting quote by Augustine,

"What the soul is in our body, the Holy Spirit is in the body of Christ, which is the church."

What a great quote to start off with! What an amazing vision of who the Spirit of God is!...and what He should be to us. While going through this last chapter, there were a few points that were brought to my attention that I would like to share:

• "God is not interested in numbers. He cares most about the faithfulness, not the size, of His bride." How often are churches AND youth groups trying to just "reach out" and "bring in more kids" rather than making DISCIPLES (Matthew 28:19) of them? This concern of "size" is found more in youth groups because of the concern of the generation to come. But it kids/teenagers/young adults don't have a REAL and TRUE relationship with our Lord, then how are they going to influence the coming generation. Can I say these things since I am one of those youths? All the more! This generation and the next need the Holy Spirit desperately, not religious numbers!
• "Sometimes I leave Christian events wondering if we resemble the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 more than Elijah, the prophet of God...The prophets of Baal had a loud, passionate worship gathering that lasted from morning till evening. When they were done, they had a great time of fellowship." Does this not resemble some of the "worship services" or "conferences" that many churches/youth groups have or attend?
• "My favorite part of that story comes when it is all over and the prophets of Ball are saying, 'The LORD- He is God! The LORD- He is God!' They didn't say, 'Elijah is a great speaker' or 'Elijah sure knows how to connect with God!' They were stunned by GOD!" When someone preaches, leads worship, or seems like a humble Christian person, shouldn't we come away being amazed by God- not that person?
• "While it is true that we are humans like everyone else, it is also true that we are humans with the Spirit of God dwelling in us."
• (referring to the fruits of the Spirit; Galatians 5:22-23) "Do you exhibit more kindness and faithfulness than the Mormons you know? Do you have more self-control than your Muslim friends? More peace than Buddhists? More joy than atheists? If GOD truly lives in you, shouldn't you expect to be different from everyone else?" There are no excuses for us! We are transformed by a Holy God and made holy like Him! (Hebrews 10:9-11)
• We cannot have the fruit of the Spirit without the Spirit. We cannot do it on our own. If it were possible, it would not be written "fruit of the Spirit."
• The church should be a family. A place where anyone can come and be at home, not to be judged by those who think they are holier.

While all these things stuck out in this chapter, the passage that stuck out the most was Acts 2:42-47,

"⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Is this even possible? Never, in all the places I have so far lived, have I experienced or seen a church like this. What an amazing thing! Is this impossible? Brothers and sisters, this seems like a challenge to me. To pray more fervently, like Elijah. To devote ourselves to Loving GOD, not ourselves. To seek the Spirit for His fruit. It is not impossible. Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 18:27)