"Crazy Love" by Francis Chan

192 pages

This book challenges Christians to move away from a "lukewarm" faith and let God take over all areas of their lives. The author (a pastor) believes that many American Christians have become content to simply go to church and try not to curse, smoke, or drink and think that this is all they need to do. Chan says that if someone really loves God, he or she will be totally transformed and live completely differently. Instead of putting all of our efforts into making money, impressing people, and having fun, we should focus on spending time with God and serving others. Chan says that we should pay special attention to those that the rest of society often ignores and the ones who are the hardest to love, such as the poor and those who are rude and unpleasant.

This book is really popular right now, and I find a lot of Christian bestsellers to be cheesy or oversimplified. This one is different for me, though. It was a big wake up call and it called me out on some specific things, like having judgmental thoughts about others and losing patience with people who get on my nerves (this happens a lot, since I work with the public). It made me think about the way I live my life--can people tell that I'm a Christian? Am I actually doing what Jesus says we should do? Do I make my little corner of the world a better place? I like that Chan uses the Bible to back up the points he makes and provides examples of ways to put his ideas into practice. This book is going to be on my mind for a long time, and I hope I use it to actually make some changes in my life.