One of the most debilitating issues facing the Church is the lack of maturing her members. Churches are filled with children who never grow up to become parents. And they’re not expected to. Many pastors expect their members to sit under their teaching till they die rather than training them to leave and shepherd others. [Apostle] Paul was clear that church leaders are to equip the saints for work. — Francis Chan, Letters to the Church
Book Publication:
David C Cook (September 1, 2018)
Book Summary:
In Francis Chan’s most fearless and honest book yet, he challenges followers of Christ to rethink, reflect and rebuild the church the way originally God intended it, according to the Bible. He is dangerously frank about his own personal experiences of leading his previous Cornerstone Church and all that he’s learned even overseas in order to set the backdrop for how he has chosen to be the church in a radically different way. The church needs to wake up, become invested and become engaged in the true, “all-in at any cost I will follow Christ” kind of way.
Book Review:
This book proves how great a writer Francis Chan really is and the kind of creative talent that God has given him to speak truth to the masses. The core messages within the book are no different than what can be found in hundreds of other church leadership, ministry development or church culture books out there. Yet, the message is still very clear and convicting.
Favorite Excerpts:
- “My preaching habits over the years have shown that I believe His words are dead and require my creativity to bring them to life.”
- “No team puts up with players who refuse to contribute. No army puts up with soldiers who refuse to carry their own weight. Why do churches continue to put up with Christians who refuse to serve? Why don’t we treat selfishness as a sin that needs to be confronted? If Scripture commands us to serve one another, isn’t it a bit strange that we give people a free pass?”
- “We must train our people to be independently dependent on the Holy Spirit.”
- “The call to follow Jesus was a call to die. The price tag was front and center. Jesus laid it out from the start and told people to count the cost before they got themselves into something they weren’t ready to commit to.”
- “We act as though surrender is a lifelong process here we slowly decide whether or not we will give up certain things to God. Meanwhile the believers in Iraq teach the way Jesus taught. They are required to count the cost, surrendering everything up front; otherwise they cannot join the Church.”
- “Your willingness to suffer is proof the Spirit of God rests upon you.”
Author’s Bio (Credits to Amazon):
Francis Chan is the bestselling author of Crazy Love, Forgotten God, Erasing Hell, Multiply, and You and Me Forever. He is currently a pastor of We Are Church, a house church network that is planting churches in Northern California. Francis and his wife of twenty-five years, Lisa, have seven children and one beautiful granddaughter.
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