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4.19 of 5 stars

Have you ever wondered if we're missing it?

It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe—the Creator of nitrogen and pine... read full description


reviews

Feb 13, 2009
This is one of those WOW! books that cause you to read something and then quietly close the book, lay it on your lap and meditate on what you have just read. So many times while reading this I had to stop and wrap my mind around what I just read. Francis Chan has taken the very things that I need to focus on and concisely and passionately expressed them in this book in a way that I totally get. How to live my life in a way that I am showing a God who loves me that I love Him back. Francis writes More...
2 comments like (21 people liked it)
Jan 14, 2009
Katie rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Totally whooped my tail. Probably THE most convicting spiritual book I've ever read. Challenges you out of any luke-warm tendencies. Challenges you especially in the realm of giving financially and sacrificially. Really, really good - prepare to be challenged out of your mind.
0 comments like (11 people liked it)
Jul 05, 2008
Matt rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This book is incredible. One of my all time favorites. Chan takes simple truths we have heard our whole lives, but actually challenges and dares us to change our lives.
0 comments like (4 people liked it)
Aug 04, 2008
Amy rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I'm not a very good Christian these days - heck, I'm not even sure if I qualify as Christian, since I'm not big on evangelism - but I do believe that the way Christ lived is the way we should live - loving, giving, sacrificing, and with minimal possessions.

So I find myself wondering how there can be so many wealthy Christians in the world; doesn't hoarding and having so much when others have so little go against Christ's teachings?

I'm glad to know now - after Chan's ca More...
2 comments like (5 people liked it)
Sep 13, 2008
Kathi rated it: 4 of 5 stars
i read this book this weekend. yeah. good. makes you respond to good questions. what does it look like to BE a Christian,not just say we are? can we continue to just THANK GOD for our blessings, and not give them to those in need? are we just trying to give the required amount, or the least we can to be seen as good enough? do we give out of our love for Christ or are we trying to buy His love or bargain for positioning in Heaven? really, what is a lukewarm Christian (am i one?)? and what does G More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Nov 30, 2008
Susan rated it: 3 of 5 stars
What started out as a rather simplistic explanation of the Gospel, quickly accelerated into a challenge that took hold of me and wouldn't let me go. I love the interactive, Internet aspect of the book which started by asking me to watch the video that points out the enormity and power of the God we serve. Then, the transformation of the text's emphasis on God's enormity to our rightful resonse to that enormity and it's accompanying grace started to tug at my Americanized, apathetic heart. Cha More...
0 comments like (5 people liked it)
Apr 09, 2011
Kate rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Crazy Love is a fairly slim volume divided into ten chapters which are subsequently split up into titled sections which flow together. Chapters one through three are an overview of the basics of the awesome majesty, power, and love of God. Chapters four and five specifically address the oxymoron of “lukewarm Christianity,” and the rest of the book outlines what true biblical Christianity looks like and challenges believers to give up seeking a comfortable Christian life (another oxymoron) and to More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Nov 15, 2011
Janelle rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Francis Chan introduces Crazy Love as a novel solely on pleasing God and worshipping Him for who He is and not what you can get from Him. He tells his audience that there is no time for compromising. Though this is an unpopular message Chan speaks on this topic for a period of chapters and how we are to treat this relationship with God as one held to the highest esteem. He tells us that everything that we do should glorify God and anything outside of that should not be because we were created fo More...
Oct 26, 2011
Grant rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Crazy Love
If I had to describe the book “Crazy Love” in one word it would be ‘challenge’. I felt as if this entire book was a challenge that the author, Francis Chan, was presenting to us. He was giving us a challenge to reassess our current feelings, actions, and emotions towards the world in which we live in, the Christian faith, and God Himself. As a Christian I felt overwhelmed and amazed by this book. It almost felt like it was one giant slap in the face that knocked me to the gro More...
Jul 28, 2011
Zack added it
Francis Chan gives a fresh, challenging, and truthful message about living with wholehearted devotion to Jesus Christ. He paints a beautiful portrait of how the perfect God of the universe has shown love to depraved human beings...and how that is seriously crazy to think about! The even crazier thing, however, is the response that church-going folk give Him. Chan makes the valid point that we see a lot of lukewarmness in the American churches of today and that something needs to be done about th More...
Jul 26, 2011
Hansen rated it: 1 of 5 stars
If you like the idea of a cool surfing Jesus, who sends most surfers to hell for not being deeply committed Christians, this is a book for you! If you need your regular boost of weak theology, flat Bible interpretation, and smiling preachers talking about a distinctly depressing God, this is a book for you! To be fair, Crazy Love does in fact add a touch of narrative creativity and useful morality to the basic, useless evangelical message: that God loves everyone, but if you don’t believe just r More...
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Jul 25, 2011
Adriane rated it: 4 of 5 stars
When asked if Crazy Love’s author Francis Chan believes God calls us to live a radical, crazy life, Chan responded, “It should be the only thing that makes sense,” and in these pages he givescompelling evidence pointing to a church that is not living Biblically. He compares modern American Christians to a boy asking a girl on a date, but not wanting to drive her to the restaurant or to pay for her meal. Likewise, for many Christians the cost of truly obeying Christ is too high, calling into qu More...
Jul 09, 2011
Sara rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Have you ever been Crazy-in-Love? Oh that feeling of flying, dreaming, being in the moment with that one person who is EVERYTHING to you? That is how God wants us to love him. And you know what?

That is how he loves us!

This book reminds us of the intimate, crazy love, relentless pursuit of relationship between ourselves and God. When I finished this book, I couldn't help but try and find ways to bring back that Crazy-in-Love pursuit of Jesus that I had at the beginning More...
Jun 24, 2011
Chriskimpston rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I struggled on whether or not to give this book 2 or 3 stars. While I liked the book, certain ideas about Christianity bothered me. The more I investigated the things with which I disagreed, I realized that it wasn't as much the actual theological ideas as much as his wording. Therefore, since Chan's book was an articulate communication of the love of God, I went with 3. The book is pretty good, save a few things that I personally took issue with. These are just MY opinions, I'm not saying that More...
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Jun 23, 2011
Kamsin rated it: 2 of 5 stars
I guess this book is pretty challenging, but something about Chan's style or his theology or just his general intensity didn't quite sit right with me. Maybe I used to think that God was calling me to "give up everything" and live only for him and give away everything to the poor, the way this book says. But now I think that I don't need to be "crazy" to love God. Maybe quiet, day to day acts of faithfulness, in a fairly ordinary kind of a life are just as important as the More...
2 comments like (6 people liked it)
May 06, 2011
Matt rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Crazy Love is a book that's meant to make it’s reader’s look back at their faith in God and make sure that they are putting everything into it. Considering what Chan writes about true love, this book makes us question our relationship with this amazing creator and find out if it really is based on our love for him and not on works. I think a big thing that Chan does in this book is giving the reader very hard and extreme aspects of Christianity and coupling it with the thought, “and if you’re tr More...
Apr 11, 2011
Dan rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This is the best non-fiction book I’ve read in a long, long time. I didn’t want to read it. However I promised my nephew – so I did. I’ve grown cynical of Christian non-fiction lately. Most are written from the same emergent/postmodern viewpoint. They start with variations on the “is this all the Christ-life has to offer?” question, and then want us to believe they have the answer the church has somehow missed for the last 2000 years. It seems both shallow and copied. I thought this was going to More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Mar 14, 2011
Marklee3d rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I am one of those people who does not respond well to phrases like "You've GOT to read this book!" or "You HAVE to see this movie!". I have to? Really? What are you going to do if I don't? These kinds of comments, while well intentioned, bring out the rebel in me. For example, I still haven't read The Shack. Sorry. I'm sure it's awesome. But it crossed the line from piquing my interest to mildly annoying me with every passing mention.

Enter Francis Chan's much dis More...
3 comments like (2 people liked it)
Mar 13, 2011
Mmtimes4 rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Have you ever wondered if we're missing it?

It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe—the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor—loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.

Whether you've verbalized it yet or not, we all know something's wrong.

Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are More...
Dec 30, 2010
Pat W. rated it: 5 of 5 stars
When I started this book, I thought it would give rules about how to pray better and live better for God. That wasn’t the case. You won’t find rules here. Crazy Love describes the love the Lord has for us and, when we understand that, our response. If we love God, we cannot say, “Will God forgive me if I want a divorce or if I commit suicide?” The author says if you love the Lord completely, you won’t be able to ask those questions. It isn’t about what we can get away with—it’s about living ever More...
Oct 13, 2010
Joe added it
I loved this book!

Favorite Quotes:

"Don't we live instead as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones? Psalm 115:3 reveals, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." Yet we keep on questioning Him: "Why did You make me with this body, instead of that one?" "Why are so many people dying of starvation?" "Why are there so many planets with nothing living on them?" " More...
Sep 28, 2010
Kay rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Crazy Love by Francis Chen is a wake-up call to 21st century, comfortable, wealthy Christians, particularly in North America. Chen’s challenge is to recognize the fact that we have been given a treasure beyond our ability to even grasp—but it is given in order to share, not hoard. Even more, we are to share with those who can’t or won’t give back. Chen lays the groundwork by first reminding us to get our eyes away from ourselves and our minuscule worlds, to fasten our gaze, instead, on the breat More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Sep 12, 2010
Le Chuck rated it: 2 of 5 stars
This book is like the literary equivalent of boot camp. I don't need to read one more "Christian" book that reminds me what a failure I am and how far I fall from the mark. I just don't think God had this type of " evangelism" in mind, call me crazy. No pun intended. I also love how the author calls for us all to practically quit our jobs and follow God to the ends of the earth. So... Who would be around then to heal the sick? Grow the food? Police the streets? Teach our chil More...
5 comments like (7 people liked it)
Mar 27, 2010
Thomas rated it: 3 of 5 stars
“Overwhelmed by a relentless God” is an interesting sub title. In the first couple of chapters of Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love” I truly was overwhelmed again by the majesty and transcendence of God. We didn’t dream Him into existence but He produced a life and reality that goes beyond anything we could have dreamed or imagined. Francis does a great job of pointing us simply to this concept. Francis does not focus heavy on the “relentless” aspect of God but he certainly presents a God I am over More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Mar 23, 2010
Jennifer rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I was very much looking forward to reading this book. I have a great appreciatation for Francis Chan - the purity and honesty of his teaching is refreshing. This book was good. Not great or groundbreaking but it is a good read. It will certainly be convicting for most people in various ways - but that's what Francis Chan is gifted with - the ability to make you look at yourself and your faith and reconcile that with what God really expects from us - rather than being content with modern-day, More...
Mar 12, 2010
Matt rated it: 1 of 5 stars
My initial reaction to Francis Chan’s Crazy Love

First of all, “Crazy Love” is a terrible and misleading title for this book. It is not about love (until, maybe, chapter 10, but by that point it is too late; too much damage has already been done). It is certainly NOT about God’s love for us mortals.

When a friend asked me about the book, this was my initial response:

I was hoping for a good read, but all I’ve seen so far (a bit more than halfway through) is an angry Go More...
5 comments like (16 people liked it)
Feb 28, 2010
Alice rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Have you noticed that certain books generate a current of excitement? There are books that everyone seems to be reading and talking about. Crazy Love is just such a book in the Christian community. Recommended by pastors—selected as a devotional book by a mission team—it even has multiple holds at the public library! So I was eager to finally get my hands on the slender red paperback. Why the buzz?

Pastor Francis Chan’s hook is to tap into our general feeling of malaise regarding co More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Feb 22, 2010
Alli rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Feb 07, 2010
Jay rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Francis Chan’s bestseller, Crazy Love, was a bit of a disappointment for me. Like many other books that I’ve heard hyped up in mainstream evangelicalism, I found the basic ideas of the book to be somewhat rudimentary and a little cliche.

Still, there were a few bright points to the book, and it wasn’t a complete wash.

The basic premise of the book is summed up in the Hebrew metaphor of the heart. Ancient Hebrews considered the heart not to be necessarily the seat of human emot More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Nov 06, 2009
Brandon rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I have mixed feelings about this book. I read it based on a rave recommendation from a trusted reformed source. To me, it was a mixture of wheat and chaff. There are parts that were really good. The author hits on some subjects that can never be discussed enough (our mortality, the holiness of God, true devotion and sacrifice vs. holding to "a form of religion") and tackles them in a fresh and captivating style; his chapter on "giving God your leftovers" was particularly movi More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)