Francis Chan hurts me where it counts.  He writes with such candid honesty about his won crap, and then asks questions that make me lose sleep.  To him I say thank you, and I shake my fist.  But not too much shaking.  Because he is hitting the nail on the head.  This needs to be addressed in my heart, in my life and in this town.

Here are some quotes/questions that rocked me:

• This is vital to remember.  When we forget about the Spirit, we really are forgetting God.
• Do I believe the church needs me like the body needs a mouth?
• …consider what fears you have about the Holy Spirit.  …Admit them, first to yourself, and the to God.  …Finally, share this with people you trust
• I don’t want to speak about Jesus; I want to know Jesus.  I want to be Jesus to people.  I don’t want just to write about the Holy Spirit; I want to experience His presence in my life in a profound way.
• [about the fruit of the Spirit} ...look over those traits right now and ask yourself if you possess each to a supernatural degree.  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.
• What disturbs me the most is when we’re not totally bothered that God living in us has not made much of a noticeable difference.

The toughest part was right at the beginning.  In the quotes/questions, it’s the one about admitting your fears.  It took me a couple weeks after setting the book down to just get the courage to do it.  I’ve got this list in my journal, and it was even harder to admit them to God.  They seem so shallow, but they are real, and they affect the way I operate.  But the hardest part is sharing it with people I trust.  Honestly I haven’t even done it yet.  It sucks.  It sucks so bad.  Because some of my fears related to the HS include stuff about the people that are closest to me.  It makes it so, so hard.

This book is not for the faint of heart.  It’s not for the casual seeker.  Crazy Love is.  That book is good and challenging on a very accessible level.  This book messes with you.  You can’t shake it.  You become aware of more than you ever bargained for.  It changes the way I see, the way I pray, the way I think, the way I read the Bible, the way I talk to others, the way I listen to others, the way I love, the way I trust, the way I sing, and I could go on and on.  To say it changes everything would be bold, and I hate to say everything, as if I could actually qualify that.  But it doesn’t let you ignore reality, and that finds its way into corners and closets that have been long abandoned in your life.  It is a good book in the way that it hurts and encourages.